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Hugging Face says an autonomous AI agent carried out a cyberattack against its production systems, highlighting the growing role of AI in offensive and defensive cybersecurity.

The post Hugging Face Says Autonomous AI System Executed Multi-Stage Cyberattack appeared first on TechRepublic.

The military said Friday it used intelligence sources to target militants over the previous 24 hours. The operations were in response to attacks by militants earlier in the week.

(Image credit: AP)

Last week, as European lawmakers packed their bags for the summer recess, a controversial surveillance law was quietly brought back to life. It's the latest plot twist in the struggle to find a balance between digital privacy and children's safety.

Through an unusual procedural loophole, the European Parliament revived what’s been dubbed "Chat Control 1.0." It's a temporary rule that allows tech giants like Meta, Google, and Microsoft to voluntarily scan citizens' unencrypted private messages in search of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

While the law — which is expected to officially pass once MEPs return from summer recess — excludes end-to-end encrypted apps like Signal and WhatsApp, its resurrection has sent shockwaves through the digital rights community.

Critics have not only slammed the revival procedure as "undemocratic," but also warned that it could mean mass scanning becomes permanent.

Central to the debate is whether Big Tech should use mass scanning (where everybody's data is checked) or targeted scanning (where only people identified as potential suspects are affected).

And while the European Parliament decided to reject mass scanning in March in favor of a "proportional and targeted" approach, last week’s vote represents a major U-turn that brings it back to the table.

But how did a law voted down over three months ago end up on the fast track to be enforced? And what will be the lasting impact on our privacy?

How Chat Control 1.0 was revived

(Image credit: Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images)

Due to the "rarely used" legal procedure adopted last week, an absolute majority was required to reject the proposal.

This meant at least 361 MEPs were required to vote against it — something critics say was difficult to achieve as many of them were already on holiday.

So, despite the majority of MEPs rejecting it (314 against, 276 in favor), the motion was sent to the Council for final approval, which is expected in September.

Initially intended as a stopgap while lawmakers debated the permanent Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (CSAR) bill — aka Chat Control 2.0 — the interim framework was in place from 2021 until it terminated in April of this year.

Since then, child safety groups and some MEPs have argued that the legal vacuum this caused required urgent action — a gap addressed by last week's vote.

However, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Snapchat issued a joint statement in April pledging to "continue to take voluntary action" to execute CSAM scans — regardless of whether the interim scanning law was enacted.

The privacy backlash

Many critics didn’t like how the Chat Control gambit unfolded, calling EP President Roberta Metsola's actions a political stunt. They allege she used a legal loophole strategically to schedule a vote during the final meeting of the legislative season to maximize its chances of passing.

A long-standing critic of the CSAM scanning law, former MEP for the German Pirate Party and digital rights jurist Patrick Breyer didn’t mince words, slamming Metsola's move as a "farce" that "damages democracy."

Robin Wilton, the Internet Society's Senior Director for Internet Trust, also told TechRadar that the "extraordinary bending of parliamentary procedure" required to pass the bill should concern everyone.

In a written statement to TechRadar, Roberta Metsola’s press office said, "it was not the President who brought this up or pushed for it" but that the issue was raised by other political groups during a meeting in June.

The lasting impact of Chat Control 1.0

While the temporary legal framework is expected to be reinstated soon, the more significant battle over CSAM scanning and digital privacy continues in the background.

Lawmakers are still discussing the terms of the permanent CSAR law, with negotiations reportedly stalling over the issue of targeted or mass scanning.

Critics are now concerned that last week's vote could steer the direction of the debates regarding the permanent law. And not in ways that would protect people's digital privacy.

Rand Hammoud, Director of the Security, Surveillance and Human Rights Programme and Regional Encryption Lead at the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), fears that passing the temporary law risks legitimizing mass scanning and says that opposition may become "more difficult" to sustain.

Put simply, because the temporary law allows for mass scanning, the permanent legislation may be more likely to include the same provision.

Did you know?

(Image credit: Colin Andreson Productions pty ltd/via Getty Images)

Some technology researchers have warned that mass scanning may lead to a surge in false positives. While some groups may view these errors as an inevitable part of any technology that can be fixed, Belgian cryptographer Bart Preneel — the author of multiple research papers on this matter — warns it could take at least two years to develop a better solution.

Digital rights advocates have long argued that mass scanning is a privacy "disaster waiting to happen," calling for more targeted solutions. They believe that even when the scanning is "voluntary" — meaning when tech companies can choose whether to perform the scanning or not — it remains problematic.

For child safety groups, however, voluntary scanning is non-negotiable. According to Hannah Swirsky, the Internet Watch Foundation's (IWF) Head of Policy and Public Affairs, it would be a mistake to limit detection only to individual suspects.

"The scale of the issue with CSAM requires technology to be used widely across platform systems," Swirsky told TechRadar.

Either way, Hammoud from CDT Europe says finding the right balance between privacy and children's safety "demands careful, evidence-based lawmaking" — a standard she argues was lacking in the fast-tracked procedure last week.

What’s next for the privacy of chats?

Despite the temporary law expected to officially pass in autumn, some opponents of Chat Control are still hopeful.

Crucially, the vote showed that most MEPs remain unconvinced about the current legal framework being developed. And while there is deep disagreement on how to do so effectively, it is worth noting that people on all sides want to find solutions that keep children safe online.

As the EU institutions pull down the shutters for the summer, we can only hope that politicians are able to reach a compromise that upholds democratic principles while keeping children safe and defending citizens' digital privacy.

• Coca‑Cola confirmed a ransomware attack on its dairy subsidiary Fairlife, forcing suspension of US production operations while Canada sites remain unaffected
• Incident response protocols were activated, with third‑party experts and authorities engaged; product quality and safety were not impacted
• Analysts warn the financial impact could be significant given Fairlife’s importance, with losses compounding the longer production remains offline

Coca Cola was forced to shut down parts of its operations to tackle an ongoing ransomware infection.

In an 8-K form recently filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company said the attackers struck Fairlife, its dairy company.

“On July 16, 2026, The Coca-Cola Company announced that fairlife, a dairy company owned by the company, identified unauthorized access by a third party to a portion of its systems, including its production-related systems, in connection with a ransomware event,” the filing reads.

Compounding impact

Coca Cola then explained that it kicked off its incident response and business continuity protocols, bringing in third-party cybersecurity experts to help investigate the attack and assess the damages. It also notified relevant authorities.

However, the production in the US has been affected, since parts of the operation had to be suspended: “Product quality and safety have not been impacted. However, as a result of the incident, production operations at fairlife in the United States are temporarily suspended. fairlife’s Canada production operations are not currently impacted,” Coca Cola explained.

It said it was now working to bring the systems back up, and that it has “not yet determined whether the incident is reasonably likely to materially affect the company.”

In a statement shared with TechRadar Pro, Cybersecurity Researcher and Advanced Services Lead at Arcova, Joseph Perry, stressed that the material impact is likely to be great. How great - depends on how fast Coca Cola moves.

“Fairlife is not a minor business buried inside Coca-Cola’s portfolio. Coca-Cola generated nearly $48 billion in net revenue last year and made a $6.1 billion contingent payment tied to its acquisition of fairlife, which provides important context for the value of the operation now sitting idle,” Perry explains.

“With production suspended across fairlife’s US facilities, every hour can compound the financial impact through lost output, delayed shipments, recovery costs, inventory exposure and potential disruption for retailers. Coca-Cola has not yet quantified the loss, but the longer production remains offline, the more quickly a cyber incident becomes a material business event.”

Via BleepingComputer

House of the Dragon season 3 will officially enter its back half later this week. Indeed, with four episodes down and just as many left to be released before this season's final end-credits sequence rolls, the high-fantasy show's latest multi-part installment will be over before we know it.

Regardless, plenty of melodrama, fiery action, and shock moments await us over the next few episodes. So when will House of the Dragon's next entry present itself to the world? You know the drill by now: read on to find out more!

What is the launch time for House of the Dragon season 3 episode 5?

House of the Dragon season 3 episode 5 will premiere at 6pm PT / 9pm ET on Sunday, July 19 in the US and Canada. Fans who live elsewhere will have to wait until Monday, July 20 to check it out.

As for the time that the Game of Thrones prequel's next installment will internationally, the below list will tell you:

• US — Sunday, July 12 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
• Canada — Sunday, July 12 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
• UK — Monday, July13 at 2am BST
• India — Monday, July 13 at 6:30am IST
• Singapore — Monday, July 13 at 9am SGT
• Australia — Monday, July 13 at 11am AEST
• New Zealand — Monday, July 13 at 1pm NZST

How do I watch House of the Dragon season 3 episode 5?

No factions here. pic.twitter.com/hCGFFHiAdoJuly 12, 2026

By loading up one of the best streaming services in your region of the world, of course.

For the vast majority of you, HBO Max is the platform you'll need to head to — as long as you have an active account, anyway — to catch the HBO TV Original's next entry. However, if you haven't signed up to the Warner Bros-owned streamer, or if it hasn't launched where you live, don't fret. Scroll on to see which other TV networks and streamers it'll be available on in your neck of the woods:

• US — HBO and HBO Max
• Canada — Crave
• UK — HBO Max, Sky Atlantic, and Now TV
• India — JioHotstar
• Singapore — HBO Max
• Australia — HBO Max
• New Zealand — HBO Max

When will House of the Dragon's next episode come out?

You've earned a seat on Rhaenyra's small council. What's your dream role?July 14, 2026

If it wasn't obvious by now, new chapters will drop every Sunday in North and South America, and every Monday on other continents.

For the third and final time in this article, read the list below to see when the remaining three episodes will be released near you:

• House of the Dragon season 3 episode 1 — out now
• House of the Dragon season 3 episode 2 — out now
• House of the Dragon season 3 episode 3 — out now
• House of the Dragon season 3 episode 4— out now
• House of the Dragon season 3 episode 5 — July 19/20
• House of the Dragon season 3 episode 6 — July 26/27
• House of the Dragon season 3 episode 7 — August 2/3
• House of the Dragon season 3 episode 8 — August 9/10

We’re in what’s being dubbed the ‘year of AI ROI’. Four years on from the AI boom - ignited by the launch of ChatGPT - many businesses now believe that they’re AI-ready, using successful early-stage chatbot and copilot rollouts as evidence.

Yet there is a significant difference between experimenting with AI and embedding it across complex business processes and operations.

The real barrier to this transformation sits beneath the models themselves. While most AI outcomes-related conversations focus on model performance, GPUs, and compute capacity, organisations are increasingly realising that it’s their data infrastructure holding AI projects back.

Up until now, businesses have got away with operating successfully despite their disconnected file environments, inconsistent data governance, and information spread across multiple repositories.

This is because historically, data has been accessed sporadically, mostly by human employees who could compensate for shortcomings when data lacked context or wasn’t where it should be.

