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• Genki has unveiled its new handheld gaming accessory collection, available exclusively online starting today (May 29)
• The collection is designed to eliminate the common frustrations while playing on the go
• All-new accessories include a Modular Grip Case, Minimalist Protective Case, a 30W Wireless Power Bank, and more

Genki, the innovative gaming accessories company, has unveiled its brand new handheld accessory lineup.

The collection, which Genki is calling "its most complete accessory lineup yet," is officially available exclusively at its online store starting today (May 29) and arrives just in time for the newest generation of handheld gaming consoles, like the Nintendo Switch 2.

The lineup includes a range of different accessories, including the Attack Vector Modular Grip Case, Force Field 2 Minimalist Protective Case, Sleeper Ultra Protective Zipper Carry Case, and Aegis Shield Perfect Screen Protector.

There's also the 30W MagSafe Wireless Power Bank, Detachable Controller Charging Station and Grips, Mimic Chest Game Cartridge Storage Case, and the Saya Carry bag.

These all-new accessories are purpose-built for uninterrupted handheld gaming and designed to eliminate the common frustrations while playing on the go by introducing ergonomic upgrades, smart power solutions, and rugged protection, "all engineered with Genki’s signature focus on innovation and design."

"The problem with handheld consoles has always been the trade-off between portability and a complete gaming experience—whether it’s poor ergonomics, limited battery life, or inadequate protection. Genki, known for redefining portable play, is tackling these challenges head-on," Genki said.

You can check out the Genki handheld accessory collection pricing details below and see the collection here.

• Attack Vector Modular Grip Case - $49.99 / $59.99 with travel cover
• Force Field 2 Minimalist Protective Case - $29.99 / $39.99 with travel cover
• Sleeper Ultra Protective Zipper Carry Case - $42.99
• Aegis Shield Perfect Screen Protector - $19.99
• 30W MagSafe Wireless Power Bank - $69.99
• Detachable Controller Charging Station and Grips - $39.99
• Mimic Chest Game Cartridge Storage Case - $19.99
• Saya Carry Case - $139.99

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• CD Projekt Red has shared a new tech demo for The Witcher 4 at the State of Unreal 2025 showcase
• The demo revealed new cinematic and gameplay footage, which offered a first look at the region of Kovir and protagonist Ciri
• The gameplay footage captured is running on the base PS5 at 60 FPS with ray tracing

CD Projekt Red has shared a brand new look at The Witcher 4 with an impressive tech demo.

During the State of Unreal 2025 event today, we were treated to a technical demo that offered an early glimpse into the Unreal Engine 5.6 features that will be in The Witcher 4.

At the start of the livestream, we saw a short cinematic of a group of men being attacked by a monster, before the footage seamlessly transitions into gameplay. We then see Ciri, the game's titular Witcher and playable protagonist, emerging from a cave onto a cliff after investigating the attack and showing off the never-before-seen region of Kovir.

According to CD Projekt Red, the gameplay shown is running on the base PS5 at 60 FPS, with ray tracing enabled, and it looks incredible.

Just like Geralt of Rivia, Ciri also has her own horse companion named Kelpie, and the two of them can be seen riding through the mountains and dense forests of Kovir to the port town of Valdrest.

The town is bustling with crowds of NPCs, some of whom will react to certain instances created by the player, thanks to Unreal Engine's MetaHuman technology with Mass AI crowd scaling.

For instance, when Ciri knocks into a man carrying apples, she kicks off a chain reaction. She apologizes, and then a child can be seen running forward to steal some apples that fell on the ground, followed by a pig looking to eat them up.

We also see other NPCs interacting with each other and creating their reactive scenes, making the whole town feel alive. It also appears that gameplay will seamlessly transition back into cutscenes when Ciri reaches her destination and starts a conversation, suggesting there'll be no black loading screens in between these moments.

Tools like the new Unreal Animation Framework and Nanite Foliage rendering are being utilized in The Witcher 4 to help deliver an immersive world at 60 FPS without compromising on quality, according to the developer.

"We started our partnership with Epic Games to push open-world game technology forward," said CDPR co-CEO Michał Nowakowski. "To show this early look at the work we’ve been doing using Unreal Engine running at 60 FPS on PlayStation 5, is a significant milestone - and a testament of the great cooperation between our teams.

"But we're far from finished. I look forward to seeing more advancements and inspiring technology from this partnership as development of The Witcher 4 on Unreal Engine 5 continues."

The studio also confirmed that while the tech demo was running on a PlayStation console, "the features and technology will be supported across all platforms the game will launch on", including Xbox and PC.

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For over two decades, Google has monopolized how and where people search online. From outfit ideas and travel tips to medical symptoms and product reviews, consumers have turned to Google to guide their decision-making. But we’re now witnessing a monumental shift in how people search. As antitrust pressures mount and tools like ChatGPT redefine the very nature of information discovery, a new contender has entered the ring: AI-powered search.

This isn’t just a blip on the radar - it’s a full-blown transformation. AI-driven platforms are not only gaining popularity, they’re also fundamentally changing consumer expectations and search behavior.

According to our latest research at adMarketplace, one in five consumers already prefers AI-powered search tools over traditional methods, drawn to their ability to deliver seamless, personalized, and conversational results. For advertisers, this presents a golden opportunity should they seize it. The age of AI search is here, and brands that fail to evolve with it risk being left behind.

AI search: redefining relevancy and intent

The foundation of search advertising has always been built on intent - understanding what consumers want and delivering relevant results in real-time. AI supercharges this. Unlike traditional keyword-based systems, AI search engines use natural language processing, machine learning, and real-time data to understand user intent more deeply and deliver results in a way that feels intuitive and tailored.

Consumers are no longer satisfied with a list of blue links on the legacy search engine results page. They want responses to their queries delivered natively on the sites, apps, and platforms they use daily. Whether it's product comparisons, local food recommendations, or answers to complex questions, AI search tools are meeting users where they are. This is a major leap forward for the consumer search experience and a powerful opportunity for advertisers to capitalize on.

Search is no longer confined to traditional platforms

Discovery is increasingly happening natively within the apps, websites, and digital ecosystems consumers already engage with daily, whether it's through AI-driven assistants, retail apps, or vertical-specific platforms. This decentralization of search represents a major change for advertisers. It's no longer enough to focus campaigns exclusively on legacy search engines.

To reach consumers effectively, brands must expand their search strategies to meet audiences where they are, across multiple platforms that are integrated with AI-driven discovery tools. As the search landscape modernizes, advertisers who diversify their investments and embrace this broader, AI-enhanced environment will be best positioned to capture attention and drive engagement.

A seamless, conversational experience

One of the key differentiators of AI search is its ability to make searching feel more engaging, relevant and intuitive. Instead of fragmented queries and manual refinement, users can engage in a natural, back-and-forth dialogue with AI tools, refining results through follow-up questions, contextual cues, and real-time data to find answers that fit their needs more efficiently.

This conversational approach is already proving to be a game-changer. It simplifies the path to discovery, reduces friction, and increases the likelihood that consumers will find - and act on - what they’re looking for. For brands, this opens up new creative formats and interaction points within search, allowing for more immersive and persuasive ad experiences.

Capturing the next generation of consumers

AI-powered search isn’t just a novelty. It’s quickly becoming the de facto method for specific types of discovery, especially among the younger, tech-native generations. Gen Z and younger Millennials are already leaning into tools like ChatGPT and AI-enhanced assistants for everything from shopping advice to academic support. These demographics expect search experiences to be fast, intuitive, and tailored to their needs.

For advertisers, this presents a crucial opportunity. If you want to engage the next wave of digital consumers, your search strategy must evolve. That means embracing AI-powered experiences, diversifying search media investment, and prioritizing how you approach consumer search intent.

What this means for advertisers

So, how should advertisers respond to this AI-powered revolution?

1. Reevaluate search strategies – Traditional search advertising, placing ads at the top of search pages, is no longer sufficient. It's time to experiment with native search integrations that leverage AI to deliver personalized, intent-driven results and enable conversational, real-time interactions between users and your brand.

2. Invest in personalization – Use AI to analyze behavior, preferences, and context to create more targeted and meaningful search experiences.

3. Reach next-generation consumers today – Target the younger demographics that are already adopting AI search. Meet them on the platforms they prefer with messaging and formats that resonate.

4. Stay agile and curious – AI search is evolving fast. Keep testing, learning, and adapting your campaigns to remain relevant in this rapidly shifting environment.

The bottom line

We’re on the cusp of a new era in digital discovery. AI is not just changing how consumers search, it’s redefining what they expect from every brand interaction. Advertisers that lean into this transformation will be able to connect with consumers in smarter, more personal ways, capturing attention and loyalty in a crowded market.

The crown of search is up for grabs. It’s time for advertisers to claim their place in the AI-powered future.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we 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/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

In a world where many of the best antivirus tools are just brands run by the same few companies, Malwarebytes is refreshingly different. Despite being informally established way back in 2004, it’s still independent, still run by its founder, Marcin Kleczynski, and still providing effective malware-hunting software for millions of users worldwide.

Malwarebytes Premium Security is a capable antivirus range with phishing protection, identity protection, and (at the top of the range) even a full and unlimited Mullvad-powered VPN (no restrictive ‘200MB a day’ limits here, you can use it as much as you like.) There are apps for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS and you can try them right now with limited free editions.

(Image credit: Malwarebytes)Malwarebytes Premium Security: Pricing

Malwarebytes Premium Security is available in various flavors, depending where you are in the world.

Premium Security Standard is the full antivirus with browsing protection. It’s priced from $44.99 a year for a one device license, dropping to $78.73 if you sign up for two years. A five device license costs $79.99 for one year, $139.98 for two; a 20-device license costs $229.99 for one year, $402.48 for two (that’s $10.6 per device per year.)

