TechRadar News

• Alien: Earth includes four new dangerous lifeforms alongside the Xenormorph
• Series creator Noah Hawley didn't want to overpopulate it with dangerous aliens
• There needed to be a valid reason for their introduction, Hawley added

Alien: Earth creator Noah Hawley has explained why he restricted himself to only introducing four new terrifying alien lifeforms in his latest TV project.

Speaking to TechRadar, the Fargo and Legion showrunner said he didn't want to go overboard and add in a zoo's worth of dangerous extraterrestrials for the series' humans and artificial beings to deal with.

Since its inception, the Alien franchise has been dominated by a single bioweapon: the Xenomorph. Other life-threatening alien species have appeared in the Ridley Scott-created universe, including crossover films with another classic '80s creature in the Predator, aka the alien race known as the Yautja. Nonetheless, the Xenomorphs, in conjunction with the earlier stages of their lifecycle in the egg-like Ovomorphs and parasitic Facehuggers, have been the main credible threat in the franchise's near-50 year history.

Until now, anyway. The Alien universe's inaugural TV series, which debuts on Hulu (US) and Disney+ (internationally) later this month, will aim to give established fans and newcomers sleepless nights with its new contingent of lethal organisms. Alien: Earth's official trailer already teased two of those horrifying creatures, but how they – and the other two species that are yet to be unveiled – seek out and attack their prey is rightly being kept under wraps for now. Hey, Hawley and company have got to save some surprises for the sci-fi horror show's release.

Alien: Earth's flora-based alien organism is as creepy as its fauna contemporaries (Image credit: FX Networks)

Fascinating and frightening as these monsters appear to be, I have wondered if Alien: Earth's creative team initially planned to include more species in the eight-part series and, if so, why this quartet was chosen over other potential candidates. What better way to find out, then, than going directly to the source and asking Hawley himself?

"No," Hawley told me when I asked if he conceived any more creatures than those that made the cut. "They're all introduced as part of the storytelling, so there needed to be a specific reason to include them.

"It wasn't that there was a big vending machine of alien life that I was going to add in," Hawley continued. "The design process was sort of form following function. Really, the idea was to come up with these creatures' behaviors that are as disquieting as what Ridley [Scott] created with the different phases of the Xenomorphs' lifecycle. So, it was always about trying to top the squeamishness of the movies. From there, we started a designing them with [special effects and prop company] Weta Workshop that led to the creatures you see in the show."

Alien: Earth will hatch with a two-episode premiere on August 12 in the US and make its debut internationally on August 13. Before it launches, read my Alien: Earth review to see what I thought of its first six episodes.

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• Sonos has a plan to fight tariffs: raise prices
• It announced this in its recent Q3 earnings presentation
• The price hike will go into effect "later this year"

If you have your eye on a Sonos speaker and live in the US, you might want to act sooner rather than later – as price hikes are incoming.

This doesn’t seem to be a complete repeat of the company's 2021 hikes which saw Sonos tech go up in price for seemingly no reason. Instead, the multi-room audio giant says these higher costs come as a direct result of the tariffs which are making it more expensive to import from the countries in which Sonos runs its manufacturing operations.

The news comes via Sonos’ latest quarterly earnings presentation. The Q3 PDF includes a page dedicated to an “Overview of Sonos Tariff Exposure” where it explains that it shifted most of its manufacturing from China to either Vietnam and Malaysia – with only certain accessories such as speaker stands and some of its Sonance co-branded speakers still being made in China.

While that means most of Sonos' products will dodge the 30% tariff imposed on Chinese-made goods, models made in Vietnam and Malaysia will still face 20% and 19% tariffs (based on rates as of the time of writing on August 7).

(Image credit: Sonos)

Alongside these pricing adjustment plans Sonos adds that it does have some “manufacturing flexibility,” however it only describes moving production between its Vietnam and Malaysian operations, rather than shifting production to the US to dodge import taxes.

So unless tariff plans change – either through Trump backing down, a trade deal with these nations, or some other governmental action – Sonos’ tech will be going up in price. As will, we expect, the cost of Sonos- and Sonance-branded accessories.

Precisely how much of a cost increase the actual speakers will see is yet to be announced, and we don’t yet know exactly when the price hike will come either – with the company perhaps waiting to see if the situation changes before making its final decision.

Sonos also says it is currently evaluating what, if any, changes it should make to its promotional strategies – perhaps suggesting the discounts we’ll see in upcoming sales (like Black Friday) might be tweaked too, in that they could be less significant than we currently hope.

For now we’re speculating on what Sonos' precise actions will be; all we know for certain is that some kind of price increase is coming to the US "later this year", so if you’ve been waiting to buy some of the best Sonos soundbars and speakers, you might want to stop waiting.

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• Trump adminstration is imposing 100% tariffs on semiconductors
• However TSMC looks to be exempt
• The news comes alongside a $100 billion Apple investment in US manufacturing

The Trump presidency has been underscored by consistent but evolving threats of tariffs on just about all trading partners and industries - and has now imposed a 100% tariff levy on semiconductors being imported into the US.

The tariffs will have an exception for firms that build in America, or have committed to do so, Reuters reports, perhaps obvious given the President’s ambition to bring tech manufacturing and development to home soil.

As with plenty of other Trump plans, these tariffs aren’t yet fleshed out, and their parameters are unclear. What is clear though, is the continued prioritisation of US firms over trade partners, despite the US’s limited chipmaking manufacturing capabilities.

Investments growing

One key question is how TSMC will be affected - as the world’s largest chip manufacturer is based in Taiwan.

Since TSMC has factories in the US, it is set to receive an exemption from the tariff, news which prompted a 5% rise in the firm’s stock price.

Samsung and SK Hynix, two major South Korean firms, are also said to be exempt, with South Korea benefiting from favorable trade deals between Washington and Seoul.

