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The latest Xbox marketing campaign shows all the weird places you can play Xbox games.

Xbox has unveiled a new marketing campaignIt focuses on the many devices that can be used to play Xbox gamesSome online argue it dilutes the brand’s identity

Xbox has launched a new advertising campaign titled ‘This is an Xbox’ that showcases the many devices that players can use to enjoy Xbox games.

Among them is both the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, plus more unconventional choices like a Samsung Smart TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, mobile phone, the Meta Quest 3 VR headset, and more. A few humorous additions including a bento box and cat litter box are thrown in there too.

According to the company, the campaign “invites people to play with Xbox across multiple devices and screens” and “showcases the evolution of Xbox as a platform that extends across devices, with bold, iconic, fun visuals and a light-hearted tone.”

Xbox has also partnered with several brands for amusing crossovers, aiming to “bring the campaign to life in unexpected and entertaining ways.” As part of this, Samsung Smart TV owners will be able to see some ‘This is an Xbox’ branding on their home screens. An advertisement showing a Samsung Smart TV will also be featured in Times Square.

The campaign follows a wave of efforts to make Xbox titles playable on a wide range of platforms. Xbox Cloud Gaming is available on most PCs, while the Xbox TV app and Game Pass Ultimate were made accessible via Amazon Fire TV Sticks earlier this year.

What’s an Xbox now?

Reception to the ads has certainly been a little mixed so far, with some online commentors feeling like it strays too far from the brand’s core identity. “The downfall of the Xbox brand and its identity is so depressing,” responded one user on X / Twitter. “Surely this is the Xbox team now saying ‘we give up’,” replied another.

Other reactions have been more positive, though, with one online poster saying that “this is good Xbox marketing” and that it has “a nostalgic mid 2000’s vibe.”

All things considered, I think that it’s a pretty effective campaign. The Xbox brand has been drifting towards a more software focused business model for some time, driven partially by a move to release more Xbox games on other platforms.

The option to jump into the latest Xbox games via a low-cost piece of hardware like a Fire TV Stick could be hugely enticing to more casual gamers. It also helps reduce the financial barriers associated with needing to purchase a full console, which can only be a good thing.

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A misconfiguration on permissions leaked sensitive data on millions of people.

Researchers from AppOmni found a misconfiguration bug in sites built with Microsoft Power PagesAs a result, data on millions of people was leaking on the webUK NHS among affected firms, with other urged to investigate immediately

Businesses in both the private and public sector have been leaking personally identifiable information (PII) on millions of people due to a fault with a Microsoft website builder platform.

Experts from AppOmni revealed the leak stems from misconfigurations in Microsoft’s Power Pages, a low-code platform within the Microsoft Power Platform suite that allows users to build websites without needing to be expert coders.

However, due to misconfigured access controls – namely excessive permissions granted to the Anonymous role – many websites were leaking “significant amounts of data”. That information included full names, email addresses, phone numbers, and home addresses.

NHS among those affected

Power Pages is especially geared toward business users and developers who need to build sites that integrate with business data from sources like Microsoft Dataverse, and apparently has more than 250 million monthly users.

“During my research, I’ve uncovered several million records of sensitive data being exposed to the public internet from authorized testing alone,” the researcher said, suggesting that the leak is probably even bigger (since this was found from “authorized testing alone”). The primary nature of this data are internal organization files and sensitive PII belonging to both internal organization users and other users registered on the website.

Among the leaksters was the NHS – UK’s National Health Service – which allegedly leaked sensitive information belonging to more than 1.1 million employees. The healthcare giant has since plugged the hole. The researchers did not want to name any other organizations leaking the data, possibly because the holes have not yet been plugged.

Misconfigured databases are one of the main causes of data leaks. Over the years, there were many instances of organizations keeping large archives of sensitive customer files without even a weak password, let alone a strong one.

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Apple added a secret upgrade to the M4 MacBook Pro’s display, it has been revealed.

Apple announced several improvements to the M4 MacBook Pro’s screenIt also secretly added a new display techThis change could improve motion and color gamut performance

If you’ve bought an M4 MacBook Pro and get the feeling its display looks even better than it did on previous models, you’d be right. Apple has kept very quiet about it, but there seems to be a new technology at work inside the laptop’s screen, and it could be providing a handful of worthwhile benefits.