Premium Security Plus adds an unlimited VPN, but is only a little more expensive at $59.99 for a one device, one year license; and $99.99 to protect five devices for one year, or $184.98 for two.

Premium Security Ultimate includes full identity protection with data removal, 3 bureau credit monitoring and $2 million in identity theft insurance. As with similar products, it’s priced significantly higher. Even a single user, one-year license costs $119.99 in year one, and it doubles on renewal to $239.99.

If you’ll use the VPN, then these look like reasonable prices. Norton 360 Standard has antivirus, a full VPN and one or two extra features (password manager, 2GB cloud backup), but although it looks cheap at $39.99 for a one year, three device license, it jumps to $94.99 on renewal. Premium Security Standard can protect five devices for a similar price.

If you’re unsure, Malwarebytes also has a limited free version. This doesn’t include real-time protection; it detects and removes existing threats, but can’t protect you from new attacks. But it’s still an easy way to sample the app and get a free for how Malwarebytes Premium might work for you.

The Malwarebytes interface puts most common tasks just a click or two away. (Image credit: Malwarebytes)Malwarebytes Premium Security: App design

Malwarebytes Premium Security has a simple and straightforward design. While many security suites expect you to decipher cryptic icons and browse through panel after panel after panel to find what you need, Premium Security displays all its essentials up-front. Even total security newbies will figure out the basics at a glance.

There’s a Scan button to, well, launch an antivirus scan, for instance. The VPN panel has your selected location and a Connect button. Real-Time Protection status is displayed in a reassuring green, and although there are some complex settings, you won’t see them unless you go looking.

Having captions for almost every option means the dashboard has a text-heavy look, and it’s not as visually stylish as some of the competition. But it’s also less intimidating and much easier to use, and that’s what matters most.

We still found a few tasks that were a little awkward. When Malwarebytes incorrectly identified a safe file as malicious, for instance, we went into Quarantine, chose the file and hit Restore. But because there was no ‘Restore and never detect this file in future’ option, Malwarebytes restored the file, then immediately detected it as a threat and quarantined it again. We had to manually add the file’s folder to Malwarebytes’ ‘Allow List’ before we could restore it properly.

There were technical issues, too. Antivirus needs to protect itself from malware, but we found it was theoretically possible for an attacker to remove Malwarebytes’ filter drivers. We’re not marking Premium Security down for this because it didn’t seem to affect detection, but it’s an unnecessary potential vulnerability that we don’t see with the best antivirus.

(Image credit: Malwarebytes)Malwarebytes Premium Security: Antivirus scanning

Malwarebytes didn’t launch a full antivirus scan on launch, so we clicked the Scan button to manually run one of our own. First-time antivirus scans can sometimes take hours as an app crawls every corner of your device, but Malwarebytes Premium Security takes a lighter approach and scans the most commonly infected areas only. This worked well, with the scan completely in only 13 minutes, but still finding all our test malicious files.

A Scan Scheduler enables automatically running future scans without getting in your way. Set a start date, a frequency (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, once or on reboot), and when a scan is due and your device is idle, Malwarebytes pops up to run its checks. We would like a few more controls (many antivirus have an option to postpone scans when your device is on battery), but, overall it’s a flexible scheduler which makes it easy to scans for threats.

Malwarebytes Premium Security works well with Explorer. You can check files, folders or drives directly from the right-click menu, and have a verdict in a few seconds. Well, normally: the app doesn’t handle simultaneous scans, so if there’s already a system scan running in the background (or you just haven’t closed the report window from a previous scan), you can check anything else until it’s finished. But this isn’t unusual, and Malwarebytes does at least display a big notification as a warning.

(Image credit: Malwarebytes)

We spotted one potential scanning issue. If Malwarebytes tries and fails to scan a password-protected zip, it doesn’t display any warning: it just tells you it’s scanned the file and everything’s fine. If you’ve accidentally included malware in that zip, you’ll assume it’s safe, and if you send it to a colleague then they might do the same. That’s a recipe for trouble.

Bitdefender handles this much better. If a Bitdefender app detects a password-protected archive, it asks you for the password so it can check the file properly. And if you don’t know the password or the file otherwise can’t be scanned, it displays a warning, so it’s clear that you’ve not been given a completely clean bill of health. That’s a much safer approach, and we’d like to see Malwarebytes do the same.

Malwarebytes isn’t tested often by the labs, but we found some decent results at MRG Effitas. (Image credit: Malwarebytes)Malwarebytes Premium Security: Independent lab results

Malwarebytes isn’t tested by most of the independent antivirus labs, making it more difficult to compare with the big name competition, but the company does appear in a handful of reports.

The Malwarebytes website proudly points to its AVLab ‘Product of the Year’ award, but this isn’t quite as impressive as it sounds. ‘Top Product’ award doesn’t mean ‘better than all other products’; any provider gets it if they appear in three tests in a year and block at least 99% of threats each time. Nine vendors were awarded’ Product of the Year’ in 2024 alone.

Malwarebytes does better at MRG Effitas, where Malwarebytes Mobile Security and its business product, ThreatDown, blocked all threats in their respective Android 360 Programme and 360 Assessment tests. That’s good to know, but it’s not enough data to calculate a position for Malwarebytes in our overall Malware Protection chart.

Malwarebytes quickly spotted most of our test threats. (Image credit: Malwarebytes)Malwarebytes Premium Security: Malware protection

Lab results are important, but we also run plenty of our own tests. These began by connecting a USB key with 50x known malware samples. Premium Security didn’t immediately scan the drive, but when we tried to open a file, it detected it as a threat, then scanned the rest of the drive and detected the others.

We would like an option to scan removable drives when they’re connected, but Malwarebytes’ scan-on-access approach is faster, and the app did a good job of protecting us from known threats.

Next, we launched a custom ransomware simulator on our review laptop. An antivirus can’t detect this from the file signature alone because we’ve never released it into the wild, making the simulator a great test of behavior monitoring.

The results were disappointing: Malwarebytes Premium Security watched but did nothing as our simulator encrypted thousands of user documents. We don’t read too much into that - Malwarebytes detected every real-world ransomware sample at MRG Effitas, so it’s clearly working well on the tests that matter - but most antivirus apps detect and block our ransomware immediately, and we’d be a little happier if Malwarebytes did the same.

(Image credit: Malwarebytes)Malwarebytes Premium Security: Anti-phishing

Malwarebytes Premium Security includes what the website calls ‘Robust scam protection’, where the app ‘shuts down robocalls, scam texts, phishing attempts, and dangerous decoy websites.’

To get a feel for Malwarebytes’ effectiveness, we first compiled and tried to access 50 of the very latest phishing sites. The results were disappointing, with Malwarebytes blocking a poor 16% (the best web protection tools stop 70-90% of threats.)

Fortunately, Malwarebytes has a second layer of protection in its BrowserGuard browser extension. We installed this on Chrome, ran the test again and it made a big difference, with the two layers now blocking 62% of our test malicious links.

That’s good news, although we still prefer anti-phishing tools to block threats at the system level. BrowserGuard protects all the top browsers - Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, there’s even a Telegram beta - but it can’t shield smaller browsers or any of your other apps.

Next, we tried to access 50 malware-hosting links. Malwarebytes performed much, much better here, with Premium Security alone (no need for BrowserGuard) blocking 94% at the URL level. The remaining files reached our hard drive without detection, but were spotted and blocked on launch.

Overall, Malwarebytes does a reasonable job of protecting users from online threats. We would like to see less reliance on the BrowserGuard extension, though, and other antivirus providers typically do a much better job of blocking phishing sites.

(Image credit: Malwarebytes)Malwarebytes Premium Security: Unlimited VPN

Malwarebytes Premium Security Plus (the middle of Premium Security’s three plans has a very valuable extra in an unlimited VPN. This encrypts your traffic when you connect to public Wi-Fi, ensuring snoopers and malicious hotspots can’t spy on what you’re doing or direct you to fake websites. It allows you to change your IP address to make it seem like you’re in another country, maybe allowing you to access streaming content or other websites that are normally blocked.

Malwarebytes’ VPN is essentially Mullvad underneath, with the same network and locations. It’s not quite as good as buying Mullvad direct, because Malwarebytes’ apps don’t have quite as many VPN features and the company can’t offer the same level of specialist VPN support. But it’s good news overall because Mullvad is fast, powerful, and has a great reputation for privacy.

The VPN has a decent-sized network of 87 locations spread across 49 countries. It’s strong in Europe and North America, with 19 locations in the US alone. There’s less coverage elsewhere, but Malwarebytes still manages 10 locations in Asia, 4 in South America, 2 in Africa, and it covers all the key countries we expect.

Malwarebytes VPN is easy to use. A panel displays the VPN status (on or off) and the currently selected location. Tap Change and you can choose a new country, or tapping Connect activates the VPN in a few seconds.

There are lots of features underneath, especially for an antivirus app VPN (they’re usually basic.) Auto-connect tells the VPN to automatically activate when the app starts or you connect to public Wi-Fi; a kill switch blocks your internet if the VPN drops; split tunneling allows you to choose apps which won’t use the VPN; enabling Multi-Hop VPN gives you extra security at the expense of a little speed, and the list goes on.

Malwarebytes misses out some useful settings (you can’t choose a VPN protocol, for instance presumably because it’s trying not to overload consumers with too many technical options. We checked , but overall it looks more capable than the average security suite VPN. But how does it perform in real-world testing? We wanted to find out.

(Image credit: Malwarebytes)Malwarebytes Premium Security: VPN Performance

We tested Malwarebytes VPN by running multiple tests across several top speed-testing sites and platforms, including SpeedTest.net’s website and command line tool, Measurement Labs and Cloudflare.

