Microsoft’s stock price has risen so much today that it has passed a $4 trillion market valuation for the first time in its 50-year history. The software maker is the second company to be valued at $4 trillion, after Nvidia reached a market cap of over $4 trillion earlier this month.

Microsoft has reached this milestone thanks to better-than-expected earnings, and the company reporting its Azure revenue for the first time. Microsoft revealed last night that its Azure cloud computing business had generated more than $75 billion during its 2025 fiscal year, and the company’s stock price immediately started soaring in after-hours trading on the Nasdaq. Microsoft’s share price is up around 4 percent today, helping it maintain its $4 trillion market valuation.

Microsoft has spent more than a decade building up its Azure cloud business, which is ahead of Google’s in revenue but still second place to Amazon Web Services. Azure now touches every corner of Microsoft’s businesses, including powering its AI projects, its Office software, parts of Windows, Xbox, and more.

Microsoft’s investment in cloud computing has positioned it well to take advantage of the computing needs for the future of AI, too. Earlier this year there were plenty of questions over the $100 billion investment into The Stargate Project, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was quick to defend the company’s own $80 billion spend on cloud and AI data center projects. “All I know is, I’m good for my $80 billion,” said Nadella at the time.

Microsoft CFO Amy Hood revealed yesterday that Microsoft is now planning to spend $30 billion on its AI infrastructure investments in the next quarter. If Microsoft keeps up that level of spending then the company will total $120 billion or more on cloud and AI infrastructure over the next fiscal year.

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Posted Friday 1 August 2025 at 4:18 am AEST (my time).

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These figures are based on the consolidated financial statements that have been shared before the external review is completed, so some parts could change once it’s done. The worsening of performance doesn’t seem to be a Samsung issue, but rather a wider industry issue as Intel and LG Electronics have also seen poorer results in the second quarter.

The Device Solutions (DS) division, which includes Memory and System LSI/Foundry, saw a big fall in operating profits to KRW 0.4 trillion in 2Q25 from KRW 6.5 trillion in 2Q24 and KRW 1.1 trillion in 1Q25. Despite an 11% increase in sales quarter-over-quarter for the Device Solutions division, profits were severely affected by one-off costs such as inventory value adjustments.

The company said that its Foundry earnings were weak due to inventory value adjustments arising from US export restrictions on advanced AI chips to China and prolonged low utilization at mature nodes.

Samsung’s Mobile eXperience (MX/NW) division maintained double-digit profitability and grew both its revenue and operating profit year-over-year. The Samsung Display Corporation (SDC) saw revenue increase from new smartphone models and growth in IT/Auto segments, and Harman also improved profitability with increased audio sales and cost optimizations.

On the flipside, smartphone shipments fell compared to the first quarter when new models were released. However, good sales of the S25 series, A series, and tablets contributed to year-over-year growth. The Visual Display (VD) division saw earnings decline due to intensified competition despite improved premium sales mix.

Going forward, Samsung wants to focus on improving Exynos competitiveness for its 2026 flagship lineup and expand sales of advanced sensors. It also said that its Foundry business will ramp up mass production of a new mobile System-on-Chip (SoC) with the GAA 2nm processor and improve factory utilization.

The Mobile eXperience division is also looking to achieve solid profitability by reinforcing AI In tablets and wearables. It’s also planning to launch new form-factor products like XR and TriFold.

With US trade tariffs not expected to go anywhere in the near future, Samsung has acknowledged that its Harman and Visual Display/Digital Appliances divisions will be under added pressure but plans to mitigate the impact through its global manufacturing footprint.

Source: Samsung | Image via Depositphotos.com

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Posted Thursday 31 July 2025 at 6:27 pm AEST (my time).

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Overall, Microsoft reported a revenue of $76.4 billion in the latest quarter, which is a year-over-year increase of 18% compared to the $64.7 billion reported last time. Operating income grew by 23% to $34.3 billion and net income stood at $27.2 billion, which is also up by 24%. As such, the diluted earnings per share this time around was $3.65, which is also an increase of 24%.

As usual, the drivers behind this growth were primarily Microsoft 365 products and Azure, but other categories grew too. The Productivity and Business Processes revenue grew by 16% to $33.1 billion, fueled by boosts to Microsoft 365 commercial and consumer products, as well as LinkedIn and Dynamics 365. Intelligent Cloud revenue stood strong at $29.9 billion, with Azure recording an increase of 27%. Finally, the More Personal Computing category saw Windows OEM and devices revenue increase by 3%, Xbox services jump by 13%, and Search and news advertising grow by 21%, combining to result in $13.5 billion in revenue, which reflects a respectable growth of 9%

CEO Satya Nadella attributed the company's financial growth to cloud and AI services too, noting that:

Cloud and AI is the driving force of business transformation across every industry and sector. We’re innovating across the tech stack to help customers adapt and grow in this new era, and this year, Azure surpassed $75 billion in revenue, up 34 percent, driven by growth across all workloads.

All of this translates to a very strong fiscal year 2025 (FY25), where Microsoft recorded a revenue of $281.7 billion (+9% compared to FY24) throughout the year. Operating income was $128.5 billion (+17%), net income was a massive $101.8 billion (+16%), and diluted earnings per share stood at $13.64 (+16%).

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Posted Thursday 31 July 2025 at 12:19 pm AEST (my time).

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Microsoft launched a 5G version of its Surface Laptop a few days ago, but prior to that, it also released a smaller, more affordable device in this series back in May. Surface devices are typically considered premium products because of their hefty price tags and build quality, so they don't really do crazy numbers in terms of sales. As such, it is surprising that Microsoft has quietly released a new Surface Laptop that will appeal to an even smaller audience.

News outlet Mashable has spotted the Surface Laptop - Smurface Edition (ugh) on Amazon U.S. As you may have guessed from the name, this product is a result of a collaboration effort with the new Smurfs movie that came out this month and sports an abysmal 4.3/10 rating on IMDb right now. Nice one, Microsoft.