Also apparently exempt is Apple, as the tariff announcement comes alongside the news that the tech giant will be investing a whopping $100 billion into the US market

This move brings Apple’s total pledge to $600 billion following an earlier commitment to invest $500 billion and hire 20,000 US workers in the next four years.

"Companies like Apple, they're coming home. They're all coming home,” President Trump told the press, confirming Apple’s plans to expand its supply chain and manufacturing capabilities.

“$600 billion, that’s the biggest there is.” he continued, “The company is also unveiling its ambitious new American manufacturing program which will bring factories and assembly lines across our country all roaring to life.”

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• Cybernews found an unprotected database containing sensitive data on millions of MagentaTV users
• Around 324 million logs were contained within
• The database has since been locked down, but users should be on their guard

MagentaTV, a TV and streaming platform owned by German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom has been found leaking sensitive customer information for months.

In a blog post, security researchers from Cybernews said in June 2025, it found an unprotected Elasticsearch instance, hosted by Serverside.ai, which is a server-side ad insertion platform.

The archive weighs 729GB, and contains more than 324 million log entries. These entries contained users’ IP addresses, MAC addresses, session IDs, customer IDs, and user agents. Furthermore, some of the logs contained HTTP headers from requests the customers were sending.

Hijacking sessions and impersonating users

Deeper investigation determined the database belonged to MagentaTV, and that it was receiving between 4 and 18 million new logs every day.

“In theory, HTTP headers, including customer IDs and session IDs, could be used for session hijacking, allowing attackers to log into customer accounts without needing to know any personal account information or passwords. However, in the real world, additional security measures preventing such session hijacking were likely in place,” Cybernews researchers said.

Theoretically, there are plenty of things threat actors could do with this information.

They could use IP addresses to find people’s real-life locations, or could use MAC addresses to identify, or track, specific devices, even spoofing them in certain scenarios. Session IDs (if still valid) could be used to hijack active sessions, impersonate users, and gain access to their accounts or personal data.

Customer IDs could allow threat actors to reconstruct user profiles, leading to spear phishing, social engineering, or credential stuffing campaigns, while HTTP headers might contain browsing activity, cookies, authentication tokens, and more.

MagentaTV most likely started leaking the data in February 2025 and plugged the hole after being tipped off by Cybernews.

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It's the one we've all been waiting for – ChatGPT-5 is will be released in the next few hours! Earlier in the week OpenAI CEO Sam Altman teased that "something big" was coming on Friday, but then today the OpenAI account on X.com tweeted: "LIVE5TREAM THURSDAY 10AM PT".

Notice the use of a 5 instead of an "S" in the word "LIVE5TREAM"? That can mean only one thing: ChatGPT-5 is coming!

With a livestream kicking off at 10AM PT, 1PM ET, and 6PM BST, we'll embed the watch link as soon as it's live below, and TechRadar will bring you the news as it breaks.

So what can we expect? Well, the speculation is that ChatGPT-5 models (the names of a few of which have already been leaked) will be leaps and bounds ahead of the ChatGPT-4 models that we currently use in terms of performance.

What we don't know yet is which of the various OpenAI subscription offerings will get access to the new ChatGPT-5 models first, and will it be available to free users as well? We'll keep you up to date with the latest news as it breaks here.

ChatGPT-5 accidentally leaks hours before launch

As we sit down with snacks and drinks watching the screen and waiting for a live stream to appear for the imminent launch of ChatGPT-5 it appears that a leak on GitHub has revealed the name of the different ChatGPT-5 models.

It looks like we will have gpt-5, designed for logic and multi-step tasks, .gpt-5-mini, a lightweight version for cost-sensitive applications, gpt-5-nano, which is Optimized for speed and ideal for applications requiring low latency, and gpt-5-chat, designed for advanced, natural, multimodal, and context-aware conversations for enterprise applications.

That's no moon... that's ChatGPT-5?

Sam Altman has confounded the Internet once again by posting a picture of what appears to be the Death Star from Star Wars rising menacingly from behind a planet.

pic.twitter.com/1u0MOGvJWUAugust 7, 2025

Everybody is a bit confused by the meaning of this, so, who better to ask what it could mean than rival AI, Grok?

When asked what the image could mean, Grok replied: "Sam Altman's image of the Death Star symbolizes the rise of immensely powerful AI, like the anticipated GPT-5—a transformative force with potential risks, echoing Star Wars' superweapon. It's likely teasing OpenAI's next big breakthrough."

Longer than usual

Sam Altman followed up his mysterious Death Star image post on X.com with a more down-to-earth statement in his next post:

"Our livestream tomorrow at 10 am PDT will be longer than usual, around an hour. We have a lot to show and hope you can find the the time to watch!"

our livestream tomorrow at 10 am PDT will be longer than usual, around an hour.we have a lot to show and hope you can find the the time to watch!August 7, 2025

To be honest Sam, an hour is not that long to reveal the details of what could potentially be the new standard in AI chatbots, so I think you should take as long as you need.

Why the Death Star image for ChatGPT-5?

At first, Sam Altman posting a picture of the Death Star in relation to the launch of ChatGPT-5, his own product, seemed like an odd way to market something to me. I mean, what's he trying to say? Is it, "This thing is so scary it could destroy a planet"?

However, when you view it in context of the things he has recently said about AI creating new and unparalleled security risks and that fact that he finds ChatGPT-5 scary, it fits in. On the one hand, Altman is always pushing the narrative of how great AI will be for the future of the world and for the next generation, but at the same time he's always talking about how AI has the potential to be dangerous.

This new type of marketing, where he both praises and criticizes his own product, is certainly nothing new for him, and perhaps it reframes the narrative and puts him ahead of OpenAI's critics? Whatever his reasons, it certainly seems to be working.

