TechRadar News

• Microsoft is rolling out an in-app browser for the Copilot app
• When you open links provided by the AI, they'll appear side-by-side with the chat
• While this is likely to prove a convenient feature for some, others have their doubts, and there's an ulterior motive of sorts in terms of pushing Edge

The Copilot app in Windows 11 is getting its own browser, which means that when you follow links provided by the AI, you'll stay within the confines of the app.

Windows Central noticed that Microsoft is set to roll out the in-app browser for the Copilot app on Windows 11 (and macOS), where it will open links in a panel to the side of the chat.

Normally, links would be fired up separately in the default web browser, but with this change, Microsoft aims to keep more activity within the Copilot app.

This feature has been in testing since early this year, and is available for admins to enable now, with a "broader rollout" happening in late November.

If you use the Copilot app, then, you can expect to see this ability appearing in a couple of months (or maybe a bit longer depending on the pace of the rollout).

Analysis: edging forward

(Image credit: Shutterstock/Prostock-studio)

Obviously, there is an aspect of convenience here, as you can peruse web pages that Copilot highlights right there in the app window. Some folks might like the idea, then, but on Reddit, the feedback that's been shared has been pretty negative.

Windows Central poses a question for the story headline, namely: "Will this upcoming update make Copilot your preferred browser on Windows 11?" And the Redditors who can't resist replying to that query are all overwhelmingly negative.

One reply says: "No. Copilot is a scourge that I avoid at all opportunities. Having a browser inside Copilot sounds like Hell."

Another states: "Definitely not. As it is, if I click a link in Copilot I have it open it in my actual web browser. The built-in browser would have to be really good to get me to change that."

Okay, so it's a loaded question and one that AI skeptics are more than happy to jump on and shoot down – but these aren't the people that Microsoft is considering here. It's introducing this for folks who use the Copilot app, who, obviously enough, aren't part of the anti-AI crowd who are very quick to fire flak at anything related to the topic.

On the other hand, this isn't something Microsoft's doing purely out of the goodness of its heart. It's a way to keep more activity within the Copilot app, as noted, and also another method of (indirectly) pushing the Edge browser. Because naturally enough, that's what the in-app browser is based on (what else would it be).

That doesn't mean the feature isn't useful, though, and if you like the sound of the in-app browser for Copilot, you've not got long to wait.

A good mechanical keyboard can make long working days more fun, especially if you spend hours writing, coding or working with spreadsheets. The Keychron V6 Max offers a full-size layout, extensive customization and several ways to connect your devices.

• Best for: Writers, programmers and office workers who spend a lot of time typing and want a customizable mechanical keyboard with a dedicated number pad for Windows or Mac.

• The deal: The Keychron V6 Max wireless customizable keyboard is now $110 (was $120) at Amazon. In the UK, the cheapest price for the V6 Max is £92 (was £115) at Argos.

• Why it matters: This is the best mechanical keyboard for professionals that we've reviewed - our hardware editor has been using this everyday since he reviewed it in June without complaint. Its gasket-mounted construction, sound-absorbing foam, replaceable Gateron Jupiter Red switches and durable PBT keycaps offer plenty of options for customizing the typing experience.

V6 Max Wireless QMK Mechanical Keyboard: was $119.99 now $109.19
This keyboard features 108 keys, Gateron Jupiter Red switches, 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth 5.1, USB-C connectivity, QMK customization, gasket-mounted construction, double-shot PBT keycaps, adjustable RGB lighting and hot-swappable switch sockets.

In the UK: now £92 (was £115) at ArgosView Deal

Why we recommend it

The V6 Max has a gasket-mounted design with sound-absorbing foam, helping reduce typing noise and providing a comfortable typing experience.

Its double-shot PBT keycaps are designed to resist wear and prevent the lettering from fading, and it comes with pre-lubed Gateron Jupiter Red switches that provide smooth keystrokes without the tactile bump found on some mechanical keyboards.

The hot-swappable PCB supports most three-pin and five-pin MX mechanical switches, making it possible to experiment with different typing characteristics. And there's a volume knob you can tap to instantly mute your computer. It's an especially nice touch.

In his five-star review, our expert Steve said, "if I could, I’d sit at my desk all day and all night just to feel that pleasing feedback, listening to the satisfying clackety-clack as my fingers depress the keys. It might just be the best office keyboard I’ve ever used."

He also added, "For me, it’s one of the best keyboards around, perfectly positioned for productivity-minded professionals, students, programmers — effectively anyone who’s going to be spending a lot of time at their desk. On that score, it delivers an awesome experience."

Price context & historical value

The reduction from $119.99 to $109.19 represents a relatively modest saving of $10.80, or approximately 9%. That's not a huge discount, but any price cut on such a great keyboard is worth grabbing. I've seen it cheaper in the past, but only as low as $95.99, so you're paying just $13.20 more than the previous low.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Keychron V6 Max mechanical keyboard if...

You regularly switch between several computers or want a keyboard that works across different operating systems. The V6 Max supports 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth 5.1 and wired USB-C connections. Bluetooth allows you to pair up to three devices, while the 2.4GHz and wired modes support a 1,000Hz polling rate.

❌ Skip the Keychron V6 Max mechanical keyboard if...

You have limited desk space or regularly carry your keyboard between locations. Its 108-key layout includes a dedicated number pad, so it occupies considerably more room than a compact mechanical keyboard.

• In the US: Shop all keyboards at Amazon
• In the UK: See all PC keyboards at Argos

Financial crime has never stood still. In my nearly three decades in financial services, I have watched fraud move in lockstep with the technology built to stop it, and at times, even stay a step ahead of it​,​ given the speed fraudsters adopt new technology.

I have witnessed decades of AI innovation ​that raised​ the bar on fraud detection, yet criminals continue to test those boundaries. Fraud remains a top consumer concern, with over ​87.5 million American adults experiencing a scam or financial fraud each year. That’s roughly one in every three American adults.

The question for financial institutions isn't whether AI has a place in fraud prevention​,​ but whether the AI they've deployed is built for the threat landscape they're facing today – and the one that's coming.

Compute has finally caught up with mathematical vision

For decades, data scientists working on fraud prevention had theories they couldn't implement. The ideas were sound, but the computers at the time weren't powerful enough to get the math done. That constraint no longer exists.

Historically, most fraud detection has been carried out by building a profile summarizing a customer's typical behavior using sophisticated features, a neural network, and the customer’s current transaction to flag transactions that are suspicious. It's an approach constrained by the computational limitations of time.

Today, access to GPU and other high-performance compute is changing the art of the possible. Rather than analyzing a transaction in the context of a profile, GPUs allow us to implement entirely new algorithms that can evaluate a customer's extensive transaction history in real-time as the transaction happens.

The result is a significantly sharper, more accurate prediction and far fewer false alarms that can delay or stop legitimate purchases​,​ eroding customer trust.

Built for one job, not every job

Thanks to greater GPU availability and computational power, we're now seeing new opportunities to support fraud prevention with a sequence-modeling transformer – not a generic transformer, but one purpose-built for transaction analytics and financial crime.

With a purpose-built transformer architecture that’s trained exclusively on financial transaction data and engineered for a single focused task, financial services institutions can detect financial crime in real time using deep personalization and the context of the customer transaction history.