In terms of what this special edition Surface Laptop entails, the internals are exactly the same as the affordable Surface Laptop that came out in May. But in addition to that, you get laser-printed Smurf characters on the lid of the laptop, along with a blue Surface logo. That's all there is to it.

The rest of the specifications are the same as the May variant with 512GB storage. It is a Copilot+ PC, so you do get a 45 TOPS NPU for AI-powered experiences in Windows 11. It is important to note that the processor isn't particularly powerful since it's a Snapdragon X Plus, but that also means that you do get better battery life. In addition, the display is 1920x1080 @60Hz, and it hosts 16GB of RAM and 512GB of UFS storage rather than SSD.

It's difficult to figure out who this device is marketed to, considering Microsoft seemingly didn't even announce it publicly, to our knowledge. You really have to love the Smurfs or their latest movie along with Microsoft's Surface hardware to even consider dropping $999 for this limited-edition piece. Speaking of which, there are only 100 units available and it's an Amazon exclusive, so if you fit the niche audience described above, head over to the store page below to purchase the latest Surface Laptop.

Surface Laptop - Smurface Edition (512GB UFS storage, 16GB RAM, Snapdragon X Plus, Copilot+ PC with Windows 11) | Amazon US | $999.99

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

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Posted Thursday 31 July 2025 at 3:01 am AEST (my time).

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The console war is over, with PlayStation seemingly victorious. Or ... perhaps it's just evolving.

It's no secret that Xbox hardware has seen non-stop declines for several months, although PlayStation itself has also warned investors that it expects lower hardware sales through the rest of the gen. Indeed, as the end of the generation is in sight, it's probably only the advent of Grand Theft Auto 6 that could uptick console sales for PlayStation and Xbox until we inject new hardware into the mix.

Microsoft and Sony both are working on new consoles, with Xbox hardware plans including OEM-built Xbox-branded PCs like the Xbox Ally from ASUS, as well as true successors to the existing Xbox Series X|S console ecosystem in partnership with AMD.

In the interim, Xbox has very notoriously changed up its strategy. Faced with growing costs and a decline in console user growth in general, Xbox bit the bullet and decided to begin putting its formerly Xbox exclusive games onto its arch-rival PlayStation storefront. So far, that strategy seems to have been a resounding success story for Xbox and Microsoft, and new data continues to back it up.

In a post on BlueSky, Circana analyst Mat Piscatella described the runaway success of Xbox's strategy on the PlayStation store, revealing new 2025 Q2 sales data which included recent PlayStation ports like DOOM: The Dark Ages, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Oblivion Remastered, and Forza Horizon.

"Pulling together our huge Q2 Games Market Dynamics report, which includes this chart (among, like, frankly too many others) and just kinda stared at this one for a bit." Piscatella continued, "Wild times in the console market these days. Imagine showing this list to someone in 2015."

In a positive sign for its investors, PayPal has decided to increase its full-year transaction margin dollars and EPS guidance. PayPal CEO Alex Chriss also highlighted the company’s profitable growth and innovations like “agentic commerce, ads, stablecoins, and PayPal World.”

In a win for its investors, PayPal repurchased $1.5 billion of common stock in the second quarter, totaling $6 billion over the last 12 months. This can help buoy the PayPal stock price.

Despite the positive figure above, and increased Total Payment Volume (TPV) of 6% to $443.5 billion, the total number of payment transactions decreased by 5% to 6.2 billion. Also, the payment transactions per active account (TPA) on a trailing 12-month basis decreased by 4% to 58.3. Finally, active accounts increased by only 2% year-over-year to 438 million, and just a 0.4% increase (or 1.7 million new accounts) was added in the second quarter.

PayPal blames the decrease in total payment transactions on Payment Service Provider (PSP) transactions, but after it excluded Payment Service Provider (PSP) transactions, its payment transactions increased by 6%. Likewise, transactions per active account, excluding PSP, increased by 4%.

Another problematic area for PayPal was the decline in cash flow from operations which declined 41% year-over-year to $0.9 billion. Free cash flow also saw a crash of 49% to $0.7 billion. Adjusted free cash flow also fell by 42% to $0.7 billion, largely due to the timing impacts from European Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) receivables. Despite these drops, the company has reaffirmed its full-year free cash flow guidance, which will help to ease investor fears.

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Posted Wednesday 30 July 2025 at 4:24 am AEST (my time).

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Before all that though, the game has to start somewhere. I was given access to Grounded 2 ahead of the early access launch to check out just how the sequel is shaping up. My time with the pre-release version of the game was spent solo. For a game that’s focused on cooperative survival, saying I was hooked would be an understatement, especially since I only played the original with a group of friends.

I was a big fan of Grounded, the Obsidian team delivered a unique, story-heavy survival game that revolved around four teenagers being shrunk to the size of ants and solving the mystery behind it, with a whole lot of base building, suspenseful moments, and boss battles in between. Three years after that launch, and plenty of post-launch updates later, Obsidian is going for a much bigger leap in technology with Grounded 2, and it’s not just a graphics upgrade.

After spending over a dozen hours inside this massive, tiny, in-development world, I can finally give my thoughts on the sequel. While there will be some comparisons to the original, I am writing this review focusing on Grounded 2 as a completely fresh experience. I will also be avoiding as many story spoilers as possible. Here are my thoughts on the early access release of Grounded 2.

From the Backyard to Brookhollow Park

The story begins two years after the events of the first game, and it’s time for the original teenagers to get miniaturized once again. Gone are the days of exploring the famous ‘Backyard’ of a mad scientist, it’s time for Brookhollow Park to shine, a brand-new region that’s touted as being as big as the map of the original Grounded. From what I could explore, even larger sections of the park are blocked off, with more chunks of it probably landing in upcoming updates.

Compared to the original’s barebones story debut with confusing directions in early access, Grounded 2 has a much more in-depth questline to follow and a better onboarding process already for this early access release. It has you digging into an old mystery that has bewildered players for years, alongside plenty of information on the company that’s causing all these miniaturizations and teenager-based experiments. The writing keeps its dark humor but never crosses over to being edgy, offering a disturbing but humorous take on the whole bug-infested situation.

