Feed aggregator

It remains unclear when the encrypted messaging feature will be added to iPhones.

NymVPN, the claimed "most secure VPN in the world" was launched at London's Frontline Club on March 13th..

Alongside famous activist and whistleblower Chelsea Manning, the NymVPN team presented the official version of NymVPN to the public for the first time.

The Switzerland-based provider enters a crowded market of the best VPNs with a clear goal: to revolutionize what it believes to be a flawed industry, with Nym CEO Harry Halpin claiming "Digital privacy is broken."

End-to-end encryption "isn't enough"

NymVPN aims to solve an often overlooked area of digital privacy – metadata protection.

Existing virtual private networks (VPNs) and other privacy tools mostly use end-to-end encryption to keep you private online. This technique essentially scrambles the content of your communication to prevent third-party access.

(Image credit: Future)

However, Halpin explained, even encrypted messages leave traces, such as who you are talking to and when. With advanced tech like AI, metadata monitoring is becoming increasingly easy to do.

"And that's quite dangerous," said Halpin. "As the [Edward] Snowden's leaks revealed, if you have enough metadata, you won't really need the content."

A novel approach: the mixnet

The need for metadata privacy has been clear to some in the industry – certainly to those who formed the Nym team behind the first iteration of the mixnet – for some time.

Indeed, cryptography professor and now Nym Chief Scientist Office Claudia Diaz did a PhD on mix networks, a theory proposed by the cryptographer David Chaum in the 80s, between 2000 and 2005.

In 2016, Chelsea Manning began work on a way to make Tor Browser and similar privacy-preserving tools more secure, while in prison for leaking US government classified documents to WikiLeaks. She said: "We recognized that the amount of computation that was going to become accessible in the next decade was going to make it much easier for traffic analysis to be able to decipher anonymity across network."

In December 2017, Manning would meet with Halpin as he was also beginning to consider such a system to better protect metadata. Fast forward to 2025, NymVPN is the first VPN iteration with a noise-generating mixnet system that claims to protect these little – yet important – digital traces we all leave behind.

(Image credit: Future)

As Ania Piotrowska, Head of Research at Nym, explained in more detail during the product launch, the NymVPN mixnet includes three fundamental components:

• A multi-server routing system. This ensures your connection is rerouted via five independent hops, so no single entity should be able to link your IP address with your activity.
• Cover traffic. The network randomly generates traffic to make metadata tracking more difficult. It basically seeks to hide your communication patterns within a noisy crowd of fake internet traffic.
• Data packet mixing. On the way, the data packets get shuffled to make sure to cover the timestamp while confusing the order the data packets move between you and the receiver.

Not forgetting the old good VPN features

While NymVPN seeks to set itself apart from the competitors with its noise-generating mixnet technology, a decentralized server network, and a token-based anonymous payment system, the provider hasn't forgotten the features that VPN users expect in a secure VPN app.

Fully open-source, NymVPN apps are available for all major platforms (Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, and Linux). They include a kill switch and leak prevention features to ensure that if the VPN connection drops, your data remains protected. At the time of writing, you can choose between 500+ server operators across 50+ countries.

NymVPN offers two modes to provide flexibility between protection and performance. The Fast mode, powered by a Wireguard-based protocol, is better suited for causal browsing, streaming and sharing. While the Anonymous (mixnet) is for when privacy is imperative. (Image credit: Nym Technologies)

All apps are built on Rust, a relatively new coding language believed to be better for security and performance – ExpressVPN has recently rewritten its in-house Lightway protocol in Rust.

NymVPN COO Alexis Roussel confirmed the team is also working on a split tunneling option. This will not only allow you to customize which apps and websites reroute through the VPN tunnel, but also decide which ones to protect with its Wireguard-based AmneziaWG two-hop mode (so-called Fast mode) and those via the most private (but slower) Mixnet mode.

The new default for data privacy?

NymVPN may be moving its first steps into a crowded VPN market, but it promises to make waves to fix what the team believes to be a flawed digital privacy industry.

The ultimate goal, however, is even more ambitious – NymVPN wants to become the new default for data privacy.

"Nym is starting with a single VPN app which allows people anywhere around the world to access and benefit from the privacy properties of our network," explained Ania Piotrowska, Head of Research at Nym. "But the network opens the door to more integrations that can provide privacy solutions by default across various industries, from healthcare to legal services and telecommunications. We believe that privacy is a basic right and we want to provide a solution that's going to be accessible by everyone in any type of online situations."

• Sony UBP-X700K is a stripped back version of the UBP-X700
• No Wi-Fi and no streaming features
• Japanese pricing suggests a price hike

We think that the Sony UBP-X700 is the best cheap 4K Blu-Ray player. And now there's a new version – the first new Sony Blu-Ray player since 2019 – with some changes that make total sense to me, and potentially some that don't.

Based on its product listings (via FlatpanelsHD.com), the new UBP-X700K drops some of the features from the current model – but the price, in Japan at least, is 25% higher than the street price of the current one.

More money, fewer features? That seems strange, so we've put in a request to Sony asking for pricing and availability details. We'll let you know if we get confirmation.

(Image credit: Sony) Sony UBP-X700K: what's different to the UBP-X700

According to the Japanese publication Monohika, the new player is effectively a scaled-down eversion of the UBP-X700 and there are a few key differences.

