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The Google Pixel 10 and 10 Pro come with magnets, a new chip, and AI everywhere
Product Reviews

The Google Pixel 10 and 10 Pro come with magnets, a new chip, and AI everywhere

by admin


Google has formally announced the Pixel 10, 10 Pro, and 10 Pro XL, and their hardware upgrades can be summed up in two letter/number combinations: G5 and Qi2. Otherwise, there’s not much to see on the outside of the phones. They mostly cost the same as last year’s devices — $799 for the Pixel 10, $999 for the 10 Pro, and $1,199 for the 256GB 10 Pro XL, though Google got rid of the cheaper 128GB Pro XL variant. They also look an awful lot like last year’s phones, with a few specs tweaked here and there. But we got a look at some of the new features running on these phones, including — you guessed it — a bunch of AI stuff, and there’s just a whole lot more going on than meets the eye.

But let’s start with those top-line updates. In each of these phones is the new Tensor G5 chipset, the first one made by TSMC after four generations of Samsung-made, Google-customized silicon. Google says the CPU is on average 34 percent faster than Tensor G4’s, and claims a 60 percent performance increase for on-device AI tasks handled by the TPU. On-device AI is a real theme across the Pixel 10’s new features, which we’ll get to in a minute.

The Pro colors aren’t as bright because these phones are Professionals and very serious. Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge

The standard-issue Pixel 10 gets to have more fun. Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge

Then there’s the long-awaited Qi2 charging support. With apologies to the HMD Skyline, we haven’t seen a major Android OEM offer proper Qi2 on a phone until now. That includes the MagSafe-esque ring of magnets on the back panel, which Google is introducing as Pixelsnap. Google will offer a couple of its own accessories at launch: a magnetic stand charger with a detachable wireless charging puck, plus a ring-type grip that also acts as a stand. There are roughly nine million different Magsafe accessories on the market that the Pixel 10 will be compatible with, too. The regular 10 and the 10 Pro will charge at up to 15W with a Qi2 charger, but only the 10 Pro XL supports the top Qi2.2 wireless charging speed of 25W.

There’s good and bad news for the regular Pixel 10. The bad: instead of sharing the 10 Pro’s big 50-megapixel main camera sensor as it has in previous years, the regular 10 makes do with a smaller sensor borrowed from the budget-friendly Pixel 9A. It’s a 48-megapixel 1/2”-type sensor, compared to the 50-megapixel 1/1.3”-type sensor that’s now reserved for the 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL. The Pixel 10 also gets the 9A’s 13-megapixel ultrawide, while the Pro phones get a bigger 48-megapixel sensor. But the good news is that it has a proper telephoto lens for the first time, though again, its 5x camera is a step down from the hardware offered on the Pro phones. Win some, lose some.

1/6Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge

Speaking of losses: Google is taking a page out of Apple’s playbook, and the versions of the Pixel 10 phones sold in the US will be eSIM-only. The physical SIM tray is replaced with the ability to use two active eSIMs at once and store eight “or more” eSIM profiles.

Screens are a little brighter across the board; batteries are a little bigger, too. The Pixel 10 offers a 4970mAh battery compared to 4700mAh in the Pixel 9. The 10 Pro is actually a little lower than the regular 10, at 4870mAh, which is still a slight bump over the Pixel 9 Pro’s 4700mAh capacity. The Pixel 10 Pro XL gets a 5200mAh capacity, up from 5060mAh in the previous generation.

Maybe the most notable new AI feature on the 10 series is called Magic Cue, which proactively suggests text that you might want to paste into an app or a conversation based on context. If a friend texts to ask for the address of the Airbnb you’re sharing, in theory, Magic Cue will grab the address from your email and suggest it above the keyboard without any input from you. You’ll be able to tap and check the email for yourself, or paste it straight into the conversation. If it recognizes that you’re calling the number of a business listed on an email, like an airline you’ve already booked a flight with, it can surface relevant details in the phone app, like your confirmation number. It looks like a kind of turbo-charged autofill for everything.

Magic Cue works with first-party apps for the most part, including messages, calendar, Gmail, and the phone app, but it’s also built into Gboard, so you may see text suggestions across third-party apps, too. Senior director of product management for Pixel Shenaz Zack confirmed all AI is running on-device, and while it incorporates your very recent phone activity into its suggestions, she says that it’s “ephemeral.” Zack adds, “It’s not going to remember what you did a week ago,” and that it’s not saving any screen content. Zack wouldn’t say whether this feature would roll out to older Pixel devices. It’s one of those things that, if it works as it should, really could save you time and effort as you bounce between apps on your phone. Or it could be nothing at all! Either way, the Google Now dream lives on.

There’s a load of other AI features here, too. On the 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL, the camera app will use diffusion AI models to improve detail in shots taken above 30x zoom. This isn’t just an algorithm deciding whether a pixel should be red based on the pixels around it — this is full-on generative AI in the camera app. It happens after you take a picture, it doesn’t work on people, and the results are tagged as being edited using AI in C2PA content credentials, which are now supported by Google Photos. Good! But holy crap is this an extinction-level “what is a photo” event. I have more thoughts about it all, but regardless of any philosophical hangups, it looked really effective in the demos I saw. What would normally look like digitally zoomed garbage became an actual usable image. Were they photos? Who can say?

This an extinction-level “what is a photo” event

Then there’s the lightning round of AI features. There’s an AI Camera Coach, which gives you step-by-step directions to improve a particular photo you’re trying to compose. Nice idea, but I’m not sure who’s going to use it. You can now use text prompts to edit photos in the AI-powered Magic Editor. There’s also a journal app, because Google and Apple can’t stop copying each other, and this one uses AI to assign a smiley face emoji summing up your daily entries and generates prompts based on what you’ve written about. Creepy!

Finally, there’s an AI translator in the phone app — not a new concept. But this version uses AI to mimic the voice of the person you’re talking to, so you’ll hear translations in something closer to their speech rather than a robot. The effect is decent, if not spot on.

The Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and Pixel 10 Pro XL are available for preorder today; they’ll be on shelves August 28th. The Pixel 10 starts at $799, and the 10 Pro starts at $999 — same as last year’s phones. Starting at $1,199, the Pixel 10 Pro XL isn’t technically more expensive than the 9 Pro XL, since it matches the price for last year’s 256GB variant; you just won’t find a $1,099 128GB version this time around.

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge

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Herdling
Product Reviews

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S review: still a great puzzle game, but a disappointing port

by admin



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.

While it’s one of, if not the oldest professions, herdsmen aren’t often represented in video game format, and after playing Okomotive’s Herdling, I struggle to understand why. Sure, if you asked me to come up with my dream game tomorrow, I probably wouldn’t start with “herding cattle”, but Herdling takes the idea and expands it into a mystical, uncanny world filled with fantastic beasts and terrifying foes.

Your role is simple: finding, taming, caring for, and guiding a herd of great calico-patterned horned beasts called Calicorns and ushering them to the mountain’s peak. Along the way, you’ll encounter various puzzles, obstacles, and foes.

Review info

Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2
Available on: Nintendo Switch 2, PC, Xbox, and PS5
Release date: August 21, 2025

  • Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S at Amazon for $29.99

From its painterly art style to its rich, emotive music, the world of Herdling is vivid and expansive, and delightful to explore thanks to a decent variety of mechanics in each level and plenty to discover and explore.

You’ll traverse verdant fields, discover abandoned man-made structures, both modern and mystical, and cross treacherous woods and mountain climes to reach the summit. While it’s not terribly long, offering 4-6 hours of gameplay, Herdling is littered with collectibles and discoverable content, making for a good amount of replayability.

Seen, but not herd

The game opens in a seemingly deserted city, as the protagonist awakens on the streets with a seemingly singular purpose: to find and herd Calicorns. This slightly claustrophobic cityscape acts as your tutorial ground, though there’s little to no instruction.

Things aren’t all as they seem, though; the presence of human life is tangible everywhere in the early stages of the game, whether that’s in trains hurtling past the open fields, lights flickering in buildings, or cars crossing open highways. Still, the manufactured world seems at odds with your new companions, so you dust off the concrete and head out into the open plains on your quest to reach the mountain’s peak, gathering more fluffy friends along the way.

It’s unclear why, bar the Calicorns, you seem to be so alone in this slightly uncanny world; Herdling asks not why, but how you’ll navigate the treacherous path to the summit. And that “how” is largely dictated by your herd.