Simply put, data infrastructure didn’t need to be perfect, so it wasn’t. However, these fragmented file environments are now impossible to ignore as AI demands 24/7 consistent access to information, strong governance, and trusted data.

This puts enterprises in an uncomfortable situation: under pressure to deploy AI, but missing the foundations needed to be truly successful with AI projects at scale.

AI makes the data puzzle more complicated

Traditional file environments were built for a world where information lived in separate locations, individual teams managed access, and gaps in governance or data availability could be worked around.

This means that enterprises are now operating with fragmented information spread across multiple locations, with inconsistent governance and varying levels of accessibility. When data is accessed primarily by human employees, these inefficiencies are a source of frustration rather than a barrier.

This is where AI changes things. Models depend on fast, reliable access to information. If data is difficult to find, lacks context or cannot be accessed consistently, its value diminishes rapidly. In this instance, enterprises have data, but it’s completely unusable.

Overconfidence is coming at the expense of real success

Most organizations realize that their data infrastructure is far from perfect. Yet, the pressure to demonstrate progress on AI is intense. If businesses aren’t investing in and experimenting with AI, they’re seen as behind the curve. This is creating a strong incentive to deploy new tools as quickly as possible.

The problem is that organizations' early-stage AI learnings, if not outright success, are creating an overconfidence in their wider AI readiness and ability to scale up. Chatbots and copilots, which provide a lower barrier to entry to AI, are enabling organizations to demonstrate early, tangible AI outcomes.

When these projects deliver value, enterprises start to think that perhaps their infrastructure is future-proofed after all, despite a lack of sustained attempts to address and resolve deeper structural issues around their data accessibility, governance and infrastructure. These same businesses are also struggling with data recovery after cyber incidents - the warning signs are there, but current overconfidence is blurring reality.

As a result, businesses are moving rapidly onto major agentic projects, only to face delays, questions over ROI, and often, an implementation that fails. The irony is that an urgency to deploy AI is actually slowing long-term progress.

Organizations hellbent on deploying AI are risking overlooking the deeper risk management and data management work required to support it, while those that invest in strong data foundations are more likely to achieve sustainable success as their AI ambitions grow.

Shifting data from a cost to an asset

Most businesses don’t suffer from a lack of data; if anything, they have the opposite problem. Unfortunately, this is still viewed as an operational cycle driven by capacity planning, refresh cycles and expansion requirements, rather than a strategic asset. Industry research consistently shows IT teams still struggle to get a grip on their unstructured data - where most of their data assets reside - despite most of them believing their file data setup is robust.

The difference now is that AI systems operate continuously, drawing on information created today, yesterday, and sometimes decades ago. To deliver meaningful outcomes, they require consistent access to trusted data, rich context, and clear governance.

This means that organizations need to rethink their approach to enterprise information. When data is treated purely as a storage refresh challenge, AI quickly exposes the limitations of that approach. However, when it’s treated as a strategic asset, organizations can create environments where information is accessible, governed and ready to behave in the way that AI expects.

C-Suites’ goal should be to move from steady-state storage capacity to data utility, creating centralized environments with fewer systems, where data can be used no matter where it is located. This shift reduces fragmentation, simplifies data management and creates a unified view of the enterprise’s information, and with it the path to competitive edge.

The fewer barriers that exist between AI and the data it needs, the easier it becomes to move from isolated AI successes to meaningful deployment at scale for productivity and efficiency benefits.

Fix the foundations before scaling AI

The success of chatbot or copilot rollouts does not indicate AI readiness. It is instead measured by data utility: whether the data underpinning AI tools is accessible, secure, and fit for purpose at scale.

The organizations that succeed with AI in the coming years will not be those deploying the most advanced models or the biggest number of agents, but those who can provide AI with consistent access to trusted, well-governed data.

Those boards that keep investing in sophisticated AI tools without upgrading their data layer and governance will find their operations shackled for years to come by the same underlying data access and governance limitations.

It’s time to stop viewing data as an operational burden and start treating it as a strategic asset, helping unleash organizations' true IP and powering their ability to innovate. Building strong data foundations today will set organizations on the path to realizing long-term AI value, instead of discovering down the line that AI ambitions outpace their ability to support them.

We've featured the best data removal service.

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

• Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced director Richard Knight says staff have "DLC ideas"
• He explains that the main game is the team's focus right now and doesn't know whether the Freedom Cry DLC will get a remake
• Knight also revealed that New Game Plus is in development

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced game director Richard Knight has revealed that staff on the development team have downloadable content (DLC) ideas, but is uncertain whether the Freedom Cry expansion will get a remake.

In an interview with YouTuber JorRaptor, Knight was asked if the team is actively exploring additional post-launch content, such as a remake of the DLC Freedom Cry, which is set 15 years after the main game and stars Edward Kenway's friend and quartermaster, Adéwalé.

While Knight acknowledged that the 13-year-old DLC is beloved not just by fans but by the team, plans for the game's future are uncertain. He explained that it's focused on updating the base game for now, but revealed that team members do have "DLC ideas."

"The reception has been amazing, but it's still so early right now," Knight said. "I know some folks on the team have DLC ideas. We need to balance those out with our future and then updating the core game."

"But beyond that, I just want to say our focus with Black Flag remake has always been Edward," he added. "He's the kind of heart soul of the original game, and so you know maybe there could be more to tell there too."

The director couldn't comment further on plans or on a potential DLC, only that the team has its hands full right now.

In the same interview, Knight also confirmed New Game Plus is in the works, but couldn't offer a release date.

"This is the one thing I can say: Yes, we're working on that right now," Knight told JorRaptor. "For sure. It's one of the first things. Partly because Shadows has already built their version, so it's considered a low-risk feature for us. We're still doing the work, so I can't promise exactly a day or anything, but we're definitely working on this one. It's just such a natural thing."

When asked if the Shadows' New Game Plus made it easier for the Black Flag Resynced team to add the feature to the game, he joked that Simon Lemay-Comtois, associate game director of Shadows, "did the hard work" of introducing it in the first place, and it gives the Black Flag Resynced team "something to look at."

"We have different challenges in terms of how that works," he said. "We can't skip to the hideout, necessarily. But we're looking into it."

On the possibility of the game having extra rewards for New Game Plus, like in Shadows, Knight suggested the game is still in early development, but, "If it's up to me, yes."

"There's still production discussions about what we can do and how much time it takes," he said. "Every item we make needs a model. Sometimes it needs cloth sim. All sorts of things."

In terms of a release date for the mode, he added, "I really can't promise anything – just to say it's at the top of the list of things. There's a lot of things. Some are harder than others, but it's something we definitely want to get done."

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is now available on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC.

ClickLock can shut down Mac apps for more than three days while pressuring users to enter a password and stealing sensitive account data in the background.

The post ClickLock Mac Malware Traps Users in a Three-Day Password Loop appeared first on TechRepublic.

GoPro Mission 1 Pro: One-Minute Review

The Mission 1 Pro is as rugged as you’d expect any GoPro action camera to be, with a highly water-resistant design — even without an additional casing — and a shock-resistant body that can survive tumble after tumble, but with 8K recording quality it enables you to capture footage with a real cinematic feel.

Thanks to impressive subject tracking and GoPro’s HyperSmooth stabilization tech, the Mission 1 Pro can capture the action smoothly whether you’re wearing it yourself, or following your subject along a trail or down a piste.

Plus, thanks to the new larger 1-inch sensor, low-light video quality is better than ever for a GoPro — letting you take advantage of the roughly two hours of 4K 60p recording time available to you on a single charge even as the sun starts to set.

(Image credit: Future)

Meanwhile, HLG HDR format and GP-Log2 support, control over ISO, EV, white balance and shutter speed, and the freedom to record in 8K/30p open gate — the full height and width of the versatile 4:3 aspect ratio sensor — will give you more artistic and post-processing options that make this action camera feel more like a professional piece of kit.

The downside of all this is that the Mission 1 Pro doesn’t come cheap. It’ll set you back $699 / £599.99 / AU$1,099.95 if you aren’t already a GoPro member, while members can take advantage of a healthy discount, with prices starting at $599 / £509.99 / AU$949.95. This sure is pricey even for one of the best action cameras when DJI rivals cost substantially less, but if you’re going to take full advantage of its cinematic capabilities, it’s certainly one to consider.

The only real disappointment is that its photography capabilities left me wanting. With its optional point-and-shoot camera-style grip I had hoped that the GoPro Mission 1 Pro might perform well as a stills snapper, but it did struggle at times. Hopefully, the ILS model with its Micro Four Thirds lens mount will deliver a more all-round performance when it debuts later this year.

The grip does at least help make the Mission 1 Pro much easier to handle when shooting video, and it feels like a useful upgrade for anyone who plans to use this GoPro as their new vacation camera, and take advantage of its improved video and audio quality, and durable design.

GoPro Mission 1 Pro: Price and release date

• $699 / £599.99 / AU$1,099.95 (non-member price)
• $599 / £509.99 / AU$949.95 (member price)
• Other models in the series are the Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro ILS

The GoPro Mission 1 Pro is available to buy now for $699 / £599.99 / AU$1,099.95 (non-member price, or $599 / £509.99 / AU$949.95 for members), while the more basic Mission 1 will cost you $599 / £529 /AU$949.95 (non-member price, or $499 / £439.99 / AU$799.95). The Mission 1 Pro ILS costs the same as the Pro, but it won’t launch until later in 2026.

Other bundles include one with a point-and-shoot camera-style grip, which I had for my review. This bundle feels quite pricey at $779.99 / £679.99 / AU$1,229.95, seemingly with no member discount at the time of writing.

The Mission 1 Pro and Mission 1 share a lot of the same features and hardware, but the Pro version unlocks 8K 60fps footage and 8K Open Gate 4:3 filming for greater editing flexibility. You’ll also unlock slow-mo 4K video at 240fps, and 1080p up to 960fps for more extreme slow-mo shots.

(Image credit: Future)

Meanwhile the ILS model is interesting as it takes away some features — such as built-in autofocus and the ultra-wide lens of the regular Pro — to give you more control, with manual focus control and a Micro Four Thirds (MFT) mount, enabling you to attach a wide variety of lenses for different cinematic effects. If you’re more of a cinematographer than a casual user, the ILS model could be what you’re after.

That said, even the base-model Mission 1 is a fair bit pricier than the GoPro Hero 13 Black — our current pick for the best overall action camera. If you care about low-light shots the Mission 1 could be worth the price premium, but for a lot of people who are just looking to capture fun clips of their action sports escapades even the basic model may be overkill.

