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everywhere. Clockwise from top left: Bobby Darin, Bobby Vee, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Goldsboro, Bobby Womack, and Bobby Sherman.'/>

Bobbys were inescapable in music in the '50s and '60s: Bobby Sherman, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Darin and more. NPR critic Bob Mondello looks back to an era when everyone seemed to share his name.

The carrier's three-year price lock doesn't apply to its latest fee increases, which means higher monthly bills for many customers.

• Avalanche Studios' Contraband is seemingly no more
• The game only ever received one public-facing CG trailer
• There has been no news on the game in the four years since its announcement

Xbox Game Studios has canceled Contraband, a game I wouldn't blame you for not remembering, as we only ever saw it once in the form of a CG trailer.

Contraband, being developed by Just Cause and Mad Max's Avalanche Studios, was initially revealed in 2021, accompanied by a trailer that didn't give much away beyond its gritty 1970s setting.

Initially reported by Bloomberg, it seems that Contraband has now been canceled, or has at least had its development halted for the time being. Reporter Jason Schreier states that the project has been canceled "after four years of radio silence."

Avalanche Studios followed up with confirmation on its own website, saying: "Over the past several years, Avalanche Studios Group and Xbox Game Studios Publishing have collaborated on Contraband. Active development has now stopped while we evaluate the project's future. We're thankful for the excitement we've seen from the community since we announced and will give an update on what's next as soon as we can."

A cancellation at this point may not be all that surprising for Contraband, but regardless, it's not a good look for Xbox. The company recently canceled two high-profile games in Rare's Everwild and The Initiative's Perfect Dark reboot. That's in conjunction with another recent round of mass layoffs, where thousands of employees across several studios were let go.

Back in July, Xbox boss Phil Spencer described the actions taken as "tough decisions," claiming Xbox's "platform, hardware, and game roadmap have never looked stronger" despite the seeming instability of the Xbox Game Studios umbrella.

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• After Concord's flop, Sony admits its live-service plan 'is not entirely going smoothly' but says it will continue and learn from its mistakes
• Hollow Knight: Silksong was a no-show once again at the Nintendo Indie World Showcase, but here's everything else that was announced
• Mafia: The Old Country will have quality and performance modes on PS5 and Xbox and is officially confirmed to be PS5 Pro-enhanced

• Google pledges $1 billion in funding for AI education and training across the US
• Eligible students also get 12 months' Google AI Pro, with Gemini 2.5 Pro and more
• The news comes just weeks after Microsoft announced a similar scheme, but at 4x the value

Google has confirmed a commitment to spend $1 billion over the next three years to support AI education and training across the US, targeting colleges, universities and nonprofits.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai explained in a blog post more than 100 colleges and universities have already signed up to its AI for Education Accelerator program, which hopes to make AI and career training free for every college student in America.

Google's training efforts add to its already extensive involvement within education – the company already runs schemes to get Chromebooks into the hands of students in multiple countries and regions.

Google wants to train America's students in AI

In the post, Pichai explained his own personal motivation for the project: "Having regular access to computers in grad school changed my life, and led me on the path to Google. It’s my hope that bringing the best AI tools to college students will open up new worlds for them, too."

The latest announcement sees eligible students across the US, as well as Japan, Indonesia, Korea and Brazil, able to sign up for a year's free Google AI Pro plan with Gemini 2.5 Pro access, Deep Research via Gemini 2.5 Pro, Veo 3, higher limits for Jules, NotebookLM and 2TB of storage.

Boasting about its presence across the education sector, and offering a small dig at Microsoft which previously dominated the area, Pichai noted that more than four in five of the top 100 US universities now use Google Workspace for Education.

However, Google isn't the only company investing in upskilling the current generation of students and our future workforce.

Microsoft President Brad Smith recently shared details of a $4 billion investment in AI and cloud technology for K-12 schools, community and technical colleges, and nonprofits. Other companies in this space, including Meta, OpenAI, Anthropic and Amazon have all pledged their own support, too.

