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The telecoms industry is all a flutter.

Satellite connectivity was once seen as useful but peripheral. Starlink is changing that.

With scale, money and ambition behind it, the company is starting to look less like a niche rural broadband provider and more like a serious question for the wider connectivity market.

Kester Mann, Director, Consumer and Connectivity at FDM CCS Insight, said this is one of the more interesting developments of 2026.

“The industry is nervous. Operators are currently working to shore up their defenses against potential offerings from a company like Starlink, but the long-term plan is not obvious yet. Starlink has the financial muscle to be disruptive if it wants to be.”

Starlink is clearly a very ambitious business. The recent IPO of its parent company, SpaceX, shattered global financial records, raising $85.7 billion in total capital and valuing the company at $1.77 trillion at listing.

Just weeks after its IPO, the company completed a $25 billion bond sale. One thing it is not short of is money.

The connectivity mix

Clearcut data is somewhat difficult to come across, but the Department of Agriculture puts the total U.S. population in nonmetro counties stood at 46.2 million, accounting for 14% of the total population spread across 72% of the landmass.

This demonstrates why closing not spots in the U.S. has become such a significant challenge.

“It’s very difficult to make connectivity economical in the U.S. outside urban areas,” Mann added. “I understand why we have this situation, and partnerships between telecoms operators and satellite companies make a huge amount of sense.”

The telecoms industry has often envisioned a patchwork landscape for connectivity, with each technology serving the purpose to which it best suits. This works today, mobile, Wi-Fi and broadband interlink nicely, and satellite could fill the spaces left behind by traditional telecoms. Namely, the rural locations.

Could satellite solve the telecoms problem the telecoms industry couldn’t solve?

The economics of telecoms infrastructure have always created a headache for the industry, especially in countries like the U.S.

Simply put, there aren’t enough people living in an area to justify the vast expense of network rollout. If the telecoms operators could have made money, you can bet there wouldn’t be not spots.

This is where a ‘non-telecoms’ solution fits nicely, and there is precedent of new market entrants completely disrupted highly established markets.

Netflix turned entertainment on its head. AirBnB reshaped the hotel industry without ever building a hotel. Uber led to an entirely different way of moving from A to B, and not just taxis anymore.

In the rural states, there are consumer mobile and broadband services to potentially serve, IOT networks to be connected, agriculture and other primary industries to power, not to mention public services just as there are in the cities.

There is a market, just not a financially attractive one. Telecoms operators would have to spend eye-watering amount to cover vast and challenging terrains. It simply doesn’t add up.

Traditional approaches won’t work, so something new has to be considered.

But how much momentum could this give Starlink?

Ambitious businesses set ambitious targets

Starlink boss Elon Musk said in a recent interview he had no intention of putting the telecoms operators out of business, but that has not put all the questions to bed.

Mann continued, “Is rural enough for Starlink? It is a niche service, and Musk has big ambitions. Some analysts are talking about a takeover of a telecoms operators, which is a long shot, but a MVNO proposition could certainly be realistic.”

This is the precarious position telecoms operator find themselves in. Partnerships with satellite companies are attractive, but then it comes with risk.

In the UK, Vodafone and AST SpaceMobile are partnering to bring direct-to-device (D2D) space-based mobile broadband to standard 4G/5G smartphones. This looks attractive to the telecoms operator.

Then you have the middling risk. When Rocket Labs announced plans to acquire Iridium, the deal also included the company’s globally harmonized L-band spectrum and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network. This makes Rocket Labs a direct competitor in the rural regions.

Starlink is in a similar position to Rocket Labs, just a couple of factors greater. It has the same operational capabilities and spectrum to deliver consumer services at scale, but it also has cash. Whereas Rocket Labs could be a niche competitor few would worry about, Starlink could be a major disruption.

What is Musk thinking?

Everyone is focused on the disruption to the telecoms industry, but ultimately this might be a by-product of the bigger plan. What if all this routes back to Telsa?

The obvious answer is telecoms. Starlink wants to sell connectivity, operators sell connectivity, so the threat is easy to understand.

But that might also be too narrow.

Musk’s businesses rarely sit neatly inside one industry. SpaceX launches rockets. Starlink sells broadband. Tesla sells vehicles. xAI builds artificial intelligence. X provides the distribution layer. On paper, these are separate businesses. In practice, they increasingly point towards the same idea.

Controlled infrastructure, controlled data, controlled customer relationships.

That is where Tesla becomes interesting.

Where interest matters

A company trying to make autonomous vehicles work at scale does not just need batteries, sensors and software. It needs reliable connectivity in as many places as possible. Robotaxis, logistics, remote monitoring, over-the-air updates, live mapping and future machine-to-machine services all become more valuable if the connectivity layer is controlled rather than rented.

This does not mean Starlink is simply a Tesla project in disguise, that would be too neat, and probably too generous. But it does show why telecoms operators should be careful about judging Starlink by traditional telecoms logic.

They are asking whether Starlink can steal enough broadband or mobile customers to matter.

Musk may be asking a different question entirely. What becomes possible when connectivity, devices, data, AI and mobility sit inside the same orbit?

That is the uncomfortable bit for operators. They still see connectivity as the product. Starlink may increasingly see it as the operating layer.

