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Intel is one of the most ubiquitous companies in the world, let alone the technology industry, with its technologies powering many of the computers most people have used for generations. Central to its success was a philosophy from its former CEO Andy Grove, who was a part of the company from day one and ran it from 1987 to 1998.

Inside Intel

Andy Grove was setting out the foundational theme for his management book 'Only the Paranoid Survive', which he wrote toward the latter years as CEO of Intel.

Quote of the day

This article is part of TechRadar Pro's QOTD project to provide an insight into the minds of the brightest and most recognized figures in the technology industry today and in years gone by. Read the full series here.

Grove, who is widely recognised as one of the most successful tech executives of the late 20th century, advocated strongly for putting paranoia at the heart of business. Worrying about various risks that can affect your business — from new competitors to macroeconomic shocks — means you can prepare for them.

But what's worse, as he described it, are 'strategic inflection points' that signal a massive shift in fundamentals that could either lead to staggering growth or a grave decline by an order of magnitude. It's fair to say, in the years since he left Intel, that the company has endured its ups and downs, putting it mildly.

Sliding doors

Although Intel enjoyed incredible success in the 20th century and into the early 2000s, the company stuttered in recent years with rival chipmakers including Nvidia and AMD gaining ground and eating into its market share.

Ironically, from the outside, it appears that the company had succumbed to the sort of complacency that its former CEO had been warning against.

That said, the company is in the midst of a remarkable comeback under the leadership of new CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who has overseen a dramatic surge in the company's stock price that underlines its improved overall outlook as well as new ventures to support the AI buildout.

• 6G development has received a boost from a new breakthrough
• Using reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, researchers found that electromagnetic waves can be manipulated
• The research has been conducted by engineers led from the University of Glasgow

Research engineers have established a potential solution to the one of the main problems faced in the development of 6G: electromagnetic interference, or EMI. Using reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (referred to as “RIS”), they have been able to control, divert, magnify, and generally manipulate signals, promoting 6G data and dampening EMI.

Intended to deliver networking speeds up to 100 times faster than 5G, development of 6G has encountered various stumbling blocks, not least the electromagnetic interference presented by almost every connected device in the world.

When it is finally rolled out, 6G is expected to revolutionize connectivity, from standard Wi-Fi connectivity to smart home and Internet of Things, and beyond.

Canceling interference

Previous attempts at handling the EMI problem in 6G research have been made, but researchers found that weakening the EMI also weakened the 6G signal.

The team working with the University of Glasgow have found that their approach to RIS, with programmable elements positioned across the surface, can manipulate electromagnetic waves. These elements can reflect and focus signals, redirect EMI, and boost signal strength, and can be programmed and controlled individually.

The team has established what it has termed an “EMI-aware framework” which “fingerprints” the interference, scans for the strongest signal path, and uses the RIS to direct signals to avoid the EMI.

"Previously, cancelling out this kind of interference meant the base station had to do a huge amount of intensive digital signal processing, and that computation is expensive in energy terms," said Jalil Kazim from The James Watt School of Engineering’s and a co-author of the paper.

"By placing an intelligent surface in the environment, we can shape the signal path in a way that helps handle the interference before it ever reaches the base station. That eases both the computational burden and the energy cost on the network itself."

EMI and privacy

There is more to the challenges of 6G development than managing the basics of successful connectivity, however. EMI could prove to be a security issue, and the RIS solution can ensure that data signals are correctly routed. This has implications for internal privacy, too, as it can deliver the correct data to specific users and devices.

Professor Muhammad Ali Imran, head of the James Watt School of Engineering, who also co-authored the paper, added: “Security, privacy and resilience are no longer optional extras in these networks but essential requirements. Our surface can direct the signal towards the users we trust and deny it to the ones we don’t, bringing us closer to the secure, flexible networks which will define the communications and sensing technologies of tomorrow.”

Commercial 6G is expected to begin rollout in 2030.

• Flamingo delivers longer range while costing roughly half as much
• Cheap missiles are forcing expensive defense strategies to evolve rapidly
• Ukraine's defense industry is becoming impossible for competitors to ignore

Ukraine's defense industry increasingly produces weapons that promise comparable battlefield effects at substantially lower costs than their Western counterparts.

Fire Point's Flamingo cruise missile has become one of the clearest examples of this broader shift in production.

A new report from The Atlantic notes it travels roughly twice as far as the US Tomahawk while carrying a larger payload at about half the cost.

Cost-driven innovation is reshaping missile production

Fire Point founder Denys Shtilerman says the company now produces roughly 200 long-range drones every day alongside up to three Flamingo cruise missiles.

The Flamingo reportedly achieves its lower production cost partly by using repurposed jet engines from older Soviet aircraft instead of new propulsion systems.

The missile also relies on carbon fiber construction rather than conventional aluminum alloys, while drone wings contain lightweight foam.

This is because durability beyond operational requirements offers little financial value and “they need to fly for 15 hours. Anything beyond that is a waste of money," Shtilerman explained.

This approach differs sharply from many legacy Western weapons, where long service life frequently outweighs manufacturing economy during development decisions.

The comparison naturally extends beyond cruise missiles because pressure to lower costs is already influencing established American defense companies facing changing battlefield realities.

Lockheed Martin recently introduced the PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector, or ACE, which is expected to cost less than half the price of the PAC-3 MSE interceptor currently valued at more than $4 million each.

That places the projected ACE price below $2 million while allowing more expensive interceptors to remain available for the most demanding ballistic missile threats.

Such developments suggest legacy manufacturers increasingly recognize that affordable, mass-produced systems may become just as strategically valuable as technically superior but significantly costlier alternatives.

Cheap weapons can create expensive consequences

Flamingo's lower production cost could carry consequences extending beyond the battlefield because successful wartime systems often attract foreign manufacturers seeking industrial partnerships and joint production agreements.

Europe has already begun moving in that direction after nine countries joined Ukraine in announcing an Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition supported by Ukrainian missile technology and industrial experience.

Those partnerships are unlikely to remain limited to procurement because manufacturing knowledge, production techniques, and engineering expertise often accompany long-term industrial cooperation between defense companies.

Similar developments followed the Iran war, where battlefield success became an effective public relations opportunity for companies pursuing new commercial relationships with foreign governments and manufacturers.

Ukraine could now follow a comparable path because combat-tested systems provide valuable credibility when negotiating production agreements with potential international partners.

Shtilerman welcomed that direction, saying, "It's not America that decides whether Europe can defend itself. Europe is building its own shield."

However, Shtilerman’s background and authenticity remain questionable because he studied and worked in Russia, served two prison terms there, and his company became linked to a major corruption investigation.

• Bloomberg pegs outstanding AI data center debt above $500 billion right now
• CoreWeave isolates each loan inside its own separate special purpose vehicle
• Parent companies report only a fraction of their real total exposure, hiding the rest in shell entities

A growing body of analysts now warns that AI data center debt increasingly resembles the subprime mortgages that triggered the 2008 financial crisis.

Much of that debt is issued through special purpose vehicles, structures that keep billions of dollars off corporate balance sheets entirely.

Bloomberg estimates more than $500 billion in outstanding AI data center debt, with roughly $200 billion held by private credit funds.