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• Available for Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro
• Requires Android 16 and One UI 8
• One UI is still a beta for some Galaxy phones

As promised, Samsung has begun the rollout of Gemini support to its Galaxy Buds 3 earbuds. It's a free update, and it's easy enough to get and install. But there's one caveat: you might need to install beta software on your phone.

Gemini doesn't run on the earbuds themselves – it's far too demanding to run natively – so it needs your phone or tablet to act as a messenger between your mouth and Gemini's ears.

As 9to5Google reports, at the moment the updates appear to be exclusively for phones running the One UI 8 atop Android 16. That's factory-fitted on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and on the Galaxy Z Flip 7, but for the Samsung Galaxy S25 series One UI 8 is still a beta – ie. a pre-release version of the operating system, that while available (to a select group of users) is meant for testing.

(Image credit: Samsung)How to get Gemini on the Galaxy Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro

If you have a Galaxy S25 Series or older, the stable version of the One UI 8 software isn't due until late September 2025. However, there is a beta version and from next week it will be available for more devices including the Galaxy S24 Series, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the Galaxy Z Flip 6. The beta will expand further next month to include the S23, Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5 and several A-series models.

Once you've got One UI 8 up and running, the next stage is to check for software updates for your earbuds… and then pray. I'm being dramatic there, but only slightly: the Gemini upgrade is reportedly "wonky" and results may differ from device to device.

If you've got the update, you should now see a new "Set up Google digital assistant" option at the top of the Voice Controls section in Samsung's app. This enables you to set up the Gemini integration with your smartphone or tablet.

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• Unidentified hackers access Air France and KLM through a third-party service provider
• The attackers stole names, contact details, and more
• Passport data was not compromised

Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have confirmed recently suffering cyberattacks in which both airlines lost sensitive customer data.

The companies, both owned by the same airline holding firm, sent out data breach notification letters to affected customers, and in a statement shared with Tweakers, KLM said the incident happened when threat actors broke into a third-party service provider.

“Unusual activity was detected on a third-party platform used by our contact centres, which led our IT security team, together with the third-party system involved, to swiftly implement corrective measures to put an end to the incident,” the company also told Cybernews.

Was it Scattered Spider?

We don’t know exactly how many people were affected by the breach, but the airlines transport more than 80 million people every year.

The information stolen in this attack include people’s full names, contact details, Flying Blue numbers and tier levels, and subject lines of service request emails.

Luckily, passport numbers, payment card details, passwords, or Flying Blue Miles (the airline’s loyalty program) balances were not stolen.

There was no word on the attackers, and no one claimed responsibility for the attack.

However, in late June 2025, the FBI warned Scattered Spider hackers were now increasing targeting airlines.

Scattered Spider works by impersonating company staff, and convincing support employees from the IT department that they lost access to their corporate accounts.

After gaining initial access, they map out the company, identify high-level individuals, and then repeat the process until they gain access to accounts through which they can steal data.

The hacking group struck Qantas in early July 2025, and Hawaiian Airlines in late June, and Russian Aeroflot, American GlobalX, and Canadian WestJet have all suffered similar incidents in recent months.

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The National Crime Prevention Council is questioning federal cuts to McGruff the Crime Dog's campaign to sniff out fake pills. The group says McGruff's work that started in 1980 isn't over.

(Image credit: National Crime Prevention Council/YouTube)

Plus: physical fitness, Confederate statues, robot overlords and weird zoo requests.

Economists say, what happens in Vegas matters nationally because it often reflects broader trends on consumer confidence and the overall health of the U.S. economy.

(Image credit: Patrick T. Fallon)

Let us help you cut through the noise and pick the right streaming service.

Unlike other tech giants, many music-streaming services like Spotify are not currently taking steps to label AI-generated content. But experts say more transparency is key.

