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Production company A24 has become a staple among horror fans. You've no doubt seen at least one movie of theirs, with huge directors like Ari Aster, Alex Garland, and Denis Villeneuve all having movies in their impressive catalog.

As a huge fan of A24 horror movies in particular, I was keen to track down all the ones that are currently streaming so I could give my verdict on them, and whether I think they're worth seeking out in 2026.

Ranking this list was no easy task, even though I did know what my number one choice was going to be pretty quickly.

Please note that this only includes A24 movies you can watch on the best streaming services or the best free streaming services (at the time of writing), so this is not a definitive list of them all.

This is a hotly debated topic, so I would be keen to know which A24 horror movie is your favorite and why. Let me know in the comments when you're done reading mine.

A24 horror movies ranked: 31 - 2531. The Front Room

Where to stream: HBO Max (US), NOWTV (UK)

The Front Room has the potential to be something greater than it is, but I was left feeling very disappointed by the end result. It's the feature film debut for Max and Sam Eggers, but they haven't quite managed to follow in their brother Robert's footsteps here.

In this movie, Brandy plays a heavily pregnant woman who struggles when her overbearing mother-in-law moves in. It takes a terrifying turn when she realizes that she is a threat to her baby, but unfortunately, the movie didn't stick the landing for me due to silly gross-out scares and poorly written characters.

30. Y2K

Where to stream: HBO Max (US), NOWTV (UK), Netflix (Australia)

Even Rachel Zegler can't save Y2K, which is definitely one of A24's worst movies. I really liked the plot because it follows machines rising up against humanity during a New Year's Eve party, but it's all over the place and isn't executed well.

From humor that doesn't land to constant tonal shifts, Y2K has been widely panned by critics and audiences alike. There's also some jarring celebrity cameos that didn't really work, and so Y2K is very far down on my list for many reasons.

29. False Positive

Where to stream: Hulu (US), NOWTV (UK)

False Positive was a disappointment for me, mostly due to the frustrating pacing issues throughout the film. It seems to drag before barreling towards a chaotic ending, which could have been fleshed out a lot better. Pierce Brosnan's star power was wasted here.

The plot is also predictable as we follow a couple, Lucy and Adrian, who have been trying to conceive. When they meet a fertility doctor, they think their prayers have been answered, but when Lucy falls pregnant, she begins to uncover some dark secrets about the doctor. Honestly, you can easily predict the ending, meaning this was a huge miss for me.

28. Opus

Where to stream: HBO Max (US, UK), Netflix (Australia)

Many considered Opus to be a misfire for A24, but I didn't hate it as much as some people did. It's still not super high on my list, but I certainly hated it less than the three above.

Opus follows a journalist who travels to the remote compound of a legendary pop star who mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago. But when she gets there, dangerous things start happening. I loved John Malkovich in this movie, and I also loved how uncomfortable it was in examining obsessive fan culture.

27. Death of a Unicorn

Where to stream: HBO Max (US), Prime Video (UK), Hoopla (Australia)

I really wanted to like Death of a Unicorn more than I did. Much like the critics' consensus for this, I'm very on the fence when it comes to this A24 movie. The cast is undoubtedly fantastic as we follow characters played by Jenna Ortega, Paul Rudd, Will Poulter, and Richard E. Grant.

The movie centers around a father and daughter who accidentally hit and kill a unicorn while en route to find a billionaire's house, who seeks to exploit the creature's miraculous regenerative properties. Unfortunately for them, there are other unicorns out there, and they want revenge. It's a silly creature feature, really, but that's all part of the charm.

26. Beau Is Afraid

Where to stream: Channel 4 (UK), Prime Video (Australia)

Beau is Afraid is a lengthy, surreal movie by Ari Aster, and as a result, it's also very divisive. Joaquin Phoenix stars as the titular character, a paranoid and very anxious man who must travel to his mother's funeral, resulting in a surreal journey of self-discovery.

It really does feel like a 3-hour anxiety attack, and Phoenix always delivers. While Beau Is Afraid didn't quite do enough to rank higher for me, I did like a lot about it, even if it did get a bit too surreal for me at times. But that's simply a preference thing and not a comment on the quality of the filmmaking.

25. Under the Skin

Where to stream: Netflix (US), StudioCanal Presents (UK), SBS on Demand (Australia)

Under the Skin has a loyal fanbase, and on the surface, it sounds great. But one could argue the movie feels too pretentious at times, and you'll have to be prepared for it to be very slow without much of a conventional plot, too.

Aside from that, it's a solid effort. Scarlett Johansson plays an extraterrestrial disguised as a young woman. We follow her as she drives around Scotland and seduces lonely men. It's very different from Johansson's other work, and she delivers a great performance here, as do the other cast members, many of whom had no acting experience before this.

A24 horror movies ranked: 24 - 1924. Men

Where to stream: YouTube TV (US), Stan (Australia)

Most people I speak to about Men seem to hate it, but come on, it's not that bad. I'm happy to have it in my top 25 because it's a perfectly fine horror movie, if you're willing to look past a narrative that is often described as pretentious and full of abstract symbolism.

The movie stars Jessie Buckley as Harper, a recently widowed woman who travels to a small village for a solo trip to heal. Whilst there, she meets an array of men, all played by Rory Kinnear, who gives utterly terrifying performances throughout. It does go off the rails, but hey, it's very entertaining.

23. Enemy

Where to stream: Prime Video (US), ITVX (UK), Stan (Australia)

Jake Gyllenhaal plays a dual role in Enemy, as we follow history professor Adam Bell, who discovers he has a doppelganger named Anthony Claire. But when they meet, they end up destabilizing each other's lives and relationships.

I really like Denis Villeneuve's work and thought he did a great job of depicting the creepiness of the story, which features a lot of surreal and disturbing imagery. It's not a perfect movie, but I liked it, even though I'm terrified of spiders and had to see them a lot in this movie.

22. The Blackcoat's Daughter

Where to stream: Prime Video (US only)

Before Longlegs, director Osgood Perkins brought us The Blackcoat's Daughter. If you prefer lingering, psychological dread over jump scares as I do, then I think you'll be freaked out by this movie. But there is certainly an absence of any real scares, placing this more in the thriller category in my opinion.

With some great performances from Kiernan Shipka, Emma Roberts, and Lucy Boynton, we follow dual storylines about two girls who are left alone at their prep school, Bramford, over winter break when their parents mysteriously fail to pick them up, and a troubled young woman on the road who, for unknown reasons, is determined to get to Bramford as fast as she can. It is a very bleak movie, so brace yourself.

21. MaXXXine

Where to stream: The Roku Channel (US), Netflix (UK), Paramount+ (Australia)

Unfortunately, the third movie in Ti West's X series is also the weakest. Considering just how great Pearl was in particular, it was a tough act to follow.

Mia Goth returns as Maxine Minx, this time in 1985 Los Angeles, where we see her auditioning for the lead in a new horror film. She's hoping to get her big break, but soon finds herself being targeted by a mysterious killer. Once again, Goth is incredible and steals the show, but the movie does lack suspense and has a reveal that I thought was way too obvious. Still, it's a fun conclusion to a great horror trilogy.

20. Life After Beth

Where to stream: Netflix (US), MGM+ (UK)

People are way too mean about Life After Beth, so I'm here to defend it. I'm content with it being at the bottom of my top 20, because I acknowledge it is a very silly movie, but I kinda love it anyway.

I love anything Aubrey Plaza is in, honestly, and she delivers such a fun and unhinged performance here. She plays a woman who died and came back as a zombie, and her boyfriend Zach is trying to come to terms with this. Despite how morbid it sounds, it's a great horror comedy, and it's one I revisit a lot.

19. High Life

Sci-fi and horror go together beautifully, and High Life always reminds me just how much space terrifies me. The story focuses on a group of criminals who are serving death sentences, so they are sent on a mission to extract energy from a black hole. They are disposable and treated like experiments by a scientist, in typical creepy sci-fi fashion.

Robert Pattinson and Juliette Binoche are fantastic in this movie, as a criminal and a scientist respectively. It is a very tense and atmospheric horror, and ventures into body horror too.

Where to stream: Tubi (US, UK)

A24 horror movies ranked: 18 - 1318. Bodies Bodies Bodies

Where to stream: Hulu (US), Prime Video (UK)

Bodies Bodies Bodies is a great and incredibly dark satire. It's paced really well, keeps you on the edge of your seat, and has a lot of important social commentary to say. The characters are insufferable, but that's the point.

The movie is about a group of wealthy young adults who gather at a remote mansion. But when they decide to play a murder-in-the-dark party game during a blackout, real bodies start turning up, and chaos ensues.

17. The Hole in the Ground

Where to stream: HBO Max (US), MGM+ (UK), Prime Video (Australia)

Why are sinkholes so scary? The Hole in the Ground does nothing to combat this fear, as we hone in on a mother who starts to become worried about her son's disturbing behavior.

There's a huge focus on parental anxiety here, and a strong performance by Seána Kerslake really elevates this movie. I love a good folklore-inspired movie, and The Hole in the Ground provides a tense and atmospheric watch.

16. Tusk

Where to stream: Prime Video (UK)

I like my horror bleak and bizarre, which is why I'm always happy to go to bat for the unfairly panned Tusk. Kevin Smith has certainly created something memorable here; whether that's a good or bad thing is up to you.

We follow Justin Long's Wallace Bryton, an obnoxious podcaster who travels to Canada to interview an eccentric retired sailor, played by Michael Parks. Little does he know, he has some disturbing plans for Wallace. Cue the body horror and plenty of uncomfortable scenes.

15. Heretic

Where to stream: HBO Max (US), Prime Video (Australia)

This Hugh Grant-led horror movie is very dialogue-heavy, but it is so well crafted, and his performance is excellent too. I would love to see Grant do more horror movies after watching this, because it's a nice change from his usual roles.

Heretic sees Grant's chilling character, Mr Reed, luring two missionaries, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East), into his home. Whilst there, he begins to challenge their religious beliefs in increasingly sinister ways.

14. It Comes at Night

Where to stream: Stan (Australia only)

It Comes at Night is a great exploration of paranoia, fear, and morals, as we follow people who are hiding in a forest as the Earth is taken over by a highly contagious disease.

There's so much dread here, and two families are forced to share the same claustrophobic space, resulting in growing tension and nail-biting scenes. You're not quite sure where it's going to go next, and that's the beauty of it.

13. The Monster

Where to stream: The Roku Channel (US), Prime Video (UK, Australia)

Creature features can be notoriously hit and miss, but thankfully The Monster is the former. It blends excellent practical creature design with a devastating story about family, adding that all important human touch.

The Monster explores the relationship between a troubled mother and her adolescent daughter, who is tired of dealing with her and wants to go and live with her father permanently. But on their way to his house, they find themselves stranded at night on a country road with a malicious creature hunting them.

A24 horror movies ranked: 12 - 512. Bring Her Back

Where to stream: HBO Max (US)

Sally Hawkins gives a truly frightening performance in Bring Her Back, where she plays a disturbed foster mother. Watching her quickly flip from sweet to psychotic had me visibly tense, and this might just be my favorite ever performance of hers.

The movie is about two siblings who find themselves orphaned and placed in the middle of an occult ritual at the hands of their new foster mother, who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

11. The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Where to stream: HBO Max (US), Mubi (UK), Stan (Australia)

I will watch anything Yorgos Lanthimos makes. At this point, I'm convinced he can do no wrong, and that's why The Killing of a Sacred Deer is so high on my list. It's certainly one of my favorite movies of his.

The movie follows a surgeon who takes an awkward teenage boy, Martin, under his wing. But things get worse for him and his family when they find out that Martin has a sinister agenda. It's as good as it sounds, and there's a stellar cast led by Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman and Barry Keoghan.

10. Green Room

Where to stream: Xumo Play (US), Prime Video (Australia), MGM+ (UK)

Green Room leads my top 10 (it's getting very exciting now), with standout performances from Anton Yelchin and Imogen Poots, alongside Patrick Stewart's portrayal of a methodical neo-Nazi leader.

This is a very vicious horror movie as we watch a punk band who find themselves attacked by neo-Nazi skinheads after witnessing a murder. This is the kind of movie that sticks with you for a long time.

9. Midsommar

Where to stream: HBO Max (US), Prime Video (UK, Australia)

Despite being set mostly in the daytime, Midsommar is still terrifying. That's just one of the reasons I love it so much, but there's plenty to praise when it comes to this Ari Aster movie.

Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Vilhelm Blomgren and Will Poulter lead the cast as a group of friends traveling to a nine-day midsummer festival at a commune in rural Sweden. What follows is a deeply unsettling folk horror that tackles themes like grief and trauma.

8. In Fabric

Where to stream: The Roku Channel (US only)

In Fabric certainly is absurd, but its uniqueness is why it ranks so highly on my list. The villain of the movie is a haunted red dress, and we watch as it torments various owners. I told you it was unique.

The sound design here is excellent, as is the overall retro aesthetic. There's also some dark humor here, and it offers a lot for horror fans, including a razor-sharp critique of consumerism. Oh, and the legendary Gwendoline Christie stars in this too, making it one hell of a movie.

7. Hereditary

Where to stream: HBO Max (US), Prime Video (UK)

I own a t-shirt that says "nominate Toni Collette you cowards" on the front, and I continue to stand by that message. Her performance in Hereditary is mind-blowingly good, so it's hardly a surprise it's so far up on my list.

As the title suggests, family is at the center of this movie, which explores themes like grief, madness, and maternal despair. Collette's character Annie uncovers disturbing secrets about her recently deceased mother, and terrible things start happening.

6. X

Where to stream: Prime Video (Australia only)

X is a super stylish slasher movie which perfectly replicates iconic 70s movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It follows a group of people who rent a guesthouse on a rural Texas farm to shoot an independent pornographic movie.

But they soon find themselves threatened by the homicidal couple who own the guesthouse, fueled by repressed desire and jealousy over their lost youth. All the characters are really well fleshed out, and there are some gory set pieces too.