You’ll find a host of Calicorns along your journey, which you can tame with a good old-fashioned head scratch and name. By standing behind them and facing in the direction you want to travel in and waving your shepherd’s crook, you can steer your Calicorns and command them to stop, go, or slow down.

(Image credit: Okomotive)

You can also activate stampede mode for a speed boost, which is refuelled by guiding your herd over blue flowers and increases the more Calicorns you have tamed. Performance drops are fairly frequent during stampede mode, and as you’d expect, it becomes more challenging to guide your flock at high speeds.

In narrower portions of the map, navigation can be frustrating, especially as you collect more Calicorns, and there were more than a few moments where I feared I’d never safely negotiate the herd out of some slightly jammy corners. On the one hand, that could be by design, but I’m never a fan of chance taking the reins.

You’ll find yourself inventing all kinds of methods to keep your herd compact and controlled, but sometimes even pausing their motion can’t stop the scamps from going on walkabouts. After all, they are wild animals.

Your Calicorns aren’t your wards; they’re your companions, and help you as much as you do them! (Image credit: Okomotive)

Until you find your dream

The game is largely linear, but that doesn’t make your journey easy; you’ll have to decide on the best paths to take, navigate in and out of some tight spots with your growing, occasionally mischievous herd, and care for them to ensure they survive their passage – and yes, that does mean they can die.

Upon taking damage, the Calicorns’ vibrant coat, often dusted with petals from running amidst the flower fields and storing up stampede powers, will become slick with blood, a wound you can only heal by scrambling about the map level in search of berries to feed your friends. There is also an Immortal mode for the faint of heart; thankfully, in my first playthrough, I didn’t need it.

Nobody wants to ruin a perfect run with a herd member’s passing, but it’s doubly heartbreaking when you factor in how personable and cute these creatures are. Each has a unique design, with different horn shapes, sizes, and ages, expressed through their quizzical and expressive wide red eyes.

Some even have personality traits that play out as you rest in camp between levels. Needy Calicorns will follow you around camp until they receive affection, while playful ones will try to engage you in a game of fetch. It’s incredibly charming and raises the stakes in the game overall.

Image 1 of 4

(Image credit: Okomotive)(Image credit: Okomotive)(Image credit: Okomotive)(Image credit: Okomotive)

As the game progresses, the world expands to include more mysticism. Ancient monuments and grand structures become the backdrop for your quest, and the farther you climb, the more enchanting the world becomes; and the farther you feel from the vaguely post-apocalyptic vibes in the earlier game levels as your protagonist becomes increasingly enmeshed with their herd.

There are environmental threats at different levels, including spiky surfaces and even ice calving beneath your Calicorn’s feet (or hooves? You can’t really see them…), but the real fear factor comes from the cryptid-esque giant owls that seem to have a real taste for Calicorn.

These are the primary antagonists in Herdling, but their menace takes various forms. From high-stakes stealth navigation through the birds’ nest to high-speed chases as they snipe at you from the air, these great beasts pose a genuinely terrifying threat to your herd.

(Image credit: Okomotive)

You can really appreciate the calmer moments in the game in contrast to the terror, though. The great, sprawling landscapes are gorgeous, and the soft-touch sound design wonderfully captures the emotion of every moment. Activating stampede mode launches a tremendous Galop-esque burst of sound and color, where more peaceful moments feature little more than the sounds of nature and the sprinkling of keys.

Of course, as Herdling is an indie title, it does lack polish in areas; animations are occasionally a bit awkward, especially as Calicorns descend slopes, and tight or enclosed spaces can be challenging to navigate. That’s especially true as your herd grows, which may well be by design, but if you’re playing using a controller like I did on my Switch 2, you might find yourself in peril (or just fiddling with herd positioning) more often than you’d like, which can impact the pace of the game.

Still, I really enjoyed my time as a Calicorn shepherd. The game hints at themes of homeship, nature, found family, death, and rebirth, giving the player ample perspectives through which to enjoy its wordless narrative. Herdling cleverly implements its key herding mechanic but offers enough ways to play and explore that players of all ages and skillsets can enjoy this minimalist yet profound odyssey to find a new home.

(Image credit: Okomotive)

Should I play Herdling?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility features

Herdling has a handful of dedicated accessibility settings. You can toggle controller vibration, sprint, auto-run, display HUD, herding direction indicator, Calicorn immortality, and button holds. There are no dialogue lines, but there are various language settings for the menus and tutorial.

How I reviewed Herdling

I played through Herdling twice (10 hours) on Nintendo Switch 2 using both the Pro Controller, Joy-Con 2, and handheld mode.

During my time with the game, I compared my experience with other indie titles, especially those launched on Switch 2, making certain to note any issues with performance or game quality.

First reviewed August 2025

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S: Price Comparison



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A phone displaying a game of Wordle, on top of a dictionary
Product Reviews

Today’s Wordle clues, hints and answer for August 22 #1525

by admin



Make your daily Wordle game a little (or a lot) easier with our help. Let’s keep it nice and simple, shall we? Now you’re here, you’re only a click away from the August 22 (1525) answer. Go on, treat yourself to a guaranteed win in one. No? No problem. Our Wordle hints and clues are here and happy to assist whenever you think you need them.

A clue for today’s Wordle

Stuck on today’s Wordle? Here’s a clue that pertains to the meaning of the word.

If you’re still just as stuck after our clue, scroll down for further hints.


Related articles

Hints for the August 22 (#1525) Wordle

Our Wordle hints will start vague so as to just give you a bit of a nudge in the right direction at first.

As you scroll down, they’ll offer more and more help towards figuring out today’s word without fully giving it away.

Are there any repeated letters in today’s Wordle?

One of the letters you need to find is used more than once.

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

Just the one vowel today, so focus on consonants.

What letter does today’s Wordle begin with?

Today’s winning word starts with an “R”.

If you’ve found yourself filling the board with every letter except the ones you need to win, you’ll probably want to look just a little further down the page. We’ve got a win waiting for you.

The August 22 (#1525) Wordle answer is…

(Image credit: NurPhoto (Getty Images))

This is it. No turning back now!

The solution to today’s Wordle puzzle is…

The meaning behind today’s Wordle answer

Ratty behaviour is grumpy and annoyed, while ratty condition refers to something wrecked or worn. Unfair, really. Rats are sweet, friendly pets.

Previous Wordle answers

Past Wordle answers can give you some excellent ideas for fun starting words that keep your daily puzzle-solving fresh. They are also a good way to eliminate guesses for today’s Wordle, as the answer is unlikely to be repeated.

Here are the last 10 Wordle answers:

  • August 12: NOMAD
  • August 13: KEFIR
  • August 14: KNELL
  • August 15: LEVEL
  • August 16: MATTE
  • August 17: LOUSY
  • August 18: ISSUE
  • August 19: ROWDY
  • August 20: LLAMA
  • August 21: EXTOL

Learn more about Wordle 

(Image credit: Future)

How to play Wordle

Wordle’s a daily guessing game, where the goal is to correctly uncover today’s five letter word in six goes or less. An incorrect letter shows up as a grey box. A correct letter in the wrong space turns up yellow. And the correct letter in the right place shows up as green. There’s no time limit to worry about, and don’t forget that some letters might be used more than once.

Get better at Wordle!

What’s the best Wordle starting word?

Generally you want to pick something with a good mix of common consonants and vowels in it as your Wordle opener, as this is most likely to return some early green and yellow letters. Words like SLATE, CHIME, and REACT all work, but feel free to find your own favourite.

Is Wordle getting harder?

(Image credit: Valve)

Wordle is not getting harder!

There will always be the occasional day where the answer is the name of a body part, has a sneaky double vowel, or a word obscure enough to send everyone rushing off to a dictionary. But the daily answers, edited by Tracy Bennett, are still a good mix of common terms and tougher challenges.

Remember that if you’re craving more of a challenge, you can enable Hard Mode under the ⚙️ options menu. This option doesn’t make the words themselves harder, but it requires that “any revealed hints must be used in subsequent guesses.”

How did Wordle begin?

Wordle is the creation of Josh Wardle, and began life as a small personal project before its public release in 2021. From there it’s gone on to become a global phenomenon, attracting a dedicated daily audience, billions of plays, a whole host of competitors, and even a seven-figure sale to the New York Times where it’s become a mainstay of daily games alongside the crosswords and Connections.