The results were inconsistent, though always acceptable. Median speeds across sessions ranged from an excellent high of 950Mbps (as good as we see from any provider), to a low of 398Mbps (a little below average, but more than enough to browse or watch the highest resolution of streams.)

Malwarebytes VPN includes a kill switch to protect your traffic. It’s, well, a little inconvenient to use. Most kill switches only block your internet if the VPN drops accidentally, but Malwarebytes’ is always active. You can’t use the internet at all unless the VPN is connected, or you keep manually turning the kill switch off and on again (like we said: inconvenient.)

Malwarebytes is based on Mullvad VPN, and although that’s great for privacy, it’s much less impressive at unblocking streaming sites in other countries. In our last tests, it got us into BBC iPlayer, the UK’s ITV and Channel 4, and Australia’s 9 Now, but failed with Netflix, US Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus.

This is no great surprise - security suite VPNs are never as capable as the best stand-alone VPNs - but, still, Malwarebytes VPN is better than most of the antivirus-related competition. If you only need the VPN basics then it’s a valuable extra for the suite.

(Image credit: Malwarebytes)Malwarebytes Premium Security: Identity Protection

Malwarebytes Premium Security doesn’t include its full identity theft protection as standard, but there is one bonus feature. A ‘digital footprint’ tool scans previous data breaches for your email address and reports on anything it finds.

This starts by Premium Security prompting for your email address. The search box warns that entering the address automatically gives permission for Malwarebytes to send you ‘product updates and security tips’, which doesn’t seem entirely fair. If you’ve bought the product already, why should Malwarebytes expect you to accept more marketing emails before you can even use one of its features?

We entered and verified our email anyway, hit Scan, and waited a few seconds for the results.

These began with a list of the breaches where our email appeared. There were an impressive 67, including - oops - a 2016 breach when Malwarebytes’ own forum was compromised.

Every antivirus ‘dark web scanner’ can do that, but Malwarebytes goes further. Rather than force us to wade through all 67 breaches, it gives us separate tabs to instantly see our exposed accounts, passwords or personal information.

These might relate to breaches from long ago, but they’re still important. Scroll down the Passwords tab and, if you see a password you’re still using, that’s an important warning: hackers could try it with different platforms to compromise those accounts.

The Personal Information section is more worrying. We found some of the breaches contained our address and a landline phone number. We can’t do much (okay, anything) about that, but it’s still good to know.

US users get one other big plus: Malwarebytes also identifies any breaches containing your SSN (Social Security Number), which could be misused to claim benefits, access credit or commit fraud.

Most antivirus apps have some kind of dark web scanner, but these usually have even less features than free websites like haveibeenpwned.com. Malwarebytes’ identity scanner leaves these trailing in its digital dust, by finding significantly more details and making them much, much easier to access. It’s a very welcome feature which adds real value to Malwarebytes Premium Security.

Malwarebytes Premium Security: Final verdict

Malwarebytes Premium Security is an unusual antivirus range. It’s missing a lot of features compared to the high-end competition : there’s no password manager, parental controls, webcam hijacking protection, secure file deletion and more. But that also makes it more lightweight, simpler and cheaper, and Premium Security Plus and Ultimate do have a very valuable extra in their unlimited VPN.

Malwarebytes’ core malware protection is strong, too, especially if you can add an extra layer in its BrowserGuard extension. If you’re a Malwarebytes fan and you only need the security basics, it might be worth a try, but everyone else will get better protection elsewhere. Bitdefender and Norton 360 have more features, and Avast One has a great antivirus engine and a limited 5GB-a-week VPN for free.

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Is the conversation around remote work models finally petering out? Data suggests a shift in focus, with many firms reassessing their approach to the modern workplace. The reasons for these changes are myriad and nuanced. But while businesses and employees adapt to new ways of working, artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as the crucial factor that could actually shape the future of hybrid work.

Its application holds the potential to shift the focus away from location to how employee experience can be optimized and unlock new levels of efficiency and productivity. Our recent research highlights this shift, noting that 70% of businesses have integrated AI to enhance communication and workflows.

AI is driving the evolution of hybrid work, from intelligent workspaces to enhanced collaboration and personalized work experiences. As organizations move beyond traditional models, AI is enabling a workplace that is more dynamic, efficient, and ultimately, more human-centric.

The rise of intelligent workspaces

As hybrid work has become an established norm, many workplace tools have struggled to keep at pace with its demands. Standard video conferencing struggles to create truly inclusive meetings between office and remote participants. Calendar systems can also fail to account for complex hybrid schedules. Communication platforms often create information silos between in-office and remote teams, while productivity tools lack the intelligence to adapt to different working environments.

The challenge isn't just about managing hybrid schedules, but creating consistent, engaging experiences for employees splitting their time between home and office. Our research shows that AI is becoming a key focus for businesses looking to improve hybrid work, with a significant majority experimenting with or fully utilizing AI to enhance communication and workflows.

Rather than enforcing rigid systems, AI-powered platforms are introducing new levels of personalization. These systems learn from individual work patterns, automatically adjusting to personal preferences and optimizing workflows based on when and where employees are working. Data indicates that 88% of teams are already using AI tools at least weekly, demonstrating widespread adoption and reliance on AI to improve working practices.

The implications are far-reaching. AI can now predict when employees are most productive, suggest optimal meeting times that respect work-life balance, and even pre-emptively organize digital workspaces based on upcoming projects. For organizations embracing hybrid work policies, this level of intelligent adaptation is proving transformative.

Breaking down collaboration barriers

Business leaders and employees often share a common challenge: making collaboration work seamlessly across dispersed teams. Many employees in hybrid settings often struggle with feelings of disconnection and unequal participation between in-office and remote workers.

AI is helping address these challenges head-on. Advanced communications solutions provide real-time translation for global teams, intelligent meeting scheduling accounting for time zones and personal preferences, and automated note-taking that ensures everyone stays aligned regardless of location.

These tools are transforming how teams interact, making file sharing, team messaging, and real-time document editing more intuitive and accessible. Further, our research indicates that businesses are recognizing the value of these AI-driven solutions, with an overwhelming 97% of leaders anticipating increased investment in AI tools.

More significantly, AI is levelling the playing field between remote and in-office workers. Leading platforms can now analyze meeting dynamics to ensure equal participation, automatically enhance video and audio quality for remote participants, and even suggest optimal times for in-person collaboration based on team patterns. For global operations and mobile workforces, these capabilities are essential for maintaining productivity and team cohesion within a flexible work environment.

The benefits aren’t just limited to improved efficiency. AI is also helping managers and HR teams better support employee wellbeing. By analyzing communication patterns and workload distribution, AI can identify potential burnout risks before they become serious issues. These systems can recommend breaks, suggest more efficient working patterns, and help managers better understand their teams' needs.

Embracing the shift with AI

In short, the binary in/out debate is becoming less relevant. Organizations preoccupied with tracking office attendance have missed the bigger picture: AI is fundamentally changing how teams work together, regardless of the location.

Modern workplaces use intelligent systems to eliminate the mechanical aspects of coordination, allowing teams to focus on creative problem-solving and meaningful collaboration. A workplace with AI at its core removes the traditional tension between flexibility and productivity, between remote efficiency and in-person connection.

A future in which intelligent agents empower individuals to shape their workday is close. Our collective evolution towards agentic AI means work becomes less about rigid mandates and more about personal agency. By removing friction and enhancing individual experience, AI can foster the next era of work, where even the decision to go to the office is less about obligation and more about genuine choice.

As we embrace this shift, the workplace of tomorrow will be defined not by where we work, but by how effectively we can work together, augmented by the intelligent systems that empower us.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we 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/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

• PlayStation has announced its next State of Play presentation
• It's happening on June 4 at 2pm PT / 5pm ET / 10pm BST / 11pm CEST
• The show will be around 40 minutes, focusing on upcoming PS5 games

It's a PlayStation surprise as a new State of Play presentation has been announced for tomorrow (June 4).

Announced via a post on PlayStation's official X / Twitter account, this State of Play presentation is expected to be around 40 minutes long, according to the accompanying PlayStation Blog announcement.

This State of Play presentation will focus on "news and updates on great games coming to PS5." No information has been provided beyond that, though it's reasonable to expect potential updates on upcoming games like Sucker Punch's Ghost of Yōtei and Housemarque's Saros.

The State of Play presentation will air on PlayStation's official YouTube and Twitch channels. The show will go live on June 4 at 2pm PT / 5pm ET / 10pm BST / 11pm CEST. It will also be uploaded to PlayStation's channels after the fact if you're unable to catch the show live.

Sony is perhaps cutting it fine with this State of Play announcement, but it's really not much of a surprise. This is arguably the biggest week in gaming, with the Nintendo Switch 2 launching on June 5, followed by Summer Game Fest and the Xbox Games Showcase on June 6.

We're going to be seeing tons of new game announcements in the latter half of the week, then, so it's not too surprising that PlayStation is looking to get ahead of the curve here.

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SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3 Wireless: one-minute review

(Image credit: Future)

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3 Wireless is a refresh of the company’s previous midrange gaming headset option, back to impress us all as a wireless iteration with tons of functionality that makes it battlestation-ready.

The thing is, there used to be a clear and immediate difference between the sound, feel, and design of gaming headsets. In 2025, though, establishing the hierarchy of available models isn’t as simple. Gaming headsets are a hotly contested space, and there’s very little difference in sound quality between these wireless, dual-connectivity $110 / £100 cans and anything priced within $50 / £50 from competitors like Razer, Logitech G, Corsair, or HyperX. That means its feature set needs to line up with your specific use case for this headset to make sense as your next purchase.

