Acer's CES 2026 reveals include laptops, displays, and... a gaming-themed e-scooter, apparently

• Acer has revealed a range of new products at CEs 2026
• The main announcement is a fresh line of laptops featuring the new Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors
• Other reveals included an esports monitor and a Predator-branded e-scooter

(Image credit: Future)

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The ball is rolling on CES 2026, and that means lots of new hardware reveals. It's an exciting time of year for us here at TechRadar, and it looks like Acer hasn't disappointed, with a range of new products coming in hot.

Leading the pack are several new laptops equipped with Intel's new 3rd-gen Core Ultra CPUs, including the Aspire AI, Swift AI, Swift Edge AI, Swift Go AI, and several new gaming laptops in the Predator and Nitro ranges. Yes, those have 'AI' tacked onto the end of the product name for no good reason, too.

I'm only gently chiding Acer for this, though, as it's become common practice across multiple laptop brands in recent years to include 'AI' in the name. In my inquiries, nobody has been particularly forthcoming about why they're doing this, but it's likely a combination of desire to demonstrate these new laptops' AI capabilities (thanks to the new Intel Core Ultra 300 chips powering them, which boast superior AI performance compared to the previous 200 generation) and pressure from Microsoft to champion Copilot, its AI assistant that now comes baked into Windows 11.

Overall, though? I have to say that these new laptops look good. The Aspire and Swift models come in both 14- and 16-inch display sizes, with the super-premium Swift Edge 14 AI weighing in at less than 1kg with a thickness of 13.95mm, making it one of the thinnest and lightest laptops in its performance class. The new Predator Helios Neo 16S AI is also impressively thin and light for a gaming laptop, packing an RTX 5070 GPU but with a chassis less than 19mm thick.

The new Acer Nitro V 16 AI promises next-level gaming performance. (Image credit: Acer)

New visuals

The reveals didn't stop there, though. New monitors are up next: we saw two gaming-focused models under the Predator brand, one curved and one esports-oriented (with a ludicrous '1000 Hz dynamic mode' for maximizing your framerate), along with another gaming monitor from the Nitro family, which offers a 27-inch 5K panel. Meanwhile, digital creatives were served by the new ProDesigner PE320QX, which delivers a stunning 6K resolution and 1.07 billion color support.

Elsewhere in the display space, we saw a new projector, the Vero HL1820. Side note: did you know Acer makes home cinema projectors? I did, but several of my coworkers didn't! As part of the eco-friendly Vero product line, it's constructed with a chassis composed of 50% post-consumer-recycled materials.

There was also a host of connectivity products, primarily some new routers, including the Predator Connect X7S 5G CPE: a wireless router that uses 5G and 4G connectivity to deliver lightning-fast Wi-Fi 7 connectivity for gaming and streaming wherever you may go. Peripherals were included too, with the new Predator Cestus 530 gaming mouse and Galea 570 headset.

Yup, there's a Predator scooter now. Not sure why, but it certainly looks cool. (Image credit: Acer)

Get scootin'

The most unusual reveal, however, was the Predator ES Storm Pro E-scooter. Described as a 'performance-focused e-scooter designed for varied urban conditions', it features a foldable aluminum frame, ten-inch tubeless tires, and of course, RGB lighting. It's a Predator-branded product, after all.

Now, this isn't the first electric scooter Acer has produced; the ES series has been kicking around for a little while now, so it's not surprising to see Acer wheel out a new one at an event like CES. What is surprising is that this model proudly bears the Predator branding. I don't know if there's a lot of crossover between the PC gaming and e-scooter markets, but clearly Acer thinks so.

With IPX5 water resistance and a riding range of approximately 60km on a single charge thanks to regenerative braking technology, it certainly looks pretty sweet. But I don't really know a damn thing about e-scooters, so that's just about all the analysis I can offer on this particular product reveal!

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Nvidia's CES 2026 keynote live - all the latest news from the GPU and AI superpower

TechRadar will be extensively covering this year's CES, and will bring you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our main CES page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok and WhatsApp for the latest from the CES show floor!

