Security teams log 54% of successful attacks and alert on just 14%. The rest move through your environment unseen.
The Picus whitepaper shows how breach and attack simulation tests your SIEM and EDR rules so threats stop slipping by detection.
Tech
THIEAUDIO Cypher Headphone Review: Can It Challenge the HD600?
THIEAUDIO has built much of its reputation in the IEM world, where lines such as the Monarch and Hype have earned the brand a loyal following among listeners chasing serious technical performance without immediately selling a kidney.
Full-size headphones have been a less convincing side quest. The Ghost, Wraith, and Phantom all arrived with suitably spectral names, but none made much of an impression in a crowded market already full of established favorites.
The $399 Cypher is THIEAUDIO’s fourth full-size headphone and its most serious attempt yet to change that. Built around a new 50mm dynamic driver, the open-back Cypher enters one of the most competitive corners of the wired headphone market, where stalwarts such as the Sennheiser HD600 and a small army of HiFiMAN planars have set a very high bar.
After launching through Kickstarter in March, the Cypher is now available directly from THIEAUDIO and Linsoul for $399. That removes some of the crowdfunding fog and leaves one rather important question: can THIEAUDIO finally build a full-size open-back headphone worth taking seriously?
Related Reading:
Technology & Specifications
The THIEAUDIO Cypher is built around a 50mm dynamic driver using what the company describes as a semi-crystalline polymer-and-rubber composite diaphragm. THIEAUDIO says the material is intended to balance rigidity, damping, and excursion control in pursuit of low distortion, extended bass, and a natural tonal balance.
That diaphragm is paired with a 20-core N45 magnetic array and a high-tension copper-aluminum composite voice coil. On paper, the design is intended to improve driver control and responsiveness, with the potential for cleaner transients, sharper detail retrieval, and more stable imaging. As always, the proof is in the listening rather than the magnet count.
The Cypher is rated at 32 ohms with a sensitivity of 96dB ±3dB. Those figures suggest it should be easier to drive than some higher-impedance reference headphones, though its real-world amplifier demands deserve a closer look later in the review.
Build Quality & Design
The Cypher makes an excellent first impression with its overall build quality.
Its earcups are machined from aerospace-grade aluminum, giving the headphone a reassuringly solid feel without pushing the design into industrial-looking territory. THIEAUDIO has paid close attention to the visual details, and the result is a headphone that looks more expensive than its $399 price tag suggests.
The geometric tessellation pattern on both the outer grille and the driver baffle beneath the earpads is one of the Cypher’s most appealing design choices. It is a subtle flourish, but it gives the headphone a distinct identity in a category full of familiar black-and-gray circles.
The magnetically attached earpads are another welcome touch. Swapping pads is quick and painless, while the mounting system feels more refined than the usual plastic clips. The trade-off is that the pads are proprietary, which could make replacements harder to source once the originals eventually wear out.
Overall, the Cypher’s build quality is among its strongest attributes. It feels well made, looks properly premium, and avoids the cheap shortcuts that still plague too many headphones at this price.
Comfort, on the other hand, is more of a mixed bag. At first glance, the generously padded headband looks as though it should be well suited to long listening sessions. In practice, I found the opposite. Its concentrated padding creates pressure hotspots that become increasingly noticeable over time, and after roughly two hours of continuous use, they can become genuinely uncomfortable.
Ironically, a simple suspension-strap design might have worked better by distributing the Cypher’s weight more evenly across the head.
The velour earpads are soft and breathable, and clamping force is generally reasonable. Still, despite a manageable 411-gram weight, the Cypher never quite disappears on the head the way the best long-session headphones can.
The yoke swivel mechanism is another issue. While the earcups provide sufficient range of movement, the yokes themselves are surprisingly stiff. Adjusting cup angle requires more force than expected, and they do not naturally conform to the sides of the head as readily as many competing designs.
One final observation: THIEAUDIO describes the Cypher as open-back, but it attenuates outside noise more effectively than expected. It is not a major issue either way, but “semi-open” may better describe its real-world behavior.
Listening
I’ll cut right to the chase: the Cypher’s tuning is exceptional.
