Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.
Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #304) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… What a workout
NYT Strands today (game #304) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
GIFT
LIST
PUNS
SPAN
FILE
LIFE
NYT Strands today (game #304) - hint #3 - spangram
What is a hint for today's spangram?
• Witness the fitness
NYT Strands today (game #304) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First side: right, 4th row
Last side: left, 4th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #304) - the answers
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today's Strands, game #304, are…
CRUNCH
SQUAT
LUNGE
PLANK
SITUP
DEADLIFT
BURPEE
SPANGRAM: EXERCISE
My rating: Easy
My score: Perfect
It’s around this time of year that the “pets are not just for Christmas” message is commonplace, reminding people of the commitment and responsibility of keeping animals. But there’s another phrase that’s equally apposite – a gym is not just for January.
January is the gym owners' favorite time of year. The month when everyone’s New Year Resolutions compel them towards their local establishing like lemmings to a cliff as they finally commit to get fit. But then, after a couple of visits in the first few weeks of the year, the visits and enthusiasm fades and people forget that they have a payment committment for the rest of the year. It’s a magical formula that means gyms can have thousands more members than they could ever accommodate.
Not that you need a gym to start doing the EXERCISEs outlined in today’s puzzle – all of which can be completed in a living room – although I would advise avoiding the BURPEE, as that will put you off exercise for life and could result in tragedy if you have a ceiling fan. On second thoughts, join that gym.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, 31 December, game #303)
CODA
ENDING
CLOSURE
FINALE
EPILOGUE
CONCLUSION
SPANGRAM: ITS OVER
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.
from Latest from TechRadar US in News,opinion https://ift.tt/VRAPW52
Microsoft purchased nearly half a million of Nvidia's flagship Hopper chips in 2024
TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, and Tencent bought almost as much
This is more than Meta, Tesla/xAI, Amazon and Google
Chinese cloud giants Tencent and TikTok’s parent company ByteDance were the major buyers of Nvidia's flagship AI chips in 2024, coming second only to Microsoft, according to a report from Omdia and analysis from the Financial Times.
The two Chinese companies ordered approximately 230,000 of Nvidia's Hopper GPUs each, including the H20 model which has been developed to adhere to strict US export restrictions for China.
The report reveals that Microsoft bought 485,000 Hopper chips in 2024, far ahead of its competitors.
(Image credit: Omdia)
Chinese influence
"Good data center infrastructure, they’re very complex, capital-intensive projects,” Alistair Speirs, Microsoft’s senior director of Azure Global Infrastructure, told the Financial Times. “They take multi-years of planning. And so forecasting where our growth will be with a little bit of buffer is important.”
In contrast, Meta bought 224,000 Hopper GPUs in 2024, followed by Amazon and Google with 196,000 and 169,000 units, respectively. All three tech giants are increasingly moving away from reliance on Nvidia hardware by developing their own in-house custom silicon. The FT says Google deployed 1.5 million TPUs, Meta 1.5 million MTIA chips, and Amazon 1.3 million Trainium and Inferentia chips, while Microsoft, still in its early stages, installed around 200,000 Maia chips.
According to Omdia, Nvidia captured 43 percent of server hardware spending in 2024, but AMD also performed strongly, with Microsoft purchasing 96,000 of its Instinct MI300 chips and Meta acquiring 173,000.
While Microsoft leads comfortably in GPU acquisitions, the substantial investments made by ByteDance and Tencent reflect the determination of Chinese firms to secure a strong position in the AI race - a momentum that is expected to carry into 2025.
In outspending Google, Meta, Tesla/xAI and Amazon in units purchased, the two Chinese companies have shown they can compete with the biggest of the American tech giants, despite the significant challenges posed by the ongoing trade restrictions which are expected to intensify even further under the Trump administration.
Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.
Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #303) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Resolutions
NYT Strands today (game #303) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
SOLD
GREEN
CLOSE
TENSE
CLONE
LOVING
NYT Strands today (game #303) - hint #3 - spangram
What is a hint for today's spangram?
• Done and dusted
NYT Strands today (game #303) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
First side: left, 2nd row
Last side: right, 8th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #303) - the answers
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today's Strands, game #303, are…
CODA
ENDING
CLOSURE
FINALE
EPILOGUE
CONCLUSION
SPANGRAM: ITS OVER
My rating: Moderate
My score: 1 hint
When I saw today’s theme I began looking for things that could be New Year’s Resolutions, but quickly realised “lose some weight”, “be the best version of me” “learn Japanese”, etc would not make the greatest of puzzles. Instead, clever Strands gave us various alternatives for IT’S OVER.
Although that’s not strictly true, as an EPILOGUE is an additional piece of information or storyline after you think it’s over in films, books, and plays, then after the epilogue it really is over – or is it? Epilogues are often there to wrap up all your unanswered questions about the characters, what happened in the years after the CONCLUSION of the story – or at their worst to tease the next instalment of the franchise. Either way, we live in a time when leaving a film before the credits reach the soundtrack listings is a gamble.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday, 30 December, game #302)
SONATA
PRELUDE
CONCERTO
SYMPHONY
OVERTURE
SPANGRAM: COMPOSITION
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.
from Latest from TechRadar US in News,opinion https://ift.tt/hpbY9jO
There’s nothing quite like looking up at the night sky. It’s always brought me a deep sense of peace and wonder, especially during difficult times.
One of my favorite tools to help me identify the stars as I journey through them from the ground is Sky Guide, an augmented reality app that overlays the sky to show constellations.