The discovery was made by well-known display industry expert Ross Young, who has a strong track record when it comes to Apple leaks and rumors. Posting on X, Young said that the new MacBook Pro is using quantum dot tech that is “very efficient” and provides “as good or better color gamut and better motion performance” compared to the previous technology used in MacBook displays.

Despite this performance increase, Apple didn’t mention the quantum dot upgrade when it revealed the M4 MacBook Pro in October. However, there was one clue that something might have changed: the maximum screen brightness for SDR content was increased from 600 nits all the way up to 1,000 nits – a significant improvement.

In our 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro review, we described the display as “gorgeous” and noted that its increased SDR brightness made it “quite effective at remaining viewable and usable in direct sunlight.” At the time, though, we had no idea about Apple’s quantum dot treatment, which has remained well hidden until now.

Getting the green light

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

Back in 2015, Apple said that it considered quantum dot technology for its screens, but ultimately rejected it because it involved using the toxic element cadmium. Apple has long made environmentalism a key part of its product strategy, and that likely wouldn’t have jived with the inclusion of a harmful element in the display.

However, the new quantum dot tech used in the M4 MacBook Pro can be achieved without the use of cadmium, Young explains. This, alongside its improved efficiency, presumably gave it the green light from Apple, allowing the company to enhance its MacBook Pro displays without the environmental concerns.

The next question is whether quantum dot screens will make their way to other devices. Apple sometimes shares technology between the MacBook Pro and the iPad Pro, so it’s possible that Apple’s flagship tablet might follow its laptop in the future.

Whether Apple will actually go ahead with this move – or bring quantum dot panels to some of its other products – remains to be seen.

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Here’s what’s coming to the next official emoji list – though you’ll be waiting a while to see them appear.

New emoji proposals have been put forward for 2025Unicode and developers will continue to refine the designsFresh icons include Bigfoot and a “distorted face”

Yes, there is an official organization in charge of emojis, called the Unicode Consortium – and it’s just put forward its annual proposal for the new graphics we might be seeing on the best iPhones and best Android phones in the next year or two.

There are plenty of interesting additions in the list (via Emojipedia). We’ve got a bulging, slightly overwhelmed smiley (“distorted face”, above) that we can imagine getting used a lot on social media; there’s also a Bigfoot-inspired one called “hairy creature” (above right).

For the times when your friends or family are scrapping in a digital space – perfect for group chats, then – we have “fight cloud” (above left), which looks like the usual cartoon depiction of a brawl, with everything hidden with smoke and stars.

On the fighting theme, another proposed emoji features two people wrestling (see below). For nature lovers, a new emoji called “orca” would add to the number of marine-themed emojis you’ve got to pick from.

Emoji approval

It’ll be a while before you can use these emojis on your phone (Image credit: Unicode)

Rounding out the Unicode 17.0 proposals we’ve got an apple core, a trombone, a treasure chest, and a depiction of a landslide – so if you’re about to be hit by falling rocks and don’t have time to type out a full message, you can send an emoji instead.

There are actually 164 new emojis in the proposal, but we’ve covered the main icons – all of the others are skin tone variations on the ones mentioned above (in case you want wrestlers with two different skin tones, for example).

The procedure this year is the same as it is every year: the Unicode Consortium will continue to consult on these graphics and tweak their designs, before final approval on the official new emojis is given in September 2025.

After that, it’s down to Apple, Google, and everyone else (from Microsoft to Meta) to do their own takes on these emojis and add them to their various software platforms. In the meantime, you’ll need to rely on a sticker or GIF for “distorted face”.

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Shielded email could protect you from spam and security risks when you sign up to online services.

Code for a ‘Shielded Email’ feature is in the Google Play Services APKYou’ll seemingly be able to use a temporary email address to avoid spamDoing so could also avoid your real email being leaked in a data breach

Gmail could offer the ability for users to create temporary email addresses, for signing up to online accounts or services they may be unsure about, allowing people to hide their real email address and avoid being spammed in the future (or perhaps worse dangers than that).

Android Authority got the scoop on this after digging around in the inner workings of the new 24.45.33 release of the Google Play Services APK, which contains references to ‘Shielded Email’ and a bunch of clues as to how this feature will work.

You’ll be able to create a shielded email – a temporary (Google-generated) email address different from your actual Gmail address, the mail to which gets forwarded to your Gmail inbox – when you’re forced to enter an email to sign up for an app, for example, or a website.