These are not overarching ‘do everything’ models. They are focused foundation models purpose-built to deliver auditable, high-performing, low-latency generative AI for the fight against financial crime. Each of these models specializes in distinct areas, such as account takeover, scams, mule detection, and first-party misuse.

Independent models focused on their specialty allow for a more complete, accurate, and transparent picture than any single model working alone. And this is just the start​,​ as the same methodology applies to risk decisions, hardship, collections, and any application where understanding our customers leads to better engagement, protection, and service.

The future is now

The fraud prevention capabilities that will define the next five years are being built right now. Enterprises investing in protecting customers from fraud – both now and in the future – understand that purpose-built models, use of specialized compute, and AI agents are the path to protecting their customers.

The math protecting consumers today was invented decades ago by AI scientists who saw the potential in algorithms even before the compute and infrastructure existed. I've spent much of my career continually chasing that goal to ensure that the industry is ready to bring the best algorithms when compute shows up.

Some of my proudest work came from refusing to settle and trust that technology will catch up with AI invention and math. Every patent, every model, every AI experiment has served the same purpose: making sure the industry is ready to lead with the best AI tools once compute catches up with scientific invention.

That work is happening right now. The only question is whether ​​​​​​financial institutions are​​ part of it or racing to catch up.

We've featured the best antivirus 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

You typed a few prompts into an AI website builder and had a full site minutes later. It looks promising at first glance, but closer observation reveals it probably looks a lot like every other business in your industry.

Most people reach for these tools because they're short on time, budget, or both. You want something live today, without sinking funds into a six-week build from a developer. But there’s a substantial gap between going live and a website that actually works for your business. That’s exactly what my AI website customization guide covers.

Where do AI-generated websites fall short?

AI builders are trained on patterns from thousands of existing sites, so they tend to reproduce the same layouts and headline structures. One review of AI builders found that training on top-performing sites means the tools "find and copy the optimal design," which is efficient but produces cookie-cutter results. If a competitor used the same tool, your sites may look closer to twins than rivals.

The code underneath often carries its own baggage. AI-generated pages tend to ship with bloated CSS and redundant scripts that hurt Core Web Vitals scores, according to multiple industry analyses. This costs you twice, in visitors who leave and in search rankings that suffer for it.

Security is another potential blind spot among AI-generated sites. A recent scan of 447 live websites found that AI-built sites averaged 2.1 high-severity vulnerabilities each, compared with 0.7 for human-built sites, largely because the tools skip protections nobody explicitly asked for, like security headers and rate limiting. AI systems are good at building features that work, but far less reliable at adding safeguards nobody prompted them to include.

Then there's the content itself. AI copy tends toward vague, interchangeable phrasing, since the model is guessing at your specifics rather than pulling from verified facts, which can mean misstated details about your products or services. That doesn't make AI builders useless: it just means the output is a first draft, not a finished product.

7 tips for customizing AI-generated websites

The good news is that most of these problems are fixable without hiring a full development team. You're not starting from scratch. You're editing a draft, which is a much faster process than building a site from a blank page.

The tips below cover the areas that need the most attention once an AI tool finishes its pass. Work through them in order, since sorting out navigation first tends to make the later steps easier to spot.

#1 Rebuild the menu around what customers search for

AI builders often generate menus based on generic templates rather than how your customers actually think about your business. Important services can end up buried two clicks deep. Labels often use internal jargon instead of the words customers actually search for.

Walk through your own site as if you were a first-time visitor looking for your most requested product or service. If it takes more than two clicks to find, restructure the menu around that task rather than around your org chart. Test it on mobile too, since AI builders often collapse menus into hamburger icons without checking how usable they actually are.

#2 Cut the AI's boilerplate phrases

Look out for filler lines like "we provide high-quality, all-in-one solutions tailored to your unique needs." That kind of phrasing shows up constantly in AI drafts because the model has no specific facts to work with, so it defaults to language that could describe any business.

Replace it with details only you would know, like how long you've operated and what results real customers have actually seen. Specific language builds the credibility that generic phrasing can't. Reading each page out loud helps too, since AI phrasing tends to reveal itself the moment you hear it spoken back to you.

#3 Fact-check every price, spec, and product claim

AI models can invent plausible-sounding specifications, pricing, or availability when they don't have accurate source data to draw from. That's a real risk on e-commerce or service pages, where a wrong price or feature claim turns into a customer complaint later.

Go line by line through every product description, price, and spec sheet the AI generated. Cross-check each one against your actual inventory or service list before the site goes live. Pay close attention to anything the tool invented outright, like sizing charts or shipping timelines it had no real data to draw from.

#4 Swap the stock photos for real ones

The photos an AI builder pulls in are usually generic stock images chosen for visual polish rather than relevance to your business. Visitors have seen the same handshake-and-laptop photos on dozens of other sites. That sameness undercuts the trust you're trying to build.

Swap in real photos of your team, workspace, or product wherever you can. Even a handful placed in key spots, like your homepage and about page, makes the rest of the site feel more credible. A phone camera and decent lighting usually beat another stock photo of strangers shaking hands.

#5 Test every booking, payment, and CRM connection

Booking systems, payment processors, and CRMs often don't connect cleanly to AI-generated code, since the builder isn't working within a platform's standard hooks and APIs. Forms can silently fail to submit, or analytics tags can stop firing without any visible error.

Test every integration yourself: submit a real form, run a test transaction, and confirm the data lands where it should. Don't assume a feature works just because it appears on the page. Repeat the test after any major edit, since a single code change can quietly break a connection that worked fine the day before.

#6 Fill in the title tags and schema that AI skipped

Search engines and AI-powered answer tools rely on structured data to understand what a page is actually about, and AI builders frequently skip or half-fill this layer. Missing title tags and thin meta descriptions make it harder for your pages to surface in search results or AI-generated summaries.

Check each page's title tag, meta description, and heading structure. Then add schema markup for the basics, like your business address and hours, since this is one of the highest-value fixes on this list. A free tool like Google's Rich Results Test can confirm the markup is actually valid before you move on.

#7 Turn on two-factor authentication and audit your forms

Most AI builders leave meaningful gaps in default security configuration, including weak or absent security headers and missing rate limiting on login attempts. Privacy policies often read like placeholder text too, rather than an accurate account of what data you actually collect. Wix's own guidance to users flags two-factor authentication as the single highest-value fix available.

Confirm your SSL certificate is active and enable two-factor authentication on your admin account. Then remove unused contributor access and audit every form to make sure your privacy policy matches what you're actually collecting. Most of these checks take just minutes and rarely need repeating.

Should you generate websites with AI?

AI website builders solve a real problem by getting a functional site online without months of development time or a large budget. For a single-page portfolio, a quick landing page, or a proof of concept, the convenience outweighs the trade-offs.

A quick freelancer profile or a temporary event page rarely needs the same scrutiny as a site people will use to make a purchase decision. That’s why you should match your review effort to what's actually riding on the page. The more money or personal data changes hands there, the more that first draft needs a second look.

Tradeoffs show up as the site grows in importance. Convenience upfront translates into review time later, since the quality of the final result tracks closely with how much of that review you put in. Without review, a site tends to read as generic, sometimes with serious accuracy or security problems a customer finds before you do.

I always advise treating the AI output as a first draft rather than a finished site. Put in work so the result stops looking like a slightly different version of every other AI-built site out there. You should also budget time to check facts and close the security gaps the AI skipped on its own.