I often plan my evenings around events that it highlights, like when the International Space Station passes overhead (I always wave)! And, like many people, I’ve developed a strong connection to the Moon. I like to stare up at it when it’s just a sliver, when it’s round and full, and when it looks like a big smile suspended in the sky.
But as much as I’ve loved using apps to enhance my stargazing, I’ve been yearning for something more. A few years ago, a very kind friend gave me a telescope for my birthday.
Though I never made much use of it while living in a basement flat in London, UK, I’m now up in Yorkshire with darker skies – and I’m ready to make 2025 the year I truly up my astronomy game.
How to choose the right telescope for stargazing
If you’re considering taking your stargazing to the next level, the first step is finding the right telescope.
“The best telescope is the one you’ll actually use." This is what amateur astronomer and astrophotographer Nazmus Nasir, known as Naztronomy online, tells me. “For most people, it's the one that's easiest to set up and takes the least amount of time to maintain.” Otherwise it’ll just end up gathering dust – as mine has been doing for two years.
Tips for photographing the aurora with your phone
Photographer Rebecca Douglas shares her top tips: 1. Night mode or long exposure: Use a 3- to 10-second exposure with night mode, or set ISO to 800-3200 in manual mode to balance light and noise. 2. Stabilize your phone: Use a tripod or prop it against a sturdy surface. Or hold it steady with both hands, elbows tucked in, and press the button while holding your breath. 3. Focus on the sky: Lower screen brightness to adjust your eyes to the dark and give the camera time to focus in low light. 4. Edit your photos: Use built-in tools to enhance saturation, contrast, and sharpness for more detail.
To get to grips with what kind of telescope might work for you, Thomas Burbine, visiting assistant professor in Astronomy at Mount Holyoke College, offers practical advice. “Visit an amateur astronomy club or a star party. Talk to people who already have telescopes. If they have observing nights, try viewing a few objects through them. Too many people buy expensive telescopes they never use. It’s best to get as much hands-on information as you can before making a purchase.”
For beginners, Naz recommends tabletop Dobsonian telescopes. “They’re a really great starter type of scope,” he explains. “They’re small reflectors that you can put on a table and they give you the best bang for your buck.” He recommends taking a look at popular models, which include the Orion Starblast 4.5, Zhumell z114, and Sky-Watcher Heritage 130p. They're easy to set up and can provide excellent views of celestial objects.
You could also consider a refractor telescope. Naz suggests starting with a small, wide-field scope. “These are easier to use, require almost no maintenance, and are ideal for taking photos,” he explains.
Naz warns to steer clear of cheap telescopes that seem too good to be true, as their optics often disappoint. Instead, look for reputable brands, like Celestron, Apertura, Astro-Tech, and Sky-Watcher. While some of these can be pricey, their quality is leagues ahead of budget options.
The Seestar S50 (above) is one of the new breed of smart telescopes, but simpler tabletop Dobsonian telescopes like the ones recommended above cost half as much.(Image credit: Seetar)
Once you’ve chosen a telescope, consider upgrading your setup with a sturdy mount or tripod. “A mount with slow-motion controls makes it easier to track objects,” says Naz. For even more precision, a tracking mount with “go-to” capabilities is a game-changer. “You can tell it what to find and it’ll also keep the object in view so you don’t have to fidget with the gear,” Naz explains. He recommends models like the Sky-Watcher AZ-GTi and Star Adventurer 2i; by keeping objects in view, they open up possibilities for better imaging.
If you’re interested in instant gratification, smart telescopes, like the Seestar S50, are worth exploring. These compact, automated devices handle everything for you, from locating celestial objects to taking and stacking photos. “The only downside is that they don’t have eyepieces, so you can’t look through most of them like a traditional telescope,” Naz says. But they’re perfect for beginners looking for quick results.
How to take photos with your telescope
Seeing the wonders of the night sky is incredible, but what if you want to capture them to share or revisit later? Luckily, you don’t need a lot of new gear to get started. With just a smartphone and a few clever accessories, you can take impressive astrophotography shots right alongside your telescope.
For telescope users, Naz suggests getting a phone mount, which allows you to attach your device to the eyepiece. Once you’ve secured it, you can play around with what works best for the objects you want to photograph. “For moon and planets, a single exposure would be fine. For deep sky objects, you can do exposures that are several seconds long,” Naz says.
(Image credit: Astroshader)
He suggests starting with an intervalometer app to take regular photos, or using apps like Deep Sky Camera and AstroShader(above) to capture stunning night shots – especially of star trails or meteor showers. You can also check out our guide on how to take night sky images with your phone.
If you’re ready to move beyond your phone, consider investing in one of the best DSLRs or best mirrorless cameras. “Learn to use the manual mode,” Naz advises. “Experiment with ISO settings and exposure times to achieve different results.” Some good starting settings and tips can be found in our guide to photographing the Blue Moon and Milky Way.
Dedicated t-adapters can also connect your camera to your telescope. “This essentially turns your telescope into your camera's lens,” Naz explains.
How to take photos with your phone
Not ready to invest in a telescope? Binoculars are an excellent alternative. “Even a small pair can enhance your view of the night sky,” says Naz. “The Moon looks spectacular through binoculars. You may also be able to see the core of the Andromeda Galaxy more easily or even the Galilean moons of Jupiter..”
Even without advanced equipment, the night sky offers plenty of opportunities for capturing its beauty. Thanks to advancements in smartphone technology, creating stunning photos is more achievable than ever.
