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Product Reviews

A screencap of Hollow Knight: Silksong's opening cutscene. A close-up shot of protagonist Hornet moments before she breaks out of a metal cage. Her curved white mask and red cloak are lit up as a glowing strand of silk surrounds her.
Product Reviews

It’s possible to get Silksong’s double jump in Act 1 well before you’re supposed to, you just have to be enough of a platforming god to prove you don’t need it

by admin September 28, 2025



Cofy on YouTube has published a video guide for sequence breaking Hollow Knight: Silksong to unlock its double jump, the Faydown Cloak, before you’re supposed to and without the intended prerequisite items. The only catch is that it looks incredibly challenging to pull off, demanding both patience and twitch reflexes.

Both Hollow Knights are deliciously old school in how they make you work for your double jump, withholding it until deep into the game. In Silksong, the Faydown Cloak is located at the top of Mount Fay, past a challenging, platforming-centric level that requires the Clawline, an Act 2 ability. At least, it’s supposed to require the Clawline. For the skip, Cofy needed:

  • The Needolin
  • Swift Step
  • Reaper Crest
  • Drifter’s Cloak
  • Sharpdart

This is already nuts because the Sharpdart itself is designed to require the Faydown Cloak to grab⁠—it’s a Catch 22. But Cofy also has a guide showing the requisite jumping tech to get the Sharpdart before the Faydown Cloak. Sharpdart is a dash attack that Cofy is able to use as a poor man’s Clawline during the climb.


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Mount Fay’s only entrance is in the Slab, so you have to get captured by a Wardenfly and finish the prison escape sequence first. After that, it’s mostly just ultra instinct platforming. Cofy seems to use the Reaper Crest’s wider hurtbox to pogo off enemies while practically level with them, instead of above. They also show that it’s possible to jump up the seemingly unclimbable slippery slopes on the mountain.

Cofy’s gnarliest trick, though, is purposefully dying in strategic locations to leave behind a cocoon they can run back and pogo off for extra height, completing otherwise impossible jumps. That just feels particularly hardcore.

After all that, you can, indeed, technically get the Faydown Cloak in Act 1 and without the Clawline. But this isn’t exactly a handy trick for average players to become overpowered early. In fact, many of the YouTube comments on Cofy’s video suggest this means Michael Saves’ Silksong Randomizer mod can be made even more challenging than it already is: Its item spawn pools no longer have to ensure that the Clawline is obtainable outside Mount Fay to avoid softlocking players.

Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.



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Jensen Huang sat down, speaking as part of the BG2 podcast.
Product Reviews

Jensen Huang says China is ‘nanoseconds behind’ the US in chipmaking, calls for reducing US export restrictions on Nvidia’s AI chips

by admin September 28, 2025



Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says China is just “nanoseconds behind” the U.S. in chipmaking and that Washington should stop trying to wall off the market. Speaking on the BG2 podcast, Huang argued that allowing companies like Nvidia to sell into China would serve American interests by spreading U.S. technology and extending its geopolitical influence. “We’re up against a formidable, innovative, hungry, fast-moving, underregulated [competitor],” Huang said, talking about the pedigree of China’s engineers and controversial 9-9-6 working culture.

His comments come as Nvidia hopes to ship its H20 AI GPU to Chinese customers again, following a months-long pause tied to new U.S. export rules. The Commerce Department is understood to have begun issuing licenses for the H20 in August, and Nvidia is already working on a successor chip designed to comply with current restrictions while offering better performance. The company has not confirmed specs, but it would be Nvidia’s second attempt to tailor an AI accelerator specifically for the Chinese market since the original A100 and H100 bans took effect.

NVIDIA: OpenAI, Future of Compute, and the American Dream | BG2 w/ Bill Gurley and Brad Gerstner – YouTube

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China, meanwhile, is accelerating its own plans to become self-sufficient. Huawei’s new Atlas 900 A3 SuperPoD systems, powered by the company’s Ascend 910B chips, are now shipping in volume. The company has laid out an ambitious roadmap through 2027 with next-gen Ascend silicon that aims to match or exceed current-gen performance. These systems are CUDA-free by design and optimized for Chinese-built software stacks, a shift that puts real pressure on Nvidia’s dominance, which, according to Huang, previously held a 95% market share in China.


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Chinese hyperscalers are backing that roadmap with capital. Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance are all investing in custom silicon, either through internal chip teams or by funding startups. That includes firms like Tencent, which has announced it has fully adapted its infrastructure to support homegrown silicon. Asked what he sees in the near future, Huang said, “They [China] publicly say… they want China to be an open market, they want… companies to come to China and compete in the marketplace… and I believe and I hope that we return to that.”

Nvidia’s approach to that is to maintain a foothold in China and play both sides of the geopolitical divide. The H20 may be hobbled compared to the company’s leading chips, but it gives Chinese companies a path to stay within the Nvidia ecosystem — at least for now.

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Konami Believes in 'Silent Hill f' So Much, It's Becoming a Novel
Product Reviews

Konami Believes in ‘Silent Hill f’ So Much, It’s Becoming a Novel

by admin September 28, 2025



It’s only been a few days since Silent Hill f came out, and in a month, fans will be able to read it.

Konami announced a novel adaptation of the survival horror game releasing October 30. Written by author Kuroshiro, who adapted Midnight Wanderers and NG for the page, this Silent Hill f adaptation will cover the game’s core story and provide new material not featured. As a fan of Kuroshiro’s work, Silent Hill producer Motoi Okamoto recalled feeling “overjoyed when Kadokawa suggested him as the novelization author.”