The big difference is that there are no wireless networking features, and that in turn means no video streaming apps, no Spotify Connect and no screen mirroring. The Video & TV SideView app is also gone, Monohika reports.

Removing streaming features to make a more streamlined budget Blu-ray player sounds like a smart move to me in the age of smart TVs – it's just not something that too many buyers today will want from their disc player. But you'd expect it to come with a lower price made to attract people to the world of physical media, and 4K Blu-ray's benefits over streaming.

The player is a typically black Sony block, and round the back there's an Ethernet port, two HDMI ports (one audio-only) and a coaxial digital out. There's support for HDR10 and Dolby Vision (no HDR10+, as with the regular model), Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio, and it works with UHD Blu-Ray, standard Blu-Ray and DVDs.

The new Blu-Ray player will be available from April or May 2025, hopefully for an attractive price. The current model can be found for under $199 / £199 / AU$369.

You might also like

• The best 4K Blu-Ray players you can buy right now
• What's the outlook for Blu-Ray in 2025?
• Premium Blu-Ray or budget? Here's how to decide

• IPv4.Global announces scheme to use IPv4 addresses as collateral
• It’s the “first-of-its-kind” loan system, and promises big returns
• The global transition to IPv6 is still slow for many

Marketplace IPv4.Global has revealed a “first-of-its-kind” loan system where businesses can lend using IPv4 addresses as collateral.

The company explains the system is built on previous work developed by Cogent, which offers notes backed by leased IPv4 address revenues which are collateralized by the addresses themselves.

Unlike Cogent’s model, though, IPv4.Global customers can use their addresses directly as collateral while still retaining full use of them.

IPv4 addresses are valid collateral

This means that businesses can secure funding while still having access to and use of their addresses.

“We just successfully implemented our lending program for a data center operator so they can grow their cloud business, making us the first and only company lending against IPv4 addresses today,” said Lee Howard, IPv4.Global SVP.

“IPv4.Global works with customers to buy, sell, lease, and now borrow against IPv4 blocks, regardless of size, and has completed more transfers globally than any other provider," the company added in an announcement.

The official release doesn't go in to much detail, so we don’t know if there are minimum or maximum IPv4 address requirements to qualify for a loan.

More broadly, IPv4.Global describes itself as a broker that transfers IP addresses from companies that no longer need them to ones that do, “monetizing hidden assets the company may not even be aware exist.” It’s brokered the sale of more than 55 million IP addresses​ and completed more than 3,000 transactions.

Despite IPv6 adoption, IPv4 remains high in demand because the costs associated with transitioning and infrastructure changes can be high.

Still, AWS started charging businesses for using IPv4 addresses in 2024 without adding a charge for IPv6 addresses in the hope that more customers would update.

You might also like

• Check out the best domain registrars around today
• We’ve rounded up a list of the best cloud hosting providers
• The body behind the world's internet domains want to create something entirely new — and not for what you'd think

Outdoor enthusiast Sam Jones left Australia after posting a video of herself separating a baby wombat from its mom on a dark road. Australians are cheering her departure and worrying about the animal.

(Image credit: Julian Stratenschulte)

• Live translation is reportedly planned for iOS 19 later this year
• Real-time translation between two speakers
• No details of which AirPods will be supported

It looks like Apple is following in the footsteps of footsteps of Samsung and Google in their attempts to bridge language barriers: a new report says that live translation is coming to AirPods in iOS 19, which will launch this Fall.

Apple's a bit late to this one – Google put live translation in the Pixel Buds back in 2017 and rolled it out to more Google Assistant-enabled phones the following year – but perhaps it's been more focused on adding hearing health features to its premium earbuds and attempting to stick cameras in theres.

But at last, Apple appears to be making The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy's Babel Fish a reality for AirPods buyers.

Real-time translation in AirPods: what to expect

The news comes via the well-connected Mark Gurman at Bloomberg (paywall), who says that it'll deliver a "Star Trek-like experience to AirPods users".

According to the report, the feature will make use of your AirPods as well as your iPhone. Your phone will translate the other person's speech and play that translation in your AirPods; it'll then take your speech, translate it and play that to the other person via your iPhone's speaker.

The feature will be tied to iOS 19, which should be widely compatible with iPhones going back several years – though if the feature is billed as being part of Apple Intelligence, it may be limited to only newer devices.

And if it's made available to every model of AirPods, I'll be amazed: I suspect it'll be reserved for Apple's more premium earbuds with active noise cancellation, to make sure you can be focused on people's voices.

But perhaps I'll be wrong and it'll be a nice upgrade for all the best AirPods – after all, the iPhone seems to be doing the heavy lifting.

With AirPods Pro 3 expected later this year, it's possible Apple will decide to make the feature exclusive to its newest buds, though I think that's unlikely.

You might also like

• The best earbuds you can buy today
• Which AirPods are the best buds for you?
• How to buy the best earbuds and AirPods

Jason Sudeikis and his team have been renewed for a fourth season, so catch up on Ted's all-American wit and wisdom.

Five years after the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, there has been progress — and backsliding in the way the world responds to infectious disease.