• Palantir CEO Alex Karp says frontier AI labs may end up nationalized because of the potentially unlimited liability they carry
• When asked how those risks could be disclosed in an S-1 IPO filing, Karp challenged the premise itself, saying: “You’re assuming that there will be an S-1.”
• His argument centers around the assumption that large AI-related liabilities ultimately require government intervention at some level, even as OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman ruled out an IPO in 2026, citing AI safety concerns

Palantir CEO Alex Karp has cast doubt on whether the frontier AI labs will ever reach the public markets.

A widely shared post on X by Guillermo Flor summarized Karp as saying OpenAI will never IPO, that there may be no S-1 in play, and that nationalization is the only real exit because the liability exposure from frontier AI is so large that "no public market could potentially absorb it."

His comments brought renewed focus on OpenAI and Anthropic, both of which have recently pledged to prioritize AI safety and "pacing the frontier" of development but have both released new versions of their AI models this week (GPT-6 Sol, Luna, and Opus 5.5).

A case made by focusing on potential liabilities

The comments come from Karp's September 17 appearance on CNBC's Squawk on the Street. In a transcript of the segment published by RealClearPolitics, a host asks how the liability Karp has been describing would be written into an S-1, and what the risk factors would sound like.

Karp's answer was one that sent shockwaves in an industry already pricing in potentially two trillion-dollar IPOs in the near future: "You're assuming that there will be an S-1. Okay. Maybe there will be."

He argued that the only way to handle that liability is to ask the government to nationalize said frontier labs, adding that companies often lead you to a conclusion rather than stating what they want outright.

The truth may be more complex: OpenAI confirmed on June 8 that it had confidentially submitted a draft S-1 to the SEC, while noting that some of what it wants to do is "likely easier as a private company." Anthropic made its own confidential submission a week earlier.

Neither company, however, has issued a public S-1 registration statement, using existing regulations to keep its financials private for now. OpenAI also pushed back its own timetable before Karp's statements. In an interview published by Fortune on September 12, Sam Altman said, "right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public," confirming there would be no listing in 2026 and citing safety and alignment work.

Not entirely an honest AI broker

This is not a new position for Palantir's CEO; in June, Benzinga reported that he spent six months privately warning AI executives about nationalization, telling an interviewer, "The momentum is on the side of people who want to nationalize them."

He also has a commercial interest in the argument, as Palantir sells software built on the premise that enterprises keep their data in-house, and in an August CNBC interview, Karp argued that businesses should control their own models and lean less on the frontier labs' token-based business model. On September 17, per Stocktwits, he again pointed to open models as a way for companies to keep control of their data.

His position rests on the belief that frontier labs carry liability only the government can absorb, that their appetite for regulation partly aims to limit that exposure, and that investors expecting blockbuster listings may be misreading the risk. Whether the delayed OpenAI IPO eventually culminates in some form of nationalization, regulatory oversight, or both remains to be seen.

What is certain, however, is that both Anthropic and OpenAI need billions of dollars to keep training their models and meet compute commitments in the near future, and they might turn to a source that seemed unlikely to some in the industry less than half a year ago: the US federal government.

• Samsung might not upgrade the RAM and storage amounts for the Galaxy S27 series
• This is likely due to the ongoing RAM and storage crisis driven by AI
• There's a chance that at least some models will use later UFS and DDR generations

If you were hoping the Samsung Galaxy S27 series would ship with more RAM or storage than the Samsung Galaxy S26 line then, well, you’re probably going to be disappointed, because the latest leak suggests there will be almost no changes on that front.

According to reputable South Korean leaker Lanzuk (via GSMArena), the Samsung Galaxy S27 and Galaxy S27 Plus will both ship with 12GB of RAM paired with a choice of 256GB or 512GB of storage. In the case of the Galaxy S27 Plus, that’s identical to its predecessor, and those configurations are also available with the standard Samsung Galaxy S26 — but that phone additionally comes in a 128GB capacity, which is absent here.

For the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra, you’ll apparently get 12GB of RAM alongside 256GB or 512GB of storage, but then there’s also supposedly a 1TB model with 16GB of RAM. This likewise is identical to the configurations you can get the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra in.

Finally, the rumored new Samsung Galaxy S27 Pro will apparently be sold in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB configurations, all with 12GB of RAM. So despite this supposedly being a more compact version of the Ultra, it apparently won’t match that phone’s 16GB of RAM in the top configuration.

The same source does at least claim that some phones in the S27 series might use LPDDR6 RAM and UFS 5.1 storage, both of which would be significantly faster than the RAM and storage used in the Galaxy S26 line, but if so it would likely just be the top storage tiers that do.

Another thing you can blame AI for

Samsung might make both the flash memory and the phones, but that doesn't mean it's immune to the crisis (Image credit: Future)

All of this means that at least on the RAM and storage front, the Samsung Galaxy S27 series might not be much of an upgrade on the Galaxy S26 line, especially if you’re not paying out for the top configurations.

But that’s not really a surprise, as this is likely thanks to the ongoing RAM and storage crisis, fueled by demands from AI data centers. This is affecting most tech, with companies having to choose between limited RAM/storage upgrades — and sometimes downgrades, or higher prices… or both.

So the one upside of this is that if Samsung does keep the RAM and storage at current levels, that might help keep the price of the Galaxy S27 series under control. But with Qualcomm’s latest chipsets reportedly costing more than previous generations too, we wouldn’t be surprised if Samsung’s next flagships still end up with higher price tags than the current ones.

• Data centers will get a label, just like your fridge or dishwasher
• Energy and water consumption must be reported by 500kW+ sites
• The EC also wants to know how resources are being balanced in relation to local strains

The European Commission has proposed a new rating scheme for data centers in a bid to have them report metrics like energy efficiency and water consumption more transparently.

Upcoming changes fall under the new Data Center Energy Efficiency Package, which introduces a new common, EU-wide rating scheme much like what we're already familiar with for household appliances.

Crucially, the changes now affect smaller campuses with a power demand of at least 500kW, whereas only much larger sites were impacted before the new rules.

European data centers must report efficiency statistics more openly

Some of the new metrics include total energy and water consumption, Power Usage Effectiveness (a figure we're already familiar with in hyperscalers' annual sustainability reports), Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE), how much of their energy comes from renewables, whether waste heat gets reused and more.

Ultimately, the intensified reporting is hoped not only to reveal how much energy sites are using, but how effectively they're balancing consumption in relation to local pressures like water stress.

"Tripling our data centre capacity cannot mean tripling the pressure on our grids, our water and our energy bills," Clean, Just and Competitive Transition EVP Teresa Ribera said.

The changes are also especially notable given ongoing changes within the bloc, because the EU has been ramping up more local compute options so as to reduce reliance on international options in a big sovereign drive. Over the next seven years, the EU wants to triple its data center capacity, per Reuters reporting.

Importantly, the changes won't happen overnight with the rating scheme subject to a two-month scrutiny window, the Commission detailed. Still, the first ratings are set to go live as early as this year, and by the end of 2028, the EU hopes to have reviewed just how effective those new enforcements were.

"Understanding their energy and resource consumption is the essential first step towards integrating them sustainably into our energy system," Energy and Housing Commissioner Dan Jørgensen added.