サイレントヒルfのノベライズを発表させていただきました。ゲームをプレイした方はもちろん、ゲームは遊ばないけど本は読むというホラー小説読みの方も、小説でサイレントヒルfの世界をご堪能ください。

執筆されるのは黒史郎先生。… https://t.co/XSo5I9utVz

— 岡本基 (@obakemogura) September 28, 2025

This is the one of the few novels for the Silent Hill franchise without illustrations. Save for books based on the 2006 and and 2012 films, the series’ literature has been light novels based on specific games and films, art and guidebooks, or manga telling an original story. Okamoto hopes this new novel appeals to game fans or horror book lovers “who [don’t] play games but enjoys reading books.”

Developed by NeoBards Entertainment, Silent Hill f centers on 1960s high school Hinako Shimizu as she navigates the fictional, fog-covered town of Ebisugaoka. The game’s received a warm reception so far and is part of Konami’s larger push to revive Silent Hill, which has included a remake of Silent Hill 2 (and its 2026 film adaptation Return to Silent Hill), a remake of the first game, and the brand new Silent Hill: Townfall.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.





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How a Travel YouTuber Captured Nepal’s Revolution for the World
Product Reviews

How a Travel YouTuber Captured Nepal’s Revolution for the World

by admin September 28, 2025


When Harry Jackson pulled his small motorcycle into Kathmandu on September 8, he had no idea the city was exploding in protests. He didn’t even know there was a curfew. People in Nepal, largely driven by Gen Z youth, had taken to the streets, and that day riots broke out when nearly two dozen people were shot and killed by authorities. In the middle of it all was Jackson, a travel vlogger riding from Thailand to the United Kingdom on his bike.

Within a day, the mass demonstrations that filled the capital would do the seemingly impossible: defy trigger-happy law enforcement, storm the grounds of parliament and set fire to the building, and oust a prime minister. Jackson, who had been documenting his journey for months on YouTube, Instagram, and other social media under the @wehatethecold channel, became one of the main ways people around the world saw what was happening in Nepal as youth-led protests toppled the government.

Anger had been simmering in Nepal for months, much of it driven by widespread corruption among politicians. Many of those politicians’ children also flaunted their wealth, often on social media. They in turn were called out online by Nepali people, and on September 4, the government banned 26 social media platforms. Protests started, and large demonstrations broke out on September 8, with police using tear gas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition on crowds of largely young demonstrators. That’s when Jackson arrived, filming his way through marches and capturing the sounds of gunshots.

Video still courtesy of @wehatethecold

Jackson had been in Nepal earlier in June but returned due to other geopolitical issues. He had planned to be in Kathmandu for a short, easy stop to get his Honda CT125 shipped for the next leg of his journey. He had been in India, trying to cross into Pakistan. But the border was closed, so he headed north to Nepal. After getting a hotel and catching up on events, he decided to tag along with some people and see the protests the next day. He’d been told it wasn’t safe for tourists but said he was willing to roll the dice, especially after having ridden his bike through some unsafe roads for weeks. On September 9 he was out among the protests for several hours, and by midafternoon decided to get back to his hotel to quickly edit the footage and get it published.

“This footage just has to go online. I was watching it back and reliving the time and thinking, wow, this is insane,” he tells WIRED. “They’re burning parliament, this is huge!”

Jackson was with crowds as they moved through narrow streets, eventually descending on the large area around the parliament building. The footage Jackson captured that day shows a mix of chaos—including hundreds fleeing gunshots—and mutual aid, with people stopping to hand out water, check in on each other, and help those hurt by tear gas. In the video, Jackson, 28, moves through the protesters, asking what the latest is, following the crowds as they get closer to the seat of power. His video took off, racking up millions of views in just hours, and it has more than 30 million views on YouTube alone.



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September 28, 2025 0 comments
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Product Reviews

Martin Shkreli has to face claims of copying one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album

by admin September 28, 2025


Martin Shkreli, better known as Pharma Bro for his price-gouging antics with AIDS medication Daraprim, is going to have to defend against claims of misappropriating trade secrets with the unique Wu-Tang Clan album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. Earlier this week, US District Court Judge Pamela Chen wrote in a decision that Shkreli has to face a lawsuit that accuses him of improperly saving copies and playing the one-of-a-kind album for followers, which reduced its value and exclusivity.

The lawsuit was filed by PleasrDAO — which, according to its own website, is a collective of people involved with cryptocurrency, NFTs and digital art. Once Upon a Time in Shaolin has a strange ownership history, starting with Shkreli purchasing the one-of-one studio album in 2015 for $2 million. After a fraud conviction, Shkreli had to forfeit his assets, including the album, leading to PleasrDAO acquiring it in a government auction for $4 million.

On top of the album’s highly exclusive nature, it has a condition where it can’t be “commercially exploited for 88 years” by any subsequent owners. The collective’s argument stems from claims that Shkreli admitted in livestreams that he made copies of the album and played it for his followers, even allegedly posting “LOL i have the mp3s you moron” in response to a member of PleasrDAO posting a photo of the album. If PleasrDAO wins the case, Shkreli will have to give up any copies of the album, as well as provide info on all copies, who they were distributed to and what profits he made from it.



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I spent three months with Telly, the free TV that’s always showing ads
Product Reviews

I spent three months with Telly, the free TV that’s always showing ads

by admin September 28, 2025


The last few months, I’ve felt like I’m living in a cyberpunk movie. Each night, when I get ready to wind down, I reach for the remote to turn on a TV I got for free. When I hit the power button, a 55-inch screen lights up, but so does a smaller display beneath it. Widgets fill the secondary screen alongside a rotating ad that you can’t dismiss.