In these cases, with an unknown or less trustworthy firm, if you enter your real email address, you might then be spammed repeatedly by the company or website you’ve signed up with. When that inevitably happens, you can simply turn off that secondary email address – just bin it – and voila, no more spam emails.

As one of the strings of text in the hidden bits of code puts it: “To control spam, you can turn off forwarding at any time in your Google Account.”

Getting out of that bind is obviously not as simple as that if you’ve provided the company with your real email address.

(Image credit: Dell)

Analysis: Security benefits

What’s also important to note is that this could be a real lifesaver of a security feature in some ways. By which we mean if you gave your real email address to a company that had lax security, and that outfit then suffered a data breach in which your email was compromised – that’s obviously very bad news. If you used a shielded, temporary email, and that’s leaked instead, then that’s no big deal – just bin it, as noted above, and the problem is solved.

This is a pretty cool addition for Gmail then – assuming it happens, of course. Right now, all we have is some code hanging around in the background, which might ultimately come to nothing. The good news is that Android Authority has also noticed a mention of shielded emails appearing in Google’s Autofill settings menu on Android, so that’s a positive glimmer of hope this is really happening.

And for those of you thinking – this sort of one-off or temporary email feature is nothing new, and you can get it from a variety of sources – well, yes, that’s true. However, having the functionality right there, integrated into Gmail, would be a considerable boon in terms of seamless access to temporary emails, with no fuss or messing about.

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PS5 Pro’s week one sales in Japan are impressive as the mid-gen upgrade shifts over 78,000 units in the region.

PS5 Pro has registered strong week one sales in JapanThe mid-gen upgrade console has shifted 78,000 units in its first weekThis follows surprisingly strong pre-order performance for the console

The PS5 Pro has gotten off to a strong start in Japan – its first week on sale going better than most probably would have expected.

That’s according to renowned Japanese outlet Famitsu’s weekly sales report (via Gematsu) which shows the PS5 Pro topping the hardware sales charts in the region with 78,086 units sold. The Nintendo Switch OLED comes in at a distant second this week with 42,297 consoles shifted.

Despite being priced significantly higher than the base PS5 console at $699.99 / £699.99, there still seems to be plenty of appetite for the mid-gen upgrade in Japan. This follows what was, according to Sony, a strong pre-order performance for the PS5 Pro, which Sony Group President Hiroki Totoki described as “slightly stronger” than the PS4 Pro. Furthermore, Totoki said at the time that the PS5 Pro’s high price tag was not “adversely affecting the product’s sales plan.”

While an expensive, arguably enthusiast purchase, the appeal of the PS5 Pro is clear. The mission statement is to offer the best of both worlds in terms of fidelity and performance. As a result, PS5 Pro enhanced games can offer things like 4K resolution at a smooth 60 frames per second. Several games, including Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and Stellar Blade have all been updated with Pro-exclusive performance modes, too.

The jury is still out on the console’s long-term success. We’re certainly not expecting to see any discounts for the Pro over the upcoming Black Friday PS5 Pro deals period, but we’d definitely welcome some tempting bundles. Potentially ones that include the disc drive and vertical stand which are otherwise (and frustratingly) sold separately.

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Bose is reworking its 1968 speaker called the 901 –in very (very) limited numbers.

Bose is bringing back its 901 speakers, first launched in 1968They’ll be a very, very limited editionThe speakers are a collaboration with NYC lifestyle brand Kith

Way back in the 1960s, Bose introduced a musical legend. The 1968 Bose 901 speakers are famous in audiophile circles, with some reviewers claiming that they were among the best speakers of all time. As one reviewer, Julian Hirsch, wrote: “I have never heard a speaker system in my own home which could surpass, or even equal, the Bose 901 for overall realism of sound.”

And now they’re back.

Bose’s best-known speakers are back for good

It’s Bose’s 60th anniversary this year, and the company is bringing the 901s back as part of the celebrations. The new versions are in collaboration with Bose’s pals at NYC lifestyle and fashion brand Kith, whose founder and owner-operator Ronnie Fieg announced on Instagram: “If you’re half as meticulous about music and how it sounds as I am, you know the significance of the Bose 901 Speakers. To celebrate the brand’s 60th anniversary, I collaborated with Bose to reimagine the speaker.”

The reimagined 901s have been created with a bit of help from custom furniture designer Mark Jupiter, but so far we don’t have any details about their actual specifications – or indeed pricing. Bose has also posted to Instagram but details are sparse.