• Vivo launched the flagship X500 series of phones, with three new models
• A new monitoring screen comes in the X500 Pro Max photographer's kit, or it can be purchased separately
• At launch, all the phones and accessories are China-only, with a wider rollout TBD

Vivo quietly launched a really neat accessory alongside its new flagship X500 series of phones — an ultra-slim and light Bluetooth monitoring touchscreen — and, having paired it with the new X500 Pro Max, I wish it were compatible with my phone.

The monitoring touchscreen, aka a selfie screen, mirrors your phone's camera app, complete with touchscreen control over key camera settings and subject tracking, and can be attached to the phone magnetically or used as a remote monitor within its Bluetooth range.

Why not just use your phone's selfie camera instead, you ask? Well, the quality of the rear-facing selfie camera is always inferior to the front-facing cameras, as are the camera settings available.

A selfie screen, on the other hand, unleashes the device's superior front cameras — in the case of the Vivo X500 Pro Max, a triple array including a 50MP main camera and a 200MP 3.5x telephoto camera.

We've seen this kind of selfie screen tech before; Insta360's Snap Selfie Screen comes to mind. However, it needs a cable to connect to a phone, it has an annoying protective cover that flaps around when the screen is in use, and the display is smaller and harder to see. The new Vivo accessory, however, is better and more sophisticated in every way.

The selfie screen without its magnetic rubber caseTim ColemanTim ColemanTim ColemanTim ColemanThe dedicated case Vivo makes to magnetically attach accessories such as the selfie screenTim ColemanThe best mobile accessory for 2026 so far?

Vloggers should take note of Vivo's new selfie screen. For one, it can snap onto the device magnetically, or be used by hand, so long as a Bluetooth connection is possible. No cable needed.

Used as a remote monitor, you can position your phone somewhere, say, on a tripod, and then walk into the shot and see what your phone is seeing, no cameraperson needed. (Great for group photos as well, by the way.)

It's clearly a trend — the Insta360 Luna Ultra vlogging camera features a removable touchscreen and controller module (which also has a built-in mic), while DJI launched a remote controller with a screen for its Pocket 4 series.

Whether used remotely or attached magnetically, the Vivo selfie screen's 3.92-inch AMOLED display with 419 pixels per inch (PPI) is clear and crisp. It’s also super light and thin, measuring just 5.65mm thick and weighing 68g — you'll barely feel it on the phone.

Tim ColemanTim ColemanTim ColemanTim ColemanTim ColemanTim Coleman

It has a USB-C port for charging, plus three side buttons, including a recording button and one for adjusting the screen's brightness levels. Otherwise, that's it.

What's unclear at this stage is which devices are compatible with the monitoring screen, besides the Vivo X500 series, if any.

There’s one major drawback to using it with the Vivo X500 Pro Max — neither device is MagSafe, meaning you need a dedicated case for the phone and monitor for them to stick together!

Vivo sells a case (and the monitor) separately, or they're included in a photographer’s kit which also includes two teleconverter lenses. Meanwhile, the monitor is supplied with a magnetic MagSafe-style rubber case. Vivo says the monitor costs 699 Chinese Yuan (a price conversion is $105 / £78 approximately, though international pricing will be higher).

Tim ColemanTim Coleman

Compared to the other similar devices I've tried, I found the Vivo vlogging monitor lighter, has a clearer display, and I appreciated its wireless connectivity, with options for remote or MagSafe-styler setups.

If you ever shoot selfie content and wish you could more easily use your phone’s superior front camera, then a selfie screen is a great option, and Vivo looks like it has just made the best one. If it turns out to be compatible with your device, then it could be the best phone accessory you buy all year — I'll update this page once I know more about the availability and compatibility of the screen.

If there's one thing I've learnt in the last decade of testing some of the best robot vacuums in Australia is that not all of them are made equal. Some have excellent performance and software while others, despite a premium price tag, disappoint on testing.

However, as you can probably tell from my Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni review, I really liked how well this robovac performed in my tests. It wasn't perfect, but it cleaned and navigated well. Sadly, though, Ecovacs seems to have discontinued it, although stock is still available at retailers like JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys, listed for AU$1,999.

It has now been replaced by the Ecovacs Deebot X8 Max Pro Omni (please note the 'Max' moniker here) which, despite a very similar name is a slightly different model. I much prefer its design aesthetic over the previous X8 Pro Omni — which was rather boxy — thanks to rounded corners that make the dock look sleeker.

Other than that, the newer model has slightly lower suction power (16,600Pa compared to 18,000Pa on the X8 Pro Omni), but it now boasts a better anti-tangle brush system and a faster rotating roller mop. It can also independently raise the side brush when necessary to avoid scattering.

These upgrades mean it has an RRP of AU$2,599 (AU$100 more than the X8 Pro Omni at launch) but, in better news, it's now on the receiving end of a massive 65% discount on Amazon — down to just AU$899.

Deebot X8 Max Pro Omni: was $2599 now $899
A whopping 65% discount is absolutely nothing to scoff at. And yes, I admit I can't vouch for this model myself as an expert, but Amazon users seem happy with its performance, although some of those reviews are incentivised. Non-Vine users have also claimed it's a good buy and, given how impressed I was with the X8 Pro Omni, I think this will work just as well.View Deal

The slightly lower suction power on the Deebot X8 Max Pro Omni is neither here nor there in real-world use. Robovacs with even lower suction can perform just as well as models with upwards of 20,000Pa of suction as pulling power is highly dependent on airflow through the device.

In my tests I found that the X8 Pro Omni was able to vacuum remarkably well, but I was even more impressed by its mopping — and this Max model has the exact same roller mop mechanism as the older bot. In fact, I find rollers to be the better cleaners than rotating dual mop pads for a couple of reasons: they scrape along edges better and are able to use more water and actually mop rather than (dry) wipe as circular mop pads are wont to do.

I had no issues with navigation or obstacle avoidance with the older model, and I'm confident that since nothing other than the suction has changed here, the Max will be a good investment for anyone keen on a capable set-and-forget robot vacuum.

I would even go so far as to say not to wait until the Amazon Prime Big Deal Days sale next week as I don't think this vacuum will drop lower in price — AU$899 is an all-tine low that we first saw in August this year, long after the main Prime Day sale in July.

• Chinese universities are cutting traditional courses because of AI
• Translation courses face pressure as universities reassess their employment value
• Photography programmes are being merged as AI changes creative production

The Central Academy of Fine Arts has dropped courses in illustration, photography and translation, arguing that AI has made them poor value for money.

Fashion design degrees are also being scrapped, with universities saying the future rests on close cooperation between people and machines in creative work.

The changes follow a state campaign to direct learners toward chips, robotics and AI, industries the authorities regard as vital for national prospects.

Universities are cutting courses at scale

From 2021 to 2025, Chinese universities closed or paused 12,200 undergraduate programmes and launched roughly 10,200 fresh programmes.

The restructuring affected over 30% of undergraduate programmes nationwide, and arts, humanities and language courses absorbed the heaviest cuts.

A survey of 70 universities found cuts to five translation majors, eight Japanese majors and five German majors among language programmes.

Alex Shi launched her creative career with a degree that trained her to translate and interpret English, and says such courses could soon vanish, as the cuts overlook the wider skills underlying translation, including communication and critical thinking, which extend beyond producing accurate text.

Shi concedes that AI could bring translation accuracy almost to perfection, yet maintains that interpreting demands far more than converting words between languages.