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
Photographer Rebecca Douglas explains just how far we’ve come. “10 years ago when I started shooting the night sky, it was impossible to capture anything on a phone,” she says that’s changing. “But there are quite a few things you need to know to be able to capture images that resemble the majesty you’re seeing with your eyes.”
She recommends using apps like Star Walk 2 for celestial identification and PhotoPills for planning your shots. She also tells me that a tripod and remote trigger are must-haves for reducing any motion blur.
But I love that Rebecca reminds me that astrophotography isn’t just about technology. “The night sky connects us to something much bigger than ourselves,” she says.
Whether you’re using a phone, binoculars, or a telescope, she says that stargazing offers a profound sense of awe. “Whether it’s ancient starlight, the swirling colors of an aurora, or the Milky Way’s vast ribbon across the sky, there’s a little magic waiting for you up there every time.”
U7inh instance has 1,920 virtual CPUs and 32TB of memory, and you can run 4 of these
Need to sustain SAP workloads is what encouraged HPE to work with AWS
However, there's also the fact HPE may be helping AWS get newer, lucrative leads
As businesses face relentless data growth, challenges like data silos and outdated legacy systems, such as Unix-based servers, increasingly stand in the way of progress.
HPE has positioned its Compute Scale-up Server 3200, which it launched in 2023, as the answer to these challenges, promising scalability and performance for mission-critical applications.
The server supports workloads like SAP HANA and ERP with up to 16 sockets and 32TB of shared memory, enabling seamless scalability and reduced server sprawl. Powered by 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors (Sapphire Rapids), it doubles core counts, integrates AI accelerators, and features DDR5 memory with PCIe 5.0 for enhanced performance and bandwidth, ideal for data-intensive applications.
Eroding on-premises market share?
AWS has now announced the general availability of a new Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) U7inh-32tb.480xlarge instance which runs on the 16-socket HPE Compute Scale-up Server 3200 and is built on the AWS Nitro System.
While that sounds like a positive move for HPE customers, it does raise concerns about the strategic implications.
AWS’s new U7inh instance features 1,920 vCPUs, 32TB of DDR5 memory, 160 Gbps of EBS bandwidth, and 200 Gbps of network bandwidth. AWS says, “You can run your largest in-memory database workloads like SAP HANA or seamlessly migrate workloads running on HPE hardware to AWS.”
As The Register notes, however, AWS’s announcement of the new offering mentions "customers that currently run on-premises with HPE servers have also asked how we can help them migrate to AWS to take advantage of cloud benefits while continuing to use HPE hardware."
By partnering with AWS, HPE potentially opens the door for the cloud giant to gain access to customers running critical workloads on-premises who may be considering cloud migration.
This partnership could inadvertently help AWS capture more enterprise leads, potentially eroding HPE’s on-premises market share. The timing is particularly striking, as AWS has acknowledged a growing trend of customers revisiting on-prem solutions.
Experimenting with AI has become a hobby for me, as well as a professional role. I’d used AI for quick recipe inspiration before, but this time, I wanted to see if it could handle a week of dinners tailored to when I'm cooking, either for my wife and me or just for myself. I know my way around a kitchen even if my talents fall far short of my wife (whose family once showed off their skills on a TV show). Nonetheless, I was impressed with how AI, in this case, ChatGPT, opened some delicious new culinary doors, albeit with more than one tripwire to watch for when stepping through. Here's how my AI sous-chef performed and how you can do the same without any of the disasters I faced.
(Image credit: Future)
AI meal prep
I wanted to set the whole week up before beginning, so I could do the shopping all at once. I discussed with the AI some of my tastes and what my wife and I both liked. We keep kosher, so I made sure to emphasize that, which meant making it clear that the recipes couldn't include ingredients like pork and shellfish, couldn't combine meat with dairy, and so on.
I began by giving relatively specific recipe prompts to see how ChatGPT would do with narrow parameters before just asking for ideas without any specific requests. The AI did well at devising a kosher dinner recipe for two featuring chicken and a vegetarian recipe using rice and seasonal vegetables. As a further experiment, I even uploaded images from recipe books for visual reference. The AI impressed me with its adaptability, suggesting dishes like roasted herb chicken with glazed carrots and potatoes and rice-stuffed peppers with a spicy tomato sauce.
Unprompted, the chatbot even showed what it thought the meals might look like on the plate. They were mostly appetizing, though sometimes the details would be a little off, as with the chicken and carrots being hard to distinguish.
Virtual Michelin stars
(Image credit: Future)
AI turns out to be pretty good at putting together a varied week of meals. The recipe for herb-crusted salmon with couscous and asparagus was delightful. I'd never tried making a citrus zest crust, but the instructions were clear, and we ended up devouring the whole thing. On an evening alone, the AI walked me through making chicken shawarma wraps with tahini sauce and Israeli salad. The chatbot enhanced my experience with a few cooking and spicing suggestions that kept me warm even as snow fell outside.
Probably the most successful dish was the scratch-made mushroom risotto. I'd count it at the far end of my cooking technique, but the meticulous detail put me through the labor-intensive process without any breakdowns, while the truffle oil and white wine made the dish feel way fancier than it was. Those kinds of small tweaks throughout the week made doing the dishes after feel like less of a chore.
Luckily, another night was a basic grilled veggie platter with hummus and other dips, so I wasn't totally exhausted every night. It's not that these recipes were hard to find on their own or in many cookbooks, but the AI did make the process feel like it was customized to my preferences and overall schedule.