What we do know is that the new 901s will be limited to just 12 sets, so you can expect a pretty hefty price tag if they’re even available to buy; according to Bose, the 12 pairs are “exclusively for our friends and family”.

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As a dozen more famous faces head into the outback, our guide explains how to watch I’m a Celebrity 2024 online and episodes live and on demand for free.

Watch I’m a Celebrity 2024 online

Ant, Dec and a whole lot of creepy crawlies are back, as the 24th series of British TV institution I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! returns to screens on Sunday. UK viewers can catch episodes live and on demand on the free-to-air ITV and ITVX and you can watch I’m a Celebrity 2024 online from anywhere with a VPN.

As promised, there are no politicians on the show this year. But otherwise, it’s business as usual as 12 familiar faces head to the Australian jungle to take part in all manner of stomach-turning Bushtucker Trials. If you somehow haven’t seen the show before, expect spiders to be crawled through, snakes to be wrestled and a smorgasbord of kangaroo innards to be eaten.

Among this year’s soon-to-be-dirty dozen are Strictly Come Dancing star Oti Mabuse, McFly singer Danny Jones, boxing hall-of-famer Barry McGuigan and, after radio presenter Sam Thompson’s success last year, DJs Dean McCullough and Melvin Odoom.

The celebrity making most pre-jungle headlines this year, however, is Coleen Rooney. Wife of retired England football star Wayne Rooney, she’s been a fixture of tabloid newspapers over the last few years thanks to her involvement in the infamous ‘Wagatha Christie’ libel case with Rebekah Vardy.

We’ve got all the information on where to watch I’m a Celebrity 2024 online and stream every episode from wherever you are.

Can I watch I’m a Celebrity 2024 for FREE?

As has always been the case, viewers in the UK can watch series 24 of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! completely FREE on ITV1 on TV and its ITVX streaming service online.

Use a VPN to access you usual streaming services from abroad. Full details on how follow…

How to watch I’m a Celebrity 2024 online from outside your country

If you’re traveling abroad when I’m a Celebrity 2024 airs, you’ll be unable to watch the show like you normally would due to annoying regional restrictions. Luckily, there’s an easy solution.

Downloading a VPN will allow you to stream online, no matter where you are. It’s a simple bit of software that changes your IP address, meaning that you can access on-demand content or live TV just as if you were at home.

Use a VPN to watch I’m a Celebrity from anywhere.

How to watch I’m a Celebrity 2024 online in the UK

Can I watch I’m a Celebrity online in the US, Canada or Australia?

I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! only airs in the UK, so you won’t find it in your TV listings or on streaming services if you’re overseas.

That means that the only way that Brits abroad can watch episodes is by using a VPN. We’ve explained above how to do that and what service we recommend.

I’m a Celebrity 2024 cast

Alan Halsall – actorBarry McGuigan – former boxerColeen Rooney – media personalityDanny Jones – musicianDean McCullough – radio presenterGK Barry – social media personalityJane Moore – journalist and TV panellistMelvin Odoom – TV and radio presenterOti Mabuse – dancerTulisa – singer

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Two years after Disney Plus’ ads tier was introduced, only a third of its users are signed up to it – but it’s a higher percentage than Netflix’s.

The total number of Disney Plus ad-supported tier users has accidentally been revealed – and none other than Disney chief Bob Iger is behind the leak.

Yesterday (November 14), Disney released its Q4 2024 earnings report before holding its final earnings call of the year. It was during the latter that Iger unintentionally confirmed how many people have signed up to Disney Plus’ ads subscription, with Disney’s CEO later suggesting he didn’t mean to put his foot in it.

Responding to a Wall Street Journal analyst’s query about Disney’s growth outlook for its primary streaming platform, Iger said (as reported by Deadline) that 37% of US-based Disney Plus’ users had signed up to its cheapest subscription tier. In total, around 30% of the streamer’s global fanbase currently own an ads-supported account, Iger added.

Disney Plus has a higher percentage of ad-supporter tier subscribers than Netflix does (Image credit: Shutterstock)

Okay, Iger didn’t divulge specific numbers as part of his answer. But, using the above percentages and the total number of paid subscribers revealed in Disney’s Q4 2024 earnings report, it’s easy to work out how many people are signed up to one of the world’s best streaming services‘ most affordable tier. In the US, 56 million use Disney Plus, meaning that around 20.7 million (37% of 56 million) are signed up to its ads tier. Globally, the platform boasts 122.7 million people, which equates to 36.8 million (30% of 122.7 million) total users.