ChatGPT-5 is just the beginning

(Image credit: Shutterstock/Adeel Ahmed photos)

As I wait with baited breath for the release of ChatGPT-5 (at 10am PT), I'm thinking about what Sam Altman said just a few days ago. "We have a ton of stuff to launch over the next couple of months – new models, products, features, and more”.

So, earlier this week OpenAI dropped its gpt-oss models, which are designed to run entirely on laptops and phones. In a few short hours we'll get ChatGPT-5, but what next? The next couple of months is a long time, which means we might see quite a few new features being released.

• A leaker claims the iPhone 17 Pro will see a $50 price hike
• That might be accompanied by a storage increase to 256GB
• The iPhone 17 Pro is just weeks away from launching

Apple’s iPhones aren’t known for being cheap, and you’ll certainly pay a premium if you want to buy one. Unfortunately, there are hints that we could see a price hike when the iPhone 17 Pro launches in a month’s time, but it might come with an upgrade that somewhat softens the blow.

The idea of the price rise was recently discussed by leaker Instant Digital on the Chinese social media site Weibo. There, Instant Digital said with some certainty that the iPhone 17 Pro would be $50 more expensive than the current iPhone 16 Pro, pushing its price to $1,049.

It isn't yet clear if this rumored price increase will be global or solely in the US. The source also didn’t mention whether the price of the entry-level iPhone 17 would also shift northwards, but it’s an idea that has been reported separately by the Wall Street Journal.

If correct, it’s a disappointing development, although not exactly an unexpected one. US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs have increased operating costs for almost every business affected by them, and in many cases that is being passed on to the consumer. Combined with rising component costs, the $50 increase doesn’t entirely come out of the blue.

Still, Instant Digital touched on the topic of whether the iPhone 17 Pro might upgrade its base storage from 128GB to 256GB, although they said that they were uncertain of whether the storage bump would actually materialize. If it does happen, it could be a sensible way for Apple to justify the $50 price rise and make it feel a little more palatable.

On-device or online storage?

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

The best iPhones offer some market-leading features, but one area where they’ve fallen behind their rivals is internal storage. The iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, and iPhone 16 Pro all start with 128GB of storage, whereas many rival phones offer more in their base-level offerings. The iPhone 16 Pro Max starts with 256GB of storage, but it’s also the most expensive phone in Apple’s lineup.

If the $1,049 iPhone 17 Pro also comes with 256GB of storage as standard, it could effectively be seen as offering a $50 price cut compared to the 256GB iPhone 16 Pro, which currently costs $1,099. That said, users might not be happy at having to pay another $50 on top of the iPhone’s starting price, especially if they don’t feel they’ll use that extra storage.

I’m not too worried about buying a 128GB iPhone – I did just that when I bought my iPhone 16 Pro – as I’ve never come close to running out of space, partly because I use 200GB of Apple’s iCloud storage to house my iPhone photos.

That costs me $2.99 a month, and I’d have to keep my iPhone for 34 months before my phone plus iCloud subscription becomes more expensive than just buying a 256GB iPhone up front – and it still gives me more total space than a 256GB phone would. By the time those 34 months are up, I may well have decided to upgrade to a newer iPhone, making a 128GB iPhone and iCloud storage combination a good deal in my eyes.

But it’s not for everyone, and many users will prefer a more capacious iPhone to dealing with a 128GB phone and an iCloud subscription. For those people, the iPhone 17 Pro might bring good news, if the larger base storage prediction turns out to be accurate. We’ll know for sure when Apple unveils its new devices to the world this September.

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• Mafia: The Old Country will offer Quality and Performance mode at launch for PS5 and Xbox Series X
• The game will run "at an average of 60FPS" in Performance Mode
• Mafia is also confirmed to be PS5 Pro-enhanced and offer several additional features

Mafia: The Old Country will offer two performance modes on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and is officially PlayStation 5 Pro-enhanced.

Hangar 13 shared the details in a new social media post ahead of the game's release alongside the PC specs, which you can check out below, confirming that the PS5 and Xbox Series X will feature a Quality and Performance mode at launch.

In Performance Mode, Mafia will run "at an average 60FPS", but Hangar 13 didn't say if Quality Mode will be 30FPS or 40FPS.

There is no mention of the Xbox Series S in the post, so we can presume the game will run at a lower frame rate on this platform.

"Players who want to prioritize higher resolution and visual fidelity should select Quality Mode, while players who prefer to prioritize framerate should select Performance Mode," the developer said.

(Image credit: Hangar 13)

In addition, Hangar 13 revealed in a separate post that the game will be PS5-Pro enhanced at launch and will feature several additional features, including support for variable refresh rate, support for 120Hz displays, and higher dynamic resolution in both Quality and Performance mode.

Mafia: The Old Country officially launches tomorrow, August 8.

In this third-person action-adventure game, players will uncover the origins of organized crime as Enzo Favara in a gritty mob story set in the brutal underworld of 1900s Sicily.

Pre-orders for the Standard and Deluxe Editions are still available, and those who secure a copy will receive the Soldato Pack featuring other goodies to use in-game.

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• Organizers confirm Venice attendees affected by a data breach
• Names and contact details were included in the leaked data
• Entertainment is a growing focus for attacks

The Venice Film Festival has confirmed it recently suffered a data breach, with hackers believed to have accessed the personal information of participants, including journalist.

Organizers confirmed the attack occurred on July 7, 2025, with journalists from The Hollywood Reporter confirming they had received breach notification letters revealing the incident.

Affected data could include names, email addresses, phone numbers, mailing addresses and even tax codes for those who were eligible for VAT refunds, according to the report.

Venice Film Festival attendees affected by data breach

During the breach, unauthorized individuals accessed and copied documents stored on the festival's servers, though the IT team "intervened promptly, isolating the affected systems and securing them."

"The competent authorities were immediately informed, and restoration operations were initiated," Venice's IT workers added.

Although the breach is believed to have a limited impact – not involving organizational data, payments, bookings or ticketing – the scope of the data collected could still put individuals at risk.