We're reporting live from Nvidia's CES 2026 keynote in Las Vegas. Nvidia is one of the biggest and most important companies in the tech world, so anyone who has an interest in AI and PC gaming in particular should tune in when its 'GeForce On Community Update' starts at 9pm PT / 12am ET January 5 / 5am GMT / 3PM AEST January 6.

It's always worth watching Nvidia's keynotes at CES, as the company often announces exciting new products, and while we don't expect any new graphic card announcements this year (last year's CES saw Nvidia launch its RTX 5000 series of GPUs), we're hoping to hear about new features the company is working on to make playing PC games on its hardware even better.

Nvidia is also a major player in artificial intelligence, and we expect to hear a lot about AI during this keynote as well - but hopefully Nvidia doesn't forget about its PC gaming roots.

You can watch along below, and throughout the keynote our computing team at Las Vegas will be updating this live blog with their reactions and expert opinions on what Nvidia shows. If you have any questions, make sure you go over to our CES 2026 Q&A, where you can ask our experts about anything you've seen at this year's event.

Honing in on Nvidia Live with Jensen Huang

Hi folks, Marcus Mears III here at CES 2026.

We're just over an hour away from the Nvidia Live keynote here in Las Vegas, and the city is buzzing with tech enthusiasts from the world over.

I'm excited to see what Team Green is cooking up this year. I expect a lot of talk about AI of course - you can't get away from it nowadays - and hopefully some great new features for PC gamers.

I'll bring you my thoughts on the event as it happens, so stay tuned.

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8BitDo's FlipPad controller could be a great way to play retro games on your phone

• 8BitDo has announced the FlipPad mobile controller
• It's designed with retro gaming on your phone in mind
• It'll be compatible with iPhone and Android devices, and is launching this year

Controller manufacturer 8BitDo has just announced a brand new gamepad tailor-made for your smartphone.

Known as the 8BitDo FlipPad, it was revealed by the brand on its official X / Twitter account via a short teaser video.

Compatible with iPhone and Android smartphones, the FlipPad is slotted into your phone's USB-C port. You can then move its swivel to magnetically attach the controller to the bottom of your device's display.

8BitDo says the FlipPad is launching in "Summer 2026" - so likely somewhere between the months of June and September - and will be on show for the first time at CES 2026, which is taking place at the Las Vegas Convention Center from January 6 - 9.

Where mobile play unfolds.Introducing 8BitDo FlipPad — a flip-style gamepad designed for mobile gaming.Compatible with iOS and Android devices. Officially supported by Apple.Coming Summer 2026.Experience it first at @CES 2026.LVCC Central Hall · Booth #15641#FlipPad… pic.twitter.com/snddY5OaMxJanuary 4, 2026

The FlipPad appears to be a pretty simple controller, featuring a d-pad, four primary face buttons, start and select buttons, as well as six ancillary buttons, which will likely be for screenshots, quick menu access, or remappable secondary inputs.

The lack of thumbsticks of any kind positions the FlipPad as a retro-centric controller. As such, you'll likely want emulation apps like Delta to get the most out of it.

There's no word on pricing just yet, but some of the brand's best gamepads, like the 8BitDo Ultimate 2, trend to an affordable mid-range rate. It seems reasonable to expect something similar for the FlipPad, though we'll have to wait and see there.

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Windows 11 finishes an embarrassing last in speed test of six Windows generations — but there's a big catch

• A YouTuber tested six different versions of Windows for speed
• That included Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, 8.1, 10 and 11
• While the results are skewed due to the hardware used for testing – and other elements – the results are still worth considering

Windows 11's performance does not come off at all well in a new comparison test that pits six different versions of Microsoft's desktop OS against each other – although it doesn't do so in a very fair way.

Tom's Hardware noticed the suite of tests run by YouTuber TrigrZolt (see the clip below), and the basic premise is quite flawed – and I'll come back to why later (although it's rather illuminating to compare Windows 11 to 10 in some respects, and I'll return to that point, too).

At any rate, first of all, let's look at the tests themselves, which were carried out on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 and Windows 11 (using the latest, or final, versions in all cases, as you'd expect).