A24 horror movies ranked: 5 - 15. The Lighthouse

Where to stream: HBO Max (US), Binge (Australia only)

The Lighthouse is my second favorite Eggers movie. I quickly fell in love with the moody black-and-white cinematography and the excellent performances from both Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson. As someone who grew up on the coast, I love maritime-focused stories, which is likely why I was so drawn to this.

The story is about two men losing their sanity during a four-week shift at an isolated New England lighthouse, and it's simple but very effective.

4. The Witch

Where to stream: Netflix (US)

In at number four is my personal favorite Eggers movie, The Witch. Not only was it a stunning debut for both Eggers and leading star Anya Taylor-Joy, but it's also widely regarded as his best movie, though many of his works have performed well with the critics.

I loved The Witch's historical accuracy, and the fact that it's a slow burn with a very worthy payoff at the end. It's easy to become immersed in this world, haunted by creepy sound design and a lingering threat. It's fantastic.

3. Lamb

Where to stream: The Roku Channel (US), Mubi (UK)

Another folk horror I adore is Lamb. It's about a couple who adopt a mysterious human-sheep hybrid as their own. They name her Ada, and she essentially becomes a daughter to them.

This surreal concept is perfectly balanced against an isolated backdrop, with the two lead characters living in rural Iceland. Noomi Rapace delivers an emotional performance here, as a grieving mother finding solace in a new child.

2. Saint Maud

Where to stream: Prime Video (US), StudioCanal Presents (UK)

In my opinion, Morfydd Clark's role in Saint Maud is her best ever. She stars as a religious private carer who becomes fixated with saving the soul of her patient.

Saint Maud is a character-driven psychological horror, as we get a look into the minds of both Maud and her patient, a hedonistic dancer named Amanda (Jennifer Ehle). It builds to one of the most disturbing endings I've ever seen, and that's why I love it so much. It continues to be impactful no matter how much I watch it.

1. I Saw the TV Glow

Where to stream: Netflix (UK, Australia)

I Saw the TV Glow is undoubtedly my favorite A24 movie purely based on how much it emotionally destroyed me. It's a powerful story about identity and how our lives can be shaped through the media we consume.

Two isolated teenagers in the 90s bond over a TV show called The Pink Opaque, to which they both feel deeply connected. The movie features striking visuals and a neon palette, and references to popular teen show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There's also some jarring scenes that earn its horror status. It's hard to fully articulate what I Saw the TV Glow means to me, but I consider it to be a very special movie.

With only three more episodes to go, X-Men 97 season 2 is fast approaching the finish line — and there are a few big story threads that the Marvel TV show needs to wrap before it takes another extended break from our screens.

How will Professor X establishing X-Corp affect the current world order? What impact will Gambit's resurrection as one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen have on this season's plot? And where is the Disney+ TV series setting up things to come for season 3? I can't say for sure — but, what I do know is when season 2 episode 7 will air on Disney+, one of the best streaming services. So, scroll on for more details!

What time can I watch X-Men 97 season 2 episode 7?

Sitting patiently for the X-Men 97's next chapter to come out like... (Image credit: Marvel Animation/Disney+)

Episode 7 of X-Men 97's sophomore season will make its Disney+ debut on Wednesday, July 29. That's its global launch date, too, so viewers in North and South America won't be able to watch it on the evening of July 28.

Unless the Marvel Phase 6 project's release time is suddenly changed, the entry titled 'Strange Land, Savage Heart' will drop at the same time that its six forebears have:

• US — 12am PT / 3am ET
• Canada — 12am PT / 3am ET
• UK — 8am BST
• India — 12:30pm IST
• Singapore — 3pm SGT
• Australia — 5pm AEST
• New Zealand — 7pm NZST

X-Men 97 season 2 full release schedule

X-Men 97 season 2 is powering up for its third act (Image credit: Marvel Animation/Disney+)

As I mentioned earlier, there aren't many installments left of the X-Men animated show's current season. Indeed, there are only two more to enjoy after this week's episode before the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) adjacent program goes off-air once more.

Like the launch time section above, as long as Marvel doesn't make a last-minute adjustment to this season's release schedule, we already know when its final pair of chapters will come out:

• Season 2 episode 1 — out now
• Season 2 episode 2 — out now
• Season 2 episode 3 — out now
• Season 2 episode 4 — out now
• Season 2 episode 5 — out now
• Season 2 episode 6 — out now
• Season 2 episode 7 — July 29
• Season 2 episode 8 — August 5
• Season 2 episode 9 — August 12

As the world's fastest and most glamorous sport, Formula 1 has long attracted fans of all ages around the globe - and in recent years, the success of Netflix's Drive to Survive series has helped this grow even further.

With CEO Stefano Domenicali recently stating his hope for over a billion Formula 1 fans within the next few years, the need for a resolute technology stack to handle all of the data for these fans is more important than ever.

The organization has been working with Salesforce for some time now to do just that, and at the recent Salesforce World Tour London 2026 event, I sat down with key Formula 1 tech minds to find out more.

Augmenting and speeding forward

Having first started working together in 2019, the 2026 season marks the next level of Formula 1's partnership with Salesforce, Claire Sparks, its Head of Tech Initiatives, says, bringing in, “a maturity, a shift, a re-energization of the work we do to together…really challenging one other to do things differently, to think differently, to deliver new things.”

2026 is a key year for Formula 1 in more ways than one, as the biggest shake-up in rules and regulations for several seasons has meant major changes up and down the grid.

To help explain the changes, Formula 1 developed Tech Director, a new application built on AgentForce to take complex technical rules and distil them down for fans of all levels of expertise.

This service also looks to provide a single location for fans to get the information they need, so there is no need to switch between different apps, building customer loyalty with real-time, accurate data in a sport where change happens fast.

Matt Kemp, Head of Customer Data Operations at Formula 1, notes that when looking to improve and upgrade its tech stack, the organization has the view of "how does technology disrupt technology".

“We use the technology to augment our teams, to improve the way we’re thinking about how we engage with our fans, and really take it to the next level," he notes.

(Image credit: Salesforce)

In particular, Kemp highlights how Salesforce's Data360 platform has brought together all of the company's tools in one platform, massively reducing complexity, especially when working alongside its other data partner, AWS.

Sparks agrees, saying that this move away from individual solutions towards a platform-based landscape has shifted how Formula 1 thinks about technology as a whole, moving from previously wanting a point solution for everything, towards now wanting a platform-layer of technology that can bring cross-functional tools across the business.

“The strategic shift with Salesforce has also meant that we’ve had a mental model shift on how we approach technology, our choices, our evaluation, our view of it, and how we talk about it in the business," she says.

"We’re now joining the dots in all of our solutions and all of our functions within the business to really start to see this technology in a much more powerful way."

Maximum engagement

So what does this partnership look like in action for Formula 1 fans? Quite simply, Kemp and Sparks say, it should mean that fans get quicker access to more accurate data, and a much smoother all-round user experience.

Kemp notes that a million data points are being generated each minute of a Formula 1 race, which can now be made customer-ready within three seconds.

Push notifications are a common way that Formula 1 delivers these updates to its fans, but previously, some of these alerts had been taking up to 20 minutes to deliver due to the sheer scale of the fandom. However Kemp notes that Salesforce was able to develop a new push notification system which can push millions of notifications in a minute

"In a sport where every millisecond can make a difference, that’s massive for us to engage with our fans on that sort of speed," Sparks adds.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Overall, working seamlessly is the key for Formula 1, especially when it comes to making the fan user experience a more engaging and enriching experience.

"Ultimately sport is about connection," Sparks says, outlining the ongoing challenge for Formula 1 of bringing in new fans, with a roadmap of moving from, “a sort of fairly clinical personalization, to focusing on how do we really connect on an emotional level with our fans."

As Kemp adds, “when you stop thinking of customization as a one-way traffic, and start to think of it as a conversational piece, that will really open up the doors and tap into emotions/find out what a fan wants as opposed to what we think they want."

In such a data-driven sport, the goal will always be getting the most out of every bit of information, whether it's the teams and drivers searching for marginal gains to push performance, or the Formula 1 organization looking for a way to better communicate with its fans thanks to Salesforce's suite of tools and services.

As Kemp puts it, “we want to manage it all together - that sounds really hard, and really complex, because it is today, but with the agentic layer on top of that, and all of these tools…all of a sudden it becomes a reality."

You may not have heard of the Armour Home Group, but you have almost certainly heard of its three hi-fi brands: Q Acoustics, QED, and Goldring. Q Acoustics is one of the masters of great-value value speakers, QED is one of the best-known cable makers, and Goldring is a 120-year-old turntable specialist.

And you may not have heard of its new Managing Director, Charlie Henderson, but you will absolutely have heard of the audio brands he's helped to lead, including Cambridge Audio, Naim, and Jabra.

I've met Henderson before in his roles at Cambridge and Naim, and I was fascinated by how the email I received announcing his appointment promised to focus on expanding the brands "beyond the hi-fi" sector.

I wondered if that meant moving into more 'mainstream' parts of the audio world, and I wasn't sure how that would really work with a brand like QED, so I wanted to find out more — but it turned out that Henderson had something completely different in mind.

He wanted to talk about how the brands can support the return of public listening rooms, how they can engage with the new wave of people getting into hi-fi — and how the hi-fi world can get its "mojo" back.

TechRadar: You said in your introduction at the company that "My goal is to elevate these brands beyond the hi-fi sector and into the broader music community", referring to Q Acoustics, QED, and Goldring. So what do you have in mind?

Charlie Henderson: I have felt for a long time that the hi-fi industry has lost some of its mojo. If we go back to the '50s, '60s, '70s — kind of the essence of British hi-fi in particular — lots of those company founders were either part of rock bands, or they were gigging, or they were visiting live venues, and that's why they got into this industry. So a real love of music was always there.

I think we've seen maybe over the last 10 years or so that it's gone a bit stale. And I think in all the roles I've had in this industry, I've been really keen to make sure that we reboot it. So we talk about our mission as a business, which is to move beyond the hi-fi bubble and become part of music culture — almost as though that's revolutionary, but it's not; it's just going back to what hi-fi was. It was always part of music culture.

But if we think about going around Vienna High End or the Bristol Hi-Fi Show or any of these kinds of events, it's usually less about the music and it's mostly about the equipment and the technology. I think that's a shame. It's not why I'm in this industry; it's not why all the people I tend to find that I'm working with are in this industry.

So that is our mission, and the way we do it is by just being authentic about why we're really here.

TR: It's funny, of all the big tech shows, IFA is the one that has started doing what you're saying, and trying to be a cultural hub as well as a tech show. But really audio is such a kind of tangential part of IFA compared to these music shows that you're talking about.

CH: I remember chatting to a [very respected] hi-fi journalist at the Munich show a couple of years ago, and he just hung out with us. This was in my Cambridge [Audio] days, he just kind of just hung out because he was like, 'Man, at least someone's playing some proper music.'

You walk around the halls and it's Kate Bush and Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin and all of the usual stuff. Great artists, they're still important musical acts and incredible — but decades have moved on and there's different artists today, you know? People like Fred Again and Ren are my two favorites at the moment, because I think they're British artists who are defining the real musical culture right now. And I haven't heard any Fred Again or Ren at an audio show.

I probably would hear it at IFA, and I think it's because IFA represents companies who understand that they are part of consumer culture. I think the hi-fi industry maybe sometimes thinks that consumer culture is a dirty word. I couldn't disagree more. Knowing who your customer is and what appeals to them and being part of their world, that's our responsibility as manufacturers ultimately.

TR: So what do you see music culture as being in 2026? We're in the middle of one of the most interesting times of audio I can think of, where the new audience who grew up on streaming are coming in and going, ‘I want to move beyond this.’ And that is partly behind the vinyl revival with young people really wanting to actively get into that side — but it's also leading us in the direction of every device having streaming built in or being ‘active’. There are these two arguably separate paths, so where can you ‘meet’ music culture as a company?

CH: There's a little bit of convenience going on here. Active is clearly a future direction for our industry, fueled by convenience and simplicity. I've spent a long time in my career involved in separates hi-fi, and that has a place, but I think even companies who have been focused on that over the last few decades realize that active is the direction of travel. I think that's down to people just wanting a simpler life.

But then there's the ironic flip side of that. We talk about the vinyl revival and analog renaissance and all these things, [including] CDs. I'm using one of my old Motorola phones for my phone because I don't always want to be connected on a smartphone.

But one of my favorite cartoons is [the one that asks] ‘What got you into vinyl? Was it the inconvenience or the expense?’ You know that one? I think the ritual [of playing and choosing vinyl] is really important.

Just for a second, I'm going to kind of dive off into part of how we'll execute our mission. You know, moving into being more a part of music culture isn't just about understanding the music side of it, it's actually how people experience music. I think as an industry, the hi-fi industry has long lamented the question: how do we get people to come in and listen to what music should sound like?

I don't believe [getting people to come to us] is the right answer. Go to where people are listening to music and show them how it could sound. There is a bar culture called the kissa bar culture that came out of Tokyo over the last 20 or so years. It manifests itself in these listening rooms, and you see them at Studio 180 in London, for example. Spotify has just announced its own version of one of these listening rooms as well. That's where music culture is for me.

There was a great article I was reading the other day where it's basically saying listening rooms like that are the new nightclubs. I thought that was super interesting because it's a place where people just assemble, share a passion of music. They might be sipping nice teas or drinking great whiskey or maybe just chatting, you know? It's a place to socialize.

We're seeing this resurgence of gaming, and I mean board gaming. I think that's beautiful, because it's people coming together and escaping the distractions of modern-day technology. It's definitely a younger audience who are doing that because they are sick to the high teeth of everything being online, everything being intangible and losing that connection with friends.

You're seeing it also manifesting in things like running clubs appearing and becoming a huge thing for people in their teens and 20s and early 30s, just craving for human connection.

And I think that is part of music culture. It's human connection. It's why gig tickets are going through the roof again — Glastonbury's selling out faster than ever.

And people really spend more on music, on a hi-fi system or an audio system. They're quite happy with their [premium] Apple Bluetooth products, they're already spending that money. They're dropping £1,000 on Glastonbury tickets and spending all this money on Taylor Swift to get the eight different versions of an album that she releases. They're obsessed by music, but they don't know who to talk to because no one's talking to them.

