Category: 4. Technology

Stockholm-based Toca Boca has been hit with an unknown number of layoffs.

Staff affected by redundancies have been sharing the news on LinkedIn, including roles in art, QA, design, and development.

GamesIndustry.biz has reached to the developer for further clarification on how many jobs were affected by the cuts.

Former game designer Andrew Brierly Chramer claimed the layoffs were due to “project changes and cost-savings”.

“It’s not easy to leave a team you care so much about, but I’m proud of what we built and grateful for everything I’ve learned.”

Former art director Kim Aava shared similar sentiments: “While it’s tough to leave such a kind and inspiring group of people, I’m incredibly proud of what we built together.”

Affected employees also included artist Gabriel Flamm and embedded QA Bathilde de La Chapelle.

As reported by PocketGamer, Toca Boca’s parent company Spin Master announced it would be shutting down Nørdlight, known for the mobile title Rubik’s Match.

The closure was due to the “high costs of acquiring new users and the title’s lower than expected returns”, as the publication noted.

America’s birthday is, of course, a cause for celebration. So is a 3-day holiday weekend that you can spend grilling and hanging out with friends and family. And if you’re a runner, triathlete, or other kind of dedicated fitness fanatic, there’s one more reason to light up some fireworks this weekend — Amazon’s just dropped the price of the awesome Garmin Forerunner 255 GPS running smartwatch to an all-time low of just $200 (43% off). 

Any Garmin deal is going to get the attention of athletes and fitness buffs simply because Garmin has long been the gold standard of running watches for training, measuring your health data, and keeping you on course with its advanced GPS. But when one of Garmin’s most popular models suddenly nosedives to its lowest price ever thanks to an Amazon 43% off sale, it’s going to trigger a mad rush that might cause supplies to dip and dip fast.

See at Amazon

The Wearable Coach

The Garmin Forerunner 255 is like having a running coach on your wrist. As you begin to train for your next race, the Forerunner 255 will have tips and personalized workout suggestions ready for you every day, based on your recent workout and also the health and sleep metrics it measures all day and night. The Forerunner 255 will give you a week’s worth of suggested workouts, and then be able to adapt and modify them on the go based on your performance and recovery.

The Forerunner 255 comes with free adaptive training plans from Garmin Coach for 5K, 10K, and half-marathons, and with the Garmin Connect smartphone app, you can also create and modify your own custom workouts. Punch in the course information for your upcoming race and the Forerunner 255 will customize your workouts and even give you a predicted completion time based on that specific course, the weather, and your training.

Stay On Course

The Forerunner 255 uses Garmin’s SatIQ tech to keep its GPS optimized at all times, and when the satellite coverage is compromised by tall buildings or dense woods, the SatIQ can resort to Multiband GNSS to ensure your location is detected with great accuracy. Even with the GPS mode activated, the upgraded battery of the Forerunner 255 will last up to 30 hours, and when it’s just being used as a smartwatch, that duration grows to an incredible 14 days before needing a recharge.

In 3 short years since replacing the Forerunner 245, this Garmin running watch has become a huge favorite, especially among runners and other athletes. That’s why this Amazon deal shaving the price down by 43% to an all-time low of just $200 is such a big deal, and a deal you really will not want to miss.

See at Amazon

If you’ve put in the effort to secure your data on your computer, iPhone and other devices, you can already sleep better than most people. But there’s still a vector that could be out of your control: cloud data. To ensure you’re running the highest level of encryption between you and Apple’s iCloud servers, turn on Advanced Data Protection. However, the technology is also under scrutiny in the UK, which led Apple to temporarily turn off the feature for UK customers.

If you’re outside the UK and concerned about who can see your data, here’s how to turn ADP on and how it differs from the default iCloud encryption.

Why is ADP turned off for UK customers?

In February, Apple took the unusual step of turning off ADP for customers in the UK. The British government has reportedly demanded that Apple provide a method for law enforcement to access encrypted data as part of criminal investigations. But that creates a serious security problem, because this type of backdoor access can also be exploited by criminals or untrustworthy governments.