Some of its selling points are universal: great sound, easy setup, and 40 hours of battery life with rapid charging. Over the 30 hours or so I’ve spent using it (the 'X' variant designed with Xbox in mind, specifically), those promises have held true, and there’s no one who wouldn’t appreciate them.

Then it gets more specific. If you want a premium headset that you can easily switch between console and PC sources with, and you’re likely to use the companion app, this is a fantastic package. If you’re more of a minimalist who’ll likely only use it with one device and doesn’t care too much about tweaking settings, the price starts to look steeper, and the likes of Corsair’s meat-and-potatoes wired HS55 Surround headset might meet your needs and save you $40 in the process.

Bottom line: there are plenty of desirable features here and they’re bundled in with the signature comfort and crisp, breezy sound characteristic we’ve all come to expect – and love – from the Arctis range over the years. But the $110 / £100 pricing of these Arctis Nova 3s is a long way north of the wired Nova 3s, which are available for $75.

(Image credit: Future)SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3 Wireless: Price and availability

• List price: $109.99 / £99.99 / AU$109.99
• Much pricier than the wired Arctis Nova 3s, albeit with more features
• Closest rival with similar specs is the Corsair HS80 RGB

The price of this lower-end 3-series of the Arctis range is creeping up, and while there are certainly enough additional bells and whistles to justify it, it does leave a bit of a gap between the $60 and $110 price points within the Arctis lineup.

Conversely, the Arctis Nova 5s and the discounted Nova 7s and 9s are all regularly going for between $120-$140 now, so it feels like it would have made more sense for the Nova 3X to offer a genuine low-budget option.

With this MSRP, the closest competitor that offers similar specs is Corsair’s HS80 RGB. Both are wireless gaming headsets with multi-device support, but on the specs sheet, it’s the SteelSeries that comes out most favorably, thanks to the Bluetooth and 2.4GHz wireless connectivity and fast charging.

The appearance and tactile feel might not yell ‘premium!’ at the top of its voice, but once you get those soft earcups over your ears and feel how lightweight this model is, it starts to make more sense.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3 Wireless: specs

Price

$109.99 / £99.99 / AU$109.99

Weight

267g / 0.57 lbs

Battery life

40 hours

Connection type

Bluetooth, 2.4GHz wireless (USB-C receiver)

Compatibility

PC, Xbox Series X (Xbox version only), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android

(Image credit: Future)SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3 Wireless: design and features

• Typically comfortable design
• You feel the benefit of those lightweight materials
• Not the flashiest headset in the world

The ‘Nova’ part of this headset’s name delineates SteelSeries’ refresh of the Arctis line from its original ‘ski goggle headband’ ancestors that debuted in 2017 and gobbled up all the awards, ever.

That means the headband on this model runs underneath a hard plastic support band, popping into place via plastic press studs and suspending the weight of the heavier materials via the lateral tension of the elasticated band.

It’s a smart design that doesn’t look like it should work as well as it does, and it’s helped along by an extremely lightweight construction. On the scales (and the specs sheet), the new 3 Wireless weighs just 9.4oz / 267g. And thanks to that headband, it feels like even less than that.

Not much clamping force is needed to keep this firmly attached around your ears, so there’s a very different sensation than you’d find on the aviator-style HyperX Cloud or Razer Blackshark designs that hug your ears like suction cups.

That all contributes to a wonderful level of long-term wearing comfort, and also, one suspects, to the airy, crisp sound quality that Arctis cans always seem to produce.

(Image credit: Future)

In terms of physical controls, it’s a simple array, arranged on the rear-left earcup: a mic mute button, notched volume scroll wheel, power button with light ring, then a USB-C connection and the 3.5mm detachable mic input.

My only gripe with this array is that the plastic surrounding the mic connector doesn’t fit exactly with the shape of the female connection, but that’s really only an aesthetic quibble. Otherwise, all the controls look and feel really nicely built, and they’re sensibly laid out. The scroll wheel feels fantastic, in particular.

On to the visual design. It appears the gaming peripherals market has come full circle: after years of shoving RGB-laden tat with tribal designs all over it, it appears that all those collabs with pro players have paid off, and we’re getting simpler, cleaner designs now that don’t lean into the gamer aesthetic. For that, the Arctis line past and present deserves a pat on the elasticated headband.

However, I’m in the strange and unexpected position of wishing for a bit more edginess here. Not quite a tribal pattern, but… something to better distinguish it from productivity hardware and make me feel like the price is a no-brainer. Perhaps a mix of matte and gloss finishes might have helped.

One last point on the design: it’s too early to tell for this model, but I know through years of using numerous Arctis and Arctis Nova headsets that the headbands do slacken over time, and this affects the comfort level.

Fortunately, SteelSeries sells replacement headbands at a very reasonable price, so when this happens, it’s not a biggie to restore that factory-fresh feeling.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3 Wireless: performance

• Crisp and distinctive audio
• Switch between PC and console easily
• Rapid charging is a lifesaver

Let’s talk about sound. At the start of this review, I mentioned that there’s not much in it between the huge range of gaming headsets you could go out and buy in 2025.

Ten years ago, when manufacturers were obsessed with packing the biggest drivers possible into their headsets and shaking your fillings loose with their bass response, there was a huge variance in audio characteristics. Now the difference between models and manufacturers is much subtler.

That said, there’s always been an ‘Arctis sound’. SteelSeries has always preferred a flatter EQ response for this range, with a crisper high end and a pleasant airiness that makes sound cues easier to identify in competitive games, and makes music and movies sound less soupy than historical gaming cans might have done.

That holds true to this Nova 3 Wireless. Part of it’s probably the cloth surface around the earcups, and the light clamping force. They create an almost open-backed headphone sensation, which I find very agreeable, but this is a matter of taste, not an empirical plus point.

EQ profile tweaking can be achieved – to an absurdly exhaustive degree, frankly – via the companion app on your phone. There are presets for tons of specific games already on there at release, but personally, I’d caution that this feature is way more about marketing than user experience. In reality, Call of Duty Black Ops 6, Grand Theft Auto 5, and Fortnite don’t really need distinct presets from each other.

It’s all gunfire and shouting at the end of the day. It’s added value, but unlikely to transform your experience of using this headset. So think carefully about this component and how it fits into the price before you take the leap.

On to more universal wins: I love the fast USB-C charging. The literature states nine hours of battery life from 15 minutes of charge time, and while it’s hard to measure how accurate that statement is during real-world use, based on my week of heavy use, it sounds roughly correct. I’ve certainly never had a session disrupted by battery level, and that’s the bottom line.

As for the mic, it sounds like there’s more compression and noise cancellation happening by default than you’d typically hear on a modern headset mic, and that means it’s prioritising clarity over a full-bodied, boom mic-style sound.

This is the correct priority placement for the vast majority of users, who need a mic to be heard over game audio by their team-mates, rather than to sound broadcast quality to their streaming audiences. If you do create content using a headset mic rather than a dedicated unit, this might not be ideal for you as it’ll require some parameter-fiddling to get a more rounded sound.

Finally, let’s tackle the biggie: multi-device connectivity via 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth. The idea here is that ‘battlestation’-type gamers play on several devices in one area, switching between PC and console from one title to the next. Traditionally, using one headset for both can be a slight hassle due to varying connection standards and compatibility. The USB-C dongle here means you can just plug it into whichever device you want to use, and that’s the extent of the setup.

The Nova 3 Wireless’s dual connectivity means you can also stay connected to a gaming device plus your smartphone at the same time, and apply different presets for each via the mobile app so you don’t accidentally end up with Fortnite EQ on your TikTok videos.

Maybe this is a big deal for you. The presets don’t move the needle much for me, but dual-wireless is always a big plus, and it adds a lot to the pricing.

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3 Wireless?Buy it if...

You play on several devices regularly
The USB dongle and dual wireless connectivity make this a great ‘battlestation’ headset which you can switch between devices with easily.

You’re forgetful about charging
Low charge bleeps the bane of your existence? You’ll appreciate the nine hours of use you get from 15 minutes plugged in.

You prefer clarity over booming bass response
The Arctis range has always had a pleasant sharp and crisp EQ response that keeps the low end subdued to give the other frequencies some space. The Nova 3 Wireless has that same characteristic.

Don't buy it if...

You’re not going to mess around with presets
The accompanying smartphone app gives you game-specific presets and plenty of tweakable parameters, but that’s not how everyone uses a gaming headset, so consider the value you’d get from it.

You only game on one device
If that USB-C dongle’s getting plugged into one console and one console only, you won’t get much benefit from the dual-wireless and multi-platform support.

You’re on a budget
Although this new model has far more functionality than the wired Nova 3, $110 / £100 can’t quite be considered an entry-level offering.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3 Wireless: Also consider

Is the Arctis Nova 3 Wireless leaving you cold? Consider these cable-free, multi-platform alternatives.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3 Wireless

Turtle Beach Stealth 600 (gen 3)

PlayStation Pulse Elite

Price

$109.99 / £99.99 / AU$109.99

$99.99 / £99.99 / AU$179

$149.99 / £129.99 / AU$239.95

Weight

267g / 0.57 lbs

0.66lbs / 301g

0.76lbs / 347g

Battery life

40 hours

80 hours

30 hours

Connection type

Bluetooth, 2.4GHz wireless (USB-C receiver)

Wireless (USB-A dongle), wired (USB-C to USB-A)

Wireless (PlayStation Link via dongle), Wired (3.5mm audio jack), Bluetooth

Compatibility

PC, Xbox Series X (Xbox version only), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android

Xbox, Playstation, PC, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android

PlayStation 5, PlayStation Portal, PC

Turtle Beach Stealth 600
Priced under the new Arctis lineup entrant (unless you live in Australia, sorry), these Stealth 600s pack a mighty battery life and similar multi-device compatibility into a cost-effective package. The comfort and sound levels aren’t quite as strong as SteelSeries’ model, but there’s not much in it.