Or perhaps there is no grand plan at all. This is still the man who bought Twitter for $44 billion. But telecoms operators cannot afford to treat that as reassurance. Sometimes the chaos is the strategy.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

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Security is always a moving target. But AI has made it move faster than many organizations can manage, presenting a gargantuan challenge for SOC teams. The near constant stream of announcements of new models or providers has resulted in a massively expanded attack surface.

While security teams work hard to review and approve as many tools as possible, the volume is still crushingly high. Today, only 22% of workers rely exclusively on the AI tools their employer provides, while more than a third (35%) of Gen Z employees say they prefer using personal AI applications over company-approved ones. For every sanctioned tool a business governs, most of its workforce is quietly working around it.

If almost 80% of employees use unapproved AI tools, then it isn’t an aberration - it’s the default. Shadow AI is normal across organizations, but the scale of the challenge is badly underestimated by the people responsible for managing it.

Why the crackdown backfires

Faced with unsanctioned use, the instinct is to clamp down. Blacklist as many tools as possible and pull usage back inside the lines. The problem is that, while this feels like control, in reality it just leaves security blind.

Blocking doesn’t stop an employee using a tool, it just drives the risk out of sight. If their tool of choice is blocked on their laptop, they’ll access it on their phone. Or with their personal email address instead of their work one.

This is true of many IT tools, but especially so with AI because people can become extremely attached to specific chatbot personalities. Consequently, AI use is driven deeper into the shadows, leaving zero visibility or record for security teams about potential data leakages or other risks.

This is the trap at the center of most shadow AI strategies. The harder an organization tries to eliminate the problem, the less it can see. And the less it can see, the more dangerous the problem becomes. Governance that looks airtight on paper can bear little resemblance to what’s actually happening across the business.

The consequences are not abstract. When confidential information flows into unmanaged third-party platforms, the fallout can add as much as $670,000 to the cost of a data breach, and most of the employees responsible have no idea they’ve created a risk at all.

Policy isn’t enforcement

The reason for these problems comes back to the speed at which AI development is moving. ChatGPT is barely five years old and the difference in performance over that time is immense. One result of this is that pretty much any AI security and best practice training employees have done has not been adequate.

The idea was not to overload employees with too much information. By keeping it ultra-straightforward and focusing on only one or two tools that were security-approved with examples looking at low-risk, early-adoption scenarios, companies could make compliance as easy possible.

For a normal technology, it would be a sensible strategy. However, the level of self-driven AI adoption we’ve seen has been far higher than companies expected. Shadow AI use is rampant and so security cannot afford to continue blindly enforcing rules that aren’t working.

Rather, to govern employee behavior, you need to be able to understand and analyze it. When it comes to AI that means gaining visibility into what tools and models employees are using, how, and where it’s actually delivering value.

An experience-based approach

That shift requires visibility into how AI is used across the workforce. A DEX (Digital Employee Experience) approach delivers exactly that, automatically detecting both approved and shadow AI through traffic patterns and endpoint activity, without relying on employees to self-report.

Usage and experience data sit in a single view, broken down by team and workflow, so leaders can see where people are working around the rules and act on it.

From there, the response stops being a blunt ban and becomes far more useful. In-app guidance can steer employees towards sanctioned tools in the flow of work, reinforcing the right behavior without killing the productivity they were chasing in the first place.

Policies can be built around real usage instead of guesswork. And because 96% of leaders now say digital adoption support is critical to AI readiness, that same visibility shows exactly where training will close a gap rather than tick a box.

It’s time to manage shadow AI

Shadow AI isn't going anywhere, and pretending otherwise is how organizations end up exposed. The companies that handle it well will be the ones that stop trying to ban it and start paying attention to it. Everyone else is just hoping their policy is being followed, with no real way of knowing whether it is.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

Plus: scandalous Senate drama, Grammys drama and Homeric drama.

• Post-quantum encryption is now live on Norton VPN's Mimic and WireGuard
• Rebuilt iOS and Android apps have slashed connect times by more than 50%
• Norton has added 12 new countries across Asia and Africa

Competition for the title of best VPN is fiercer than ever, and Norton is making a strong case for the crown. The cybersecurity veteran has just unveiled the final releases from its first-half 2026 roadmap, delivering a robust mix of future-proofed privacy tools, significantly faster mobile applications, and an expanded global footprint.

The standout feature of this latest rollout is the introduction of post-quantum encryption. This comes alongside improved Software Development Kits (SDKs) for its mobile apps and an expanded server network across Asia and Africa.

At first glance, these releases may appear to be separate features. But for the provider, they all address the same need — customers must count on Norton VPN, wherever they are.

As Himmat Bains, Product Lead at Norton VPN, told TechRadar, post-quantum encryption is crucial to protect users' data from future threats. Faster, more reliable mobile connections mean VPN protection is there exactly when they need it. And coverage in 12 new countries means that more people can connect locally.

"Different problems, same answer — we want this to be the VPN you can simply trust and forget about," said Bains.