Kitchen nightmares
I committed to following every recipe that ChatGPT provided (barring any obvious poisons), but that almost led to me aborting the whole experiment on day two when my inexperience led to a disastrous sweet potato curry. The description of a hearty, spiced dish sounded great, but I ignored how the recipe called for way too much garam masala and cayenne. It seemed like a lot even to me at the time, but the success of the fish lulled me, and I went along with it. I like spice, but after one bite, my taste buds went dead, and I couldn't speak for hours. It might have been okay after scraping off the sauce, but the cooking time for the sweet potatoes was also off. Biting down released shards of potato that scraped my mouth just in time for the cayenne to really get in there.
I recovered, and all seemed well until the final night when I thought a dairy-free baked ziti sounded easy and fun. The AI apparently didn't understand how plant-based cheeses behave when baked. The result was a grainy, unappetizing texture that made the entire dish feel like a chore to eat. Adding to the disappointment, the AI recommended mixing the marinara sauce with nutritional yeast, which created a bland, oddly bitter flavor profile. It looked fine coming out of the oven, but that first bite was all I needed to know it was a failure.
Leftovers
(Image credit: Future)
The experiment cemented some of my opinions of AI in the kitchen for good and ill. As AI is now, you can definitely benefit from employing it as a helper. But only as a helper, not as the final word. Clear, detailed prompts are crucial if you have a specific idea of the kind of dish you want. But don't throw away your recipe books. AI is not a replacement for human chefs making a menu. You can and should trust your instincts and make adjustments if you think it makes sense. Perhaps dialing down the cayenne or looking up how to best use substitute ingredients. Still, as inspiration and culinary tryouts, you could do worse than popping a chef's hat on ChatGPT.
Apple's most fantastic piece of hardware, the future-leaning Vision Pro, is not a success; not, at least, when measured on customer interest and market penetration.
It's also a system hamstrung by humanity – we're not built to shut themselves off from each other. Wearing these goggles in the home elicits groans and serious side-eyes from family members and partners. I enjoyed the massive workspace in the office, but my coworkers thought I looked insane. Apple's efforts at virtual me staring back at friends, coworkers, and loved ones through the headset were also poorly received. I couldn't find anyone who wasn't turned off by my recreated gaze.
Even those people who are inspired by the Vision Pro idea could barely afford it for the most part. $3,500 is not an "everyone" price, it's a "rarified few" one. I got a sense that Vision Pro wasn't taking a spot in homes in the US, and later around the world, when every time I wrote about the headset six people read the story. If we write about the best iPhone (any make, model, or rumor) everyone reads it. The Vision Pro can't generate a fraction of the interest.
I believe in the Vision Pro and the technology inside it. It's truly unlike anything else on the market or that I've experienced before, but it can't survive like this. Apple will surely be making some tough decisions in 2025. If, however, it wants the Vision Pro to survive, and not go the way of the Newton or even the original HomePod, I have some notes.
Apple Vision Pro at launch(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Reduce the price
This is obvious, but it also means Apple taking a position it rarely does with hardware: a loss. It costs a lot to build the Vision Pro (one estimate puts it at over $1,540), with the high-end displays maybe accounting for a third of that price. If Apple is not swapping out components (more on that later), it should simply cut the price by more than half and take the hit. Yes, each Vision Pro it sells in 2025 might cost it some money, but think of the millions who might buy it.
Apple's growth is no longer built on hardware like the iPhone alone. It has a huge and rapidly growing services business, whereby you pay a monthly fee for access to iCloud storage, Apple TV Plus, Music, Fitness Plus, News, and so on. Apple customers buy more services when they have more Apple gadgets… you can see where this is going. Most of Apple's service experiences, like Apple TV Plus, are even better on a device like the Vision Pro, so this should represent a short-term loss that leads to a bigger long-term gain.
Swap out materials and components
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
What if the expected Vision Pro 2 features a plastic cover instead of glass? Does it need brushed aluminum? What if Apple does away with the displays driving the creepy EyeSight feature? And maybe the resolution of the pricey display system could be lowered just a bit.
Apple should look at all the ways it can reduce build costs without ruining the Vision Pro experience. I know that's a tall order, but the Vision Pro sometimes feels a bit overbuilt. To be fair, Apple did this because it was launching a new class of computing: spatial computing. The problem is that few others were buying the concept. Most consumers are still happy with regular old computing. To get them excited about it they need a cheaper Vision Pro, so fewer and cheaper materials and components might be one option.
Ship an Apple Vision Lite
Rumors point to Vision Pro Lite arriving next year or the year after. If Apple is smart, it will tease a $1,500 Vision Pro Lite no later than March – disinterested consumers won't wait around for a late 2025 or 2026 launch. Apple needs to deliver affordable and usable Lite units fast enough to reboot the Vision Pro brand and finally start sucking in millions of new customers.
Unveil Apple Vision AR glasses
How does this help the Vision Pro? If these new lightweight Apple AR-only wearables are seen as part of the Vision Pro family, and they cost between $799 and $1,200, they might trigger a halo effect. Excitement and even some FOMO around the glasses could launch renewed interest in the overpriced mixed-reality headset, especially if the glasses also run visionOS and offer seamless integration with Vision Pro.
Bundle Vision Pro with the iPhone 16 Pro Max 1 TB model
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
An iPhone 16 Pro Max with 1TB of storage costs $1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,849. That's a hefty mobile investment, and a signal to Apple that you are a devoted customer. What if when you buy that smartphone, Apple offers you a Vision Pro for an extra $599? That's far from free, but it is a massive discount for Apple's best-paying customers. Most people are buying the largest iPhone, and some might consider paying extra for all that storage if it also gave them access to a heavily discounted Vision Pro. I think Apple would be surprised at how many headsets it would end up moving.