A debt structure built on theoretical revenue

Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) raise debt to build data centers, then repay creditors only once paying customers begin generating revenue.

That structure is exactly why CoreWeave has raised billions through separate SPVs for individual loans, including an $8.5 billion facility tied to Meta's contract, since each loan stays isolated inside its own entity.

The same logic explains why Nikkei Asia reported that Meta, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Oracle have accrued around $1.65 trillion in debt over five years, much of it spread across similar vehicles rather than sitting on any single balance sheet.

That gap between real exposure and reported debt exists because these vehicles are jointly owned with outside investors, letting the parent company report only a fraction of the risk.

Meta's Hyperion data center shows the pattern clearly: it is owned 80% by Blue Owl and only 20% by Meta itself, so the bulk of the debt lives with Blue Owl on paper even though Meta is the intended tenant.

Google has used the same approach, backstopping debt-funded data centers built by Fluidstack, Cipher Mining and TeraWulf without those obligations ever touching its own balance sheet.

That kind of arrangement is precisely what drew scrutiny from auditor Ernst & Young, which flagged Meta's structure as a critical audit matter, questioning who ultimately bears its economic risk.

The stakes extend well beyond the companies involved, because pension funds and insurers are also directly exposed, with many now relying on data center returns to fund future payouts.

Echoes of the 2008 mortgage collapse

The comparison to 2008 holds up because both bubbles rested on the same flawed premise: that demand would keep growing forever and never needed to be tested.

Subprime mortgages were the proof of that thinking at the time, and by 2006 roughly 20% of all new mortgages issued in the United States were already classified as subprime, according to government data.

Rather than treat that as a warning sign, financial institutions bundled those loans into complex securities, a move that obscured the true underlying risk from investors and rating agencies alike.

Financier Michael Milken captured the mood of the era when he publicly described such securities as a "financial innovation" that would broadly increase national prosperity and jobs.

Reality caught up with that optimism once mortgage defaults began rising sharply in 2005, and the damage cascaded through the entire financial system from there.

Lehman Brothers embodied how unchecked that confidence had become, operating at more than 25 times leverage in 2005 without serious pushback from regulators or rating agencies.

Today's numbers echo that same pattern of unexamined risk: analysts estimate more than $1.4 trillion in bank exposure to private credit, with $300 billion of it held by major banks alone.

Some estimates suggest planned AI data center capacity exceeds actual annual compute demand by a factor of roughly 15 times.

Unlike 2008, this risk is not driven by derivatives but by the sheer scale of individual data center construction costs.

Whether this debt unwinds gradually or all at once likely depends on how quickly major AI customers can pay their bills.

For now, the scale of exposure across banks, pensions and insurers suggests the comparison to 2008 is not merely rhetorical.

Via Ed Zitron

• Adata chief predicts memory shortages could persist throughout the next decade
• Chen says AI demand still exceeds most industry expectations worldwide
• DDR5 prices climbed another 7% during July despite earlier market optimism

Chen Li-bai, chairman of memory chip manufacturer ADATA, has dismissed growing market speculation about an imminent collapse in AI-related investment.

Speaking after TSMC's stock price plummeted following its recent earnings call, Chen argued that discussions about an AI bubble remain premature at this stage.

He stated bluntly that any real conversation about a potential bubble should wait until after 2030.

Global demand still outpacing market expectations

Global demand for AI computing power, memory chips, and electricity continues to exceed what most market analysts had projected.

Meta's recent decision to lease out surplus computing resources sparked speculation that cloud providers had overbuilt capacity faster than demand justified.

That interpretation, according to Chen, does not necessarily mean overall AI demand has fallen below earlier projections.

Future AI applications, he believes, will expand across multiple business models simultaneously, spanning B2B, B2G, B2C, and B2B2C categories.

Chen criticized analysts who judge the broader AI boom using only short-term capital expenditure or single-company utilization figures.

Such a narrow approach, he warned, amounts to a "view of the sky through a pipe" that underestimates long-term demand.

Even as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron pursue expanded production capacity, Chen predicted continued scarcity across the memory sector.

Electricity, particularly green electricity, and memory will remain the two scarcest global resources over the coming decade, in his view.

Manufacturers are now expected to pursue rational, prudent expansion rather than repeat past cycles of disorderly, large-scale capacity increases.

DDR5 prices already reflect the tightening squeeze

Real-world pricing data already supports Chen's underlying argument about persistent structural shortage rather than temporary market noise.

DDR5 memory kits in Germany rose 7% in July 2026 alone, reaching new all-time price highs according to 3D Center.

That increase pushed average DDR5 costs to 448% above prices recorded in July 2025, representing more than a fourfold jump within a single year.

Much of that surge occurred between October 2025 and January 2026, despite brief stagnation between February and June.

Beyond AI data centers, Chen expects robots, autonomous vehicles, unmanned factories, unmanned stores, smart homes, low-orbit satellites, and related ground infrastructure to require additional memory capacity.

He argued these combined demands cannot be satisfied by the three dominant memory manufacturers, or even major Chinese producers, within a single decade.

As AI applications extend from centralized data centers into physical devices and infrastructure, memory scarcity may become a structural trend rather than a passing cyclical phase.

For consumers and PC manufacturers already contending with elevated component costs, Chen's outlook offers little indication that relief is arriving anytime soon.

Via Ctee (originally in Chinese)

• JFrog found Newtonsoftt.Json.Net, a trojan NuGet package mimicking the popular Newtonsoft.Json library
• Malware specifically targeted Digitain’s crash‑game backend, rigging outcomes with insider knowledge of its codebase
• Issue was quickly fixed but attackers remain unidentified

Security researchers JFrog have discovered a unique trojan targeting one specific company, while letting everyone else who’s infected walk away unharmed.

Named Newtonsoftt.Json.Net, the trojan is a typosquatted NuGet package variant of the hugely popular JSON library called Newtonsoft.Json. The legitimate package is one of the most-used code libraries in the .NET programming world, needed by almost every project in existence. It is a small piece of software that helps .NET applications read, understand, and exchange data between different systems.

According to JFrog, someone published an almost identical package, copied the real author’s name, license, and made it work as intended. For almost anyone who installed it, it worked entirely normal. However, for developers working on Digitain’s crash-game backend, it’s a whole different story.

Rigging the games

Digitain is an Armenian software company providing online sports betting and gaming software platforms to gambling companies around the world.

On the infected machine running Digitain’s real crash-game code, the malware swaps in a rigged number instead of a fair one, using a formula based on the date and time.

What this means is that the results of the gambling game are rigged, allowing the attackers to know, in advance, which rounds are manipulated and place their bets accordingly.

The malware also sets up a private confirmation channel to report back for every rigged round, allowing the attackers to know if the cheat code still works or not.

JFrog did not identify the attackers, but they did stress that it was most likely an insider.

Apparently, only someone with inside knowledge of Digitain’s codebase (for example a current or former employee, or a contractor) could have built such an exploit, since it required knowledge of the exact internal function name inside Digitain’s game engine that decides the crash-game outcome.

The researchers reached out to Digitain on July 7 2026 and were notified, two days later, that the issue had already been escalated to the team and, in the meantime, fixed.

My favorite interviews over the course of my career have involve people I'd never normally get the chance to speak to in everyday life.