Norton VPN – best for beginners
The cybersecurity company's latest upgrades mean it's now challenging some of the best VPNs on the market. It offers great speeds, strong unblocking and straightforward apps, but some of its features are still quite basic. Subscriptions start from the equivalent of $3.33 per month and are all protected by a 30-day money-back guarantee.View Deal

Post-quantum ecryption lands on Norton's Mimic and WireGuard

As quantum computing advances, cybersecurity experts have increasingly warned of "harvest now, decrypt later" attacks. This is a tactic where cybercriminals or state actors steal encrypted data today, hoarding it with the intention of cracking it when quantum computers become powerful enough to break traditional encryption standards.

To combat this long-term risk, Norton VPN has upgraded its proprietary Mimic protocol to utilize the ML-KEM-1024 encryption algorithm by default across all platforms.

The company is also rolling out the exact same post-quantum protection to the popular WireGuard protocol on both desktop and mobile devices, ensuring that user traffic remains fully secure against tomorrow's technological threats.

Turbocharging mobile performance

(Image credit: Norton)

While future-proofing encryption is crucial for long-term privacy, everyday users will immediately feel the benefits of Norton’s revamped mobile experience. The provider has entirely rebuilt its iOS and Android SDKs, the underlying code architecture that powers its mobile applications, from the ground up.

The performance gains are impressive. According to Norton's release notes, the new mobile architecture reduces connection times by more than 50% and connection errors by over 60%. For mobile users who constantly hop between home Wi-Fi, public hotspots, and cellular networks, this means a much smoother, almost instantaneous protective shield.

Just as importantly, this rebuilt framework will allow Norton to ship bug fixes and new features much faster going forward. The overhaul has already paid immediate dividends, leading directly to a rebuilt mobile widget that patches previous usability issues users had been facing.

"

A broader network and a busy 2026

Beyond the apps themselves, Norton is continuing to scale up its physical infrastructure. The provider has added 12 more countries to its network, specifically targeting underserved regions across Asia and Africa.

This expansion brings Norton's total reach to an impressive 102 countries and more than 140 global locations, seamlessly building on the momentum of previous network upgrades earlier this year.

This latest announcement caps off a remarkably busy start to the year for the Norton VPN team.

The provider brought a native Amazon Fire TV app (Fire OS 8 and newer) in March and introduced the industry's first AI-native VPN for Agents in April. It also successfully added Split Tunnelling on Mac in June, joining its Android and Windows counterparts.

Furthermore, WireGuard is now live across Mac, iOS, and tvOS, with a new Pause VPN feature on iOS closing the platform's last functional gap. The company also rolled out 25 Gbps servers across busy cities and added Manual IP Rotation.

"Our goal is simple: deliver a VPN for the masses," Bains told TechRadar, arguing that these releases weren't about shipping a longer list; "it was about closing the gaps customers actually feel."

Looking ahead, Bains confirmed that Norton's second-half roadmap pushes even further, noting that "we'll have third-party audits for the third year launching later in the summer, along with meaningful updates coming to our streaming and performance.

Sweet v. DeVos in 2019 to Sweet v. Cardona during the Biden administration, and now Sweet v. McMahon for Trump's current education secretary, Linda McMahon.'/>

The borrowers say they were defrauded by their colleges, but the class-action lawsuit to erase their federal student loans has been tangled up in courts for years.

(Image credit: Oliver Contreras)

Democratic socialists are on the ballot in high profile races coming up in Michigan and Wisconsin, putting mainstream Democrats in a tough position when it comes to the issue of Israel and Gaza.

(Image credit: Mark Schiefelbein)

Trump officials say they found 250,000 noncitizens on voter rolls in just four states. Those states don't know where the numbers came from, and some worry what the claims may portend for the midterms.

(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker)

Blanketing the airwaves with ads about healthcare, Republican candidates who voted to cut federal funding in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are positioning themselves as advocates for lower costs.

(Image credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

I've had a Spotify premium account long enough to be hit with multiple price hikes from my original, stable subscription plan.

Throughout those years, the streaming platform has defined how and what music I listened to, mostly for the better, though in some ways for the worse; it could be my stage of life, but I don't feel music like I used to.

So when I recently rediscovered my iPod nano in a drawer during a clear out, it was the shot in the arm that this tired music lover needed.

The model in question was the iPod nano (2006) in black, and I couldn't for the life of me remember when I had last used it.

I peeled my old portable media player free from its disintegrating soft case and drank in that slice of nostalgia, running my fingers over its aluminum casing and wheel.

I just had to know what music I had painstakingly added to the 8GB of flash memory, however long ago that was.

After persistent rummaging, I found the 30-pin to USB charging cable I needed and, after a moment, sure enough my nano sprang back into life...

(Image credit: Tim Coleman)The time capsule I needed

2015. That was the most recent period of the music and playlists on my iPod nano. Had it really been over a decade since I had last used a portable media player and moved exclusively to Spotify streaming?

My albums, and more specifically my playlists, spanned 2011 to 2015, with the majority being pre 2013 — the year my first child was born. Back then (pre kids), I was clearly into three genres; electronica, alternative and Christian gospel.

I span the click wheel with my thumb to scroll through the lists, neatly categorized into Playlists, Artists, Albums, Songs, Genres, Composers and Search options.

God, I had forgotten that tactile feeling of the click wheel and the outright simplicity of the distraction-free interface. And with my Bluetooth-faff-free wired headphones attached, I started exploring this little audio time capsule.

Spotify streaming has turned music into fast food. The iPod nano was like a sit down meal.