Since then, Apple has appealed the Home Office’s demand, and in April, a judge ruled that discussions between Apple and the UK government can’t be held in secret.

ADP can no longer be enabled for people in the UK; those currently using ADP will need to turn off the feature at a future date.

How does Advanced Data Protection work?

The key difference between ADP and how Apple encrypts data by default is how accessible your information is when stored on Apple’s servers.

In what Apple calls standard data protection, information sent between points, such as files stored on iCloud Drive and iCloud backups of your devices, is encrypted and transmitted securely. If someone intercepts that data between the two points, they’ll see only gibberish.

That data remains encrypted when stored on Apple’s servers so you can access it from other devices, for instance. However, Apple can still access the encryption keys to unscramble and read the data — and provide it to law enforcement following a legal request.

By contrast, when you enable Advanced Data Protection for iCloud, the data is end-to-end encrypted, meaning only your trusted devices possess the encryption keys to read it. The information remains encrypted on the servers, and not even Apple can access its contents. (Not all iCloud data can be end-to-end encrypted. Apple breaks out which types of information, such as iCloud Mail messages, remains covered by standard data protection even when ADP is turned on.)

The UK’s Investigatory Powers Act — the Snooper’s Charter — makes that inaccessibility illegal, which is why Apple is turning the feature off for UK customers.

Some services are end-to-end encrypted, regardless of the sensitivity of the data, such as passwords, information stored in the Health app, and payment information.

Make sure your account is set up for Advanced Data Protection

To set up ADP on your account, first make sure you’ve met all the prerequisites for the feature:

• Your Apple Account must use two-factor authentication.
• You must set up a recovery method in case you lose access to your account. That method can be a 28-character Recovery Key or a person you’ve designated as a Trusted Contact.
• Every device connected with your Apple Account must be able to run at least iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2, MacOS 13.1, WatchOS 9.2, TVOS 16.2, or a HomePod running version 16.0. For Windows computers, make sure iCloud for Windows is at version 14.1 or later. You’ll be warned during the ADP setup process if any of your devices don’t qualify. If any of those are too old or you can no longer access them, tap Remove Devices in Settings and delete them from your list.

Steps to set up Advanced Data Protection

To turn on ADP on an iPhone, iPad or Mac do the following:

1. Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud. On a Mac, open System Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud.

2. Scroll down to Advanced Data Protection, which likely says Off, and tap that.

3. If there are any of the aforementioned impediments to setting up ADP, such as needing to update other devices on your account, you’ll review them on the next screen.

4. In the following screen, tap Review Recovery Options. You need to have a Recovery Key, Recovery Contact or both to ensure that you can get your data if you lose access to your iCloud account.

5. Enter your device’s passcode to finish.

Activating ADP on one device means it’s on for all your devices using the same Apple Account, so you only need to set it up once.

For more on securing your data and devices, see how to securely share a Wi-Fi password with Apple and Android devices and everything you need to know about Apple’s new Passwords app.

Runway AI is making waves again, this time with Game Worlds, a bold new platform that lets users build immersive games with nothing but text. The company, already valued at $3 billion, is bringing its Hollywood-grade AI tools to the gaming world, and full game creation capabilities are expected by late 2025.

From Film Sets to Game Dev: Runway AI Expands Its Empire

After helping create hits like House of David, Runway AI is now targeting gamers and developers. Game Worlds marks its first major step into interactive storytelling and real-time game generation.

Build Epic Game Worlds Using Only Your Words

Users can type simple prompts like “Build a haunted city with robot guards” and watch the world come to life. Think AI Dungeon but with high-end visuals and actual game logic. The early version focuses on narrative and illustration, but full interactivity is on the horizon.

Runway AI Empowers Indie Creators and Solo Devs

No coding, no budget? No problem. Game Worlds slashes traditional development costs and complexity, making game creation possible for indie teams and bedroom coders alike. Levels, characters, and quests can all be generated through natural language.

Speed Meets Scale: AI Cuts Dev Time by 40%

Runway AI claims its tools can reduce game development time dramatically. The company is already collaborating with studios to refine its AI models, which are trained on style, mechanics, and world-building frameworks.

Is This Innovation or Just AI Hype?