Under Article 33 of the EU GDPR, controllers must notify the supervisory authority within 72 hours of becoming aware of a breach – delayed disclosure can draw regulatory scrutiny and potential fines. It's unclear when authorities became aware of the incident, but letters appear to have started arriving with those affected on August 5 or 6.

Venice is not alone in being affected by cybercriminal activity – during Cannes 2022, bots overwhelmed its new online ticketing portal.

Germany's KonBriefing Research explains the entertainment sector can be an especially attractive environment for attackers seeking to gain access to high-value personal data.

Venice attendees should consider changing passwords and enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) to protect accounts, but they should also be aware of potential phishing attempts from Venice-related activities, including La Biennale.

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• Windows 11 users are seeing a positive change, but also a less-welcome one
• The good news is the 'second-chance out-of-box experience' nag has been streamlined considerably
• The bad news is there's a new nag pop-up in the Start menu that pushes you towards taking out a OneDrive subscription

Microsoft has tidied up one annoyance with Windows 11, but sadly appears to have introduced another - and more vexing – irritation in its place.

Let's start with the good news here, which Neowin flagged up and involves the 'second-chance out-of-box experience' (SCOOBE for short). That's fancy-talk for a nag screen that appears after booting to the desktop, trying to get you to configure elements of Windows 11 that you didn't bother with when setting up your PC originally.

Setting up your Windows PC is known as the out-of-box experience (OOBE), as in you just got the device out of the box and turned it on – so this panel is essentially pushing this stuff on you again, in the hopes you might use the Windows Backup app, for instance (or switch to Edge).

Now, as it exists currently, this SCOOBE nagging is a multi-panel affair that you have to click through (there are three panels, if my memory serves correctly).

However, in a recent preview release in the Dev channel for Windows 11 (build 26200.5722), Microsoft has changed the SCOOBE so it's just a single panel, and you can dismiss it with one click.

At least now when it appears – and if you leave parts of Windows 11 setup unfinished it'll keep popping up every few months or so – it'll be more painless to swat aside.

So, that's something (vaguely) positive – but unfortunately Microsoft appears to have introduced a new nag in its place.

Windows Latest noticed the new, more annoying, addition that has arrived in the Start menu of Windows 11 and consists of a pop-up that states: 'Action advised – back up your PC'.

Underneath that is some spiel about backing up your files, settings and so forth in the cloud, and if you click on the 'Continue' prompt Microsoft provides you'll be whisked off to Windows Backup. (And that backup app is facilitated by OneDrive – and with the low amount of free space included with Microsoft's cloud storage service, you'll almost certainly need a subscription, which is the crux of this prompt in terms of selling you something).

Analysis: SCOOBE Dooby don't

(Image credit: Foxy burrow / Shutterstock / Microsoft)

So, while this Start menu addition is a warning on the face of it, really it's just a way of trying to get you to take out a subscription with Microsoft. And while this could be a useful prompt to remind some people they need to back up their files, the problem is that others may well have already sorted out a backup via another app (or gone elsewhere in the cloud) – but if they've not used Microsoft's official channel, then they're going to get nagged to do so.

As Windows Latest makes clear, these prompts will likely keep appearing periodically – like the SCOOBE – and there's no way you can turn them off. That's because Microsoft has flagged this Windows Backup nag as a 'required' prompt, so it can't be avoided, unlike the SCOOBE, which you can actually switch off. (You can do so in Settings > System > Notifications > Additional Settings).

In my book, there should be no such thing as compulsory nags, and if you want to use Windows 11 without being pestered by a single pop-up along these lines, you should be able to tick a box to that effect. Interestingly, Windows Latest observes that with a test Windows 11 installation using an EU region, this alert didn't appear in the Start menu – so this change may not happen in Europe due to its data regulations (which are proving quite a boon in some ways).

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• iOS 26 is changing the lighting on AirPods cases
• The new colors are green, yellow, and orange
• It's not clear exactly how these new lights will work

We got the grand reveal of iOS 26 back in June, and it's currently in public beta testing, but Apple continues to add new features to the software – including support for an expanded lighting system on AirPods charging cases.

As spotted by Minimal Nerd (via 9to5Google), the fifth iOS 26 developer beta update – the one specifically for app makers – makes a change that "more clearly indicates charging status" on AirPods cases, as per a graphic that pops up on screen.

It seems there will now be three lights in action: green for charged up, yellow for currently being charged, and orange to show the case needs charging. One of those colors is new, but without any official word from Apple yet, it's not clear exactly which one.

The Apple support document that's currently live lists green and amber as the two colors you'll see when charging your AirPods and their case, so it appears we're going to get two different variations on amber going forward.

Lights, charging, action

This is new in Beta 5 right ?! I’ve never seen it before. pic.twitter.com/GC8BP7nTmPAugust 6, 2025

Considering the AirPods case has such a simple indicator light, interpreting it is actually quite complicated – what it shows varies depending on whether it's connected to power, whether it's open or closed, and whether the AirPods are actually in it or not.

During charging and with the case closed, for example, you can tap on the case to get a reading: charging (amber) or charged (green). If the case is open, isn't charging, and has your AirPods in them, amber means you've got less than a single charge on the earbuds.

We'll have to wait and see exactly how this new triple-light approach works in practice: presumably Apple will provide official documentation if the feature gets kept in the iOS 26 betas and makes it to the full release (due in September, with the iPhone 17).

Another unknown is whether this is going to apply to every AirPods model, or only the most recent ones. The next pair of Apple earbuds to see the light of day could be the AirPods Pro 3, which have been referenced in iOS 26 code.

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• Leaked renders show the Pixel 10 Pro XL in Moonstone and Obsidian shades
• You can see the phone from the front, back, and sides
• Leaked specs suggest it might not be much of an upgrade

While we’ve seen plenty of Google Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro renders, we hadn’t – until now – seen much of the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL, but that’s changed today.