So far this year that's involved two former FBI agents, but Dr. Sarita Robinson — who you can see in Pompeii: Out of Time, out now on Disney+ and Hulu — might just take the cake. Known as "Dr. Survival," her work specialises in figuring out why some people are more likely to survive disasters than others.

This makes her a compelling expert for the three-part docuseries, which explores the events leading up to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD, which destroyed the nearby Roman city of Pompeii, and features Tom Hiddleston as presenter.

But it's not her take on the past that I'm actually as interested in... it's her take on the disasters of the future. As a TechRadar writer, I can't pass up an opportunity to talk to Robinson about the dangers of the rise of AI usage across the globe.

While some of us happily wile away the hours asking ChatGPT to generate images of us as hot dogs, others are getting concerned about increasingly awry security reports, such as Open AI models breaching rival company, Hugging Face.

Add in potential climate change risk, and I think that AI is more than a viable candidate for the sort of survival emergencies that Robinson researches. But surprisingly, AI isn't what she's most worried about.

'We theoretically have a risk from AI'

First, I begin by asking Robinson exactly how she defines a survival emergency. Does it have to be a natural occurrence, like the Mount Vesuvius eruption near Pompeii?

"Absolutely not," she replies. "For me, when I'm looking at emergencies, it's anything where your life is at risk. That can be as simple as you walking across a road and a car coming, small scale emergencies that are just enough that you have to respond, or it can be huge emergencies. The last one that I did quite a lot of research on, as you might expect, is the pandemic. The next one will be climate change, the era of global boiling."

"Medium scale would be an earthquake in a region, a terror attack — so they can be human made disasters... they don't have to be just natural disasters."

So far, so good. When it comes to categorizing AI within Robinson's research boundaries, is this kind of technological disaster something she's ever considered?

"I think I've watched enough science fiction movies to know that we theoretically have a risk from AI," she tells me. "Exactly what that risk would be or how it would look is very difficult to predict at this moment. But yes, absolutely, I would definitely add it onto my list of things that can go wrong... my list is quite extensive."

'I would be far more worried about a solar pulse'

(Image credit: Disney+/Hulu/National Geographic)

"To be fair, I think the thing I worry about more on the tech front is something like a solar pulse that then knocks out a whole load of technology," Robinson adds. "I can't imagine my life without a mobile phone, a computer... it would be very odd to go into an age of no internet."

It's at this point of the interview where I stop feeling bad for adding a disaster scenario to Robinson's list, as she's certainly just added one to mine. Before this point, I'd never even heard of a solar pulse, which can best be described as a sudden burst of energy from the sun. According to the University of Minnesota, they can trigger "explosive releases of radiation and magnetized plasma ripple through space, occasionally triggering geomagnetic storms on Earth and producing auroras."

Fantastic, another reason to have anxiety in 2026. But what is Robinson's advice for not feeling so anxious about... well, general impending doom?

"Be prepared: active coping, doing something about it, keeping it in perspective, but making sure that you have the resources if something goes wrong," she responds. "I don't mean building a nuclear bunker in your back garden. For example, when the pandemic hit back in 2020, I had a 'pandemic kit' under my sink. I felt like I had a little bit more control in that moment."

"I did some research on the pandemic and what it did show was that those people who'd made some preparations prior to the lockdown were doing much better in terms of mental health, stress, anxiety and depression."

Can we make a solar pulse or anti-AI kit for under our sinks? Most likely not. But that doesn't mean that Robinson's advice should be discarded — control also means vigilance, so keeping a mix of online and offline resources in day-to-day life could be a great way of achieving this.

Keychron K2 Ultra 8K: One-minute review

The K2 Ultra 8K is a wireless mechanical keyboard that aims to compete with the big names in the space.

It adopts a fairly basic design, harking back to keyboards of yore with its chunky chassis and tall keycaps. This substantial form is complimented by a reassuring weight that keeps the unit in place, without being too heavy to move around when needed.

The aluminum frame is also welcome thanks to its pleasingly solidity, although its texture isn’t the most alluring. The keycaps are of a better quality, though, since they’re Double Shot PBT, which often adorns the best gaming keyboards. Their opaque lettering means the backlighting fails to shine through them, which is an oversight committed by many Keychron keyboards.

(Image credit: Future)

To customize the inputs of the K2 Ultra 8K, you can use Keychron’s Web App. There are plenty of remapping options here, with numerous system and media commands available. There’s also a SOCD feature with a few different modes to choose from. You can also adjust the bounce time of both down and up strokes.

My review unit came with Red switches, which performed quite well. They were slightly lubed and well-damped, while still retaining a certain snappiness. However, I found their actuation a little too deep, which did result in some of my presses failing to register. Also, the sheer thickness of the keyboard did cause my wrists to ache after a while.

Using the WASD position when gaming was a little more comfortable than a typing position, and the generous spacing of the keys made navigating them quite easy. The quick rebound of the keys was also something I appreciated, and helped to make up somewhat for that aforementioned deep actuation point. Both wireless connectivity options worked well, and hot-swapping between devices was easy, thanks to the switch on the side of the unit.

The K2 Ultra 8K is competitively priced for a wireless mechanical keyboard with hot-swappable hardware. It can’t match the sheer performance and premium designs of its more notable rivals, such as the Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% and the HyperX Origins 2 1800, but considering all that it offers, the K2 Ultra 8K is good value.

Keychron K2 Ultra 8K review: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future)

• $119.99 (about £90 / AU$170)
• Available now with various switch types
• Reasonable for a wireless gaming keyboard

The K2 Ultra 8K costs $119.99 (about £90 / AU$170) and is available now. Three stock switches are available to choose from: Red, Brown, or Banana.

This is a reasonable price for a hot-swappable, wireless mechanical keyboard with premium materials and numerous customizations available. Equivalent models from bigger brands are generally more expensive. Take the Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75%, which is an eyewatering $299 / £299 / AU$499. However, this is one of the best mechanical gaming keyboards I’ve ever tested, and it offers a wealth of customizations that put many others, including the K2 Ultra 8K, to shame.

Then there’s the HyperX Origins 2 1800, another superb mechanical keyboard, but one that’s only marginally more expensive than the K2 Ultra 8K. Again, I thought this performed better than the K2 Ultra 8K when I tested it, although its customizations aren’t as extensive. It’s also wired only, which diminishes its value somewhat relative to the K2 Ultra 8K.

• Value: 4.5 / 5

Keychron K2 Ultra 8K review: Specs

Layout

TKL

Switch

Keychron Apex Switch (mechanical)

Programmable keys

Yes

Dimensions

12.3 x 4.8 x 1.2 inches / 311.5 x 121.5 x 31.2mm

RGB or backlighting

Yes (customizable)

Keychron K2 Ultra 8K review: Design and features

(Image credit: Future)

• Very thick
• Solid aluminum frame
• Numerous customizations via web app

The K2 Ultra 8K has a somewhat retro design with some modern touches. The chunky chassis and squared off frame are certainly throwbacks to simpler time, but the keycaps are more contemporary affairs, thanks to their soft, rounded form.

