ESPN finally ditches cable with new $30 streaming plan launching this fall
Wow… it’s actually happening. ESPN has officially announced that, for the first time ever, fans will be able to subscribe directly to its full lineup of live sports and studio shows. In other words, there will be no cable or satellite provider required! The direct-to-consumer service is simply being called “ESPN,” and honestly, I’m pretty excited about it. That said, the pricing might make some fans do a double take.
Currently slated to launch in early fall, the new ESPN app will offer two subscription tiers. The top-tier option, ESPN unlimited, will cost $29.99 per month and includes everything: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN on ABC, and more. It also folds in ESPN+, ESPN3, SECN+, ACCNX, thousands of on-demand replays, and original content like 30 for 30. That’s around 47,000 live events every year. Still, thirty bucks a month isn’t exactly pocket change.
Why conventional disaster recovery won’t save you from ransomware
The conventional formula for maintaining business continuity in the face of unexpected IT disruptions is as follows: Back up your data. Make a recovery plan. Test the recovery plan periodically.
That approach may work well enough if your primary concern is defending against risks like server failures or data center outages caused by natural disasters. But in the present age of widespread ransomware attacks, conventional backup and recovery planning aren’t always enough.
From fixing systems to driving strategy: The new CIO
There is no single path to becoming a successful Chief Information Officer (CIO), but these days, the best ones go beyond technology.
Modern CIOs are not just IT experts, they are strategic leaders shaping their company’s futures. Their role has evolved from managing systems and troubleshooting issues to driving strategy, innovation and leadership.
Plugable UD-7400PD dock supports up to five displays
Plugable is back with a new docking station, and this one is sort of unique. You see, the UD-7400PD supports up to five connected monitors at once -- four running at 4K resolution and a fifth capable of going all the way up to 8K!
Built on the new DisplayLink DL-7400 chipset from Synaptics, this dock also provides up to 140W of Power Delivery, which should be enough for most high-performance laptops. It’s compatible with both Windows and macOS, so it can fit into just about any office environment.
Digital accessibility a priority ahead of new European law
With the European Accessibility Act (EAA) due to come into force next month, 84 percent of respondents to a new study say that digital accessibility is a priority for their company.
The EAA aims to make technology products and services easier to use for people with disabilities. The study, from quality and testing specialist Applause, shows 94 percent of organizations are preparing for the EAA by the June 28, 2025 deadline.
Finally a controller for women: PowerA releases floral Night Blossom for Xbox
Spring has sprung, and with it comes a new Xbox controller. PowerA has officially launched the Advantage Plus Wired Controller -- Night Blossom for Xbox Series X|S, and it’s clearly designed for the ladies. Covered in soft pinks and purples with floral accents, the controller looks more like a woman’s spring fashion accessory than a traditional piece of gaming hardware.
But make no mistake -- this isn’t just a pretty face. PowerA packed plenty of substance into this feminine shell. It includes the company’s Quick-Twist Thumbsticks, which let you change the stick height instantly. No tools, no swapping pieces -- just twist and choose between three height settings. It’s a clever feature, especially for the girls who switch playstyles between games.
Apple shows love for disabled users with accessibility upgrades across all devices
Apple is expanding its accessibility efforts in a very big way. You see, the company just announced a collection of new accessibility features coming later this year, and they’re designed to improve the experience for handicapped users across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro.
One of the most interesting changes is the launch of Accessibility Nutrition Labels on the App Store. These new labels will give users key details about an app’s accessibility features before downloading. That includes VoiceOver support, color contrast, captions, and more.
AppSec is critical to software purchasing decisions
A new survey of 200 chief information security officers (CISOs) from across diverse industries and regions finds that 49 percent of CISOs say buyers now factor application security (AppSec) into their purchasing decisions.
The study from Checkmarx shows 24 percent say that application security is 'always' a factor in those decisions. This trend is most pronounced in Europe, where 58 percent of respondents report that security is always a factor, compared to 33 percent in the Asia Pacific region and only eight percent in North America.
Ransomware attacks up over 120 percent in two years
Between April 2024 and March 2025, ransomware attacks escalated with unpredictable campaigns across a wide range of industries. The number of publicly disclosed victims also saw a 24 percent increase from the previous year.
A new report from Black Kite shows this follows a steep rise in the previous period with an 81 percent surge, amounting to a 123 percent increase over two years. Ransomware was responsible for 67 percent of known third-party breaches.
Security awareness training programs fall short of business needs
Although 99 percent of organizations responding to a new survey suffered a security incident tied to human error in the past year, the majority state that they struggle to implement effective, scalable security awareness training (SAT) programs that reduce this risk.
The study from Abnormal AI of over 300 security and IT leaders in the US and UK finds that SAT is widely adopted, with 75 percent of organizations requiring employees to complete training at least quarterly.
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.
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