Critics argue that while the tech is exciting, AI-generated content may lack emotional depth and polish. Some also point to current challenges with exporting assets into engines like Unity or Unreal.

Coming Soon: Full Game Creation With a Single Prompt

By late 2025, Game Worlds will evolve to support real-time gameplay, movement, and decision-making, all powered by AI. If it works as promised, it could democratize game design for everyone.

Prime Day doesn’t kick off until Tuesday, July 8, but if you don’t want to wait until then, these 4th of July deals bring you a chance to save money on your next telescope ahead of the big four-day Prime event next week.

We’ve scoured the web for the best deals ahead of Prime Day, and the entire Celestron NexStar range is on sale right now with savings of up to $200, including our favorite telescope, the Celestron NexStar 8SE.

We only recommend products we truly love from brands we know and trust, and we keep track of prices throughout the year, so we can bring you genuine deals.

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• Prime Day is officially from July 8-11, but we found some early Apple deals that you can shop today.
• The AirPods Pro (2nd generation), in a renewed version, are currently 24 percent off.
• A renewed Apple Watch Series 9 — on sale for £198 ahead of Prime Day — is a great fitness tracker and powerful health tool.

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You don’t have to wait until Prime Day to start getting in on major savings! Although Prime Day is officially from July 8 to 11, we found some great early deals on Apple products. Right now, you can shop up to 32 percent off on Apple Watches, AirPods, AirTags, and more.

One of Apple’s most popular products, the AirPods Pro (2nd generation), is currently on sale for under £180. Our editors were impressed by these earbuds thanks to amazing qualities like active noise cancellation, transparency mode, and up to 5 hours of battery life. If you prefer over-ear style headphones, the trendy AirPods Max are also on sale.

The Apple Watch Series 8 is currently 5 percent off, and we’re expecting the deals to get a lot better when the sale kicks off. This version delivers great fitness tracking and health features, and is lightweight, and has 18 hours of battery life. For smartwatch newbies, the Apple Watch SE is 7 percent off and is a great intro into the fitness tracking world.

Shop all of these great deals and more below! And be sure to watch this space as we update it with more Prime Day Apple Deals sure to come.

Shop Prime Day Apple deals

Apple AirPods Pro (1st Gen) (Renewed)

Now 23% Off

Apple iPhone 16 128 GB

Now 13% Off

Apple 2025 MacBook Air 13-inch Laptop

Now 10% Off

Apple iPad 11-inch: A16 chip

Apple Airtag (4 pack)

Now 23% Off

Apple Watch SE 2022 (2nd Gen) (GPS, 44mm)

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Sidney Lee is the Editor, Deals and Trends, for Best Products, Popular Mechanics, Runner’s World, Biography, Women’s Health, Men’s Health, and Oprah Daily. She loves keeping up on the latest social media trends and viral pop culture moments to recommend only the best products to readers. Previously, Sidney was the Assistant Home Editor at HGTV Magazine as well as contributing editor at Food Network and The Pioneer Woman Magazines, covering home, food, style, and more. She is based in Manhattan, and outside of work you can find her trying all the latest restaurants the city has to offer.

Chinese tech manufacturer Abee has unveiled a compact AI workstation powered by AMD’s most powerful AI-focused processor to date, the Ryzen AI Max 395, at the AMD Industry Solution National Conference.

Dubbed the Abee AI Station, the desktop-class device features a 16-core, 32-thread APU with boost speeds reaching 5.1GHz, supported by a dedicated NPU rated at over 50 TOPS and a combined AI throughput of 126 TOPS.

Designed for developers, AI engineers, and edge-computing professionals, the machine delivers enterprise-grade performance in a chassis measuring just 21 x 22 x 15 cm.

Despite its compact form factor, the system includes a platinum-rated 400W Flex ATX power supply, liquid cooling via an internal radiator and pump assembly, and dual 92mm fans to ensure thermal stability during sustained workloads.

The AI Station integrates an AMD Radeon 8600S GPU clocked at 2900MHz, supporting up to 96GB of shared memory for compute-intensive tasks, as reported by Tech Radar.