For context, Netflix recently revealed – via Deadline – that 70 million people are signed up to its ads-based tier. However, while that figure is almost twice the size of Disney Plus’ ads tier userbase, Netflix’s total fanbase sits at 282.7 million. The percentage of users who are signed up to its cheapest program, then, only accounts for around 25% of its global fanbase.

Regardless, Iger’s slip-up was a rare faux-pas on his part – and one he wasn’t supposed to disclose to the assembled press and investors. Indeed, as the call continued, Deadline quotes Iger – during a hot-mic moment – as saying: “I don’t know if I was supposed to disclose those AVOD [advertising-based video on demand] numbers”. Maybe not, Mr. Iger, but we’ll take any insight into the inner workings of an entertainment behemoth whenever we can.

The addition of Inside Out 2 in mid-September may have boosted Disney Plus’ subscriber figure (Image credit: Disney )

Iger’s mistake notwithstanding, the three-month period running July to October has been pretty fantastic for Disney as a whole. On the streaming front, the world-famous company added 4.4 million new users to Disney Plus’ worldwide fanbase and an extra 900,000 people on its sister streamer Hulu. Meanwhile, Disney secured huge theatrical wins at the global box office, with Deadpool and Wolverine and Inside Out 2 grossing over $1 billion apiece. The powerhouse duo recently joined our new Disney Plus movies guide, too, so you can watch them at home if you missed them on the big screen.

Despite these money-spinning triumphs, Disney isn’t getting into the pre-festive season spirit and freezing the price of Disney Plus across the globe. In mid-September, the entertainment titan increased streaming subscription fees across the board, with Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus all receiving price hikes in mid-October.

With Disney Plus’ password crackdown in full effect now, too, plus the introduction of a Disney Plus password-sharing fee – essentially, how much it’ll cost you to grant access to Disney Plus to someone who doesn’t live with you – it’s just become more expensive to own a Disney Plus account. Don’t be surprised, then, if the percentage of people signing up for an ad-supported subscription has increased significantly when Disney releases it Q1 2025 earnings report early next year.

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The Samsung Galaxy S25 could land on January 22, and some specs have also leaked.

A new leak points to a January 22 announcement dateWe’ve also heard again that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra could have a 5,000mAh batteryAnd the Samsung Galaxy S25 has been benchmarked with a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset

Just yesterday a leak suggested the Samsung Galaxy S25 would land on January 23, but now a new leak points to a launch one day earlier, on January 22.

This latest leak comes from Max Jambor, who posted the date on X and has a solid track record for Samsung leaks.

So, which leak is correct? Potentially both of them, as yesterday’s leak came from South Korea, so would be referring to the date in Korea, albeit with the launch itself tipped to happen in San Francisco. Given the 17-hour time difference between the two locations, that would likely mean that the event happens on January 22 in San Francisco, but January 23 in South Korea.

That would also probably make the announcement date January 22 in the UK, so for our purposes, January 22 is likely more accurate. Of course, it’s possible that neither of these leaks is correct, but with them basically lining up with each other and there being no conflicting leaks, we’d say there’s a good chance that the Samsung Galaxy S25 will be unveiled on January 22.

The battery and a benchmark

This isn’t the only new Samsung Galaxy S25 leak though, as leaker Roland Quandt has claimed on Threads that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has a battery capacity that will be rated at 4,855mAh and marketed as 5,000mAh.

That’s in line with a previous Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra battery leak, so this too is quite possibly accurate, and would mean the same capacity battery as the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

(Image credit: Geekbench / @Jukanlosreve)

Finally, the base Samsung Galaxy S25 has been spotted on Geekbench by leaker @Jukanlosreve. The listing is for a South Korean model and shows it using a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. Often, Samsung equips South Korean units of the base Galaxy S models with an Exynos chipset, so the fact that this seemingly isn’t happening with the Galaxy S25 is more evidence that the Snapdragon 8 Elite will be used worldwide.

The benchmark also mentions 12GB of RAM, but its single-core score of 2,481 and multi-core score of 8,658 are quite a bit lot lower than the scores we saw in a recent Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra benchmark.

That’s odd, given that the two phones are seemingly using the same chipset, and that both were benchmarked with 12GB of RAM. So, for now, we wouldn’t read too much into either benchmark result, but if the Samsung Galaxy S25 line really does land on January 22, then we should find out exactly how powerful these phones are before long.

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