They were run on the same model of laptop, with a bank of six old Lenovo ThinkPad X220 notebooks being used, and this is the major problem with this particular round of testing, as the YouTuber acknowledges (saying this testing is more about 'historic' perspective rather than practicality).

This laptop has an Intel Core i5-2520M CPU and a 256GB hard disk (not an SSD), with 8GB of RAM, and the notebook isn't officially compatible with Windows 11 (but can still be fudged to run the OS, of course).

As noted at the outset, Windows 11 performs pretty badly across most of the tests thrown at these laptops, which are run simultaneously across the different notebooks – you can see some tests, like bootup speed, being performed in real time, while others, like the battery-life test, are sped up.

Speaking of bootup, this is one metric where Windows 11 comes dead last, and even when the desktop does finally appear, the taskbar is notably missing (as it's still loading in). Windows 8.1 is actually the fastest OS to boot.

Windows 11 is also in last place when it comes to the memory that these operating systems consume, due to its larger complement of background processes. The same is true of the battery test, where the Lenovo ThinkPad running Windows 11 died first. (Windows XP was victorious here, although the difference was minor, just a couple of minutes – all the OSes lasted for just over an hour).

In the video-editing test (using OpenShot), Windows 11 came last, too (although the caveat here is that Windows XP and Vista couldn't run this editor). When testing app opening speeds, TrigrZolt found that Windows 11 again came last for firing up Paint (which was notably slower than all other Windows versions), and also File Explorer (that's notoriously sluggish with Windows 11).

Windows 11 did better in some tests, such as storage (the drive space that the operating system consumes, including its default apps), where Microsoft's newest OS ranked fourth (Windows XP wins here, which isn't surprising as it's so lean). Also, in one of the web-page loading tests, Windows 11 came third (but was last in the other one, loading Google's search page).

Windows 11 was nippy in the file transfer test (copying a large ZIP file from a USB stick) as well, finishing second here (it was only a fraction slower than Windows 10 – in fact, it was pretty much a dead heat).

Check out the full range of tests in the video below if you want to see for yourself, before I dive into my analysis.

Analysis: bleak, yet unfair – but Microsoft should still take note

A bleak picture is painted of the general performance prowess of Windows 11 across many fronts here, but as I've mentioned there are hefty caveats. The most obvious sticking point here is that it's not fair to use a laptop that doesn't meet the minimum hardware requirements for an OS, which is the case for this Lenovo notebook and Windows 11.

Those requirements are there for a reason, whether or not you believe Microsoft was right in pushing steeper specs for Windows 11. A PC needs to meet this minimum spec to provide a responsive and reasonable enough experience with Windows 11, and if it doesn't, you can't then complain: 'Hey, look how slow all this runs'. Because Microsoft already told you it'll be a subpar experience with those system requirements.

Some of the app benchmark choices also skew things against Windows 11, such as Paint, which is a far heftier app in the modern OS than it used to be (in other words, a particularly beefed-up default app was chosen here). As does the use of a hard drive, which is ancient tech, really, for a primary system drive these days – any contemporary PC has an SSD.

In short, the design of this suite of tests shows off the worst of Windows 11 in many respects, and the best of a much leaner OS from way back in the day like Windows XP. As Tom's Hardware points out, a better test would be to compare these operating systems running on hardware relevant to their era (so Windows 11 is at least installed on a laptop that meets its minimum spec); although arranging and balancing that alternative test wouldn't be easy, of course.

Furthermore, this testing isn't without merit. It does point out relative shortcomings, such as the slow loading of Paint and File Explorer in Windows 11, or other performance hiccups, and how Windows 10 does better in many ways. That said, a lot of those pain points are to do with Microsoft's choices to beef up Windows 11 and its apps, which again, must be taken into consideration – Microsoft's newest OS does a lot more than the older versions in terms of features and functionality.

Also, the comments on this YouTube video should prove valuable guidance for Microsoft, should the company choose to peruse them. Accusations of Windows 11 being bloated, amongst complaints about telemetry data and background monitoring ('spying' is the term used), are repeated themes.