Before I can even navigate to the Netflix app, I hear something. “Hello, hello friends!” A smiling woman appears on the screen wearing a gray dress, her brown hair neatly styled into gentle waves. It’s the host of the TV’s built-in news segment, which uses the AI likeness of actress Alison Fiori to deliver today’s top stories on a loop.

This is the future of TV, according to Telly, a company that offers a free TV in exchange for the privilege of constantly blaring ads in your face. It puts the ads in a 10-inch-wide “smart” display that sits just below a built-in sound bar and runs the entire length of the TV. The screen stays on at all times — while you watch shows, movies, YouTube videos, and play video games. Even when you turn off the TV with a tap of the remote’s power button, the secondary screen remains illuminated. It will only turn off if you hold the power button for three seconds.

The bottom display shows you everything from sports scores, the current weather, and stock prices. Photo by Emma Roth / The Verge

Despite my attempts to tune out the lower display, video ads and moving widgets draw my eyes in. Along with displaying the date, time, and current weather conditions, it shows a constant stream of headlines in a news ticker, plus stock prices and even links to news stories from outlets like Fox News, which you can click into and read on the top screen. You can remove or add widgets, but there’s no way to get rid of the ad on the right side that refreshes every so often. Under Telly’s terms of service, you can’t cover up the display. Even if you tried, it just wouldn’t be practical, since you need the secondary screen to navigate to different apps and control inputs. There are settings you can use to decrease the brightness of the secondary display’s backlight, but I found that turning it down to “0” doesn’t make much of a difference.

Some of the ads shown on the bottom screen prompt you to scan a QR code, or will show a prompt to press a button on your remote to move it up to the top display for more information. The ads often appear as videos, which can draw your eyes away from what’s on the screen even more. There is no sound for video ads, but Telly will still display small subtitles that are hard to read if you’re far away from the TV. I’ve seen a range of ads on the little screen, such as some from Sunglasses Hut and Old Navy, as well as location-specific commercials from a nearby crematorium and car dealerships. I saw these no matter what I was watching — whether it was 90 Day Fiancé, Carême, or Law & Order reruns. The ads just kept rolling.

To reserve a Telly, you must agree to use the device as the main TV in your home, constantly keep it connected to the internet, and regularly watch it. If the company finds that you violate these rules, Telly will ask you to return the TV (and charge a $500 fee if you don’t send it back). I’m not sure how strictly Telly tracks the usage of its TVs. At one point, I left my TV unplugged for three weeks while away from home and received no warning from Telly.

The ads just keep rolling. Photo by Emma Roth / The Verge

“We’re not here to micromanage short-term dips but to ensure Telly continues to be a great fit over time,” Dallas Lawrence, Telly’s chief strategy officer, told The Verge. “And if it ever stops being the right match, we’ll pick it up at no cost.”

The first time my TV arrived, the FedEx delivery driver marveled at its size. But he was immediately suspicious when I said it was a free TV. Just minutes after wheeling it up my driveway, he returned to my door after doing some research on his phone, saying he heard the TV might take my data. “I know,” I said, “That’s basically part of the deal.”

When I finally got the TV out of its massive box, lugged it onto my stand, and turned it on, I realized the screen was completely cracked. I was more disappointed by having to repackage the entire thing than by having to wait a little longer to use it. Besides the physical labor involved, the return process was fairly simple. I emailed Telly, filled out a return form, and my new TV was on its way.

Once I actually got to use the TV, I found that the picture quality on Telly’s 4K HDR display is decent, though some low-light scenes can appear grainy. The six-driver soundbar has great audio, and the TV has customizable RGB backlighting. Telly runs a custom version of Android that’s preloaded with only a few apps you might recognize, like Spotify and Zoom, so you’ll need to use the included Google TV dongle to gain access to Netflix, Disney Plus, Max, and other streaming apps.

Allison Fiori’s AI avatar is the centerpiece of Telly’s homepage. Photo by Emma Roth / The Verge

The TV defaults to Telly’s home screen each time you turn it on. That’s where you’ll find the lovely Telly Today news segment, which resets every time you turn off the TV or navigate away from the home screen — meaning you have to hear all the same news stories, in the same order. Fiori often goes over celebrity news, showcases the latest trailers, and shares lighthearted viral videos, like a dog showing a piglet how to use its doggy door.

Lawrence confirmed to The Verge that Telly cast Fiori “specifically for this role.” He added, “We work closely with Allison to shape the experience, blending her on-screen presence with cutting-edge AI technology.” During my time with the TV, I found that a secondary host, which appears to be the AI likeness of a comedian named Vinny Fasline, shows up to highlight viral posts from around the internet or do trivia.

In between these segments, Telly shows a series of ads, which you can conveniently mute by pressing the Telly remote’s “A” button. The mix of ads isn’t always relevant or fresh – I once watched three of the same ads in Spanish (which I don’t speak) in a row.

Telly’s built-in camera comes with a privacy shutter. Photo by Emma Roth / The Verge

The TV also comes with a built-in camera with a privacy shutter and a microphone. The company’s terms of service state that it “may collect information about the audio and video content you watch, the channels you view, and the duration of your viewing sessions,” as well as detect the “physical presence of you and any other individuals using the TV at any given time.” This isn’t exactly comforting, and I found myself becoming paranoid that my viewing habits, conversations, and even footage from the built-in camera would somehow get directly in front of Telly employees.