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Reader, I used to painstakingly curate Final Mix playlists of my favorite tunes each year, and 2012 was so prolific I had also split it into two parts. Three, year-long alternative and electronica playlists! Heck, I even made my own Desert Island Discs list (dated 2013) packed with my eclectic all-time faves, which spanned everything from the hymn Amazing Grace sung by Aretha Franklin to dance house classics like Rez by Underworld and my wedding first dance, Your Love Gets Sweeter by Finley Quaye.

I cued up my 2012 playlist, which opened with This Year by The Mountain Goats, a defiant narrative of endurance in tough times and a simple chorus that resounded "I’m gonna make it through this year, if it kills me".

Eyes closed, I was already finding myself getting emotional.

These were house party days, pub hang-outs and those conversations that went, ‘Hey have you heard this?’. Songs recommended by friends. Songs shared by friends.

I locked in on that playlist, clicking the wheel to crank up the volume to levels probably unsafe for my ears, with no on-screen warning micromanaging my experience.

Tim ColemanTim ColemanA timely reminder to simplify

Immersing myself in that old iPod nano reminded me why I love music. It took me back to the times when listening to an album might be the only thing I was doing in that moment.

Today, music is far more likely to be an accompaniment to the multiple activities I simultaneously have on the go, interrupted by the notification alerts and social apps on my phone.

For me, Spotify streaming had turned music into fast food. The iPod Nano was like a sit down meal.

And although my Nano’s battery is effectively dead — it needed constant power to operate — it has called me back to enjoy music in a deeper way once more. That fast food had grown dry, and I was appreciating deeper flavors again.

President Trump says he may pull Todd Blanche's nomination, Trump says a deal has been made to disarm Hamas and withdraw Israeli forces from Gaza, the U.S. economy is growing, but at a slower pace.

Firefighters in the Gironde region of France said the situation had "stabilized", after a week of wildfires caused by a major heatwave across Europe.

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For StoryCorps, Karán Founds-Benton talks to her friend about her cancer diagnosis and facing death.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day has finally swung into theaters worldwide — and I bet you've got questions about Tom Holland's latest Marvel movie.

Haven't seen it yet? Read my Spider-Man: Brand New Day review for a spoiler-light insight into the newly released film. Then, bookmark this page, go and see it, and come back to carry on reading this article, because I'm not kidding when I say full spoilers immediately follow for Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Of course, if you have watched it, by all means scroll on — it's worth the read, I promise!

Does Sadie Sink play Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day?

There have been myriad rumors about who Sadie Sink is playing in the MCU (Image credit: Sony Pictures/Marvel Entertainment)

Yes. One of the worst-kept secrets in Hollywood is finally confirmed about 70 minutes into Spider-Man 4: Sink is playing the Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) version of iconic X-Men member Jean Grey.

It's a reveal that's been a long time coming. Sink was first rumored to appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day last March, so we've had to wait 16 months to learn which Marvel character she was actually playing.

Of course, there's been all manner of speculation about the identity of her character, with everyone from Mayday Parker — aka Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson's daughter in the comics — and Typhoid Mary to Firestar and Shathra mentioned as potential candidates.

Now that we know Sink is playing Grey, she's a shoo-in to appear in Marvel's new X-Men movie (more on this later). Her next outing as Jean Grey is expected to be in Avengers: Secret Wars, though, so we'll see her again when that film arrives next December.

Who is the real villain in Spider-Man: Brand New Day?

You messed up, Metzger (Image credit: Sony Pictures/Marvel Entertainment)

That'll be William Metzger, aka the head of the Department of Damage Control (DoDC).

Metzger is played by Tramell Tillman, the Severance star signing on to appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day last August. It's unclear when or where he'll appear in the MCU next, but I have my suspicions about his next appearance, which I cover later in this article.

Anyway, Metzger is revealed to be the Marvel Phase 6 flick's actual villain in its third act. Initially positioning himself and the DoDC as an ally of Spider-Man's, we eventually learn that Metzger was the one who kidnapped, experimented on, and ultimately killed Jean's older sister Sarah. A fellow telepath, Sarah was taken to the DoDC's main testing facility on Staten Island, where she was used as a lab rat for the company's investigations into new tech powered by superhuman abilities.

Of course, as soon as Spidey learns the truth, our friendly neighborhood hero sets out to rescue Jean, whom he naively helped the DoDC to capture earlier in Brand New Day. Little does Peter Parker know, though, that it could've been his last mission...

Does Peter Parker die in Spider-Man: Brand New Day?

Don't worry, Spidey lives to fight another day (Image credit: Sony Pictures/Marvel Entertainment)

No, but he comes mightily close to losing his life.

After he infiltrates the DoDC's Staten Island headquarters, Spidey uses his upgraded powers to defeat members of The Hand controlled by an antagonistic Jean — remember, she still thinks Spider-Man is the enemy at this point.

Eventually, Peter tracks down Jean, who's holding Metzger hostage. Metzger tried to experiment on Jean as he did with Sarah, but the test not only goes awry, it unlocks Jean's full powerset. No longer limited by the 33-foot radius that her telepathic abilities had, Jean utilizes her powers to paralyze a large part of New York's human population, and threatens Peter that she'll hurt them all — including his former girlfriend M.J. and best friend Ned, who are caught in her paralyzing telepathic wave — if he tries to stop her from enacting revenge on Metzger.