• Value score: 3/5

GoPro Mission 1 Pro: Specs

Type:

Action camera

Sensor:

50MP 1-inch type CMOS

Displays:

Front: 1.4-inch LCD

Rear: 2.59-inch OLED touchscreen

Memory:

None; supports V30 and Class A2 rated microSD cards

Video:

8K up to 30fps (no crop) / 8K/60p (cropped)

ISO range:

Video: 25-6400

Photo: 100-3200

Burst shooting

60fps

Processor:

GP3 SoC

Connectivity:

BlueTooth, USB-C, 5GHz Wi-Fi 6

Dimensions:

80.1 x 52.1 x 44.3mm (including buttons and lens without hood)

Weight:

207g

GoPro Mission 1 Pro: Design

The ideal action camera is one that can handle just about anything you throw at it, and the GoPro Mission 1 Pro GoPro is a camera that’s designed to be pushed to its limits.

If you’re a fan of underwater video, the Mission 1 Pro boasts a design that’s waterproof to 66ft / 20m without the need for a housing — plus the hydrophobic lens cover should help keep water splashes and droplets from obstructing your view massively when you’re using the camera above the waves.

It’s also rated to work in temperatures between -20C and 45C, with its power and shoot buttons designed to make them easier to press while wearing the kind of thick gloves that are necessary in frigid climates.

(Image credit: Future)

The Mission 1 Pro’s shock-resistant body can also survive tumbles and drops, giving it an almost indestructible feel. While I never pushed the Mission 1 Pro too far, I never felt like I needed to be careful with it.

Moving on from the action-focused aspects, the 2.59-inch OLED rear touchscreen display offers enough real estate for you to easily manage and track your settings while also leaving plenty of room to clearly see your compositions.

Meanwhile, the 1.4-inch front LCD is a good size for vloggers to track what is/isn’t in frame as they talk to camera, with a convenient and concise readout of your shot settings letting you know that you haven’t, for example, accidentally swiped to a different mode while turning the camera 180 degrees.

Included in the box are a lens hood to help reduce glare — just note that it can fall off easily, so keep an eye on it, or be prepared to pick up replacements — a 2150mAh Enduro 2 battery, an adhesive mount, mounting buckle and a thumb screw.

You’ll need to provide your own microSD card, as there’s no internal storage. The Mission 1 Pro relies on V30 and Class A2-rated microSDs for the best performance; A1 cards will work, but will encode more slowly.

You can pick up a series of attachments for this camera, including ND filters; however, the bigger sensor size of this camera means the Hero 13 Black’s suite of lens attachments can’t be used here, and sadly there aren’t, as yet, equivalent accessories for the Mission Pro 1.

Other GoPro attachments, such as harnesses or helmet/bike mounts, should be compatible, as the Mission 1 Pro relies on the same bracket as models that came before.

(Image credit: Future)

Lastly I’ll mention the point-and-shoot camera-style grip attachment, which was supplied to me for testing alongside the Mission 1 Pro and can be purchased separately ($99.99 / £89.99 / AU$154.95) or as part of a bundle. The grip is incredibly simple, yet effective at transforming the Mission 1 into something that feels more like a regular point-and-shoot compact.

When it comes to capturing quick videos, such as clips at the beach or at a festival, the grip makes it easy to hold the camera without the risk that your hand will get in the way of the lens, although as mentioned, the Mission 1 Pro doesn’t perform as well as a stills camera — more on that below.

• Design score: 5/5

GoPro Mission 1 Pro: Performance

To make video capture easier than ever the Mission 1 Pro features a slew of preset capture modes that adjust settings based on your needs, with modes for Vlogging, SportPOV, TimeLapse, Open Gate, SlowMo, Low Light, Dive and plenty more.

You can tweak the settings for each mode to fine-tune your image quality needs, and also manage modes by hiding ones you never use, or adding custom settings that are your go-tos.

For most scenarios, I found the 4K open gate option to be the most versatile. The image quality is solid, and you have the option to reframe the footage to 16:9 or 9:16 later based on your needs — plus it’s less of a drain on the battery than shooting in 8K.

Vlog-style recording is made easy thanks to the front screen, and automatic subject tracking that centers you in the frame — ideal for casual vloggers who constantly find they steadily drift out of shot unless they pay close attention to the camera they’re holding.

The audio quality is decent too, picking up voices and essential sounds, but cutting out wind noise.

Slow mo is also a lot of fun, though as you’ll see in my example video above, raw untuned footage at resolutions lower than 4K can start to look grainier than is ideal — upscaling and/or sharpening the image with editing software is essential to get things to look better.

The larger sensor also helps in low-light conditions, especially with the new Low Light shooting mode. Unsurprisingly, in proper darkness the camera still struggles, but with some illumination remaining the camera performs well in this mode.

(Image credit: Future)

Where I’m less convinced of the Mission 1 Pro’s abilities is when it comes to stills photography, which is a massive shame considering you have the option to add the point-and-shoot grip.

Whenever I tried to take photos I found myself fighting against its lack of autofocus — or even manual focus — and the less-than-ideal zoom quality. The camera has a fixed focus with a minimum focus distance around 60cm — which counts out close-up photography — and an optimal focal distance of about 1.5m. This also means it isn’t focused to infinity, so landscapes will appear a little soft in your shots, especially since the larger sensor has a shallower depth of field than previous GoPros.

In addition, as soon as you zoom in you’ll find the image quality drops a fair amount, although this is to be expected from the digital zoom this camera uses.

The overall quality isn’t terrible, though, and the point-and-shoot grip does offer some useful versatility for video recording beyond the more traditional action camera use-cases.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

FutureFutureFutureFutureTesting Scorecard

Attribute

Notes

Score

Design

With its rugged build and larger display you couldn’t realistically want more from the design of the Mission 1 Pro. My only gripe would be that longtime GoPro fans may be frustrated that they can’t, for now at least, bring all of their lens attachments over to this new camera.

5/5

Performance

The Mission 1 Pro delivers some great-looking video with great audio even without external accessories, and even in low light. I’m skeptical of the camera’s photography credentials, though.

4.5/5

Value

The GoPro Mission 1 boasts a slew of pro-level enhancements, although these do come with a higher price tag.

3/5

Should I buy the GoPro Mission 1 Pro?Buy it if…

You want a professional-quality action camera
With 8K recording and a full suite of settings that you can adjust, the Mission 1 Pro delivers as professional-grade camera more so than its predecessors.

You don’t want to think too much
Like its predecessors, the Mission 1 Pro boasts a selection of preset recording modes that you can fine-tune to suit your video needs. If you want good shots without putting in a lot of thought and effort, the Mission 1 Pro will still help you capture great shots.

You want a small camera that’ll last
With a hardy exterior that can survive high heat, freezing cold, and excursions deep below the water, and roughly two-hour battery life when shooting 4K/30p, the GoPro Mission 1 Pro will be ready when you need it.

Don’t buy it if…

You want to capture high-quality stills
As an action camera the Mission 1 Pro is great, but as a stills camera I found it wanting, even if there is a dedicated point-and-shoot grip accessory.

You’re on a budget
The GoPro Mission 1 Pro is a lot pricier than other action cameras out there, and if you’re a more casual and budget-conscious user the upgrades might not be worth the outlay.View Deal

You want lens options
The Mission 1 Pro doesn’t support the lenses GoPro has previously offered with its action cameras like the Hero 13 Black. For lens variety you’ll want to check out the Mission 1 Pro ILS model when that launches later this year.View Deal

Also consider

GoPro Hero 13 Black
A more budget-friendly option, and, even years after launch, still a solid action camera performer, the GoPro Hero 13 Black doesn’t boast the 8K quality of the Mission 1. However if you’re after something smaller and lighter for more casual use it’s an excellent alternative.

Read our GoPro Hero 13 Black review

DJI Osmo Action 6
If you’re already part of the DJI ecosystem, want tools like wireless Hi-Res audio recording when using a DJI Mic 3, or are just after some frankly excellent battery life, decent waterproofing, and a generous 47GB of built-in storage, this DJI camera could be for you. Just note that its video is capped at 4K resolution.

Read our DJI Osmo Action 6 review

Insta360 Ace Pro 2
If 8K is a must, the best alternative for you is the Insta360 Ace Pro 2. Admittedly it isn’t as capable as the GoPro Mission 1 (the 8K quality doesn’t support the best image stabilization) and overheating is an issue, but the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 is a superb all-rounder.

Read our Insta360 Ace Pro 2 review

How I tested the GoPro Mission 1 Pro

I spent just over a month with the Mission 1 Pro, taking it out on excursions to snap photos and videos to test its capabilities not just as an action camera, but as a point-and-shoot video capture tool — with that latter case aided by the point-and-shoot grip.

If you’re planning to use the GoPro Mission 1 Pro as your vacation camera — aided by its durable design and waterproofness — the grip is super helpful at helping to keep you hands out of frame, and as a pure action camera the GoPro fits the same mounts and accessories as previous models like the Hero 13 Black (save for the lens attachments).

Inspired by shows like Hunted and Jet Lag The Game, a lot of my testing focused on running and vlogging with the action camera to capture my fitness progress and to record personal cuts of games of hide-and-seek across London — passing the camera between my friends so they could record their stints too. They found the GoPro super easy to use, with the smoothing tech and subject tracking ensuring thaty vlogs and action shots look great without requiring constant focus on what the camera is doing — you just press go and it’ll come with you.

First reviewed: July 2026

GoPro Mission 1 Pro: One-Minute Review

The Mission 1 Pro is as rugged as you’d expect any GoPro action camera to be, with a highly water-resistant design — even without an additional casing — and a shock-resistant body that can survive tumble after tumble, but with 8K recording quality it enables you to capture footage with a real cinematic feel.

Thanks to impressive subject tracking and GoPro’s HyperSmooth stabilization tech, the Mission 1 Pro can capture the action smoothly whether you’re wearing it yourself, or following your subject along a trail or down a piste.

Plus, thanks to the new larger 1-inch sensor, low-light video quality is better than ever for a GoPro — letting you take advantage of the roughly two hours of 4K 60p recording time available to you on a single charge even as the sun starts to set.

(Image credit: Future)

Meanwhile, HLG HDR format and GP-Log2 support, control over ISO, EV, white balance and shutter speed, and the freedom to record in 8K/30p open gate — the full height and width of the versatile 4:3 aspect ratio sensor — will give you more artistic and post-processing options that make this action camera feel more like a professional piece of kit.

The downside of all this is that the Mission 1 Pro doesn’t come cheap. It’ll set you back $699 / £599.99 / AU$1,099.95 if you aren’t already a GoPro member, while members can take advantage of a healthy discount, with prices starting at $599 / £509.99 / AU$949.95. This sure is pricey even for one of the best action cameras when DJI rivals cost substantially less, but if you’re going to take full advantage of its cinematic capabilities, it’s certainly one to consider.