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'Peacemaker' Returns, and Wastes No Time Retconning the New DC Universe
Product Reviews

‘Peacemaker’ Returns, and Wastes No Time Retconning the New DC Universe

by admin


With Superman in the books, the time has finally come to see how DC Studios’ rebooted universe will continue with the second season of James Gunn’s John Cena-led TV series, Peacemaker. Even before the show’s release, Peacemaker existed in a unique transitional phase between the old and new DC Universes, leading fans to wonder which elements would carry over and which would be left behind.

The answer to that, as gleaned from trailers and the occasional Gunn interview about its premiere being not safe for work, will have something to do with pocket universes and Peacemaker contending with himself in some capacity. So without further ado, let’s see what Gunn and DC Studios have been cooking up.

During a season one recap that brings us up to speed, noting Christopher Smith, (a.k.a. Peacemaker)’s relatively normal upbringing with his racist father, Auggie Smith (Robert Patrick), we’re reminded that his dear old dad has a pocket dimension in his house. Unlike Lex Luthor’s pocket dimension, which he uses as a prison for those who slight him, Auggie (a.k.a. the White Dragon), utilizes it as a storage facility for all his gadgets, including Chris’ many Inspector Gadget-coded helmets. The explosive finale of season one saw Auggie killed, yet still present as a ghost haunting Chris in his pursuit of being recognized as a legitimate superhero. Surely, the show’s focus on pocket dimensions will prove to be a valuable narrative device later this season.

Why focus on the recap, you ask? Well, it’s already done some retconning on the season one finale. Famously, the finale saw the Justice League’s Wonder Woman, Superman, the Flash, and Aquaman show up late as hell to the party. However, Peacemaker season two’s recap is already showing its hand in taking creative liberties, changing how it incorporates its superhero cameos. Now, instead of the Justice League showing up, it’s silhouettes of the Justice Gang’s Mister Terrific, Hawkgirl, and Green Lantern, with Superman and Supergirl in tow.

© HBO Max

Just like the Peacemaker finale, the recap only features Hawkgirl and Green Lantern actors Isabela Merced and Nathan Fillion. Appropriately, they barb back at Chris, with Hawkgirl calling him a meathead and Fillion’s Guy Gardner taking issue with Peacemaker spreading rumors that he’s a puke freak.

From here, the first episode, “The Ties That Grind,” begins with Chris rolling out of bed, awakened by Eagly on a cold winter night. After a reflective glance out his window, Chris quickly punches in a code and stands at the threshold of a pocket dimension doorway, wearing nothing but a shirt and his tighty whities, as he witnesses an aurora borealis light show as whatever cosmic mumbo jumbo morphs into his Peacemaker lair.

Peacemaker’s lair apparently doubles as a communal garbage incinerator; a “crypt-keeping looking” alien guy appears, shrugs off Chris’ “good morning,” incinerates a giant rat, and then waltzes back through another interdimensional door like he strolled right out of Rick and Morty. But we’ve no time for interdimensional pleasantries, because Eagly discovers there’s another door, equipped with the same keypad, as Chris’ inside the pocket universe. What’s more, just outside of it is a pile of off-brand-looking Peacemaker helmets.

After punching in the same door code as his own, Chris stumbles into a well-furnished trophy room with eerie villain music, and something is amiss. This adversarial alternate reality has a newspaper clipping of Chris, his father, and what can only be assumed is his brother in the Evergreen Sentinel, showing them being awarded them the key to the city for being a top superhero trio. To add more credence to his strange discovery, Chris is greeted by an alt-version of his father, who wonders if he’s been sleepwalking again. Chris, overwhelmed by this reunion not being a ghostly haunting of his father like in the season one finale, runs away in terror.

There’s a pocket dimension inside Chris’ home, and it leads to a world where he didn’t kill his dad and wasn’t a raging racist and homophobe (as far as we know). All things weighing on Chris’ mind that he’s, like a man, trying to push down as he drives on the passenger’s side of Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks)’s ride as she tells him about her apparent breakup with her girlfriend.

Instead of blindly parroting Adebayo, he suggests that her ex was probably concerned about her safety. Adebayo counters this by pointing out that Chris seems to think he’s invincible and immune to danger during their missions, despite her concerns about his bravado. Their conversation steers into Chris asking about his crush, Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), and whether she has spoken with Adebayo since the season one finale, which saw her hospitalized. Naturally, Chris is only concerned with whether or not Harcourt has talked about him, which she hasn’t. Womp womp.

Romantic pining aside, Chris gets vulnerable about his own insecurities, admitting that metahumans have apparently been bullying him, saying they make fun of him for his Jersey Shore haircut and “wearing a disco ball” on his head—conveniently forgetting he’s also said some not-so-nice things about Aquaman sleeping with the fishes.

“I know it’s cause my muscles are bigger than theirs, but jeez, right?” Chris remarks.

Adebayo reminds Chris that, despite the online trash talk, Peacemaker is a superhero who saved the world from a hivemind of alien bugs. Still, Chris seeks validation from his would-be peers as well, saying he no longer wants to be taken as a joke. This brings us to our first trial in legitimizing Peacemaker as a superhero: his job interview for the Justice Gang in a derelict strip mall. Things didn’t go so well for a lady ahead of him, storming out in a huff, clad in a full bunny get-up, but she’s not played by 17-time WWE world heavyweight champion John Cena, so Chris’s luck might be better.

© HBO Max

Chris’ interview is officiated by Hawkgirl, Gardner, and LordTech owner and Justice Gang financier, Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn). After some mic issues, Chris overhears Hawkgirl and Gardner shit talk him between asking questions. But instead of popping a lid like he usually does, Chris swallows his pride and recites his bona fides as one of the best marksmen in the world with virtually any weapon and his hand-to-hand prowess. All of which only translates to Gardner as Chris being a violent dude who kills first and asks questions later.

Ironically, Lord emphasizes that the Justice Gang does not kill—this prompts Hawkgirl to scrunch her face as she recalls her act of pancaking a genocidal world leader who allied himself with Luthor in Superman. Regardless, the events of Superman have raised doubts about trusting metahumans, so they’d like to be extra cautious with screening who gets to be part of the team. 

Lord cuts to the chase, bringing up Chris’ background check, noting he’s served time for first-degree murder and his killing of “dozens of people”—all of whom Chris says were for good reason. But Lord wonders which ones weren’t. While spilling his guts metaphorically about reckoning with his indiscriminate violence from the trauma his father gave him and the death of his brother, he overhears Hawkgirl and Gardner babble on about butts and how Peacemaker sucks. Instead of being embarassed that the mute function on their microphones isn’t working, Gardner laughs in Chris’ face—despite being the guy in charge of this not happening all day with every other interivewee.

By the time Lord looks up to apologize, Chris has already stormed out of the building in a similar huff as the bunny lady, telling Adebayo that his only talent, according to the Justice Gang, is “sucking dick.” Incensed, Chris retorts, saying sucking dick isn’t a put-down, but a compliment. All the same, Chris is fully disenchanted with the idea of joining the Justice Gang.

Turns out Chris wasn’t the only person getting a harsh grilling. While he was getting the worst superhero interview of his life, Harcourt was receiving hard truths from an interviewer from the NSA, saying that despite her “having a vagina,” she suffers from toxic masculinity. Proving his point, Harcourt has a shouting match with the interviewer about her “maintaining a hard appearance” and burying he feelings. After trying to walk back and calling him a “see you next Tuesday,” Harcourt claims her black-balling is a result of Amanda Waller’s own wrath.

After punching the dashboard of her car in a rage, Harcourt meets up with Chris, who asks about all the bruises, which she candidly admits to having caused by bashing her fists against it.

While nursing her bloody hands and remarking about how virtually every intelligence agency rejected her, Chris plays housekeeper, wrapping ice in a towel to place on Harcourt’s knuckles, all while noticing her pile of overdue bills. The romantic sparks between Chris and Harcourt are pretty undeniable in this touching scene, but they’re trying their damndest to keep things strictly business. And what better way to do that than airing out their grievances with Amanda Waller?