It is one of the headphone’s most immediately impressive qualities and, arguably, its greatest strength. The comparison that kept coming to mind was the Sennheiser HD600. Like that long-standing reference, the Cypher favors neutrality, tonal accuracy, and natural timbre over artificial excitement.
Where THIEAUDIO’s headphone separates itself is in its ability to preserve many of those strengths while improving on several of the HD600’s familiar compromises, including bass extension, imaging, perceived soundstage width, and low-level detail retrieval.
As with all of our reviews, the Cypher was tested with a range of amplifiers and DACs to assess how it performed across sources of differing quality and output power. Listening included both Spotify streams and hi-res FLAC files, with the conclusions below drawn from tens of hours of use.
Bass
Bass extension is noticeably stronger than that of the Sennheiser HD600, a headphone long known for rolling off in the lowest audible octave.
The Cypher reaches deeper into the sub-bass with greater authority, yet it does so without upsetting its overall tonal balance. There is no obvious mid-bass lift or added warmth masquerading as impact; the extra extension simply gives recordings a more complete and convincing foundation.
Electronic music benefits from that added low-frequency reach, but the improvement is just as apparent with acoustic material, where the body, resonance, and scale of instruments come through more naturally. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s “Why So Serious?” was a particularly effective test. From roughly the 3:27 mark, its near-subsonic rumble was reproduced with convincing weight and control, without overwhelming the rest of the mix.
Midrange
The midrange is where the Cypher truly shines. Vocals, in particular, sound remarkably natural and believable, with impressive tonal density, presence, and realism.
Male and female voices emerge without obvious coloration, a quality that remains surprisingly difficult to find in headphones at any price. The Cypher may not grab attention on first listen with oversized bass or aggressively bright treble, but spend time with it and the quality of its midrange becomes increasingly difficult to ignore.
That even-handed presentation also pays dividends with instrumental timbre. Pianos carry convincing weight and harmonic complexity, while guitars have the kind of organic texture that makes strings, wood, and resonance feel properly connected rather than merely outlined.
There is an effortless quality to acoustic instruments that makes the Cypher deeply engaging over long listening sessions without becoming fatiguing.
Treble
The THIEAUDIO Cypher strikes a fine balance with its treble presentation. There is enough energy and extension to preserve detail and air without introducing fatigue or harshness. It never sounds artificially bright, but it also avoids the muted or overly relaxed character that can rob a headphone of life.
The result is a highly resolving presentation with excellent long-term listenability. On L’Impératrice’s “La lune,” the Cypher reproduced the faint triangle hits woven through the track with impressive clarity and delicacy, bringing them forward without allowing the treble to turn sharp or piercing.
Soundstaging & Imaging
The Cypher’s tuning may be its headline act, but good tonal balance does not automatically guarantee equally convincing technical performance. The Sennheiser HD600 remains a useful comparison: its midrange is rightly celebrated, yet its relatively intimate soundstage and center-focused imaging can make more complex recordings feel somewhat constrained.
The Cypher addresses both shortcomings. Its soundstage is appreciably wider, and its imaging is more precise, giving densely layered material such as TOOL’s “Chocolate Chip Trip” more room to breathe and making individual effects easier to follow.
I would not call it class-leading in this regard. Headphones such as the HiFiMAN Ananda series still create a more expansive and open-sounding presentation. But at $399, the Cypher delivers a notably more spacious and organized image than the HD600 while retaining much of that headphone’s tonal appeal.
Drivability
As noted earlier, the THIEAUDIO Cypher is rated at 32 ohms with a sensitivity of 96dB/mW.
That sensitivity figure is worth noting. It is neither especially demanding nor particularly efficient for an open-back wired headphone, and while the Cypher will play from a laptop or smartphone, I would not recommend relying on either if you want to hear what it can really do.
The good news is that it does not require an extravagant amplifier chain. Moving to pricier DACs and more powerful amplification did not produce a meaningful improvement in overall sound quality, so a capable dongle DAC, such as the Campfire Audio Relay we reviewed last year, should be more than sufficient.