Obsidian has nailed the feeling of being tiny, which is to be expected considering its years of experience with the series. Entering the garden for the first time was goosebump inducing, and not just because of the cockroaches that decided to introduce themselves. Even if the Grounded franchise were a standard-affair survival game, the unique setting alone would be a fantastic backdrop for a game. The studio, thankfully, leans into it quite heavily. Humongous grass blades become planks for basic building, grapes in faraway trees become the tough leather you need for more intricate armors, and even the drop of leftover liquid from a fallen juice box is a godsend when your thirst and hunger are at dangerous levels. Difficulty can be adjusted at any time from the menu, though it’s important to note that the further away you explore from the starting area, the more dangerous the park gets, making for a gradual and more natural curve at any chosen difficulty.

The park is full of small wonders to discover. The early access version is home to a large number of anthills filled with treasures, a gas-mask-requiring garbage can swarming with roaches, a random 90s cellphone with calls still trying to reach its owner, a mysterious locked briefcase, an overturned ice cream cart that serves as a snowy biome, the fiery brimstone of a fallen grill, the gloomy underside of a vending machine, hidden unique weapons just out of reach, and so much more to cautiously explore. It’s the harvestable materials and rare bugs in these areas that offer the materials to get the best upgrades and tools, so they are always valuable and very satisfying expeditions.

The land is full of tiny critters, which are now not so tiny, I suppose. Alongside returning faces from the previous game, such as ants, gnats, spiders, bees, beetles, mosquitoes, and a certain bird, all-new arrivals like scorpions, cockroaches, butterflies, caterpillars, mantises, snails, and more are joining the party. I can handle spiders just fine, so I’ve never needed the built-in Arachnophobia mode to reduce them to a floating blob. But cockroaches are just something else. An anthill I was exploring that had been taken over by roaches will probably stay in my mind forever. The sound of skittering legs as swarms zipped around me was horrifying, just as the developer intended, I assume. There is a nasty surprise about them that I won’t be diving deeper into. The only upside is that they are a neutral mob, only attacking you if you threaten them first.

A new type of threat is here in the garden too: bugs that are being controlled by an unknown entity. These can be much more ferocious than their regular counterparts, and there’s also a new mechanic that has them attacking in waves every few in-game days to keep you on your toes. Having to scramble to build a base that can withstand such attacks was a great incentive for me to not be lazy and camp out anywhere without walls, as I usually do.

Grounded 2 also improves upon the pseudo class system that lets you approach combat in your own way if you’re willing to put in the effort to craft the armor and weapons you need. Want to be a rogue that deals massive stealth damage and uses dual-wielded weapons? Done. Want to cosplay a mage and spew chemicals at incoming bugs from afar? Done. Want to be bug-hunting Legolas with an eye patch? Also done. Having friends that require different bug parts and special ingredients for their own armor extends the amount of fun you can extract from the game by a large margin, as each of these resources is spread out quite well across the map.

Bug mounts, Omnitools, and a new perspective

Even if you’re playing solo, like I did for this review, you won’t be without allies. One of the most highly requested features from the first game, mounts, are finally here, letting you gain and ride a bug of your own choosing. Dubbed Buggies, they provide much-needed methods to travel across the garden fast, extra firepower, and even better, more loot carrying capacity. For the early access launch, it seems only two critters are available as Buggies, as I could only find out about the Red Ant and an Orb Weaver Spider mounts for now. These require finding the proper recipes, building a hatching hub, hunting for specific types of eggs, and slowly hatching them to make them your own, all as part of the main questline, so it’s not a missable feature.

I instantly fell in love with the mount system, making me go everywhere with my new ant partner in crime. Their speed makes it much easier to get away from ambushing spiders. Even if I do want to fight, having a regenerating ant with me that can take hits while I go for heavy swings and dodges was a delight. The ant was also capable of carrying a large number of building materials separately, making building with them a breeze. I have become so accustomed to the mounts system so far that I’m not sure how I even played the original without them, cutting down the time spent walking around and gathering materials by a massive amount.

Grounded 2 also adds a new third-person perspective, and it slots in almost perfectly with the gameplay. Once I switched to third-person during the tutorial section of the game, I forgot first-person even existed until I had to get a thrown spear back from a weird angle under a leaf. The camera automatically switches to third-person whenever a mount is being used as well, making the transition into the new perspective a useful one and not a simple cosmetic addition.

It was also clear that Obsidian wants to remove or improve on the grind-heavy or busywork parts of the original. Another improvement in this area is the Omnitool. Gone are the days of needing separate items just for harvesting the land. The new Omnitool takes the form of an axe, a hammer, a shovel, and even a repair wrench that does not take any inventory slots and does not degrade. Each part must be upgraded individually (with bug parts and XP) to harvest tougher materials and can even be customized. Inventory management haters can rejoice, the change let me just have weapons, healing, and consumable items on the hot bar, a massive improvement over almost any survival game, cutting down the need to fiddle with the inventory slots entirely.

Visuals, performance, bugs

While the art style remains faithful to the original, Obsidian has dialed up the visuals of the sequel in almost every aspect. The lighting alone is beautiful. From the sun peering through grass blades at dawn and the dim glow of a lone park lamp in the middle of the night to the eerily glowing pinpricks seen deep inside ant caves, Grounded 2 is gorgeous. There are more than a few man-made environments present inside the park too, offering a nice contrast against all the greenery and dirt terrain.

The bug models, building materials, the massively scaled-up nature, distant man-made objects are all a visual feast, something I would always get distracted by when exploring. The sound design also helps with the immersion quite heavily. The disturbing sounds of insects are a major highlight, as I mentioned before, and random noises from the outside environment at the edges of the park, like the rumble of passing cars, add another layer of engagement.

I wasn’t too impressed with how everything is running on PC, however. My machine is running an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB paired with an eight-core Ryzen 7 3700X and 16GB of RAM, with the game running at 1440p resolution. It is also installed on an NVMe SSD. Right now, there are only four presets for adjusting graphics settings: Low, Medium, High, Epic, with no options for deeper adjustments other than resolution.