© HBO Max

As they’re commiserating, Chris inquires if Harcourt wants to talk about something that happened “the other night on the boat.” Harcourt doesn’t seem to remember much beyond it being a party boat and not wanting to be on it, but Chris begs to differ. Apparently, the two got drunk and bumped uglies, but Harcourt quantified their tryst as a fuckup. Chris, pained by her waving off whatever happened that night, tries to at least have Harcourt acquiesce to it being a fun mistake, but she leaves him out to dry.

In full mourning territory, Chris returns home, loads up his bong, and starts snorting lines of coke like he was listening to the new Clipse album instead of the diegetic musings of “Guestlist” by Swedish rock band Hardcore Superstar. Which then cuts to Chris throwing a nude orgy rager at his apartment, full of all the adult private parts danging about on screen with reckless abandon that would make any parent rush to cover their children’s eyes had they dove straight into Peacemaker after watching Superman, expecting the same kind of general audience camp.

While everyone is having sex around Chris, some fist-bumping him mid-act, it’s clear he’s not having a good time (but he does give a little smirk when being kissed by male and female participants simultaneously—a bi icon!). Still, Chris is having the definition of a bad trip, rubbing at his face in a dizzying sequence. At the same time, appropriately bisexual lighting of his living room goes full kaleidoscope as everyone at his party either dances or sexes their night away.

© HBO Max

In a stupor, Chris decides now’s the perfect time to bail on his party into the recesses of his pocket dimension. The camera then moves through space outside of his house to show John Economos (Steve Agee) has been outside in an ice cream truck, surveilling Peacemaker. Economos then answers a call from Adrian Chase (Freddie Stroma), a.k.a. Vigilante. Evidently, they’ve become close enough buddies since the last time we saw them that Vigilante will cold-call him, requesting Economos to quiz him on owl facts.

Echoing Chris’ question to Adebayo about Harcourt, Vigilante asks Economos if he has spoken to Peacemaker lately. It’s very sweet that everyone, despite not checking in on one another, seems to worry about how Chris is handling the whole not being accepted as a genuine hero thing. Just after Vigilante reluctantly returns to his restaurant job, one of the screens on Economos’ ice cream stakeout set up alerts him to something being missed.

Economos then gets a call from a newcomer to Peacemaker season two, Sasha Bordeaux (Sol Rodriguez). In the comics, Bordeux served as the bodyguard of Bruce Wayne—who we’ve yet to see in the new DC outside his appearance in Creature Commandos—and later served as the Black Queen of Checkmate. Here, her role seems to be that of a member of Belle Reve, which employed Economos at the end of season one, and she asks him to investigate. After hanging up on Economos, Bordeaux storms into the office of Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), who’s busy massaging the bridge of his nose, watching the newscaster complain about Arkham and Belle Reve metahuman escapees.

© HBO Max

Here, we get the most consequential conversation in the episode that viewers have been wondering about since its opening. Apparently, in January, a “Christopher Smith” glitch similar to Luthor’s pocket dimension incident—which nearly consumed Metropolis in the final act of Superman—occured. This glitch has been happening more frequently at Chris’ humble abode, hence why Economos was stationed to surveil his house.

Flag Sr. and Bordeaux phone Economos, who spots Chris standing in front of his pocket dimension doorway. Flag Sr. decides to classify the situation as a priority one threat until they determine whether the Chris glitch results in another dimensional rift. Inside the portal dimension, Chris drunkenly stumbles through the room and punches the code back into the alt dimension as Foxy Shazam’s “Dreamer” plays in the background.

Inside the room once again, Chris gawks at the life his alternate dimension self appears to be having as a celebrated hero who, at one point, saved Gotham from an “ultra-humanite.”  Unlike before, Chris’s window shopping of his alternate dimension self extends beyond the trophy room as he starts galavanting about the rest of the house, which looks more like a lavish mansion than the humble suburban house he currently lives in.

After making his way to the front yard, Chris gawks at a pickup truck in the driveway; Chris’ brother, Keith Smith (David Denman), emerges. Bewildered, Keith asks what Chris is doing home, inquiring if his matters at Blüdhaven have been sorted out. Seeing one’s dead brother all grown up would send anyone, much less Chris, into a tizzy. But after the two hug it out, and are joined by dear old dad, also wondering why Chris is home, and the dudes decide to throw a party.

© HBO Max

At this point, the idea of leaving his old world behind for a second chance with his brother and father—who, in this version, don’t seem to be raging white supremacists (unless you’re a “knee-high imp”)—is as tempting to Chris as kryptonite is deadly to Superman. Elsewhere, Harcourt is getting harassed by dudes at a bar and shutting them down in typical Harcourt style. Beer bottles get smashed over some generous foreheads, balls get punched, and it’s safe to say feelings and orbital bones get hurt. Unfortunately for Harcourt, the numbers in her barroom brawl get the better of her, leading to her getting punted in the face and thrown outside.

Checking back in on Chris, the Smith patriarch stuns his befuddled son with an “I love you” before retreating to bed, leaving Chris and his brother alone while Chris is no doubt running the numbers on whether or not he should pull a page out of the doppleganger playbook of Jordan Peele’s Us and stay in the alternate dimension. Before he can think any further, Keith asks how things were with his ex. Reading the room, it’s clear that Harcourt is the ex, so at least we can figure that the grass isn’t as green on the other side of the pocket dimension either, at least when it comes to Chris’ love life. Still, Keith says Chris should try to win her back, whoever this (totally Harcourt) lady is, even if she’s with “some jarhead.”

Still keeping up the ruse that he’s this dimension’s Chris, Peacemaker nearly breaks down when he tells his brother he loves him, which his brother shrugs off with a laugh that he’s being too sentimental while drunk—not knowing all 251 pounds of Peacemaker can pack a lot of soft boy energy. While Chris is left weeping, we cut back to our dimension, where Economos is debriefing Adebayo about Peacemaker’s pocket dimension being a high-priority threat under the surveillance of Flag Sr. and his organization ARGUS (finally, a name, linking us back to Creature Commandos!).

And yes, Flag Sr. knows Chris killed his son, Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), in The Suicide Squad. Since the end of season one, Economos says Flag Sr. has been watching Chris in the hopes that he will mess up on a grand scale, so he’d have a reason to arrest him (or worse) for the betterment of humanity. Which brings us back to the anomaly inside Chris’s house, likely triggered by his dimension hopping and whatever is going on with his doppleganger, who is using their room as a shared storage closet.

After accidentally airdropping a dick pic to Adebayo, they hatch a plan to have her ask Chris what’s up with his pocket dimension instead of ratting him out to Flag Sr. Back in the alternate dimension, Chris is walking around the decadent Smith house once more and gawking at his bedroom and posters of bands like Hanoi Rocks (spelled Hanoi Roxx) on his walls. I’m sure someone more tapped into music tastes can note whether it’s in character with Chris’ raucous rotation.

© HBO Max

Here, it’s confirmed that alt-dimension Chris’ ex is, in fact, Harcourt, with the reveal of a vacation photo of them all booed up. But before Chris can continue to romanticize over how nice his life is here, he pulls a gun on himself. Or rather, the alt-dimension Chris finally shows up and threatens to exercise his Second Amendment right on the back of our Chris’s head.

Fortunately, or unfortunately for our Chris, this alt-dimension Chris is also a bit dense, wondering if our Chris is a shapeshifter. Alt-dimension Chris gives chase to our Chris, who tries to book it back to his dimension. Alt-dimension Chris activates “magic stars,” prompting the wings of his helmet to track Chris like heat-seeking missiles, scaring up his back as he tries to put the code back into their pocket dimension, where they do battle. After some rocket tackles into some expensive-looking columns, Alt-dimension Chris beats the brakes off our Chris. But before he can deliver the finishing blow, Chris activates Alt-Chris’ jetpack, causing him to get impaled on a spike in the ceiling, thus freeing me from having to type alt-dimension Chris ever again.

© DC Studios/HBO Max

We’re left with a shot of Chris holding the limp body of himself, wondering whether he should continue the charade in the alternate dimension or leave it be. Chances are, he won’t, and we’ll have more fun witnessing how he handles trying to pull double duty in his dimension or if he’ll leave it all behind to continue the chicanery in the alternate dimension.