Q Acoustics make everything from budget bookshelf speakers to big premium floorstanders (Image credit: Future)

TR: This might tie back to what your plan is to get out there and interact with people, but the immediate problem that occurs to me with having more of these spaces — and about these spaces becoming more popular even though there's appetite for them — is the general collapse in the ‘third-place’ concept. Places you can go that are not work and that are not home and that are also sustainable businesses. A lot of these places are struggling. Board game cafes have done all right, but you've got maybe one or two per city. They're not like how pubs and bars have been absolutely everywhere in the past. So do you see yourselves opening some of these venues, or supporting them directly in other ways?

CH: I think the pub reference is interesting because we've seen a decline in pubs. We know how many pubs are shutting every week, and nightclubs. I think it's just a different way of people getting together. I'm not surprised that there's only one or two [board game cafes] in a town, because there's probably only ever been one or two nightclubs in a town. Clearly not the same number of people going through [board game cafes as nightclubs], but it's just a place where people can get together.

But just because they're not doing it publicly, doesn't mean they're not doing it at home, you know? We know that vinyl and turntable sales continue to increase year over year over year because people are creating their own environments at home.

In terms of how we execute it, it's by working through our relationships that we have as a team — and that I bring to the business as well in terms of relationships in the music industry and venues within the music industry — and saying ‘how do we support you creating your own listening bar environments’ or being able to [develop] kissa bar culture.

And doing that globally, importantly, as well. We might be based in the UK and proudly British hi-fi brands, but we're a global business, so how do we get a venue in Tokyo, the home of all of this culture? We've had some really good conversations in Vienna just last week about being able to do this in places in Australia, and opportunities in places like New York and across Europe. Spain, Italy and France are way ahead of the UK when it comes to this listening bar culture already.

And then obviously in the UK, our approach will be to support those venues either by equipping them with the right kind of technology to be able to deliver it, or helping people to open them. There's a difference between pop-up events, which are fun for the industry, and actually supporting these venues to be successful in what they're trying to do.

There's an ethical story here. Sometimes people say, ‘So what is it you do as a business? You're making stuff?’ I'm like: no, it's bigger than that. We make products for sure, but they transform people's lives.

It sounds very floaty and you know, almost ephemeral, but it's true: music changes how people feel, so we have a responsibility to make that available to people wherever they want to be. That's kind of our cultural thing, and we'll do that by making sure that the great kit that we make is in the places they want to go to — the two come together.

The outcome is that people realize that [our brands are] actually part of music culture, and therefore we are the people who are signposting who they could listen to great music through, and that's the business upside of it.

TR: So when you talk to these places about what support they need from you, what are they saying?

CH: Support financially. Equipment. There are some which have been really successful with very advanced audio systems, but most locations can't manage that.

We are proudly in the accessible end of the spectrum as a company, particularly around the Q Acoustics range. It's high-quality equipment, but it doesn't cost the Earth, so we can help some of these smaller venues perhaps be part of this movement; we can loan equipment to them, or work with them on [cost]. I think that's probably the practical thing that we'd be able to do.

TR: You’re talking about getting closer to music culture and being a music-listening brand, not a technical brand, if you think of it in those terms. Do you think that's something that separates you from the Chinese hi-fi brands that are exploding in popularity? A lot of them feel quite led by technical people who are able to create pretty incredible products for low prices, but the pitch feels based on technical specs.

CH: I think these brands aren’t that different to traditional hi-fi companies. You know, I've worked in a number of brands where it’s an engineering-led culture — and there's a bit of a transformation that we'll do at Armour Home; there's a degree of engineering-led culture [there].

What has been fun is seeing everything from the engineering teams, but also that our designers saying, ‘Hang on, we could be bolder and braver and less safe and actually be really exciting.’

So I'm already seeing renders for products that will come out in the next 12 to 18 months where I'm like, ‘Yeah, OK, now we're talking’. These are products that really speak to having a sense of style and presence, and really selective decisions around the colors, materials and finishes that we use, and being much closer to interior design. Pantone colors of the year and these similar cultural cues that matter [to people] — just being cool and relevant, that alone is more than maybe the Chinese brands are able to do because they're not attuned to it in quite the same way.

There is a distinction, though. It isn't just British tastes that matter; it's understanding the global tastes as well. So working with our global distributors as well to really get a sense of what is current right now in China or in Australia or in the US, and bringing that as a bit of a mix. Otherwise we fall into the trap I think British hi-fi brands have done in the past where they think everything starts and stops at the English Channel.

Goldring's GR3 was a triumphant return to making spinners (Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)

TR: Right now, Goldring is really a turntable accessories company that happens to make one turntable [the Goldring GR3]. So, is your plan to expand its reach by offering more turntable models, or are you thinking more about expanding the kind of accessories it makes into phono stages or something else that's not in the range at the moment?

CH: One of my observations when joining the Armour Home Group is that we focus a lot around the Q Acoustics business. And then we have two other businesses within it, which are Goldring and QED. I think that focus is a miss, [and] that's a shame, because we have 120 years this year of history with Goldring. It is one of two of the oldest audio brands in existence, and it has been there at all the defining moments over a century.

Then we have QED, which is 53 years old this year, and it was the brand that started the whole cable revolution from bell wire to proper audio hi-fi grade cables. Something called the Genesis report, which was written by the guys at QED, is still the bible that everyone else has followed ever since.

Q Acoustics has been the new kid on the block a little bit. It's 20 years old this year, so I kind of joke with people in the business that it's not a teenager anymore, we're a grown-up… but we have 120 years of Goldring.

So in the context of your question, Goldring is a beautiful thing for us to have in the family because it allows us to talk about 120 years of history, and iconic decks like the G99 or GL75 with Lenco that were built over the decades. But it's also bang up to date, because vinyl culture is hot.

So we have to do a couple of things. One is to celebrate the past and then also bring things bang up to date in the future. I've had some extraordinary conversations with some of the people I've met in this business, but one of them in particular is a guy called David Giffin.

He's been in the business for 40 years, his father was in the business for 41 years before that, and he was sharing with me this extraordinary scrapbook of all of the sort of cuttings over decades of this business.

That is extraordinary in itself, but he's now the person that people come to from all of the forums going, ‘This is the guy who can rebuild whatever cartridges from around the world’. He's showing me pictures of some Japanese cartridges, like super-esoteric cartridges made out of marble, that he's been tasked with repairing.

So this extraordinary level of skill sits in our Goldring team, and we don't talk about that nearly enough; it's extraordinary. How do we make that manifest itself in the consumer world? We let people know that we have some of the best cartridges, certainly for consistency of performance, that money can buy. We've got everything from entry level right up to Ethos at the top level

You can come to us for turntables too. We have GR3 as a turntable at the moment, and without giving any secrets away, of course we're looking at what more we can do more around that.

But I need to make sure that [a new] turntable is something truly iconic that celebrates 120 years of Goldring, that reminds everybody that this was the brand that started it all, and can sit proudly in a kissa bar environment, celebrated on this plinth, almost like they're shrines. Something that's truly special.

And then at the same time, [should] tie our brands together, so I can use QED technology in the development of that turntable, and I can also make sure we've got Q Acoustic speakers that do service to a turntable with 120 years' worth of history. That’s where some of these new flagship projects that we're working on are really exciting, because the material choices alone are bold.

I talk a lot internally about the thread between the brands. They're not disparate brands. We're incredibly fortunate to have three brands that bring everything together from the source through the connectivity through to the output, and we need to do more of that.

TR: So we should probably expect a cohesive, very premium, very celebratory set of stuff to come from this thinking?

CH: This is where I get kicked under the table by my PR handlers. You should expect a much more bold and confident view as to what we bring to market because I believe we've earned that over many, many, many, many decades.

TR: Are you considering doing something like special edition versions of Q Acoustics speakers that are Goldring-branded or designed? Q Acoustics' design language tends to have friendly, rounded corners, and rounded edges. I look at the GR3 and I see this stark, hard-edged cuboid block. Do you want a set of Q Acoustics speakers that are equally hard-edged and glossy-finished, [and] maybe have the Goldring logo on?

CH: I think it could be that way, or it could be the other way around. You could see a Goldring turntable that leans more into the home-friendly design, or I could see everything elevating to a new design approach as well, sure.

What I can be clearer about is that I think it's important that there are technology linkages where possible across the three brands, and design cues where appropriate across all three as well, without betraying the core design fundamentals of each brand. It's a balancing act.

Q Acoustics has made plenty of premium-looking products previously (Image credit: Future)

TR: The biggest missing pieces of your portfolio are the amp and streamer. Is that something you think about expanding into, or do you think the future is more in the combined active speaker route in the Q Acoustics range?

CH: There are two parts to that. We have our core business, and we have our distribution business in the UK, and it’s important to mention that our distribution business is really interesting.

We've got Xgimi at one end in terms of cutting-edge projector technology; we’re just rolling that out with retailers across the UK, and we literally can't keep up with demand.

Almost at the other extreme we've got Grado. Cool as hell, legit New York vibes, super interesting, iconic design. And then in the middle we've got Burson Audio, a head-fi and amp brand.

But there is the missing link [in our brands], which is amplification and streaming. Active speakers definitely support that, clearly, but we have a very successful passive speaker range, and I need to work out how to tackle that. Is that through partnerships? Is that through collaboration with existing manufacturers in the industry, those who are on the same mission as us of understanding that music culture is really important for the industry? Or do we treat it as a distribution opportunity for us in the UK? And I don't have the answer yet, but I know it's important.

TR: QED is surely the hardest brand here to expand beyond the core hi-fi community, unless you take a bit of a left turn. So what is your thinking there? Would you keep QED as a nice ‘glue’ option to connect everything together, or is there some future for QED that goes beyond what it does now?

CH: I would start by saying it’s about re-remembering that QED is the brand that started it all, and helping that awareness grow. There are other brands out there who've established a strong position in the premium and luxury cable sector, but they're all essentially going back to the Genesis report.

We are working on redefining the ranges, I'll put it that way, so you'll see some news coming out of QED fairly soon anyway.

I think connectivity is a question in itself. Cables were the original connection, but now wireless is a connection, and so I'm certainly pondering in my idle moments about whether QED should be in that wireless area. Because it's the modern day glue, and it's interesting you ask the question because it's definitely in my mind.

TR: You alluded to this earlier, but it's the old business study question of asking ‘What do we actually sell? Is it cables or is it connections? And if it's connections, then should we think about something medium than cables in the future?’ Is that the kind of question you're exploring for QED?

CH: Absolutely. And I’m only four weeks in, which is why I'm not giving you clear answers, but I can see that there is a clear consumer understanding among those who know us today that we are the connection. But there are consumers today who don't even know us, they're not being signposted well enough because of the music culture topic we've gone into as to how they listen to music — so they might recognize QED as being the connection, but they're only used to wireless connectivity. And so what do we do with that?

TR: I'm sure you are not going to have anything specific to say on this subject when it comes to products, but it's very relevant to this topic: have you seen the Pro-ject Wireless Box E? They've made this little box that connects directly to the speaker posts on the back of your passive speakers, it plugs into power, and it makes them wireless using the WiiM platform.

CH: I think that's actually quite exciting for our category. A theory I have is that a lot of people are starting to inherit hi-fi, so family members might be getting to an age or passing on, sadly, and people are discovering turntables in the loft. ‘What do I do with this?’

That's interesting for me as well, which is getting people on a journey. One of the companies I worked at was world-famous for understanding the importance of being there at the beginning of someone's journey and being with them for life. It’s a separates company, and it's the upgrade journey that people went on that's really important to me. It's one of the things that I'm talking to the marketing teams about, within the group. It's about making it easier to understand where you start and where you could go.

QED is a perfect example actually, where it's a bit of a maze and really hard to navigate, so making sure that, just from a packaging and a communications point of view, people know where they are on that journey. Are they at the beginning? Are they at our ‘good’, our ‘better’ or our ‘best’ — so they can work out where they could step up through their audio life.

I don't think we have done that enough in our ranges. It's the same with our 3000 series to our 5000 series range, and then up to our Concept portfolio, in Q Acoustics. It's making it really clear about what this [product] does at this level, what you can expect at this [higher] level and what you can expect at this [highest] level. This idea that it's always a little itch that's not quite scratched; it could always get better.

Q Acoustics makes some smaller speakers, but not quite desktop-sized (Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)

TR: One of the entry points that I think we're seeing a lot of at the moment is desktop speakers. You guys have compact speakers, bookshelf speakers that are pretty small — but in particular, there's this kind of breakout sector right now that’s one step down in size from there. Quite often wireless or active, but designed for people who are getting into the audiophile stage via their desktop. Based on what you were just saying, are you guys exploring more of these opportunities where there is some breakout sector where you can say ‘OK, this is where we can get people on board in our journey’?

CH: I'm gonna half answer that. We have three different bookshelves in our 3000 series and the same in the 5000 series, and those are to meet the needs of three different kinds of bookshelf customer. Some of them are international, like the 3030c, because they’re the bigger of the lot and the US buyers like a larger volume for the cabinet.

The 3010 and 5010 are our small footprint version. They are used in home offices a lot, but I think there are new audiences coming through. There's gaming, and there are younger consumers who might be in flat shares or whatever that need something smaller. So yes, we are watching that part of the industry very closely.

TR: We’ve talked a lot about music, and that's kind of clearly where your focus is as far as building a new identity and the opportunities. But Q Acoustics has such a successful history in the home theater space; it was one of the earliest pioneers of soundbars and soundbases, but left that area really right as it was exploding — though exploding with entries from the likes of LG and Samsung. At the moment, there's no a product in that area; is that something you could see the brand getting back into, or do you want to focus on that music side?

CH: So there is a crossover. Being part of music culture doesn't mean it's exclusive to other elements of it, and I think home entertainment and AV is still very much part of that culture of entertainment. And it is important to us strategically; we still have products in the range that allow us to satisfy a lot of those needs. We have a range of subwoofers from entry through to high performance.