“There’s still that personal style that’s always been essential in translation,” said Shi.

The Communication University of China has reportedly closed five programmes, among them visual communication design, comics and photography, according to a report on its overhaul.

“Traditional photography major can no longer exist as an independent discipline… today everyone can be a self-media creator and recorder,” said Liao Xiangzhong, top official at the Communication University of China.

Liao later clarified that the majors were merged into other disciplines instead of being cancelled outright, with photography absorbed by film and television photography.

New film roles and hybrid courses

New roles such as prompt engineer and AI animator are emerging in film and animation, where AI is also creating fresh openings alongside the closures.

One industry worker says designing characters or scenes once took a month, but with AI, a complete project can now be delivered in that time.

Degree programmes in intelligent imaging art, intelligent audiovisual engineering, and intelligent engineering and creative design have been launched by some schools.

Universities are also launching hybrid courses in which artistic instruction sits beside AI training, while some standalone degrees are being scrapped across the sector.

That shift is changing what employers expect from graduates entering translation, design, photography and film production.

For students, traditional qualifications may increasingly need technical skills that allow them to work alongside automated creative systems.

The result is a university system where some familiar degrees disappear while new AI-focused programmes take their place.

Via Al Jazeera English

Here at TechRadar, we have our own ranking of the best tablets around. So when I discovered it was possible to view a list of Amazon's best-selling tablets, I was intrigued to see if it bore any relation to the tablets we regarded most highly.

There are some obvious points of deviation. We tend to focus on tablets for adults, and there are a number of kid-focused models in Amazon's ranking. Similarly, whereas Amazon bundles ereaders in with tablets, we have them in a separate best ereader ranking.

It also makes sense that Amazon's own models sell especially well on the platform, given that they tend to get the best discounts. I'm not surprised to see the Kindle Paperwhite taking the #2 spot, for instance, when we put two Kobo models above it in our list.

Although the iPad (A16) 11-inch — Amazon's #1 bestseller — isn't our favorite tablet, we still scored it very highly in our review. We were less enamored with Amazon's #3 slate, the Fire HD 10 (2023), awarding it three stars and declaring it "only smoldering". It is, however, relatively cheap, which helps explain its popularity here.

Scroll down for a list of Amazon's best-selling tablets (as of 22 September, in the US), in order. Hit the View details button to see what we thought of them in our real-world testing — and learn which ones are worth buying.

Top tablets

Apple iPad (A16) 11-inch

Read our full review

Pros

• A16 chip is very capable
• Now starts with 128GB of storage
• iPadOS 18 runs smoothly here

Cons

• No major changes over the previous generation

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 12th Gen 2024

Read our full review

Pros

• 7-inch display is great
• Fastest Paperwhite yet
• Excellent battery life

Cons

• Expensive for a mid-range ereader
• Ads on lock screen in some markets (unless you pay extra)

Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023)

Read our full review

Pros

• Cheaper than many rivals
• Incredibly hardy
• Handy Alexa command center

Cons

• Tiny changes from 2021 model
• Stuck to Amazon ecosystem
• Lots of unremovable apps

Apple iPad 10.2 (2021) (renewed)

Read our full review (non-renewed version)

Pros

• Excellent value
• Upgraded selfie camera for video calls
• True Tone display

Cons

• No Face ID
• Doesn’t support newer accessories
• Lacks recalibrating speakers

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (2024)

Read our full review

Pros

• Snappier interface means faster menus and smoother zooming
• The best e-reader if you buy books from Amazon

Cons

• Design feels out-of-date and cheap, lacks buttons
• Once you see the Kindle Colorsoft, it’s hard to go black and white

Samsung Galaxy Tab A11 Plus

Apple iPad Air M4 11

Read our review of the 13-inch version

Pros

• M3 chip provides plenty of power
• Vibrant screen
• Strong battery life and audio

Cons

• Still no ProMotion display
• No major changes to design

Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition

Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Pro tablet

Amazon Fire HD 8 Tablet

Apple 9.7in iPad (early 2018) (renewed)

Read our full review (non refurbished model)

Pros

• More affordable
• Good screen quality
• Powerful for the price

Cons

• Apple Pencil costs extra
• Design unchanged

Apple iPad Air 13-inch (M4)

Read our full review

Pros

• M4 chip delivers excellent performance
• Vibrant, sharp screen
• Great cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity

Cons

• No major design changes
• No ProMotion display

Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids (2024)

Read our hands-on review

Pros

• Cheap HD screen
• Rugged build
• Fantastic warranty

Cons

• Amazon app store is somewhat limited

Apple iPad Mini (A17 Pro)

Read our full review

Pros

• Perfectly portable
• Excellent build
• Lovely screen
• A great Pencil Pro companion

Cons

• Pricey for the size
• Aging design
• FaceTime camera still on the short side of the screen

NOVOJOY 10-inch Android Tablet

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE (Wi-Fi)

Read our full review

Pros

• Slight yet sturdy water-resistant build
• Bold, vibrant display
• Innovative productivity tools
• Lengthy 20-hour battery life

Cons

• Screen not the brightest
• Middling gaming performance
• Somewhat creepy Face Effects

• A Vladimir Putin press call showed the Russian president casting an online vote for the country’s parliamentary elections
• The short clip has revealed that not only is Putin using a US-built Dell PC, it is running Windows 10 – and the license has not been activated
• Putin’s example of voting online is intended to encourage voters to take part, but has instead raised eyebrows and launched memes

Parliamentary elections in Russia took place on Friday, September 18 2026, with online voting for positions in the State Duma open to the public for the first time. To demonstrate the ease of online voting, a press call highlighted Russian President Vladimir Putin casting his vote – but this hasn’t gone quite as planned.

While the president appeared to have difficulty reading the display, the real challenge seems to be that the Russian leader is using a version of Windows 10 that has not been activated. Furthermore, the PC is a Dell, rather than a Russian-built system.

The Putin publicity stunt has already launched memes, but the it also raises questions about his ability to use a computer, not to mention the suitability of the hardware for voting.

“You can’t go wrong”

With 73-year-old President Putin lined up for the cameras with the Dell PC set up on his desk, he goes through the motions of “voting online,” presumably to demonstrate how easy it is. (In person and mail voting options were also available.)

The press call has all the authenticity of an unlicensed copy of Windows 10. Ironically, this is exactly what is in use, as you can see toward the end of the video.

Watch to the end:

Although an initial reaction might be “Russian state IT is pretty weak,” it seems more likely that the state-controlled hardware overseeing infrastructure, networks, and military systems is far more up-to-date. What is more likely is that that PC was pulled out of a back room and an old copy of Windows quickly installed simply to provide President Putin with his short encouragement to vote.

Dell vs. Aquarius

The use of a Dell PC is curious, however. While Russia and the US have cordial relations, it seems strange for the Russian president to use a foreign PC. Sanctions aside, Russia has a policy of forcing the use of home-grown brands (such as Aquarius) over those from overseas.

After voting, the five-times elected Russian leader uttered the memorable line “you can’t go wrong,” in his native language, perhaps highlighting the futility of voting for any candidates not in his favoured party, United Russia.

While it is difficult to assess the legitimacy of the elections in Russia itself, the governments of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom have challenged the elections in occupied Ukraine territories. The nations have described the them as “sham elections” that violate “Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence, and the UN Charter.”