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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Take $15 Off ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4’ Remasters Right Now
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Take $15 Off ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4’ Remasters Right Now

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Looking for a healthy dose of gaming nostalgia? You can save $15 on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4, freshly remastered for basically every gaming console, including the Nintendo Switch 2. It’s relatively uncommon for newer titles to get a discount, especially on the latest Nintendo console, so this is a good time to scoop them if you’re interested.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4

If you’ve never played a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game, you’re missing out! The first game dropped in 1999, and they have steadily evolved over the years with bigger tricks, more points, and an ever-growing cast of real professional skaters. In recent years, Vicarious Visions and Iron Galaxy have buckled up the proverbial helmet and remastered the early games in the series, starting with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 in 2020.

Notably, the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 remasters don’t include the career mode, a big shift made by the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 that gave quests to NPCs around each map. Instead, both games use more traditional two-minute rounds, with a list of objectives to try and complete during that time.

There are three entirely new maps for the remaster, my favorite of which is set on a huge pinball machine, complete with an even larger Tony Hawk looking down on you as you skate. I like that it feels unique and new, while still having that fun, slightly off-kilter vibe that made the games great in the first place.

All of the existing maps have been revamped as well, with updated textures and models, new objectives, and fun little Easter eggs to find as you play. In addition to create-a-skater, and the original cast of pro skaters, there are new additions as well, like Andy Anderson, Bam Margera, and even Doom Guy from Doom. There are even remixed soundtracks with both classic tracks and new songs that fit the THPS vibe.

After beating the career mode, there’s a surprising amount of replayability here, with tons of extra challenges and achievements to complete. I sunk countless hours in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 working on the “Get There” challenges, trying to perform precise combinations of tricks and gaps on each map. I’ve already worked my way through the regular and pro goals for each map in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4, and I’m slowly chiseling away at the hardest challenges in the game, which ask for combos in the millions of points.



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Product Reviews

Trump Mobile is promoting its smartphone with terribly edited photos of other brands’ products

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Since it was announced in June, Trump Mobile has committed to an increasingly-surreal smoke-and-mirrors approach to its promised T1 smartphone. Despite the initial claims that the phone would be made in the United States, it seemed highly unlikely from the start that it was accurate. The “Made in USA” claims were quietly removed from the Trump Mobile website at a later date. AppleInsider spotted the latest bizarre wrinkle to this story, which is that the actual phone still does not exist.

The publication noticed that promotional images for T1 all show different smartphones that appear to be tweaked in a photo editor to look gold. While the website shows a badly edited image of what appears to be a Revvl 7 Pro 5G phone, an Instagram ad seems to depict an iPhone 16 Pro Max, again with the company’s branding overlaid. A third confusing image edit was posted on X earlier this week:

That photo shows a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra equipped with a case made by Spigen. The South Korean accessory company’s logo can be seen behind the render of an American flag. Spigen’s response sums our reaction up pretty succinctly: “??? bro what.”



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Microsoft’s Xbox handheld is a good first step toward a Windows gaming OS
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Microsoft’s Xbox handheld is a good first step toward a Windows gaming OS

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The first thing I did when I got my hands on the Xbox Ally was reboot it. I wanted to see exactly how Microsoft manages to hide Windows beneath the Xbox interface that’s debuting on these handheld devices.

After a short startup, I was met with the standard Windows login prompt. But I could use the controller to input the PIN code, an immediate improvement over what’s available right now. And as soon as Windows 11 loaded up, the interface immediately disappeared. The Xbox PC app took over and went full-screen — and for the most part, I didn’t have to leave.

I’ve spent enough time with Microsoft and Asus’ Xbox Ally devices this week to get a better understanding of how Windows and Xbox are moving closer together. Microsoft has created what it calls an Xbox full-screen experience for these new handheld devices, which essentially takes over for Windows and hides the OS away. It’s exactly what I’ve been wanting for Windows-powered handheld gaming PCs for years now, but it still feels like a small first step in a grand next-gen Xbox plan.

The Game Bar drives a lot of Microsoft’s Xbox full-screen experience.

The main interface on the Xbox Ally is similar to what can be found in the current Xbox app on Windows 11, Microsoft’s Steam competitor on PC. This app integrates with the Game Bar, Microsoft’s PC gaming overlay, to form this full-screen Xbox experience. Just like an Xbox console, you activate this Game Bar from a single tap of the Xbox button, and it’s what keeps you far away from the complexities of the Windows desktop hidden underneath.

Microsoft doesn’t load the desktop wallpaper, the taskbar, or a bunch of other processes that you don’t need for gaming. It’s essentially not loading the Explorer shell and saving around 2GB of memory by suppressing all the unnecessary parts of a typical Windows 11 installation. It’s surprisingly easy to get back to a regular Windows experience on these Xbox Ally devices, though.

You can exit out of the Xbox full-screen experience through the Game Bar or hold the Xbox button down to access the task switcher and a shortcut to the Windows desktop. Microsoft warns that you’re exiting to the Windows desktop and that you should use touch or a mouse and keyboard “for the best experience.”

The new Xbox task switcher lets you get to the Windows desktop quickly.

The Windows desktop experience is exactly the same as any regular handheld, and the Xbox team hasn’t done much additional work here to improve this side of the Xbox Ally. You’ll still have to use this part of the device to install and configure Windows apps like Discord and Steam, but once they’re up and running, you can mostly stay within the handheld-optimized confines of the Xbox full-screen experience. It’s easy to connect to Bluetooth devices or Wi-Fi networks here, and if all you’re doing is gaming, then Microsoft has nailed most of the basics, thanks to the widgets in the Game Bar.

Switching back and forth between Windows and Xbox modes is relatively quick, but after switching into the Windows desktop mode just once, you’ll need to fully reboot the device to regain the 2GB of allocated RAM. You also have the option to keep switching between both modes without those performance savings.

While the handheld-optimized Xbox UI on the Xbox Ally devices is a great improvement over what exists today, I still fear the complexity of Windows will creep through during daily use. This is still a Windows 11 device after all, which means there are OS updates and notifications from other apps or storefronts to install that might break the immersion.

For example, while the Xbox app takes over the left-hand swipe gesture to activate the Game Bar, the right-hand swipe still activates the Windows 11 notification center, which looks out of place in the Xbox UI. The Xbox team is working to improve this, but it highlights the challenges of trying to hide Windows beneath a console-like UI.

You can switch between the Xbox and Windows modes easily.

There’s also an interesting setting that suggests you’ll be able to set something other than the Xbox app as the default boot experience on the Xbox Ally devices, potentially opening the door for Steam or other launchers to become the home app here. Microsoft wouldn’t comment on what this setting is for just yet.

Due to my limited time with the Xbox Ally devices, it’s difficult to judge just how much switching between the Windows desktop and this full-screen Xbox experience you’d have to do on a daily basis. If you install Steam, then Microsoft brings any games you install from Valve’s store into the library interface of the Xbox app, making it a launcher for these PC games and keeping you in the handheld-friendly UI. But I did play some Gears of War: Reloaded on one of the demo units on the floor and noticed the game crash, leaving me with a broken game app window instead of a more gracious home screen like you see when games crash on an Xbox Series X console.

I also ran into a UI bug switching into the Windows desktop, which Microsoft assures me will be fixed by the time these devices ship on October 16th. Asus’ own devices on the Gamescom floor also had some weird bugs, including not being able to use the Xbox button at times. There’s clearly some work needed ahead of release.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to fully test how Windows standby and hibernation work with games on the Xbox Ally. I love the experience of turning my Xbox Series X off and then being able to immediately resume a game hours or days later, and Microsoft doesn’t have the equivalent of Quick Resume on Windows devices.

This experience feels like a first step in Microsoft’s plans for the next-gen Xbox, and seeing it in action makes it even clearer to me that Windows will be at the heart of the next Xbox console. Microsoft still has a tremendous amount of work ahead to blend all the best parts of Windows and Xbox together, but it’s about to ship some improvements that will hopefully lead to a gaming-optimized Windows operating system that spans across handhelds, consoles, and PCs.