The only real disappointment is that its photography capabilities left me wanting. With its optional point-and-shoot camera-style grip I had hoped that the GoPro Mission 1 Pro might perform well as a stills snapper, but it did struggle at times. Hopefully, the ILS model with its Micro Four Thirds lens mount will deliver a more all-round performance when it debuts later this year.

The grip does at least help make the Mission 1 Pro much easier to handle when shooting video, and it feels like a useful upgrade for anyone who plans to use this GoPro as their new vacation camera, and take advantage of its improved video and audio quality, and durable design.

GoPro Mission 1 Pro: Price and release date

• $699 / £599.99 / AU$1,099.95 (non-member price)
• $599 / £509.99 / AU$949.95 (member price)
• Other models in the series are the Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro ILS

The GoPro Mission 1 Pro is available to buy now for $699 / £599.99 / AU$1,099.95 (non-member price, or $599 / £509.99 / AU$949.95 for members), while the more basic Mission 1 will cost you $599 / £529 /AU$949.95 (non-member price, or $499 / £439.99 / AU$799.95). The Mission 1 Pro ILS costs the same as the Pro, but it won’t launch until later in 2026.

Other bundles include one with a point-and-shoot camera-style grip, which I had for my review. This bundle feels quite pricey at $779.99 / £679.99 / AU$1,229.95, seemingly with no member discount at the time of writing.

The Mission 1 Pro and Mission 1 share a lot of the same features and hardware, but the Pro version unlocks 8K 60fps footage and 8K Open Gate 4:3 filming for greater editing flexibility. You’ll also unlock slow-mo 4K video at 240fps, and 1080p up to 960fps for more extreme slow-mo shots.

(Image credit: Future)

Meanwhile the ILS model is interesting as it takes away some features — such as built-in autofocus and the ultra-wide lens of the regular Pro — to give you more control, with manual focus control and a Micro Four Thirds (MFT) mount, enabling you to attach a wide variety of lenses for different cinematic effects. If you’re more of a cinematographer than a casual user, the ILS model could be what you’re after.

That said, even the base-model Mission 1 is a fair bit pricier than the GoPro Hero 13 Black — our current pick for the best overall action camera. If you care about low-light shots the Mission 1 could be worth the price premium, but for a lot of people who are just looking to capture fun clips of their action sports escapades even the basic model may be overkill.

• Value score: 3/5

GoPro Mission 1 Pro: Specs

Type:

Action camera

Sensor:

50MP 1-inch type CMOS

Displays:

Front: 1.4-inch LCD

Rear: 2.59-inch OLED touchscreen

Memory:

None; supports V30 and Class A2 rated microSD cards

Video:

8K up to 30fps (no crop) / 8K/60p (cropped)

ISO range:

Video: 25-6400

Photo: 100-3200

Burst shooting

60fps

Processor:

GP3 SoC

Connectivity:

BlueTooth, USB-C, 5GHz Wi-Fi 6

Dimensions:

80.1 x 52.1 x 44.3mm (including buttons and lens without hood)

Weight:

207g

GoPro Mission 1 Pro: Design

The ideal action camera is one that can handle just about anything you throw at it, and the GoPro Mission 1 Pro GoPro is a camera that’s designed to be pushed to its limits.

If you’re a fan of underwater video, the Mission 1 Pro boasts a design that’s waterproof to 66ft / 20m without the need for a housing — plus the hydrophobic lens cover should help keep water splashes and droplets from obstructing your view massively when you’re using the camera above the waves.

It’s also rated to work in temperatures between -20C and 45C, with its power and shoot buttons designed to make them easier to press while wearing the kind of thick gloves that are necessary in frigid climates.

(Image credit: Future)

The Mission 1 Pro’s shock-resistant body can also survive tumbles and drops, giving it an almost indestructible feel. While I never pushed the Mission 1 Pro too far, I never felt like I needed to be careful with it.

Moving on from the action-focused aspects, the 2.59-inch OLED rear touchscreen display offers enough real estate for you to easily manage and track your settings while also leaving plenty of room to clearly see your compositions.

Meanwhile, the 1.4-inch front LCD is a good size for vloggers to track what is/isn’t in frame as they talk to camera, with a convenient and concise readout of your shot settings letting you know that you haven’t, for example, accidentally swiped to a different mode while turning the camera 180 degrees.

Included in the box are a lens hood to help reduce glare — just note that it can fall off easily, so keep an eye on it, or be prepared to pick up replacements — a 2150mAh Enduro 2 battery, an adhesive mount, mounting buckle and a thumb screw.

You’ll need to provide your own microSD card, as there’s no internal storage. The Mission 1 Pro relies on V30 and Class A2-rated microSDs for the best performance; A1 cards will work, but will encode more slowly.

You can pick up a series of attachments for this camera, including ND filters; however, the bigger sensor size of this camera means the Hero 13 Black’s suite of lens attachments can’t be used here, and sadly there aren’t, as yet, equivalent accessories for the Mission Pro 1.

Other GoPro attachments, such as harnesses or helmet/bike mounts, should be compatible, as the Mission 1 Pro relies on the same bracket as models that came before.

(Image credit: Future)

Lastly I’ll mention the point-and-shoot camera-style grip attachment, which was supplied to me for testing alongside the Mission 1 Pro and can be purchased separately ($99.99 / £89.99 / AU$154.95) or as part of a bundle. The grip is incredibly simple, yet effective at transforming the Mission 1 into something that feels more like a regular point-and-shoot compact.

When it comes to capturing quick videos, such as clips at the beach or at a festival, the grip makes it easy to hold the camera without the risk that your hand will get in the way of the lens, although as mentioned, the Mission 1 Pro doesn’t perform as well as a stills camera — more on that below.

• Design score: 5/5

GoPro Mission 1 Pro: Performance

To make video capture easier than ever the Mission 1 Pro features a slew of preset capture modes that adjust settings based on your needs, with modes for Vlogging, SportPOV, TimeLapse, Open Gate, SlowMo, Low Light, Dive and plenty more.

You can tweak the settings for each mode to fine-tune your image quality needs, and also manage modes by hiding ones you never use, or adding custom settings that are your go-tos.

For most scenarios, I found the 4K open gate option to be the most versatile. The image quality is solid, and you have the option to reframe the footage to 16:9 or 9:16 later based on your needs — plus it’s less of a drain on the battery than shooting in 8K.

Vlog-style recording is made easy thanks to the front screen, and automatic subject tracking that centers you in the frame — ideal for casual vloggers who constantly find they steadily drift out of shot unless they pay close attention to the camera they’re holding.

The audio quality is decent too, picking up voices and essential sounds, but cutting out wind noise.

Slow mo is also a lot of fun, though as you’ll see in my example video above, raw untuned footage at resolutions lower than 4K can start to look grainier than is ideal — upscaling and/or sharpening the image with editing software is essential to get things to look better.

The larger sensor also helps in low-light conditions, especially with the new Low Light shooting mode. Unsurprisingly, in proper darkness the camera still struggles, but with some illumination remaining the camera performs well in this mode.

(Image credit: Future)

Where I’m less convinced of the Mission 1 Pro’s abilities is when it comes to stills photography, which is a massive shame considering you have the option to add the point-and-shoot grip.

Whenever I tried to take photos I found myself fighting against its lack of autofocus — or even manual focus — and the less-than-ideal zoom quality. The camera has a fixed focus with a minimum focus distance around 60cm — which counts out close-up photography — and an optimal focal distance of about 1.5m. This also means it isn’t focused to infinity, so landscapes will appear a little soft in your shots, especially since the larger sensor has a shallower depth of field than previous GoPros.

In addition, as soon as you zoom in you’ll find the image quality drops a fair amount, although this is to be expected from the digital zoom this camera uses.

The overall quality isn’t terrible, though, and the point-and-shoot grip does offer some useful versatility for video recording beyond the more traditional action camera use-cases.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

FutureFutureFutureFutureTesting Scorecard

Attribute

Notes

Score

Design

With its rugged build and larger display you couldn’t realistically want more from the design of the Mission 1 Pro. My only gripe would be that longtime GoPro fans may be frustrated that they can’t, for now at least, bring all of their lens attachments over to this new camera.

5/5

Performance

The Mission 1 Pro delivers some great-looking video with great audio even without external accessories, and even in low light. I’m skeptical of the camera’s photography credentials, though.

4.5/5

Value

The GoPro Mission 1 boasts a slew of pro-level enhancements, although these do come with a higher price tag.

3/5

Should I buy the GoPro Mission 1 Pro?Buy it if…

You want a professional-quality action camera
With 8K recording and a full suite of settings that you can adjust, the Mission 1 Pro delivers as professional-grade camera more so than its predecessors.

You don’t want to think too much
Like its predecessors, the Mission 1 Pro boasts a selection of preset recording modes that you can fine-tune to suit your video needs. If you want good shots without putting in a lot of thought and effort, the Mission 1 Pro will still help you capture great shots.

You want a small camera that’ll last
With a hardy exterior that can survive high heat, freezing cold, and excursions deep below the water, and roughly two-hour battery life when shooting 4K/30p, the GoPro Mission 1 Pro will be ready when you need it.

Don’t buy it if…

You want to capture high-quality stills
As an action camera the Mission 1 Pro is great, but as a stills camera I found it wanting, even if there is a dedicated point-and-shoot grip accessory.

You’re on a budget
The GoPro Mission 1 Pro is a lot pricier than other action cameras out there, and if you’re a more casual and budget-conscious user the upgrades might not be worth the outlay.View Deal

You want lens options
The Mission 1 Pro doesn’t support the lenses GoPro has previously offered with its action cameras like the Hero 13 Black. For lens variety you’ll want to check out the Mission 1 Pro ILS model when that launches later this year.View Deal

Also consider

GoPro Hero 13 Black
A more budget-friendly option, and, even years after launch, still a solid action camera performer, the GoPro Hero 13 Black doesn’t boast the 8K quality of the Mission 1. However if you’re after something smaller and lighter for more casual use it’s an excellent alternative.

Read our GoPro Hero 13 Black review

DJI Osmo Action 6
If you’re already part of the DJI ecosystem, want tools like wireless Hi-Res audio recording when using a DJI Mic 3, or are just after some frankly excellent battery life, decent waterproofing, and a generous 47GB of built-in storage, this DJI camera could be for you. Just note that its video is capped at 4K resolution.

Read our DJI Osmo Action 6 review

Insta360 Ace Pro 2
If 8K is a must, the best alternative for you is the Insta360 Ace Pro 2. Admittedly it isn’t as capable as the GoPro Mission 1 (the 8K quality doesn’t support the best image stabilization) and overheating is an issue, but the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 is a superb all-rounder.

Read our Insta360 Ace Pro 2 review

How I tested the GoPro Mission 1 Pro

I spent just over a month with the Mission 1 Pro, taking it out on excursions to snap photos and videos to test its capabilities not just as an action camera, but as a point-and-shoot video capture tool — with that latter case aided by the point-and-shoot grip.