And there's definitely room for improvement with Windows 11's general performance on the desktop – particularly in the case of File Explorer, which has been a longstanding beef with Microsoft, not to mention the company overly focusing on AI in more recent times at the expense of the OS fundamentals.

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Yes, Arc Raiders does matchmake you based on how friendly or aggressive you are

• In an interview with GamesBeat, Patrick Söderlund, CEO of Embark Studios, revealed that 'aggression-based matchmaking' has been recently added to Arc Raiders
• The system uses how prone you are to PvP or PvE interactions to place you with like-minded players
• This means that if you are a more aggressive player, likely to attack others, you'll be placed into more PvP focused lobbies

Arc Raiders matchmaking has been a bit of a mystery since launch, with many wondering whether a player's tendency towards PvP action would pair them with like-minded players when matchmaking. This is indeed the case, as revealed by Patrick Söderlund, CEO of Embark Studios during a gameplay presentation and interview with GamesBeat.

During the playthrough, GamesBeat's Dean Takahashi touches upon the matchmaking systems in Arc Raiders, referring to aggression-based matchmaking. Söderlund responds by confirming "that's exactly what it is".

He goes on to say that your proclivity towards either PvE and PvP is factored in when deciding what kinds of players you're placed into a raid with.

"We also matchmake now on how prone you are to PvP or PvE." Later on in the discussion, it's revealed that this isn't an exact science, however, as there are many factors at play when matchmaking players in lobbies. Still, this is the first confirmation we have that your actions within the raids of Arc Raiders alter your future placements. If you're someone that engages in every fight you come across, you'll be coming across others that are more likely to do the same.

This particular point is made at around the 10 minute mark in the video, though later on another question is posed related to how squads are matched using this system. Apparently, this is a little more complicated, when pertaining to the hypothetical scenario where a squad contains some PvP-focused players, and some complete pacifists.

"I actually have thought about the same thing, I actually don't know." Söderlund responds.

Even if Arc Raiders' matchmaking isn't quite as simple as PvP or PvE inclination, it's great to hear that if you largely spend your time working with others, completing tasks and minding your own business, you're less likely to encounter players that will shoot on sight.

Arc Raiders is now available for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. The winter update is currently live, running up until January 13, 2026. We don't know what's next, but do know that the Arc Raiders devs plan on keeping the game updated in the long term.

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NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, January 5 (game #673)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, January 4 (game #672).

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 #673) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Slapped together

NYT Strands today (game #673) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• QUIP
• SWIPE
• BRAND
• STAY
• RISKY
• DEEP

NYT Strands today (game #673) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 13 letters

NYT Strands today (game #673) - hint #4 - spangram position

What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: right, 3rd row

Last side: bottom, 4th column

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #673) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #673, are…

• BRISK
• SPEEDY
• SWIFT
• STAINED
• FILTHY
• GRUBBY
• SPANGRAM: QUICKANDDIRTY

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 hint

This was a puzzling game for the most part, mainly down to my not understanding what the theme was until late in the game.

Getting non-game words was no problem at all, but the ones we actually needed posed a challenge – so I went for a hint to get started.

Prioritizing speed over elegance has become a cultural trend with food, although I must admit it confused me for a long time and I was too embarrassed to ask what friends meant when they said they were going for a “dirty” pizza.

Were they going to eat it off the floor (Mmmm… floor pizza) or were the ingredients so fresh they were still covered in dirt?

In the end I worked out that it was dirty because it was supposed to be some kind of self-shaming phrase – we know it’s bad for us, but we love it.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Sunday, January 4, game #672)

• MEDIUM
• ORACLE
• CLAIRVOYANT
• TELEPATH
• PSYCHIC
• SPANGRAM: SIXTHSENSE

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which 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.

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NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, January 5 (game #939)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, January 4 (game #938).

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 Connections hints.