Even with the High preset the game recommended to me, I found frame rates dropping to the 50s in many areas, and Epic preset made that go near the 30s at many times. Playing for long periods, like 5 hours straight, also had the game slow down heavily as time went on, with restarting the game being a quick fix. I hope granular graphics settings, driver updates, and more optimizations that arrive during early access will keep improving the situation going forward.

While I did not experience any crashes, unlike several other individuals also reviewing the title, there were a few instances where insects were stuck under the ground or simply disappeared in front of my eyes. These were rare and barely impacted my gameplay sessions, and it’s not something that unexpected from early access games.

Conclusion

The Obsidian team easily has another gem in its hands. Even though it’s got its hands full with three games this year, Grounded 2 is shaping up to be a massive leap over the original, even though we may have to wait a couple of years to see the complete vision materialize, just like the original.

The new park’s visuals are breathtaking, biomes are varied, and the insects are as brilliant as ever. Paired with the addictive mount system and the no-frills inventory upgrades, this might be the most satisfying and straight to the point survival game I’ve ever played. Exploration is heavily rewarded, and the focus on actually following a story instead of being an empty sandbox is delightful. Grinding and time-killing tasks have been purposefully reduced, and I’m guessing even more changes in that vein will be coming in future updates.

The performance issues, lack of deeper graphics customization, random bugs (not the alive kind) and glitches I encountered do take away from the experience a little, but being early access, I can look past many of those shortcomings. I unfortunately only managed to play this pre-release version solo, so I cannot comment on how the network performance and multiplayer syncing technologies are working when playing in co-op.

The early access content and gameplay upgrades over the original made Grounded 2 a blast to play through. I could see that the studio is just getting started with the mount system, and I can’t wait to see where it goes with the feature in the future (flying and swimming mounts anyone?). The original had a terrific early access run, with it continuing to receive support even after the 1.0 release. Obsidian has all the groundwork laid out for the sequel to go way beyond the original. I have no qualms about recommending the title at its early access launch for the asking $29.99 price tag. The only difficult part would be waiting for even more content and the 1.0 release, which is probably years away.

Grounded 2 launches into early access on July 29, 2025, on PC via Steam and Microsoft Store, as well as Xbox Series X|S, with a $29.99 price tag. It will also be available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (with cloud play) and PC Game Pass on the same day. Xbox Play Anywhere support is confirmed as well.

This review was conducted on a pre-release PC version of the game provided by Microsoft.

Verdict 8.5 Great

 

 

Pros

 

Buggies mount system 

Dark humor storyline 

Third-person camera Rewarding exploration 

Miniaturized atmosphere

 

Cons

 

Performance dips 

No granular graphics settings

 

Price $29.99

 

Release July 29, 2025

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Posted Wednesday 30 July 2025 at 4:17 am AEST (my time).

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Despite these positive metrics, some deeper digging into the financial details reveals some unexpected challenges for the company.

One of the issues Spotify faced in Q2 was its Operating Income which was below the guidance level, coming in at €406 million. Another significant issue was €116 million in Social Charges, which were a huge €98 million higher than forecast. These Social Charges are payroll taxes linked to share-based compensation, which fluctuate with the company’s stock price. The company’s higher payroll, related expenses, and a shift in revenue mix also made the firm miss the operating income guidance.

The company noted that it doesn’t factor currency or share price movements into its forecasts as these are factors beyond its control.

Another area where Spotify is showing some weakening is in ads. While Premium Revenue grew 12% Y/Y, its Ad-Supported Revenue saw a -1% Y/Y decline. On a constant currency basis, Ad-Supported Revenue grew 5% Y/Y, but the reported decline highlights real-world performance. The company was also hit by unfavorable currency movements which impacted total reported revenue by €104 million compared to guidance. This shows that its ad business continues to be a volatile segment for the firm.

Despite the mixed financials, Spotify has some good news for investors. It generated record-high Free Cash Flow of €700 million, bringing the last twelve months (LTM) Free Cash Flow to €2.8 billion. Thanks to this, the Board of Directors has approved a $1 billion increase to the existing share repurchase program, raising the total authorization to $2 billion; this will help to buoy the company’s stock price.

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Posted Wednesday 30 July 2025 at 4:06 am AEST (my time).

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JayzTwoCents (4.23M subscribers)

July 29, 2025

Video length: 19m 55s

Viewsonic recently invited us to their headquarters to check out their DV-LED Scalable Billboard and we decided to use it for the one thing it wasnt meant for... GAMING!

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Posted Tuesday 29 July 2025 at 6:44 pm AEST (my time).

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Gamers Nexus (2.47M subscribers)

July 29, 2025

Video length: 24m 36s

In the news this week, we talk about Gigabyte's own security vulnerabilities in hundreds of models of its motherboards (following the ASUS problems). We also cover Linux gaining desktop marketshare, NVIDIA's rumored CPU rumored to be delayed in rumored rumors, Mozilla saying that Intel still has problems, and more.

00:00 - Recap for the Week 

01:43 - Gigabyte Security Vulnerability 

05:15 - Linux Gains Marketshare 

08:10 - NVIDIA CPU Reportedly Delayed 

10:12 - Mozilla Engineer Says Raptor Lake a Problem 

13:30 - Rumor: ROG Xbox Ally Price Leak 

16:07 - Companies Don't Know What They're Doing 

18:40 - Oblivion Remastered Developer to Layoff Nearly 300 

20:35 - Updated Commodore 64 

21:29 - More 50-Series Waifus

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Posted Tuesday 29 July 2025 at 9:18 am AEST (my time).

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It was found that participants could detect when human portraits were fake with the most ease but struggled significantly when it came to natural and urban landscapes with success rates dropping to 59-61%. The low scores highlight the challenges humans face when trying to distinguish AI images, especially those without obvious artifacts or stylistic cues.

In the study, participants had to play a Real or Note Quiz game where they were shown AI images they’d likely run across online in reality; those running the study avoided cherry picking images or only choosing highly deceptive images. It was also noted that AI is continually improving so future models may produce even more convincing images.