  • Microsoft is finally improving Windows 11’s dark mode. Nearly a decade after a full dark mode was introduced in Windows 10, the latest preview build of Windows 11 now includes even more darkened UI elements. If you’re copying files or deleting them, these file operation dialogs will finally have a dark mode instead of light-themed prompt. Hopefully this signals that more dark mode improvements are coming with the 25H2 update to Windows 11 later this year.
  • Microsoft employee arrested at headquarters while protesting Israel contracts. Microsoft employee Anna Hattle, a software engineer in Microsoft’s cloud and AI team, has been arrested at the company’s headquarters during protests against Microsoft’s cloud contracts with Israel. Hattle’s arrest was part of 18 arrests by Redmond Police, including former Microsoft employees who joined the protest for a second day. The No Azure for Apartheid group continues to protest Microsoft’s cloud contracts with Israel, calling on the company to cut ties after reports emerged that the Israeli government uses Azure to power a surveillance network of Palestinian phone calls.
  • Microsoft hints at “more affordable” Xbox Cloud Gaming plan. Microsoft has dropped hints about a potential dedicated Xbox Cloud Gaming plan multiple times before, but it feels like we’re getting closer to an announcement. Jason Ronald, Microsoft’s VP of Next Generation, appeared on the company’s official Xbox podcast earlier this week and hinted that Microsoft wants to make its Xbox Cloud “much more affordable” and accessible to players. Microsoft is currently building a next-generation Xbox console and cloud network, so not having to buy Xbox Game Pass Ultimate just for cloud gaming access would certainly be a welcome move.
  • Microsoft Excel adds Copilot AI to help fill in spreadsheet cells. Microsoft has started testing a new AI-powered function in Excel that can automatically fill cells in spreadsheets. It’s similar to the feature that Google Sheets rolled out in June, and allows you to call up a “COPILOT” function to generate summaries, create tables, and more.
  • Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is heading to Nintendo Switch 2. I’ve been patiently waiting for Microsoft’s first Switch 2 game, and at Gamescom this week, the company announced that it’s bringing Bethesda’s Indiana Jones to Nintendo’s latest console in 2026. It’s one of the first PC games to require ray tracing, so it’ll be interesting to see what Bethesda does with the Switch 2 port.
  • Windows 11 test brings AI file search to the Copilot app. Microsoft has started testing the ability to use AI to search through your files and images directly from the Copilot app on Windows 11. The test is rolling out to Windows Insiders on Copilot Plus PCs and allows you to use more descriptive language when conducting your search. Microsoft is also making it easier to jump into “guided help” sessions with Copilot Vision.
  • Microsoft Teams is getting a microphone volume indicator. I can’t be the only person who asks “Can you hear me?” on a Microsoft Teams meeting, but that might be a thing of the past soon. Microsoft is adding a volume indicator to Teams on macOS and Windows that makes it easy to see if your microphone is working. This new feature is currently in testing before it rolls out to Teams users in the coming months.
  • Microsoft’s AI chief wants to “build AI for people, not to be a person.” Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman has written a blog post where he shares his concerns about AI models becoming too humanlike to the point where people will believe they are conscious entities. “My central worry is that many people will start to believe in the illusion of AIs as conscious entities so strongly that they’ll soon advocate for AI rights, model welfare and even AI citizenship,” says Suleyman. “This development will be a dangerous turn in AI progress and deserves our immediate attention.”
  • Microsoft and Asus’ new Xbox Ally handhelds launch on October 16th. We finally got a date for the new Xbox Ally handhelds this week: October 16th. Weirdly there was no price or preorders, though. That didn’t stop Best Buy from accidentally listing the Xbox Ally at $549.99 and the Xbox Ally X at $899.99. I do wonder if Asus and Microsoft can subsidize this hardware a little further to bring those price points down, and we’re going to find out if that’s possible in the coming weeks.
  • Xbox on PC is getting a highlights reel and Auto SR. Alongside the Xbox Ally release date announcement, Microsoft also revealed this week that it’s bringing Automatic Super Resolution (Auto SR), which uses an NPU to upscale games, to the Xbox Ally X in early 2026. It will be joined by a new highlights reels feature that uses AI models to automatically capture gameplay moments and make them easily shareable with friends or on social networks.
  • Microsoft is improving the game shader experience on Windows. The DirectX team at Microsoft is working on a new “advanced shader delivery” system that’s designed to preload game shaders during download on the Xbox Ally devices. It’s launching on these handhelds first, to make games launch faster and run a lot smoother without stutters. It’s similar to Valve’s own efforts to improve the shader situation, and Microsoft says it will eventually expand this to more games and more devices over time.

I’m always keen to hear from readers, so please drop a comment here, or you can reach me at [email protected] if you want to discuss anything else. If you’ve heard about any of Microsoft’s secret projects, you can reach me via email at [email protected] or speak to me confidentially on the Signal messaging app, where I’m tomwarren.01. I’m also tomwarren on Telegram, if you’d prefer to chat there.

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Photos by Tom Warren / The Verge

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Kinsta's homepage
Product Reviews

Kinsta review | TechRadar

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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.

When it comes to best web hosting and website management, there is no shortage of options. The vast majority of companies out there offer affordable services that are good enough to get the job done. For us, Kinsta is the stand-out choice for hosting for agencies.

Kinsta is a cloud-based hosting solution providing services for WordPress websites, web applications, databases, and static sites. They provide access to high-performance servers and features such as staging environments, automatic backups, enterprise-level Cloudflare integration, and more.

Kinsta also includes quality security features such as DDoS protection, SSL certificate with wildcard support, and malware scanning and removal.

    Kinsta subscription options:

  • 12 month plan – $284 per month ($3,408 total cost)

From the main website, you can access Kinsta’s official blog. It’s easy on the eye and filled with a myriad of articles, most of which are related to WordPress and software development. In addition to this, Kinsta offers a fresh and video-packed YouTube channel and relatively active presence on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

(Image credit: Future)

Kinsta features

Kinsta offers high-end CPUs, as well as global availability thanks to Google’s C2 and C3D machines on its premium tier network. By using these top-of-the-line CPUs, you are guaranteed that your website will be up and running faster than ever before.

To further improve the speed of your website, Kinsta also offers a global content delivery network with over 260 locations around the world. This allows Kinsta to deliver fast pages and serve cached assets from your visitors’ closest location.

Kinsta also comes with built-in application performance monitoring (APM), which is its custom-designed performance monitoring tool specifically for WordPress sites. We used this feature to identify any potential issues or bottlenecks slowing down our site during our test of the hosting service.

Kinsta’s DevKinsata feature provides a comprehensive development environment that makes it easy to develop applications locally on your computer. DevKinsata includes many helpful features such as version control which allows developers to roll back to previous versions of their code if needed, easy debugging capabilities with Xdebug integration, and deployments to production servers with just one click.

With the new Kinsta Cloudflare integration, we took advantage of a wildcard SSL certificate which let us secure our subdomains with just one certificate. A wildcard SSL is an SSL certificate that secures both a root domain and its individual subdomains. This is in contrast to other types of certificates that require you to list each individual subdomain on the certificate.

As part of its Cloudflare integration, Kinsta offers customers a unique benefit – reserved IP addresses. Reserved IPs are unique IP addresses assigned to each Kinsta customer site. These IP addresses are reserved exclusively for use by that specific customer and ensure that the DNS A-record IP address will not be shared by other sites on Cloudflare’s network. In some cases, this can cause problems if a service blocks a spam site that happens to share the same Cloudflare IP address as your site.

We were also impressed with the Kinsta Brotli Compression Tool (a lossless compression format that is supported by all major browsers and achieves better compression ratios than gzip).

Kinsta also released a tool called Edge Caching. This is an incredibly powerful tool for websites running WordPress that can significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to serve cached HTML to site visitors. Edge Caching is included free with all Kinsta plans, and no additional plugins are required.

Kinsta’s Edge Caching works by saving your website/page cache to Cloudflare’s global network of over 260 data centers. When site visitors load your website, cached responses will be delivered from the location closest to them, helping to reduce latency and ensure faster loading times.

With the help of the Early Hints, you can further improve site speed. Early hints is a modern web standard that defines a new 103 HTTP status code. Enabling this web standard on your site, it gives your site visitors’ browsers the chance to download certain resources in advance or in parallel with others. This results in a faster page rendering speed.

A curiosity of Kinsta’s hosting, but one that we found made sense, is the apparent lack of a temporary URL for checking the site runs accurately. However, this is a feature that can be easily turned on and off, and lasts for around 60 minutes when enabled. Given that a site doesn’t need to be seen by the public or crawlers before launch, this is useful.

For web hosting services in Australia, Kinsta CDN is in six Australian cities, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.

(Image credit: Future)

Is Kinsta easy to use? 

We find Kinsta easy to use – from signing up to navigating through the dashboard. The web host provides you with an intuitive dashboard that makes hosting your website easy. The dashboard let us quickly access all the features and settings in one place, which makes it simple to manage our website’s performance and security.