WinFuture, in collaboration with Roland Quandt (a leaker with a superb track record), has shared what it claims are official marketing images of the Pixel 10 Pro XL from various angles and in two quite subdued shades – Obsidian (black) and Moonstone (a new gray/blue shade).

You can see that the phone unsurprisingly looks a lot like the Pixel 10 Pro images we’ve seen, just in a larger size. There’s a triple-lens camera with a temperature sensor to the right of the lenses, a punch-hole camera on the front, and power and volume keys on the right edge.

Image 1 of 2

(Image credit: WinFuture / Roland Quandt)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: WinFuture / Roland Quandt)Similar specs to before

The bezels look on the large side for a top-end phone, but not too bad, and the display is apparently 6.8 inches, just like the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL.

Indeed, the screen as a whole might not be much changed, with WinFuture claiming that it also once again has a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 3,000 nits.

Other listed specs in this leak include a new Tensor G5 chipset, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage configurations. Other than the chipset, that’s also similar to the Pixel 9 Pro XL – though that phone also came in a 128GB version.

The cameras here are said to include a 50MP main sensor, a 48MP ultra-wide one, a 48MP telephoto, and a 32MP front-facing camera, all of which again matches the Pixel 9 Pro XL, other than the selfie camera, which is 42MP on the current model.

Finally, the battery is said to be 5,200mAh, which would be a slight boost on the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s 5,060mAh battery.

While we’d take all of this with a pinch of salt, we’ve heard most of these specs leaked before, so they could well be accurate. We should find out on August 20, as that’s when Google is set to unveil the Pixel 10 series.

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• A free demo for Hell is Us is being released on August 12 for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S
• The demo arrives ahead of the game's launch on September 4
• The PC version will also run at 4K 60FPS

A free demo for Rogue Factor's upcoming supernatural third-person action game Hell is Us has been announced.

The game is set to launch on September 4 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Series S, but ahead of its release, the studio is rolling out a demo across all platforms on August 12, 2025.

Rogue Factor also shared an X / Twitter post confirming that the PC version will run at 4K 60FPS, unlike the first demo, which was released in June for PC and Xbox.

Oh yes, PC is coming back too! pic.twitter.com/VS5Ge6k05BAugust 5, 2025

Hell is Us was announced in 2022 and was a highlight of Sony's State of Play in September 2024, where the first gameplay trailer debuted.

It's a third-person action-adventure game that prioritizes melee combat, featuring a hostile, semi-open world filled with supernatural creatures to explore, but minus the map, compass, and quest markers.

"As well as the civil war dividing the country, the region is suffering from a mysterious calamity, which has given rise to supernatural creatures that no modern weapon can defeat," the game description reads. "Your drone and sword from a different age are your faithful allies as you cut a path through lands infested with terrifying chimeras and try to unravel the mystery of their appearance."

According to creative director Jonathan Jacques-Belletête, "The central theme of Hell is Us is that human violence is a perpetual cycle fueled by human emotions and passions."

Hell is Us is now available to pre-purchase, with the Deluxe Edition allowing three days of early access.

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If you watched the controversial premiere, you’ll know that South Park season 27 episode 2 has had a brief hiatus following an explosive return to our screens. We’re now back on track with South Park Elementary counselor Mr. Mackey being fired due to budget cuts, then getting a job with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the latest episode. Unsurprisingly, episode 2’s plot is the source of content for my new, spontaneous award: the South Park burn of the week.

As we know, the Paramount+ show has never shied away from proving hot takes on world events, and South Park season 27 has got off to a fairly explosive start. We’ve seen a deepfaked version of President Donald Trump in full nude mode in episode 1, with episode 2 quickly following up with the horrific death of Superman’s sidekick Krypto, who gets shot in the head by US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem (RIP, you were a good boy to the very end).

But for me, the best critique of US politics from South Park this week wasn’t even seen in episode 2. If you’ve been chronically online over the last few days, you might know what I’m talking about. If you’re a well-rounded, rational person with hobbies and a life (unlike myself), let me catch you up.

South Park claps back at The White house in this major burn not seen in season 27 episode 2

Wait, so we ARE relevant?#eatabagofdicks https://t.co/HeQSMU86DaAugust 5, 2025

As I’ve touched on, ICE is coming under heavy fire in South Park season 27, making up a prevalent part of both episodes we’ve seen so far. However, in an unexpected turn of events, the White House has tried to use being the butt of the joke to their advantage. As you can see from the X/Twitter post above, the White House’s official account posted a (pretty sinister looking) screenshot of South Park-ed versions of ICE agents in order to try and recruit people to join their ranks. Not only was the post immediately criticised by fans, but the South Park creators themselves, who replied: “wait, so we ARE relevant? #eatabagofd*cks.”

Not only is the show no stranger to parodying Trump long before season 27 arrived on the scene, the clapback is a direct response to a Variety interview with White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers on the events of episode 1. "Just like the creators of South Park, the Left has no authentic or original content, which is why their popularity continues to hit record lows,” Rogers said in response to the deepfake. “This show hasn't been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention."

The Department of Homeland Security (NHS) additionally told Newsweek: “We want to thank South Park for drawing attention to ICE law enforcement recruitment. We are calling on patriotic Americans to help us remove murderers, gang members, pedophiles, and other violent criminals from our country.”

It’s too early to tell yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if episode 2 rivals the astonishing viewing figures of season 27 episode 1 (that received 6 million), making it the highest-watched South Park episode since 1999. The X post in question currently has 15.2 million views, meaning there’s a good chance more people will be tuning in as the weeks go on. If we’re being honest, the show is likely only just getting started with its scathing satirizations of Trump and the US government, so I’d suggest keeping one eye on new episodes and the other on their social channels.