(Image credit: Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

Premium compact cameras are trending and increasingly harder to secure, so stock of Leica's D-Lux 8, supposedly delivered within a week, is a welcome surprise.

Meanwhile, there are still lengthy lead times for Fujifilm X100VI orders a year since its release, and finding a Canon PowerShot G7X Mark III is no tall order after it blew up on TikTok (as did its price).

And so here I am, as surprised as anyone to say that the Leica D-Lux 8 is available to buy now and that its $1,595 / £1,450 / AU$2,790 list price feels somewhat reasonable against rivals, and it's actually a bit less than the Fujifilm X100VI in the US and UK. Pick my jaw off the floor.

Leica's cheapest camera (besides the Sofort 2 instant camera) packs a 17MP Micro Four Thirds sensor, 24-75mm f/1.7-2.8 lens and premium design touches inspired by the Leica Q3. It's an all-round tidy and versatile compact.

However, it's only a minor update of the D-Lux 7 which precedes this decade, with somewhat dated tech when compared to the latest premium compacts like the X100VI, so should you still buy one?

The D-Lux 8 is a dinky and well-rounded red-dot compact, with snappy zoom lens and premium build quality. (Image credit: Future) Pull the trigger?

Our Leica D-Lux 8 review awarded the MFT compact 3.5 stars, so it's clearly not the best of its kind. It's dated hardware was a big factor in that score, while a tilt or vari-angle touchscreen would have been appreciated rather than the fixed one.

That said, there's not been a lot of movement in this space, meaning compact cameras with hardware several years old still hold up well today.

So does the D-Lux 8 compete with other popular models? I reckon it outguns the PowerShot G7X Mark III in almost every way, but likewise is outdone by the Fujifilm X100VI.

The D-Lux 8 and X100VI are different premium compacts for sure – the Leica has a zoom lens and is much smaller, while the Fujifilm model packs a prime lens and larger 40MP APS-C sensor for sharper images, together with a lovely hybrid viewfinder and tilt screen.

If I was to pick one of the Leica and Fujifilm cameras it would have to be the X100VI. However, for many people the choice isn't even there because of limited availability.

For now, compact camera popularity shows no signs of dropping off. I've included retailer links to TechRadar's favorite models below. If you're unsure, bear in mind that Leica cameras tend to hold their value well, so it could be worth pulling the trigger to secure a D-Lux 8 while it's available.

You might also like

• Forget the Fujifilm X100VI - Here are 7 great alternatives that are actually available
• The best compact camera for 2025: top pocket choices to take anywhere
• Leica D-Lux 8 review: Leica, for less

Symphony orchestra audiences aren't known for their rowdiness, but the Vice President and Second Lady Usha Vance were loudly booed by the crowd as they entered the Concert Hall Thursday night.

(Image credit: Julian Thomas)

The Federal Trade Commission is in a "dire resource situation," a federal lawyer said on a call about its major lawsuit against Amazon. Within hours, he retracted the claim.

(Image credit: Jose Luis Magana)

The former Philippine president, accused of crimes against humanity over his deadly "war on drugs," spoke via video link in his initial appearance at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

(Image credit: PETER DEJONG/POOL)

• Juniper Networks has patched a vulnerability in its routers
• The flaw was being abused by Chinese threat actors
• Multiple devices were vulnerable

Juniper Networks has released a patch for a vulnerability that was being exploited in the wild to attack some of its router brands.

According to the company’s security advisory, the bug is an improper isolation, or compartmentalization weakness, and it’s tracked as CVE-2025-21590. It was given a severity score of 6.7 (medium).

The bug is used by Chinese hackers, who had been exploiting it since 2024 to backdoor vulnerable Juniper routers that reached end-of-life, a recent Madiant security report revealed.

Chinese hackers

"In mid 2024, Mandiant discovered threat actors deployed custom backdoors operating on Juniper Networks' Junos OS routers," the cybersecurity company explained. "Mandiant attributed these backdoors to the China-nexus espionage group, UNC3886. Mandiant uncovered several TINYSHELL based backdoors operating on Juniper Networks' Junos OS routers."

UNC3886 was observed in the past targeting defense, technology, and telecommunications organizations with sophisticated malware, deployed through zero-day vulnerabilities.

It affects at least these models: NFX-Series, Virtual SRX, SRX-Series Branch, SRX-Series HE, EX-Series, QFX-Series, ACX, and MX-Series, however, Juniper Networks said that it is still investigating the vulnerability and that the full list could be different.

The bug can be exploited to allow local attackers with high privileges to run arbitrary code on the routers, and thus compromise them.

"At least one instance of malicious exploitation (not at Amazon) has been reported to the Juniper SIRT,” Juniper said in its advisory. “Customers are encouraged to upgrade to a fixed release as soon as it's available and in the meantime take steps to mitigate this vulnerability."

The issue was resolved in 21.4R3-S10, 22.2R3-S6, 22.4R3-S6, 23.2R2-S3, 24.2R1-S2, 24.2R2, 24.4R1, and all subsequent releases.

At the same time, CISA added the bug to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (KEV), confirming reports of in-the-wild abuse, and giving Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies three weeks to apply the patch, or stop using vulnerable solutions.