Based on the results of the study, Microsoft is calling for transparency tools such as watermarks and robust AI detection tools to remove the risks of misinformation arising from AI-generated content. To help educate people about these dangers, the Redmond giant previously launched a campaign addressing AI-generated misinformation.

The researchers also had access to their own AI detection tool and it was able to get a success rate above 95% on both real and AI-generated images across categories - this suggests that machine assistance is quite a lot more reliable that human judgment, but even it isn’t perfect.

It’s also important to point out that even if you have a visible watermark on the image in the corner, malicious actors looking to dupe people with fake images can easily crop this out or make it harder to see using rudimentary tools.

The researchers noted that humans may have found it easier to detect AI images of faces because of our innate ability to identify faces well and we can most likely spot abnormalities in the AI portraits. Interestingly the research found that older generative adversarial networks (GANs) and inpainting techniques were quite good at fooling users as they produce images that look like amateur photography rather than with a studio-like aesthetic used by popular models like Midjourney and DALL-E 3.

Inpainting is an interesting technique that replaces a small element of a real picture with something AI-generated. Microsoft noted that this makes forgery extremely difficult to identify and poses a significant risk for disinformation campaigns.

This study highlights just how susceptible humans are to getting tricked by artificial intelligence and reminds of the need for tech firms to develop technologies to try to prevent the malicious spreading of such images.

Source: ArXiv | Image via Depositphotos.com

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Posted Monday 28 July 2025 at 5:44 pm AEST (my time).

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The contract starts on July 26, 2024, and ends on December 31, 2033. It remains to be seen which company has signed such a lucrative chip deal with Samsung. The Korean tech giant has not yet responded to requests for comments.

Samsung has noted that more details about its $16.5 billion chip deal, including the name of the buyer, won't be released until the end of the contract in 2033 due to a request from the buyer to "protect trade secrets." However, Samsung has said the buyer is a major global company

"Since the main contents of the contract have not been disclosed due to the need to maintain business confidentiality, investors are advised to invest carefully, considering the possibility of changes or termination of the contract," Samsung added.

A $16.5 billion chip supply deal, equivalent to 7.6 percent of Samsung's 2024 revenue, has significantly boosted investor confidence. Samsung shares rose 3.5 percent in its hometown South Korea after the company announced its recent chip deal.

Samsung's chip manufacturing business has encountered significant challenges in recent years, including a decline in production yields and the loss of major clients. These setbacks even compelled the company to abandon the use of its Exynos 2500 chips in the Galaxy S25 series in favor of Qualcomm processors.

Earlier this year, Korean outlets reported that Samsung might slash investments in its foundry business by 50 percent as the division faces an uphill battle. However, the new chip supply agreement, with its potential to revive Samsung's declining semiconductor business, brings a ray of hope.

The recent Samsung chip supply deal may also be good news for the US, as the Korean tech giant had previously halted plans to build a chip manufacturing plant in Texas due to difficulties in finding customers.

Update: Elon Musk on X just confirmed that Samsung will produce Tesla’s next-generation AI6 chip at its factory in Texas. Samsung is currently producing AI4 chips for Tesla vehicles.

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Posted Monday 28 July 2025 at 5:41 pm AEST (my time).

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Quick links:

1. Windows 10 and 11
2. Windows Insider Program
3. Updates are available
4. Reviews are in
5. Gaming news

Windows 11 and Windows 10

Here, we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And, of course, you may find a word or two about older versions.

July 2025 non-security updates for Windows 10 and 11 are here, and they bring a pretty hefty list of various changes and new features. Windows 10 received KB5062649, while Windows 11 versions 22H2 and 23H2 got KB5062663 with fixes for file systems, input, networking, printing, and more. The biggest changelog has Windows 11 version 24H2 and its KB5062660 update. It brings a handful of new AI-powered features, Settings improvements, a redesigned BSOD with Quick Machine Recovery, and a lot more.

Speaking of AI-powered features, more and more companies turn their backs on Windows Recall, Windows 11's flagship AI thingy. Brave and AdGuard announced that they will block Windows Recall because the feature itself is unsettling, and Microsoft's privacy efforts are not enough.

Microsoft is working on a new tool that can help you upgrade from your old computer to a new one. The app can transfer not only settings but also files. In a newly published support document, Microsoft explained how the recently discovered experience works. In this article, we take a closer look at what is coming soon.

We also published a big article that explained everything you need to know about the end of Windows 10 support. If you are a Windows 10 user, check it out here to prepare for the inevitable. If your Windows 10 exodus strategy is to switch to Linux, you may find this app useful. It can transfer important data from Windows 10 to Linux. By the way, Windows 10 is not the only Windows version to lose support on October 14. Certain Windows 11 versions will also reach the end of life on that fateful day.

Another useful guide that we published this week explains how to disable reserved storage to free some space on your computer.

Finally, check out this article detailing Windows Sandbox, a highly underrated feature, and an overview of 10 Windows 10 features that promised a lot but failed to take off.

Windows Insider Program

Here is what Microsoft released for Windows Insiders this week:

Recent Windows 11 preview builds were found to contain a welcome audio feature that allows sharing audio to several devices. Just open Quick Settings, click Shared Audio, and select the devices you need. Microsoft has not announced it yet, so stay tuned for official details.

Also, Microsoft wants to improve Windows 11 with a new system that detects performance slowdowns and sends diagnostic data to the company. This system is now available in the latest Windows 11 preview builds.

For Phone Link users with Android smartphones, Microsoft released some useful updates. The Link to Windows app now has remote controls, allowing you to lock your PC, send files, or mirror your phone's screen. There is also a redesigned UI and a better onboarding experience.

Finally, Microsoft is testing a redesigned news feed in Windows Widgets, with Copilot Discover taking over the classic MSN feed, and a new Copilot Appearance feature that adds non-verbal communication to Copilot, enhancing voice conversations with real-time visual expression.

Updates are available

This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties.