Telly only opens the privacy shutter on its camera when you select an app that uses it, like Zoom. While trying out the built-in video conferencing app, I found that Telly’s camera is probably about as good as the webcam on my 2020 MacBook Air — meaning it’s a bit grainy but not distractingly so. I barely got to test Telly’s microphone, though; it cut off just moments after I started testing it. When I tried again at a later date, Telly’s microphone just emitted a buzzing sound.

The TV is quite tall. Photo by Emma Roth / The Verge

In addition to holding meetings, you can use Zoom to set up watch parties with people on other devices, whether it’s another Telly TV, smartphone, or laptop. You can use the feature to watch a show or movie on the upper screen, while seeing a video feed of your friends or family members on the secondary display. This is pretty neat, but checking out Zoom quickly made me realize how unwieldy it can be to navigate between Telly’s dual screens. It took me several minutes — and lots of button mashing — to select the “Leave Call” button on the opposite display. Oh, and Telly still displays ads on the bottom screen while you’re in meetings, too.

Telly also uses its camera for a preloaded fitness app, called Gofa, which uses Xbox Kinect-style motion tracking during workouts, along with a set of random games, like Flappy Bird and Wheel of Fortune. Some games, like Whack-a-Mole, use the TV’s camera as you, well, furiously whack moles as they appear on your screen. Most of these games are pretty corny, but I don’t really mind them as a big Kinect fan back in the day.

Another interesting use case for the secondary display is having it function as a playback bar while using the Live One music streaming app, allowing you to continue using the upper display. Unfortunately, you can’t do the same with the Spotify app, as it occupies the entire main screen once you link your account and start playing music.

All of these features point to big ideas for the future of Telly, and I commend the company for trying something far different than your typical TV experience. It’s great that you can get a completely free TV with a bunch of features out of the box, like a soundbar, RGB lighting, and a camera. But the continuous ads and software snags made me realize: TVs are worth paying for.

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Nothing Ear (3) being tested on a train, late at night
Product Reviews

Nothing Ear (3) review: stunning looks and nifty Super Mic, but is it enough given premium pricing?

by admin September 28, 2025



Why you can trust TechRadar


We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Nothing Ear (3): Two-minute review

Okay, so it’s still hard to stop oneself from playing a game of Spot the Difference concerning Nothing’s earbuds offering – but what of it? Apple’s AirPods lineup is much the same, no? The problem is that this time (unlike Nothing’s last major earbuds release, which came in at $50 / £30 cheaper than their older siblings) there’s a price hike involved; and simply put, I’m not quite sure the extra perks here do enough to justify the extra outlay.

Sure, I’d say the new Nothing Ear (3) are they still among the best earbuds of the year – but one option in the duo of buds they replace has dropped so low in price that they’ve actually jumped into our best budget earbuds buying guide. So you see, to build a case for paying quite a bit extra for the new Ear (3), they’d need to be quite a bit better – and that’s where I’m struggling.

To put the pricing into context, their closest rivals now would no longer be Sony’s class-leading WF-C710N, which sell for around $120 / £100. No, at $179 / £179 / AU$299, the Nothing Ear (3) aren’t exactly rubbing shoulders with the likes of the $299 / £299 / AU$450 Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen), but they have moved up a level – and it’s tough company to keep.

There’s no head-tracked spatial audio support (the device- and service-agnostic spatial audio option is either ‘Static’ or ‘off’) in the Ear (3), and although the ANC is solid and a new ‘Super Mic’ is fun to play with in calls, it hasn’t become the new must-have earbuds feature for me – and if it was going to appeal to anyone, someone who remembers a world of landline phones only was probably the Nothing Ear (3)’s best shot.

My biggest gripe is the battery life, which I’ll explain fully later. That said, I experienced no small sense of pride when wearing and showing off the Ear (3), thanks to the new aluminum ‘elevated’ build quality and finish – along with the return of the fidget-spinner case detail.

Is all of this enough to make the Ear (3) a hit? Perhaps, when you consider that the splendid hearing tests remain, along with advanced EQ tabs and LDAC support – all of which make the sound engaging, if a shade off excellent for dynamic nuance and treble clarity. Oh, and it’s worth noting that if you have a Nothing phone, that Super Mic becomes a quick transcription tool, which admittedly makes it much more useful (I don’t have a Nothing handset, so I’m typing out this review, dear reader)…

(Image credit: Future)

  • Nothing Ear 3 (White) at Amazon for $179

For anyone scratching their heads as to how many Nothing earbuds iterations we’re into now (because it certainly isn’t three), Nothing fully admits its earbuds naming strategy to date may not have been the smartest. So to explain, the Ear (3) is an update on the flagship Nothing Ear primarily, but also on the Nothing Ear (a), which both launched in April 2024 on the self-same day – with the cheaper pair still sitting happily at the tippy-top of our best budget earbuds guide.

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And here’s my problem with that: a quick scan of current prices reveals that the aforementioned five-star Nothing Ear (a) are currently available for $89 / £69, which means they’re half the price of the new Ear (3). And honestly, that makes the newest set even harder to recommend…

Nothing Ear (3) review: Price & release date

  • Released on September 18, 2025
  • Priced $179 / £179 / AU$299

The Nothing Ear (3) come in black or white finishes (no yellow this time around), and at this pricier level – Nothing’s previous flagship Nothing Ear arrived with a list price of $149 / £129 / AU$249 – their closest competition may even be Apple’s AirPods Pro 3, which retail for $249 / £219 / AU$429.