In terms of the soundbar category, it’s quite a scary category. It's very hard to compete with free, and the TV manufacturers will offer a soundbar as free, or give a retailer the latitude to offer it for free to close a TV sale.

I've been actively involved in some products in that space in the past, and I've seen how successful they can be if they are designed really well.

I'm dancing around an answer to say: no plans at the moment. It is a category that I look at with curiosity, but I'm not sure if it's the absolute priority yet. Surround sound, yes — but soundbar, I'm not sure yet.

Q Acoustics' M3 soundbar was a huge early hit in the soundbar market

TR: In surround sound, what we’re seeing there is, again, a lot of people who are ready to step up, in the same way as we talked about people in hi-fi wanting to move up in the journey. One of the key trends happening in home theater right now is the move to wireless surround systems. Do you think that is a route you can see Q Acoustics going down? It's a complicated technical thing to deal with, but I feel like it's something that any company in the space right now needs to reckon with.

CH: So we've definitely got the capabilities to develop solutions in that space. An area we haven't talked about is install, and I think there is a bigger opportunity actually about making install an option for homeowners. We have a branch of products that we call ‘easy install’ — the name says it all, you know, super easy for the average DIYer through to electricians to install. I see that there's probably a future for much more there, in terms of in-ceiling speakers and maybe some satellite speakers to create this environment.

There's a whole tangent we could go down about whether Atmos has gained momentum. I think for me, it's still a ‘watch and see’.

But I think the idea of in-ceiling or in-wall speakers and satellite speakers, and maybe some floorstanders or bookshelves as an option, and them all working together, that's interesting — and I think wireless within that environment is really interesting. And by ‘interesting’ that means ‘yes, I'm considering that’.

The ‘easy install’ stuff is super interesting though for us, because we've all been in this industry a long time. We've seen that installation systems are seen as complex and scary and difficult and expensive. You need a server-mounted system and you need specialisms and you need lots of complexity and disruption to your home… it isn't like that anymore. I've been really blown away.

My wife doesn't know this yet, but I'm going to switch stuff out in our house, because I've suddenly realized how easy it is. Q Acoustics has a thing called the E300a, which is essentially a built-in amplifier and streaming modules in a down-lighter-like size. Wire it up to a couple of in-ceiling speakers, you've got a system ready to go. It couldn't be easier. Voice controlled, so you can say ‘Alexa play BBC 6 Music’ or whatever.

I don't think people realize they can do this yet generally, and that they can do it themselves on a weekend, or they can get their local electrician to come and pop it in, because it's easy. And we're trying to support the electrician channel to do more of that. Maybe that's more interesting than the soundbars on their own.

Let's get nerdyish for a second. HDMI ARC I think is really, really important. Thank God for it, because I think particularly if you're earlier on in your [hi-fi] journey, you have to make some compromises, but you can enjoy hi-fi quality sound through an HDMI ARC interface and it'll still be part of a pseudo AV system.

Sure, it's compromised because you're not going to get the bells and whistles coming from all around — Titanic isn't going to sound quite the same — but it's going to sound beautiful when you listen to music. In that kind of relationship between ‘is it music’ or ‘is it audiovisual’, I think it’s entertainment as a whole, and finding the best of both worlds. HDMI ARC has been a savior.

TR: There's also the element where, if people go to [the] Reddit home theater community for their advice on whether to buy a soundbar, or which is the right soundbar, what they will get is a lot of people saying that they should actually get a stereo setup. There are people who say this will always be better than any soundbar, and you guys do have that option in your active speakers.

CH: That's what I mean; you can get the best of both worlds. That stereo presence though is always going to be better; that’s the point, isn't it, because you're not compromised by [having] the bar in the middle.

TR: So finally, what is the holistic brand proposition you want to offer from Armour Home? If you're addressing what you want all of your brands to do at once, and you’ve got this idea of how you can integrate with the community, what do you want people to think about Q Acoustics and QED and Goldring in combination?

CH: I want people to see that there is a relationship between all three brands that takes us from the origins of the audio experience right up to the modern day. That there is some confidence in those brands, that we understand the legacy that they bring, and that Q Acoustics kind of brings that freshness to it as well.

That we can bring those technologies together more, so there's more integration there and the design and feel about them having a relationship closer together as well. So rather than Armor Home as a parent company being a collection of brands, Armor Home is the home of source through to the output.

And that we've got a vibe as well, that we're not passive, forgive the pun, in this industry — that we recognize that it's about the hairs on your arms. It isn't just about the engineering.

It's just about having a shared passion and experience and being visible to everybody in the places that they enjoy being. This idea of ‘we'll come to you, you don't need to come to us because we are the same as you’.

While OpenAI continues to sit pat on whatever device it is planning to build with Jony Ive, it is embarking on a journey that Google began years ago with the launch of the Android and Chrome OS operating systems followed by its own Pixel devices.

Long before anyone had heard of ChatGPT, Google CEO Sundar Pichai made clear that AI was a primary driver behind Google’s device push. Now, the company’s journey is about to take a turn with the launch of Googlebooks.

While Googlebooks and Chromebooks will coexist for a number of years, it’s clear that the former will eventually replace the latter. But are Googlebooks actually new “books” or really just new “chapters” that represent an evolution of the Chromebook. That depends on where the comparison lies.

Chromebooks have done an excellent job of retaining attributes such as ease of management, security, and affordability. On the other hand, the AI-first mission of the Googlebook represents a dramatic contrast from the cloud-first mission of the Chromebook, and the two platforms carry significant enough differences to justify the new naming.

Foremost, the Googlebooks’ new technical foundation of Android should greatly improve the performance and integration of Android apps versus today’s Chromebooks.

A crash landing from the cloud

Indeed, that serves as a reminder that the original philosophy of the Chromebook as a minimalist web app appliance disappeared a long time ago. And while it is still tough to beat the Chromebook when it comes to computing on a tight budget (Microsoft’s most recent attempt, the education-focused Surface Laptop SE, had the company’s quickest market retreat since Windows RT), Google and its partners have sought to climb the pricing ladder with Chromebook Pluses.

These devices, which have embraced higher quality materials and earlier access to Google’s AI innovations (albeit mostly cloud-based ones), have sold well enough to signal to Google that the market is ready for Windows alternatives that shift away from competing so heavily on price.

While it’s not a perfect parallel for what Apple was able to do in bringing kids who grew up with the Apple II to the Mac, Google has an opportunity to provide a more capable alternative to a generation of kids who grew up with Chromebooks, particularly at a time when AI stands to transform the PC experience from being a tool to being an agent.

(Image credit: Future)

And so the more important question becomes not how Googlebooks will diverge from Chromebooks, but how their new functionality will stack up to Windows, which will also of course continue to evolve.

In this sense, Google’s timing is excellent because it does not need to rely on Android versions of apps catching up to Windows versions; the company has never had much luck getting developers to optimize for Android platforms beyond the phone. Rather, it can compete on a new breed of AI-focused functionality.

But despite Microsoft pulling back from cramming CoPilot into every corner of its desktop operating system, it is still in the early days of integrating AI into that platform as well.

At Build, for example, Microsoft showed not only how it is bringing OpenClaw-pioneered workflows into Windows, but how it is expanding the supporting processor family to include the bold and powerful RTX Spark architecture from MediaTek and Nvidia.

That should put some distance between Windows and Android-based PCs at the top of the market, but the real test will come down to how well Microsoft can scale such AI down versus how well Google scales its desktop AI up.

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of attending the Sony World Photography Awards (SWPA) 2026. During the evening ceremony where this year's victors were announced, I met Will Burrard-Lucas, an award-winning wildlife photographer whose work I was already familiar with.

Burrard-Lucas took home another award that night, the SWPA 2026 wildlife and nature category, with a series of photos of a rhino, giraffe, elephants and more in Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve, captured with remotely-triggered Canon DSLRs. He filled in the blanks for me on how he created these photos — and you can read that interview in full.

He used his self-developed infrared camera 'traps', which can wirelessly connect to a pro-grade camera — Burrard Lucas actually recommends old DSLRs — and trigger the shutter when motion is detected, and which are available on his own website.

These sophisticated devices are called Camtraptions, and their automated function sounded much more appealing than my prior rudimentary setups for garden wildlife photography, which required a lot of involvement on my part that I didn't necessarily have the time or patience for.

And so, I cheekily requested to try out these Camtraptions devices for myself, and Burrard-Lucas happily obliged, sending me a full kit that I planned to test in my garden at home. Could I photograph next-level garden wildlife photos with this newfound setup? I'm here to share my experience.

What is a 'Camtraptions' camera trap sensor and how does it work?The Camtraptions PIR main device, now in its fourth versionTim ColemanTim ColemanTim ColemanTim ColemanTim ColemanTim ColemanTim Coleman

Cameras that use infrared to detect motion and in turn take photos or videos, remotely capturing the action, are nothing new. Two popular examples are budget trail cams and bird feeder cams, and you're not short of choices for either type.

The problem with these convenient devices is the quality they produce; they tend to take JPEG photos just 2-3MB in size and HD video, using a tiny imaging sensor through a sub par lens. In short, they are highly convenient, but image quality is poor. These rugged devices are designed to be left on location for long periods for monitoring purposes — but no serious photographer would prize the quality of the photos they take.

For high-quality and intimate images of wildlife fit for photo contests, that you simply couldn't capture in person, a Camtraptions Passive Infrared (PIR) device with reliable remote capture, paired with a pro camera, could be the ticket.

Burrard-Lucas actually recommends old DSLRs when photographing wildlife remotely using his Camtraptions PIR devices, because he tends to leave the camera on location for months at a time, and these cameras represent a sensible cost to quality ratio. They also work reliably with flash.

I lined up the Camptraptions PIR (V4) device alongside my Nikon D800Tim ColemanTim ColemanTim ColemanTim Coleman

There are plenty of great value secondhand options at leading retailers such as MPB (UK) and Adorama (US), but I already had my own Nikon D800 in mind — a 36MP full-frame model from 2012 that I hadn't used for over two years.

Camtraptions prices

For my daytime setup, I used a Camtraptions PIR V4 (£175) camera trap sensor fitted with a 6xAA to NP-F Battery Adapter (£8) for power (AA batteries not included), plus a wireless receiver (£23) connected with a camera connecting cable (£9) — all available at the Camtraptions store.

For the nighttime setup, I added 2x Z2 Camera Trap Zoom Flashes (£89 each), each fitted with a receiver (another £23 each), and then a transmitter for the camera to communicate with the flashes (£23). The site sells all manner of lighting, weatherproof housing and so on. I already had a camera and lenses plus 4x tripod supports needed for the latter setup. I recommend talking with the Camtraptions team to get the right kit for your needs.

All prices above exclude VAT. Camtraptions is a UK based company but also ships to the US and EU, with prices and shipping calculated at checkout.

The Camtraptions device loaned to me uses infrared to detect motion and wirelessly trigger the camera using its built in transmitter. You simply connect a separate Camtraptions receiver unit to the camera and sync the pair on the same channel. There are detailed manuals on the Camtraptions site — the one I needed being a full 85 pages!

Camtraptions have been developed over years and the most recent is the V4, which is packed with handy features; near and far infrared range options, doors that can narrow the otherwise wide scan area to a focused spot, multiple frames per second triggering and so on.

Ultimately, I breathed new life into my otherwise out of action Nikon D800 and F-mount lenses, setting it up on location in my garden over warm, rainless summer months, in the hope of capturing garden wildlife photos otherwise not easily possible.

My first test — daytime bird photography

I started out with the simplest setup of all; my tripod-mounted Nikon DSLR with 70-200mm f/2.8 lens and the Camtraption device on another tripod. They were a few feet apart, both pointing at an old branch I had collected, which was baited with bird seed.

Because birds are fast moving creatures, I selected a 1/500sec shutter speed, f/9 aperture for sufficient depth of field with the full-frame sensor and 200mm focal length, and auto ISO with a maximum ISO 3200 sensitivity to cover daylight and dawn / dusk. I dialled in -0.7EV exposure compensation, and otherwise left the camera to calculate exposure with that -0.7EV latitude for keeping highlight detail on a bird's bright plumage in sunkissed scenes — better to brighten an image later than suffer highlight clipping.

I placed the setup in a spot of my wild garden that I know is already popular with birds, and I kid you not, a few hours later, having carried on with my day job writing camera articles like this, I returned to the camera to find dozens and dozens of perfectly composed shots of the common birds that frequent my garden — I've added some of my favorites, below, including some moodier shots at dusk.

Besides setting up the scene and the gear, I had no involvement, and came away with multiple keepers. This was too easy, so I gave myself a trickier challenge; nighttime garden wildlife.

Cropped in from the 36MP originalTim ColemanAnd here is the full-size photoTim ColemanTim ColemanTim ColemanTim ColemanTim ColemanTim ColemanThis and the following photo were captured at duskTim ColemanTim ColemanMy second experiment — nighttime with flash

Deer, foxes and badgers visit my rural garden from time to time, especially in the quiet and nighttime hours. My Birdfy Bird Bath Pro inadvertently recorded a deer munching on a bush in the background at first light one morning, while I recently saw a badger scuttle across my driveway as I pulled in late at night. However, I've never got even close to photographing these creatures.

The first challenge was one pretty much out of my control; knowing where to place the camera and Camtraptions gear. That's because there were no signs of regularly trodden trails, gaps in foliage or dug up routes underneath fencing where I could be confident of capturing the action. No, I had to hedge my bets, and our garden is wild and fairly open.

I opted for visualizing and composing the shot I wanted — a narrow opening between bamboo, where I hoped that wildlife would walk through — and added a little incentive of the culinary persuasion (badgers love peanut butter).

Next challenge was a technical one; lighting. Setting up the gear for the twilight and evening hours outside of bright daylight meant I needed to rely on flash. Flashguns can be purchased at the Camtraptions site, along with the compatible wireless receivers. (Camtraptions wireless receivers and transmitters effectively work in the same way as regular flash triggers from other brands, and are competitively priced.)