Microsoft has a new Surface in its device lineup. The Surface Laptop 7 with Intel's Core Ultra 200 Series processors is now available with optional 5G connectivity. Microsoft said in the announcement post that equipping a laptop with 5G was not just putting a modem inside. Microsoft had to carefully engineer a so-called "dynamic antenna system" that adapts to the environment and ensures the best reception by having six strategically placed antennas.

A rather unfortunate event happened to SharePoint this week. Microsoft revealed details about hackers exploiting an unpatched SharePoint vulnerability, which even managed to breach the US nuclear weapons department, and quickly posted detailed guidance about it alongside much-needed fixes.

Files, one of our favorite file managers for Windows 10 and 11, received a big preview update with a reworked address bar. The new Omnibar now combines the address bar and search bar, offering users a more intuitive experience alongside other improvements.

Meta is making some significant changes to the WhatsApp client on Windows. The messenger is ditching UWP for a progressive web app, which is now available in beta in the Microsoft Store.

Firefox received a big new feature update. Version 141.0 is now available with AI-powered tab groups, vertical tab improvements, WebGPU support, and other changes. Microsoft Edge, on the other hand, received some security fixes and contextual capabilities in the Business Chat work tab.

Finally, check out a recap of all the new features that Microsoft added to Intune in July 2025, and a crucial data refresh feature for Excel, alongside a highly-requested PivotTable feature.

Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting:

• Microsoft encourages Windows driver development in Rust for better security.

• Microsoft invests in European languages and culture to build smarter, more inclusive AI.

• UniGetUI received a massive update with bulk download options.

• Microsoft CEO finally addressed the recent layoff of 9,000 employees.

• Microsoft is planning a huge upgrade for Visual Studio.

• Microsoft Viva Insights boosts Copilot and learning with new reports.

• Windows 365 received a big RDP upgrade.

   

Here are the latest drivers and firmware updates released this week:

• Intel 32.0.101.6972 non-WHQL with optimizations for Killing Floor 3, Valorant's Unreal Engine 5 upgrade, and Wuchang: Fallen Feathers.

• Nvidia 577.00 WHQL with Valorant UE5 upgrade support, WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers, and more

Reviews are in

Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week

Robbie Khan reviewed the GameSir G7 Pro, a fantastic Xbox-licensed controller with TMR sticks, excellent software, optical buttons, and premium materials.

Steven Parker reviewed the OXS Storm A2, a wireless gaming headset with hybrid ANC.

On the gaming side

Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts, and more.

This week, Microsoft announced some useful gaming updates. The company is now testing cross-device play history on Xbox consoles and PC, which should let players easily jump back into games that support features like Xbox Play Anywhere or Xbox Cloud Gaming, regardless of what platform they are using.

Another useful and welcome update is about the future prices of Xbox games. Microsoft made a sudden U-turn and ditched the $80 price tag, which was supposed to arrive with the launch of The Outer Worlds 2.

EA has finally announced the next Battlefield game that is coming soon. The first Battlefield 6 trailer shows off a major conflict breaking out across the world, with what looks to be a rogue mercenary group named Pax Armata attacking NATO and its allies.

Nvidia announced new games for the GeForce NOW cloud streaming service. The latest additions include Abiotic Factor, WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers, Barony, He is Coming, SUPERVIVE, Wildgate, and more. Keep in mind that you have to own these games to play them using GeForce NOW.

Deals and freebies

This week's Weekend PC Game Deals is here with various discounts across multiple stores and a new freebie from the Epic Games Store. The latter is giving away Legion TD 2.

Other gaming news includes the following:

• Ubisoft confirms Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is getting a third-person mode and New Game+

• Assassin's Creed Shadows is getting New Game+, level cap increase, and more ahead of DLC launch

• Valve is redesigning the Steam Store Menu and Search, wants user feedback

• Frostpunk 2 arrives to Xbox and PlayStation this September, hits Game Pass on day one

   

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Posted Monday 28 July 2025 at 5:46 am AEST (my time).

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ExplainingComputers (1.12M subscribers)

July 27, 2025

Video length: 17m 05s

Quantum computing developments over the past 12 months, including Google Willow, IBM Majorana 1, and innovations at IBM, PsiQuantum and Atom Computing

REFERENCES (in order of appearance):

00:00 Titles & Intro

02:25 Google Willow 

05:53 Microsoft Majorana 1 

07:47 PsiQuantum Omega 

09:48 Microsoft & Atom Computing 

12:29 Towards IBM Quantum Starling 

15:37 Quantum Application

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Posted Monday 28 July 2025 at 5:32 am AEST (my time).

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Paul's Hardware (1.53M subscribers)

July 27, 2025

Video length: 12m 45s

0:00 Welcome to Paul’s Tech News - July 27, 2025 

1:21 Intel Might Drop Out of the Cutting-Edge Chip Race 

3:53 AMD Threadripper 9000 Non-Pro HEDT Chips Announced; 9995WX Breaks Records 

6:12 China’s Lisuan G100 Gaming GPU Reportedly Outperforms RTX 4060 

TECH BRIEFS 

7:57 RTX 5090 GPUs getting converted to AI GPUs in China 

8:44 RTX 5090D v2 Apparently Still Launching 

9:06 Kioxia LC9 SSD Hits 245.76TB of Capacity in a Single Drive 

10:12 AMD 6-core Ryzen 5 7600X3D set for wider availability, new revision spotted 

11:12 Snot-filtering tech could be the answer to a dust-free PC

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Posted Sunday 27 July 2025 at 5:18 pm AEST (my time).

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Ahead of the upcoming DLC expansion for Elden Ring Nightreign — FromSoftware's popular roguelike spinoff of the Game of the Year-winning 2022 action RPG — the studio has released several patches for it that fix troublesome bugs, tweak balancing, implement quality-of-life changes, and add new content in the form of rotating .

Now, exactly two months after its May 30 launch, the game is getting another major update with Patch 1.02 next week on July 31. And while it does seem to be a fairly small release overall, it is adding a feature that fans have been clamoring for since the day Nightreign came out.

That feature is a "Two Player Mode" duos option for multiplayer parties and matchmaking, which currently only supports full three-player squads.

That limitation has been a source of frustration for many, as there are lots of players who have one friend to play with but not two. But with this mode added, that will no longer be a problem.