There's no perfect answer for how to save the Vision Pro, but I am certain that the solution revolves mostly around price. I think there are actually millions who would love to try the Vision Pro, but who see the price tag as a huge barrier and move on. Put the Vision Pro in reach of the masses, Apple, and you'll change the market equation, and save the Vision Pro in 2025.
New year's resolutions are just the kind of chore you don't need after a week of relaxing excess – so this year we're committing to 'tech resolutions' instead.
These friendlier, less intimidating commitments involve using gadgets or apps to nudge your life in the right direction. Or they can simply help you survive the brutal month that is January. Best of all, they all involve tech.
The tech resolutions below don't involve giving up indulgences or hitting gyms. Instead, they're a mix of ideas from the TechRadar team on how they'll be using gadgets, apps or a mix of the two to try new hobbies, save money or just have a blast with new board game discoveries in early 2025.
There are guides on how to slash your streaming bills, set up your iPhone 16 to take better photos in 2025, and use Notion to plan your new year. But there are also fun side quests, like how to rediscover the joy of CDs and one writer's advice on the best cheap gadgets to raise your bread-making game.
Whichever part of your tech life needs a shot of new year's enthusiasm, you'll find some valuable nuggets of advice below. And if it inevitably all goes wrong, you can always blame the gadgets...
(Image credit: Netflix / Disney+ / Amazon Prime Video)
Our streaming bills have quickly become bigger than Elon Musk's ego – it's time to take action. TechRadar contributor Esat Dedezade has broken down how he's embracing 'subscription hopping' in 2025 to save hundreds on his bills.
The tactic involves a little planning, but fortunately we've done all of that for you – including a 'cheat sheet' that shows all of the biggest shows landing on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus and more in the first few months of 2025, so you can quickly create your own plan. Trust us, you'll feel extremely smug afterwards.
Owning an EV can be an expensive business, not least because of pesky depreciation. But whether you've bought new or second-hand, there is one thing you can control – charging costs.
TechRadar's EV expert Leon Poultney, who spends roughly 72% of his life on the road in electric cars, has broken down all of his top tips for saving cash on EV charging in 2025. And no, it doesn't involve buying a solar farm.
YouTube Premium has so many hidden benefits that it may well be the best-value streaming subscription out there. That's the compelling argument made by TechRadar contributor David Nield, who describes why it's the only digital subscription he's keeping for the whole of 2025.
As he describes, YouTube Premium isn't just about getting respite from ads (although that is one major benefit). It also brings a host of bonus, like YouTube Music – which could convince you to ditch a separate music streaming service.
(Image credit: Sony / Shutterstock / Skrypnykov Dmytro)
Our PS5 Pro review was enough to convince TechRadar contributor Darren Allan to skip the console and make a different gaming plan for 2025 – and it involves cables.
That's because this particular Plan B is built around hooking up a gaming PC in another room to a living room TV. A not inconsiderable task, but one that means saving lots of cash on a PS5 Pro – and ultimately creating a better gaming setup.
Do you have a tower of dusty CDs at home that audibly grumble every time you open Spotify? So does TechRadar contributor and CD hoarder Tom Wiggins, but he has a plan to put that right in 2025.
The Fiio DM13, a modern Discman tribute act, is the key to this particular tech resolution. And it means riding the mid-90s comeback and living like it's the height of Britpop, with even better sound quality.
Looking to take better photos with your iPhone in 2025? This guide from TechRadar's former cameras editor will help set you up.
While it's mainly focused on the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro (including their new Camera Control button), a lot of the tips also apply to older iPhones that are running iOS 18.
It's now possible to get the experience and results of a traditional compact camera from your iPhone – here's how to do it.
Yes, it's finally time – Windows 11 might be a magnet for online criticism (justifiably so, in many cases), but TechRadar computing writer Darren Allan explains why he's going to be upgrading to Microsoft's OS as the new year begins.
And no, it isn't just because the sands of time are running out for Windows 10 – there are also now positive reasons to upgrade, including some much-needed interface improvements.
Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.
What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (game #567) - today's words
(Image credit: New York Times)
Today's NYT Connections words are…
BEACH
DATE
LOCK
CHERRY
FUR
MAROON
TIME
PAIR
STRAND
HEAD
LOCATION
BRICK
DURATION
YOU
RUBY
WISP
NYT Connections today (game #567) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
YELLOW: Roses are?
GREEN: Meeting detail
BLUE: Mane attraction
PURPLE: Sounds leafy
Need more clues?
We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #567) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
YELLOW: SHADES OF RED
GREEN: APPOINTMENT SPECIFICATIONS
BLUE: DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF HAIR
PURPLE: TREE HOMOPHONES
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #567) - the answers
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today's Connections, game #567, are…
YELLOW: SHADES OF RED BRICK, CHERRY, MAROON, RUBY
GREEN: APPOINTMENT SPECIFICATIONS DATE, DURATION, LOCATION, TIME
BLUE: DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF HAIR HEAD, LOCK, STRAND, WISP
PURPLE: TREE HOMOPHONES BEACH, FUR, PAIR, YOU
My rating: Hard
My score: 2 mistakes
I struggled today and really should have employed a bit more lateral thinking to make it a bit less time-consuming.