Via BleepingComputer

You might also like

• Chinese hackers targeting Juniper Networks routers, so patch now
• We've rounded up the best password managers
• Take a look at our guide to the best authenticator app

The smaller Air is the perfect student laptop, but once you are out of school you should graduate to the larger but still highly portable 15-inch model.

• Koei Tecmo's Rise of the Ronin runs poorly on the RTX 4090 with stuttering in multiple segments
• Frame rates in-game can be high, but gameplay suggests otherwise with slow-motion NPCs
• It adds to the list of poorly optimized games on PC this generation

Koei Tecmo's Rise of the Ronin recently launched on PC after being exclusive to Sony's PS5 for almost a year - and yet again, it's another story of a poorly optimized PC port reportedly struggling even on high-end configurations.

According to TweakTown, Rise of the Ronin struggles to run on an RTX 4090 at 4K with constant stutters and slow-motion bugs while using DLSS. The in-game frame rate counter supposedly indicates a range of between 40 to 60fps (frames per second), but the gameplay suggests otherwise - and Steam reviews corroborate these complaints as many users are refusing to recommend buying the title until the issues are addressed.

It's worth noting that a patch has already been released that is supposed to offer a fix for stuttering in certain 'stages and circumstances' in the game - but again, feedback from players indicates this has done little to resolve the major performance concerns.

Considering the consensus regarding the game's graphical fidelity - it’s been accused of being quite poor for AAA standards - it's a bigger surprise to see that the game fails to run at acceptable levels. Usually, games that have advanced graphics like Cyberpunk 2077 are expected to be demanding (while still being well optimized) even for high-end hardware, but Rise of the Ronin's graphics don't even come close to that level, and yet it fails to perform well.

(Image credit: Shutterstock) Don't bother looking for a GPU upgrade, not until game developers optimize games better

There's nothing that infuriates me more about PC gaming than poor game optimization, and it's a shame this continues to be a trend in 2025. Gamers paying for a GPU like Nvidia’s RTX 4090 and still facing major frame rate drops in games (even with upscaling), is downright unacceptable.

It's even worse when you realize that games cost a ridiculous $70 / £70 / AU$100 while failing to run without game-breaking bugs and frequent stutters, leaving gamers having to wait for future patches. Game developers also seem to be increasingly relying on upscaling technologies like DLSS to resolve cases of poor optimization, which is concerning.

I can see why PC gamers are getting exasperated by poor PC game versions, especially if they've paid a lot of money for a high-end GPU, and it looks like one of the best ways to show your frustration is by voting with your wallet and not buy any game that has excessive issues on PC - and making sure you get a refund if you are unhappy with your purchase (most game stores like Steam have a way to request your money back).

It's about time this trend of poor PC ports comes to an end, so we can all finally enjoy PC gaming without any restraints on performance.

• Why are we getting so many PlayStation PC ports? Former president says it's 'like printing money'
• GTA 6's console-only launch reminds me of how much I despise console exclusivity - is it worth waiting years for PC ports?
• GTA 6 could reach PCs in early 2026 according to Corsair – but I'm already sick of waiting

For $10,000, you get a small, warm room with a sound system and party lights!

Since Visual Concepts’ WWE 2K wrestling game series hit current-gen platforms after a year off – skipping a 2K21 – it’s been a genuinely great series instead of a middle-of-the-road yearly sports release. From WWE 2K22 onwards, the games have been steadily improving with smart changes and new features, and WWE 2K25 is once again a great wrestling game that improves on what came before.

Review info

Platform reviewed: PS5 / PS5 Pro
Available on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC
Release date: March 14, 2025

The core wrestling feels like a great mixture of arcade and simulation styles, with counters, combos, and freeform carry moves giving each wrestler a deep moveset. This year’s entry brings back the Chain Wrestling mechanic that was last seen in WWE 2K20; this allows matches to kick off in a far more realistic way. Wrestlers will lock up in a grab and use a minigame to maneuver around their opponent to get the edge at the start of the match; it’s only available at the beginning of a bout and gives the early match a momentum more akin to what you see on TV, as opposed to just going all out right away.

It’s also the best-looking game yet, with wrestlers now being covered in welts and bruises as a match goes along, and those who wear body paint having it come apart over the course of the match. Meanwhile, the TV-style presentation is top-notch, with camera cuts akin to real WWE TV.

The big new addition this year is intergender wrestling, allowing men and women to compete against each other. This features heavily in this year’s My Rise storyline, but outside of that, I feel like it could be more. For example, title matches are available in the mode, but it’s only for designated ‘intergender’ titles, which mostly consist of 2K’s made-up titles and a handful of official WWE titles like the 24/7, cruiserweight, and hardcore titles, but without being able to have Chelsea Green win the WWE Championship, it feels a little half-baked.

(Image credit: 2K) Bloodline rules

This year’s 2K Showcase focuses on ‘The Bloodline’ – the WWE canon name for the Anoaʻi/Maivia family of Samoan professional wrestlers, including the likes of The Rock, Roman Reigns, Yokozuna, and Umaga. Where previous editions have followed single wrestlers, you take on the role of a majority of the family members this time around.

This mode is presented and narrated by Paul Heyman this year, who is already the greatest talker in WWE history, and his rundown of the events is fantastic and keeps you engaged throughout the long cutscenes.