Yes, there’s still a $70 / £40 difference between Apple’s new top-tier AirPods Pro and Nothing’s best buds, but if your budget stretches a bit further it does bring Apple’s flagship earbuds into the conversation. And given that those AirPods now offer heart-rate monitoring, live translation and better stamina, Nothing is squaring up against some stiff competition.

Hello, yellow! (Image credit: Future)

Nothing Ear (3) review: Specs

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Drivers

12mm custom driver

Active noise cancellation

Yes

Battery life

Buds: 5.5hrs (with ANC; up to 10 hours without) Total with case: 22hrs (ANC on; up to 38 hours without)

Weight

5.2g per earbud

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.4 with LDAC, USB-C

Frequency range

20Hz–40 kHz

Waterproofing

IP54 buds

Other features

New Super Mic case, 3 mics per earbud, Nothing X App support, Custom EQ with Advanced options, Static Spatial Audio, Personal Sound (Audiodo)

(Image credit: Nothing)

Nothing Ear (3) review: Features

  • ‘Static’ spatial audio and Personal Sound curation
  • Total Radiated Power (TRP) up 15%; Total Isotropic Sensitivity (TIS) up 20%
  • ‘First of its kind Super Mic’ in the charging case

Like many of tech’s heavy-hitters (Samsung, Sony, Apple, I’m looking at you), Nothing would love to snag you and embroil you in its ecosystem with the promise of walled garden perks – and here, Nothing really does start to come into its own.

The ace up the collective sleeve of Nothing’s earbuds prior to now has been that for owners of the Nothing Phone (3), the Phone (2), Phone (1) and Phone (2a) – because Nothing has been far more sensible concerning the naming of its handsets – Nothing has offered instant access to ChatGPT via a pinch-to-speak motion on the stems. Now, users of a Nothing smartphone can use the Super Mic on Nothing Ear (3)’s case to capture transcription of your voice notes, which will sync to your on-device ‘Essential Space’ for easy location.

Nothing calls Super Mic a “first of its kind” breakthrough, and although it initially struck me as very similar to the ‘record’ button on the Viaim RecDot earbuds, there are of course those aforementioned walled-garden perks.

Otherwise, Nothing’s Super Mic is quite like those little clip-on wireless mics that content creators like to hold very close to their mouths (does this look a bit silly to anyone else?). Nothing calls Super Mic a “breakthrough dual-microphone system driven by ambient-filtering technology.”

In a nutshell, the dual MEMS beamforming mics built into the case are designed to hone in on your voice, cutting through surrounding noise (up to 95dB is the claim) for clearer capture in calls or notes – and in my tests, it worked well. On a very blustery day on the cliffs and beaches of the UK’s ‘Jurassic coast’ in Dorset, I found using the Super Mic over the three-mics-per-bud in the earpieces a welcome aid; “much better” was the general feedback from calls.

Voice AI using ChatGPT is coming using Nothing Ear (a) using your Nothing smartphone… (Image credit: Future)

You’re also getting Bluetooth v5.4 (the older set used 5.3), and LDAC support for hi-res audio (the Sony-developed codec that lets you stream high-resolution audio up to 32-bit/96kHz over Bluetooth at up to 990kbps), which is a valuable inclusion at any level, but will benefit Android users most since iPhones can’t support LDAC natively.

There’s now onboard spatial audio wizardry too, irrespective of your phone or the music service you’re streaming from – but only the ‘static’ kind (so you don’t get to use your phone as a fixed-point source device) and in my tests, it was a little clunky and not quite as immersive or convincing as similar offerings from Bose, LG or of course Apple.

However, you do get in-ear detection (to pause music when they’re out and resume it when they’re in), an Auto-Transparency mode to make transparency kick in whenever you’re on a phone call, an ear tip Fit Test, Find My earbuds (which issues a trigger sound from whichever earbud you’ve lost), a Low Lag toggle for gaming, issue-free multipoint to two devices, a Bass Enhancement toggle, an 8-tab EQ graph that lets you adjust both gain and the actual frequency of certain registers (provided you’re prepared to switch off the spatial audio augmentation), and Personal Sound.

This last perk is perhaps my favorite, because the tests only take around three minutes – they involve sounds at different frequencies being piped into each ear, getting gradually quieter until you tap the screen to say you hear nothing – but the result (a fully curated personal sound profile) is very good indeed.

Now, the noise cancellation: hit ANC (rather than ‘Transparency’ or ‘Off’) and you can pick from High, Mid, Low, and Adaptive profiles. High is not bad at all – and it shouldn’t be when the claim is 45dB (effective to 5kHz). The Transparency option is still signified by a woman exhaling, and it’s still one of the best prompts in the business (aside from Matt Berry in Cambridge’s headphones and earbuds), and it too is perfectly acceptable. But here’s the thing: I did not find any of the ANC profiles better than on the Nothing Ear (a), which makes sense because that 45dB claim is the same as the older model.

And when that older model is now half the price of these newer earbuds, you have to be asking yourself if a Super Mic in the case and spatial audio that doesn’t offer dynamic head-tracking is worth the extra outlay.

The new Ear (a) next to the Ear (2): a fun game of Spot the Difference (Image credit: Future)

Nothing Ear (3) review: Sound quality

  • LDAC adds to the performance (but the spatial audio can be beaten)
  • Forward, full-bodied sound
  • A shade off excellent for dynamic nuance

Occasionally in hi-fi circles, you’ll come across the ‘integrated hi-fi listen versus fun and exciting’ sonic debate concerning portable audio. It boils down to this: do you want a faithfully accurate, neutral representation of a recording with everything as intended, or an energetic, potentially more emotive version of the track?