The camera trap sensor (left), the camera (right), and two flashguns nestled in the bamboo. That's four tripods required!Tim ColemanThe camera has a transmitter attached to the hotshoe to command the flashes, and receiver on top of that connected with a camera connecting cable to receive the signal from the camera trap sensor.Tim Coleman

So, this nighttime version was more complex than my previous setup, adding two tripod-mounted flashguns each fitted with remote receivers, plus a remote transmitter to the camera which is already fitted with a receiver to accept the signal from the Camptraptions device. It's a chain of command: Camptraptions camera trap sensor transmits to camera which transmits to flash guns.

That's a lot of batteries, by the way, and I needed to splash out for additional ones before I could get started. Each wireless receiver / transmitter required 2x AAA batteries, the flashguns 4x AA batteries each, while the Camtraptions camera trap sensor took 6x AA batteries in a custom FZ casing (but which is compatible with various Sony FZ batteries). In total, I had 22 rechargeable batteries on the go.

Exposure is slightly more complicated, too. I set the camera to 1/200sec — the top speed I could use for synchronizing flash and camera, and the minimum I would want to freeze the action fully — the aperture to f/10, and ISO to Auto with a maximum ISO 3200 given the age of my camera and it's relative poor low light performance. If trying this type of setup out for yourself, do check your own camera's max flash sync speed.

Lighting test. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

Then in situ in the garden, I took the time to photograph a test subject (me) to ensure the flash power and camera exposure settings were nicely matched for punchy results with a little bit of background detail, as opposed to a fully black background. In this case, the ideal setting was a manual 1/32 strength for the front flash, and 1/64 strength for the rear flash.

I used a wider angle lens than my prior test — a 35mm f/1.4 optic — given I was hoping to photograph larger creatures, and I wanted a closeup wide-angle look that I've rarely achieved, rather than a distant telephoto position. I tweaked composition and so on and lined up the Camtraptions device with its doors narrowed in order to trigger the camera once a creature had walked into a specific part of the frame.

That's the beauty with remote trigger photography — you spend your efforts composing a beautiful shot by visualizing it ahead of time, helped by the Camtraptions camera trap sensor's fine-tuned range. The hard work is put in before, rather than reacting to a moment. Sure, I'd rather the rush of seeing an animal first hand and that feeling of pressing the shutter, but this new technique didn't feel so different — the rush comes later when you revisit the camera to see what you've photographed.

I eagerly returned to the camera after night one, hit the playback button and...a handful of wild rabbit photos appeared. Although I didn't manage to photograph any of the larger mammals that I had hoped for, the technical quality was there — good lighting and rich detail (see below).

And here's my favorite photo from my initial nighttime setupTim ColemanAnd in the early hours with a bit of daylight. With auto ISO emplyed, the camera is still exposing for the brighter light perfectlyTim Coleman

That's not bad for my first night with an automated camera setup, and of course I tried again, especially since I could leave the camera gear in situ — it was no extra effort on my part.

I rechecked the battery life of the camera, flashguns and Camptraptions device (which were still full), walked into the Camtraption's infrared scan area to check all the devices were still communicating, and sure enough the camera fired off some shots with both flash guns, so all good on that front, and then left the devices for another night.

More rabbits. Not that I'm complaining. I was going to need patience, but when you have an automated setup like this, time is on your side. And at that rate, I estimated that battery life on the devices would be good for around a month.

I fiddled about with some bamboo cuttings to disguise the camera gear a little better, and with no rain forecast for the following couple of weeks I left the devices be. Of course, for wet weather I would need to protect the gear from the elements, even with rudimentary solutions such as clear plastic bags and cable ties (through which the flashguns would still work fine).

I haven't got the photo I hoped for yet, but I'm confident that I will. And if anything else, I've breathed new life into my old Nikon DSLR gear. The quality of the photos I already have is streets above a regular trail cam, and the basic costs of the setup is pretty reasonable. I might have just found my next photography obsession.

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Burrard-Lucas' Camptraptions gear combined with DSLR camera gear and all the necessary supports and power sources is pretty pricey compared to a regular cheap trail cam, but you're getting reliable gear and professional results fit for a portfolio and, with the right environment and subject, potentially even contest worthy. In that respect, I think it's excellent value.

On that note, I'd love to hear from you — have you had any joy photographing garden wildlife photography? How did you get the pictures that you're happy with? You can share your experiences in the comments section.

For much of the past two years, artificial intelligence in finance has been defined by experimentation and exploration. Organizations across sectors have been testing tools, running pilots and identifying potential use cases ranging from automated reporting through to more advanced forecasting and analysis.

In most cases, however, the emphasis has been on understanding what AI might eventually enable rather than embedding it into core financial operations.

This phase is now beginning to change as finance leaders shift their attention from experimentation to execution.

The conversation is becoming less about theoretical potential and more about measurable value. CFOs are shifting their expectations from immediate, direct cost-reduction to the broader enabling capabilities of AI - specifically, how it can help the business build resilience, navigate macro volatility in real time, and protect the integrity of financial results.

From experimentation to embedded capability

What is becoming increasingly clear is that AI is no longer being treated as a standalone innovation initiative. Instead, it is being absorbed into the broader financial technology landscape, embedded within existing enterprise systems, workflows and controls.

Rather than introducing entirely new tools and interfaces, organizations are prioritizing integration into platforms they already rely on, utilizing their independent system of financial control to govern these workflows alongside their ERPs. This reflects a broader recognition that AI delivers the most sustainable value when it is operationalized within established processes rather than layered on top of them.

At the same time, the reality of adoption is proving more nuanced than early expectations suggested. Many organizations have embraced generic, probabilistic productivity assistants to support basic administrative tasks, delivering incremental gains without transforming how finance operates.

However, when it comes to deploying advanced AI agents for complex financial operations, organizations remain understandably cautious about unleashing probabilistic models in highly regulated environments. This is because traditional AI operates as a 'black box' that cannot show its work to an auditor.

Governance, trust and the role of AI in decision-making

This caution is not simply cultural; it is structural. Finance is a discipline where accuracy, auditability and control are non-negotiable, and as AI becomes more deeply embedded in decision-making processes, governance has naturally moved to the forefront of adoption strategies.

Many organizations are now implementing explicit guardrails to ensure AI-generated outputs remain transparent, auditable and compliant with internal and external requirements.

Rather than replacing human oversight, AI is increasingly being positioned as an augmentation layer that supports finance professionals by accelerating access to information, identifying anomalies and improving the speed at which decisions can be made.

Data readiness as the foundation of AI success

Underlying all of this, is a more fundamental constraint that is shaping the pace of adoption: data readiness. One of the clearest lessons emerging from early deployments is that AI is only as effective as the data it is built upon. Where financial data is fragmented, inconsistent or poorly governed, AI tools struggle to deliver reliable outputs.

Conversely, organizations that have invested in standardizing processes, improving data quality and modernizing financial systems are finding themselves significantly better positioned to extract meaningful value from AI.

This is where years of finance transformation work are beginning to show their importance. Efforts to improve financial close processes, strengthen reconciliation controls and ensure data integrity are now acting as a foundation for AI readiness.

In practice, this means that AI success is increasingly dependent not just on the sophistication of the technology itself, but on whether the underlying financial data environment is structured, trusted and audit-ready. Those organizations that have yet to implement the right tools and policies to make the most of their data are likely to find themselves left behind in the AI era.

Early use cases delivering tangible value

From implementations that have already taken place, we can see where AI is already beginning to demonstrate tangible benefits across a range of finance activities. In financial close processes, it is helping teams identify discrepancies more quickly and reduce the manual effort associated with reconciliations.

In audit and compliance, it is accelerating the analysis of large data sets and improving preparation cycles. In planning and analysis functions, it is starting to support scenario modelling and variance analysis, enabling finance teams to interpret performance more efficiently and respond more quickly to business change.

What is notable across these early use cases is that AI is not replacing finance professionals but reshaping how they spend their time. Rather than focusing on manual data gathering and validation, teams are increasingly able to focus on interpretation, insight and decision support, which has long been the intended direction of travel for modern finance and accounting functions.

Scaling AI across the enterprise

As the market moves into the next phase of adoption, the challenge will be less about identifying new use cases and more about scaling them effectively across the enterprise.

This requires a combination of trusted financial data, embedded workflows and strong governance frameworks that allow AI to operate safely within core finance processes. Without these foundations, there is a risk that AI remains fragmented, delivering isolated efficiency gains rather than meaningful transformation.

Vendors and finance technology providers are increasingly aligning around this reality, with a growing emphasis on ensuring that AI capabilities are embedded within controlled financial environments rather than operating as disconnected tools. Platforms focused on financial close automation and data integrity are therefore becoming central to how organizations scale AI.

This is because they do not simply act as disconnected tools; they provide the unified, governed environment where a digital workforce operates in partnership with finance teams to deliver continuous control, intelligence, and accuracy.

A more mature phase of AI in finance

Ultimately, AI is not reshaping finance by replacing its core principles, but by reinforcing them. Accuracy, control and trust remain as important as ever, even as the tools used to achieve them evolve. The organizations that will benefit most from AI will not necessarily be those that adopt it fastest, but those that are able to operationalize it responsibly, building the right balance between innovation and discipline.

In that sense, the future of AI in finance is less about disruption and more about maturity. The technology is already here; what now matters is how effectively finance teams are able to embed it into the fabric of their operations in a way that delivers consistent, reliable and scalable value.

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UK banking is at a divide. Anthropic's Claude Mythos, an AI model designed to identify and patch software vulnerabilities, has been rolled out to roughly 200 partner organizations as part of ‘Project Glasswing’, but UK banks have so far been notably absent from the list.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has expressed serious security concerns about the gap, while several leading UK lenders are turning to OpenAI's rival cyber-focused model instead.

For now, the UK sector is split between those racing to secure frontier AI defenses and those still waiting to do so.

It's a genuinely important story for cybersecurity teams, but for everyday customers, it's largely invisible. Nobody checks which AI model their bank has access to before deciding whether to trust it.

What they notice is whether their bank tells them what's going on when something goes wrong. That’s a test that won’t go away, regardless of which side of the access gap a financial institution sits on.

In fact, consumer confidence in financial institutions is declining, with over a third of Brits distrustful of their providers. In this context, even the smallest incidents can escalate into reputational problems if communication is delayed or unclear.

Faster detection is changing customer expectations

Every major technology shift introduces new risks, but AI changes the speed at which those risks emerge and spread. Tools across fraud monitoring, compliance and cybersecurity are clearly getting faster at surfacing problems. That's good news operationally, but it widens the gap between how quickly a bank knows about an issue and how quickly it tells its customers.

If a bank's systems can identify suspicious account behavior in real time, customers reasonably expect their bank to communicate in real time too. Response time is a big trust factor among UK consumers. If systems like Mythos can recognize emerging issues immediately, customers expect guidance around the same issues immediately too.

With people unsure of whether to trust AI, silence from a bank creates its own narrative. Customers begin to fill information gaps themselves, often through online speculation or fragmented reporting elsewhere. In financial services, trust is rarely lost in a single catastrophic moment. More often, it weakens through confusion and perceived inaction.

Communication is now part of risk management

This is why communication can no longer sit downstream from operational infrastructure. It must become part of risk management itself.

When incidents occur, customers want clarity about what is happening, confidence that the institution understands the issue, and clear guidance on what they need to do next. Too often, businesses focus on technical remediation, while customer communication is delayed by fragmented systems or uncertainty about messaging.

That fragmentation is already evident in day-to-day experiences, with only 59% of financial services consumers saying their provider communicates using their preferred channel. As a result, most people receive updates too slowly, across disconnected channels, or in language that prioritizes compliance over clarity.

That approach no longer works in environments shaped by AI-speed detection and real-time digital expectations. The institutions that maintain trust most effectively will be those that communicate with the same precision and responsiveness as the systems that monitor the risk itself.

So, what are the top ways banks can maintain trust?

Prioritize speed alongside accuracy - in high-pressure moments, delayed communication often creates more customer anxiety than the issue itself.

That does not mean rushing incomplete information to customers. But it does mean building communication workflows that enable organizations to quickly acknowledge issues, explain what is known, and provide regular updates - on the customer’s preferred channel - as situations develop. Customers are generally more understanding of operational problems when they feel informed throughout the process.

Use plain language instead of technical reassurance - many financial incidents become harder for customers to process because explanations are overly technical or overly cautious.

Customers do not want pages of operational detail. They want straightforward explanations of what happened, whether they are affected, and what action they should take. Clear communication reduces uncertainty. It also helps prevent panic-driven behavior that can escalate customer support pressure during incidents.

As AI systems become more complex behind the scenes, communication needs to become simpler at the customer level, not more complicated.

Deliver consistency across every channel - customers move between apps, email, SMS, websites and contact centers interchangeably, and they notice when the message varies depending on where they look.

One of the biggest risks during fast-moving incidents is fragmentation: customers seeing conflicting guidance depending on where they look or the channel that they are on. Maintaining trust requires coordinated communication that delivers the same message, tone and guidance consistently across every channel and customer interaction.

Trust will be won or lost through communication, not the AI model

Mythos will not be the last AI system to reshape financial services operations. Technologies across fraud prevention, compliance monitoring, customer support and risk analysis are already impacting how institutions operate and communicate with people.

But operational capability alone will not determine which organisations succeed. As systems move faster and risks surface earlier, trust increasingly depends on how institutions communicate during moments of uncertainty.

Customers don’t expect perfection. They understand that new technologies introduce complexity and evolving risks. What they expect is transparency, responsiveness and reassurance when issues arise.

It’s about whether the behind-the-scenes infrastructure can turn detection into the right message, on the right channel, fast enough for it to land before doubt takes hold.

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On the surface, the accounting and finance sector appears to be a great test case for AI integration. Work revolves around numerical data, while processes are structured and rules-driven.

It also seems an ideal environment for automation, giving scope for AI to process information at speed and scale. For that reason, it’s already being used to handle some of the sector’s necessary yet repetitive and time-consuming work, such as invoice capture, month-end reporting and anomaly detection.

But as confidence in AI grows and is integrated into more accounting and finance software, there’s a risk that organizations once fearful of the technology may go to the other extreme. At that point, there’s a danger that some professionals may lean so deeply into AI that they become detached from the numbers.