I wonder if Frank will stop being so reckless from now on... (Image credit: Sony Pictures/Marvel Entertainment)

Being the good guy that he is, Peter manages to talk her down. He does so by allowing the souped-up Jean to enter his mind, where he shows her a very specific memory of Aunt May that helps Jean understand that, despite Sarah's death, she's not alone.

Happy ending, right? Not exactly. Like Spider-Man, Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, sprang into action when Jean used her upgraded powers on New York's residents. Unable to reach DoDC HQ, he heads to a nearby rooftop outside of the impacted zone. There, he uses his marksmanship skills to take a shot at Jean with a heavy-duty sniper rifle.

Sensing the incoming bullet, Spidey shields Jean from the sniper round and is critically injured by it. As he bleeds out, Jean employs her powers to keep him alive before Frank races him to a nearby hospital to undergo life-saving surgery.

Some time later, Peter wakes from his coma. After a heart-to-heart — and some light banter — with an apologetic and remorseful Frank, Peter checks himself out of the hospital.

A crowd of dedicated Spider-Man fans, who've congregated outside the hospital to hold a vigil for his swift recovery, awaits him. Fortunately, Frank stays behind, dons the Spider-Man mask, and waves to the assembled crowd from Spidey's hospital room, allowing a profoundly moved Peter to walk away without anyone knowing he's the real wallcrawler.

Does Jean Grey make M.J. and Ned remember Peter Parker in Spider-Man 4?

M.J. and Ned remember Peter Parker without Jean Grey's help (Image credit: Sony Pictures/Marvel Entertainment)

No — she doesn't need to, because the pair end up finding out that Peter is Spider-Man.

M.J. learns who he is when she discovers the note Peter had written back in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home. Meanwhile, Ned appears to remember Peter when the duo performs their secret handshake in Brand New Day's final scene. Ultimately, then, Jean's possible intervention wasn't necessary.

Which Marvel characters make a cameo in Spider-Man: Brand New Day?

Does Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock appear in Spider-Man 4? (Image credit: Marvel Television/Disney+)

We already knew the vast majority of Spider-Man: Brand Day's cast heading into the film, but the MCU's latest movie has a couple of surprises up its sleeve.

For one, Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova makes an unexpected yet scene-stealing cameo. Spider-Man meets her at a New York bathhouse to obtain information about the attack on the DoDC in the film's first act. Later on, she appears once more when the eponymous hero starts to suspect Metzger isn't all that he seems and seeks details on Jean's sister Sarah.

The other big cameo is Marisa Tomei's Aunt May. Peter's surrogate mom, who died in No Way Home, appears by way of the memory I mentioned earlier in this article.

"But what about Daredevil?", you might be asking. Given what happened in the final episode of Daredevil: Born Again season 2, some fans had expected Spidey to come across Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock and join forces to take on The Hand in Spider-Man 4's prison-set action sequence. Unfortunately, Cox doesn't show up in Brand New Day, so the wait for a Daredevil and Spider-Man MCU team-up goes on.

Is there an end-credits scene in Spider-Man: Brand New Day?

Brand New Day's post-credits scene shows Spidey has swung off into the cosmos (Image credit: Sony Pictures/Marvel Entertainment)

Yes. Right at the end of the film's final credits, the Spidey Tracker — an app built by Ned Leeds to, well, track Spider-Man's whereabouts — flashes up on the screen.

As an automated message that says "Location unknown" starts to play over and over, the app zooms out from planet Earth and eventually pinpoints that the webslinger is somehow in space.

What does this mean? I have a wild theory that Spider-Man: Brand New Day's post-credits scene might not mean what we think it does, but the most likely scenario is that Peter Parker has been transported somewhere due to events that'll go down in Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars. Speaking of which...

How does Spider-Man 4 set up Avengers: Doomsday and/or Avengers: Secret Wars?

Avengers: Doomsday will be released in theaters worldwide on December 18, 2026 (Image credit: Marvel Studios/Andy Park)

In short: I don't know. Spider-Man 4's end credits scene could be related to either of the aforementioned movies, so until Avengers: Doomsday is released this December, your guess is as good as mine.

That said, at this moment in time, Tom Holland isn't slated to appear in Doomsday, and that film is already packed with enough characters as it is. You can find out who'll appear and more by finding out everything we know so far about Avengers: Doomsday.

If Holland doesn't show up in Avengers 5, he'll be a dead cert to star in its sequel. Marvel and Sony won't miss the opportunity to put one of their most bankable characters in at least one of the next two Avengers movies, so the smart money is on him having a substantial role to play in Avengers 6. For more on that flick, find out what we know so far about Avengers: Secret Wars.

How does Spider-Man: Brand New Day set up Marvel's new X-Men movie?

A new generation of Marvel's popular mutant superteam will join the MCU in due course (Image credit: 20th Century Fox)

It doesn't. With Doomsday and Secret Wars set to be the next two MCU movies to hit theaters, that pair is far more likely to impact the MCU's first mutant-based film.

Nevertheless, Spider-Man 4's final minutes do show Jean Grey traveling on a bus to an unknown location. Maybe she's attempting to track down more of her fellow mutants? If she is and she's successful, it's possible that whoever she locates will not only have roles to play in Secret Wars, but also form a prototype version of the X-Men ahead of their actual founding/formation in their first dedicated MCU adventure.