(Image credit: Jakub Porzycki)

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs is presiding over two Harvard cases challenging Trump's moves to cut federal funding from the university and to ban it from enrolling international students.

(Image credit: U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee)

NASA is accelerating plans to have a nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030.

(Image credit: Angelos Tzortzinis)

The new school year can be exciting, but also stressful. Kids may be feeling anxious. Parents may be juggling new responsibilities. Experts share tips on how to manage this season of change.

• A video of an iPhone 17 Pro dummy unit in orange has leaked
• This shade is far more eye-catching than most Pro iPhone colors
• Viewers are very mixed on whether it's a good color or not

Leaks suggest that – along with understated black, white, and dark blue shades – the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max might be sold in orange, and now a video has given us our best look yet at a dummy unit in that color.

Shared by leaker Majin Bu, you can see that this is quite a striking shade, and far more colorful than Apple’s Pro models tend to be. Whether it’s a good color is more debatable – Bu says it “looks so good”, but many of the replies to their post are a lot more negative.

@AnxiousHolly, for example, said “this looks hideous”, while @black0nder said “the worst color in iPhone history”. But @YSL_Laurentttt said “Let that be official and I’m getting the 17 Pro”, and @vernons said “if it really looks like that, it could be the winner in this year's upgrade.” So, this really does seem to be a love-it-or-hate-it shade.

iPhone 17 Pro orange looks so good pic.twitter.com/N9ehzP6ldnAugust 7, 2025

A good move

Whatever you think of this specific color choice, though, we’d say it’s a positive sign that Apple might offer such a shade, as it could mean the company is getting more comfortable with the idea that its Pro phones don’t always have to be sold in smart, understated shades.

We’ve long been calling for more colorful premium phones, so perhaps Apple is finally listening. But whether we’ll see more might depend on how well this orange shade sells.

And that’s assuming Apple really does launch an iPhone 17 Pro in this color. For now, we’d take this rumor with a pinch of salt, but we should find out soon, as the iPhone 17 series is likely to land in early September, with one leak pointing to September 9.

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Enterprise cloud demands have evolved beyond the early drivers of adoption. Now, more than ever, businesses must be prepared to scale at a moment’s notice. Meeting unexpected user demand while maintaining service levels is an ongoing challenge. At the same time, cloud computing workloads are becoming increasingly specialized, requiring optimized solutions across CPUs, DPUs, and AI accelerators to fully harness cloud-native architectures and frameworks.

As a result, cloud spending has become a critical operational priority. According to Flexera, nearly half of all workloads and data are now in the public cloud. In fact, 72% of IT decision-makers (ITDMs) are prioritizing cloud optimization as a key organizational initiative to drive cost savings.

These trends highlight the importance of right-sizing cloud solutions. Enterprises must ensure that their infrastructure is optimized for their specific business needs and workload requirements. The right cloud strategy delivers flexibility, security, performance, and cost efficiency, all of which are fundamental to maintaining a competitive edge.

Why the Time is Now

Cloud computing has long been the backbone of modern digital infrastructure, primarily built around general-purpose computing. However, the era of one-size-fits-all cloud solutions is rapidly fading in a business environment increasingly dominated by AI and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads. Legacy cloud solutions struggle to meet the computational intensity of deep learning models, preventing organizations from fully realizing the benefits of their investments.

At the same time, cloud-native architectures have become the standard, as businesses face mounting pressure to innovate, reduce time-to-market, and optimize costs. Without a cloud-optimized IT infrastructure, organizations risk losing key operational advantages—such as maximizing performance efficiency and minimizing security risks in a multi-cloud environment—ultimately negating the benefits of cloud-native adoption.

Moreover, running AI workloads at scale without an optimized cloud infrastructure leads to unnecessary energy consumption, increasing both operational costs and environmental impact. This inefficiency strains financial resources and undermines corporate sustainability goals, which are now under greater scrutiny from stakeholders who prioritize green initiatives.