That matters because the decisions that sit behind the figures and spreadsheets are rarely driven by pure logic. Financial strategy is shaped by leadership judgement, organizational priorities, risk appetite, and sometimes (although none of us likes to admit it) internal politics.

That means a surprisingly large proportion of commercial decisions contain a human component that AI cannot, and probably should not attempt to, replace.

For many finance and accounting teams, the solution is to use automation to reduce cognitive load. Individuals are then free to focus on interpretation, creativity and decision-making. It keeps humans in the process exactly where instincts and experience are most needed.

Surfacing the truth

Numbers often create a sense of objectivity and certainty, but financial reporting still involves interpretation, context and judgement. So, when accounting and finance professionals engage with AI tools and automation, it’s important they maintain a firm grasp of their data.

But there’s also a moral dimension. Most UK accounting bodies have set out ethical codes and guidance on deploying AI in ways that preserve human oversight and authority, and protect sensitive data.

It’s an important consideration because, for the first time, we’re not simply asking technology to deliver calculations, as we might with a spreadsheet or a calculator. We’re asking for opinions and interpretations, while simultaneously hiding much of the methodology that gets us to the answer.

In some ways, it’s like comparing classic and modern cars. Open the bonnet of a car from the 80s or before, and you can see all the engine parts. You could buy a manual and (if you were brave) carry out a few repairs yourself. Today, if you open the bonnet of a new car, much of what you’re looking at is sealed, covered or controlled by software.

Sure, there are signs to add windscreen wash, but that’s about it. For everything else, we’ve handed control to diagnostic machines, telemetry and professional mechanics. It’s great not to get our hands dirty, but not so wonderful if the car breaks down miles from home.

The problem isn’t that the technology in new cars is bad. It’s that the further we move from understanding the systems we rely on, the harder it becomes to challenge them when something appears to be wrong.

A question of trust

For the same reason, finance leaders still need visibility into how AI-generated outputs are reached and the confidence to challenge them when necessary. That’s important because AI output is ultimately based on prediction, and prediction is not the same as verified truth.

Nevertheless, we tend to trust it—usually because it’s saving us time and feels authoritative. Published research supports this view: A study by KPMG and the University of Melbourne found that two-thirds of workers do not evaluate AI outputs for accuracy, despite more than half reporting that they had made AI-related mistakes in their work.

At the same time, research from Glean found that in one month, 77% of UK workers had to correct AI-generated work. Together, the findings suggest that while AI is becoming an increasingly trusted part of the workplace, human oversight and validation remain essential.

Keeping score 

Output confidence scoring could be one solution. Rather than trusting every AI-generated output, organizations can implement processes in which the technology itself flags lower-confidence outputs for human review before action is taken. This creates a better balance between automation and oversight. It also gives finance teams clearer visibility into the reliability and completeness of AI-generated outputs. 

In effect, confidence scoring creates an early warning system, helping organizations understand what AI is recommending and, importantly, how much trust they should place in those recommendations.

A word of warning: The responsibility for checking outputs should not sit exclusively with junior staff. It’s true that they need to learn the manual calculations and processes sitting behind automated systems so they can properly challenge the results.

However, the same principle applies to seniors. Their experience should not distance them from the logic behind the numbers. If anything, AI makes that visibility even more important.

There is also another, longer-term consideration. Every finance team has people who instinctively know when something doesn’t look right. They’ve spent years working with the data and understanding the processes behind it.

Some of that knowledge is written down, but much of it is gained from experience and built over time. If organizations become too detached from the systems and calculations underpinning their reporting, they risk losing some of the institutional memory that helps them challenge anomalies and spot potential issues.

The reality beneath the numbers

Productivity gains from AI and automation are creating more space for higher-value thinking rather than removing people from the process. The information surfaced by AI can ultimately help leaders make better decisions by revealing connections, patterns and insights that may previously have remained hidden within the data.

In many ways, this is not new: Leaders have always relied on summaries, dashboards, and reporting layers to help them make decisions. Indeed, the purpose of month-end reporting and executive summaries created by accounting and finance teams was always designed to deliver that information in an easy, digestible way.

But AI dramatically widens the gap between decision-makers and the operational reality beneath the numbers. Before AI, executives could ask their finance team to explain the rationale on which they based their reports. Even after the move from spreadsheets to software, those teams remained closely involved in creating the reports and could usually trace how the conclusions were reached.

With that in mind, the finance teams that benefit most from AI will likely be the ones that strike the right balance between automation and oversight—the ones that can delegate repetitive, manual processing tasks but don’t lose visibility into the data. If organizations surrender that understanding completely, then commercial judgement and entrepreneurial instinct may be blunted or misdirected.

Organizations may, therefore, ultimately prefer not to hand complete control to AI-enabled systems and instead focus on people-led automation. The goal should be confidence in transparent AI-supported workflows, not unswerving reliance on more opaque automated outputs. That stops AI from acting as a replacement for human judgement and transforms it into an extension of human capability.

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LG’s OLED TVs are often among the best TVs I test each year, and 2026 has been no different. Both the LG G6 and LG C6 earned full five-star ratings in my reviews, while the LG B6 also earned four-and-a-half, proving itself to be a fantastic affordable option.

On paper, all three of these TVs share a lot of the same features, especially for gaming, and they all scored highly for their picture quality, but how do they compare alongside one another in a real-world setting? I conducted this same test last year with the LG G5, C5 and B5 and in that instance, the LG C5 was my top pick, with the best balance of price and performance.

I’ve already compared the G6 and B6 this year, but now that I have access to all three TVs at the same time, I couldn’t wait to do a real world comparison between the three. The C6 has a new built-in processor (the same Alpha 11 AI Gen 3 the G6 uses), the B6 I tested hit new brightness heights and the G6 delivers even more impressive colors than its predecessor. All three still have big shoes to fill, so let’s see how they compare.

A quick note: I’m using the LG B6E here — a more affordable version of the LG B6 that I used for my review. While there is a price difference, LG has told me they are fundamentally the same TV; the B6E is missing some remaster features and has a plainer back panel, but still has important features such as Dolby Vision and the same gaming features.

Colors

All three TVs have excellent colors, shown here in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, but the G6 has the most impact due to its brightness, closely followed by the C6. (Image credit: Nintendo / Universal Pictures / Future )

The best OLED TVs often produce rich, vibrant colors that add real depth to a picture, and all three of these 2026 OLED TVs do the same across the board. Watching The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the colors rendered on all three screens are stunning. The red and green of Mario and Luigi’s hats and overalls are both punchy and lifelike on each TV, and in this scenario, there’s not a lot to choose between them.

Any time the Lumas are on screen, there’s gorgeous visual pop with seriously bold colors on all three TVs, but this is where differences started to show. While there was a nice vibrancy on all three TVs, the G6 demonstrated the richest and brightest colors thanks to its higher peak brightness (more on that in the brightness section). I was surprised, however, at just how close to the G6’s colors were to those of the C6. The Lumas had the same color depth and luminosity (pun intended) on both.

While the G6 (left) has most striking colors, its brightness can get ahead of itself, shown in the grass here on Speed Racer. The C6 looks the most accurate. (Image credit: Warner Bros. / Future )

Switching to another colorful movie in Speed Racer, all three TVs again accurately delivered super-saturated, vivid colors throughout the movie. The bright decor of the Racer home, with its orange and blue walls, really explodes on screen and again, the G6’s brightness gives its colors the most outright impact. Clothing, such as Speed’s blue shirt and Pops Racer’s red and orange shirts, are vibrant with plenty of visual punch.

One thing I did notice while watching Speed Racer is that on occasion, the G6’s color luminance could get ahead of itself. Colors would sometimes lose the richness I’d seen, bordering on too-bright. The C6 on the other hand, kept that nice depth. This was true particularly in the bright greens of grass and in the neon signage along the various racetracks. The B6E did a very good job demonstrating the same gaudy colors as its step-up siblings, but didn’t quite have the same wow-factor as the other two.

A green tint that affects the accuracy of skin tones in this scene in Lawrence of Arabia is noticeable on the G6 (left) and B6E (right), whereas they appear more lifelike on the C6 (middle). (Image credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment / Future )

In terms of color accuracy, all three TVs did a good job, but I did notice that the G6 and B6E exhibited signs of a green tint that has been an issue for some LG OLEDs in the past. The C6 however, showed little to no sign of this green tint. The tint was particularly obvious in skin tones. Watching the opening scenes of Lawrence of Arabia, as a reporter interviews several outside Lawrence’s funeral, I could see people’s skin had a green/yellow complexion on the G6 and B6, which didn’t look right. The C6 showed a more natural skin tone. This was true in Speed Racer as well, shown most of all on several of the commentators.

Contrast and dark room viewingAll three TVs have strong contrast, shown here with in The Batman, where the lights from the machines balances with the dark surroundings. Warner Bros. / Future Again, all three TVs show strong contrast, but the C6 (middle) appears most accurate, with no sign of green tint. Warner Bros. / Future

All three TVs demonstrate impressive contrast, but the strength of the contrast depends on the scene. Watching The Batman in dark and ambient conditions, there’s a great balance between light and dark tones on all three screens. The scene where Bruce is in the Batcave early in the movie shows strong HDR highlights from the lamps, which contrast well with the dark surroundings. The G6’s higher brightness meant that light sources had more impact and created stronger perceived contrast than the other two models, but the C6 was a very close second.

All three TVs delivered deep blacks, and other dark tones looked authentic. In the subway scene, as Batman stands on the platform post-fight, I did notice that the green tint was prevalent on the G6 and B6E in darker room conditions. I found that dropping the G6’s contrast from 100 to 95 in the settings reduced the green tint significantly. On the B6, I couldn’t find a way to reduce it. On the C6, the picture looked accurate in its default settings, accurately portraying the gray color of the platform.

All three TVs have great shadow detail, but the G6 (left) has the added brightness to create greater shadow detail. The C6 is close, while the B6E does show some black crush. (Image credit: Warner Bros. / Future)

While all three TVs had great shadow detail as well as satisfying dark tones, I found on occasion that black crush could occur on the C6 and B6E. The G6 had better detail retention in dark areas such as creases in Gordon’s coat or the texture in Batman’s armor, showing better contrast balance and shadow detail overall. While there were some obvious differences between these three, it was clear all three demonstrated strong contrast overall, which is one of OLED’s main strengths.

Brightness and bright room viewing

In scenes with plenty of white and snow, the G6 (left) has the advantage, thanks to its stronger brightness (Image credit: Future)

Looking at these TVs together, the brightness differences are obvious. In terms of measurements, with all three TVs set to Filmmaker Mode, the G6 registered 3,004 nits peak HDR brightness — a staggering result for an OLED — while the C6 hit 1,427 nits, and the B6E clocked in at 808 nits. All of these numbers are increases over their predecessors (the G5 hit 2,268 nits, the C5 hit 1,180 nits, and the B5 hit 668 nits), resulting in more impactful pictures.

Fullscreen HDR brightness also jumped for all these TVs, with the G6 hitting 451 nits, the C6 hitting 248 nits, and the B6E hitting 148 nits. While the B6E’s boost over the B5 is minor, it’s a 50 nits jump for the C6 and a huge 120 nits boost for the G6. Fullscreen brightness is important for bright room viewing and for sports, as higher fullscreen brightness can be useful for displaying large areas of the same color on screen, say, a football field.

How did these numbers translate into real-world scenes though? Watching some footage of snow scenes from the Spears & Munsil UHD Benchmark 4K Blu-ray, the white of the snow has a lot more visual punch on the G6 than the other two TVs. But while the huge difference in brightness numbers may make this seem obvious, it’s not always been the case during my tests. It’s even clear on fullscreen brightness, as the opening shot of the demo footage shows the top of a snow-covered mountain, the G6 practically radiates brightness while showing the white sky, compared to the C6 and B6E.

Using brighter movie scenes, however, the perceived brightness becomes a lot closer. The white of the Mach 5 and Speed’s helmet in Speed Racer is still brightest on the G6, but the C6 still delivers plenty of vibrancy and brightness, and the perceived brightness gap isn’t as big.

In this desert scene from Lawrence of Arabia, the G6 (left) has the most impact, but all three TVs do a very good job rendering the bright white of the sands. (Image credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment / Future )

The same is true when watching scenes from the desert in Lawrence of Arabia. The white sands surrounding the well dazzle on the G6, but the C6 still has plenty of impact, with bold HDR highlights. Even the B6E does a decent job rendering the brightness, although it lacks next to the G6 and C6.

With more colorful movies, such as The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the brightness again is much closer. The Lumas I mentioned in the color section still have plenty of pop on all three screens, and despite the G6’s much higher brightness, these Lumas are only a bit brighter compared to the C6 and B6E. Fireworks also shine on all three screens, and while the color of the fireworks shines brightest on the G6, they’re close on the other two screens.

For bright room viewing, the G6 (left) is the top dog, with both the C6 (middle) and B6 (right) showing clear mirror-like reflections. (Image credit: Future)

One thing that is undeniable, however, is which TV is best for bright room viewing. Most OLEDs struggle with bright conditions due to their glossy screens. While Samsung’s OLED Glare Free screen, most recently used on the Samsung S99H, is effective at eliminating reflections, none of these LG OLEDs use the same matte screen. This makes the G6’s anti-reflection so impressive, because not only does it do a great job reducing mirror-like reflections, but it maintains the crisp black levels OLED are known for. So impressive was the G6’s bright room performance, it became my choice of bright room OLED when I compared it to the Samsung S95/S99H.

This is one area where the C6 falls short. It has a very reflective screen, meaning trying to watch dark movies such as The Batman is impossible in Filmmaker Mode. The B6E seems to have some form of anti-reflection that does a better job reducing mirror-like reflections compared to the C6, but its lower brightness again affects bright room performance. For bright rooms, the G6 easily comes out on top.

Which to buy?

While all three TVs are fantastic, the C6 (middle) is my best value pick. (Image credit: Nintendo / Universal Pictures / Future )

Which LG OLED is best for you will ultimately come down to how much you want to spend. Each TV delivers fantastic features, excellent picture quality and is superb for gaming. Even their processors operate at similar speeds. For my money though, the best value model and my top pick is the C6.