While we wait for more news on one of the few confirmed post-Multiverse Saga projects, find out what we know so far about Marvel's new X-Men movie.

• Report finds adults are spending four hours a week on reputation management, compared with 2.5 hours on developing skills
• This seems to be a response to the belief that professional opportunities increasingly favour people who communicate confidence publicly
• Workers think they need to not just be capable, but also demonstrate their abilities

Research from MyIQ has uncovered a new trend: establishing professional credibility requires regular reputation management on social media, and is becoming more important than actually developing new skills.

From LinkedIn profile updates to posts promoting new roles, responsibilities, qualifications and sharing thoughts on the relevant industry events, workers are finding that they need to not just be capable, but also demonstrate their abilities with regular social media posts.

A survey of 11,742 adults, almost 6 in 10 admitted that their “professional visibility” took up more of time every week than learning new skills. They’re using around 4 hours per week to polish profiles, update live resumes, and develop thought leadership posts, compared with just 2.5 hours working on new skills.

Skills vs. shares

While there may be some interpretation of these figures as a trend towards people attempting to become thought leaders and public figures, this trend isn’t limited to those with an eye on guesting on a podcast or called in as an expert on a televised discussion. It isn’t all about TED Talks – this trend is being followed by people who just don’t want to be left behind.

Over half (57%) of those surveyed feel pressure to post content, share ideas, and maintain a public profile, even if they have little interest in doing so. Worryingly, 49% feel they would be seem less accomplished than colleagues by limiting their activity on sites like LinkedIn.

Yet skills remain more important, both in hiring and as a personal achievement. Reputation management is not something that can ever be completed, observes MyIQ, whereas learning new skills feels like a step forward been achieved.

Visibility is changing

“Visibility was once a by-product of good work. Increasingly, it is treated as proof that good work is happening at all," noted Sarah Meyer, the Managing Director of MyIQ.

"The risk is that people begin spending more time signalling progress than making it. At that point, professional reputation stops being the result of a career and becomes a separate workload within it.”

In short, visibility is changing – it is not longer a consequence of professional success, but has become perceived as a key requirement, something that need to be permanently managed. This is reflected in the response to this visibility, where achievements are celebrated on LinkedIn, and long-form posts are shared, commented on, and portray that person as an expert.

With the 64% believing that confident communication favors promotion over developing in-work skills and expertise, this trend of LinkedIn-focused reputation management seems likely to continue.

• Microsoft has won an extended stay at the Competition Appeal Tribunal while it seeks permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court, having lost at both the Tribunal and the Court of Appeal
• Its argument that Office's icons and clip art placed it outside software exhaustion rules was rejected as producing "odd results", including CD software being resellable while identical downloads were not
• The jurisdiction ruling matters more than the £270 million claim, as it clears the way for a parallel collective action that could expose Microsoft to billions

Microsoft has bought itself time in its long-running fight with a British software reseller, securing an extended stay of proceedings at the Competition Appeal Tribunal while it prepares to seek permission from the UK Supreme Court to appeal.

While Microsoft has yet to appeal formally, its indication that it intends to do so buys it some breathing room against a judgment that could mean that parallel proceedings, including a £3.5 billion class action lawsuit that could compromise as many as 2.7 million members, could become a centerpiece of the software giant's future legal troubles in the UK.

The UK CAT (Competition Appeal Tribunal) has paused parts of the case as a result, and Chair Justin Turner KC noted that it was not yet known whether permission would be granted, and framed his decision as balancing the potential waste of costs if permission were granted and an appeal succeeded against the undesirability of delay in the proceedings.

A legal quagmire exacerbated by shifting legal defense from Microsoft?

Microsoft has been fighting this claim for years, dating back to 2021, when JJH Enterprises, a Derby-based reseller trading as ValueLicensing, sued Microsoft for £270 million.

The allegation is that Microsoft wrote terms into its agreements that offered customers better subscription pricing in exchange for surrendering the right to resell their perpetual licenses, thereby choking off the secondary market and pushing buyers toward Microsoft 365 even as the software giant denies wrongdoing.

ValueLicensing's case rests on the Court of Justice's 2012 decision in UsedSoft v Oracle, which held that a software vendor's distribution right is exhausted once it sells a perpetual license, including one delivered by download, so it cannot use copyright to block the onward sale of that copy.

Having contested the case as a competition matter for years, Microsoft changed its argument in 2025, recasting it as a copyright dispute. Office, it said, is not merely a computer program. It ships with icons, user interface elements, help files, and clip art, and those creative components should be governed by a different copyright regime in which exhaustion does not bite.

That argument has now failed twice. The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) unanimously decided the preliminary copyright issues in ValueLicensing's favor in November 2025, and on July 7, 2026, the Court of Appeal dismissed both of Microsoft's appeals, one challenging the CAT's jurisdiction to rule on copyright questions at all, the other contesting the copyright findings themselves.

Microsoft's reading, the court observed, would produce "odd results": software supplied on a CD-ROM could be freely resold while the identical software delivered as a download could not, and a vendor could defeat established exhaustion principles simply by bundling some icons with its code.