It also features 128GB of LP-DDR5X RAM running at 8000MT/s, although this memory is soldered and non-upgradeable.

Storage includes dual 56GB modules and a 1TB DOGE SSD, rounding out a system clearly intended for heavy local inference workloads.

The AI Station’s hardware is complemented by a custom ATX12VO motherboard and modern networking options including dual Ethernet ports, one 2.5GbE and one 10GbE, for high-speed data transfer.

The package supports a 27-inch AOC Q27P3U display with 2K resolution and a 75Hz refresh rate, and ships with additional accessories such as the V700 958FI webcam and a VT60 wireless mechanical keyboard and mouse set.

Though positioned as a business-class machine, the Abee AI Station’s feature set places it in direct contention with traditional workstation towers, offering a local, cloud-free compute option for AI developers.

Abee joins a growing list of Chinese vendors like GMKTec and SDUNITED to build mini-PCs around AMD’s Strix Halo-class silicon.

However, global brands such as Asus and HP have so far confined the chip to larger workstation-class desktops.

Whether this mini PC form factor will catch on outside China remains to be seen, but the Abee AI Station’s specifications place it among the most ambitious compact AI systems available today.

Real-world performance testing, however, will determine if it can deliver on its considerable promise.

When I first saw that the Sony WF-C500 wireless earbuds were down to £35 at Amazon, I was tempted. Then I realised that not only are they refurbished, but also their successors, the Sony WF-C510, were on sale at Amazon for only £39.

At only £4 more, that’s one of the clearest no-brainer deal decisions you’ll have to make.

They’re superior in almost every conceivable way – they’re smaller and lighter, have a more robust Bluetooth connection, and, most importantly, they sound better!

I know which one I’d recommend you go for…

Best Sony WF-C510 wireless earbuds deal

The Sony WF-C500 are a tough act to follow, but Sony has pulled it off.

The follow-up WF-C510 offer more advanced features like Bluetooth Multipoint and an Ambient Sound Mode, which lets in outside sounds without having to take out the earbuds.

These are the only pair of earbuds we’ve tested without active noise cancellation to offer this feature.

Their battery life is slightly longer than the C500’s too, with 11 hours from the buds and the same again from the case. That makes for a total battery life that’s two hours more than their predecessor’s.

Crucially, they sound better too. By keeping the C500’s musicality and rhythmic abilities, but creating an overall richer, more well-rounded sound, Sony has crafted a superb audio experience.

They even make their predecessors sound a little lean and diminutive in scale.

The C510 are also better at capturing dynamic shifts, while their midrange and treble are also superior, sounding more refined and subtle.

So, better all round, then. The C500 are still a great pair of ‘buds, but at this cheaper price, the C510, for only £39 at Amazon, are the definition of a no-brainer.

MORE:

Read our Sony WF-C510 review

Sony WF-C510 vs C500: which are better?

The best wireless earbuds you can buy

It is no secret that Google’s Chrome browser is beseiged by security vulnerabilities. The good news is that the vast majority of these vulnerabilities are discovered and disclosed by security researchers, including Google’s own Threat Analysis Group, well before any attacker can exploit them. However, that’s not always the case, as evidenced by numerous emergency browser security updates in response to confirmed zero-day vulnerabilities. What is less well known, especially amongst the large non-techie user base, is that Edge is built around the Chromium engine, so many of the same vulnerabilities impact it, and them. Given that another security issue has just emerged, and both Chrome and Edge users are at risk from it, in this case, a Windows security protection bypass, you might be asking if it is time to quit using both and find something else. Here’s what you need to know.

ForbesFBI 2FA Bypass Warning Issued — The Attacks Have StartedBy Davey Winder

The FileFix Windows Security Issue Putting Chrome And Edge Users At Risk

I first warned Forbes readers of the threat from something called a ClickFix attack in December 2024, and more recently reiterated that warning after Google issued a security alert in May.bNow, a new threat, called FileFix, has been discovered, and it’s coming for your Chrome and Edge browsers if you are a Windows user.