I spent far too long thinking BEACH, STRAND, and MAROON were linked to dumping someone and PAIR and LOCK had something to do with charging a phone before finally seeing the much more obvious SHADES OF RED and DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF HEAD.
Our old friend the homophone also made an appearance with TREE HOMOPHONES. I think I’m going to have to have a permanent Post-it note reminding me to speak out words.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, 28 December, game #566)
YELLOW: "NOTHING TO IT!" EASY, NO SWEAT, PIECE OF CAKE, SURE THING
GREEN: OBJECTS FROM GREEK MYTH AEGIS, APPLE OF DISCORD, GOLDEN FLEECE, PANDORA'S BOX
BLUE: PROVERBIAL THINGS TO KICK CAN, HABIT, HORNETS' NEST, TIRES
PURPLE: STARTING WITH POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS HERSHEY, HISTAMINE, ITSY, MINEFIELD
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
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I used to own a lot of CDs. And by “a lot”, I mean a lot. Since I was a teenager in the late ‘90s a significant chunk of my disposable income went on music, but when Spotify launched in 2009 that began to slow down, until on July 29 2016 I ordered my final CD from Amazon (Drive Like Jehu’s self-titled album, if you’re interested).
I’ve been pretty much streaming-only ever since, and while I’ve purged a lot of CDs in recent years (mainly the albums I couldn't name a single song from without looking at the track-listing) there are a couple of hundred I can’t bring myself to get rid of.
Without a means to play any of them – I’d streamlined my hi-fi setup to include just a pair of Ruark MR1 Mk 2 speakers and an iFi Uno DAC connected to my disc-less MacBook Air when I moved out of London a few years ago – that seemed stupid.
But I spent a good chunk of my young adult life accumulating these shiny silver discs, some of which were acquired at gigs by obscure math-rock bands of the mid-2000s and certainly won’t be found on Spotify or Apple Music.
Even if they do now live in boxes under the stairs, existing as little more than a back-up archive to a hard drive full of ripped MP3s, they’re still part of my identity. And then one day the perfect solution dropped into my inbox.
What's in a name?
(Image credit: Future)
Try to buy a small, affordable CD player these days and you’ll mainly find cheap, plastic all-in-one systems made by companies called things like Pjlopj, Lvcdodvd and Gelielim (I actually made one of those up but I bet you don’t know which one).
Why was I choosing to listen to audibly inferior versions of stuff I’d spent so much time and money collecting?
In all honesty, the name FiiO isn’t much better, but the company at least has some recent pedigree when it comes to making hi-fi gear, with a number of its products earning five-star reviews right here on TechRadar. So news of its new $139 / £139 (around AU$275) DM13 CD player was music to my ears.
Here was a battery-powered CD player that’s barely any bigger than an old Sony Discman – not quite pocket-sized, but small enough to stash in a drawer when not in use – that has Bluetooth onboard so you can connect a pair of headphones, load up a copy of OK Computer and hit the streets like it’s 1997 all over again.
Mine arrived in the post just before Christmas, and its brushed metal chassis makes it vaguely reminiscent of Apple’s old Superdrive (RIP), particularly if you opt for the silver version. It can even convert CDs into MP3s if you hook it up to a computer.
I attempted to pair it with my Ruarks over Bluetooth but with its limited single-line display and very basic instruction manual, getting the two to talk to each other was like trying to change the clock on a microwave using only morse code.
Fortunately, it has standard aux and optical outputs as well, so I just dug out my box of miscellaneous cables (we’ve all got one) and went wired instead. I had created the perfect hi-fi setup for a millennial with limited space.
Don't look back in anger
(Image credit: Future)
Top tips for CD revivalists
1. Check Ebay for CD bargains A copy of Oasis’s debut album Definitely Maybe will set you back the best part of $35 / £30 on vinyl, but resellers such as Music Magpie (or Discogs in the US) have eBay shops where you can pick up a CD copy for far less. Try your local charity shops, too.
2. Only buy stuff you really love If you start buying everything on CD you’ll quickly end up with a collection that’s hard to manage and you’ll be forced to purge some of it. Spotify and the other streaming services are the perfect tool for quality control, allowing you to try before you buy.
3. Keep your CDs out of the sun My CD collection spent over a decade of its life by a window where it would catch the evening sun. As a result a good chunk has severely faded spines and partially bleached back covers, which bothers me from a sentimental perspective rather than a resale one. Try to look after yours better.
It’s not just because I’m a hoarder who can’t let go of the past that I’m planning to spend 2025 like it’s the height of Britpop all over again (and the Oasis reunion has nothing to do with it either).
Spotify’s refusal to increase its streaming quality has been bothering me for some time, but it was only when I was listening to some of those old MP3s that I realised just how noticeable it is. Why was I choosing to listen to audibly inferior versions of stuff I’d spent so much time and money collecting?
I also rarely listen to a full album from start to finish anymore, so rather than just switching to a different digital format I figured a CD player would be the perfect way to reconnect with music all over again.
I’m not the only one who’s plotting a physical-media renaissance. Sales of CDs rose 2% in 2023 and were up again 3.2% in the first half of 2024. That small upward trend is partially down to younger generations developing an interest in owning tangible formats but not having the disposable income to spend on vinyl (apparently it all goes on snozzberry vapes).
I get that. I bought a lot of my CDs for £7 or less in shops like Fopp or Rounder Records (another RIP) in Brighton, UK and the thought of spending over £20 on just one album back then would’ve horrified me. What if it was rubbish? (Which, considering a proportion of it was mid-noughties math-rock, was fairly likely.)