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 #939) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• BRUTAL
• IMPRESSION
• VERY
• REAL
• LIKE
• MANNER
• POLE
• POST
• FIVE
• VERSUS
• EXTREME
• END
• OPPOSITE
• COMMENT
• LURK
• VOLT

NYT Connections today (game #939) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Facebook behavior
• GREEN: Very far away
• BLUE: A brush with history 
• PURPLE: After U

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 #939) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: THINGS YOU CAN DO ON SOCIAL MEDIA
• GREEN: FURTHEST POINT
• BLUE: ART MOVEMENTS, WITH "-ISM"
• PURPLE: WHAT "V" MIGHT MEAN

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #939) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #939, are…

• YELLOW: THINGS YOU CAN DO ON SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENT, LIKE, LURK, POST
• GREEN: FURTHEST POINT END, EXTREME, OPPOSITE, POLE
• BLUE: ART MOVEMENTS, WITH "-ISM" BRUTAL, IMPRESSION, MANNER, REAL
• PURPLE: WHAT "V" MIGHT MEAN FIVE, VERSUS, VERY, VOLT

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

In the early days of social media I would POST, LIKE and COMMENT for hours, before gradually fading into my 10-minute a day LURK period. Now, I tend to avoid it altogether and the main reason is the advertising – it’s not that it's bad, it’s that it’s too good. Seriously, every time I fire up Facebook, TikTok or Instagram the ads are so well-targeted I find myself going on unnecessary spending sprees for cleaning products I never knew I desperately needed.

Anyway, I digress. This was a good day for me as I managed to get the purple group a little bit early.

That said, I didn’t get it because I saw they were all ART MOVEMENTS, WITH ISM. I just saw the “ism” part – if there had been a tile for 'surreal' or 'cub' maybe I would have seen that too, but MANNER is not a movement I’m familiar with.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Sunday, January 4, game #938)

• YELLOW: PAPER PUBLICATION COPY, EDITION, ISSUE, PRINT
• GREEN: SPOOL COIL, CRANK, REEL, WIND
• BLUE: THINGS A DEFENSIVE FOOTBALL PLAYER DOES BLITZ, BLOCK, SACK, TACKLE
• PURPLE: SYNONYMS FOR BUTT PLUS STARTING LETTER DREAR, ETAIL, GRUMP, SCAN

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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NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, January 4 (game #938)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, January 3 (game #937).

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 Connections hints.

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 #938) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• GRUMP
• COPY
• BLOCK
• PRINT
• ISSUE
• SCAN
• CRANK
• SACK
• REEL
• ETAIL
• TACKLE
• WIND
• DREAR
• BLITZ
• COIL
• EDITION

NYT Connections today (game #938) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Publishing 
• GREEN: Coil
• BLUE: Defense
• PURPLE: Extra bum words

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 #938) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: PAPER PUBLICATION
• GREEN: SPOOL
• BLUE: THINGS A DEFENSIVE FOOTBALL PLAYER DOES
• PURPLE: SYNONYMS FOR BUTT PLUS STARTING LETTER

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #938) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #938, are…

• YELLOW: PAPER PUBLICATION COPY, EDITION, ISSUE, PRINT
• GREEN: SPOOL COIL, CRANK, REEL, WIND
• BLUE: THINGS A DEFENSIVE FOOTBALL PLAYER DOES BLITZ, BLOCK, SACK, TACKLE
• PURPLE: SYNONYMS FOR BUTT PLUS STARTING LETTER DREAR, ETAIL, GRUMP, SCAN

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 mistake

I missed out on today’s cheeky purple category as I was looking in the wrong places for added letters.

My mistake came when I connected GRUMP, DREAR, WIND and CRANK, thinking they’d all work with an added Y as perhaps “personality traits of miserable men” or something. That said, I managed to resist a second mistake by collecting the multi-printer functions – PRINT, COPY and SCAN. The lack of a fourth held me back.