Since not all Bloodline members are created equal, 2K25’s matches are split into three categories. The usual reliving prominent wins (like Yokozuna beating Hulk Hogan at King of the Ring 1993) returns. But for those members who don’t have any big wins or standout matches, there are rewritten and dream matches like Tamina winning the first women’s Money in the Bank or having The Wild Samoans take on The Dudley Boyz.

The last few years of 2K Showcase intercut real-life match footage during gameplay, leading to players sitting and watching matches without commentary instead of playing the game for long stretches. This year, 2K has mercifully ditched that and recreated match cutscenes in engine and added new commentary from the game’s announce team. This style makes Showcase way less of a slog this year and turns it into a standout mode.

The only real issue with the mode this year is the goals. When recreating matches, the game wants you to redo certain beats from the real match, which will unlock new items when done correctly (you can play the match normally too, but you’ll miss these unlocks). This year’s game introduces timed goals, which usually require you to do a certain move or an amount of damage. But if you don’t get it in time, it’s skipped, and you’ll need to replay the match entirely if you want another crack at it.

Some of these timers are ridiculously short, and in multi-person matches like Money in the Bank, another wrestler doing one grab to you is enough to guarantee you failing it. The dream match goals, on the other hand, are terribly bland, mostly being ‘do x amount of damage’ and then ‘now win.’

(Image credit: 2K) Mutiny on the Bounty

This year's My Rise – an original story following your created wrestler – is a mixed bag. It’s far and away the best storyline found in any of these modes. It follows a faction of former NXT wrestlers attempting to take over WWE with their new NXT Mutiny brand, and your character leading the fight against them. It’s full of great twists and turns and kept me engaged the whole time. But, instead of the two gender-specific stories, this time you have to make a male and female-created character to go through the story.

Best bit

The Bloodline showcase features highlights of many members of the family. But the section dedicated to Umaga was not only the best match in this year’s mode but was also a genuinely lovely tribute to an incredible talent gone too soon.

The big deal this year is choices. There's stuff that will affect certain story beats, like where your wrestler came from (Indies, MMA) and their relationship with the other wrestler you make (used to date, best friends) that introduce different dialogue. And there are bigger choices, like which wrestlers you recruit to fight Mutiny. This means there’s a bigger focus on replayability too, which becomes a bit of a hindrance when there are unlockables involved. From what I can tell, you’ll probably need to play through the mode a good three or four times to get all of the extra characters and arenas available.

There only being one story isn’t the only cutback this year either. There are no more side missions, and the runtime feels shorter than in previous years. There are ‘Live Events’ that allow you to do generic fights, which also have unlocks attached to your star rating. Assuming you get five-star matches every time (which takes a while), it’s still 56 fights to unlock everything. I can’t help but feel like things were cut down in favor of another mode.

(Image credit: 2K) Here comes the money

The Island is the brand-new mode exclusive to the current-gen versions of the game (not PC, though), and despite being the big thing for WWE 2K25, it’s easily the worst thing about it. The mode plays out like a bad MMO where you go talk to NPCs, play matches, and compete against others.

But the mission structure is so bland; one of the early questlines has you walking in and out of the same building to talk to two different sets of NPCs multiple times. Plus, the story is told via still images with text, with the occasional video of Roman Reigns. It would be a harmless, kind of bland mode, but then its character progression shows its true colors.

You create a new character for The Island, and this character’s stats are upgraded via VC – the game’s premium paid currency. Not only that but there are also exclusive cosmetic items for your characters that also cost VC. You can earn VC while playing matches, but it’s a pittance compared to the prices of gear, leading you to either grind like mad or pull out the credit card.

Every online match (which took ages to find and disconnected immediately most times) in the mode placed me against the sweatiest-looking created wrestlers with maxed-out stats, so the mode is also basically pay-to-win, although thankfully it’s not interesting enough that I care. I play these games for around 80+ hours every year, but I don’t see myself touching this mode after the review.

(Image credit: 2K)

Speaking of money, My Faction – 2K’s take on Ultimate Team – returns with all the same problems as before. Exclusive characters are locked behind ‘Persona’ cards, which are either a massive grind to get or require random drops from card packs. The new ‘World Tour’ within My Faction is the best thing added to the mode in years (allowing you to unlock some of those ‘Persona’ cards), but it also has walls that require you to have specific card types to continue through it.

My GM is another mode that has similar problems to before. I love GM Mode with all my heart, but the weird penalties in 2K’s version are off-putting. Characters all have roles and styles; some vibe well with others, and your matches are worse off if you don’t have the right pairings.

But this isn’t emblematic of what WWE is like in real life; CM Punk and Seth Rollins are in the midst of a blood feud right now on TV; both of them are good guys. This mode has the potential to be the best thing about WWE 2K, but the same old restrictions once again overwhelm any improvements.

WWE 2K25 is the best wrestling game of the modern era. The Showcase and My Rise modes are the best they’ve been with some minor issues, and the core wrestling feels great with an ever-increasing number of match types keeping it fresh. But the money-hungry Island and My Faction modes – which can’t even be ignored due to their unlockable content – hold it back from its rightful place at the head of the table.

Should you play WWE 2K25? Play it if...