For more information, check out our full Turtle Beach Stealth 600 (gen 3) review

PlayStation Pulse Elite
Obviously, Xbox players need not apply here, but for switching between PlayStation devices and PC, Sony’s wireless cans offer great comfort and audio quality for a surprisingly affordable price that’s not too far above the Nova 3X’s tag. Plus, they make you look like you’re in Star Trek.

For more information, check out our full PlayStation Pulse Elite review

How I tested the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3X Wireless

• 25-30 hours spent testing across multiple devices
• PC games and iPhone apps used throughout
• Comfort and battery life evaluated via long-term usage and extended play sessions, audio via music and in-game sound

Over the course of a full week of testing, I spent time in MotoGP 25, Hitman 3, and Shadow Man Remastered on PC. The latter’s 25-year-old audio might not have pushed the 3X’s drivers to their limits, but the new engine audio capture in MotoGP 25 conveyed a lot of detail across the EQ spectrum, and the engine pops sounded particularly rousing. Meanwhile, in a stealth environment like Hitman, the strong surround landscape of this headset gave me plenty of precision about where guard dialogue lines and footsteps were coming from.

I also had the 3 Wireless connected to my iPhone 12 Pro Max via Bluetooth and used them to browse YouTube videos and listen to music on Spotify between PC game sessions. I had plenty of Discord chat on both devices, taking impressions from my mates about mic quality before recording audio directly into Ableton Live for a true analysis.

Finally, I did some A/B testing with my daily drivers, the Razer Blackshark V2 Pros, switching between headsets during the same game to hear the precise differences in audio characteristics from the same sound cues.

First reviewed June 2025

Read more about how we test

Marshall Heston 120: two-minute review

The Marshall Heston 120 Dolby Atmos soundbar is a product that aims to make a mark in a world of hulking black boxes. This amp-inspired, meter-long bar is powered by 11 active drivers and looks to offer room-swallowing bass output, a colorful spatial impression, and top-tier music replication. Still, it comes with a price-tag that’s far from small. So, is it worth taking the plunge on the Marshall Heston 120?

Well, if you’re looking for a one-box soundbar (ie, no subwoofer or rear speakers) that’s capable of phenomenal Dolby Atmos and DTS:X performance, the answer is almost certainly yes. You get really impressive expansiveness from the Marshall Heston 120, with side-firing drivers providing mind-boggling width and up-firing tweeters presenting lifelike verticality. Would a multi-box alternative whip up an even more fleshed-out cinematic experience? Possibly. But for a standalone soundbar, it’s hard to beat the Heston 120.

Whether you’re watching movies with Dolby Atmos or not, the Marshall Heston 120 delivers truly exceptional performance. You’ll hear crystal-clear speech from the center channel whether you’re in Movie or Voice mode and, most of all, get to experience shockingly shaking bass from the Heston’s dual rear-facing subwoofers. Seriously, the bass rumble alone puts the Marshall Heston 120 right up there with the best soundbars around.

But something that truly sets the Heston 120 apart from a vast sea of competitors is its class-leading performance for music – whether you’re listening to an Atmos or stereo mix. With spotless channel separation, delicious depth, a broad soundstage, and wonderful control right across all frequencies, the Marshall Heston 120 is a musical maestro as well as a movie marvel.

Of course, given its price and one-box status, the Heston 120’s obvious rival is the Sonos Arc Ultra, which is easily one of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars that money can buy. The Marshall may not have a voice assistant or quite as much power as the Arc Ultra – but it does have HDMI passthrough (4K at 120Hz, too) and DTS support – a couple of factors that we really missed from the Arc Ultra.

And though the Arc Ultra is a rounded, clean-looking character, I have to say that the Heston 120 is a real work of art. Everything from its gold details, its amp-like aesthetic and its classy knurled metal dials truly screams premium. You should know that you might catch a few reflections on those tactile knobs when watching TV in low-lit spaces, depending on your angle – but still, they make for a unique, attractive addition.

(Image credit: Future)

The Heston 120 is a standalone soundbar in the truest sense. There are no additional speakers – at least not yet, though the Heston Sub 200 is coming later this year. And you won’t even find a remote here – everything is controlled via the flashy new Marshall app, which lets you flick through four sound modes, calibrate the bar to your room’s shape and size, adjust volume, EQ… you name it. I love the pure simplicity of this – I don't want another remote laying around, personally.

You won’t find a display on the soundbar – everything you need to see is in that app – which may be more of a frustration for some. If you want to know whether the Heston 120 is playing Atmos, you'll need to check the app.

I’ll drill into the finer details below, but if you just want the lowdown, then the Marshall Heston 120 is frankly an exemplary soundbar that fuses Marshall’s musical heritage with top-drawer cinematic sound for the modern era. It’s built to last – Marshall will even sell parts if something goes wrong – it sounds amazing, and… well, just look at it!

Yes it’s expensive and you may well be able to find a strong multi-box option at a similar cost. But if you want to take your movie-watching or music-listening experiences to the next level, all via one expertly crafted hub, the Marshall Heston 120 is my choice.

(Image credit: Future)Marshall Heston 120 review: price & release date

• Priced at $999 / £899 / AU$1,799
• Launched on 3 June 2025
• Will also be available via select retailers from September 16, 2025

The Marshall Heston 120 released on 3rd June 2025 and is the very first soundbar Marshall has ever brought to market. It is, admittedly pretty pricey, coming in at $999 / £899 / AU$1,799. But even if it’s expensive, there are pricier all-in-one rivals. The Sonos Arc Ultra is £100 more for UK customers (the same in the US), while the Devialet Dione and Sony Bravia Theater Bar 9 carry list prices of $2,399 / £1,990 / AU$3,999 and $1,399 / £1,399 / AU$1,795 respectively.

Of course, you can get multi-box soundbar systems for a similar price or less – even the wonderful Samsung HW-Q990D can be found for only a touch more than the Heston across many territories. But this is a true all-in-one option that doesn’t rely on separate speakers for a full-sounding cinematic experience, so they're different propositions in some ways.

(Image credit: Future)Marshall Heston 120 review: Specs

Dimensions

43.3 x 5.7 x 3.0 inches / 1100 x 145 x 76mm

Speaker channels

5.1.2

Connections

HDMI eARC, HDMI IN (passthrough), RCA Stereo, RCA Mono (sub out), USB-C, Ethernet, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi

Dolby Atmos/DTS:X

Yes/Yes

Sub included

No

Rear speakers included

No

Marshall Heston 120 review: features

• 5.1.2 speaker configuration with 11 active drivers
• Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support
• Feature-filled Marshall companion app replaces a remote

Although the Marshall Heston 120 makes use of a 5.1.2 channel setup, there are, in fact, 11 active drivers powering the soundbar. They all combine to deliver a maximum power output of 150W.

The top of the soundbar houses two midwoofers for lateral sound as well as two up-firing tweeters, with two side drivers also included to reflect sounds off walls for a wider spatial impression. In addition, there are three front-facing drivers for clear dialogue reproduction and dual rear-facing subwoofers that do the heavy-lifting in the low end. You’ll find four passive radiators installed on the reverse side of the soundbar too, which support the Heston’s whopping bass output.

Of course, there are no external speakers that come alongside the main bar itself – this is a true all-in-one offering from Marshall. There will be a separate sub released later in 2025, though, dubbed the Heston Sub 200.

Even still, the Heston 120 can create a wonderfully expansive sound thanks to its support for Dolby Atmos, as well as DTS:X – notably, that latter format is missing on the soundbar’s main rival, the Sonos Arc Ultra. I’ll drill more into the quality of Atmos effects in the ‘Performance’ section, but they’re impressive to say the least.

And whether you’re watching movies with DTS:X or tuning into your favorite Atmos mixes, there are so many ways to harness the power of your Heston 120. There’s an HDMI eARC for easily connecting the soundbar up to your TV, HDMI in for passthrough (and yes, it’s 4K at up to 144Hz), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, as well as RCA – a nod to Marshall’s musical roots.

There’s even Auracast – a type of Bluetooth technology that enables you to tune into an audio broadcast transmitted from a phone, TV or similar device without any pairing.

Marshall has also integrated a whole host of music services into the Heston 120, ensuring seamless connectivity without long-winded pairing processes. At the moment, these include: Google Cast; Spotify Connect; Internet Radio; Tidal Connect; and Apple AirPlay 2. These can also be bound to preset buttons for easy access. And it’s worth noting that the soundbar supports hi-res files such as ALAC and FLAC, so you can get the best out of those music apps.

You can view all of the integrated services via Marshall’s revamped app, which has a whole bunch of features to sink your teeth into. A few nuggets include a five-band equalizer, AV sync to adjusts audio delay to sync up with video, and Room correction, which plays a range of sounds to optimize your soundbar for the space that you’re using it in.

There’s no remote included with the Heston 120, with the app acting as a full on replacement. It enables you to adjust volume, switch between the different sound modes, cycle through sources and view whether Atmos or DTS:X are in-use or not. Much of this can be done through the soundbar’s physical controls too, but we’ll get onto those later.

• Features score: 5/5

(Image credit: Future)Marshall Heston 120 review: performance

• Earth-shaking bass output
• Great Atmos with impressive width and verticality
• Impeccable for music, especially stereo

So the Heston 120 gets the title of Marshall’s first ever soundbar, as the legendary audio brand takes its first step into the world of home cinema entertainment. No pressure then. From marketing alone, it’s clear that Marshall is confident in the Heston 120’s “rumbling” bass, “immersive” Dolby Atmos sound and “natural vocal clarity” – but can it live up to the hype?