In the second option, certain frequencies might be augmented just slightly, to give you the ‘feels’ of a live gig from small drivers fitted into your ear. And the odd thing is that what you may think you want may not actually be what your ear prefers (as mystical and strange as that may sound)…

Anyway, the Nothing Ear (3) sit firmly in the latter camp. What you’ll get here is excitement, energy, bass clout and oomph. Those with a Sony smartphone (I’m still using the Sony Xperia 1 IV, because it isn’t broken, so why would I fix it?) will find LDAC codec files are delivered with extra expanse and detail over more ‘vanilla’ Bluetooth streaming, but the tuning is the same regardless – very little has been held back.

Streaming Fontaines D.C.’s Starburster is a head-nodding celebration of the track, where drum fills and Grian Chatten’s voice leap two-footed into each ear with all of the bite and impetus the group could possibly want, but there is a downside. Some lesser backing vocals and sloping string elements occasionally get lost just slightly; it’s hard to compete when so much emphasis and energy is placed on sounds at the forefront.

Yes, there are plenty of ways to tweak things more to your liking in the Nothing X app and here, the eight-tab EQ graph is the place to go – it does help. What I personally would leave well alone is the Bass Booster. It isn’t necessary – this is a meaty listen from the box. Also, I’d tone down the treble; I know my own ear is sensitive to these frequencies, but nevertheless, stream Kate Bush’s Army Dreamers and if you’re anything like me you’ll hear occasional harshness through the treble that can become a little wearying.

  • Sound quality score: 4 / 5

See how Ear (a) is just slightly bigger than Ear (2), across the board? (Image credit: Nothing)

Nothing Ear (3) review: Design

  • Solid, cool, pocketable case with ‘TALK’ button
  • IP54 earbuds are secure – but the comfort levels can now be beaten
  • Nothing’s design language is even more striking now

After switching out to the smaller ear tips (you get four in total now: an XS, S and L options are supplied in addition to the pre-fitted M set), Nothing’s ear tip fit test tells me I’ve nailed the fit.

I say that if you’ve got smaller ears I really would encourage you to try before you buy – and my guide to the best earbuds for small ears is worth consulting – because I found the driver housing just that little bit harder to accommodate this time around. It could be because of that larger 12mm driver (and “patterned diaphragm” which Nothing claims gives these buds “a 20% larger radiating area when compared to the previous generation”), or it could be because said earpiece is mounted at a slightly different angle to the stem now – see a close-up of Ear (3) next to the Ear (a) above – but they weren’t as comfortable this time.

(Image credit: Future)

On this, readers might simply remark “Well, they’re based on AirPods, can’t really knock them for that – Apple did it first” but here’s the thing: AirPods are different now! You might not have spotted it because it’s all very new (and the heart-rate monitor and live translation perks have hogged headlines), but the AirPods Pro 3’s fit has been completely reworked. I’m working on a full review of those too (they keep me chained up in TR HQ you know) but even at this early stage and during my testing, I can tell you that for me, the AirPods Pro 3 are much comfier than the Nothing Ear (3) now.

Nothing’s pinch stems still work really well, but again (and at the risk of sounding like a broken record) it’s only as good as the older, cheaper Nothing set. You can still customize what the morse code short- and long-press combinations do for each stem – including volume – and they also work with gloves on, unlike a lot of touch-capacitive solutions.

Now, the new case. If you’ve got a metallic-finish smartphone, the Nothing Ear (3) are going to look glorious beside it. Aesthetics really is one of Nothing’s strong suits, and these earbuds are the ace in the pack. ‘Elevated’ is the word Nothing’s team keep repeating on this; and it’s true, they look more high-end now. There’s a new custom Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) antenna, engineered to just 0.35 mm thick, that now runs along the still-see-through stems of the earbuds to keep connections stronger than ever. It’s the same, but refined – it looks like a more expensive version of what was there before.

And if it’s elevation we need to be focusing on, the charging nest is the thing that’s, er, risen the most. It is now crafted from a block of 100% recycled aluminum and CNC machine finished through 27 processes. Nano injection moulding also “fuses the metal and transparent plastic without glue, achieving tight ±0.03mm tolerances for a seamless, compact body” according to Nothing, so there’s no glue anywhere here. And the shiny ‘TALK’ button is placed directly under a nice snappy magnet where the case opens. Nothing assures me it has been positioned so that you won’t cover it with your hand, and the green light-up LED to denote that you’re recording is a strong touch.

Rarely have I had so many colleagues strike up a conversation with me over a set of earbuds (Image credit: Future)

Nothing Ear (3) review: Value

  • Great-looking earbuds
  • LDAC adds sound-per-pound value
  • …but this is higher-end territory, and the Nothing Ear (a) still exist

The older Nothing earbuds were near-rivals for Sony’s cheaper earbuds, but that’s no longer the case: Sony’s excellent affordable WF-C710N cost $119 / £100 / AU$189, so they’re in a different category to the $179 / £179 Nothing Ear (3).

And although there’s a lot to enjoy in the Ear (3), unless you have a Nothing handset for transcription features, the Super Mic really is just a better mic for calls and certain voice notes – it doesn’t support WhatsApp voice notes (yet), which I explain in more depth in my early Ear (3) experiential.

The personalization is very very good, but the audio has suffered a little for me in this iteration, becoming a little harsher through the treble on occasion, probably due to the slightly bigger driver and tweaked acoustic architecture.

Should I buy the Nothing Ear (3)?