At the same time, the CAT did not grant resellers unlimited freedom. Under UsedSoft, a buyer holding a single copy installed on a server and licensed for several users cannot carve off part of that user capacity for resale, because exhaustion attaches to the copy rather than the seat.

The Tribunal distinguished that from a genuine volume arrangement comprising multiple independent copies or licenses, in which reselling a corresponding number may be permissible once the seller has stopped using the copies it has passed on. That distinction sets real limits on how the secondary market can operate.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft has spent most of the period covered by the claim moving its customer base from perpetual licenses to Microsoft 365. If ValueLicensing wins outright, it wins the right to trade in a category that its opponent has been deliberately retiring for a decade. Should the Supreme Court decline to take the case, proceedings return to the Tribunal, with a trial mooted for 2027.

The jurisdiction ruling matters well beyond this claim. By confirming that the CAT can decide copyright questions where they are necessary to resolve a competition case, the Court of Appeal cleared a path for others, and The Register reported in April 2026 that Microsoft had viewed that appeal as a complete answer to Alexander Wolfson's collective action, on the basis that copyright issues could not be transferred to the High Court in a class action.

Wolfson was granted permission to intervene in support of ValueLicensing, and his claim, which could expose Microsoft to liability in the billions, now stands to benefit from the ruling.

What could this mean?

Britain's regulators have taken an interest in the same broad shift, too. On July 29 2026, the Competition and Markets Authority opened a consumer protection investigation into how Microsoft marketed its Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans.

From January 2025, existing subscribers were given Copilot and other new features at no extra cost for the remainder of their term, then automatically moved onto a higher-priced plan at renewal unless they chose an alternative or canceled.

A time-limited "Classic" plan preserved the old feature set at the old price, and for annual subscribers the Copilot version cost £25 more per year.

"When a business changes its subscription plans, customers need clear and timely information about their options," said Hayley Fletcher, senior director for consumer protection at the CMA. "Our investigation will consider whether Microsoft customers were misled and ended up paying more as a result."

Microsoft said consumer trust is a priority and that it is reviewing the claims while cooperating with the inquiry. The CMA has reached no conclusions and has not accused the company of breaking the law.

That probe concerns consumer subscriptions rather than the commercial agreements at issue in the ValueLicensing case, so the two are separate matters under different regimes. What links them is the same underlying transition from one-off purchases to recurring ones.

Microsoft already faces a CMA strategic market status investigation into its business software, and Australia's competition regulator is suing the company in the Federal Court over the same Copilot and Classic plan issue, affecting an estimated 2.7 million customers. Whichever way the Supreme Court application goes, the legal scrutiny of how Microsoft moved the world onto subscriptions is not ending soon.

The scrutiny also lands in a fraught transatlantic moment. On July 24, days after the European Commission fined Google $1 billion under the Digital Markets Act, Trump announced a Section 301 investigation into EU trade practices, declaring that the United States is not a "PIGGYBANK" for Europe and promising a substantial tariff.

Brussels has consistently maintained that regulating economic activity within the bloc is its sovereign right, and that its digital rules apply to all firms operating there. Britain sits awkwardly beside that fight. Its courts are no longer bound by EU case law, and its regulators answer to nobody in Brussels, but the president's stated targets have been digital taxes and digital markets rules in general rather than the EU alone, and the UK has both.

Spain will deploy its military to restore order at its border with Morocco in Ceuta after thousands of migrants streamed into the tiny Spanish territory, with at least nine dying in the attempt.

(Image credit: Antonio Sempere)

Searchers continued to work in the Kumamoto area, including at the site of the collapsed mall, where some of the most serious damage was recorded.

(Image credit: Kyodo News)

President Trump says a deal has been reached for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza. But many hurdles, conditions and long timelines remain to wind down the war in the Palestinian territory.

(Image credit: Jehad Alshrafi)

Anyone who has dealt with spotty Wi-Fi knows that a fast NBN plan doesn’t mean your Wi-Fi will work equally well in every room.

The connection might work well in the living room near the router but be frustratingly slow upstairs or at the other end of your house, especially in homes with thick walls or concrete floors.

That’s where a mesh Wi-Fi system can help, as it improves coverage by using several connected units around your home instead of relying on a single router.

This guide explains how mesh Wi-Fi works, how it connects to NBN services and whether your home needs it.

If you want to read more about the best mesh systems we have tested, take a look at our guide to the best mesh Wi-Fi systems in Australia.

What is mesh Wi-Fi and how does it work?

A mesh system consists of a main router and one or more extra units, usually called nodes or satellites.

Mesh nodes usually communicate with each other over Wi-Fi, which can make the system easier to set up. The mesh system can’t increase the speed of your NBN plan, but it can help more of that speed reach your devices.

The advantage of a mesh system is that each node uses the same network name and password. This means your devices can automatically connect to a nearby node as you move between rooms, helping them maintain a more reliable connection around your home.

Since mesh systems connect to each other wirelessly, there’s no need to run extra Ethernet cabling through your house. If you already have Ethernet ports, though, you can connect the nodes to them for more consistent performance.

(Image credit: Google)What can mesh Wi-Fi fix?

Mesh systems are most useful when internet speeds over Wi-Fi are good near the router but drop in other parts of your home. If your home still has slow or weak areas, you can add another node to extend the coverage.