With people like me offloading hordes of old CDs there are bargains to be found – and while the format isn’t as indestructible as was once claimed, the discs are often in decent nick, even if the cases and liner notes aren’t.
You can connect a pair of headphones, load up a copy of OK Computer and hit the streets like it’s 1997 all over again.
I probably won’t ditch Spotify completely. As portable as the FiiO DM13 is – connecting a pair of Bluetooth headphones presented fewer issues and it does have skip protection – my pockets are only big enough for my iPhone 16 Pro. Streaming is also unbeatable when it comes to discovering new stuff, plus I don’t have space to add significantly to my existing CD collection. My bank balance wouldn’t thank me either.
But the contents of those boxes under the stairs is going to get a chance to shine again in 2025 – and it’s all down to another little black box with a silly name.
But AWS is also part of Amazon, which owns Amazon Prime Video, a huge rival to Netflix
Netflix engineers have been struggling to keep track of how much resources they use on AWS
Netflix, the world’s most popular streaming platform, may dominate home entertainment, but it’s struggling to manage one of its biggest operational challenges: cloud computing costs.
Despite its tech-forward image, Netflix has admitted it doesn’t fully know how much it spends on the cloud, an oversight made even more surprising given that its cloud provider, AWS, is part of Amazon - owner of Prime Video, one of Netflix’s largest competitors.
Relying on AWS for compute, storage, and networking, Netflix’s cloud infrastructure supports its global streaming service. Engineering teams use self-service tools to create and deploy applications, generating vast amounts of data. However, the complexity of this ecosystem makes it difficult for Netflix to understand exactly how resources are used and how costs accumulate.
Keeping its content flowing
The Platform Data Science Engineering (DSE) team at Netflix has taken on the task of untangling this problem. The team’s mission is to help the company’s engineers understand resource usage, efficiency, and associated costs.
Yet, as Netflix acknowledged in a recent blog post, its cloud cost management is still a work in progress.
To address the challenges it finds itself facing, Netflix has developed two tools: Foundational Platform Data (FPD) and Cloud Efficiency Analytics (CEA). FPD provides a centralized data layer with a standardized model, aggregating data from applications like Apache Spark. CEA builds on this by applying business logic to generate cost and ownership attribution, providing insights into efficiency and usage patterns.
The hurdles are significant. Netflix’s sprawling infrastructure includes services with multiple owners, varying cost heuristics, and multi-tenant platforms that complicate tracking.
Data delays and platform-specific customizations add a further layer of complexity. Regular audits and data transformations are necessary to maintain accuracy, but the company admits it has yet to achieve full visibility into its cloud spending.
Looking ahead, Netflix says it plans to expand its tools and incorporate predictive analytics and machine learning to optimize usage and detect cost anomalies.
While the company works to refine its approach, its situation highlights a striking irony: the world’s most popular streaming platform relies on its rival’s technology to deliver its own service, yet it is still figuring out the true cost of keeping its content flowing.
The holidays are a magical time, but let’s face it: keeping a young child and a few energetic nieces and nephews entertained during those long winter breaks can be challenging. Enter ChatGPT.
While mainly used for adults, the AI-powered chatbot has more than a little Mary Poppins in its features. You might be amazed to find how good ChatGPT is at helping keep kids creatively engaged, and not just for the holidays.
I’ve put together some of my favorite methods of using ChatGPT to enhance playtime with my very young child and his slightly older cousins and how I plan to keep it up in the year ahead.
Tales from AI
(Image credit: Pixabay)
Kids love stories, and with ChatGPT, I can create characters who keep them entertained with endless tales and role-playing games. We started by designing a virtual magical snowman who told stories of adventures but have since made time-traveling princesses visiting dinosaurs and superhero astronauts going to other planets. I just have to ask ChatGPT to “pretend you’re a time-traveling princess. Tell us about your latest trip to the Jurassic period and the dinosaurs you met,” and I’ve got a great tale to tell, especially with the silly voices I add. And if there are questions I don’t know how to answer, the AI princess is there for backup. For next year, I’m thinking of setting up an interactive long-term story with a new chapter that brings back favorite characters every so often.
Art projects
ChatGPT’s AI image maker, DALL-E, brings some visual flair to this winter, too. Sometimes, it’s related to the stories I tell, but sometimes, it’s just random fun that I show off or they suggest. We’ve looked at images made from prompts like “A friendly dragon playing in a magical forest” and “A futuristic city on Mars with flying cars,” among many others. One fun thing to do is make them purely outlines of drawings and then print them out for the kids to color in. For the coming year, I’m picturing a full family “art gallery” where the kids can display their AI-assisted creations. We’ll create themes for each season, and I’ll encourage them to elaborate on what they’ve seen the AI do.
Storybooks
When a kid can't see their favorite character, sometimes they want to be the hero. ChatGPT makes it easy to create personalized tales that feature my little one and my nieces and nephews as the main characters. This is good for quieter times when I don’t want them to be so involved, like with the interactive characters and art. Instead it’s a good way to quickly make a story they’ll pay attention to when it’s naptime or bedtime. As the kids get older, I might even put together whole chapter books combining all of their favorite things and make them the stars of the story.