A 55-inch C6 (the size I tested) is available at the time of writing for $1,499 / £1,499 / AU$2,495, whereas a 55-inch G6 will cost you $2,199 / £2,099 / AU$3,995. The C6 not only carries the same processor, but shows a more accurate, out-of-the-box picture with no green tint, and it’s the model with the biggest improvements over its predecessor.

The B6E is a bit of a steal at $799 / £899 in the US and UK for the 55-inch, which is an excellent price for a brand new OLED. In Australia, the B6 is AU$2,495 for the 55-inch, the same as the C6. While the B6E is best for budget buyers, it doesn’t deliver the same performance as the C6, hence why the C6 is easily my top pick of LG three 2026 OLEDs.

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As the worlds of networking and security increasingly collide, the role of network engineers is also evolving. IT teams are now on the frontlines of an organization's cybersecurity, monitoring what’s happening across traffic, users, devices to spot issues and threats early, and act before they escalate.

When network and security architectures are integrated well, complexity decreases while performance increases, security gets stronger and latency lowers; and overall, day-to-day operations become simpler.

With better visibility and AI-driven automation, organizations can spot and contain threats even faster, improve oversight across users, devices and applications, and build a more agile platform for digital transformation, including cloud adoption, branch modernization and hybrid working.

Perhaps the most significant evolution is that the old “detect, diagnose, fix” workstream for a network engineer is being replaced with a more proactive model. Aided by AI, networks can now learn from past behavior, flag early warning signs and trigger preventative actions automatically.

The payoff is more resilient infrastructure, a stronger security posture, and IT teams spending less time firefighting and more time moving the business forward.

From hardware-first to intelligent, software-defined experiences

Legacy enterprise networks were static and complex. Each organization had its own complicated mix of hardware, stitched together via multiple management tools that generally didn’t communicate very well with each other.

Diagnosing a network problem meant going through the process of elimination to isolate the failed system, then coordinating with multiple vendors to resolve it, which was often a time-consuming and error-prone affair.

Virtualization and automation have done much to improve upon that process already, helping today’s distributed enterprises achieve speed, scale and security across hybrid cloud environments, global data centers and remote workforces. However, AI is rapidly accelerating and opening up new avenues for this continual transformation.

AI-driven analytics provide visibility and context that traditional network tools never could. This allows IT teams to see patterns such as traffic flows, user behavior and performance metrics across siloed systems, all in real time. With this depth of continuous insight, networks can be fine-tuned dynamically rather than through manual and static configurations.

These capabilities reflect the move from static infrastructure to intelligent systems that can continuously adapt to the needs of the business.

Adaptive networking as the new normal

The traditional incident response sequence is well-worn: detection, diagnosis, escalation, and remediation. Even with automation, the process still depends on significant human intervention after the incident.

AI networking can predict potential disruptions before they happen by continuously analyzing telemetry data across the network. This is true whether it’s a failing device, an unexpected change in latency, or an issue due to environmental factors such as weather events. With the visibility provided by AI, IT teams have a comprehensive view of highly complex, multi-vendor network environments.

And once a potential problem is identified, an AI-driven network management platform can automatically recommend configuration changes to address the issue. While past reactive approaches focused on ‘the fix’, adaptive network management is preventative. AI enables IT teams to not only respond to problems faster, but to prevent them altogether.

What this means for network engineers

With AI-powered network management, IT teams are no longer spending their time chasing alerts or manually reviewing logs. Instead, they are interpreting insights and validating recommendations produced by AI systems.

This partnership between human expertise and AI marks the beginning of the "adaptive network era.” AI surfaces patterns, predicts needs and makes recommendations, while IT teams remain firmly in control with more context and foresight at their disposal than they’ve ever had before.

The business cases and practical benefits of AI network management stack up across a few key areas:

Resilience: Predictive analytics detect issues early, enabling remediation before users experience disruptions.

Efficiency: Routine diagnostics, reporting and configuration updates are automated, freeing IT staff to focus on more strategic priorities.

Cost Savings: In industries such as retail, finance and manufacturing, every minute of downtime means loss of revenue. Reducing outages and maintaining uptime directly impacts the bottom line.

Security: By continuously monitoring patterns and anomalies, AI enhances network defense and can help spot early signs of compromise that traditional systems may overlook.

More broadly, AI tools will bring a level of speed, reliability, and security that will reshape the networking experience. Complex network environments will be easier to manage, decision-making will be faster and more informed, and the process as a whole will be smoother and more reliable.

Of course, turning promise and potential into reality is more than just deploying new tools. AI is as good as the data it learns from. Enterprises need to ensure that their data pipelines are accessible and clean, and IT teams need visibility into how AI makes its recommendations and human-in-the-loop governance practices. High-quality data and trust are key, especially when automation affects live network traffic and security posture.

Building networks around people

Organizations are beginning to realize the value of networks that can adapt and recover from issues with minimal intervention. As AI is woven further into service provider operations, the tools enterprises receive will be redesigned to fit the day-to-day needs of the people using them.

Longer term, this points to a more user focused operations model, where dashboards tailor what they show and bring the right insights to the surface for each group, from administrators to business stakeholders and C level decision makers.

The most effective approach will blend human judgement with AI-powered analysis and recommendations.

We've featured the best IT management tool.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

Criminals used to rely on lock-picking tools and crowbars to break into buildings. Today’s attackers can cause just as much damage and disruption by using phishing links, malware and sophisticated digital exploits to target products, systems and networks.

The truth is, today’s security challenge isn’t just physical – or cyber – but both. And keeping one step ahead of criminals is a full-time occupation. For those people tasked with researching and developing the latest products, it sometimes means using unconventional tactics, such as using professional lock pickers to test the security and resilience of new products.

While modern locks are still based on mechanical engineering, they are more advanced than they look. Improvements in design, materials, and manufacturing mean they are stronger, more reliable, and harder to tamper with. But there’s more to locks than just security.

Some systems can even use the motion of turning a key to generate a small amount of electrical energy, which provides energy to power extra functions without wiring or batteries. This means they are not just standalone locks but can also be used as part of wider digital access systems.

Used extensively in buildings such as offices, hotels, hospitals and other critical infrastructure, these modern digital access solutions can also connect to cloud-based platforms to manage who can enter buildings and restricted areas.

Bridging physical and digital security

However, digital systems have their own security risks, which means security teams need to anticipate and defend against a wide range of risks – from attempts to breach access platforms to phishing attacks – as well as other tactics designed to exploit human behavior.

This explains why some security personnel have to adopt a ‘hacker’s mindset’ to keep systems safe. And that means continuously testing, probing, and strengthening systems to identify vulnerabilities.

But what is becoming increasingly clear is that physical and digital security systems can no longer be treated as separate entities.

Many security solutions today employ both mechanical and digital technology, which means that resilience – the kind of resilience that keeps data centers safe, for example – depends on understanding how risks move across systems, people and environments.

Embedding resilience into design

That means continuously designing and testing products against existing real-world threats while also anticipating what might be around the corner. That includes building security into every stage of development, especially as technology evolves.

For instance, great strides have been made recently in terms of biometric authentication, including facial recognition and fingerprint scanning. Similarly, smartphones are increasingly being used to secure credentials for mobile-based access control systems.

Work is also currently underway to use artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze data in real time to identify unusual entry times, identify multiple failed authentication attempts, or spot any other anomalies that might suggest someone is trying to gain entry illegally.

Using AI tools in a positive way is important because it is also the source of some of the newest and, therefore, most unpredictable challenges. For example, there are now autonomous AI threat chains that can discover and exploit vulnerabilities unilaterally, moving from reconnaissance to exfiltration in record time without any need for human oversight.

The danger posed by cyber criminals has also become more complex due to the growing interconnectivity of digital products and services. In many ways, a world where all hardware and software are interconnected is an efficient and convenient one.

But it is also one where, if bad actors gain access to a single element, they may be able to compromise the whole network.

The importance of regulation and compliance

This is something that the European Union (EU) is actively addressing. For instance, the European Union’s (EU) NIS2 Directive relates to cybersecurity protecting network and information systems and significantly broadens both the scope and the obligations for compliance.

It also takes an “all-hazard” approach to security, which means protecting not just digital networks and systems, but also the physical environments in which they operate.

Similarly, the EU’s Cyber Resilience Act is designed to ensure that all digital products are safe from cyber threats.

Its goal is to ensure that connected devices and software are built, updated, and maintained with security in mind, helping protect users in an increasingly connected world.

And by introducing clearer requirements and standards, the CRA will help consumers and organizations identify products with strong security features and configure them more securely from the outset.

In both cases, not only is it incumbent on vendors to meet or exceed these rules and regulations, but also to keep customers, the wider industry, and other stakeholders informed about developments.

Not only must businesses contend with the usual challenges from phishing and malware, but the rapid growth of AI has introduced a new and unpredictable dimension to keeping out online criminals. Security – both physical and cyber – has never been more critical than it is today.

We've featured the best endpoint protection software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

• AppleCare One is launching in the UK from August
• It'll be available for older devices as well as new purchases
• It's £16.99 per month for three devices, £4.99 p/month for each additional device

AppleCare, Apple's extended warranty for its devices, is expanding. A new AppleCare One bundle comes to the UK on August 4 2026 and could make it cheaper for you to cover multiple Apple products. It also lets you cover older devices rather than just new purchases.

At the moment, you've got 60 days from purchase to take out AppleCare+ coverage. That gives you free 24/7 tech support, subsidised battery replacements if your device's battery drops below 80% capacity, and unlimited accidental damage repairs including liquid damage.

AppleCare One expands the eligibility to cover devices up to four years old (one year for AirPods) provided they're in good condition. In some cases that may require a trip to the Apple Store to check the condition of an older device before you can add it to the plan.

One of the important changes is that Apple has expanded Theft and Loss coverage, which protects you for up to two incidences of theft or loss per year, to cover the Apple Watch and iPad as well as the iPhone. You can get that cover as part of AppleCare One, or take out a standalone plan for a single device.

The other key difference is that AppleCare One is a rolling subscription rather than a fixed term extended warranty — for example, if you upgrade your iPhone and trade in your old one, the AppleCare One plan will now cover your new iPhone.

As ever with bundles, how much you save depends on the particular products you have. But you can potentially save up to £11.48 per month compared to the cost of individual AppleCare+ subscriptions.

AppleCare+ has different prices for different models. AppleCare One is a flat rate subscription. (Image credit: Apple)How much can you save with AppleCare One?

AppleCare One is £16.99 per month to cover three devices. You can add additional cover for £4.99 per month per additional device.

Let's say you have an iPhone Air, Apple Watch Ultra 3 and a 13-inch M5 iPad Pro. Individually, AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss will cost you £11.99, £4.99 and £8.49 per month. That's a total of £25.47, so the AppleCare One bundle is going to save you £8.48 per month.

For more modest devices the savings are smaller, but the additional device eligibility may still make AppleCare One an attractive option.

For example I have an iPhone 16 Pro and an Apple Watch Series 10, both of which are currently covered by AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss, but I didn't take out cover for my iPad Pro and the 60-day window has long closed. I'm currently paying £15.98 per month to cover my phone and watch; it'd cost just £1.01 per month more to cover an eligible iPad or iPad Pro — although sadly my iPad is an M1 so it's too old to be included.

It's worth noting that the AppleCare One bundle is for devices on the same Apple account. That means you can't cover family devices linked to other Apple accounts, even if they're in your Family Sharing group. And for some older devices you may need to confirm that they're in "good condition" by taking them to the Apple Store.

As a long time AppleCare customer I think AppleCare One looks good, and it'll save you money if you have three or more devices to cover. My only worry is that it's a subscription, and if there's one thing we know about tech giants' subscription services is that their prices always go up.

AppleCare One launches in the UK on August 4 2026.

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• 2.2 million vehicles are susceptible to a Bluetooth-based attack in the state of California
• The vulnerability is due to dealer-installed security systems
• Researchers at the University of California San Diego found that the Acrisure-built security devices all rely on the same secure key

A vulnerability has been found in KARR and SWDS automobile security systems manufactured by Acrisure that enables remote control via Bluetooth. The vehicles had the security systems installed by car dealers in California, specifically as anti-theft and tracking devices. Thanks to this hack, however, it seems that vehicles can be unlocked, with some further control given to the attacker.

Researchers at the University of California San Diego found that the 2.2 million automobiles were purchased from Southern Californian dealers since 2017, although the secondary market means that the vehicles could be elsewhere in the US, and even as far afield as Japan.

Worryingly, the researchers also found a publicly-accessible database holding information about all vehicles with the security system equipped.

How Bluetooth controls these cars

The researchers determined that the automobiles were purchased from Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Ford, and Jeep dealerships, and the affected vehicles have the “KARR-SWDS” label on the driver-side window, with the anti-theft device mounted under the dashboard.

Usage is straightforward: a mobile app connects to the KARR security system over Bluetooth and includes functions such as locking and unlocking doors, controlling the horn, and flashing the headlamps. It can also prevent the car from starting, although this only works if it isn’t already running.

The problem is with the implementation, which the researchers discovered relied on the same secure key on the KARR security systems. Once cracked, all cars equipped with the same device were believed to be open to attack.

Changing the secure key isn’t an option, and neither is disabling the Bluetooth. Of particular concern is that researchers found that even if the buyer doesn’t pay for a subscription for the app and the KARR system, the hardware is still in place. Worse, it has the same access to the vehicle’s doors, ignition, horn, and headlamps.

“Removing the devices is not trivial,” UCSD compsci PhD candidate and paper co-author Yibo Wei said in the report on the research (which is fully released in August). “You have to open up the dashboard and cut and reconnect the wires that are deeply intertwined with the car’s computers and ignition system.”

The patch is in

Jerry Yu, also co-author, wrote “Instead of smashing a window to get access to a vehicle, thieves could simply connect remotely via Bluetooth to the device inside the vehicle, and make it unlock car doors.”

KARR has told media outlets that only vehicles installed “with certain Bluetooth-related components” are affected, and the company has issued a firmware update.