Beyond performance gains, security is yet another critical consideration when selecting cloud-optimized hardware that often goes underappreciated. Cloud-optimized hardware often provide a strong suite of advanced security features, such as confidential computing. These technologies ensure that sensitive data remains encrypted while in use, reducing the risk of physical DIMM (Dual In-line Memory Module) attacks or virtual threats in hyperconverged infrastructure environments.

As the risks of data breaches continue to escalate – both in financial and reputational terms – organizations must recognize that leaving cloud environments unprotected is no longer an option. The rise of sophisticated cyber threats, from rogue hackers to nation-state-sponsored actors, makes enhanced cloud security a non-negotiable priority.

Your 2025 cloud optimization playbook

Furthermore, as industries push forward with the adoption and deployment of AI tools, IT leaders must ensure that their cloud infrastructure can support compute-intensive workloads while balancing cost, security, and efficiency considerations. While each organization's computing needs are unique, IT teams embarking on hardware modernization should consider the following:

Performance: Are your cloud instances equipped for the level of compute performance your business requires? Cloud infrastructure must support a range of workloads, from web front-end applications to in-memory analytics and heavy transactional processing.

Cost and efficiency: Can you reduce your cloud footprint by running the same workloads on fewer servers? Prioritizing instances with high compute density allows businesses to run more VMs or containers per server, achieving significant cost and energy efficiency benefits.

Security: Does your cloud instance provide the level of data protection you require? Confidential computing helps mitigate security risks by protecting data in use, reducing vulnerabilities in virtualized environments.

Ecosystem: Opting for processors powered by industry-standard x86 architecture simplifies cloud environments, making it easier to develop, maintain, and migrate applications with minimal disruption.

Unseen optimization, tangible impact

For IT decision-makers, understanding the cost implications of each 'unit of work' is crucial when selecting cloud instances. Traditional infrastructure forces enterprises to choose between overprovisioning resources – leading to unnecessary expenses – or under provisioning, which can cause performance bottlenecks. Cloud-optimized hardware changes this equation by enabling businesses to achieve more with fewer resources while maintaining high levels of performance, security, and efficiency.

As cloud technologies continue to evolve, enterprises that prioritize modernization will reap the benefits of seamless scalability, improved sustainability, and a resilient digital foundation for future innovation. In a world where agility is critical, cloud optimization is no longer a luxury—it is a business imperative for staying competitive in 2025 and beyond.

We list the best IT management tool.

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

An executive order from President Trump would extend the opportunity for 401k fund managers to include private equity in retirement portfolios. What are the risks and benefits?

Rayford Junior Miles — a World War II veteran from Alabama — came across as a classic tough guy. But to his granddaughter Melanie Harrison, he was just 'Papa.' Melanie spoke with her father, Jim Miles, to remember a grandfather with a soft heart and a comical communication style.

The human brain tends to slow down as we age — even healthy brains shrink. That can make learning and memory harder as people age. But some people’s brains shrink more slowly than their peers. This lucky group is called “SuperAgers.” They’re people aged 80 or older. But they have the memory abilities of someone 50-to-60 years old. This week in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia, researchers from Northwestern University’s SuperAging Program summarized some of the secrets they’ve learned in the last 2.5 decades. 

Want to hear about more stories about human health and aging? Email us and let us know at shortwave@npr.org.

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

(Image credit: Shane Collins, Northwestern University)

Finding it hard to concentrate? Are you glued to social media for longer than you’d like? Well, maybe it’s not you… maybe it’s the phones. Brittany is joined by Magdalene Taylor, writer, cultural critic and senior editor at Playboy, and Fio Geiran, producer at TED Radio Hour and a writer of their Body Electric newsletter, to discuss this phrase: “it’s the phones.” They get into the effects that smartphones have on our brains and our culture, why some people are returning to “dumbphones,” and why it might take more than willpower to manage our relationships with our phones.

(Image credit: Nanzeeba Ibnat)