Edu-tainment AI
(Image credit: Shutterstock / Prostock-studio)
Kids like to learn if you can make it fun. Even a one-year-old who is learning to talk gets excited when they figure out two shapes are the same, and you praise them for doing so. You can ask ChatGPT to generate trivia games and quizzes at every level, with help from DALL-E for visual questions. You can even attach mini-lessons to help them learn. For example, I asked ChatGPT, “Create a trivia quiz for little kids about dinosaurs, including asking them to draw some or identify pictures. That was a hit. I even made one specifically about the area of New York where we live, so they felt like it was a test based on their own lives. A little prize at the end for everyone was my own idea, but ChatGPT really livened up the afternoon. I’d love to make it a full family activity in the coming year, maybe even make a family trivia night tailored to the kids or let them help come up with topics so they can be the quizmasters.
AI Maestro
(Image credit: Pixabay)
Music is another way to keep kids entertained, and ChatGPT’s creative writing skills can help you compose custom songs for any occasion. Using prompts like, “Write a fun, rhyming song about cleaning your room, with a catchy chorus,” we’ve created silly jingles that make mundane tasks more fun. With a little finesse, I can even get ChatGPT to come up with lyrics that match the tune of some of their favorite songs. For instance, I asked the AI what key and time signature Yankee Doodle is in, then had it come up with lyrics to match the style, except the words were about everything they need to do before bed. They’re all a little young for anything more complicated musically, but someday, I would love to make a whole album of songs we collaborate on boosted with AI help on rhyme schemes and musical aspects.
The cost of digital subscriptions can quickly add up, month on month: for AI chatbots, cloud storage, media publications, dating apps, photo editing software, fitness programs, VPN tools, gaming subscriptions, the best streaming services, and more. When you're looking to save some money, it's often one of the first places to turn.
Having to test and write about everything from ChatGPT to Plex as part of my job, I've signed up for more subscriptions than most – some of which I cancel at the earliest opportunity, and some of which I keep renewing because I actually find they're good value for money. And top of that particular list? YouTube Premium.
It's not cheap, with individual plans starting at $13.99 / £11.99 / AU$14.99 per month, but as we go into 2025, it's the only digital subscription service that I know I won't be canceling over the next 12 months. It's actually well worth the money, for me – and you might find it is for you too, once you've given it a try.
I'm not saying I'm going to abandon everything else entirely. I've still got shows to watch and apps to test – but while there might be a certain amount of subscription hopping with other services, I know I'll stick with YouTube Premium throughout 2025, and these are the reasons why.
1. No adverts
Adverts are plentiful on non-premium YouTube(Image credit: Future / Google)
In one sense, sitting through an advert or two isn't too much of a hardship in return for saving some money – and judging by the number of people signing up for ad-supported streaming services, it's a trade-off a lot of people are willing to make. If you can watch YouTube for free with ads, why would you pay money to ditch them?
If you've never tried YouTube Premium, you might not realize this – but the site and apps are much, much better when they're ad-free. One video glides effortlessly into the next. You can skip forwards and backwards without interruption. Those music mixes you put on in the background aren't suddenly interrupted by adverts for loans or vacation deals. And the recommendations panels and home screens are free from sponsorship.
After subscribing to YouTube Premium It's now incredibly jarring for me to load up the site when I'm not signed in – or for a friend to show me a YouTube clip and then have to wait 30 seconds for it to finally appear. It's a classic case of when you've tried something, then you never want to go back.
I spend more time than I'd like to admit going down YouTube rabbit holes – whether it's live music performances or outdoor adventuring that I'd never do myself – and over the months and years, I must've been able to fit in hours and hours of extra videos in (not all of which were the best quality, but you get the idea)...
2. YouTube Music Premium
YouTube Music Premium can replace Spotify(Image credit: Future / Google)
I don't think YouTube makes this clear enough, but if you sign up for YouTube Premium then you get YouTube Music Premium thrown in as well. You might find you can do without your $11.99 / £11.99 / AU$13.99 Spotify subscription – so if you factor in those monthly savings, you're effectively getting YouTube Premium for free.
YouTube Music Premium isn't quite on the same level as Spotify Premium in terms of features and integrations, but it works well on the web and on mobile. You get plenty in the way of recommendations and personalized mixes, there's built-in support for casting to other devices, and of course you get your end of year recap.
YouTube Music Premium integrates tightly with YouTube as well – which means that all those b-sides, rarities, and live performances that are on YouTube can be added to your playlists. With the extra music that you've got on YouTube, it's undoubtedly the broadest catalog of digital music you can access anywhere.
You've got support for podcasts, mobile downloads for offline playback, background listening on your phone, and higher-quality audio options too – as well as a queueing system for your songs that's actually a little simpler than Spotify's. It's almost worth the price of YouTube Premium on its own.
3. Other perks
YouTube Premium lets you download videos in your browser(Image credit: Future / Google)
There are plenty of other reasons to sign up for YouTube Premium too. You can download videos to your computer, tablet, or phone – which is very handy if you're getting on a plane or going somewhere else with spotty Wi-Fi coverage. You also often get access to higher quality video than the masses on certain devices.
YouTube Premium subscribers almost always get access to new features first, and you also get your own viewing stats panel – so you can see how much video watching you've got through. On mobile, the audio from videos keeps playing when the screen goes off, and when you switch to other apps.
Watch positions in videos are remembered, so you can easily jump back into something you were playing a few hours or a few days ago, and YouTube Premium subscribers also get access to picture-in-picture functionality on Android, iPhone, and iPad. A few extra controls are included too – like the option to jump ahead to the most popular part of a video with a single tap or click.
Your mileage may vary on how much use you get out of these features, but I use most of them a lot of the time. Add in the completely ad-free experience, and the bundled premium music streaming service, and I can't see myself canceling YouTube Premium across the course of 2025.