You want a fantastic wrestling game
WWE 2K25 is the best wrestling game I’ve played since 2K took the series over. The core wrestling is fantastic and is only improved with the likes of chain wrestling. Some of the side modes aren’t amazing, but it has a ton of content for you to play through until next year’s entry releases. Plus, there are hundreds of wrestlers from WWE’s past through to the current day.

You acknowledge Roman Reigns as your Tribal Chief
The 2K Showcase documentary mode is the best it has ever been this year. Looking back at the Bloodline’s past and future gives it a ton of variety, and Paul Heyman’s narration is incredibly engaging throughout. Plus, removing the real footage helps the pacing massively.

Don't play it if...

You’ll be annoyed at missing content
Variants of characters are locked to ‘Persona’ cards found behind a grind or random card packs in My Faction mode, or through various My Rise replays. Unless you’re willing to put a massive amount of time in, you’re probably not unlocking everything.

Accessibility

Accessibility-wise there’s not much to write home about. The various mini-games for the likes of pins and submissions are customizable. There’s rapid button pressing for submissions, which can be switched for a slider minigame, while pins are a timed minigame that can be swapped for rapid pressing. There’s also an option for rapid press inputs to be replaced by holding buttons. However, these changes are not available in any online modes (including vs the CPU in My Faction).

How I reviewed WWE 2K25

I played 30 hours of WWE 2K25 between a PS5 Pro on a Samsung Q60D TV and a Samsung HW-T450 soundbar. I also played on a PS5 on a Samsung Odyssey G5 gaming monitor with a PlayStation Pulse 3D Headset.

During this time I played all of the Showcase mode (including both sides of the Wargames match), one playthrough of My Rise, a year of My GM, a few months in Universe, and about five hours of My Faction. I also played through the first few chapters of The Island, with a couple of PVP matches in the mode.

First reviewed March 2025

• Android 16 Beta 3 is here, bringing new features to enrolled users
• Users need a Google Pixel 6, or more recent Google Pixel phone, to get the beta
• New features include battery health tools and accessibility options

Android 16 Beta 3 is here, bringing a handful of new features to those participating in the Android beta program.

The new features included in Android 16 Beta 3 include a new battery health monitoring screen, new accessibility settings, and new tools to keep your local networks safe.

The beta is available to users of select Google Pixel phones who are enrolled in the Android beta program: to access Android 16 betas, you’ll need a Google Pixel 6 or more recent Google Pixel handset, such as the Google Pixel 9 or Google Pixel 9 Pro.

The stable release of Android 16 is scheduled for Q2 2025, which we’re already in. If Google sticks to its target, we should see Android 16 released by the end of June.

Until then, Android 16 Beta 3 offers users some neat new features to test out. Below, we’ve rounded up the four most useful features from the latest test version of Android.

A new battery health page

Most phone users are now aware that phone batteries are consumable components that become less effective over time, as its maximum capacity diminishes with each recharge

Android 16 Beta 3 adds a handy new way to keep track of your battery’s health, with a new screen in settings offering an estimate of your battery’s current capacity as a percentage of its total capacity when new.

As Android Authority notes, the new settings page also includes links to resources that include tips on how to preserve battery health.

In a reversal of the norm, this is a feature that iPhone users have had access to for quite some time – now Android users have more information to pair with the operating system’s existing battery preservation features, like adaptive charging.

Text outlines

(Image credit: Matthew McCollough / Google )

Text can be hard to read on a smartphone display, especially on smaller screens – luckily Android 16 Beta 3 adds a new accessibility feature that should make it easier than ever to parse through the text on screen.

The new feature replaces the current high-contrast text option with outlined text, adding a high-contrast background.

This feature is specifically aimed at users with visual impairments, but it’s available to all who might want an easier time reading on-screen text.

Audio broadcast

Another accessibility feature lands with Android 16 Beta 3, in the form of Auracast audio broadcast support.

This allows users with hearing aids and earbuds paired to their smartphone to loop into public broadcasts – examples given include airports, concerts, and classrooms.

The Android developers blog notes that this makes use of the LE Audio standard, a form of Bluetooth audio.

Network security tools

Android 16 Beta 3 also includes new tools to keep prying eyes away from your local network by altering the scope of app permissions.

As it stands, any app that has permission to access the internet can access devices and files on your local network – this beta changes this by requiring a separate permission to access local networks.

This should give users more control over how much of their information is shared between apps and services.

As mentioned, Android 16 should land on the best Android phones by the end of June. Let us know what you want to see from Google’s next mobile operating system in the comments below.

You might also like

• The latest iPhone 17 Pro Max leak may have given us another look at its upcoming redesign
• Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra could resurrect an intriguing camera feature
• The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 could be in line for a Galaxy S25 Ultra-level camera upgrade

Apple is my bread and butter. I saved up for ages as a kid to buy my first MacBook, I invested all my time as a teenager learning all there was to know about the iPhone, and I started working at the Genius Bar in my local Apple Store as a young adult.

When I got my “big break” in journalism I was thrilled to finally be able to merge my passion for tech and knowledge for Apple with my talent for writing. After working for a few years at iMore, an Apple-enthusiast site, I moved to TechRadar to cover AI, ready to take on a new challenge that I thought would, yet again, be shaped by some kind of Apple-infused impact: Apple Intelligence.