As someone who doesn’t follow the NFL, I was pleased to get THINGS A DEFENSIVE FOOTBALL PLAYER DOES, although I was tempted to put SCAN in here too. In soccer the ability to scan the pitch and know everyone’s positions is a highly regarded ability.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, January 3, game #937)

• YELLOW: ARMY RANKS CAPTAIN, GENERAL, MAJOR, PRIVATE
• GREEN: LEGWEAR IN THE SINGULAR JEAN, JOGGER, OVERALL, SLACK
• BLUE: RIHANNA #1 HITS DIAMONDS, SOS, UMBRELLA, WORK
• PURPLE: WET_____ BAR, BLANKET, NURSE, WILLY

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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NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, January 4 (game #672)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, January 3 (game #671).

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 #672) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… I just know …

NYT Strands today (game #672) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• SLEEP
• DISH
• HIDE
• CALM
• PATH
• MICE

NYT Strands today (game #672) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 10 letters

NYT Strands today (game #672) - hint #4 - spangram position

What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: top, 1st column

Last side: bottom, 4th column

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #672) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #672, are…

• MEDIUM
• ORACLE
• CLAIRVOYANT
• TELEPATH
• PSYCHIC
• SPANGRAM: SIXTHSENSE

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 hints

This was one of those very difficult games where even getting a hint presented us with a challenge – especially for those of us for whom our spelling isn’t the greatest.

This was also an interesting game where several of the non-game words appeared to match up with the game words. 

I was also struck by how many different words we have – regardless of whether you believe or not – for people who claim to be able to speak to those who have passed away and how none of them embrace modern technology. Deathly communications, it seems, have remained stubbornly analog.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, January 3, game #671)

• INVENTIVE
• SEMINAL
• FRESH
• ORIGINAL
• NOVEL
• SPANGRAM: BREAKNEWGROUND

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which 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.

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Notion isn't just a note-taking app –here are 5 ways I'm using it to run my life in 2026

Notion is a strange beast, even for those who use it regularly. The app’s bread and butter may once have been database management and a place to store notes, but as we head into 2026 it's now grown into something that encompasses so much more.

Last year, I pointed out how you can use a series of tools within the free version of the app to set goals, manage tasks, and build templates. If you want a primer on some of the basic things it can do, I'd recommend reading that first.

But Notion is now able to do so much more, thanks to new tools and, yes, AI. If you’ve spent any time with Notion in the last few years, you may be surprised at what it can help you achieve now.

To give you an idea of how I use it, here are my five favorite new tools that could help power your creativity and productivity in equal measure in 2026.

1. Embracing the Agent

(Image credit: Notion / Future)

Notion is definitely leaning further into AI than ever before, as you might expect.

While there’s a whole bunch of AI tools, like being able to create charts from data and asking Notion AI to search through your workspace for something you may have referenced months ago, a more recent feature is Notion Agent.

As the name suggests, this is the company’s Agentic AI. Think of it less like having a tool that can find data or analyze what’s there, and more like having a handy extra pair of hands that can enter data, update pages, and much more. You can get a trial of Notion AI in the free and Plus plans, but for full access to the Agent you need the Business plan ($20 / £16.50 per month, around AU$30 per month). That's what I'm on.

You can ask your Notion Agent to build a database for just about anything, adding as much information as you can, and it’ll build it in seconds while explaining what it can do and the steps you may want to take next – very handy.

Not all of Notion's AI-powered features need a subscription (for example, Mail and Calendar are free), but understanding what Notion Agent can do could be a huge boon for your organizational outlook in 2026. A good place to start is this video intro to Notion Agent.

2. Managing meetings

(Image credit: Notion / Future)

One of my favorite features Notion added this year is its Meeting Notes. Real-time transcription is one of the most useful AI tools around, but with Notion you can use a backslash and then ‘meeting’ to get it to listen out for calls.

It’ll also trigger automatically if you want to jump on a quick call and have it take a bunch of notes, with options for a full transcript, summary notes, and an AI summary.

It gets dropped right into your workspace, too, so you can send it to your colleagues or instantly turn it into an action plan, and it’s all searchable with Notion AI, too.

The only downside is that you do need the Business plan ($20 / £16.50 per month, around AU$30 per month), to unlock a limited number of AI Meeting Notes.

3. Organising email

(Image credit: Notion / Future)

TL;DR What's new in Notion?