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• OpenAI's GPT-5 models have been leaked in a GitHub blog post
• The company will announce four new models later today
• The livestream begins at 10am ET/ 1pm PT/ 6pm BST

The next generation of ChatGPT, titled GPT-5, is expected to be revealed later today in an OpenAI livestream – but a leak on GitHub appears to have revealed everything the AI pioneers will unveil during the event.

The leaked information appeared on GitHub, highlighting the different iterations of GPT-5, which is describe as "OpenAI's most advanced model, offering major improvements in reasoning, code quality, and user experience."

The GitHub blog leak has since been taken down, but can be easily accessed via the Internet archive.

The post highlights the following four new models:

• gpt-5: Designed for logic and multi-step tasks.
• gpt-5-mini: A lightweight version for cost-sensitive applications.
• gpt-5-nano: Optimized for speed, and ideal for applications requiring low latency.
• gpt-5-chat: Designed for advanced, natural, multimodal, and context-aware conversations for enterprise applications.

(Image credit: GitHub)The future of ChatGPT

LIVE5TREAM THURSDAY 10AM PTAugust 6, 2025

We expect to get more information on these new models during today's livestream, which begins at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST.

While none of the models in the leak seem to hint at the simplifed structure we were hoping for, I'm still optimistic that GPT-5 ushers in a future where OpenAI's complex naming scheme isn't a point of friction for end users.

Sam Altman has promised that ChatGPT's future will see all models incorporated under a single interface, with the AI able to determine which functionality to use based on the user's prompt. While this leak doesn't appear to point to that change, Altman might explain how and when that will happen later today.

Stay tuned to TechRadar for all the GPT-5 news as it's announced. We'll be live-blogging throughout the day, documenting any information we find on the future of ChatGPT in the build-up to the livestream.

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• Samsung accidentally published the Buds 3 FE product page in Panama
• Two colors are shown: white and a very dark gray
• The price, in Panama at least, is $129

Samsung has accidentally leaked the new Galaxy Buds 3 FE on its Panama web site, and I'm trying very hard not to make a bad joke about the Panama Ear Canal.

This isn't the first time Samsung has accidentally leaked these buds: when Evan Blass leaked images of them in July, Samsung (probably) got them pulled – because the removed images then said "Media not displayed: this image has been removed in response to a report from the copyright holder" which effectively confirmed that they were likely real.

As much as I'd love to put on my tinfoil hat and claim that this is a clever marketing strategy, it clearly isn't: it's a cavalcade of mishaps and cock-ups.

So what have we learned from this latest oopsie?

The new Buds 3 FE look like washed-out versions of the Buds 3 Pro, pictured above (Image credit: Future)Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE: what's leaked?

This time the leak is the accidentally published product page, and that means we know their Panamanian price ($129 USD), what they look like (a bit like monochrome Galaxy Buds Pro), and what at least some of the color options are (dark gray and white).

The Galaxy Buds 3 FE appear to have silicone ear tips but everything else is a guess: as Android Police reports, the product page doesn't include any actual product information, which is yet another indication that somebody's hit the go button too early.

In case you missed it, the Buds 3 FE are the follow-up to the original Buds FE or 'Fan Edition'. That's right, there's no Buds 2 FE, because the also-new Galaxy Buds Core effectively take that spot.

We thought the original Buds FE were, well, OK, describing them as "the Samsung equivalent of Apple AirPods" with "reasonably good" sound and decent ANC. Given how good the Buds 3 Pro are, here's hoping some of their sound quality and other improvements trickle down to Samsung's more affordable option.

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• The Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge could get a thinner design and a bigger battery
• Noted tipster Ice Universe has suggested a thickness of 5.5mm (down from 5.8mm) and 4,200mAh battery capacity (up from 3,900mAh)
• The rumor doesn't give any more context or reasoning, so it's one to keep an eye on rather than believe right away

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge caused a commotion when it was revealed at the end of this year’s first Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event, so much so that the phone’s actual launch on May 30 seemed to come and go with relatively little fanfare.

And with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 taking over the airwaves at the end of July, it seemed possible that the new Edge series could fall into the background.

However, a new rumor suggests that Samsung is committed to supporting and refining its latest flagship series, and could bring some serious improvements to the Galaxy S26 Edge that put it right back into the spotlight.

Notable tipster Ice Universe (who now goes by the display name PhoneArt on X, formerly Twitter) shared a brief post on August 6 that simply reads: “Galaxy S26 Edge 5.5mm 4200mAh."

That first measurement most likely refers to the thickness of the phone – the Galaxy S25 Edge measures 5.8mm at its thinnest point, and having gone hands-on with the phone myself, I can vouch that it’s already incredibly impressive to hold.

At 5.5mm, the Galaxy S26 Edge would be thinner than an unfolded Galaxy Z Fold 6, the latter coming in at 5.6mm in its open state. That’s impressive, considering the Galaxy Z Fold 6 has much more internal space to fit its components into.

The second figure Ice Universe mentions refers to battery capacity, and, if accurate, would make a slimmed-down chassis even more impressive.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge has a 3,900mAh battery – as our full Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge review notes, this is low for a modern flagship phone, but understandable given its svelte construction.

The Galaxy S25 Edge measures 5.8mm at its thinnest point (Image credit: TechRadar)

If Ice Universe is on the money (and they have a fairly solid track record), then Samsung will have managed to increase capacity by nearly 8% while fitting the new cell into a smaller frame.

Around the time of the Galaxy S25 Edge’s reveal, I wrote that Samsung’s new slim flagship could open doors for a new branch of the smartphone market altogether, so this rumor gives me hope that the Korean tech giant is continuing to give the revived Edge series its full attention.

In fact, I think the Galaxy S26 Edge has the potential to be one of the best Samsung phones, or even one of the best Android phones, if these upgrades turn out to be real.