With that thick body comes a considerable weight. This helps keep the K2 Ultra 8K planted, yet it’s not too heavy to make moving it around a chore when needed. It also contributes to the unit’s durability, as does the aluminum construction of the frame. This doesn’t feel quite as premium as others, owing to its slightly rough texture, but it’s welcome all the same. Better are the keycaps, since they’re Double Shot PBT, which is the gold standard in the keyboard world.

Somewhat unusually, the USB-C port is located on the left side of the K2 Ultra 8K rather than the rear. This may prove inconvenient for certain setups, but thankfully it’s positioned quite far back, so the difference isn’t that huge. Also, the provided USB cable has an L-shaped jack, so it doesn’t protrude outwards all that much, with the cable naturally running towards the likely location of your device.

(Image credit: Future)

There is some RGB backlighting on the K2 Ultra 8K, but like other Keychron keyboards, this is quite lackluster. It barely shines through the spaces between each keycap and since the keycap symbols are opaque, you still can’t make them out in a dark environment, which rather defeats the point of backlighting in the first place. Keychron does sell transparent keycaps, but this is an add-on you have to purchase separately rather than being a configurable substitute.

At least this lighting can be customized, either by using the dedicated key in the top-right corner or Keychron’s Web App. This app contains a lot of options for patterns and colors. It also features input customizations, with a wealth of rebinding options that includes various media and system shortcuts.

There aren’t any advanced performance-based features here, save for bounce time settings and an SOCD function. The former lets you set the press and reset times independently for keys. There are two sliders for this purpose with a range of 10-50ms, with millisecond increments. The latter lets you adjust key priority when two are pressed at the same time — you can set the first pressed key to take priority, a chosen key to always take priority, or both to cancel.

As web apps go, Keychron’s is fast and easy to use. I didn’t encounter any frustrating loading times and or major bugs. Still, I would’ve preferred a standalone app for the sake of convenience, saving you from having to load your browser every time.

• Design and features: 4 / 5

Keychron K2 Ultra 8K review: Performance

(Image credit: Future)

• Actuation too deep for effective typing
• Good key spacing and response for gaming
• Unit thickness can cause discomfort

My review unit came with Keychron’s Red switches, which felt a little heavier than I’m used to. They’re damped and lubed to a reasonable degree, though, which made their operation smooth, and I found the clicky impact at the end of a key’s travel quite satisfying.

I was less enamored with the actuation point. It felt like I had to press down quite far for inputs to register, which caused me issues when typing fast, as characters were often missed. Typing isn’t helped by the tall keycaps, either: as someone who usually prefers a low profile, my ability to glide around the board was limited.

(Image credit: Future)

What’s more, that aforementioned thickness of the chassis caused me some discomfort after a while, even with the feet folded out, as I had to angle my wrists a fair amount. The K2 Ultra 8K is crying out for a wrist rest, but alas it doesn’t come with one.

Thankfully, I found gaming in the WASD position less problematic. Despite the compact nature of the layout, the keys are still generously separated, while the ergonomic shape makes navigating them quite easy. They also rebound quickly, too, which somewhat makes up for that deep actuation point.

I didn’t have any issues when connecting the K2 Ultra 8K to my PCs wirelessly via the 2.4GHz USB dongle or via Bluetooth. Hot-switching between two devices was also easy and effective, thanks to the slider on the side of the unit.

• Performance: 3.5 / 5

Should I buy the Keychron K2 Ultra 8K?Scorecard

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

Not many mechanical keyboards offer better value than this.

4.5 / 5

Design and features

Very solid and quite heavy. The keycaps are high quality, too, although the backlighting is poor. It sorely needs a wrist rest, too.

4 / 5

Performance

Presses are satisfying and quite quick, although it requires a heavier touch than I would’ve preferred.

3.5 / 5

Overall rating

Considering its spec, the K2 Ultra 8K is good value for money, but its key registering issues and uncomfortable thickness dent its appeal somewhat.

3.5 / 5

Buy it if…

You want a tough unit
The aluminum frame and substantial weight make the K2 Ultra 8K a durable board.

You want to save money
There aren’t many keyboards offering this kind of spec at such a low price point.

Don't buy it if…

You have a light touch
With the Red switches at least, the K2 Ultra 8K doesn’t always respond to light presses, especially when typing quickly.

You don’t have a wrist rest
The K2 Ultra 8K is a very thick unit, and using it can get uncomfortable after a while if you have no wrist support.

Keychron K2 Ultra 8K review: Also consider

HyperX Origins 2 1800
The Origins 2 1800 isn’t much more expensive than the K2 Ultra 8K, but it feels slightly more upmarket. It also performed better in my testing. It doesn’t quite have the same level of input customization, and this model isn’t wireless, but it’s still a great mechanical experience. Read our full HyperX Origins 2 1800 review.

Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75%
I don’t think I’ve tried a better mechanical keyboard than this. The feedback and satisfaction from key presses is second to none, and the amount of customization is fantastic. However, it’s vastly more expensive than the K2 Ultra 8K — and many other gaming keyboards. Read our full Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% review.

(Image credit: Future)How I tested the Keychron K2 Ultra 8K

• Tested for a few days
• Used for a variety of tasks
• Plenty keyboard reviewing experience

I used the Keychron K2 Ultra 8K for a couple of days, during which time I used it for working, gaming, and general browsing. I connected to two different Windows 11 PCs, one via the 2.4GHz dongle and the other via Bluetooth. I also used it in wired mode with the supplied cable.

I played games such as 007 First Light and Counter-Strike 2, both of which are good tests for the responsiveness of key presses and the comfort of using the all-important WASD position.

I’ve been using keyboards for decades for all sorts of purposes, from working to gaming. I’ve also reviewed a large number of them, from budget offerings to high-performing, feature-filled extravagances.

• Read TechRadar’s reviews guarantee
• First reviewed: July 2026

• Athlete Josh Kerr just broke the world record mile time
• He did so while wearing an Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro smartwatch
• Amazfit has published data from the record-breaking run

What does it take to run a mile in a world record time? After Scottish athlete Josh Kerr’s recent world record-shattering 3:42.66 achievement, Amazfit has published a wealth of data straight from the track — and there are some fascinating insights to be found within.

Perhaps the most impressive data point to emerge from Kerr’s race, logged on a Cheetah 2 Pro, is the remarkable consistency in his split times. His four laps clocked in at 55.3, 55.8, 55.4 and 54.9 seconds, with just 0.9 seconds separating the fastest lap from the slowest. His quickest lap, in fact, was the last one, helping to push him over the line and claim the world record, which had previously stood for 27 years.

Even more striking were Kerr’s 200-meter times, which ranged from 24.7 to 24.9 seconds — a difference of just 0.5 seconds from first to last. With an average speed of 26km/h, he was comfortably quicker than the 24.1km/h required to hit a four-minute mile.

Kerr averaged 194 steps per minute during the race, with his heart rate hitting a maximum of 188 beats per minute around 400 meters in. In both cases, the measurements rose sharply early in the run, settled in the middle, then jumped again as Kerr pushed for a fast finish.

Project 222

(Image credit: Future / Paul Hatton)

The info comes from the Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro that Kerr wore during his winning race.

We were impressed with this device when we reviewed it, commending its accurate features and “outstanding battery,” both of which help make it one of the best running watches money can buy. And if it’s good enough for world record holders like Kerr, it could be worth a place on your wrist, too.