• Northrop Grumman's MRV launched with two satellite-servicing robotic arms
• Mission Extension Pods can stretch a satellite's working life by eight years
• The spacecraft can inspect, refuel, tow, and relocate active orbital satellites or even destroy enemy satellites

Northrop Grumman has launched its first Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV), equipped with two robotic arms to inspect, repair, refuel, and relocate satellites already operating in orbit.

The spacecraft also carries three Mission Extension Pods (MEPs) that can extend a satellite's operational life by as much as eight years after installation.

Although introduced as a commercial servicing platform, the spacecraft's ability to operate alongside other satellites has already raised questions about possible military applications.

Satellite servicing technology also enables close-proximity operations

The MRV launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, carrying MEPs intended for commercial satellites operated by Australia's Optus and Luxembourg's SES.

Northrop Grumman says the spacecraft can inspect satellites, install life-extension modules, tow spacecraft between orbital positions, and assist with clearing debris already circling Earth.

Those missions depend on two robotic arms that allow the vehicle to maneuver extremely close to other satellites without relying on direct physical contact.

The robotic arm system was developed through the Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites program led by DARPA together with the United States Naval Research Laboratory.

Because those same capabilities allow precise movement around spacecraft, a future version could disable hostile satellites if governments requested such capabilities.

"I will leave it up to the U.S. government to decide how that capability might fulfill mission objectives that they have in that regard," said Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden.

"It's our objective to offer our clients options for technology deployment, and for them to determine policy for when and how they might deploy that technology."

Military officials say orbital threats are already evolving

United States Space Force officials have repeatedly argued that rival nations already possess satellites capable of approaching and interacting with other spacecraft operating in orbit today.

The service says those developments require greater attention because several countries continue expanding technologies capable of operating near valuable military and civilian satellites.

"We're basically responding to a warfighting domain where our adversaries have already put interceptors in space, and we want to make sure that we rebalance that in terms of deterrence," said Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman.

A Space Force spokesperson later cited China's Shi Jian 21 satellite, equipped with a robotic grappling arm, while explaining examples of orbital interceptor capabilities already available.

Officials have also warned that close-proximity satellites could collect intelligence, interfere electronically, damage spacecraft components, or deliberately move another satellite from its assigned orbit.

Those evolving capabilities have prompted the Space Force to expand its focus on orbital warfare alongside traditional space operations.

The service's Space Delta 9 unit develops tactics for both defensive and offensive missions in orbit as those threats continue evolving.

The military is also planning larger space-based defense networks through the proposed Golden Dome missile defense architecture.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the concept could require about 7,800 space-based interceptors if the program moves forward.

For now, the MRV remains a commercial tool, but how governments will apply comparable space security tech with AI tools and autonomous systems remains to be seen.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Sunday, July 26 (game #1644).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today — or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1645) — hint #1 — VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1645) — hint #2 — repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1645) — hint #3 — uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1645) — hint #4 — starting letters (1)Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1645) — hint #5 — starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• T

• F

• G

• W

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1645) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1645, are…

• TAFFY
• FIGHT
• GUILD
• WAGER

I don’t think I have ever played such a strategic game of Quordle.

Usually I just go for whatever word seems the most gettable. But in this game, with numerous possibilities for a word ending I-G-H-T, I held back in the hope that another word would give me that crucial fifth letter. And it did.

Daily Sequence today (game #1645) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1645, are…

• CREED
• ROGUE
• POOCH
• GRIPE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1644, Sunday, 26 July: STOMP, LIMIT, FUNKY, STEAD
• Quordle #1643, Saturday, 25 July: SALON, SHEEN, BURST, GOURD
• Quordle #1642, Friday, 24 July: DOLLY, EDIFY, LAGER, PRANK
• Quordle #1641, Thursday, 23 July: LADEN, EVICT, WOVEN, SHIRE
• Quordle #1640, Wednesday, 22 July: COYLY, SINGE, AWASH, AWOKE
• Quordle #1639, Tuesday, 21 July: TRUSS, AXIAL, SWINE, THING
• Quordle #1638, Monday, 20 July: ICING, SLICK, GAILY, RISEN
• Quordle #1637, Sunday, 19 July: SPURT, ACRID, THRUM, BLEEP
• Quordle #1636, Saturday, 18 July: KNAVE, TIGHT, BLEAT, CHAOS
• Quordle #1635, Friday, 17 July: CUMIN, PALER, GRASS, INBOX
• Quordle #1634, Thursday, 16 July: IGLOO, PLAIT, YEAST, AROMA
• Quordle #1633, Wednesday, 15 July: PROXY, BRICK, BROTH, SURGE
• Quordle #1632, Tuesday, 14 July: EBONY, AVOID, RODEO, CUTIE
• Quordle #1631, Monday, 13 July: VOICE, BISON, BURNT, BUILT
• Quordle #1630, Sunday, 12 July: STAIN, BINGO, LARVA, DICEY
• Quordle #1629, Saturday, 11 July: WORTH, PRONG, DINGO, DRUID
• Quordle #1628, Friday, 10 July: GREET, STEAK, DUSKY, HAUTE
• Quordle #1627, Thursday, 9 July: CRUMP, PHONE, SHINY, STONY
• Quordle #1626, Wednesday, 8 July: GHOST, TREND, EXALT, ALONG
• Quordle #1625, Tuesday, 7 July: ARRAY, SUITE, KIOSK, BOULE

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, July 26 (game #1141).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1142) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• CART
• HORSE
• CARROT
• STICK
• KNITTING NEEDLE
• MAGNIFYING GLASS
• BEAM
• GRAVEYARD
• BELL
• ICICLE
• RINGS
• HEART
• PARADIGM
• STALACTITE
• DOPPLER
• VAULT

NYT Connections today (game #1142) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Equipment used by Simone Biles and co
• GREEN: Thin and skinny
• BLUE: A word that rhymes with “lift” in common
• PURPLE: As seen whilst making a purchase

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1142) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: GYMNASTICS APPARATUS
• GREEN: LONG TAPERED THINGS
• BLUE: KINDS OF SHIFTS
• PURPLE: ICONS ON A SHOPPING SITE

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1142) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1142, are…

• YELLOW: GYMNASTICS APPARATUS: BEAM, HORSE, RINGS, VAULT
• GREEN: LONG TAPERED THINGS: CARROT, ICICLE, KNITTING NEEDLE, STALACTITE
• BLUE: KINDS OF SHIFTS: DOPPLER, GRAVEYARD, PARADIGM, STICK
• PURPLE: ICONS ON A SHOPPING SITE: BELL, CART, HEART, MAGNIFYING GLASS

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

I managed to get through today’s game without making any mistakes but I am still classing it as a tricky game.

The reason for this is that I got extremely lucky once the game got down to eight tiles; unable to find a group, I just went with the four tiles that were in a line.

GRAVEYARD shift and PARADIGM shift I may have got, but DOPPLER and STICK needed a Google. Meanwhile, perhaps I do not do enough online shopping but CART aside the other three icons didn’t trigger me to connect them.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Sunday, July 26, 2026, game #1141)

• YELLOW: BABY MILESTONES: CRAWLING, FIRST WORDS, ROLLING OVER, SOLID FOOD
• GREEN: OUTMODED CONSUMER TECH: BLACKBERRY, DISCMAN, DVD PLAYER, PLASMA TV
• BLUE: EXPRESSIONS FOR RAIN: APRIL SHOWERS, LIQUID SUNSHINE, SCOTCH MIST, WET WEATHER
• PURPLE: WHAT "SHELL" MIGHT REFER TO: CARAPACE, GAS STATION, PASTRY CRUST, ROWING BOAT

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, July 26 (game #875).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #876) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Let the journey begin

NYT Strands today (game #876) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• BRINK
• CHART
• TIME
• STANK
• TICK
• PLAIT

NYT Strands today (game #876) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 12 letters

NYT Strands today (game #876) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

• First side: left, 8th row

• Last side: right, 8th row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #876) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #876, are…

• PLATFORM
• TRACK
• TICKET
• COUNTER
• KIOSK
• BENCH
• SPANGRAM: TRAINSTATION

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Another Spangram First for me today, although it did come in two parts as I saw “station” before making the connection for TRAINSTATION.

From here it was a case of collecting the more obvious railway-related words — PLATFORM, TRACK, TICKET — before connecting the less obvious like KIOSK.

A nice, easygoing start to the week.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Sunday, July 26, game #875)

• GURU
• MAVEN
• PUNDIT
• EXPERT
• AUTHORITY
• SPECIALIST
• SPANGRAM: BIGBRAIN

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

• US factories prepare to manufacture Ukraine's battle-tested MAGURA naval drones domestically
• MAGURA V7 reportedly destroyed an aerial target using Sidewinder missile technology
• Oregon and South Carolina will host future MAGURA drone production facilities

Ukrainian defense company UFORCE has signed an agreement with US boatbuilder RECONCRAFT to manufacture the combat-proven MAGURA naval drones domestically.

Reports from The Wall Street Journal has claimed the memorandum of understanding was recently signed at the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington, with production planned at facilities in Oregon and South Carolina.

The project will have the eventual goal of building hundreds, and potentially thousands, of units annually.

A combat-tested platform moves to US soil

MAGURA drones gained international recognition after repeated strikes helped push much of Russia's Black Sea Fleet away from Crimea.

The MAGURA family has since expanded beyond strike missions to include aerial drone launches, mine countermeasures and anti-submarine sonar towing, with the MAGURA V7 variant also capable of engaging helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

RECONCRAFT builds combatant craft for US and partner special operations forces, while UFORCE developed the MAGURA program from the outset.

Under the partnership, both companies will contribute manufacturing equipment, materials and personnel to support the new production lines in both states.

"Partnering with UFORCE combines our manufacturing expertise and capabilities with the combat-proven autonomy of the MAGURA platform,” said Joe Silkowski, co-founder of RECONCRAFT.

This allows "us to deliver greater capability to American warfighters faster than developing a new system from the ground up."

The agreement follows increased Pentagon interest in lower-cost autonomous platforms after recent conflicts in Iran revealed how expensive drone warfare can be.

Combat experience drives broader international interest

Ukraine reported what it described as the world's first successful naval drone strike against an aerial target during late 2024 using a MAGURA V7 armed with AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles.

In April 2026, MAGURA unmanned surface vessels also took part in the US-Philippines Balikatan military exercise, reportedly sinking a target ship during a live-fire demonstration in the Luzon Strait.

“Today’s combat environments show that autonomous warfighting capabilities are a must-have,” said UFORCE CEO Oleg Rogynskyy.

“UFORCE is exceptionally positioned to deliver capabilities already tested by some of the world’s most sophisticated militaries under the most demanding battlefield conditions.”

"Working with RECONCRAFT, we will help ensure these proven autonomous capabilities become available to the US,” Sean Plankey, CEO of UFORCE USA, added.

“It's exactly the kind of industrial partnership the Arsenal of Democracy is designed to enable."

As of the time of writing, neither UFORCE nor RECONCRAFT has indicated how US production could influence the price of future MAGURA drones.

Production in the United States is typically costlier than overseas alternatives, a dynamic long observed across industries from electronics to textiles.

It is one reason American companies like Apple choose to build their gadgets outside the country, with lower manufacturing costs and established supply chains.

Whether this same cost pressure will raise the price of American-built MAGURA drones compared to their Ukrainian-made counterparts is not yet known.

• WEKApod 3 reaches exabyte capacity through software alongside dense Micron storage
• NeuralMesh 6 turns 441.5PB of flash into claimed exabyte-scale storage capacity
• WEKApod 3 relies on compression to exceed raw storage hardware limits

WEKA has launched WEKApod 3, a storage appliance line built specifically to run its new NeuralMesh 6 software at rack-scale density.

The flagship Prime Max configuration claims 1.1 exabytes of effective capacity within a single 56U rack, positioning it as the first system to cross that threshold.

Using Micron's 245.76 TB 6600 ION SSDs across roughly 1,800 drives per rack yields only 441.5 PB of raw hardware capacity, well under half an exabyte.

Software tiering closes the capacity gap

This means that the advertised exabyte-scale capacity depends heavily on data reduction technologies rather than installed flash alone.

That configuration packs 70 NVMe drives into a compact two-rack-unit, two-node chassis for maximum density.

Fingerprinting, similarity hashing, deduplication, and compression run by default across every deployment, with write overhead kept below 5%.

WEKA claims up to 6x capacity savings specifically on AI training data, backed by a contractual guarantee covering both reduction ratio and performance.

This is where NeuralMesh 6 and WEKApod 3 genuinely function as one integrated product rather than separate announcements.

AlloyFlash tiering automatically routes latency-sensitive operations to TLC flash while sending bulk-capacity data to QLC drives, which run roughly 30 to 40% cheaper per terabyte.

Per-rack throughput reaches 10.2 TB/s with 210 million IOPS, figures WEKA says beat the next-best publicly available alternative by 114% in throughput density.

Jeremy Werner, senior vice president at Micron's Core Data Center Business Unit, said the architecture paired with Micron's 245TB SSDs delivers 15.8 petabytes within a single 2U footprint.

Steve McDowell, chief analyst at NAND Research, argued that inference workloads at production scale demand different metrics than training, pointing to tokens per rack and cost per inference as the numbers buyers should now track.

Constraints force storage vendors to rethink hardware entirely

WEKA points to several structural pressures behind this hardware approach, starting with a documented drop in US data center construction in 2025.

Grid connection queues in major markets now stretch four to seven years before new capacity comes online.

Morgan Stanley has forecast a 49-gigawatt power shortfall across the United States extending through 2028, compounding existing NAND supply constraints.

WEKA argues that inefficient storage directly competes with GPUs for the same limited rack space and power budget.

By managing its own hardware supply chain instead of relying on third-party OEM channels, the company says it can offer more predictable pricing and delivery timelines.

NeuralMesh 6 will hit the shelves in the second half of 2026, with existing customers upgrading at no additional cost.

WEKApod Nitro, Prime, and Prime Max are already orderable through WEKA's distributor network, with deliveries beginning in fall 2026.

Via Storage Review