However, this post from Ice Universe is far from the most detailed tipoff we’ve ever gotten, so it’s probably best to wait for further tips and rumors to back up these suggestions.

In any case, we don’t expect to hear official word of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge until next year – for now, let us know what you want to see from this rumored phone in the comments below.

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• Google's latest security patch finally fixes a months-old bug, and a 'critical' security flaw
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• The Google Pixel 10 series will reportedly let you talk to Gemini to edit your photos
• You'll be able to do so via voice or text
• We've also seen leaked images of the Pixel 10 in three shades

Google might have some major software upgrades planned for the cameras on the Pixel 10 series, because along with a new Gemini-powered Camera Coach, these phones might also offer a 'Conversational Photo Editing' mode.

This is according to Android Headlines, which claims that the new software tool will also be powered by Gemini, and will allow you to use your voice (or typed text) to ask for changes to photos, such as adjusting the background, brightening the image, or erasing an object.

So, this would give you one more way to edit your photos, and might make the process easier for users who aren’t confident in their hands-on editing skills.

Android Headlines claims that Conversational Photo Editing will come to every Pixel 10 model – so (we think) the Pixel 10 itself, the Pixel 10 Pro, the Pixel 10 Pro XL, and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. The site speculates that it might also eventually roll out to older models as a Pixel Feature Drop, but initially, at least, it’s thought to be exclusive to the upcoming phones.

A trio of colors

In other Google Pixel 10 news, Roland Quandt (a leaker with a great track record) has shared some renders of the Pixel 10 with WinFuture, some of which you can see below.

Image 1 of 3

(Image credit: WinFuture / Roland Quandt)Image 2 of 3

(Image credit: WinFuture / Roland Quandt)Image 3 of 3

(Image credit: WinFuture / Roland Quandt)

These don’t really show us any part of the phone that we haven’t seen in earlier Pixel 10 design leaks, but they do give us a close look at the handset in blue, yellow, and black shades, which are rumored to be called Indigo, Limoncello, and Obsidian, respectively.

The blue and yellow in particular are quite striking, and are sure to stand out among most smartphones, so we hope this leak is accurate.

We’ll find out soon, as Google is expected to unveil the entire Pixel 10 line – with the possible exception of the Pixel 10 Pro Fold – on August 20.

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• Metal Eden officially launches on September 2 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S
• Reikon Game's new title is a sci-fi FPS featuring fast-paced combat combined with cybernetic parkour
• A new story trailer has also been released, and the game's free demo is still available

Reikon Games, the studio behind Ruiner, has announced that its next game, Metal Eden, will officially launch on September 2 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.

From publisher Deep Silver, Metal Eden is an adrenaline-fueled sci-fi first-person shooter (FPS) featuring fast-paced combat combined with cybernetic parkour, that explores a world where humanity's consciousness has transcended the flesh, now residing within robots."

A brand new story trailer has also been released, showcasing the main character Aska, a Hyper Unit robot, who is sent on a suicide mission to rescue the citizens’ cores from the city of Moebius, once a hopeful new home for humanity, now turned into a deadly trap.

"Time to descend into the cryptic, atmospheric world of Metal Eden. It’s an invitation to embark on an immersive journey into the heart of Planet Moebius, where mankind’s remnants are trapped within decaying cores—and Aska may be the key to their survival," Reikon Games describes.

"Her hidden past begins to unfold as she confronts the devastating legacy of the Erosion Bomb and her own transformation from human to weapon."

The game also features eight unique missions where players will need to defeat the Internal Defence Corps in cybernetic warfare, confront engineers, and "uncover the mysteries of the project Eden."

Metal Eden was revealed in February as part of Sony's State of Play and was originally set for a May 6, 2025, release.

Although the game doesn't arrive for another month, a free demo is now available to play on all platforms, including Steam.

In TechRadar Gaming's Metal Eden preview earlier this year, hardware writer Dashiell Wood said the game is "an eclectic blend of everything that made Doom (2016) and Ghostrunner great, with bombastic action combat that challenges you to experiment with a varied arsenal of meaty futuristic weapons, and a fast-paced parkour system where you’ll be running off walls and gliding down neon-lit rails between fighting arenas."

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• Dashlane will soon end its free tier
• Users will have until September 16th to upgrade or switch providers
• Here is all the information on what to do next

September 16 is D-Day for Dashlane, and by D-Day, I mean the discontinuation of the password manager’s free plan.

Users will have to upgrade to a Dashlane paid plan, or switch over to a different free password manager.

The Dashlane free plan has long been the go-to for many who want a no frills credential manager that doesn’t break the bank - but users will now either have to pay up or switch providers.

Dashlane ditches free plan

Users who do decide to make the switch to a different provider can export all their stored passwords from Dashlane as a CSV file, and import that file into an alternative provider.

Just be sure to delete the unencrypted CSV file once you are finished using it or it could put all your passwords at risk.

To export passwords from Dashlane as a CSV file, take the following steps:

1. Open the Dashlane web app.
2. Navigate to ‘My Account’ and then click ‘Settings’
3. Click ‘Export Data’
4. Use the ‘Export to CSV’ button to export all your passwords into a ZIP file.
5. You may be prompted to enter your Master Password.
6. Use your choice of password manager to import the CSV file, and then delete it once complete.

For those looking to continue using Dashlane, the platform offers two options, Premium, or Friends & Family.

The Premium plan grants you access to unlimited password and passkey storage, phishing alerts, secure sharing, Dark Web Monitoring for leaked credentials, a VPN, and passwordless login for new users. All these features are available across an unlimited number of devices at $4.99 per month (billed annually).

The Friends & Family plan includes all of the above across 10 accounts, with the one caveat being that only the plan manager will have access to the VPN. This plan costs $7.49 per month (also billed annually).