• A M4 Mac Mini has been rebuilt into a battery-powered handheld computer
• The custom handheld keeps Apple’s desktop motherboard and original cooling system intact
• A removable Mac module sits inside the custom 3D-printed handheld enclosure

Apple's M4 Mac Mini has been transformed into a handheld Mac with a 7-inch 120Hz touchscreen, physical controls, keyboard, and battery.

Shing Solutions stripped the desktop computer down to its motherboard and cooling system before rebuilding it inside a custom 3D-printed enclosure.

The resulting device, dubbed Mac Nano, keeps the full macOS functionality while replacing the desk-bound form factor with something designed for use in two hands.

The Mac Mini becomes a removable computing core

The project retains Apple's original heatsink and blower fan instead of replacing them with smaller cooling hardware to save internal space.

That decision allows the M4 processor to retain its factory thermal arrangement while the motherboard moves into a completely different enclosure.

Inside the new chassis, the computer module sits on rails, allowing it to slide out without disturbing the screen, keyboard, or controllers.

The arrangement means the central hardware can theoretically be removed for servicing or replaced while the surrounding handheld computer remains assembled.

A 7-inch touchscreen provides the main display, with its 120Hz refresh rate giving the portable machine a smoother interface and gaming experience.

It is also equipped with a compact QWERTY keyboard sitting beneath the display, with an integrated touchpad providing cursor control.

The keyboard originally worked wirelessly, but its battery was removed, and the keyboard was rewired to draw power directly through USB.

This modification reduces the number of rechargeable components while allowing the keyboard to receive power directly from the handheld computer.

The internal layout therefore combines Apple's desktop motherboard with controls and display hardware that were never designed specifically for this computer.

Nintendo controls and batteries complete the handheld device

The Mac Nano also includes physical gaming controls, using circuit boards taken from Nintendo Joy-Con charging grips and mounted inside both sides of the enclosure.

Those controls are wired directly into the Mac instead of using Bluetooth, but macOS does not natively support wired Joy Con controllers.

To make the controls usable, the project relies on Steam, whose controller mapping system can translate their input for compatible games.

Connecting the keyboard, controllers, touchscreen, and other peripherals also created a USB bottleneck inside the compact enclosure.

Shing Solutions addressed that problem by combining two miniature USB splitter boards into a custom three-port hub.

The Mac Nano is powered by rechargeable cells connected to a custom power delivery system, allowing it to run without staying plugged into an outlet.

The enclosure also incorporates handles, giving the device a grip that accommodates all its components.

Unlike a conventional Mac Mini, the Mac Nano therefore combines desktop Apple silicon with the components needed for genuinely untethered operation.

Via Yanko Design

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 Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, September 22 (game #1199).

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 #1200) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• PAINT
• CAPTCHA
• BITCOIN
• WALLET
• SPAM
• PHONE
• RECORD LABEL
• AGE
• VERIFICATION
• SURINAME
• PAYWALL
• CONDENSED MILK
• RUB-A-DUB
• KEYS
• SHAVING CREAM
• COOKIE CONSENT
• SUNGLASSES

NYT Connections today (game #1200) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Don’t forget these…
• GREEN: Online obstacles
• BLUE: All packaged in tins
• PURPLE: Final descriptions

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 #1200) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: THINGS YOU GRAB BEFORE LEAVING THE HOUSE
• GREEN: WEBSITE HURDLES
• BLUE: THINGS THAT COME IN CANS
• PURPLE: ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "TERM"

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

NYT Connections today (game #1200) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1200, are…

• YELLOW: THINGS YOU GRAB BEFORE LEAVING THE HOUSE: KEYS, PHONE, SUNGLASSES, WALLET
• GREEN: WEBSITE HURDLES: AGE VERIFICATION, CAPTCHA, COOKIE CONSENT, PAYWALL
• BLUE: THINGS THAT COME IN CANS: CONDENSED MILK, PAINT, SHAVING CREAM, SPAM
• PURPLE: ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "TERM": BITCOIN, RECORD LABEL, RUB-A-DUB, SURINAME

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

Another yellow last! I think it was SUNGLASSES that threw me there — if it had said “bus pass” then I’d be there, but sunglasses are something I wear twice a year at most. Then again, maybe this is a sign that I really should be not forgetting to grab them whenever I leave the house!

Regardless of the order in which I solved today’s groups, luck was definitely on my side as I sailed through without making any mistakes while at the same time never being 100% certain in my connections.

I was also unsure of what the groups could be. I thought WEBSITE HURDLES was about security, THINGS THAT COME IN CANS was stuff that’s mixed, and ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "TERM" something about circles.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, September 22, 2026, game #1199)

• YELLOW: DEMONSTRATIVES: THAT, THESE, THIS, THOSE
• GREEN: EMBELLISHMENT: ACCENT, DETAIL, FLOURISH, TOUCH
• BLUE: OPTIONS ON A MULTIPLE CHOICE SURVEY: AGREE, DISAGREE, NEUTRAL, OTHER
• PURPLE: BEVERAGES WITH ACUTE ACCENTS REMOVED: CAFE, PATRON, ROSE, THE

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 Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, September 22 (game #933).

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Practically paleolithic

NYT Strands today (game #934) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• THONG
• SOLD
• PRIMAL
• SWORN
• CRATE
• CHART

NYT Strands today (game #934) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 12 letters

NYT Strands today (game #934) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

• First side: left, 1st row

• Last side: right, 5th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #934) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #934, are…

• BYGONE
• ARCHAIC
• ANCIENT
• PRIMEVAL
• TIMEWORN
• SPANGRAM: THATSOLDNEWS

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 hint

Today’s theme was a mystery. “Practically paleolithic”? What could that mean? A practical person who follows a paleo diet? A very well-organized dinosaur? Or was this more Bill and Ted-style slacker slang that had passed me by?

As it turned out it was about things that were old, tired and out of date, something that I only discovered after getting a hint of BYGONE following an exhausting search to make sense of it all.

From here I spotted the spangram THATSOLDNEWS and began my toil around the board to get the other words.

Incidentally, I know that it’s impossible to include apostrophes in word search games but I hate seeing THATS without one.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, September 22, game #933)

• SWITCH
• CHANGEOVER
• TRANSITION
• PROGRESSION
• SPANGRAM: FALLEQUINOX

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.

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 Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Tuesday, September 22 (game #1702).

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 #1703) — hint #1 — VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 5*.

* 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 #1703) — hint #2 — repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 2.

Quordle today (game #1703) — hint #3 — uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• Yes. One of Q, Z, X or J appears among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1703) — 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 #1703) — hint #5 — starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• S

• B

• J

• G

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

Quordle today (game #1703) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1703, are…

• SHEET
• BLAND
• JOIST
• GUAVA

I suffered from temporary insanity playing today’s game, in thinking that we needed not one but two rare letters.

Such was the shock of seeing a letter J that I risked a word beginning with Q — and when that was wrong, I remembered that common Quordle game word of GUAVA. It’s been a while since we’ve seen it, but thankfully it was still in my memory bank.