The previous one-mile record — set by Hicham El Guerrouj and standing at 3:43.13 — had stood for 27 years before Kerr broke it, making him the first person to ever log a mile in under three minutes and 43 seconds.

(Image credit: Amazfit)

Amazfit has been sponsoring Kerr as part of his Project 222, which is a bid to run a mile in 222 seconds, or three minutes and 42 seconds. Kerr’s record time is just 0.66 seconds off that target, showing how close he was to his goal.

How long will it be before he speeds past that time? No one can know, but you’d be brave to bet against him doing it, and Amazfit will be hoping he's wearing one its running watches again when that happens.

• Beginning September 1, 2026, passkeys will become the default for Entra ID
• Microsoft is retiring SMS/phone call authentication from February 1, 2027
• Victims are more likely to open AI-assisted phishing emails

Microsoft has confirmed plans to make passkeys the default or preferred authentication method for Entra ID beginning September 1, 2026, announcing further changes to account authentication in a bid to combat sophisticated attacks.

A few months later from February 1, 2027, the company will also stop providing its own SMS and voice call authentication codes for Entra ID in the hope that business users fully adopt passwordless sign-in.

While passkeys don't promise to totally stop attacks, they make phishing attempts far less effective because attackers would need access to victims' hardware to gain access.

Microsoft continues its drive for passkeys

While the company may be ending support for its own SMS and phone call authentication methods, passkeys won't be the only sign-in method after the change. Windows Hello for Business (biometrics) and FIDO2 security keys will still be available, for example.

"The AI era demands stronger, phishing-resistant authentication," a company notice seen by Windows Latest reads. "We are making passkeys the default authentication experience in Microsoft Entra to help customers securely adopt AI at scale."

Though AI hasn't exactly made attacks better at breaking through traditional authentication methods, it has made attacks more convincing. According to the company's own information, the click-through rate for phishing emails stands at 54% for AI-assisted campaigns, compared with just 12% for conventional ones.

With more people opening up malicious links, the effects are compounded, hence the push to improve general security.

Looking ahead, Microsoft's suggested plan for impacted organizations includes identifying users who still use SMS/voice authentication, planning a company-wide passkey rollout and keeping workers up-to-date.

"SMS and voice have served their purpose well, bringing multifactor authentication to billions of users who otherwise would have had none," Microsoft concluded, declaring that "the threat environment has evolved beyond their capabilities."

• Filmmaker mode in reverse: Creator Original embraces your TV's processing power
• Initially limited to 2026 C6, G6 and W6 OLED TVs
• Rolling out by the end of July 2026

LG Electronics has partnered with Prime Video to launch a new picture mode in select LG TVs. The new mode, called Creator Original, will initially be exclusive to three 2026 models: the LG C6, LG G6 and LG W6 series televisions.

The launch will be centered around the Masters of the Universe movie, which will be coming to Prime Video. And if you don't mind feeling very silly indeed, you can declare "I have the POWER!" into the LG Magic Remote for LG Smart TVs with webOS 23 or later to bring up content relating to the movie release.

Creator Original is the more interesting addition, though. It promises to deliver more control to creators than Filmmaker Mode, because it takes the opposite approach: instead of removing your TV's image processing and enhancement as much as possible, Creator Original embraces it, but with rules.

What is Creator Original on LG OLED TVs?

According to LG, Creator Original will enable TV and movie studios to set key parameters such as shadow detail and color balance, and to control how how motion processing and noise reduction are being used in your TV's processing, all to deliver the creator's preferred visuals, in theory.

In the case of Masters of the Universe, LG says that enables its TVs to "faithfully reproduce every glowing sword clash, shadowy Skeletor lair and explosive battle across Eternia."

Interestingly, Creator Original's pitch sounds remarkably similar to what Dolby is planning with Dolby Vision 2. Dark area handling and control over motion handling control are key features of DV2, which has the same goal as Creator Original: making the most of the capabilities of high-powered TVs without sacrificing accuracy by putting control in the hands of movie makers, and using data in the file to tell the TV what to do.

However, Creator Original won't have the bi-directional tone mapping and certain other features of Dolby Vision 2 Max, which also has a new and improved image quality engine behind it.

But still Creator Original looks like it may tick the most interesting boxes of DV2, and it has one big advantage over it: it looks like it's going to arrive first.

Dolby Vision 2 currently has one streaming partner, Peacock, and one filmmaking partner (StudioCanal), and there's no sign of a launch date as yet, though in discussions with Hisense and TCL we've learned that it's expected before the end of the year.

In contrast, LG says that Creator Original Mode for Prime Video "is scheduled to roll out by the end of this month," meaning July 2026, and if Prime Video adds support across more of its enviable Amazon Studios and MGM library, that could be a strong range of movies that use it. Of course, the fact that it only works on three TVs is a bit of a limitation.

When we asked LG if it has any plans to support Dolby Vision 2, it said that it would wait to see how support for the format evolves — but said we shouldn't expect current TVs to get it. So if you're thinking of buying the LG C6 or G6, this might be the best you can do for these kinds of next-gen image features.

As for the movie itself, we rather enjoyed it: in our Masters of the Universe review we said "it's the unrelentingly fun popcorn movie that [we] had expected recent Star Wars movie The Mandalorian and Grogu to be."

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• A new trailer for Zach Cregger's Resident Evil film has just been released
• The full-length trailer offers a deeper look at the story, setting, and main character Bryan
• It also features several references and easter eggs related to the video game series

A new trailer for Zach Cregger's Resident Evil film has been released, and it's filled with easter eggs referring the beloved video game series.

The first teaser for the upcoming adaptation already had me sold, but the latest full-length official trailer has convinced me that it could be as good as Cregger's other horror flicks, Weapons and Barbarian.

"In an all-new story, Resident Evil follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself in an action-packed, non-stop race for survival as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos," the official synopsis reads.

The trailer features Bryan, who is on his way to Raccoon City to deliver medical materials to the general hospital, when he crashes into what looks like a zombie. It seems like a call-back to the Resident Evil 2 opening sequence and is just one of many easter eggs and references fans have also picked up on in the trailer.

In classic Resident Evil fashion, Bryan finds a shotgun on a wall but no ammo, and he can be seen desperately searching a creepy, abandoned home while hiding from a zombie.

When he does eventually find some shotgun shells, they're very clearly the same ones featured in Resident Evil 4, oddly enough. There is also a quick shot of a dark room, and a typewriter can be seen on the desk, a neat little reference to the save points in safe rooms from the games.

It's confirmed that the Cregger adaptation is set in 1998 during the events of Resident Evil 2, but the director has confirmed Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield won't make an appearance.

Resident Evil releases in theatres on September 18.

• Duda launches new AI tools to help agencies build complex sites
• New tools include vibe coding, a custom widget generator, and brief-driven website creation
• The new releases build on Duda's existing stack of AI tools for agencies

Duda, a dedicated website-building platform for agencies, has rolled out new AI tools that aim to combine the speed and ease of AI website building with the enterprise-grade security, predictability, and customization requirements of professional agencies.

In a press release shared with TechRadar Pro, Duda shared details on the new tools and features that include vibe coding, a custom widget editor, and brief-driven site building, adding to Duda’s existing suite of AI tools.