Alternatively, there are a number of competitors who also offer free plans. NordPass’ free tier offers unlimited password storage but only allows one active session at a time. RoboForm also offers unlimited password storage but also throws in a two-factor authenticator app, password monitoring, and a cloud backup. Alternatively, Bitwarden offers a free tier across an unlimited number of devices and includes secure passkey management with the added promise of it always being free.

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The TechRadar team has seen plenty of wearables over the years, and if you asked us about the best Garmin watches on the market right now, the Garmin Venu 3 would certainly be involved. It's an impressive device for all kinds of reasons, but an even better model is on the way in the form of the Garmin Venu 4.

Garmin hasn't said anything officially about this smartwatch yet, but a few leaks and rumors have emerged suggesting it's on the way. The Venu 3 launched in August 2023, so the time is definitely right for Garmin to introduce a successor.

In June 2025, we saw the launch of the Garmin Venu X1, which was something of a surprise – but the Apple Watch Ultra 2 competitor doesn't appear to be the true successor to the Venu 3, despite the branding. Read on to find out everything we think we know so far about what the Garmin Venu 4 will bring with it.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? A flagship successor to the Venu 3
• When is it out? August/September 2025 looks likely
• How much will it cost? Around $450 / £450 / AU$749

Garmin Venu 4: Release date predictions and pricing

The Venu 3 launched in August 2023 (Image credit: Garmin)

• We're expecting a 2025 launch
• Mid-range pricing is likely

The leaks and rumors we've seen around the Venu 4 haven't specifically referred to a launch date or a price – but we can make some educated guesses on both counts, based on what Garmin has done in the past.

Garmin launched the Venu 3 in August 2023, while the Garmin Venu 2 broke cover back in April 2021 (there was also a Garmin Venu 2 Plus in January 2022, adding a mic). With a two-year gap between previous releases, the year 2025 and the month of August would be the clever guess for the Venu 4.

As for pricing, all we have is what we saw with the Venu 3: that watch originally went on sale for $450 / £450 / AU$749, so it's in the middle of the pack compared to other Garmin watches. It seems likely that the Venu 4 will take the same approach, sitting somewhere between the high-end Fenix models and the cheapest Forerunners.

Garmin Venu 4: Leaks and rumors

The Garmin Venu X1 (Image credit: Garmin)

• We've seen hints the Venu 4 is coming
• Screen and build upgrades could happen

Now we haven't been exactly inundated with Garmin Venu 4 leaks and rumors, so this section of our preview is going to be a little sparse. What we can tell you is that a mention of the Venu 4 watch has appeared on the Garmin Japan website – specifically, in a description of the Garmin golf app.

That tells us that the Garmin Venu 4 is almost certainly on the way, that you'll be able to use it to improve your golf game, and... not much else. Garmin has actually since removed the mention of the Venu 4 from the golf app documentation, so make of that what you will. Clearly, its existence was supposed to be a secret.

While it's not a leak per se, a report from Garmin Rumors does point out that out of all of Garmin's flagship smartwatches, the Venu is the one that's been waiting for a refresh the longest. The Garmin Fenix 8 was unveiled in August 2024, which gives us another indication that August 2025 could be the right time for the Venu 4.

We can also pick up some hints from the recently unveiled Garmin Venu X1, which shows how Garmin as a company is changing. It sports the biggest screen yet on a Garmin watch, and follows the recent Garmin trend of sacrificing battery life for display quality – perhaps hints at ways in which the Venu series may evolve.

Garmin Venu 4 What we want to see

Sensors on the Garmin Venu 3 (Image credit: Future)

As much as we like the Venu 3, it isn't quite a perfect smartwatch – and two years is a long time in the gadget industry. With that in mind, here are five improvements we're hoping to see when the Garmin Venu 4 eventually sees the light of day.

1. An improved design

The Venu X1 has already shown us what Garmin is capable of in terms of design refinements: it's noticeably thin and lightweight, and that's something we're hoping for with the Venu 4, perhaps with upgrades in terms of bezel style and overall durability.

We've seen titanium used in watches like the Venu X1 and the Forerunner 970, both launched in 2025, and the Venu 4 may well follow that trend. Given the two-year gap, we'd expect an upgrade on the Venu 3's 1.4-inch AMOLED, 454 x 454 pixel display too.

2. Upgraded sensors

We're always looking for new and improved sensors on smartwatches and fitness trackers, whether it's improved accuracy for measurements or entirely new categories of measurement – and this is something that the Venu 4 could well be able to deliver on.

The latest Garmin smartwatches to launch are still making use of the Elevate v5 sensor that the Venu 3 is fitted with, so you could argue it's time for an upgrade in this area – even if the Venu 3 is already one of the best models on the market for health and fitness insights.

3. More software features

In our Garmin Venu 3 review, we pointed out that the watch was missing out on some of the more detailed metrics and advanced features that are available on other Garmin models – so Garmin could implement these features on the Venu 4, if it wanted to.

Features such as Suggested Workouts and Training Readiness aren't found on the Venu 3, but could be transferred over to the Venu 4 from other watches, adding to the appeal. It would be a way for Garmin to increase the value of the Venu 4 relatively easily.

4. On-board mapping

One of the disappointments about the Garmin Venu 3 is that it doesn't have an integrating mapping or route navigation feature, which puts it behind other models in the Garmin range – no doubt very deliberately, so each series can remain distinct from each other.

While it might create some overlap with the more advanced Garmin smartwatches, integrated maps would be a welcome and useful addition. It's worth noting that certain Garmin watches were recently upgraded with Google Maps support, which is a good sign.

5. A cellular model

In recent years, Garmin has largely abandoned the idea of watches that can get online independently of a connected phone – no doubt making the calculation that the trade-off in terms of battery life and device price isn't going to be worth it for most users.

However, there's a lot to be said for a cellular watch option that can message, call, and update itself independently of any other gadget. It would help the Venu 4 stand out from the Garmin crowd, and mean it was better able to take on the best Apple Watches.

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