Daily Sequence today (game #1703) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1703, are…

• DRIFT
• TRIAL
• MOSSY
• PAUSE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1702, Tuesday, 22 September: COMFY, LOBBY, DRESS, PANEL
• Quordle #1701, Monday, 21 September: WAXEN, HIPPO, PETAL, LEASH
• Quordle #1700, Sunday, 20 September: DERBY, LIMBO, GAWKY, REIGN
• Quordle #1699, Saturday, 19 September: SCOPE, HEIST, PULSE, CHAMP
• Quordle #1698, Friday, 18 September: MUCUS, MIRTH, APPLE, TILDE
• Quordle #1697, Thursday, 17 September: CRIER, CHIRP, NEIGH, FREER
• Quordle #1696, Wednesday, 16 September: SPEAR, PRICE, BLUNT, FISHY
• Quordle #1695, Tuesday, 15 September: SHUSH, LITHE, DELTA, BUGLE
• Quordle #1694, Monday, 14 September: ZEBRA, LEGAL, RATIO, TROLL
• Quordle #1693, Sunday, 13 September: LUCID, SPRAY, MANGE, EMAIL
• Quordle #1692, Saturday, 12 September: SUPER, BRUSH, RESET, SOWER
• Quordle #1691, Friday, 11 September: PLUSH, PAINT, RIVAL, AFOUL
• Quordle #1690, Thursday, 10 September: AGENT, EXILE, TITAN, PUREE
• Quordle #1689, Wednesday, 9 September: HAPPY, GONER, SMACK, MOTIF
• Quordle #1688, Tuesday, 8 September: FLUNG, DIARY, HALVE, BERTH
• Quordle #1687, Monday, 7 September: VISIT, CLANK, FEVER, OCEAN
• Quordle #1686, Sunday, 6 September: PILOT, HONOR, BOWEL, TAUNT
• Quordle #1685, Saturday, 5 September: GNASH, GEEKY, WHELP, PUTTY
• Quordle #1684, Friday, 4 September: QUICK, BEEFY, TRUCK, SNAIL
• Quordle #1683, Thursday, 3 September: SIGMA, ESSAY, MERRY, LLAMA

• Reports claim Apple is weighing an as-yet-unapproved enterprise AI server with two or four M8 Ultra chips, targeting 2029
• Apple is considering using Nvidia's NVLink Fusion to link the chips, with Thunderbolt-based Mac clustering falling short of data center bandwidth requirements
• The move comes as demand continues to be a key driver for Apple's higher-end Macs, with AI firms buying Mac minis and Mac Studios in bulk, even as Apple has turned enterprise buyers away

Apple has been working on plans for an enterprise AI server built on its own silicon with an interesting twist: it is seeking Nvidia's help on the networking front to make it work.

A report by The Information claims Apple is considering two configurations: one with two of its future M8 Ultra chips and a larger one with four, aimed at businesses that want to run AI inference on their own hardware rather than in a public cloud.

The timeline, however, is long and loose, with a potential launch in 2029, though the same report cautions that the project could be canceled before then, with neither the server nor any Nvidia arrangement finalized at the time of writing.

A market that Apple previously walked away from

If it ships, the machine would be Apple's first purpose-built server since the Xserve, which Apple announced it would discontinue in November 2010 and stopped selling at the end of January 2011.

Steve Jobs's explanation, in an email to a reader of French site MacGeneration, reported by MacRumors at the time, was blunt: "Hardly anyone was buying them." Gartner's data backed up that claim with an estimated 10,000 units being sold per quarter, a relatively low number for the tech giant whose numbers normally ran in the hundreds of thousands or millions for most of its other products.

Apple's suggested replacements to users were server configurations of the Mac mini and Mac Pro, desktops running server software rather than rack hardware. If the 2029 launch materializes, it would mean Apple's reversal would see it enter the server market 18 years after the Xserve stopped being sold.

This time, however, feels different: The Information has reported that OpenAI bought tens of thousands of Mac minis and Mac Studios to train AI agents through reinforcement learning, and that Anthropic has rented Mac minis through Amazon Web Services, as per Ars Technica.

Getting caught off guard by AI-centric demand

Apple reportedly was caught off guard by the AI-driven rush for its hardware, with no enterprise AI strategy, no business engineering team in place, and no specific developer relations staff to manage those orders. As a result, it also turned away businesses asking to buy access to its Private Cloud Compute infrastructure.

The project reportedly had a powerful sponsor: Apple's now-CEO John Ternus, when he ran Apple's hardware engineering team. However, shortages plagued it, leading many users to opt for Nvidia's DGX Spark and AMD's Ryzen AI Halo as viable alternatives.

The focus, however, remains on Apple's ability to interconnect a large number of chips or dies together: its current flagship, the M5 Ultra that ships in the new Mac Studio on September 22 2026, is Apple's first quad-die design, stitched together inside one package by the company's UltraFusion bridge, with up to 512GB of unified memory and 1.2TB/s of bandwidth, which users often stack for on-device AI needs.

A data center-esque, server-grade offering, however, would require considerably more power under the hood to meet its AI needs, which would also depend on how fast the interconnect between chips is; Apple's current limitation is Thunderbolt 5 speeds, which offer up to 10GB/s (or 80Gb/s) bidirectionally.

For context, Nvidia says the sixth-generation NVLink, available through NVLink Fusion, connects up to 72 accelerators at 3.6TB/s each. Comparing total two-way bandwidth, that is roughly 240 times a single Thunderbolt 5 connection's one-way capability of up to 15GB/s (or 120Gb/s).

Apple's own marketing hints at what that gap costs: It says four clustered Mac Studios deliver up to three times the inference performance of one, suggesting it already makes scaling tradeoffs of nearly 25% when linking devices.

This could explain why Nvidia is in the conversation at all: proven tech that could help Apple scale its AI server ambitions without the performance overhead it currently already has, at a time when its silicon would be even more powerful, might just be a no-brainer for the Cupertino-based giant.

• Creative Assembly says Alien: Isolation 2's protagonist will offer "a new perspective to the franchise"
• Blake is a Weyland-Yutani employee, with principal environment artist Archie Whitehead saying the Japanese side hasn't been explored a lot
• Principal UI artist Laura Mouther says Blake isn't like any other Alien protagonist and "is such an interesting character to explore"

Alien: Isolation 2 will offer a totally new perspective on the Alien franchise by telling a story from the viewpoint of Yutani employee Blake, and Creative Assembly believes players will love her.

Speaking to TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, principal environment artist Archie Whitehead and principal UI artist Laura Mouther discussed what they're most excited for players to experience in the upcoming sequel, highlighting the game's protagonist, Blake.

Blake works for Weyland-Yutani Corporation, a mega-conglomerate and the major human-led antagonist throughout the sci-fi series, but is employed specifically on the Yutani side of the company.

It's a viewpoint that hasn't been showcased during the horror franchise before, and something the developers were eager to explore in depth.

"Weyland-Yutani is an English-Japanese-speaking company, and it's something that the Japanese side, I feel like, doesn't really get explored that much," Whitehead said. "It's something we're trying to explore more here because Kurosaki, it's the name of the station [the game's setting] so I'm very interested for players to discover: 'How does that influence the world and the people living in it?'"

Mouther added that Blake is "awesome" and "brings such a new perspective to the franchise in total," and her being an employee of this mega-corp will be a much different experience from the first game, where the character where average people.

"If you think back to the first game or even the first movie, it's truckers in space, right? It's average people doing average things," Mouther said. "They're not powerful. They're expendable. No one cares for them. They have to care for themselves.