This can extend coverage across multiple storeys, into a garage and through obstacles that can weaken Wi-Fi, such as double-brick walls and concrete floors.

It won’t fix every internet problem, though. A mesh system can’t increase the speed of your NBN plan, repair a faulty connection or fix congestion on your provider’s network. It may also struggle if the nodes are too far apart or positioned where their signal is blocked.

There’s a simple test to see if a mesh system can help your connection. Head to speedtest.net and run one test beside your router, then repeat it in the problem area using the same device.

If there’s a large difference in the results, your Wi-Fi coverage may be the issue. Poor results in both locations are more likely to point to a problem with your internet service, router or connected device.

Does mesh Wi-Fi work with the NBN?

(Image credit: Generated with Adobe Firefly AI / NBN Co)

Mesh Wi-Fi works with the main NBN connection types, but setup depends on the equipment installed in your home.

With Fibre to the Premises (FTTP), Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC), Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) and Fixed Wireless, the main mesh unit usually connects to the NBN connection box using an Ethernet cable.

It can often replace the Wi-Fi router supplied by your provider. You may need to enter provider-specific settings first, but this is usually handled through an easy-to-use setup app or wizard.

Fibre to the Node (FTTN) and Fibre to the Building (FTTB) connections are different because they require a compatible VDSL2 modem to handle the connection over the existing copper line. A mesh router can’t normally replace that modem, but it can connect to the modem or modem-router and then handle Wi-Fi across your home.

If you’re unsure, your provider can confirm the best setup for your connection. Some providers offer mesh Wi-Fi systems when you sign up, and our guide to the best NBN providers in Australia can help you compare your options.

Do you actually need mesh Wi-Fi?

A mesh system makes the most sense when one router can’t cover all parts of your home reliably. That often includes multi-storey homes, double-brick houses, converted garages or even a backyard granny flat.

You probably don’t need a mesh setup if you live in a compact unit or apartment and already get reliable Wi-Fi in every room. Repositioning your router, upgrading an older model or connecting key devices by Ethernet may solve the problem much more cheaply.

A basic Wi-Fi extender can be cheaper when you only need to improve one small weak area. A mesh system costs more, but it is usually easier to manage when you have several problem areas.

How many mesh nodes do you need?

(Image credit: TP-Link)

The right number of nodes depends more on layout and building materials than floor area alone. A two-node system is a sensible starting point for a smaller townhouse or single-storey home, while a larger or multi-storey property may need three or more.

More nodes aren’t automatically better. Too many can leave several units covering the same area.

Too few can also cause problems because each node needs a reliable connection to the main router or another unit. A node placed deep inside a dead zone may have too little signal to connect properly.

Placing your main router or mesh node in an open position is usually best, but the exact spot tends to depend on where your internet connection enters your home. The goal is to place the next node a bit over halfway towards the problem area.

A higher, open position is often better. Keep nodes off the floor and away from closed-off areas or cluttered shelves, and avoid placing them directly beside large appliances or behind thick internal walls.

For a home office, converted garage or granny flat, Ethernet backhaul may be more reliable where cabling is available. Start with fewer nodes and add another if coverage remains patchy.

Is Wi-Fi 7 worth it over Wi-Fi 6?

Wi-Fi 6 is enough for many Australian homes, particularly when the main goal is improving coverage rather than reaching the highest possible speeds.

Wi-Fi 6E adds the less congested 6GHz band for compatible devices, though its shorter range makes node placement particularly important. Wi-Fi 7 is more useful for newer devices, very fast NBN plans or demanding local-network use.

The newest standard isn’t always the best value. Check how many units are included, whether you can expand the system later, the speed of its Ethernet ports, wired backhaul support and whether parental controls or security features require a subscription.

(Image credit: The Register)Mesh Wi-Fi FAQsDoes mesh Wi-Fi make your internet faster?

Mesh can improve the speeds devices receive in weak coverage areas, but it can’t make your NBN plan faster. For faster plan options, see our guide to the best NBN plans.

Is mesh Wi-Fi better than an extender?

Mesh is usually easier to manage across several rooms and keeps one network around your home. An extender can still be the cheaper option for one small weak spot.

Does mesh Wi-Fi replace your NBN modem?

Sometimes. FTTP, HFC and FTTC users may be able to connect a mesh router to the NBN connection box, though provider settings or a bundled phone service can affect the setup. FTTN and FTTB services still need a compatible modem. If you’re unsure, ask your provider.

Is a Wi-Fi 7 mesh system worth it?

Wi-Fi 7 makes more sense for newer devices, very fast NBN plans and demanding local-network use. Wi-Fi 6 is still perfectly fine for many households and usually costs less.

Is mesh Wi-Fi worth it?

Mesh Wi-Fi is worth considering when one router leaves several parts of your home with weak or unreliable coverage. It won’t improve the NBN connection itself, but it can distribute that connection more consistently around your home, particularly if it is large or multi-storey. If you only have one small weak spot, repositioning your router or using an extender may be cheaper.

Useful guides and extra info

• Best mesh Wi-Fi systems in Australia
• Best NBN plans in Australia
• Best NBN provider in Australia
• Fastest NBN plans in Australia
• Best NBN 1000 plans
• Best NBN 2000 plans

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for July 31.