With Kinsta, you can also set up and manage multiple websites from one account, as well as deploy applications, databases or static sites, meaning you don’t have to switch between different accounts every time you want to make changes or update your site or create a new web app.

Kinsta also has a number of helpful features that make managing your website easier. All these features are designed so that even those who aren’t tech-savvy can easily manage their website without too much hassle.

As a fully managed WordPress hosting provider, Kinsta’s prices are higher than other web hosts (Image credit: Future)

Kinsta plans and pricing

Kinsta offers different plans, ranging from $35/month to $1700/month. All plans include free wildcard SSL, CDN, staging, and unlimited migrations. But what do you get when you purchase one of these plans? The Single plans starts at $35/month and allows you to install 1 WordPress, 10 GB of storage space, 125 GB free CDN, and 35,000 visits per month. The Single-site plans scale with each step up getting more site visits, storage, and CDN bandwidth. Each Single site plan denotes the support amount of visits. The plans go as high as 1,250,000+ visits, 15 GB+ storage and 1000GB CDN bandwidth.

Multiple-site plans support multiple WordPress installs. Each plan name denotes the amount of WordPress installs supported. Each multiple-site plan supports multisite network and site cloning. For WP 2 ($70/mo) you get two WordPress installs, with 70,000 visits, 250 GB of CDN bandwidth, and 20 GB storage. As the plans increase in price the resources, site visits, and amount of WordPress installs increase too. The WP 40 plan ($450/mo) supports 40 WordPress installs, 60 GB storage, 1500 GB of CDN, and 75,000 monthly visits.

Kinsta also offers an Enterprise Plan for multiple sites, which starts at $675/month and includes 60+ WordPress installs, 100+ GB of space, 1,250,000+ visits, and a 30-day backup retention.

All the above plans come with unlimited free migrations and a 30-day money-back guarantee, so if you are not satisfied with the service, you can request a refund. Select plans on Single and Multiple-site tiers also include a one month free trial.

Agency Hosting

Kinsta’s Agency program is targeted, price-wise, at established digital agencies. The Agency 20 plan, which we tested, offers support for 20 WordPress installs, so potentially 20 clients. It also includes an extra site, for your agency. 500,000 visits, 50GB of storage, and 1,000GB CDN storage makes this an attractive starting point, but Agency 40 ($375/month with annual billing) and Agency 60 ($563/month under the same terms) are also available, with corresponding increases in installs.

These plans also include a white label provision, removing the Kinsta branding for reselling the hosting to the client, and access to beta tools. Backups, advanced caching, and migrations are also included with these packages, along with that all-important developer support. A number of tools are available here, from easy site cloning to Git integration and access to the Kinsta API.

We used GTmetrix to measure the uptime and response time of our Kinsta site (Image credit: GTmetrix)

Kinsta speed and experience

Kinsta argues that it is almost a certainty that users will see “faster page load times, along with back-end (WordPress dashboard) speed” when hosting with them. Faster than what, we asked ourselves. Faster than the average speed, faster than lightning or faster than Superman?

In any case, GTmetrix (a tool we used to test the speed performance of Kinsta’s main website) appears to agree with them given that it rated the performance of their website with an A (91%), which is not a result we often see. All major core metrics related to the speed were above the average, which looks pretty promising.

When it comes to uptime, Kinsta’s technical team monitors all of its users’ websites at all times, which means that they will be notified if any downtime occurs and lasts longer than five minutes, and, thus, prompt them to rush to resolve the issue. After monitoring Kinsta’s main website for a month using UptimeRobot, we couldn’t find a single trace of downtime, which does inspire confidence.

Latest results

We recently ran more tests on Kinsta for our best hosting for agencies guide. We did the same test we do for every host. We migrate a simple website and perform some baseline WordPress benchmark test and do some Siege testing for concurrent visitors. We used the Agency 20 plan. While these don’t show what the server is like under load. It does show a good baseline score for site performance.

Swipe to scroll horizontallyWordPress benchmark

Performance metric

Result

Operations with large text data

6.68

Random binary data operations

8.24

Recursive mathematical calculations

7.32

Iterative mathematical calculations

8.63

Filesystem

Row 5 – Cell 1

Filesystem write ability

9.71

Local file copy and access speed

9.56

Small file IO test

10

Database

Row 9 – Cell 1

Importing large amount of data to database

9.23

Simple queries on single table

9.88

Complex database queries on multiple tables

8.23

Object cache

Row 13 – Cell 1

Persistent object cache enabled

0

Network

Row 15 – Cell 1

Network download speed test

10

Server score

8.1

Swipe to scroll horizontallySiege

Performance metric

5 concurrent visitors

9 concurrent visitors

Transactions

8484

13580

Availability

96.37

96.36

Elapsed time

299.43

299.19

Data transferred

91.72

145.90

Response time

0.17

0.18

Transaction rate

28.33

45.39

Throughput

0.31

0.49

Concurrency

4.87

8.11

Successful transactions

8164

13068

Longest transaction

1.33

39.76

Failed transactions

320

513

Shortest transaction

0.09

0.08

Kinsta security

Kinsta is one such provider that offers quality security measures (in our opinion) including SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates. An SSL certificate is a type of digital certificate that provides encryption and authentication for data sent over the internet. It helps protect user information, like credit card numbers and passwords, from being accessed by malicious third parties.

An SSL certificate also helps verify the identity of a website so that users know they are connecting to the correct server and not a malicious one.

Kinsta uses Cloudflare’s infrastructure to provide wildcard SSL certificates with 128-bit or higher encryption as well as 2048-bit RSA keys. Kinsta says its servers are also constantly monitored 24/7 for any signs of suspicious activity or hacking, which is good to know. Kinsta also offers a 99.9% SLA-backed uptime guarantee.

There’s also a Malware Security Pledge in which Kinsta’s team will help restore a site in the event of an attack. Kinsta have earned SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliance so security standards are high and hopefully you’ll never have to use that.

You’ll find plenty of how-to guides in Kinsta’s knowledgebase (Image credit: Future)

Customer support

Kinsta offers knowledgeable sales representatives who can help you find the hosting plan that best fits your website or project.

If you want a deeper dive into all of Kinsta’s features, consider scheduling a personalized demo with one of its experts. This is an excellent way to get familiar with Kinsta’s powerful dashboard and hosting features, as well as ask any questions that come up during the process.

We had a few questions about our website and contacted Kinsta through its question form on the website. They got back to us the next day with answers tailored specifically to our hosting dilemma.

Kinsta’s support team is available 24/7/365 via live chat in the MyKinsta dashboard so that you can quickly receive help. You can also open up tickets here if there are ever any issues with your site.

As noted, we also tried Kinsta’s Agency 20 plan, arranging for a site to be migrated via a backup. The support operative who took ownership of this task completed it within a couple of hours, a timescale that included not just scanning the ZIP file for potential issues, but also fully migrating it and testing the site.

We later ran into an issue trying to point a domain at the hosting. This requires a bit more clicking and settings configuration than with other hosts (switching nameservers is just one aspect of this), but while I found this baffling at first, the support team member who walked me through it helped me solve it within 15 minutes.

Kinsta also offers free webinars to its customers (Image credit: Future)

There are more than a few self-help options including regularly updated documentation, free e-books, free webinars, a newsletter and a blog we mentioned before, and everything is dedicated to bringing knowledge about WordPress to its users. In addition to this, Kinsta’s YouTube channel is filled with step-by-step guides and the new ones are coming out on a week-to-week basis at the very least.

As an alternative, you can reach Kinsta’s “timely and knowledgeable” support via email and chat.

Kinsta alternatives

Much like Kinsta, Flywheel is a fellow US-based host specialized in “top-of-the-line” managed WordPress hosting solutions. Both of them strive to be beginner-friendly, offer well-rounded, feature-packed packages and are on the high-priced side of the spectrum. However, Kinsta’s least expensive solution starts at a whopping $30, half as much as what is offered by Flywheel. Therefore, if the price is the key criterion (since both hosts are competent) for you, you could save some bucks by going with Flywheel.

Bluehost is one of the most popular hosting options on the market today, even when it comes to managed WordPress hosting. In comparison with Kinsta, Bluehost has a myriad of hosting types and options besides WordPress and its WordPress plans are well-structured and suitable for newcomers. If you are, however, looking for premium managed WordPress options, you might find yourself at home with Kinsta.