Well, before I answer that, let’s go through the Heston 120’s key focal areas and see how it measures up. When I spoke to the audio engineers that worked on the Marshall Heston 120, I was told there were three focal points: Dolby Atmos for movies; Dolby Atmos music; and stereo music.

Let’s go big and start things off with Atmos for movies. I have to say, the Heston 120 performs incredibly well here. I started my testing by watching a 4K UHD Blu-Ray of Nosferatu – you know, the one where Pennywise plays the eponymous role. And even from the Universal Studios fanfare, I knew I was in for a treat, with booming bass filling our TV testing facility.

During a scene where Count Orlok confronts Ellen, the vampire’s haunting voice came through with incredible depth and haunting levels of detail, with each breathy detail and deep inhale coming through cleanly. Quaking sub-bass also rippled through part of the scene, perfectly capturing the picture’s tense, fear-inducing nature. Whether it was that giant sub-bass, frantic dialogue or piercing high-pitched screeches, the Heston was more than up to the task. I watched this film when it was first released and, honestly, the Heston had enough talent to make me feel as if I was back in the cinema.

But when I think about Atmos, I think, first and foremost about expansive, directional sound that really makes me feel part of the action. And I really want to give the Heston 120 some kudos there, because it performed very admirably indeed in that department.

When watching The Boy and the Heron, the soundbar effortlessly tracked elements such as the width of the heron’s flight path or the verticality of an arrow being fired into the sky. Similarly, when tuning into The Batman, the movement of bats flying towards me had me inching back in my seat – and the Heston gave me a genuine sense that they flew over my shoulder too.

Still, if you’re searching for the most complete surround sound on the market, you’re not going to get it from the Marshall Heston 120 – at least not right now. There are no rear speakers included to give you ultimate wraparound sound and, at the point of launch, there’s no separate sub to take low frequency output to yet another level – both things that would be ideal for those with larger living rooms especially. An option like the JBL Bar 1300X, for example, has a main soundbar with a sub and two rears, meaning you get an even more fleshed-out spatial impression.

Still, I’m here to judge the Heston 120 for what it is – not what it could be, and it really did impress me when it comes to Dolby Atmos effects, dialogue clarity and low-end punch. So, it only seems right to next tackle the area of Dolby Atmos music.

This format, I concede won’t be everyone’s favorite way to listen to tunes, but the Heston, as you’d expect, gets the best out of Atmos mixes. When blasting I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby by Barry White, I was astonished by the width of audio emitting from the Heston 120. Guitars sounded as if they were playing from the sides of the room, rather than from the bar itself, with funky drums dancing and keys dancing across the room.

That was paired with a controlled, balanced vocal performance playing from the center and a total lack of harshness or distortion, ensuring a really enjoyable and three-dimensional listening experience.

Despite all of that, I have to tell you that the absolute highlight of my time spent with the Marshall Heston 120, was listening to stereo music. That really isn’t to take away from the incredible Atmos effects – it’s just all too common for soundbars to miss the mark on musicality, but the Heston is truly class-leading.

When listening to Strange Meadow Lark by Dave Brubeck, the channel separation was phenomenal, drums subtly enter the left side, keys work their magic subtly on the right with punchy bass holding it down throughout the track without smothering the mix.

Again, with Affirmation by George Benson, every instrument was given plenty of breathing space. Each element – whether emotive strings, rhythmic percussion or smooth bass – was positioned beautifully. I genuinely sat for hours listening to albums in this format, I really couldn’t get enough.

I preferred stereo music on the Heston 120 over what the amazing Samsung HW-Q800D could offer – a soundbar that I’ve been happily using for almost half a year, so… it may be time for an upgrade.

• Sound quality score: 5/5

(Image credit: Future)Marshall Heston 120 review: design

• Show-stopping amp-like aesthetic
• Tactile dial controls with haptic feedback
• Though these can catch reflections from TV

So, the Heston 120 has already wowed me with its fantastic feature-set and awesome audio, but there’s one aspect that’s even more appealing. And that is, of course, its gorgeous design, infused with Marshall’s amp-making heritage and finished off with eye-catching gold details.

When I spoke to Marshall at its Stockholm HQ, I was told that the Heston 120 was meant to stand alone in a sea of homogenous black bars. And yep, it definitely does that. Even the golden plate on top of the soundbar oozes class, with three knurled metal knobs positioned alongside well-sized preset and sound mode buttons.

LED lights around the knobs also indicate volume and EQ levels as well as source, which is a nice touch. There’s no display, which some may miss, but as I mentioned earlier, the app houses all the info you’ll need.

Let’s go back to those metal dials, though, because they really are a unique design choice for a soundbar. Firstly, I should emphasize that they’re a joy to use. They’re smooth and pleasing to turn, with haptic feedback included for a more interactive user experience.

But alas… they do bring a problem to the table. When watching movies in a low-lit or dark room, I found that they were illuminated by the TV and caught some reflections. This is nothing too invasive, of course, you’re not going to be blinded by Marshall’s knobs… but it can be a touch distracting.

It’s also worth noting that I had the Heston 120 positioned right under the TV, and the reflectivity will change depending on the gap between the dials at the screen, how far the soundbar is from the TV, and where you're sitting – and if you've wall-mounted them, that will also change things.

Speaking of a wall mount: you’re going to have to purchase that separately. You can grab one on Marshall’s website for $49 / £44 / AU$79 – a fair chunk less than the Sonos Arc Ultra’s mount, notably. I should also mention that the Marshall website is home to a bunch of replacement parts and an authorized repair service, just in case your Heston ever gets damaged.

Before we move on, it has to be said – the Heston is a chunky fella. It’s more than a meter long and weighs in at over 7kg. It will be well-suited under a TV sized 55-inches and up – just make sure your setup has plenty of room, or it may be a tight squeeze.

• Design score: 4.5/5

(Image credit: Future)Marshall Heston 120 review: setup & usability

• Super easy to install
• Everything you need is in the Marshall app
• Huge variety of connectivity options

When it comes to getting setup and ready to go, most modern soundbars are fairly straightforward, and the Marshall Heston 120 is no different. I simply plugged in my power cable and hooked the included HDMI cord from our testing TV into the eARC slot and I was done. Yep, really, that’s all you need to do.

Of course, if you want to truly optimize the Heston 120 for your living space, then it’s well-worth heading over to the Marshall app. One of the first things I did was make use of the Room Correction feature to make sure I was making the most of this stunning soundbar’s sonic talents.

And as we discussed earlier, the app has everything a user will need, from volume controls, source switching, sound mode selection and EQ adjustment. The lack of a remote, if anything, is most welcome for me. I really like the simplicity of an all-in-one digital hub.

One of the big wins the Heston gets over its rival, the Sonos Arc Ultra, is that it has an HDMI passthrough port. That’s incredibly useful if you’ve already used up all of your TV’s HDMI slots and it was one of the main reasons we didn’t rate the Arc Ultra higher than four stars in our review.

And just generally, there really are so many ways to connect the Heston 120. You get all those integrated music services like Spotify and Tidal Connect, plenty of ports, including HDMI, RCA and USB-C, as well as Bluetooth connectivity. The only thing that some may miss at the moment is some sort of voice-assistant support. That’s something you will get on the Arc Ultra, but honestly, it’s not a feature I typically make use of on a soundbar.

• Setup & usability score: 5/5

(Image credit: Future)Marshall Heston 120 review: value

• Comes at quite the cost
• But is class-leading in musicality and offers awesome Atmos
• You can get strong multi-box options at a similar price

Even though I’ve raved about the Heston 120 so far, it has to be said that it is a pricey piece of kit. At $999 / £899 / AU$1,799, it’s well and truly in the premium tier. It costs the same as its all-in-one rival, the Sonos Arc Ultra – that is if you’re in the US and Australia. The Heston is £100 cheaper for those of us in the UK, though.

Having said that, the Heston 120 is still priced competitively when you consider a rival like the Sony Bravia Theater Bar 9 comes in at $400 / £500 more. At the same time, though, you could get a highly competent surround sound system for a similar cost. The excellent Samsung HW-Q990D can regularly be found now for just over $1,200 / £1,000 and that comes with dual rear speakers and a separate sub – talk about value!

Again, though, as a single box, the Heston 120 really is up there with the best of the best. I’ve not heard better musicality from any soundbar before and as an all-in-one solution, the levels of bass and expansiveness are seriously impressive. That’s not to mention the fact that this model packs in essentially every feature and connectivity type that you’d hope to see. So yes – it’s pricey – but for good reason.

• Value score: 4/5

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the Marshall Heston 120?

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Features

Tons of connectivity options, Atmos and DTS:X, great companion app.

5/5

Performance

Booming bass output, excellent Atmos effects, best-in-class musicality.

5/5

Design

Stunning looks, handy repairability options, dials can catch reflections.

4.5/5

Setup & usability

Easy setup, app is perfect control hub, tons of connectivity options.

5/5

Value

It’s pricey, but comes with a load of handy features and stellar sound.

4/5

Buy it if…

You want cinematic sound in a standalone soundbar
Marshall has packed 11 active drivers into the Heston 120, which work in harmony to output incredibly clear, delightfully deep and pleasingly expansive audio. If your living space wouldn’t really suit additional speakers or you simply want an all-in-one solution, it doesn’t get much better than this.

You want a true statement piece
Sound-wise, the Marshall Heston 120 is excellent, but its looks are what really sets it apart. With an amp-inspired aesthetic, premium gold details and wraparound speaker grille, it’s hard to find any other soundbar that comes close on beauty points.