"But now we have Blake, who is a very Weyland-Yutani employee, and that means that she has some power, right? But when you hear in the trailer that the Japanese voice is telling her, 'You made a mistake. This is your last chance.' She was sent to Kurosaki against her will, and she wants to do well. She wants to be there to redeem herself."

Talking more about the story, Mouther explained how characters in the prologue will talk to Blake with respect and "you can get a sense of her standing," but all Blake is focusing on is trying to redeem herself. That's why when she heads to the crash site and accidentally unleashes the Xenomorph onto the colony, she's made yet another mistake, which the developers said will make Blake an interesting character to play.

"That dichotomy, she is such an interesting character to explore," Mouther added. "And I think the players will really get to know her and love her in the journey; they will make out their own journey [as well]. We tell a larger story, obviously, but similar to the first game, every player will have their own way of telling the 'in-betweens' between that [main] story, and will be so interesting to see."

Alien: Isolation 2 doesn't have a release date yet but will launch on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

• Seller claims to be offering Mistral AI's full source code and says the company was breached again after May 2026 attack
• Mistral says an investigation found no evidence of new unauthorized access but has not stated whether the listed code is genuine
• No customer data has surfaced in analyzed samples, and nobody has shown files created after the May incident

A seller on a cybercrime forum says French giant Mistral AI has been hacked again and is offering what they call the company's full source code for sale.

The September 16 2026 post by an account using the handle "mrwho" consists of a listing titled "Selling mistral.ai Source Code" on an English-language cybercrime forum, according to The CyberSec Guru, pricing the material in Monero only before it attempted to steer potential buyers to Session or Telegram.

Mistral AI's own team has refuted this, stating it has "found no evidence to support this claim."

Not Mistral's first hacking-centric PR problem

Mistral's earlier hacking incident is undisputed - in May 2026, the Mini Shai-Hulud supply chain campaign, attributed to the TeamPCP group, spread from compromised TanStack packages to hundreds of npm and PyPI projects.

Mistral's own security advisory MAI-2026-002 says an automated worm led to compromised versions of its SDKs being published for a few hours on May 11 and 12, and that an affected developer device was involved. Microsoft Threat Intelligence found that a poisoned Mistral AI Python package fetched a second-stage credential stealer that allowed the attack to exploit users.

Mistral went further in statements to reporters than in its advisory. It told BleepingComputer that attackers had compromised a codebase management system and "contaminated some of our SDK packages for a brief period," while insisting that hosted services, managed user data, and research and testing environments were untouched. It also told HackRead that only certain non-core repositories were accessed.

TeamPCP, meanwhile, advertised roughly 450 repositories, about 5GB in total, for $25,000, and threatened to dump them for free if no buyer appeared within a week. One can therefore contend that this could be the same dump being remarketed by a different account, and the seller's profile is already suspect.

The CyberSec Guru noted that the account joined in September 2026 and had four posts and a reputation score of 30, despite displaying a top-tier "GOD User" rank. That profile could fit a scam in the making, but as the outlet pointed out, it could also fit a broker fronting for someone else or a freshly minted alias.

HackRead published 24 sample repository names from TeamPCP's May post. FrenchBreaches, which examined the 339-file tree mrwho shared in September, lists several of the same names. At least four of these appear in both: mistral-inference-private, mistral-inference-internal, mistral-finetune-internal, and mistral-common-internal.

This makes it hard to tell whether the purported 'hack' is just a rehash of an existing dump from Mistral's previous breach or a second successful hacking attempt. There is a straightforward test, however: If the September archives contain commits, files, or credentials dated after May 12, or secrets that were still valid after Mistral's cleanup, the seller's claim of a second breach gains real weight. If everything predates the May incident, this is a resale, which is embarrassing for Mistral but not a new security failure.

Of course, locating the archives or examining them would involve paying the ransom in crypto, as required by what could potentially be a scam in the making- a tremendous leap of faith for an account that was created earlier this month, making this essentially a lottery ticket at best for any security researcher attempting to take a closer look.

• Key LCD panel makers are upping prices this month, which is a crunch manufacturing period ahead of Black Friday and end-of-year sales
• There are only three TV LCD panel manufacturers, and all have decided to protect profits with price rises, reportedly
• Samsung's is also said to be cutting QLED TV production by up to 80%

If you're planning to pick up a super-cheap big-screen LCD TV for Black Friday this year, you may need to temper your expectations.

Key LCD panel makers have reportedly told manufacturers including Samsung, Sony and LG that they're putting their panel prices up just in time for production ready for the busiest sales period of the year.

Samsung Display doesn't make LCD panels any more, and LG Display has also stopped making them. That means the big TV brands are reliant on a handful of Chinese panel producers who now dominate the market: BOE, TCL CSOT, and HKC.

Those producers aren't running at full capacity, but rather than increase supply and potentially lower prices, they're restricting production to "contain oversupply and defend prices", according to The Elec.

TCL CSO and HKC will raise the price of some products this month, September 2026, with BOE upping prices in the fourth financial quarter. As The Elec notes, "concerns that China’s dominance of the LCD supply chain would translate into greater control over panel prices are becoming a reality."

The price hikes leave the big-name TV manufacturers in a bad place, because they will have locked in their LCD panel orders for Black Friday and the holidays already, and it'll be difficult for them to change their production plans.

That means price hikes on the panels used in affordable sets, which already have razor-thin profit margins, could have an effect on how exciting the TV deals on LCD models this year — and with giant-screen LCD TVs being the super-popular pick right now, it could make a real difference.

Samsung has dropped QLED from its new 2026 mini-LED line-up — this image compares the QLED-less budget M80H on the left with the Neo QLED QN80H on the right. The Batman provides a great test for how they handle contrast. (Image credit: Warner Bros / Future )Does the Q in Samsung QLED stand for "quitting"?

In another blow for price-conscious LCD buyers, Samsung is reportedly scaling down production of its QLED TVs dramatically, by up to 80% this year, while considering dropping QLED altogether by 2028.

QLED takes LCD panels and applies a layer of quantum dots to deliver better colors, and launched as a more affordable and very bright rival to OLED. However, as the best OLED TVs continue to get better and have a big grip on the premium end of the market, QLED has become a tech you see a lot on budget models.

According to ETNews (via FlatpanelsHD), Samsung is slashing QLED production from 10 million units to 2-3 million units this year and shifting its focus to mini-LED-branded and Micro RGB LED TVs.

The high-end Neo QLED lineup is being slashed too: "Samsung Electronics' QD TV shipment plan this year has been significantly reduced to less than 30%. Neo QLED will also produce only half of this year next year and gradually stop manufacturing."

In 2026, Samsung launched a new line of budget "Mini-LED" TVs that don't include QLED tech, including the Samsung M80H, which we tested alongside one of Samsung Neo QLED QN80H, and found to be a clear step down in image quality.

At the other end of the scale, we reviewed the flagship Samsung R95H Micro RGB TV, which also doesn't use QLED tech, and found it to be "a brilliant evolution" of LCD technology.

Quantum dots aren't dead, though: according to FlatpanelsHD, Samsung is continuing to invest in QD-OLED and in future technologies such as QD-EL, aka NanoLED, which is basically the quantum dot equivalent of OLED.

But we have to assume that if Samsung is already wavering over the viability of its QLED screens, a price rise in the panels it buys will probably just be another nail in the coffin.

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