Fast forward to now, I’ve been part of the Apple Intelligence journey since day one, covering all the major AI announcements at WWDC 2024 and using Apple’s take on “AI for the rest of us.” since its very early beta days.

At first, the Apple Intelligence features were confusing, with tools scattered across the UI, but Apple’s take that AI should be there for when users need it rather than forced down their throats felt like a refreshing approach to the tech world’s favorite buzzword that’s hard to avoid.

The thing is, the more we fast forward through the first year of Apple advertising AI as the headline feature in all its hero products, the more the cracks have begun to show, and there’s no more damning visual than Apple’s need to push back (with no timeframe) the key to Apple Intelligence’s success, Siri.

(Image credit: Apple)

I was off work last week, so I missed the whole announcement of the delay to the upcoming Apple Intelligence-powered Siri where an Apple spokesperson said, “It is going to take us longer than we thought to deliver on these features and we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year.” Off the grid, I had no idea what was waiting for me on Monday morning, and when I saw the news the disappointment hit me like a tonne of bricks.

You see, I’ve championed Apple Intelligence for months. Not so much because of its “intelligence” but because I have full belief in Apple’s ability to do something the right way, and based on the company’s track record it would’ve been a safe bet to place.

I’ve been writing about how I believed consumer AI’s success was reliant on Apple Intelligence’s success and if any company in the world could make AI make sense for my nephew and my parents alike then it would be Apple.

Over the last nine months, I’ve tested everything Apple Intelligence has to offer, from features that I’ve used once and not touched since like Writing Tools to the more endearing options like Genmoji.

When it launched I said “Apple is onto something with Genmoji, and it might just be the best Apple Intelligence feature, ready to expose other AI tools to the average customer” to this day I use the AI tool whenever regular emojis just don’t fit the situation.

But let’s be real, the Genomji, Image Playground features of the world are not needle movers, they are simply nice-to-haves that come in handy whenever you want to cheer up a friend or family member. The Siri showcased at WWDC 2024, on the other hand, is a needle mover, a system seller if you will - that would be if it actually existed.

I’ve been talking with my colleague and TechRadar’s US Managing News Editor, Jacob Krol, about this for months and how I was starting to worry about Apple Intelligence’s prowess considering we hadn’t really seen anything to suggest it was even capable of improving people’s lives in the way Apple would make you believe.

John Gruber’s damning criticism of Apple’s AI situation captured that feeling perfectly, highlighting the lack of even a guided demo or showcase of Siri 2.0 at WWDC in June or at the launch of the iPhone 16 in September, leaving the question: Does it even exist?

In recent times, Apple’s AirPower charging mat springs to mind. I remember working at the Apple Store when it was announced and the excitement from customers who wanted an easy-to-use wireless charging solution that could charge multiple devices at once. Then… nothing. AirPower was never released, and two years after its initial announcement in 2017 the product was canceled and sent into the abyss.

AirPower was a fairly niche product, unlike Apple Intelligence which Apple has been touting as the main selling point of the current best iPhones, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro.

@techradar

♬ original sound - TechRadar

After the unveiling of the iPhone 16 in September, I wrote an article highlighting my dismay with the Apple Intelligence launch. The piece was titled “The Apple Intelligence launch is a mess – don’t buy the iPhone 16 or install iOS 18 based on the promise of what’s to come” emphasizing the fact that Apple was selling consumers a smartphone that wasn’t shipping with any of its headlining features.

I said, “This is where my bigger concern lies: the promises of what’s to come. I’ve used Apple Intelligence as part of the iOS 18.1 developer beta and I like what I’ve tried so far, but Genmoji, Image Playground, and the wonder of an actually useful Siri are all just pipedreams right now. No one outside of Apple has even seen these AI tools in the flesh; they aren’t even in beta testing yet as part of a Developer Beta.”

Since then, we’ve seen Genmoji and Image Playground, in fact, they are now available on compatible devices, but Siri (the feature we’re all waiting for) is still nowhere to be seen. It was meant to launch as part of iOS 18.4 in April or May, and I was waiting patiently, giving Apple the benefit of the doubt, hoping for Siri to bring the keys to unlock AI on the iPhone.

I’ve had countless conversations with colleagues where I’ve explained how it’s tricky to critique Apple Intelligence fairly without having all the pieces to the puzzle, and how Apple’s “beta” moniker makes it unfair to criticize. But honestly, with this Siri delay and delving deeper into the capabilities of Android with Gemini integration, I feel completely let down by Apple and I feel like it’s only right to make that clear.

If I had to describe Apple Intelligence, the umbrella term for all things AI in iPhone, iPad, and Mac, I’d call it underwhelming. There’s not one AI tool on my iPhone 16 Pro right now that fulfills Apple’s ultimate goal of simplifying life. It’s so insignificant, in fact, that I had it switched off after an update for about two weeks without even noticing the AI features were disabled.

If Siri’s Apple Intelligence upgrade was available then we’d be a step closer to the personal assistant in your pocket that everyone is hopeful for, but as it stands iPhone users and loyal Apple customers are living in the AI-less past while even non-flagship smartphones like Google’s Pixel 8a have excellent AI integration.