If you’re planning to use the GoPro Mission 1 Pro as your vacation camera — aided by its durable design and waterproofness — the grip is super helpful at helping to keep you hands out of frame, and as a pure action camera the GoPro fits the same mounts and accessories as previous models like the Hero 13 Black (save for the lens attachments).

Inspired by shows like Hunted and Jet Lag The Game, a lot of my testing focused on running and vlogging with the action camera to capture my fitness progress and to record personal cuts of games of hide-and-seek across London — passing the camera between my friends so they could record their stints too. They found the GoPro super easy to use, with the smoothing tech and subject tracking ensuring thaty vlogs and action shots look great without requiring constant focus on what the camera is doing — you just press go and it’ll come with you.

First reviewed: July 2026

If you're a small business looking to boost your storage, I've uncovered a top deal on the Ugreen NASync DXP4800 Plus for $657 (was $730) at Amazon. This four-bay NAS system

For a 4-bay NAS that can handle Docker, VMs, 10GbE, and serious creative workflows without approaching Synology or QNAP pricing, the Ugreen NASync DXP4800 Plus makes a compelling case.

In our hands-on tests, we found the hardware was "exceptionally well-considered and powerful." In the UK, Ugreen's NAS system is also discounted to £527 (was £620) at Amazon.

Today's top NAS deal

A 4-bay NAS built around an Intel Pentium Gold 8505 processor — five cores, with the Intel UHD graphics needed for hardware transcoding. 8GB of DDR5 RAM (expandable to 64GB), dual M.2 NVMe slots for caching, a 10GbE port alongside a 2.5GbE port, and a 128GB internal SSD for the OS. Docker and VM support built in. Front-facing SD card reader and USB-C port for direct data offload. 4K HDMI output. Quick-release drive bays, no screws needed for 3.5-inch drives. Supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10. Diskless — add your own drives.

In the UK: now £527 (was £620)View Deal

The Intel Pentium Gold 8505 is the spec that separates the DXP4800 Plus from ARM-based NAS alternatives like the DH2300. It’s an x86 processor, which means it runs Docker containers properly — Jellyfin, Home Assistant, qBittorrent, Nextcloud, and hundreds of other containerized apps all work without compatibility caveats. It also supports virtual machines, letting you run a full Windows or Linux instance inside the NAS if your workflow requires it.

For the broad category of buyers who want a NAS that can also serve as a self-hosted server for home automation, media, or development workloads, x86 matters in a way that ARM simply can’t match.

The 10GbE network port is the other hardware differentiator. Most NAS at this price max out at 2.5GbE; the DXP4800 Plus provides a 10GbE port alongside the 2.5GbE, giving you a genuine multi-gigabit network connection for fast file transfers and 4K network video editing. Camera Jabber’s review found transfer speeds “impressive and stable” even on a 5GbE network, calling it “a superb option for any photographer or videographer looking for a small office or studio NAS system.” For the right setup, 10GbE effectively removes the network as a bottleneck for large file workflows.

The dual M.2 NVMe slots for SSD caching are worth understanding before buying. They don’t add to your storage total — they serve as a fast cache layer that accelerates frequently accessed files, making the mechanical HDD array feel significantly more responsive for mixed read/write workloads. If you’re serving files to a busy household or small office with multiple simultaneous users, adding even modest NVMe SSDs to the cache slots makes a noticeable difference.

UGOS, Ugreen's operating system, has matured considerably since the DXP series launched in 2024. Early criticism centered on missing features and instability; that criticism is now largely outdated. The App Center has grown substantially, Docker is well-integrated, and the web interface is clean and intuitive. The honest caveat is that UGOS is still newer and has a smaller ecosystem of native apps than Synology DSM or QNAP QTS — buyers who rely on specific Synology or QNAP apps that have no UGOS equivalent should verify compatibility before switching. For the most common use cases — file serving, media streaming, cloud sync, backups, Docker containers — UGOS covers everything needed.

For more high-capacity storage solutions, we've tested the best NAS devices and the best NAS hard drives.

Also consider: More Ugreen NASync deals

A compact 2-bay NAS with a quad-core ARM processor, 4GB of DDR4 RAM, and UGOS — Ugreen’s own operating system — pre-installed. Drives go in vertically and click into place with a magnetic lid. There’s a 4K HDMI port for hooking it directly to a display (uncommon at this price), USB-C 3.2 on the front, two USB-A ports on the rear, and a single gigabit Ethernet port. RAID 0, RAID 1, and JBOD support. Diskless — add your own drives. Quiet, efficient, and idle power draw of just 8W.

In the UK: now £177 (was £220)View Deal

The diskless Ugreen NAS DXP6800 Pro features a powerful 10-core Intel Core i5-1235U processor, 8GB of DDR5 RAM, a built-in 128GB system SSD, dual 10GbE networking, and dual M.2 NVMe slots. Designed for demanding creators and professionals, it delivers fast, centralized, and highly expandable storage.

In the UK: now £902View Deal

• Forrester analysts warn around four in five leaders and ITDMs envision having larger budgets in 2027
• Consumption-based AI pricing is making it harder to predict outlay
• Targeted investment to improve data quality is key

Forrester is predicting software budgets could be set to rise, with more than four in five leaders expecting to increase overall budgets over the next 12 months and 82% of tech decision-makers expecting larger budgets.

While some of the extra cash could come as a result of increased confidence and readiness to spend on tech, the company's analysts warn that a shift in pricing structures could also be forcing companies to fork out more.

This comes as software vendors shift from traditional per-seat licences to token or credit pricing, which introduces so many more variables including model selection, context size, output length and agent operating time, leading to far more unpredictable outgoings.

The real reason businesses are preparing to spend more on software

"Business leaders are no longer planning for a return to stability – they’re planning for a future where volatility is a constant,” Chief Research Officer Sharyn Leaver noted.

Recent shifts from major AI providers all point toward this emerging pricing model becoming the norm, with GitHub moving its Copilot plants to usage-based billing in June and OpenAI adding pay-as-you-go Codex seats in April. Anthropic also recently removed Fable 5 from its standard subscriptions and seat-based models over difficult-to-predict demand, but set out plans to reintroduce it where capacity permits.

Acknowledging these major shifts, Forrester's report reveals two areas where companies can increase their budgets for 2027 – building machine-readable context and enterprise knowledge, and increasing brand visibility in answer engines.

The report also hints at the major role AI can play in marketing and customer-facing experiences, and the potential use that synthetic data can provide subject to testing. All in all, it's more about targeting investments rather than throwing cash at the problem, as Leaver concludes:

"The organizations that outperform in 2027 won’t be those that spend the most on AI. They’ll be the ones that invest in the foundations that make AI effective."

• The first full trailer for Lioness season 3 has been released
• Taylor Sheridan's series is set to return to Paramount+ on August 2
•  Zoe Saldaña, Michael Kelly, Morgan Freeman, and Nicole Kidman will all return

We've only spent a few weeks without a new episode of a Taylor Sheridan show to stream, but the first full trailer for Lioness season 3 has been released (which you can catch up with below).

Premiering on Paramount+ on August 2, the core cast, including Zoe Saldaña, Michael Kelly, Morgan Freeman, and Nicole Kidman, is all set to return.

As the official synopsis explains, "Joe (Saldaña) walks the line between duty and home as unseen forces circle her world. Patterns appear where they shouldn’t, names vanish, and paths rearrange.

"Guided by Kaitlyn (Kidman) and Westfield (Kelly), Joe confronts enemies operating in the shadows, leaving her to reckon with a war that now reaches into every part of her life."

While the first teaser trailer already gave us a 60-second insight into what's to come, it's neither Joe's new dilemmas nor the upcoming action that's actually the most impressive part of what's to come.

Opinion: Lioness season 3 retaining its A-List supporting cast speaks volumes about Taylor Sheridan

After the success of Avatar, Lioness is likely Saldaña's most well-known and established project. But for Freeman and Kidman, it's a drop in a much wider ocean.

There's a long-standing joke that Kidman must be the busiest woman working in the industry, as she doesn't seem to go more than a few months without having a new project to promote.

Just this year, that includes Scarpetta, Margo's Got Money Troubles, Lioness season 3, and Practical Magic 2. On top of this, she's just finished filming Scarpetta season 2, and Big Little Lies season 3 is being teased like there's no tomorrow.

Retaining Kidman's involvement at all, let alone how much we're expecting to see her in new episodes, is nothing short of a miracle. The same can be said for Freeman but for different reasons — the man surely doesn't need to work, so project selection becomes picky. He is Morgan Freeman, after all.

Honestly, I'm incredibly impressed that both are returning for Lioness season 3 with seemingly healthy screentime, and that speaks volumes about Taylor Sheridan as a creator. Names like these two will only keep showing up if everything across the board is of the highest quality, from script to on-set experience.

Sheridan is nailing his A-List castings, from Demi Moore in Landman to Michelle Pfeiffer in The Madison. Clearly, there's a good reason why.

• Anthropic has a new 'hard questions' ad for Claude and AI
• Reactions to the short clip have been mixed
• OpenAI boss Sam Altman says the ad feels like satire

Anthropic has a new ad out for its Claude AI chatbot, and it ties into its Hard Questions project — an attempt to bring attention to some of the main concerns and hopes that people have about the future of AI. Will it take my job? Can it lead to new scientific discoveries? Why is there a new data center in my neighborhood?

You can see the short film below, which features voices "from real people" that Anthropic has spoken to. Alongside shots of burning buildings, lab researchers, and racks and racks of hard drives, we have ruminations over whether AI can be trusted and how it might affect communities, education, and what it means to be human.

Anthropic has boldly left the comments enabled on the video, and it's fair to say there's a mix of opinion: various posters have branded the clip as "dystopian marketing slop", a sign of "dark times", and "pretty horrifying". One commenter points out that the final "keep thinking" tagline is a strange choice for a technology that generally makes us think less.

There are plenty of positive opinions too, with some calling the ad "profoundly beautiful", "great", and "thought-provoking", and even "the greatest commercial I've ever seen" in one case. Quite a few YouTuber users in the comments are simply asking for more access to the latest Claude Fable AI model.

Questions and answers

i thought this was satire, kept looking for the handle to be spelled c1audeai or something https://t.co/4AVBA93Z27July 14, 2026

The ad has even caught the attention of Sam Altman, CEO of Anthropic rival OpenAI. His response to the clip was to say that he "thought this was satire", though it's worth remembering that he's not the most neutral of observers. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei was previously vice president of research at OpenAI.

What we can say for sure about the ad is that it's addressing many of the issues that are in the public conversation right now when it comes to AI technology. Anthropic has also launched a Hard Questions web portal where you can listen to some of the conversations the company has had with people across the US.