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Section

Notes

Score

Features

Solid spec sheet, but the Super Mic is really only a standout feature if you own a Nothing phone

4.5/5

Sound quality

Zeal and get up and go to a fault? Almost. They’re vigorous and exciting, but there’s occasional treble harshness

4/5

Design

Beautiful design language, but the earpieces are no longer among the comfiest around

4.5/5

Value

Given the price of older iterations, it’s hard to see huge value for money here

3/5

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Nothing Ear (3) review: Also consider

Swipe to scroll horizontallyHeader Cell – Column 0

Nothing Ear (3)

Nothing Ear (a)

Sony WF-C710N

Price

$179 / £179 / AU$299

$99 / £99 / approx AU$192

$119 / £100 / AU$189

Drivers

12mm custom

11m custom

5mm

Active noise cancellation

Yes

Yes

Yes

Quoted battery life

Buds: 5.5hrs (with ANC; up to 10 hours without) Total with case: 22hrs (ANC on; up to 38 hours without)

Buds: 5.5 hrs (9.5 hours without ANC Total with case: 24.5 hrs (42.5 hrs without ANC)

8.5 hrs (ANC ON) / Max. 12 hrs (ANC off); up to 30 hours with the case

Weight

5.2g

4.8g

5.2g per earpiece

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.4 with LDAC, USB-C

Bluetooth 5.3, LDAC, USB-C (no wireless charging)

Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C, Sony 360 Reality Audio, AAC, SBC

Frequency range

20kHz-40kHz

5000Hz range

20Hz-20kHz

Waterproofing

Yes, IP54

Yes, IP54 earbuds; IPX2 case

Yes, IPX4

Other features

Static spatial audio, Super Mic case feature, Personal sound profiles, advanced EQ

Row 8 – Cell 2

Sony 360 Reality Audio

How I tested the Nothing Ear (3)

(Image credit: Nothing)

  • Tested for two weeks, listened against AirPods Pro 3, Bose QCUE (2nd Gen) and Technics EAH-AZ100
  • Listened at work (in the office, walking on a beach, on a train) and at home
  • Listened to Tidal, Qobuz, Apple Music and Spotify on an iPhone 15 Pro Max, MacBook Pro and heard LDAC on Sony Xperia 1 IV

The Nothing Ear (3) became my primary musical companions for 13 days – after a thorough 48-hour run-in period.

They accompanied me to London (walking brusquely from St. Pancras Station to Waterloo owing to strike action on the London Underground and my need to get a train back to Dorset in 43 minutes!) and at home – where I actually missed delivery of a review sample owing to the efficacy of Nothing Ear (3)’s ANC.

It goes without saying that to better test the comfort levels (and battery life claims), I followed TechRadar’s meticulous methodology testing. I also used TechRadar’s reference playlist (spanning everything from hip-hop to folk music) on Apple Music and Tidal, and also my own musical selections and podcasts. I wore the Ear (3) to watch YouTube videos (mostly about the Austrian singer Falco, since you ask) from my MacBook Pro.

I’ve been testing audio products for well over five years. As a dancer, aerialist and musical theater performer in another life, sound quality, fit, and user experience have always been imperative for me personally, but having heard how wonderful ANC can be when done well, I know what I’m listening out for here also.

Read more about how we test earbuds at TechRadar

  • First reviewed: September 2025

Nothing Ear (3): Price Comparison



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A flying turtle with a pallet of packages strapped to its back flies alongisde a gigantic tower of buildings.
Product Reviews

Stario: Haven Tower is yet another vertical city-builder, but this one has magic, space whales and flying delivery turtles

by admin September 28, 2025



Stario: Haven Tower isn’t the first vertical city-builder I’ve seen, or even the first one I’ve seen this year. But it is the first I’ve encountered that also features floating space whales, which immediately makes it the one I’m most interested in playing. Does this demonstrate how badly the Internet has affected my attention span? Well, I’ll have you know that—ooh, a squirrel!

Developed by Chinese outfit Stargate Games, Stario: Haven Tower tasks you with constructing a literal towering civilization. Through “six atmospheric layers”, your metropolitan column will rise from a sandy, lifeless wilderness all the way up to a painterly cosmos.

While the verticality is what initially intrigued me about Stario (that and the space whales), what really makes it interesting is how it folds logistics into city-planning. Each layer of the tower must store its own supplies, so you’ll need to figure out how to move goods between them. At the outset, this may involved good old fashioned elbow grease, ordering your “Towertizens” (a portmanteau unlikely to catch on, I fear).


Related articles

As you research new tech, however, you’ll be able to produce hot air balloons, pipelines, and a technology called “Stronghands” that basically catapult packages between layers. Judging from the trailer (viewable below), Stario also lets you domesticate giant flying turtles to aid in deliveries, though whether these are used for general logistics or more specific, larger-scale transportation is unclear.

Stario Haven Tower – Official Early Access Release Date Trailer | Convergence Games Showcase 2025 – YouTube

Watch On

Of course, your construction efforts don’t occur in a bubble. In classic city-building style, your tower is vulnerable to various disasters that can damage its structure and your people’s morale. Yet as your civilization ascends, you’ll be able to harness the elements through magical rituals, summoning wind to power your turbines and rain to replenish your crops.

While is only just entering early access, it appears fairly fleshed out. The alpha version lets you build the full tower, construct 70 buildings, produce 50 different recipes, and research technologies from a completed tech tree. There are also four types of disasters to contend with, as well as a newly implemented trading system.

Stario: Haven Tower is available now. Stargate Games anticipates a swift early access period of between six and 12 months, with planned features including a sandbox mode, more logistics buildings, a statistics tracking panel, and more decorative objectives to place around your city. The developer’s also running a 10% launch sale, temporarily bringing the price down to $12.59 (£10). The discount runs until October 9.

Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.



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September 28, 2025 0 comments
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Oldest Shell Jewelry Workshop in Western Europe Dates Back 42,000 Years
Product Reviews

Oldest Shell Jewelry Workshop in Western Europe Dates Back 42,000 Years

by admin September 28, 2025



Between 55,000 and 42,000 years ago, the Châtelperronian people lived in what is now modern-day France and northern Spain. Their tool industry is among the earliest known from this part of the world during the Upper Paleolithic, a time spanning 55,000 and 42,000 years ago. And as new research suggests, Châtelperronians also had a knack for shell-based jewelry.

Researchers excavating at the Palaeolithic site of La Roche-à-Pierrot in Saint-Césaire on France’s Atlantic coast have discovered pigments and shells, both pierced and unpierced, from the Châtelperronian period. The presence of shells without holes and the lack of wear marks on some of the punctures suggest that the site was a jewelry workshop. Specifically, Western Europe’s oldest shell jewelry workshop.

Mysterious jewelry artisans

It was around this time that our species, Homo sapiens, began spilling out from Africa, replacing Europe’s last Neanderthals. This has consequently fueled an enduring mystery about the Châtelperronian people. Were they Neanderthals or Homo sapiens? A bit of both? The new finding complicates the picture even further.

“This hitherto undocumented combination of an early Upper Paleolithic industry and shell beads provides insights into cultural variability in western Europe and raises the question as to whether the makers of the Châtelperronian were influenced by or formed part of the earliest dispersals of H. sapiens into the region,” the researchers wrote in a study published yesterday in the journal PNAS.

Top left: virtual reconstruction of Roche-à-Pierrot shells. Center left: pierced shells linked to Châtelperronian stone tools. Bottom left: pigments found in the same area. Right: pigment and piercings on the shells. © S. Rigaud & L. Dayet

The researchers found 37 Châtelperronian stone tools, 96 red and yellow pigment fragments (pigments are intensely colored compounds), and at least 42,000-year-old shells, including 30 complete, pierced specimens. The assemblage includes the first known evidence of shell beads directly linked to Châtelperronian stone tools. They also uncovered known Neanderthal tools as well as the remnants of hunted bison and horses.

The shells come from the Atlantic coast, which would’ve been around 62 miles (100 kilometers) from the site at the time, while the pigments came from over 25 miles (40 km) away. These distances suggest the presence of either vast trade networks or notable human mobility.

The shell jewelry and pigments represent the time period’s “explosion of symbolic expression,” featuring ornamentation, social differentiation, and identity affirmation typically linked with Homo sapiens, according to a statement from France’s National Centre for Scientific Research. Furthermore, the finding suggests that the Châtelperronian people belonged to or were impacted by Homo sapiens arriving in the region some 42,000 years ago.

Prehistoric symbolic expression

“Disentangling these potential scenarios remains challenging in the absence of definitive evidence concerning the maker of the Châtelperronian,” the researchers wrote in the study. “Nevertheless, the unique symbolic behavior of Châtelperronian groups brought to light at Saint-Césaire likely developed against the backdrop of a more diverse biocultural landscape.”

Interactions between diverse biological and cultural groups may have kick-started the rise of shared symbolic behavior during the European Upper Paleolithic, according to the study.

So next time you wear a seashell necklace or bracelet, remember that you’re following in the footsteps of a prehistoric jewelry fashion tens of thousands of years old.



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September 28, 2025 0 comments
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Proton Pass Review (2025): Finally Standing Tall
Product Reviews

Proton Pass Review (2025): Finally Standing Tall

by admin September 28, 2025


You can rename your vaults, but you can also assign them one of a few dozen icons, as well as choose from a handful of color presets. It’s a small addition, but a little color-coding goes a long way in finding what you need at a glance.

Beyond logins, you can also generate and store email aliases, similar to NordPass. It’s a standard feature, even if you don’t subscribe. Free users are capped at 10 aliases, while paying users can create as many as they want.

It’s not just a fake email tied to a real one. You can set up aliases like that, but Proton allows you to forward emails to multiple addresses, create catch-all addresses, and even reply directly from the web app. I appreciate the activity log most, though. Proton automatically creates contacts for everyone who interacts with your alias, and you can block spammy addresses without ever opening your email client.

No Desktop App

Proton Pass via Jacob Roach

Proton Pass was originally available only as a browser extension, but it now has apps for Windows, macOS, and even Linux, as long as you’re on a Fedora- or Debian-based distribution. I mainly used Pass in the browser, not only because it’s convenient but also because the extension is available on just about everything—Chromium-based browsers have access, and there are separate extensions for Firefox, Safari, and Brave.

The browser app has everything you need, and it works a treat when it comes to password capture and autofill. Proton occasionally asked me to save a password a second time after initially dismissing a capture notification. But outside of that small hiccup, I never encountered an issue with autofill for forms, logins, or credit cards.

Inside the app, you have a few features that aren’t available through the extension. The key feature is Pass Monitor, which is Proton’s security watchdog feature. It’ll show you weak passwords, accounts where you can enable 2FA, and critically, accounts that have been victims of a data breach. If you want to go further, you can turn on Proton Sentinel, as well.

Pass Monitor is great, but breach notifications have a problem. By default, Proton only monitors the email associated with your Proton account. If you’re importing passwords from another app, as I did, and you have different emails, those aren’t a part of the monitoring by default. And Proton doesn’t tell you that. You have to click into breach details and manually add addresses.

Proton Pass via Jacob Roach



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