• Notion has a new suite of AI tools, including connections to popular models like ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
• The standalone Calendar app has been joined by Notion Mail for managing your email.
• Its enterprise tools are getting better, too, meaning you can now search on services like Slack for key details.

Last year, Notion added a second app to its staple with Notion Calendar. In the months since, that app has gotten better with each update. It’s clean, easy to parse at a glance, and it finally removed that additional panel with keyboard shortcuts on the side.

It adjusts to time zones, and has a built-in scheduling tool, while it has access to your Notion database so you can update information there without going to a separate app.

New in 2025, though, is Notion Mail. Since it arrived, it’s also become more useful. Using Notion AI, you can filter incoming mail automatically, meaning it can surface documents that need signing, emails with meeting invites, and much more.

With snippet support, suggested responses, and scheduled send, it’s helped me get through my inbox much more quickly.

4. Connecting work tools and AI models

(Image credit: Notion / Future)

Another huge improvement that comes with Notion Agent is that it can tie into a whole bunch of non-Notion apps.

That includes dev tools like Jira and Github, storage locations like iCloud Drive and Box, and workspace solutions like Slack, Teams, and more. This means your agent can dive deep into just about anything you give it access to.

Asking it to find articles I’ve written, as well as drafts from my Google Drive that correspond, is more helpful than you’d perhaps expect, letting me see what’s live, what isn’t, and much more.

If you’re already using some kind of AI chatbot, you might be able to integrate it into your Notion, too. At the time of writing, it includes Claude Sonnet 4.5, Claude Opus 4.5, Gemini 3 Pro, and ChatGPT 5.1, with the caveat that these are in beta.

5. Building a task manager

(Image credit: Notion / Future)

This isn’t an AI task (and Notion Agents can’t create automations… yet), but you might be surprised at how much you can get done by building your own.

As an example, when I log a piece of work as having been sent to a client, it automatically marks it as done on my Kanban board. When I add an invoice date, it marks it as invoiced, and so on, and so forth.

When you tie it with other services and tools, you can get pretty complex. My task manager can input tasks using an email trigger, so my Notion can send the relevant data from my email, to that address, which then populates it on my to-do list with a deadline, client name, and more. The only real limits are what you can think of.

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High-end PC gaming is in big trouble, thanks to AI – and RTX 5090 price hikes are prime examples

• Retailers have increased pricing of Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 GPUs
• Prices are almost double the original retail pricing
• It appears to be a direct impact from the RAM crisis due to AI demand

We're officially in 2026, and last year's rumors regarding GPU price hikes on Nvidia and AMD GPUs (due to the ongoing RAM crisis) appear to be accurate, which may prove very unfortunate for PC gamers.

As reported by VideoCardz, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 prices have increased significantly above the original retail pricing, with models reaching up to $4,000 across multiple retailers. The GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition is still priced at $1,999 / £1,799 / AU$4,039, so the price hikes appear to be coming directly from retailers and private sellers.

RAM kits have become much pricier over the last few months, due to the current AI boom, and appear to be the reason behind these GPU price increases (since GPUs also use VRAM).

It's likely resulted in retailers seeking ways to get customers to pay more for PC hardware across the board due to higher demand, and the looming threat of potential price hikes directly from Team Green and AMD on RTX and Radeon GPUs, respectively.

A prime example is on Best Buy, with the Asus ROG Astral RTX 5090 now available for a staggering $3,610.78, almost double the Founders Edition's MSRP, and a significant chunk above the third-party GPU's standard pricing (around $2,799.99).

(Image credit: Best Buy)

The same price jumps above MSRP have occurred with AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT GPUs long before the RAM crisis, and have continued – the XFX Mercury Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Edition on Best Buy is now at $849.99, up from its $599 retail price.

None of these price hikes come straight from Nvidia or AMD (yet...), and despite recent rumors suggesting that Team Green plans to raise the RTX 5090's MSRP to $5,000, there's no confirmation of that – and frankly, it's unlikely that we'll see such a ludicrously aggressive price increase.