Don’t buy it if…

You want the best surround-sound experience available
Yes, the Heston 120 conjures an impressive spatial impression given its a one-box offering. But the lack of rear channels or a separate sub mean that some will be left wanting more for the true surround sound experience. If you have a larger room or simply want the additional rumble and multi-dimensional effects, it might be worth considering an option like the Samsung Q990D below. Or if you’ve got the cash, potentially even a Sonos sound system, with the Arc Ultra at the center.

You’re on a budget
The Marshall Heston 120 is probably not the ideal option if you’re on a tighter budget. But don’t worry, there really are a lot of great budget-friendly options out there. I should know – I’ve personally test a large number of models in our guide to the best cheap soundbars. But if you want a personal recommendation, I really do rate the Sony HT-S2000, which has talents way beyond anything I’d expect from a standalone bar with its price-tag.

Marshall Heston 120 review: also consider

Marshall Heston 120

Sonos Arc Ultra

Samsung HW-Q990D

Price

$999 / £899 / AU$1,799

$999 / £999 / AU$1,799

$1,799 / £1,699 / AU$1,995

Dimensions

43.3 x 5.7 x 3 inches / 1100 x 145 x 76mm

2.95 x 46.38 x 4.35 inches / 75 x 1178 x 110.6mm

Soundbar: 51.3 x 23.4 x 10.9 inches / 1309 x 595 x 277mm; Subwoofer: 8.6 x 16.2 x 16.1 inches / 220 x 413 x 410mm; Rear speakers: 5 x 7.9 x 5.5 inches / 129.5 x 201.3 x 140.4mm

Speaker channels

5.1.2

9.1.4

11.1.4

Connections

1x HDMI eARC, 1x HDMI in, RCA Stereo, RCA Mono (sub out), USB-C, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3

1x HDMI with eARC, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth

1x HDMI eARC, 2x HDMI 2.1 in, optical digital audio, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth

Dolby Atmos/DTS:X

Yes/Yes

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Sub included

No

No

Yes

Rear speakers included

No

No

Yes

Sonos Arc Ultra
The Sonos Arc Ultra is an outstanding one-box soundbar that is tough to beat when it comes down to pure performance. Thanks to its zealous bass, crystal-clear dialogue and convincing Dolby Atmos effects, we couldn’t get enough of the Arc Ultra during our time testing it. There’s no DTS:X support and the lack of HDMI passthrough is a shame, but if you’re not into the Heston’s amp-inspired design, this might be a better option for you. Read our full Sonos Arc Ultra review.

Samsung HW-Q990D
Thanks to a wave of price-cuts, you’ll now be able to regularly find 2024’s incredible Samsung Q990D for a similar cost to the Marshall Heston 120. And that’s pretty impressive, given it provides you with a main soundbar, subwoofer and rear speakers for mind-blowing surround sound. With full-sounding spatial audio, phenomenal sonic detail and plenty of connectivity options, you simply can’t do better for the cost. Read our full Samsung HW-990D review.

How I tested the Marshall Heston 120

• Tested across a week-long period
• Used in our TV testing space at Future Labs
• Both Dolby Atmos and stereo sound tested

When testing the Marshall Heston 120, I had it hooked up to the fantastic Panasonic MZ1500 TV via HDMI eARC. I also used Tidal Connect over Wi-Fi and Spotify over Bluetooth when tuning into my favorite tracks.

During testing, the soundbar was placed in front of the TV in our TV testing space at Future Labs. I tried viewing and listening to a vast array of content during an intensive testing period. This included a number of movies and TV shows and songs on our TechRadar testing playlist. For reference, I used the Panasonic DP-UB820 to view Dolby Atmos-enabled 4K UHD Blu-rays.

On top of that, I made extensive use of each listening mode: Movie; Music; Voice; and Night. I also dug into additional options on the Marshall app, ensuring each feature functioned as advertised.

I've tested tons of soundbars here at TechRadar – everything from ultra-cheap options like the Hisense HS214 through to pricier models like the Samsung HW-Q800D. I've also got plenty of experience testing other gear, including the best Bluetooth speakers and best headphones, which helped me to assess the caliber of the Heston 120's musicality.

• First reviewed: June 2025
• Read more about how we test

• The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3 wireless gaming headset is available now
• The headset has multiplatform compatibility across all consoles and PC
• It has a bevy of features at an impressively competitive price point

Hardware manufacturer SteelSeries has just revealed its new Arctis Nova 3 wireless gaming headset lineup.

Sporting multiplatform capability (that's PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC in addition to mobile devices), custom drivers, a new companion app, and a rather impressive feature set, it may just be one of the next best wireless gaming headsets to enter the market. Doubly so when you take its price point into account.

The SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3 wireless gaming headset comes in at $109.99 / £99.99 and is available to purchase from the brand's website or select retailers in your region. You can choose from four distinct color options (black, white, aqua, and lavender), as well as a 3P (PlayStation) or 3X (Xbox) variant.

This means it's close but undercuts its SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 - a headset we love - brethren, offering an even more aggressively priced wireless option.

While this is a multiplatform headset, keep in mind that the 3X version is not compatible with PlayStation consoles. However, the 3P model does work with Xbox alongside all other major platforms. If you game across all consoles regularly, then the latter is the one to go for.

In terms of features, then, the Arctis Nova 3 is certainly packing a lot into a very competitively priced gaming headset. The brand's custom Nova drivers are featured here, offering full 360-degree spatial audio and compatibility with the PS5's Tempest 3D audio as well as Microsoft's own spatial sound solution.

An on-board 'quick switch' button lets you instantaneously swap between a 2.4GHz and Bluetooth 5.3 connection; handy if you're expecting a call or for listening to music while you game. The headset also features a ClearCast 2.X microphone, which should provide clear voice quality for online multiplayer with pals.

In terms of battery life, SteelSeries claims you'll get an impressive 30 hours via 2.4GHz and around 40 hours via Bluetooth. Fast charge is also supported, with the brand noting you'll get nine hours of battery life from just 15 minutes of charging.

Lastly, SteelSeries is launching a new Arctis companion app for Android and iOS devices. The app features more than 200 game audio presets, which can be swapped and customized on the fly even while you're playing. That's pretty nifty if you're the type to set profiles on a per-game basis for maximum immersion.

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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, June 3 (game #1226).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 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 #1227) - 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 #1227) - hint #2 - repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 3.

Quordle today (game #1227) - hint #3 - uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

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

Quordle today (game #1227) - 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 2.

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 #1227) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• B

• S

• S

• H

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

Quordle today (game #1227) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1227, are…

• BANAL
• STOUT
• SEDAN
• HIPPO

Today’s Quordle nearly unraveled for me, but I managed to pull it back.

My starter words delivered all five letters for SEDAN and it was a simple case of rearranging them, but my next word had multiple options.

I figured that the word must end O-U-T but despite knowing it started with the letter S I had several options and sadly chose the wrong one before guessing STOUT.

From here it was more straightforward. For HIPPO, I had the H,I, P and O, so it wasn’t a great leap, while there was no other choice for BANAL.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Daily Sequence today (game #1227) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1227, are…

• AMONG
• EXILE
• PRONG
• SOLVE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1226, Tuesday, 3 June: FUGUE, SYRUP, FLACK, WORST
• Quordle #1225, Monday, 2 June: THINK, BELLE, CRONE, BOULE
• Quordle #1224, Sunday, 1 June: POINT, MERIT, WHOOP, APHID
• Quordle #1223, Saturday, 31 May: CRUMB, ELFIN, DRIER, QUITE
• Quordle #1222, Friday, 30 May: RAJAH, CAUSE, BLACK, ETUDE
• Quordle #1221, Thursday, 29 May: CRIER, DRAPE, STRUT, NEIGH
• Quordle #1220, Wednesday, 28 May: HELLO, BEADY, VIGIL, PURER
• Quordle #1219, Tuesday, 27 May: TWEET, RANGE, POPPY, RADAR
• Quordle #1218, Monday, 26 May: BLEAT, HOWDY, ASIDE, SCOOP
• Quordle #1217, Sunday, 25 May: OCEAN, AMBER, PIPER, GLEAN
• Quordle #1216, Saturday, 24 May: HUSKY, HEIST, FOGGY, POLAR
• Quordle #1215, Friday, 23 May: SHIRE, GIANT, AWAIT, CAPER
• Quordle #1214, Thursday, 22 May: LOSE, GLOVE, STINT, EXCEL
• Quordle #1213, Wednesday, 21 May: NOVEL, CHOSE, DIRTY, DONUT
• Quordle #1212, Tuesday, 20 May: DECOY, SHAKE, MAPLE, PURER
• Quordle #1211, Monday, 19 May: LINK, HANDY, DITCH, WAIVE
• Quordle #1210, Sunday, 18 May: QUACK, ROACH, PURGE, DOWNY
• Quordle #1209, Saturday, 17 May: STRIP, RANGE, UNITE, GEESE
• Quordle #1208, Friday, 16 May: SHEEP, SNUCK, DRIFT, BREAK
• Quordle #1207, Thursday, 15 May: PAINT, CROUP, PEDAL, FLUKE

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, June 3 (game #723).