DreamHost is a US-based provider supplying WordPress-optimized hosting solutions and related services, including a domain registration, which is something you won’t get with Kinsta. Another thing they don’t provide is a website builder and you’ll have that as an option with DreamHost. What is more, in addition to offering more hosting options, DreamHost has more pocket-friendly plans, so you’ll save some money as well.

Although HostGator does not specialize in WordPress hosting, it has a few rather attractive solutions on the offer. Nonetheless, if you are looking for a premium fully managed WordPress hosting (and you are ready to shell out the money) Kinsta might be a better pick. If you would rather have something simpler and more on the affordable side, HostGator is an excellent choice.

WP Engine is also a great alternative as it offers a wide range of services, from shared hosting to managed WordPress hosting and dedicated servers. WP Engine is known for its fast speeds and reliable uptime, as well as its excellent customer service and support team.

SiteGround is another great option if you’re looking for an alternative to Kinsta. This provider offers a variety of hosting plans that range from shared hosting to VPS and cloud solutions. SiteGround also has excellent customer service and support, which makes it a great choice if you need help getting started or have questions about how to use their services.

Is Kinsta right for you? 

Kinsta offers a range of features to help businesses get up and running quickly and easily, including easy scalability, managed updates, automated daily backups, and 24/7 support.

Kinsta offers a range of features to help businesses get up and running quickly and easily, including automatic scaling, managed updates, automated daily backups,SSH access, WP CLI, a powerful API, Application Performance Monitoring, and 24/7/365 support in 10 languages, with a response time within a minute and 98% client satisfaction.

Kinsta also prides itself on its performance and reliability – It’s caching technology ensures websites load faster than ever before; this helps keep visitors on your site longer which can lead to increased conversions.

Kinsta FAQs

Is Kinsta only for WordPress?

No! While Kinsta is an excellent choice for WordPress websites, that’s not all it can do. It also supports static sites, application hosting, and database hosting.

Do I need a security plugin with Kinsta?

No – and that’s one of the many advantages of using Kinsta hosting. The security at Kinsta is built into the platform itself; all accounts are automatically scanned daily for malicious code and activity and protected with regular backups as well as enterprise-grade DDOS protection.

Plus, every account includes free SSL/TLS encryption to protect your data in transit.



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Battlefield 6 gun fight with someone being revived
Product Reviews

To the dismay of sweaty ‘movement kids,’ Battlefield 6 is nerfing Call of Duty sliding and jumping to maintain a ‘traditional Battlefield experience’

by admin



Duck, dive, and dodge: Following feedback from the Battlefield 6 beta that its movement was too squirrely and unpredictable, Battlefield Studios is planning significant changes for the full release.

The announcement came in an “Open Beta Debrief” blog published on Battlefield’s official social channels, which, in addition to movement, touched on hot topics like map size, Rush, and weapon balance. While the takeaway from most of those topics could be summed up as “we’re looking into it” or “wait and see,” movement is one area that already has significant changes in progress.

“Movement mechanics have been adjusted to create a more balanced and traditional Battlefield experience. Momentum, especially horizontal speed, carried from a slide into a jump has been reduced. There is now a greater penalty for consecutive jumps, which lowers jump height when jumps are spammed,” the blog reads.


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That momentum change is likely more of a bug fix than a change in direction, as players figured out early on in the BF6 beta that you could consistently pull off ridiculous super jumps by exploiting small bursts of speed from jumping and sliding.

BF Studios is also targeting accuracy while jumping and sliding. Series veterans argued throughout the beta that there wasn’t enough of an accuracy penalty for shooting while sliding into a room or jumping around corners—hallmark tools of Call of Duty “movement kids”—and developers agree.

NEW INSANE BATTLEFIELD 6 MOVEMENT TECH, THESE OLD HEADS CAN’T KEEP UP pic.twitter.com/s9zducTNJnAugust 7, 2025

“Firing while jumping or sliding will result in increased inaccuracy,” the post continues. “These changes are designed to make sliding and jumping more situational, so they are no longer ideal options for engaging in gunfights, and will contribute to a gameplay pace that rewards skillful movement without becoming too fast or unpredictable.”

Whether or not you liked BF6’s squirrelly beta movement, it was undeniably chaotic. A top-upvoted post on the Battlefield subreddit highlights an extreme case of someone constantly chaining jumps and slides to ice skate across the map while maintaining perfect accuracy.

How much freedom of movement is considered overboard depends on the series’ roots, but even FPSes known for speed struggle to satisfy everyone. In 2023, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 cranked up the bunnyhopping and slide-canceling just a year after Modern Warfare 2 deliberately slowed things down, to the delight of many and horror of CoD traditionalists. As I wrote in 2023:

This movement should not be possible in BF6 DICE. Needs to be addressed from r/Battlefield

“Players who use these slippery moves will tell you it raises Call of Duty’s skill ceiling, and they’re technically right. FPSes have a long tradition of adopting community-developed movement techniques until they’re unofficial canon, and CoD is no different, except that I find this example of it extremely annoying… A lobby full of jumping beans distorts the horizontal, boots-on-the-ground rhythm of CoD into discount Apex Legends. It also, as I really must emphasize, looks very stupid.”

It’s nice to see BF Studios getting ahead of important mechanical details like this. We’re still two months from launch day, but it turns out there will be another round of Battlefield Labs testing before then. The next Labs test will finally introduce us to BF6’s two biggest maps at launch: Mirak Valley and Operation Firestorm.

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A Digital Underground Is Using the Flipper Zero to Break Into Cars
Product Reviews

A Digital Underground Is Using the Flipper Zero to Break Into Cars

by admin


Its creators call it a “multi-tool” device. For many users, it’s a hacking accessory. Since it first debuted in 2020, the Flipper Zero has been considered a fun, low-key pen-tester, but a new report bolsters claims made by the tool’s critics, many of whom have argued that it makes nefarious hacking just a little too easy.

404 Media reports that claims the Flipper has become a favorite in a digital underground where low-level hackers create and sell their own software to modify the tool’s abilities. 404 spoke with a hacker who goes by the moniker “Daniel,” who has been responsible for peddling patches that can turn the Flipper into a car-unlocking device. This customized software is bought and sold with cryptocurrency, the outlet notes. It has two tiers: one worth $600, in which the buyer gets the latest version of the software, and the other costs $1,000 (wherein the buyer gains access to “future upgrades and support”). The hacker told 404 Media that he had sold his wares to approximately 150 people. “Maybe someone is using it to steal from cars or steal cars,” Daniel told them.

Using the simple software workarounds, would-be car thieves seem to have quite a lot of options. Indeed, Daniel’s software patches are alleged to work on a broad variety of car brands. 404 writes:

Daniel shared a PDF which lays out the vehicles the patches allegedly work against. It names nearly 200 specific models of vehicles, including many 2025 versions. As well as Subaru, Fiat, Ford, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Peugeot, Citroën, Volkswagen, Skoda, and Audi, the document also says Honda is in development.

Daniel, who markets his software on YouTube, also told 404 that he had instituted guardrails to keep users from “cracking” his software and thus using it without paying him. However, 404 reports that software like the kind Daniel sells is being cracked, which allows for its broader (and free) distribution.

Flipper doesn’t seem to feel that any of this is its problem. In a statement shared with 404, the company claimed that it was “not aware of any officially confirmed cases of theft using a Flipper Zero.” It added: “We have seen reports from researchers who have used Flipper Zero with third-party software and hardware to exploit brazen vulnerabilities in certain cars. We hope car manufacturers will take the security of their products more seriously and patch them up immediately, as carjackers have access to extremely sophisticated black market tools.” Gizmodo reached out to Flipper Devices for more information.

Authorities have long accused the Flipper of aiding and abetting car thieves. In February of last year, the Canadian government moved to ban the tool, along with other “devices used to steal vehicles by copying the wireless signals for remote keyless entry.” At the time, Flipper’s developers said that they were being unfairly scapegoated as the hacker boogeymen behind the nation’s car theft problem. The COO of Flipper Devices, Alex Kulagin, argued that there were many other devices sold online that were specifically marketed as car entry devices. Developers have also argued that the Flipper helps expose shoddy corporate security practices. Canada subsequently walked back the ban.



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