If there is anything to blame, though, it's clearly the meteoric rise of AI technology. AI training and operation datacenters have increased the demand for RAM (and some other components) to unprecedented levels, which has ultimately trickled down to impact consumers, and it doesn't seem like it's slowing down any time soon.

Analysis: Nvidia isn't fully absolved from blame, but you should be more mad at AI

(Image credit: Nvidia)

While Nvidia does have an indirect part to play in these price hikes due to its heavy involvement in the AI boom, it's not solely responsible; there's been a concerted push to develop and use AI from numerous companies around the globe, and they're all jointly at fault.

Desktop DDR4 and DDR5 RAM play a significant part in PC building, more so than GPUs; basically, you can build a PC without a discrete GPU, but with no RAM, good luck getting your PC to boot.

With the AI boom making RAM far more expensive than it should be for consumers, it's enough to leave worries that this could become the new normal in 2026 and beyond - effectively killing the custom PC gaming dream for all but the wealthiest gamers.

The heavy reliance on AI is becoming more noticeable as time goes on, and as it continues, I can certainly see prices for all PC hardware increasing from retailers and private sellers. It's an incredibly problematic situation, not only for high-end PC gaming, but also for those looking to dive into the PC gaming ecosystem for the first time. If you've been contemplating building your first gaming PC, I'd do it fast; these prices are likely to keep climbing, at least for now.

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Former Grand Theft Auto technical director discusses GTA 6 delay — 'It’s much better if they announce a game and then six months later it comes out'

• A Grand Theft Auto developer has spoken on the GTA 6 delays in a new interview
• Former technical director Obbe Vermeij said he is frustrated to see games announced too early
• "Obviously this is not intentional with GTA 6" he added

Former Grand Theft Auto technical director Obbe Vermeij has spoken about the various Grand Theft Auto 6 delays.

In a recent interview with Gameshub Vermeij said that it "frustrates" him to see games announced too early.

"There's people that map out the whole city based on the trailers. Good for them. It's a bit of fun," he said. "Obviously this is not intentional with GTA 6. They didn't really expect the delays."

He went on to highlight the upcoming The Elder Scrolls 6 as an example of a game that was revealed too soon: "when they start talking about it years and years before it comes out, I think it’s frustrating because by the time it does come out, you’re tired of it."

"It’s much better if they announce a game and then six months later it comes out," he continued. "I’m trying not to spend any time [...] thinking about GTA 6. I’m just looking forward to the day it comes out."

Vermeij left Rockstar in 2009, having worked at the studio for more than a decade. He is credited as a technical direct in multiple major Grand Theft Auto games including 3, Vice City, San Andreas, and 4.

He is currently working on the PC indie game Plentiful, with a demo available on Steam.

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007 First Light is no longer releasing in March following a delay – ‘these additional two months will allow us to further polish and refine the experience’

• 007 First Light has been delayed to May 27, 2026
• This pushes the game back from its initial March 26, 2026 release date
• IO Interactive has cited the need for extra polish and refinement as the main reason for the delay

007 First Light has been delayed to May 27, 2026. This pushes the game out of its original March 26, 2026 slot, though developer IO Interactive has promised news to follow at some point in 'Early 2026'.

IO Interactive took to Twitter to announce the two month delay of 007 First Light, citing the need for additional development time to focus on extra polish and refinement.

An important update regarding the release date of 007 First Light. pic.twitter.com/DLej5bLxunDecember 23, 2025

According to the post, 007 First Light is already playable from beginning to end, and is said to be IO Interactive's 'most ambitious project to date'.

We got to check out a behind closed doors preview of 007 First Light back in September, and we're particularly excited by how it 'seems to have Hitman’s distinct DNA running through its veins'. Of course, the spy thriller was then shown off at a special Sony State of Play event with a 30 minute gameplay trailer.

007 First Light does indeed seem to be a very ambitious game from the Hitman: World of Assassination developer, with bigger set pieces, new driving segments, and a more focused narrative that looks to follow James Bond's early career and rise as a field agent.

007 First Light will now launch on May 27, 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, PC and Nintendo Switch 2.

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