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 #724) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• PIPE
• HOOK
• ROOT
• APPLE
• CHEER
• CONSOLE
• CLOUD
• BRIDGE
• RUNNER
• BOWLER
• REFRAIN
• WHISTLE
• BENCH
• CHORUS
• CLAP
• COAT RACK

NYT Connections today (game #724) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Elements of a hit
• GREEN: Fan worship
• BLUE: Hallway stuff
• PURPLE: A surrealist classic

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 #724) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: PARTS OF A SONG
• GREEN: SUPPORT AUDIBLY
• BLUE: THINGS IN AN ENTRYWAY
• PURPLE: IMAGERY IN MAGRITTE PAINTINGS

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

NYT Connections today (game #724) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #724, are…

• YELLOW: PARTS OF A SONG BRIDGE, CHORUS, HOOK, REFRAIN
• GREEN: SUPPORT AUDIBLY CHEER, CLAP, ROOT, WHISTLE
• BLUE: THINGS IN AN ENTRYWAY BENCH, COAT RACK, CONSOLE, RUNNER
• PURPLE: IMAGERY IN MAGRITTE PAINTINGS APPLE, BOWLER, CLOUD, PIPE

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 mistakes

A game of two halves today. After I got the first two groups fairly quickly I hit a roadblock and saw no connection between the eight remaining words (I’ll count COAT RACK as one word).

Completely stuck, I pressed shuffle to see if it would give me any clues and selected a few random groups of four.

It was thinking visually that changed things, as I imagined each item. I would not have been able to tell you the name of the artist – but APPLE, BOWLER, CLOUD and PIPE were all things I imagined in a painted form, and indeed there are all items that reoccur in Magritte’s surrealist paintings along with umbrellas, candles and doves.

His most famous piece is The Treachery of Images, better known for the phrase beneath a painting of a pipe which reads Ceci n'est pas une pipe (this is not a pipe). For a moment I felt quite clever, before admitting to myself that it was just a wild guess.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, June 3, game #723)

• YELLOW: BE OSTENTATIOUS GRANDSTAND, POSTURE, SHOWBOAT, SWAGGER
• GREEN: COPACETIC FINE, HUNKY-DORY, OK, SWELL
• BLUE: KINDS OF BRACELETS CHARM, FRIENDSHIP, ID, TENNIS
• PURPLE: THINGS YOU CAN PRACTICE LAW, MEDICINE, SELF-CARE, WITCHCRAFT

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, June 3 (game #457).

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Monster quest

NYT Strands today (game #458) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• MANY
• CAKE
• FEEL
• POLITE
• MOCK
• WIRE

NYT Strands today (game #458) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 8 letters

NYT Strands today (game #458) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: top, 3rd column

Last side: bottom, 4th column

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

NYT Strands today (game #458) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #458, are…

• YETI
• BIGFOOT
• KRAKEN
• CRAWLER
• MOTHMAN
• JACKALOPE
• SPANGRAM: CRYPTIDS

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 hint

Today’s quest had us searching for mythical beasts, including the fantastical wild man Sasquatch (also known as BIGFOOT) – one of the most enduring CRYPTIDS of North American folklore.

The history of Bigfoot sightings goes all the way back to 1811, with some scientists claiming that the ape-like giant could be a remnant of the Neanderthals.

Of course, it is also entirely possible that once the mythology spread, certain mischievous people might enjoy dressing as a giant ape-like man and running around the country being elusive (see the Beastie Boys' video for Triple Trouble for further information).

They’re a shy bunch, are mythical beasts, even the more recently seen ones like MOTHMAN first seen in West Virginia in the 1960s.

After several couples reported seeing a large winged black creature whose eyes glowed red, the Point Pleasant Register ran a news story with the headline “Couples See Man-Sized Bird ... Creature ... Something".

He hasn’t been seen much since, but rather than fear the beast in their midst, the town has taken them to their hearts and there is now an annual Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant where you can watch live music and take part in a pancake-eating contest.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, June 3, game #457)

• VELCRO
• JACUZZI
• KLEENEX
• POPSICLE
• CHAPSTICK
• SPANGRAM: TRADEMARKED

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.

• Edifier's Doo Ace on-ear headphones are Bluetooth 6.0
• Just 100g, so much lighter than the equivalent Sony cans
• Audio codec support is a little disappointing

We've been waiting a while for the first Bluetooth 6.0 headphones to arrive, and it looks like Edifier has beaten its rivals with the launch of the terribly named but quite funky Doo Ace on-ears.

The Doo Ace – a name that gets worse each time I type it – are Bluetooth 6.0 with multi-point pairing. But the presence of the latest Bluetooth doesn't necessarily mean you're going to want to buy them, as there are a few downsides to the spec – and as they're currently only available in China, you might not be able to buy them at all.

(Image credit: Edifier)Edifier Doo Ace headphones: key features and pricing

The Doo Ace headphones promise AI-based noise reduction, 32mm drivers and an audio jack for wired connections. There's a game mode with reduced latency, and Edifier says that you can also use them as a remote shutter control for your phone's camera.

However, as Notebookcheck.net reports, the audio codec support is limited: SBC, A2DP, AVRCP and HFP – not only is there nothing like aptX or LDAC, there isn't even LC3, the better default Bluetooth audio codec that's part of Bluetooth LE Audio.

At 100g, these headphones are very light compared to rivals such as the 147g Sony WH-CH520, but that light weight means less battery capacity: battery life is a claimed 25 hours, half that of the Sonys. Fast charging will give you 5 hours of playback from a 15-minute charge.

There are four colors, Mother-of-Pearl White, Sunset Orange, Earth Brown, and Secret Night Blue, and the price tag in China is CNY229 (about $32 / £24).

It's unknown whether the Doo Ace will be launched in other markets but of course if they are we'll let you know. As far as we can tell, they're the first headphones revealed with Bluetooth 6.0 – we can't find evidence of any others, but let us know in the comments if you've seen any announced.

They're not exactly a flagship showcase of what Bluetooth can do compared to the best wireless headphones, but they're funky looking, inexpensive, and the lightness is very impressive.

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The tech giant's data centers will start slurping power from a nuclear plant in 2027.

This new debit card will make it easy to select an interest-free BNPL plan at checkout, but there are fees to watch for.

The tactic may seem counterintuitive, but it can help you make tough decisions faster and with more confidence, says decision coach Nell Wulfhart.

• Early adopters are in a much better position to win – "just do it," Sam Altman says
• Today, AI is an intern, but soon it'll be an experienced worker capable of tackling complex problems
• The next step is AGI, but does that mean accelerated scientific discoveries, self-improvement, or something else?

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has offered his honest insights into the evolving AI landscape, comparing previous, current and future trends to point enterprises in the right direction.

"I think, just do it," Altman said in an interview with Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy at the company's Summit 2025 event, highlighting that companies waiting for the next AI breakthrough risk being left behind.

"When things are changing quickly, the companies that have the quickest adoption speed... win," he added.

AGI definition is shifting

Reflecting on how his guidance has changed over the past year, Altman noted a major shift in AI's capabilities just in this short period of time.

"We hit a real inflection point for the use of these models," he said, but "an interesting question is what we say different next year."

Looking ahead, Altman said he envisions businesses adopting AI not just to automate routine processes but to tackle bigger challenges.

In 2026, he predicts companies will, "throw a tonne of compute" at "hugely important problem[s]" and "the models will be able to go figure out things that teams of people on their own can't do."

Altman likened today's AI to "an intern that can work for a couple of hours," but foresees a near future where AI resembles an experienced or senior worker. The OpenAI founder predicts that "in some limited cases [and] in some small ways" we could see agents capable of discovering new knowledge pretty soon, and the use cases are only set to increase with further developments.

When asked about artificial general intelligence (AGI), Altman explained that humans are very good as adjusting their expectations, challenging static definitions of the term. Casting his mind back five years, he said that most people might have considered today's ChatGPT to be AGI, but our expectations today have furthered.

"The thing that matters is the rate of progress that you see year-over-year over the last five years should continue for at least the next five, probably well beyond that," he added, suggesting we're nowhere near the top.

His preferred purpose for AGI would be to significantly increase, maybe "quadruple," scientific discovery, but he also acknowledges that others see AGI as a system capable of self-improvement, potentially even consciousness.

Concluding, Altman was asked a hypothetical question – what would he do if he had 1,000x more compute?

"I would ask it to work super hard on AI research, figure out how to build much better models, and then ask that much better model what we should do with all the compute," he said.

Offering us a glimpse into the not-too-distant future from OpenAI, Altman revealed that "the models over the next year, two years, are gonna be quite breathtaking... there's a lot of progress to come."

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• The North Face has notified customers of a data breach
• Hackers ran a credential stuffing attack on its website and breached customer accounts
• They stole names, addresses, and phone numbers

The North Face has confirmed suffering a credential stuffing attack through which cybercriminals exfiltrated sensitive customer information.

The outdoor clothing and equipment company has filed a new notice with the Vermont Attorney General which also included the data breach notification letter sent out to affected customers.

In the letter, the company said it discovered “unusual activity” on its website on April 23, 2025. The subsequent investigation showed that an unidentified attacker ran a “small-scale credential stuffing attack”, using login credentials obtained elsewhere, most likely purchased from the dark web.

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Payment information intact

“Credential stuffing attacks can occur when individuals use the same authentication credentials on multiple websites,” The North Face said. “We encourage all of our customers to use a unique password on our website.”

The crooks made away with people’s shipping addresses, preference information, email addresses, full names, dates of birth, and phone numbers.

“Payment card (credit, debit, or stored value card) information was not compromised on our website,” the company added.

“The attacker could not view your payment card number, expiration date, or your CVV (the short code on the back of your card).”

As The North Face explained, payment data was not taken because it’s not being stored on its servers. The company only retains a token linked to the payment card, while the payment processor retains the details.

“The token cannot be used to initiate a purchase anywhere other than on our website. Accordingly, your credit card information is not at risk as a result of this incident.”

The North Face also said notifying customers wasn’t necessary, given the nature of the stolen information, but still decided to do it “out of an abundance of caution.” Still, names, birth dates, postal addresses, and phone numbers are more than enough information to create custom, convincing phishing emails that can result in identity theft, payment information theft and wire fraud, identity theft, and more.

Via BleepingComputer

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