Connecting agencies to AI capabilities

This most recent update includes both new tools and updates to already established features.

• Duda Vibe (new feature): A conversational web application editor that allows agencies to ‘vibe-code’ web tools and dynamic web applications with plain-English prompts.
• In-editor custom widget generator (new feature): This feature was previously a separate developer tool; the update brings it into the core website editor. Users can now prompt AI to generate drag-and-drop elements.
• Brief-driven site building (expanded features): Duda has expanded the capabilities of this tool, allowing users to upload media files, client briefs, and call transcripts. AI then digests the provided information and uses it to create a multi-page website.

Duda’s update further cements its position as a leading website builder for agencies. Although platforms like Wix and Squarespace also offer AI website building capabilities, these typically target DIY website builders, failing to address the processes and levels of complexity required by website agencies.

“Small businesses still need a strong digital presence, but the digital landscape is becoming more complex, not less,” said Itai Sadan, CEO and co-founder of Duda. “AI makes it easier to create a starting point, but businesses will continue to rely on agencies to deliver secure, high-performing websites that are easily found by LLMs and drive results. Our role is to give the professionals building tens, hundreds, or thousands of sites the AI-powered platform they need to do it faster, more predictably, at higher quality, and profitably—all at scale.”

• Ring had launched an updated Outdoor Camera and Peephole Camera 2K
• They will both go on sale in August 2026
• The Outdoor Camera is £99.99 (about $130 / AU$190), and the Peephole Camera is £79.99 (about $110 / AU$150)

Ring has announced two brand new smart security cameras, one for mounting outdoors and one for installing into the peephole of your door.

Let's start with the outdoor option first. The new Ring Outdoor Camera (2nd Gen) is available in both wired and battery versions. It has a wide-angle lens (140 degrees horizontal and 85 degrees vertical), and delivers 2K resolution with up to 6x enhanced zoom. It has B&W night vision, customizable privacy zones and motion detection, and you can talk to visitors via Live View and Two-Way Talk. If you subscribe to Ring Protect you can also get intelligent alerts and the ability to scroll back in time to rewatch footage. Wi-Fi is single-band Wi-Fi 4 using the 2.4GHz frequency band.

One of the big selling points here is easy installation: it's simple to mount the camera and it's designed to cope with temperatures from -20ºC to +50ªC, although Ring says the camera may temporarily turn itself off if it's in direct sunlight during extreme heat conditions.

The Ring Outdoor Camera (2nd Gen) has a list price of £99.99 (about $130 / AU$190) and it'll be available from August 12, 2026. Pre-orders are open now.

(Image credit: Ring)Ring Peephole Camera 2K: this peep is fairly cheap and fits in doors that are quite deep

The new Ring Peephole Camera 2K is more stylish than its rather boxy predecessor, with a more triangular shape and a good-looking speckled finish. It fits through the space where you'd normally have an optical peephole, and there's no need to drill, run cables or do anything at all as it's completely wireless and runs off a rechargeable battery. It's designed to fit peepholes from 12mm to 14mm in size and go through doors between 32.5mm and 60mm.

I think this is going to be particularly popular with flat dwellers, especially renters who can't make any physical changes to the property: simply unscrew the optical peephole, install the camera, and you can take it with you when you move. Don't forget to keep the original peephole somewhere where you can find it again, though.

Like the new Outdoor Camera (2nd Gen) the resolution is 2K with up to 6x enhanced zoom, Live View and Two-Way Talk, but there's no night vision here so you'll need to make sure the door is facing a well-lit area. Ring says its camera is tuned for low-light conditions, but this camera doesn't see in the dark like the Outdoor Camera does.

The field of view is 140 x 140 degrees to deliver 'head-to-toe' visuals, and the quick release battery is easy to remove for charging. Wi-Fi is Wi-Fi 4 on the 2.4GHz frequency band.

The Ring Peephole Camera 2K will be available from August 19, 2026, and pre-orders are open now. The list price is £79.99 (about $110 / AU$150).

Having just watched the Samsung Unpacked event, I think the Korean company has just fixed every major problem that existed with foldable phones. They’re now thinner, wider and more normal-looking, and yet even at the point where most of the kinks have been ironed out… I still find them a bit uncool.

There’s still something about unfolding a phone in 2026 that feels unnecessary and a bit like a throwback from the 90s. It takes something that has been refined into a seamless sheet of glass and puts a hinge back into the middle of it.

Sure, retro is cool, but foldable phones still feel stuck between two worlds to me.

@techradar

♬ original sound - TechRadar Cheaper in Korea

Foldable phones are also still pretty expensive — I wasn’t the only one in the office raising an eyebrow at the Z Fold 8 Ultra’s eye-watering $2000+ price when it was announced— although at this point I’m tempted to blame AI for making everything more expensive, even if it's up to 48% cheaper in Korea.

The new foldable phones look amazing, but it’s taken Samsung a while to get here — it launched its first foldable phone, the Galaxy Fold , back in 2019 — at the time we called it, “The most forward-thinking phone you shouldn't buy”.

But the real cultural test of the foldable phone may not arrive until Apple does what Apple does best — walks into an established category, removes a few visible seams, adds a name that sounds like it came from a yoga retreat, and behaves as if everyone else had merely been beta-testing the future.

Under Steve Jobs, being best, not first, was Apple’s greatest trick. The iPod was not the first MP3 player. The iPhone was not the first smartphone. The iPad was not the first tablet. Apple’s genius was letting other companies prove there was a category, then making the version people could imagine actually buying.

It remains to be seen if the incoming CEO John Ternus has the ability to work the controls of Steve Jobs’ reality distortion machine in exactly the same way and convince people that Apple’s version of a folding phone will make them cool.

Enter the iPhone Ultra

That rumoured Apple foldable phone is the iPhone Ultra, which could arrive in September this year. I’d also be surprised if it wasn’t well over the $2,000 mark, too. Some reports suggest $2,500.

I haven’t gotten hands-on with the new Z Fold 8 Ultra yet, but I’ve used foldable phones before and they always felt incredibly geeky to me. They’re impressive but slightly awkward to use, especially in public, and mostly bought by people who like explaining their phone to strangers.

I understand that the foldable form factor makes it better for watching videos using that massive inner screen, or by using the design to prop the phone up on a desk so you can watch on its outer display without having to hold it or carefully balance it against something.

I get that a large screen is better for gaming, too, but I can’t remember the last time I played a game on my iPhone.

My problem is that I don’t want to attract attention to myself. Phones are expensive and waving a larger screen around in public seems like it could make you more of a target for thieves, or the simple curiosity of strangers. I’d rather be left alone to enjoy my journey in peace with a phone that doesn’t advertise my presence.

@techradar

♬ original sound - TechRadar The real problem isn't the hinge

All of which makes me think that in September, Apple’s biggest challenge might not be around making the perfect, seamless hinge, camera or screen aspect ratio.

It might be simply to convince people that foldable phones can be cool, even at their ridiculous prices, and that’s going to be a tougher task than any of the technical hurdles it will need to overcome.

Saying that, if anybody can make us think that folding phones are for everyone, it’s Apple. Samsung has done the brave work of making foldables exist. Apple’s job is to make them feel less like a magic wallet and more like an iPhone that has learned a party trick.