Notably, FromSoftware promised that a duos mode would come in early June, with its arrival planned for "a later date." This had many concerned it wouldn't be available for a long time, though it's ultimately come pretty quickly.

You can watch the trailer for it below.

While there's been an unofficial solution available since launch with the Seamless Co-op mod, it's only usable on the Steam version of Elden Ring Nightreign on Windows PC, leaving players on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, and PS4 without an option.

There have been quite a few great new games made available on Microsoft's widely used subscription service Xbox Game Pass this summer, ranging from Xbox's own DOOM: The Dark Ages to critically acclaimed surprises like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and The Alters. Perhaps the most popular of them all, though, is The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered.

I say that because on Friday morning, it was announced that Bethesda and Virtuos Games' modernized Unreal Engine 5 version of the 2006 RPG classic has hit over 9 million players across all of its platforms. This includes Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (on both Xbox PC and Steam), and PS5.

Bethesda revealed the news in a post on social media, pairing a sincere message of appreciation with a humorous image of Oblivion's iconic Adoring Fan NPC — a huge, goofy grin on his face, and his hair swoop curled into the shape of the number nine. I've embedded it below for your viewing convenience.

"To everyone who emerged as a hero of Kvatch, mastered Arch-Mage, rose to Grand Champion, banished the Blackwood Company, gallivanted as the Gray Fox, and listened to the Night. Thank you for sharing in our worlds," wrote the developers.

11 bit studios' survival city-builder Frostpunk 2 is coming to consoles and has a release date of Sept. 18, 2025, the developer announced on Friday. While plans for a console version of the game were announced back before the launch of the PC version's arrival, it's been unclear until now when players could expect to survive the frost if they didn't have a gaming PC. You can check out the console release date trailer below:

In addition to obviously being available digitally on both platforms, Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 owners who prefer collecting physical media are in luck. 11 bit studios is collaborating again with Skybound Games, with two different options for players who want a physical version.The Icebreaker Edition includes a diorama, as well as a digital code for an art book and a novella.

I rarely pay too much attention to earnings reports, especially from the big game publishers, but something nestled in Ubisoft's latest stood out to me.

Why? Because for once it was talking about The Division, and not because the mobile game will be forever delayed or Heartland was getting cancelled.

No, it's good news for all players of The Division 2, of which I am one. Specifically, the latest DLC has been a massive success, in conjunction with the game dropping into Xbox Game Pass.

Here's the passage in full:

Of late, Ubisoft has had a habit of saying dumb things and making decisions that gamers really aren't proud of. Those of us who cherished The Crew will never forgive the company for killing all trace of the game.

On one hand, it's not totally unexpected to see a surge in players back in The Division 2. As much as the seasonal gameplay has continued, even been reconfigured in recent times, I'm the first to admit it was getting hard to keep playing.

The new DLC, Battle for Brooklyn, as with Warlords of New York in 2020, brought a new map, new missions, new achievements and collectibles, new secrets to find. Surprisingly, for a 'mini DLC' it actually added more missions to the game than Warlords of New York did.

For the upcoming quarter, Intel isn’t being very optimistic, reporting that it predicts revenue to be between $12.6 billion and $13.6 billion, with an expected GAAP EPS of $0.24 and non-GAAP EPS of $0.00.

In its report, Intel committed to achieving its non-GAAP operating expense targets of $17 billion for 2025 and $16 billion for 2026 by improving execution and efficiency. Part of this plan will involve reducing the company’s core workforce by 15%; it said it wants to end the year with around 75,000 employees, meaning it has a current workforce of around 88,235 right now. That means around 13,235 jobs are due to be cut this year.

The company is highly likely to go after managerial jobs, as it said it wants to create a more agile and flatter organization. When Intel says flatter, it means that those at the bottom of the hierarchy report to higher ups and the people in the middle of the hierarchy are sacked. Its restructuring efforts have so far cost the company $1.9 billion in charges during the second quarter.

Intel is also optimizing its manufacturing operations in a bid to improve capital efficiency, seeking to address $18 billion in gross capital expenditures for 2025. Notably, it will be canceling planned projects in Germany and Poland. The firm also said assembly and test operations in Costa Rica will be consolidated into larger sites in Vietnam and Malaysia. There’s also bad news for America as the company is going to slow the pace of construction in Ohio to match market demand.

Performance across Intel’s business units was mixed in Q2 2025. For example, the Client Computing Group (CCG) revenue fell by 3% to $7.9 billion while the Data Center and AI (DCAI) revenue saw a 4% increase, reaching $3.9 billion. Intel Foundry revenue increased by 3% to $4.4 billion.

This year, the company has launched its new Intel Xeon 6 series CPUs, with the 6776P processor being used in NVIDIA DGX B300. It said it’s planning the first Panther Lake processor SKU to ship later this year and Intel 18A has reached a key milestone with the start of production wafers in Arizona. The company also said it generated approximately $922 million from a secondary offering of Mobileye shares.

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Posted Friday 25 July 2025 at 5:39 pm AEST (my time).

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Coming in soonest is New Game+. Ubisoft plans to implement the highly requested feature on July 29, which can be activated right after the credits roll as an opt-in measure. Once triggered, story and objective board progression will reset, but level, gear, skill points, and other progression-related elements will carry over to the new save.

"When launching New Game+, you can choose to start again from the very beginning, reliving the important events of the Tensho War in Iga - or you can fast-forward after the prologue to the moment Naoe inherits ownership of the Hideout," explains Ubisoft. "Either way, we made sure that none of the basic tutorials will bother you on your second playthrough."

The level cap is also being updated to 80 from 60, with "new Knowledge Ranks, new Mastery and Knowledge Skill ranks, and new upgrades for all Hideout buildings" coming alongside Project 3 to work on.

Following that, September is when Ubisoft will bring some requested features by the community:

• The world map unfogging after completing viewpoint synchronization (per region).
• The ability to skip time-of-day, jumping ahead to dusk or dawn.
• A new Forge upgrade level to reach Mythic (from Epic) and Artifact (from Legendary) equipment rarities.
• Hideout Updates and Upgrades.
• Uncapped framerate for cutscenes (PC only).
• Additional goodies that may be familiar to long-time series fans.
• Further bug fixes and stability improvements.