The topics covered include the use of AI in medical diagnosis, safeguards around the misuse of AI, the resources needed to run data centers, how the technology might impact our critical thinking skills and creativity, which jobs might ultimately be replaced by AI, and what it's going to be like for kids to grow up with AI.

Clearly this debate is going to go on and on across the years to come, but it does feel like the tension has never been greater between the hype and the backlash around AI. Big AI companies like Anthropic are going to have to work hard to keep users and governments on side as the technology becomes even more powerful and pervasive.

Viaim OpenNote: 30-second review

I’ve looked at a fair few of these AI note takers in recent months, and they’re getting progressively more impressive. The Viaim OpenNote takes a slightly different approach to some, like the superb Plaud Note, as in the hardware is designed as a pair of open-ear earphones, essentially the type that hook over your ear with the small speaker unit resting just outside the ear canal, and like so many other earphones of this design, they enable music playback and enable you to make calls.

However, music and calls are only part of the story; they also offer internal recording, making them an ideal option for work and meetings. When you enter the office, simply squeeze the speaker section, and it starts capturing whatever's being said. Once the meeting has finished, the audio can then be sent to the app, where it’s then transcribed and summarised. Unlike some rivals, the recording is activated and stored in the earphones, so no need to use your phone to capture.

In meetings, wearing a set of earphones may well look a bit rude, until you explain, and here’s where the open design really comes into play. As the earphones don’t go into your ear, you can hear everything around you as if the earphones weren’t in. So, throughout the test, I was able to attend meetings, record the session, and afterwards download the transcription for use as key points and action points, and even visualise it using a mind map. In meetings, I found that through the app the “Live Recording” option meant that I could actually take them out of my ear and just leave them on the desk to the same effect.

Where they really came in use was through phone calls, again enabling them to record calls through the App and then deliver the prepared summaries of what had been said and what was needed.

For work, these earphones are exceptional, and I liked that I could work, listen to music and podcasts, talk to people without needing to remove them, and record conversations with a quick squeeze. It all became very second nature with the summaries becoming invaluable. If you love your music, the lack of insulation and isolation in the design will be a bit of a let-down, but for their core use as work-focused, AI-enhanced earphones, they’re impressive.

Viaim OpenNote: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? From $169
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? Directly from Viam and online retailers

The Viaim OpenNote is priced at $169.99 in the US and is available in black or white directly from the Viaim store.

It's also listed for $221 on Amazon.com, as well as sites like Newegg and Target. A confirmed UK price is still to be announced at the time of writing.

Advanced AI models are available from $9.99 a month / $79.99 a year

• Value: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)Viaim OpenNote: Specs

Type: Open-ear wireless earphones
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3, dual-device connection
Codecs: SBC, AAC, device-dependent LHDC
Drivers: high-polymer racetrack-shaped dynamic drivers
Microphones: four, with call noise reduction
Battery: 115mAh per earbud / 750mAh case; 19 hours (earphones) / 53 hours (total with case)
Fast charge: 3 hours from a 10-minute charge
Weight: 10.5g per earbud / 55.5g charging case
Frame: 0.8mm titanium memory wire, silicone contact surfaces
Water resistance: IP55
Software: iOS and Android app, plus web platform
In the box: earphones, charging case, USB-C cable, quick-start guide
Warranty: 12 months
Price: $169.99 (UK price TBC)

Viaim OpenNote: Design

A first look at the OpenNote package, and it would be easy to mistake these for a standard set of over-the-ear open earphones, rather than an advanced set of AI-enhanced note-taking earphones. The design differs from other over-the-ear earphones in that the small speaker unit rests just by the opening of your ear canal rather than sitting in it, which means there’s no airtight seal, so no boost in base or isolation from the world beyond the audio that you’re listening to.

The OpenNote, on the other hand, will play music and podcasts perfectly well, though if you are an audiophile, the depth of tone will disappoint. However, these are for work, not play. Listen to music and podcasts by all means, but the OpenNote design means that if someone talks to you, you’ll hear it instantly. Just turn the volume down, if needed, and chat. They essentially give you a personal version of listening to traditional radio while still allowing you to carry on conversations.

However, the design, available in black or white, simply hooks over your ear, and a 0.8mm flexible titanium wire lets you wrap each in place securely. The slender design and flexibility meant that, even though I wear glasses, the earphones sat neatly alongside the arms of the glasses.

The earphones are also compact, each weighing 10.5g, which is light, and, thanks to the design, even when hooked over the ear, they didn’t put any noticeable pressure on my ear and were surprisingly comfortable to wear all day.

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

Inside is a small battery that lasts a reported 19 hours between charges, and the charging case, which weighs 55g, can give the buds a boost, enabling 3 hours of use from a 10-minute charge and up to 53 hours in total.

Checking over the earphones and case, it all seems solid enough, with the case featuring a single USB-C port for charging, and the earphones sitting inside to store and charge.

The buds also offer IP55 protection, which should stop dust, sweat and light rain, so they’ll survive most conditions, just don’t go swimming in them.

Beyond being used as wireless headphones, the recording and playback features are all activated by a pinch, while the transcription features require the app to work.

• Design: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)Viaim OpenNote: Features

As with all of these devices, Viam has come up with its own feature names for many of the earphones' functions, with the main one being FlashRecord. This is essentially the feature the earphones are designed around, and it enables you to record directly onto the earphones without needing to control them with your mobile phone. This means you can be fast and responsive when you need to take notes, without fumbling around for a phone, dictaphone or notepad, depending on how you work.

Once the recording has been captured, you can connect to the App, download it, and transcribe it. What’s impressive here is that if you’re on a call, you can get real-time transcription in 78 languages and, apparently, 145 regional accents. Once the text transcription is complete, you can get it delivered as a key, an action point, notes, or mind maps, among several templates. This in itself is nothing new, but nonetheless, it is incredibly useful, and if you need to, you can share that transcript live with a colleague.

What I like about the companion app's feature set is that once you’ve finished recording, you can automatically have it transcribed in real time. A difference between this and many other AI Note hardware options is that 600 minutes of transcription are included per month for free, which is far more than most other options.

In addition to transcribing the audio you’ve recorded, the app can also transcribe existing recordings and, again, apply templates to the way that information was supplied.

When it comes to connectivity technology, the earphones utilise Bluetooth 5.3 with dual-device pairing and support for SBC, AAC, and device-dependent LHDC codecs. To ensure excellent audio pickup, there are four microphones with electronic call-noise reduction for voice calls, although it’s worth pointing out that this is very different to the sealed-ear active noise cancellation you’ll be used to with standard in-ear options.

One of the big issues with many AI transcription hardware is that there is always a subscription model attached, and that’s true here as well, with a free allowance of 600 transcription minutes a month; anything beyond that goes onto the paid models and again if you want to upgrade the AI model.

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

• Features: 4 / 5

Viaim OpenNote: Performance

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

After a quick charge to 100%, I downloaded the APP, which, in the literature, is referred to as OpenNote; however, searching for that in the Apple Store just returned a variety of unrelated apps, and eventually typing in Viaim brought up the correct option. Once downloaded and connected via Bluetooth, the home screen appears. To connect, click the add device button at the top. After a quick scan, it’s set and ready to go.

The home screen shows a variety of sample recordings to give you a flavour of what's possible, then you can make your own through the app interface or transcribe existing recordings. To make a recording through the App, you hit the red record button at the bottom-centre of the screen. On the first push, it pops up asking for a few more details about you, what job type and position, this is to fine-tune the experience, but it feels a little invasive.

After that, each time you hit record, you can access different recording types: Call Recording for phone calls; Audio and video recording for real-time transcription; Live recording for meetings; and Live Translation and Recording if you need translation. I opted for English-to-French in this test.

I’ll run through these options first, as they offer more advanced transcription options. In all cases, the quality and accuracy of the transcription from the recordings were good; however, not quite 100%. With some words, such as card constantly being captured as Cart and earbud as Earbi, aside from small word errors, the action reliability overall was good. What I liked about the system was the ease of switching between recording types, all done through the app, with the earbud mics picking up the audio.

Having tested Ai earphone options in the past, the accuracy here with the dedicated hardware is a step up, though still not quite 100%. The live recording, where you can essentially pop the earphones down on the table during a meeting rather than wearing them, worked incredibly well, and the transcription started as the conversation began. What I liked here is that it can identify the speakers although not in realtime. It does this after the meeting: as you look at the transcription, click the “Speaker diarization” button, select the number of speakers, and the App identifies and labels accordingly. Again, this worked well, and best of all, this is included in the free plan.

Through this test the AI model that the App used was GPT 5.4 Nano, although there are other options including Gemini 3 Flash, Claude Haiku 4.5 which are all free options and then GPT 5.4, Gemini 3.1 Pro and Claude Sonnet 4.5 all incur a charge of £9.99 a month or £79.99, however, those slight miss transcriptions of the free models do take a sudden uplift on the paid for versions.

The live translation is also handy, although not quite as smooth as dedicated AI translation options. You choose the main language, in my case English, and as I speak, it translates into French. However, when someone answers in French, you then need to switch the main language to French and the translation language to English. It all works well, but it isn’t an easy switch, and it would have been good, at least, to have a speaker 1 main language and speaker 2 main language so you could quickly flip between the two.

At present, this is all about the app and not the hardware, although the small mics play their part throughout.

Popping the earphones in, they fit extremely well, with the speaker units resting at the openings of my ear canals. The first step before checking out the recording functions was to listen to some music, and in this user scenario, they work much like any other headphone connecting to whatever app you use and playing the music.

It’s instantly apparent that listening to music or podcasts isn’t the intended primary use, more through the open design than audio quality. As the speaker unit rests in front of your ear canal rather than in it, there’s no seal, so the audio lacks the depth I’ve come to associate with in-ear. However, in the office, listening to a bit of music, you can hear the content perfectly well, and everything else that’s going on around you. And if someone wants to talk to you or shout to you across the office, the earphones don’t muffle the sound; it’s a far more sociable solution for the office environment than standard headphones. In fact, it's more like listening to a traditional radio in that respect; you can have the audio in the background.

To record a conversation, simply squeeze the main section of the bud for 3 seconds. You'll hear a confirmation sound, and then you know the earphones are recording. When the conversation stops, another squeeze ends the recording.

In the App options, there is the FlashRecord option. If this is selected, the track is automatically downloaded to the phone once the recording ends, ready for transcription. At this point, you need to go to the app, click Transcribe, and then you’ll get the summary, transcription, and mind map. There are additional options here as well, with the transcription process taking around a minute for most short conversations and longer as the length of those conversations increases. That process takes around a minute to download a 15-minute recording from the earphones to the iPhone 15 Pro and a further 42 seconds to transcribe and generate the summaries.