@techradar

♬ original sound - TechRadar

I’ll admit it, I’m sometimes blinded by the Apple bubble and therefore spend most of my life using Apple products instead of the competition. Because of that, I think sometimes Apple's aura clouds purchasing decisions and consumers miss out on the capabilities of the other side.

I know the grass isn’t always greener, but when it comes to AI it definitely is. Take Gemini in Gmail for example, which allows users to quickly ask AI to help take control of their emails right from the Gmail app, it’s a neat feature and the kind of useful AI tool that serves a purpose, not just a nice-to-have.

Gemini is integrated throughout Android 15 and now that Apple has decided to delay Siri even longer, those of us who trusted the concept of Apple Intelligence are being punished. I don’t have faith that the iPhone 16, a device sold as the best place for Apple Intelligence, will even have a Siri capable of Gemini’s prowess before the iPhone 17 launches – and that’s just not cool Apple.

We’ve become accustomed to Apple doing what’s right for its consumers and ultimately creating hardware and software that’s beautiful to look at and easy to understand. With AI it feels like Apple was blindsided and has taken for granted just how quickly artificial intelligence would become part of our daily lives.

In the past Apple has been able to hide behind limitations by marketing them with its consumers in mind: Siri isn’t as good as Alexa or Google Assistant because Apple doesn’t access your data.

But when it comes to AI, the privacy focus doesn’t bear the same weight. Competitors, while not offering the same world-class privacy and security as Apple, have caught up to a certain extent and consumers want AI that genuinely makes a difference, removing the mundane from their lives. That means that people are more likely to overlook things that might’ve been a sticking point in the past, purely to gain access to tools that significantly enhance the user experience.

I could write about this situation all day, but I’m going to push the brakes. Ultimately, Apple has overpromised and by doing so has significantly disappointed its most loyal customers. Owning a flagship iPhone with a gorgeous OLED display and an incredibly fast Apple-produced chip means nothing if the software is living in the past compared to its competitors.

Whether you like AI or not, the last year has proven that this is one of the most significant software productivity jumps we’ve ever seen, and unless Apple gets its game together it’s going to be completely left in the dust.

You might also like

• Even without Apple Intelligence, the new iPad is still one of the best tablets you can buy
• I installed iOS 18.4 beta and the big Siri intelligence update is nowhere to be found
• No, iOS 18.3 doesn't install Starlink on your iPhone – here's what the latest update does, and why you should download it
• Apple Intelligence finally arrives on Vision Pro, but it's the new iOS app that might turn heads

• A new version of RCS is on the way that will allow encrypted messaging between iOS and Android
• Apple has previously never offered encrypted messaging outside the iMessage standard
• This follows Apple's adoption of unencrypted RCS last year

A new announcement from the GSM Association confirms Apple is bringing end-to-end encryption to RCS messaging on iPhone for the first time, marking a major step for cross-platform communications.

Encrypted messaging on iPhone was previously limited to Apple’s own iMessage standard, which is only available to Apple users and as such is only possible between two or more iPhones or other Apple devices.

Apple initially enabled RCS on iPhone in 2024, after 17 years of forcing iPhone users to text other platforms over SMS, with the caveat that end-to-end encryption would not be an available feature.

Now, the GSM Association – the non-profit industry body that represents the world’s mobile network operators – confirms that a multitude of industry partners, including Apple, have collaborated on a new RCS standard that supports end-to-end encryption across multiple platforms.

Apple spokesperson Shane Bauer told The Verge: “We will add support for end-to-end encrypted RCS messages to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS in future software updates.”

RCS, which stands for Rich Communication Services, has been the standard of choice for the Android phones for a few years now, but Apple has been slow to adopt the universally available communication protocol.

From the beginnings of the iPhone in 2007 up until last year, Apple only allowed iPhones to text other kinds of phones over SMS, which offers no encryption and very limited options for sharing media.

End-to-end encryption, where messages are only displayed in deciphered form to senders and recipients, is a key selling point of RCS and a proudly-touted feature of other major messaging services like WhatsApp.

My take: a win for everybody

(Image credit: Shutterstock / DenPhotos)

As TechRadar’s mobile computing staff writer, I see my fair share of Apple cynicism, but having gotten my frustration at Apple for delaying the adoption of RCS mostly out of my system last year, I’m feeling optimistic about this latest announcement.

As the iOS and Android ecosystems continue to diversify, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the duopoly of Apple and Google isn’t going away any time soon, and with the best iPhones and the best Android phones all offering top-flight performance and feature sets, its likely the people in your life will represent a blend of the two user bases.

This new version of RCS is a win for everybody: better communication over a secure channel, without the need for third-party apps. I’m particularly glad that less tech-savvy users will be able to rely on Apple’s default Messages app to keep their texts and sent media secure.

I’m also glad to see Apple showing a bit of willingness to collaborate with its rival for the greater benefit of its user base. Apple continues to show itself as a company that genuinely cares about user privacy – even if, we recently saw in the UK, that means battling with governments to achieve its vision of data protection.

What do you think of this announcement? Is Apple on the right track, or is this too little, too late? Let us know in the comments.

You might also like

• Some iPhone 16e owners are reporting Bluetooth audio issues that could be an iOS problem
• The latest iPhone 17 Pro Max leak may have given us another look at its upcoming redesign
• The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 could be in line for a Galaxy S25 Ultra-level camera upgrade