Penetration tester and security researcher, mr.d0x, first discovered FileFix on June 23, but has now published details of a new variation that is of concern to all Windows browser users. This new attack threat exploits the way that both Chrome and Edge deal with saving web pages, and can bypass the Microsoft Windows security feature known as Mark of the Web. It does this by bringing together those browser web page saving methods and something known as HTML Application execution. In other words, FileFix can now bypass the Windows MotW security function by exploiting the way in which browsers save HTML pages.

The good news is that to pull off this latest FileFix exploit, an attacker would first need to persuade the victim into saving an HTML web page and then renaming it as an .HTA file in order to auto-execute the embedded JScript that does the actual damage. If that all sounds a little long-winded, that’s because it is. However, don’t be fooled, social engineering, or phishing if you prefer, can persuade normally sensible people into doing the most unlikely of things. The original ClickFix attacks, for example, asked users who were presented with a fake captcha test to open a Windows run dialog and enter commands to execute the exploit. That sounds unlikely, right? Yet enough people did just that for ClickFix to make the headlines and for the biggest of vendors to issue warnings to users.

ForbesMicrosoft’s Password Deadline — You Have 28 Days To DecideBy Davey Winder

Is It Time For Windows Users To Abandon Chrome And Edge?

The short answer to the question posed in the above sub-heading is: is it heck as like. For those of you not living in the Yorkshire countryside in England, that means no. The continuing deluge of vulnerabilities that impact Chrome and Edge and are disclosed month after month, sometimes week after week, is a good thing. How so? Because, for the most part, these vulnerabilities are being discovered before threat actors know about them, and browsers are updated to protect against them before they can attack. The odd few zero-days that emerge are dealt with as quickly as they can be. The point is, it’s better the devil you know when it comes to security vulnerabilities. There are plenty of other reasons why you might want to change, those based around privacy concerns or dislike of certain vendors, but security vulnerability exposure isn’t on my list.

I have reached out to Google and Microsoft regarding the latest FileFix exploit affecting Windows users.

ForbesThese PDFs Put Your Microsoft, PayPal And Geek Squad Accounts At RiskBy Davey Winder

Whenever we spot a deal on the excellent Sony A80L, we want to make sure you’re the first to know about it. Thanks to a new deal, you can pick up the five-star 55in A80L at Amazon for only £949.

That’s a huge saving over its original £2399 price when we first tested it two years ago. But we don’t recommend buying it.

The Sony might be one of the best OLED TVs on the market and a What Hi-Fi? Award winner, but right now we think you should go for the LG C4 instead. Not only is the LG TV newer and better, but it’s also the same price.

You can snap up the LG C4 55-inch TV right now for only £949 at Amazon. It’s not the lowest price we’ve ever seen, but even at this price we think it’s an OLED TV deal that’s too good to miss.

We’ve reviewed a fair few LG C4 models — and each one has been a total pleasure. We gave both the 65-inch LG C4 and 48-inch LG C4 five stars in our reviews, so it’s safe to say that when it comes to the 55-inch model, you won’t be disappointed in what you get.

LG’s C-series of step-down OLED TVs are solid performers, no matter the size. And for the 55-inch, you’re getting a stunning upgrade from LG’s C3 that includes four HDMI 2.1 ports, a lack of HDR10+ but support for the far more important Dolby Vision, HLG and standard HDR10 formats.

And for gamers, it’s a fantastic offering. Most noteworthy is the support for 4K/144Hz signals and full Nvidia G-Sync VRR certification. Sure, that’s hardcore gaming territory, but they’re helpful no matter your ability and dedication.

Add to that support for 4K/120Hz, VRR, and ALLM across all four of its HDMI 2.1 sockets; Dolby Vision gaming; HGiG for more accurate HDR game performance; and the Game Optimiser menu for quick access to gaming features – and you’re looking at one of the best gaming TVs on the market.

When it comes to picture quality, we praised the 65-inch model for: “Big improvements to brightness and sharpness [that] make for an image with lots of pop and dynamism, and the rich tone and vibrant colours are a delight—but LG has tempered all of this with realism, consistency, and authenticity.”

So, waste no time in taking this great LG C4 deal to the checkout for £949 at Amazon. But hurry, this deal won’t stick around forever.

MORE:

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