While most of the options are straightforward, the workflow sometimes requires an additional step, and you can’t help but feel that an auto-switch would be a good idea. When taking calls, for instance, you need to select the call option from the App when recording. While a quick pinch will answer a call, it doesn’t automatically start recording; you need to select that from the app.

However, there’s no getting around how useful the summaries are and the ability to share the transcripts afterwards. Through the test, I used the headphones for a couple of weeks, with them being active through-out the day, playing music or recording from 7:30am through to 7pm in the evening and then being put on to charge overnight.

Through that time, I recorded several conversations and phone calls. While the recording process wasn’t at first that natural, it felt like something that would come with time, and ultimately, aside from letting people know that you were about to record, it fitted in well with day-to-day working life, and there was absolutely no doubt that the transcriptions and summaries were extremely useful.

• Performance: 4.5 / 5

Viaim OpenNote: Final verdict

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

These earphones work on several levels, from listening to music and podcasts, to recording and transcribing meetings, conversations and calls, to being the perfect option for busy working environments where traditional earphones can be unsociable due to the isolation.

On the first point, listening to music, think of it as a background radio, you can get good volume if you need it, but at the same time keep the volume low, and you can hear everything around you , even have conversations without removing them. To the last point, this means that if someone needs to get your attention from the other side of the office, they can. You may not get the audio depth of in-ear or cans, but in a working environment, these are probably a better option.

Then there's the app functionality, which gives you access to the advanced features and different language models. During the test, I used GPT 5.4 nano, which worked well but occasionally omitted a few words or replaced them with close-but-not-quite-right alternatives. However, the summaries and the usefulness of what it could do, all on the free tier, were exceptional. If you take the step up to one of the newer, more advanced models, the price starts to climb, but the quality of the transcription improves.

Away from the app and the simple squeeze to record gesture makes them easy to operate, and if you’re around the office, then this works incredibly well, and I even could in meetings with the earphones on the desk, even without switching to the Live mode in the app, the earphones were still able to pick up what was said with ease.

At the end of the test, the usefulness for work is readily apparent: you can document your day through snippets of transcribed audio, which are then turned into useful formats that enable summaries and action points. I do wish there were a little more automation and that call recording could be activated from the headphones, but still, there’s a lot on offer here.

Should I buy a Viaim OpenNote?

Value

Excellent value for money, especially with the free 600 minutes of monthly transcription

4/5

Design

Surprisingly comfortable to wear and easily fits around glasses if needed

4/5

Features

A little more automation through the modes would be good, but a solid set of features

4.5/5

Performance

Even on the free tier, the transcription quality is good, boosted as soon as you pay for a subscription to a more advanced model

4/5

Overall

Great option for busy professionals who need to take notes from conversations, meetings, and calls.

4/5

Buy it if...

Meetings fill your days.

If you switch between conversations with colleagues, meetings and calls, and need summaries of everything, then this is a superb option with more in-depth analysis available through subscription models.

Open-ear comfort matters

If you don’t like in-ear earphones, these are a great alternative, and their open design means you can hear what’s going on around you, making them a better office option.

Don't buy it if...

Music is important

Without the in-ear seal that earphones offer, music and podcasts lack the audio depth through this open design, so while the audio is good, it won’t satisfy audiophiles.

Consent is a problem.

This is worth considering. The fact is that you will be recording people, and really, you should be seeking consent. During the test, a quick ask was met with agreement, and most people wanted the meeting transcripts anyway.

For more note-taking tools, we reviewed the best speech-to-text apps around.

Viaim OpenNote: 30-second review

I’ve looked at a fair few of these AI note takers in recent months, and they’re getting progressively more impressive. The Viaim OpenNote takes a slightly different approach to some, like the superb Plaud Note, as in the hardware is designed as a pair of open-ear earphones, essentially the type that hook over your ear with the small speaker unit resting just outside the ear canal, and like so many other earphones of this design, they enable music playback and enable you to make calls.

However, music and calls are only part of the story; they also offer internal recording, making them an ideal option for work and meetings. When you enter the office, simply squeeze the speaker section, and it starts capturing whatever's being said. Once the meeting has finished, the audio can then be sent to the app, where it’s then transcribed and summarised. Unlike some rivals, the recording is activated and stored in the earphones, so no need to use your phone to capture.

In meetings, wearing a set of earphones may well look a bit rude, until you explain, and here’s where the open design really comes into play. As the earphones don’t go into your ear, you can hear everything around you as if the earphones weren’t in. So, throughout the test, I was able to attend meetings, record the session, and afterwards download the transcription for use as key points and action points, and even visualise it using a mind map. In meetings, I found that through the app the “Live Recording” option meant that I could actually take them out of my ear and just leave them on the desk to the same effect.

Where they really came in use was through phone calls, again enabling them to record calls through the App and then deliver the prepared summaries of what had been said and what was needed.

For work, these earphones are exceptional, and I liked that I could work, listen to music and podcasts, talk to people without needing to remove them, and record conversations with a quick squeeze. It all became very second nature with the summaries becoming invaluable. If you love your music, the lack of insulation and isolation in the design will be a bit of a let-down, but for their core use as work-focused, AI-enhanced earphones, they’re impressive.

Viaim OpenNote: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? From $169
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? Directly from Viam and online retailers

The Viaim OpenNote is priced at $169.99 in the US and is available in black or white directly from the Viaim store.

It's also listed for $221 on Amazon.com, as well as sites like Newegg and Target. A confirmed UK price is still to be announced at the time of writing.

Advanced AI models are available from $9.99 a month / $79.99 a year

• Value: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)Viaim OpenNote: Specs

Type: Open-ear wireless earphones
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3, dual-device connection
Codecs: SBC, AAC, device-dependent LHDC
Drivers: high-polymer racetrack-shaped dynamic drivers
Microphones: four, with call noise reduction
Battery: 115mAh per earbud / 750mAh case; 19 hours (earphones) / 53 hours (total with case)
Fast charge: 3 hours from a 10-minute charge
Weight: 10.5g per earbud / 55.5g charging case
Frame: 0.8mm titanium memory wire, silicone contact surfaces
Water resistance: IP55
Software: iOS and Android app, plus web platform
In the box: earphones, charging case, USB-C cable, quick-start guide
Warranty: 12 months
Price: $169.99 (UK price TBC)

Viaim OpenNote: Design

A first look at the OpenNote package, and it would be easy to mistake these for a standard set of over-the-ear open earphones, rather than an advanced set of AI-enhanced note-taking earphones. The design differs from other over-the-ear earphones in that the small speaker unit rests just by the opening of your ear canal rather than sitting in it, which means there’s no airtight seal, so no boost in base or isolation from the world beyond the audio that you’re listening to.

The OpenNote, on the other hand, will play music and podcasts perfectly well, though if you are an audiophile, the depth of tone will disappoint. However, these are for work, not play. Listen to music and podcasts by all means, but the OpenNote design means that if someone talks to you, you’ll hear it instantly. Just turn the volume down, if needed, and chat. They essentially give you a personal version of listening to traditional radio while still allowing you to carry on conversations.

However, the design, available in black or white, simply hooks over your ear, and a 0.8mm flexible titanium wire lets you wrap each in place securely. The slender design and flexibility meant that, even though I wear glasses, the earphones sat neatly alongside the arms of the glasses.

The earphones are also compact, each weighing 10.5g, which is light, and, thanks to the design, even when hooked over the ear, they didn’t put any noticeable pressure on my ear and were surprisingly comfortable to wear all day.

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

Inside is a small battery that lasts a reported 19 hours between charges, and the charging case, which weighs 55g, can give the buds a boost, enabling 3 hours of use from a 10-minute charge and up to 53 hours in total.

Checking over the earphones and case, it all seems solid enough, with the case featuring a single USB-C port for charging, and the earphones sitting inside to store and charge.

The buds also offer IP55 protection, which should stop dust, sweat and light rain, so they’ll survive most conditions, just don’t go swimming in them.

Beyond being used as wireless headphones, the recording and playback features are all activated by a pinch, while the transcription features require the app to work.

• Design: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)Viaim OpenNote: Features

As with all of these devices, Viam has come up with its own feature names for many of the earphones' functions, with the main one being FlashRecord. This is essentially the feature the earphones are designed around, and it enables you to record directly onto the earphones without needing to control them with your mobile phone. This means you can be fast and responsive when you need to take notes, without fumbling around for a phone, dictaphone or notepad, depending on how you work.

Once the recording has been captured, you can connect to the App, download it, and transcribe it. What’s impressive here is that if you’re on a call, you can get real-time transcription in 78 languages and, apparently, 145 regional accents. Once the text transcription is complete, you can get it delivered as a key, an action point, notes, or mind maps, among several templates. This in itself is nothing new, but nonetheless, it is incredibly useful, and if you need to, you can share that transcript live with a colleague.

What I like about the companion app's feature set is that once you’ve finished recording, you can automatically have it transcribed in real time. A difference between this and many other AI Note hardware options is that 600 minutes of transcription are included per month for free, which is far more than most other options.

In addition to transcribing the audio you’ve recorded, the app can also transcribe existing recordings and, again, apply templates to the way that information was supplied.

When it comes to connectivity technology, the earphones utilise Bluetooth 5.3 with dual-device pairing and support for SBC, AAC, and device-dependent LHDC codecs. To ensure excellent audio pickup, there are four microphones with electronic call-noise reduction for voice calls, although it’s worth pointing out that this is very different to the sealed-ear active noise cancellation you’ll be used to with standard in-ear options.

One of the big issues with many AI transcription hardware is that there is always a subscription model attached, and that’s true here as well, with a free allowance of 600 transcription minutes a month; anything beyond that goes onto the paid models and again if you want to upgrade the AI model.

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

• Features: 4 / 5

Viaim OpenNote: Performance

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

After a quick charge to 100%, I downloaded the APP, which, in the literature, is referred to as OpenNote; however, searching for that in the Apple Store just returned a variety of unrelated apps, and eventually typing in Viaim brought up the correct option. Once downloaded and connected via Bluetooth, the home screen appears. To connect, click the add device button at the top. After a quick scan, it’s set and ready to go.

The home screen shows a variety of sample recordings to give you a flavour of what's possible, then you can make your own through the app interface or transcribe existing recordings. To make a recording through the App, you hit the red record button at the bottom-centre of the screen. On the first push, it pops up asking for a few more details about you, what job type and position, this is to fine-tune the experience, but it feels a little invasive.

After that, each time you hit record, you can access different recording types: Call Recording for phone calls; Audio and video recording for real-time transcription; Live recording for meetings; and Live Translation and Recording if you need translation. I opted for English-to-French in this test.

I’ll run through these options first, as they offer more advanced transcription options. In all cases, the quality and accuracy of the transcription from the recordings were good; however, not quite 100%. With some words, such as card constantly being captured as Cart and earbud as Earbi, aside from small word errors, the action reliability overall was good. What I liked about the system was the ease of switching between recording types, all done through the app, with the earbud mics picking up the audio.

