Paint the whole world with a rainbow: Google rolls out new icon design
The Google logo is iconic -- as, indeed, are its icons. Every so often, though, there is an update, a refresh… normally to great fanfare.
But this time around things are a little different. Google has very quietly rolled out a new icon for its search app and has made no fuss about it at all. All of the familiar design aspects are present, but now there is a rainbow gradient.
Cooler Master Hyper 612 APEX is a sleek and powerful CPU cooler
It’s pretty hard to get excited about a CPU coolers nowadays, but a new offering from Cooler Master has actually piqued my interest. You see, the company has officially launched the Hyper 612 APEX, and this cooler should please both performance enthusiasts and style-conscious builders. In other words, this new air cooler doesn’t just do its job well -- it looks good doing it too.
The Hyper 612 APEX is built around six superconductive composite heat pipes that Cooler Master developed in-house. These heat pipes are designed to handle heavy thermal loads, making this cooler a solid pick for overclockers, gamers, and creators who routinely push their hardware. Pair that with the Mobius 120P fan (engineered for high-pressure airflow with minimal noise) and you’ve got yourself a dependable and efficient cooler.
TCL K32 brings Android 15 and 5G to Metro by T-Mobile
If you’re looking for a new Android smartphone and don’t want to break the bank, TCL might have just the thing you need. You see, the company has released its new K32 smartphone, and it’s already available from Metro by T-Mobile here. Impressively, it costs only $119.99 and still manages to bring 5G speeds and Android 15 to the table. Wow!
The K32 features a roomy 6.75-inch HD+ NXTVISION display, which means you get decent visuals for things like YouTube, social media, and video chats. It isn’t going to rival a flagship phone, of course, but for this price point, it’s pretty impressive. Around back, there’s a 13MP hybrid camera that handles casual photos, while the front-facing 5MP shooter should be fine for selfies and video calls.
Kingston Fury Renegade G5 PCIe 5.0 SSD pushes performance with up to 14800MB/s read speeds
Today, Kingston launches its new Fury Renegade G5 PCIe 5.0 NVMe solid state drive. This high-speed SSD is designed to eliminate bottlenecks with some of the fastest read and write speeds currently available to consumers. Seriously, folks, this drive is insanely fast.
The drive is powered by a Silicon Motion SM2508 controller and paired with 3D TLC NAND and low-power DDR4 DRAM cache. The Fury Renegade G5 delivers sequential read speeds of up to 14,800MB/s and write speeds up to 14,000MB/s. Random performance is equally impressive, with up to 2.2 million IOPS for both reads and writes depending on the capacity.
How ransomware became big business
On today's International Anti-Ransomware Day, cybersecurity company SentinelOne has publishes a blog looking at on how ransomware has evolved over the past 10 years.
It highlights how Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) has matured into a scalable, profit-driven model, with revenue-sharing, affiliate recruitment, and performance incentives fuelling rapid expansion across the cybercrime ecosystem.
Microsoft continues to foist Copilot on Windows 11 users by adding it to the context menu
Loved, loathed, feared, viewed with suspicion -- all valid reactions to the existence of Microsoft's Copilot. The AI-powered assistant has proved hard to avoid thanks to the company's crazed promotion of its latest baby, and now things are being ratcheted up a notch.
Microsoft latest attempt to get people to use the Copilot app is to add a new shortcut to the context menu. Right click on a file in Windows 11 and you'll be presented with an Ask Copilot link so you can subject your documents to artificial intelligence.
AI agents -- how do you get from raw data to meaningful action? [Q&A]
AI agents are here to stay, but there are still some major privacy and data concerns that need to be addressed before the tech goes mainstream.
That's because AI agents are only as good as their data, and right now, that data is fragmented, unsecured, and often unreliable.
Microsoft is boosting privacy in Teams after the death of Skype
With the shutdown of Skype, attention now turns to Microsoft Teams -- something that is true both for ex-Skype users and the company behind the two communication platforms. With Teams now seeing an influx of newcomers, there has never been a better time for Microsoft to show that it is serious about the Skype replacement.
And an upcoming feature will prevent meeting participants from capturing screenshots. This is privacy feature is set to debut in the coming weeks and will be welcomed by businesses.
Donald Trump secures China trade deal that may ease smartphone and PC prices
President Trump just pulled off what might be one of the biggest wins of his second term, and it could have major implications for the tech world. After some high-stakes negotiations in Geneva, the United States and China have struck a trade deal that could reshape the global electronics industry. While the full details should be revealed tomorrow, what we know today already has industry insiders buzzing.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer both confirmed that meaningful progress was made, thanks in part to the productive setting provided by the Swiss. But let’s not kid ourselves; this deal wasn’t born in the Alps.
Nintendo says your Switch 2 isn’t really yours even if you paid for it
The new Nintendo Switch 2 is almost here. Next month, eager fans will finally be able to get their hands on the highly anticipated follow-up to the wildly popular hybrid console. But before you line up (or frantically refresh your browser for a preorder), you might want to read the fine print, because Nintendo might be able to kill your console.
Yes, really. That’s not just speculation, folks. According to its newly updated user agreement, Nintendo has granted itself the right to make your Switch 2 “permanently unusable” if you break certain rules. Yes, the company might literally brick your device.
TCL 50 XL NXTPAPER 5G comes to Verizon and Total Wireless for just $99
TCL is back again with yet another affordable Android device, and this one will make your eyes thank you. The 50 XL NXTPAPER 5G is now officially available through Verizon and Total Wireless, giving more people access to what TCL is calling its most eye-comfortable smartphone yet. If the name sounds familiar, it technically launched already -- on Boost Mobile back in April.
This isn’t your typical budget phone. TCL has loaded it with a 6.8-inch FHD+ NXTPAPER 3.0 screen that cuts down on glare and blocks up to 61 percent of harmful blue light. What makes it stand out, though, is that it still keeps the colors punchy and the screen crisp. For folks who binge videos or spend hours reading, this phone aims to be easier on the eyes without going full e-ink.
Best Windows apps this week
Six-hundred-forty-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.
Windows 11, version 24H2 is now officially available for everyone, according to Microsoft. Some devices may still be blocked from installing the upgrade, as known issues may prevent the installation still.
Cybersecurity readiness stays low as AI attacks increase
Only four percent of organizations worldwide have achieved the 'mature' level of readiness required to effectively withstand today's cybersecurity threats, even as hyperconnectivity and AI introduce new complexities for security practitioners.
The latest Cybersecurity Readiness Index from Cisco shows 86 percent of organizations faced AI-related security incidents last year. However, only 49 percent of respondents are confident their employees fully understand AI related threats, and 48 percent believe their teams fully grasp how malicious actors are using AI to execute sophisticated attacks.
From cloud rush to cloud strategy: The next wave of migrations
Over the past decade, enterprises have raced to adopt the cloud, often through "lift-and-shift" strategies built for speed rather than optimization. Cloud-first mandates swept across industries, especially in finance, retail, and healthcare, as organizations scrambled to modernize.
These early migrations often preserved legacy inefficiencies, resulting in bloated spend and limited performance gains.
Why using AI as a replacement for junior developer talent is a mistake [Q&A]
By 2026 it's estimated the IT skills shortage will affect nine out of 10 organizations, an issue that will only be exacerbated by the growing 'silver tsunami' of seasoned professionals retiring from the industry.
This shortage presents a challenge to almost every organization, especially as IT professionals are being asked to usher their company into the digital age and incorporate new technology into existing workflows.
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