• Amazon's gaming boss thinks ballooning hardware prices could push more hardcore gamers towards cloud streaming services
• He argued that the price of consoles increasing by 'six, seven times' would mean some gamers become 'priced out of the market'
• He thinks the RAM crisis, and rising prices, will not be 'going away anytime soon'

Amazon GM of gaming Jeff Gattis thinks the rising cost of consoles and PC components could push more hardcore gamers towards cloud streaming, via services such as Amazon's own Luna.

In a recent interview about the service, I asked whether Gattis anticipates cloud gaming becoming a more popular option for core players as traditional systems become much more expensive.

"Yeah. I wouldn't have said that 18 months ago, and I will say our business model is not really predicated on this this massive shift where everybody turns in their consoles and PCs and comes over to cloud" he said.

"But gosh, when you start to see the prices of the Steam Machine and the rumors of PlayStation and Xbox. As you get to $1,000, $1,500 hardware [...] you're going to see more people that are priced out of the market. They're going to consider other technologies".

Gattis, who previously led platform and subscriptions at Xbox, went on to share an anecdote to illustrate just how much prices have risen.

"I was telling somebody the other day that when I was back at Xbox a couple of years ago, we had our Series S console on discount [for a] holiday. I think it was about $199. To think in a span of two to three years we've gone from $200 to what's likely going to be six, seven times that price.

"I understand it's a it's a RAM crisis, it's worldwide, but I don't think that's going away anytime soon."

He was, however, careful to clarify that hardcore gamers moving to the cloud isn't a core part of Amazon's strategy: "It's not our strategy to accelerate that, but it's a nice tailwind if it does happen, and it's realistic to think that it might."

The comments come as Amazon rolls out a Fire TV update that gives Amazon Prime subscribers the ability to stream games like Fallout 4 or Fortnite from directly within Prime Video via Luna in a bid to get more eyes on the service.

• Nvidia donates one of its most advanced AI supercomputers to US military’s flagship graduate university
• The supercomputer will be used across a range of applications, from simulations and digital twins, to weather prediction and cybersecurity
• "AI ‌will ⁠be a backbone of America’s defense," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said at the commissioning of the supercomputer

Nvidia has donated a DGX GB300 AI supercomputer to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, to support students, researchers and faculty in weather prediction, cybersecurity, disaster resilience and response planning.

The supercomputer was commissioned with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in attendance. “Our nation depends on our men and women who fight on the front lines,” Huang said.

“Nothing is more valuable to you than information and insight, and information and insight in a timely way, and to understand its impact and consequence. I can’t imagine anything more important.”

AI supercomputer to be used for training, oceanic modelling, and digital twins

The Nvidia DGX GB300 is one of Nvidia’s most powerful AI servers, and houses 72 Nvidia Blackwell Ultra GPUs, alongside 36 Nvidia Grace CPUs, that provide 20 TB in GPU Memory at a bandwidth speed of up to 576 TB/s.

This will provide the US military’s flagship graduate university with an enhanced ability to train new AI leaders, and enables more technical applications across in-house foundational models, run simulations, and use digital twins to train students from every branch of the military on real-world navigation and decision-making.

(Image credit: Nvidia)

“Leadership is about being in service of something else. You’re in service of your team. You’re in service of your country. You’re in service of your mission,” Huang said at the commissioning. “And all of this technology is just tools to help you.”

Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Pacific Command, said, “As we modernize our technology, we must also modernize how we educate our leaders. Access to advanced computing capability means NPS students and faculty understand the opportunities and responsibilities that come with these technologies.”

The AI supercomputer will also allow students to better understand sea conditions and predict atmospheric changes, while also equipping students for an increasingly AI-enhanced military.

The US and China are in heavy competition to deploy better and better frontier AI models, with China quickly catching up despite widespread sanctions on the sale of AI chips to the country. Both nations are integrating AI systems into the military, police, and government agencies.

“Many of you will command in AI-enabled environments. Information will move at lightning speeds, compressing response times,” Paparo said. “Our advantage will come from leaders, like you, who can use the technology to see, understand, decide and act faster while exercising the judgment, experience and leadership that machines cannot provide. That education is happening here at NPS.”

• Apple is rumored to be planning to rent Macs, as well as iPhones and other devices, to consumers
• 'Apple Upgrade' will allow you to pay via a subscription (with financing handled by Klarna), and buy the device eventually if you wish
• This is seemingly Apple's way of sidestepping the RAM crisis and keeping Mac sales going, as we're also hearing about frightening memory price hikes from Framework

We're seeing the continued fallout from the RAM crisis, with Framework outlining plans to deal with massive increases in the cost of memory, while Apple is rumored to be about to unveil new way of selling you a Mac in order to cope with ever-higher sticker prices: it'll rent you the PC.

Let's start with Apple's apparent plan, which is detailed in a report from Bloomberg, in which Mark Gurman tells us that Apple is preparing to launch a device-leasing scheme for consumers in conjunction with Klarna (on the finance side).

We're told this will be announced on July 28 and it'll be called 'Apple Upgrade'. The sell (ahem) is that you can regularly upgrade your rented hardware, as well as avoiding taking a huge dent to your wallet with the sizeable outlay required to buy many Macs these days.

This won't just be for Macs, mind you, but also the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, with most models of all this hardware seemingly set to be included. It sounds like it might be a US-only initiative to begin with, but it could come to other regions later.

Apple Upgrade will seemingly work as a subscription over a 36-month term (or 24 months for iPhones and Apple Watches), although there'll be an option to pay off the device early and buy it outright (or upgrade to a newer model early). When the end of the subscription is reached, you can either return the Mac and upgrade to a newer model on a new financing agreement, or just keep it (with a final payment, naturally).

As mentioned, Klarna is apparently running the finance side, and applications for Apple Upgrade will be subject to a soft credit check.

This new scheme will supposedly take the place of the iPhone Upgrade Program and Apple's standard financing. The former offers a way to buy an Apple smartphone on monthly payments direct from the company (with 0% interest), but there's no Mac equivalent.

Gurman says of the Apple Upgrade scheme: "Apple plans to advertise the program as a way to have lower payments versus current financing programs." The leaker also clarifies that Apple Upgrade won't include AppleCare (unlike the iPhone Upgrade Program, which does).

Some of Apple's cheaper devices won't be eligible for this rental scheme, too, and that includes the MacBook Neo, as well as the Apple Watch SE, entry-level iPad, and iPhone 16.

As for the move with Framework laptops, this was revealed in a blog post that Tom's Hardware noticed. The notebook maker said that with its Framework Laptop 13 Pro: "We recently received a cost update from our LPCAMM2 [laptop memory] supplier that goes far beyond anything we had predicted and anything we're able to absorb without placing our ability to operate at real financial risk.

"Rather than the low-to-mid double digit percentage increase we had forecast from Q2 to Q3 on LPCAMM2 costs, we received prices that are more than double that of the prior inventory we had brought in."

Framework is doing its best to cope (in a commendably transparent way), and is adjusting existing pre-orders as is necessary. That means dropping some 64GB orders down to 32GB, charging the original 32GB price — and the same for 32GB orders going down to 16GB, maintaining the original price for the latter.