Having tested Ai earphone options in the past, the accuracy here with the dedicated hardware is a step up, though still not quite 100%. The live recording, where you can essentially pop the earphones down on the table during a meeting rather than wearing them, worked incredibly well, and the transcription started as the conversation began. What I liked here is that it can identify the speakers although not in realtime. It does this after the meeting: as you look at the transcription, click the “Speaker diarization” button, select the number of speakers, and the App identifies and labels accordingly. Again, this worked well, and best of all, this is included in the free plan.

Through this test the AI model that the App used was GPT 5.4 Nano, although there are other options including Gemini 3 Flash, Claude Haiku 4.5 which are all free options and then GPT 5.4, Gemini 3.1 Pro and Claude Sonnet 4.5 all incur a charge of £9.99 a month or £79.99, however, those slight miss transcriptions of the free models do take a sudden uplift on the paid for versions.

The live translation is also handy, although not quite as smooth as dedicated AI translation options. You choose the main language, in my case English, and as I speak, it translates into French. However, when someone answers in French, you then need to switch the main language to French and the translation language to English. It all works well, but it isn’t an easy switch, and it would have been good, at least, to have a speaker 1 main language and speaker 2 main language so you could quickly flip between the two.

At present, this is all about the app and not the hardware, although the small mics play their part throughout.

Popping the earphones in, they fit extremely well, with the speaker units resting at the openings of my ear canals. The first step before checking out the recording functions was to listen to some music, and in this user scenario, they work much like any other headphone connecting to whatever app you use and playing the music.

It’s instantly apparent that listening to music or podcasts isn’t the intended primary use, more through the open design than audio quality. As the speaker unit rests in front of your ear canal rather than in it, there’s no seal, so the audio lacks the depth I’ve come to associate with in-ear. However, in the office, listening to a bit of music, you can hear the content perfectly well, and everything else that’s going on around you. And if someone wants to talk to you or shout to you across the office, the earphones don’t muffle the sound; it’s a far more sociable solution for the office environment than standard headphones. In fact, it's more like listening to a traditional radio in that respect; you can have the audio in the background.

To record a conversation, simply squeeze the main section of the bud for 3 seconds. You'll hear a confirmation sound, and then you know the earphones are recording. When the conversation stops, another squeeze ends the recording.

In the App options, there is the FlashRecord option. If this is selected, the track is automatically downloaded to the phone once the recording ends, ready for transcription. At this point, you need to go to the app, click Transcribe, and then you’ll get the summary, transcription, and mind map. There are additional options here as well, with the transcription process taking around a minute for most short conversations and longer as the length of those conversations increases. That process takes around a minute to download a 15-minute recording from the earphones to the iPhone 15 Pro and a further 42 seconds to transcribe and generate the summaries.

While most of the options are straightforward, the workflow sometimes requires an additional step, and you can’t help but feel that an auto-switch would be a good idea. When taking calls, for instance, you need to select the call option from the App when recording. While a quick pinch will answer a call, it doesn’t automatically start recording; you need to select that from the app.

However, there’s no getting around how useful the summaries are and the ability to share the transcripts afterwards. Through the test, I used the headphones for a couple of weeks, with them being active through-out the day, playing music or recording from 7:30am through to 7pm in the evening and then being put on to charge overnight.

Through that time, I recorded several conversations and phone calls. While the recording process wasn’t at first that natural, it felt like something that would come with time, and ultimately, aside from letting people know that you were about to record, it fitted in well with day-to-day working life, and there was absolutely no doubt that the transcriptions and summaries were extremely useful.

• Performance: 4.5 / 5

Viaim OpenNote: Final verdict

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

These earphones work on several levels, from listening to music and podcasts, to recording and transcribing meetings, conversations and calls, to being the perfect option for busy working environments where traditional earphones can be unsociable due to the isolation.

On the first point, listening to music, think of it as a background radio, you can get good volume if you need it, but at the same time keep the volume low, and you can hear everything around you , even have conversations without removing them. To the last point, this means that if someone needs to get your attention from the other side of the office, they can. You may not get the audio depth of in-ear or cans, but in a working environment, these are probably a better option.

Then there's the app functionality, which gives you access to the advanced features and different language models. During the test, I used GPT 5.4 nano, which worked well but occasionally omitted a few words or replaced them with close-but-not-quite-right alternatives. However, the summaries and the usefulness of what it could do, all on the free tier, were exceptional. If you take the step up to one of the newer, more advanced models, the price starts to climb, but the quality of the transcription improves.

Away from the app and the simple squeeze to record gesture makes them easy to operate, and if you’re around the office, then this works incredibly well, and I even could in meetings with the earphones on the desk, even without switching to the Live mode in the app, the earphones were still able to pick up what was said with ease.

At the end of the test, the usefulness for work is readily apparent: you can document your day through snippets of transcribed audio, which are then turned into useful formats that enable summaries and action points. I do wish there were a little more automation and that call recording could be activated from the headphones, but still, there’s a lot on offer here.

Should I buy a Viaim OpenNote?

Value

Excellent value for money, especially with the free 600 minutes of monthly transcription

4/5

Design

Surprisingly comfortable to wear and easily fits around glasses if needed

4/5

Features

A little more automation through the modes would be good, but a solid set of features

4.5/5

Performance

Even on the free tier, the transcription quality is good, boosted as soon as you pay for a subscription to a more advanced model

4/5

Overall

Great option for busy professionals who need to take notes from conversations, meetings, and calls.

4/5

Buy it if...

Meetings fill your days.

If you switch between conversations with colleagues, meetings and calls, and need summaries of everything, then this is a superb option with more in-depth analysis available through subscription models.

Open-ear comfort matters

If you don’t like in-ear earphones, these are a great alternative, and their open design means you can hear what’s going on around you, making them a better office option.

Don't buy it if...

Music is important

Without the in-ear seal that earphones offer, music and podcasts lack the audio depth through this open design, so while the audio is good, it won’t satisfy audiophiles.

Consent is a problem.

This is worth considering. The fact is that you will be recording people, and really, you should be seeking consent. During the test, a quick ask was met with agreement, and most people wanted the meeting transcripts anyway.

For more note-taking tools, we reviewed the best speech-to-text apps around.

Ah, so that's why we didn't hear about ChatGPT at WWDC this year.

• Richard Knight, director of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, has explained why hidden blade combat was removed from the remake
• He says the team "prioritized core combat"
• Knight adds that the team is also monitoring player feedback but "can't make any promises"

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced director Richard Knight has explained why the newly released remake of the 2013 game doesn't feature the original's hidden blade combat.

Black Flag Resynced is built from the ground up and features very little of the original code, but offers a faithful recreation that honors the original story, characters, and world. Many aspects have been changed to modernize the decade-plus-old game, including a revamp of the fight system, which notably does without Edward Kenway's hidden blade combat, which allowed the assassin to take down multiple enemies in a swift chain-kill.

In an interview with YouTuber JorRaptor (via IGN), Knight revealed why the team chose to scrap the feature, explaining that it wasn't a priority.

"During development, if you looked at Edward — he's so powerful right now and has so many tools, and so we prioritized core combat because we needed to nail that," he said.

"Something like throwing weapons, while it's cool, it's just like, 'He already has ten ways to kill somebody.' So, given the cost to reinvent the feature and rebuild it from the ground up with today's characters, rigs, and animations, there's a lot more that goes into it. It was just lower-priority for us."

Edward's hidden blade combat was a pretty cool feature of the original game, so understandably, a lot of fans were a bit miffed to discover the remaster ditched it.

However, additional comments from the director suggest that the development team could make some changes in the future.

"We can't make any promises, [but] we're listening to the community," Knight said. "We're interested in what people want the most.”

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is now available on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC.

TechRadar Gaming's Managing Editor Rob Dwiar rated the game four stars in his review, calling it "a great remake of a classic game and does a great job of walking the tightrope between respecting the original source material and introducing new content and modernizing aged features."

The WatchOS 27 public beta is here, and Apple's revamped assistant finally does what Siri should have been doing all along.

• Apple has ended a popular loophole used when buying an iPhone
• It previously let you get an unlocked iPhone on carrier finance
• The workaround still works when purchasing an iPad

For many years, there’s been something of an open secret among Apple fans who want to get a new, fully unlocked iPhone deal with affordable carrier financing. Now, though, Apple has ended this workaround, much to the dismay of the Apple userbase — but there’s better news if you’re thinking of getting an iPad on finance.

The iPhone loophole worked like this. While buying an iPhone on finance from a carrier usually meant it was locked to that provider, buying the same device straight from Apple’s website — even when using carrier financing — got you an unlocked phone.

This applied to both T-Mobile and Verizon contracts, although AT&T users were still locked to their carrier. It meant that you could get the benefit of a generous financing offer or trade-in deal without having to stick with one carrier until your device was paid off.

Now, Apple has changed its terms. In the Frequently Asked Questions section on any iPhone purchase page, Apple has inserted some new language: “If you choose to finance an iPhone through the AT&T Installment Plan, T-Mobile Equipment Installment Plan, or Verizon Device Payment Program, your iPhone will be locked to the carrier until paid in full.”

The change hasn’t gone down well with Apple users, who have been lamenting the more restrictive practices that are now in force. On Reddit, comments have ranged from “no idea why carrier locking is still legal,” while another posted commented that the situation is “sad, I was buying phones this way since 2022.”

This situation is not present in every country. Since December 2021 in the UK, regulators have prohibited mobile networks from selling new handsets that are locked to their network. Go to Apple’s UK online store and you won’t see the wording about an iPhone being locked or unlocked.

Better news for iPad buyers

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

If you’re still interested in getting an Apple device on finance, there’s another option, as Apple has just introduced a 36-month option when buying any of the best iPads equipped with Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity direct from Apple. This offer appears at checkout on Apple’s website and is available for the iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air and iPad Pro.

While Apple offers interest-free financing using Apple Card, that spreads the cost over 12 months. The 36-month option means your monthly repayments will be lower, although you also have to factor in the additional cost of cellular service and any extras like an activation fee.

Your current options are AT&T or Verizon. Interestingly, though, you won’t be locked to the carrier while the repayment period is ongoing, as Apple says “You can switch carriers when you purchase an iPad directly from Apple and choose carrier financing as your payment option.” That makes this iPad deal very similar to the recently shuttered iPhone workaround, and it’s unknown if or when Apple will end this loophole.

Aside from Apple, you can also buy an iPad with a 36-month financing plan from carriers. And as noted by AppleInsider, this sometimes involves bill credit or other offers that lower the cost of the iPad, meaning you could get a better deal by not going through Apple itself — although doing so likely means you’ll be locked into using that carrier, rather than being free to switch when buying from Apple. As ever with this sort of thing, shop around to see if you can get a bargain.