Lastly, Ubisoft today revealed that the Claws of Awaji story expansion for Assassin's Creed Shadows will land on September 16. This questline takes place after the completion of the main story. Moreover, anyone who pre-ordered the base game will get this story pack for free.

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Posted Friday 25 July 2025 at 12:02 pm AEST (my time).

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This memo is publicly available here, and it talks about how the recent layoffs have been weighing heavily on Nadella, with the executive expressing gratitude for those who had to depart and crediting them for making Microsoft the company that it is today. The CEO acknowledged that Microsoft is performing well across every metric, including growth, yet it still has to conduct layoffs. Nadella has described this phenomenon as the "enigma of success in an industry that has no franchise value".

Following this opening part, Nadella goes into detail about his vision for Microsoft, which includes empowering people through AI solutions that are easily accessible to organizations as well as the 8 billion population around the globe. The executive believes that this is an opportunity to transition from a simple software factory to an "intelligence engine".

With that mission in mind, Microsoft will be focusing on three priorities moving forward: security, quality, and AI transformation. The firm will be doubling down on the fundamental principles of security and quality while reimagining how every layer of its tech stack can be enhanced with AI. Its teams will work to deliver end-to-end experiences and products built on a robust AI platform.

Nadella has emphasized that to achieve all of this, the firm will have to stay true to a "growth mindset", where individual employees strive to be better versions of themselves every day, while aligning their personal philosophies with the company's ethos. The CEO's parting note in the memo highlighted the need to stay relevant as a firm by empowering people to build solutions rather than relying on the longevity of the products that it has built in the past.

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Posted Friday 25 July 2025 at 12:00 pm AEST (my time).

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Following plenty of teasing, EA finally gave a look at the next Battlefield game it is prepping to release soon. The Battlefield 6 reveal trailer has just landed, and it is focused all on the new campaign that's being built by the team of development studios attached to the project. Check out the reveal trailer above.

Described as the 'ultimate all-out warfare experience,' the trailer shows off a major conflict breaking out across the world, with what looks to be a rogue mercenary group named Pax Armata attacking NATO and its allies.

Fitting the series, the trailer has plenty of explosions, destruction, jets and helicopters, infantry warfare in dense city environments, amphibious warfare, and even more explosions for good measure. There was a healthy number of crashing aircraft too, with them happening every few seconds, showing off what looks to be a new destruction system for vehicles.

Store pages for Battlefield 6 have already gone live too, though pre-orders are not available just yet. Not even a release window has been officially attached to the project. Here's what store descriptions say:

"Lock & load for the ultimate all-out warfare experience. Fight in high-intensity infantry combat. Rip through the skies in aerial dogfights. Demolish your environment for a strategic advantage. In a war of tanks, fighter jets, and massive combat arsenals, your squad is the deadliest weapon. This is Battlefield 6.

EA plans to give another look at Battlefield 6 later this month. The shooter's most highly anticipated portion, the multiplayer, will be revealed just a week from now on July 31 at 11:30am PT. The development team is set to reveal maps, modes, and plenty of action in this upcoming reveal event.

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Posted Friday 25 July 2025 at 2:28 am AEST (my time).

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Stardock, the company known for its share of strategy series like Galactic Civilizations and Sins of a Solar Empire, is reaching into its past for its next gaming project. The studio's fantasy 4X turn-based strategy series Elemental is the target for its latest reimagining session, with Elemental: Reforged slated to land as a unified iteration of all the classic games while also improving on their aspects.

The company says that it has upgraded the original engine to 64-bit, finally letting it expand the title into what it envisioned back in 2008.

“What makes Elemental unique is that it’s a strategy game in an RPG world,” said Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock Entertainment and lead designer of the original Elemental game. “The world really is your sandbox. You can create your own character and even your own faction to bring into this world.”

Per the company, the original 2010-released Elemental: War of Magic had design issues stemming from the 32-bit memory limit. The following entries, Elemental: Fallen Enchantress and Elemental: Sorcerer King, had expanded on the games but hadn't ever reached their full potential, which is what the new edition is aiming to achieve.

The new edition is also touting updated visuals and an improved UI design. Modding tools and Steam Workshop support are confirmed as features too.

Here's how Stardock described Elemental: Reforged's highlights:

• Unified Elemental Experience: Brings together the strategic depth, smart AI, and rich gameplay from Fallen Enchantress, the immersive crafting and quest systems from Sorcerer King, and the dynasty-building, terraforming, and innovative mechanics first introduced in War of Magic.
• Rich, Dynamic Worlds: Enjoy endless replayability through procedurally generated fantasy worlds filled with lore-rich quests, evolving environments that respond to your magic, unique fantasy civilizations, and bustling cities populated with individually simulated characters.
• RPG-Infused Unit Design: Customize heroes and armies through an intuitive RPG-style character designer, crafting each unit with their own unique history, stats, equipment, and abilities, growing stronger with experience.
• Compelling Tactical Combat: See how your designed units and characters fare in battle in highly refined tactical battles that reward strategic thinking, or leverage a sophisticated auto-resolve system powered by advanced AI for streamlined empire management.
• Deep Quest and Story Integration: Embark on rich, narrative-driven quests seamlessly woven into the empire-building experience, influencing diplomacy, unlocking secrets, and offering meaningful rewards.
• Modernized UI and Graphics Engine: Explore enhanced visuals powered by DirectX 11, seamless zooming from strategic cloth-map to detailed tactical view.
• Integrated Modding tools: A comprehensive built-in modding and map-editing tools, and a fully redesigned user interface optimized for modern PC gaming with Steam workshop integration.

Elemental: Reforged does not have a release date attached to it just yet, but fans can wishlist the project over here on Steam to get the latest development updates.

Disclaimer: Neowin's relationship to Stardock

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Posted Friday 25 July 2025 at 2:26 am AEST (my time).

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