Pricing for the 32GB module hasn't quite doubled, but it's up 82% (with Framework absorbing some of the increase), and a 64GB module is up 88%. This means the latter nugget of RAM is now an eye-watering $1,600 in the US, and £1,600 in the UK (yes, nugget seems an increasingly appropriate term these days).

Analysis: own nothing, be happy

(Image credit: Apple)

Unfortunately, July has brought us a clear picture of the RAM crisis getting worse. We've just been hearing about DDR5 memory seeing a notable uptick in pricing (after plateauing somewhat for a few months), and the boss of a big chip maker has informed us that things are going to get much worse, with 2027 set to be the 'worst year' in the RAM industry's history no less.

Framework's story of a doubling in laptop memory cost is a truly worrying hike on top of all this, and doubtless we can all still recall Apple's price hikes that arrived at the end of June. Particularly those of you who were mulling a Mac purchase, and are regretting not pulling the trigger before the increases were ushered in.

Seemingly Apple has a solution to the RAM crisis, though, but this rental plan hasn't gone down well online. Yes, you can imagine the reaction to this on social media – one Redditor observes that it's "one step closer to owning nothing" (as in 'own nothing and be happy') – but in fairness, this is still a rumor. Although given the details, and the apparent proximity of the launch, it sounds fairly cast-iron – but we shouldn't jump to conclusions.

A lot of how any rent-with-an-option-to-buy scheme will play out is going to depend on the pricing Apple (and Klarna) attaches, and the world out there on social media fears the worst. I don't blame the doubters, frankly, and particularly those who are worried that the final instalment to buy the Mac (or other Apple device) will be punishingly high. Generally speaking, this is, of course, the way these lease agreements tend to run, and the same will likely be true of the option to exercise an upgrade before the current lease is up.

What's interesting is that last week, I spilled my thoughts on how I was worried that Mac sales were going to flag, and how Apple's in a bit of a tricky situation in terms of combating this. Between MacBook holdouts, the continued RAM crisis, and cynicism around an apparent renewed focus on AI from Apple, the Mac waters are getting seriously choppy.

I didn't expect to have a (theoretical) answer so soon, and apparently now we know how Apple plans to keep Mac sales buoyant. The devil will be in the details of the Apple Upgrade scheme, assuming it happens, but the overriding online speculation for now remains that the terms of the rental plan will be more likely slanted in a hellish direction than a heavenly one.

• Steam gifting and wishlists have received big improvements in recent updates from Valve
• Users can now gift games to friends and family directly via email
• Wishlists now have categories and a new 'Demo Available' highlight

Valve's updates to Steam have consistently enhanced the user experience for PC gamers, and fortunately, two of its most recent additions continue that trend.

On Steam News Hub, Valve announced two major improvements to the Steam gifting system and wishlists: users can now gift games to friends and family via guest checkout, without being limited to digital gift cards and hardware purchases, and gift games via email.

As for wishlists: categories are now available, with options to filter the wishlist via category name, a new 'Demo Available' highlight once a demo becomes available, and share a link to a specific category or filtered view of a wishlist, ultimately allowing users to sort further and organize wishlisted titles.

Both updates have made wishlisting and gifting much easier, especially since the latter now has cross-region gifting. Essentially, in a scenario where a friend is in a higher-priced region, Steam will 'calculate the cost in your friend's region' at checkout – but it's important to note that this must be a friend for this type of gift to work.

New wishlist update (Image credit: Valve)

Most importantly, the improvements made to Steam wishlists should come in handy for future purposes beyond 2026, but also arrive at the ideal time considering the very busy game release schedule this year.

Not only do gamers have plenty of triple-A titles to look forward to on Steam (notably in September), with the likes of The Blood of Dawnwalker, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and Control Resonant all in the same month, but numerous indie games are arriving too, like Blackwood.

The demo highlight is a necessary update as well, since there are a significant number of games that either launch in early access or have been in development for years with long-running demo requests (i.e., Spine).

Updates as such are great for SteamOS PCs, especially the Steam Machine, and the more improvements made for each feature on the Steam client, the better.

• The Flock backlash is growing, and city officials have started covering ALPR cameras with trash bags
• Some cameras are even being smashed up
• A handful of Flock cameras have been spotted inside speed signs out of sight from drivers

The recent backlash to security company Flock highlights severe privacy concerns with its Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) systems — and local authorities are taking matters into their own hands.

In an article by 404media, city officials of Verona, Wisconsin have been protesting Flock’s ubiquitous surveillance cameras by covering them with black bags. The move follows a council vote to remove three cameras from the area, which Flock refused to take down according to recently exchanged emails.

“We kind of looked at the contract, talked it over amongst staff, and the thing we felt most comfortable with was just covering them so they could stop spying on people … I’m 100% certain that they were still working," said Luke Diaz, Mayor of Verona.

But for some residents, covering Flock’s ALPR systems with trash bags simply isn’t enough to give them peace of mind — some are going the extra mile by smashing Flock’s surveillance cameras, according to an article shared to Reddit.

Comment from r/technology

Just yesterday (July 22), Flock decided to abandon its plans to roll out its ‘human distress detection’ feature beyond the trial period. This tool used Flock’s urban acoustic microphones to detect sounds such as human screaming, and would then alert local police allowing them to reach the incident quickly.

Though these detectors are still in place, they can no longer pick up on human activity, and instead listen out for sounds such as gun shots or vehicle crashes. For those who have actively campaigned against this, it’s a huge win, but the microphones that remain in place are still sparking widespread concern regarding civil privacy, even though Flock says these systems cannot understand or analyze speech.

The People vs Flock

Since Flock’s ALPR systems became a means of public surveillance, the tech firm has been met with waves of backlash to the extent where the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has launched campaigns against these types of systems — claiming Flock is “quietly trying to build a nationwide mass surveillance system”.

Public concern has become so heated, some local authorities are pumping the breaks on introducing Flock cameras to certain areas. The LAPD is one of the most recent police departments that has acted on this, making the decision not to renew its contract with the tech company.

However, there are countless cities across the US that still have these systems in place and not only is the number increasing, the tech is getting smarter. ALPR systems don’t just capture your license plate, they are designed to identify your vehicle’s make and model, as well as its color and things such as bumps, scratches, and accessories like bumper stickers.

As a result of the rapidly advancing technology, drivers have been seeking ways to avoid areas where these systems are in place — the website DeFlock allows you to plan routes that actively avoid Flock’s cameras. Naturally, some local authorities are camouflaging its Flock ALPR systems to prevent vandalism.

They are hiding Flock cameras now, secret compartment found in speed radar box pic.twitter.com/4kkeRsKufiJuly 22, 2026

In a video shared to X by @OrwellDay (see above), the user captured footage of what looks like a regular speed-display sign, but uncovered a hidden Flock camera placed around the back. “Someone did some custom metal fabricating,” they say.

Quite a sneaky tactic, right? It doesn’t end there, and according to the replies on Reddit, these systems aren’t just being concealed inside speed signs. One user claims that ALPR systems are being hidden in fake cacti in some parts of Arizona, making it more difficult for tools like DeFlock to list the locations of cameras.

It's becoming increasingly difficult to avoid the watchful eye of Flock's ALPR cameras, but it seems that residents will stop at nothing to find ways to combat the rise of these counteractive measures.