For example, switching from the LAiV Crescendo VERSE DAC/amp to the considerably more powerful Aune S18 EVO and S17 Pro stack resulted in only a barely perceptible tightening of bass notes. It was not enough to justify the substantial price difference, or the additional real estate consumed on the desk.
The Bottom Line
The THIEAUDIO Cypher succeeds because it gets the fundamentals right. Its tuning is unusually accomplished for $399, combining the tonal accuracy and natural timbre that have kept the Sennheiser HD600 relevant for decades with deeper bass, stronger image placement, a wider soundstage, and more apparent low-level detail.
That combination is the Cypher’s real trick. Plenty of headphones in this price range can deliver bigger bass, more treble sparkle, or a wider presentation. Few manage to do so without sacrificing midrange realism in the process. The Cypher does not reinvent the neutral open-back headphone; it makes a strong case for updating the formula.
It is not without compromises. The stiff yokes are unnecessarily frustrating, the magnetically attached pads are proprietary, and the headband creates pressure hotspots during longer sessions. Build quality looks and feels premium, but comfort and long-term serviceability are not at the same level. That matters, especially when the HiFiMAN Sundara is lighter, and the beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X offers a more practical, repair-friendly studio-oriented alternative.
But once the music starts, the Cypher’s shortcomings become easier to forgive. It does not need a costly amplifier chain, it handles a broad range of music with poise, and its midrange performance is good enough to make many more expensive headphones sound like they are trying a bit too hard.
The HD600 remains the safer choice for buyers who value proven long-term parts support and near-universal comfort. The Sundara remains compelling for listeners who want planar speed and a more expansive presentation. But for someone who wants a neutral, reference-oriented dynamic headphone with more sub-bass reach, better spatial performance, and very little tonal baggage, the Cypher is absolutely worth the money.
THIEAUDIO has made better IEMs than full-size headphones in the past. The Cypher is the first one that feels like a serious correction to that record.
Pros:
- Outstanding reference-oriented tuning
- Superb timbre and tonal realism
- Excellent imaging and detail retrieval
- Better bass extension than the HD600
- Premium metal construction
- Attractive industrial design
- Convenient magnetic earpad system
Cons:
- Headband creates pressure hotspots
- Stiff yoke articulation
- Proprietary earpads may be difficult to replace long-term
- Comfort lags behind the best competitors
Our Ratings
★★★★★★★★★★ Sound Quality
★★★★★★★★★★ Comfort
★★★★★★★★★★ Usability
★★★★★★★★★★ Build Quality
★★★★★★★★★★ Value
Where to buy:
Related Reading:
Continue Reading
A 21-year-old using the alias “Snoopy” was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in hacking DraftKings accounts in the November 2022 cyberattack.
In December 2025, the man, Nathan Austad of Minnesota, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, admitting that he and co-conspirators compromised 60,000 DraftKings user accounts.
During the attack, the hackers added payment methods under their control to 1,600 accounts and stole $600,000.
DraftKings is a fantasy sports and sports betting platform where users can build teams of real-world athletes and compete for cash prizes based on their performance in actual sporting events.
In November 2022, DraftKings disclosed that hackers accessed customer accounts through credential stuffing attacks that exploited weak passwords or reused login credentials.
At the time, DraftKings reported that less than $300,000 had been stolen from affected customers. A month later, the company disclosed that 67,995 customer accounts had been compromised in the attack.
In May 2023, U.S. authorities charged Joseph Garrison for his role in the scheme, accusing him and his co-conspirators of selling access to hacked DraftKings accounts through online marketplaces such as the “Goat Shop.”
In January 2024, prosecutors charged additional suspects for the cyberattack, including Kamerin Stokes (“TheMFNPlug”) and Nathan Austad (“Snoopy”).
Austad reportedly operated his own shop where he sold access to stolen accounts and also used other platforms for the same purpose.
“AUSTAD directly controlled and profited from his own shop, which was named after the character Snoopy from the Peanuts comic strip,” the U.S. Department of Justice says.
Source: U.S. DoJ
The DoJ’s press release does not disclose the amount the hackers earned from selling access to the compromised accounts, but notes that Austad’s cryptocurrency accounts received approximately $465,000 in assets.
The U.S. DoJ also mentions direct messages that Austad sent to his co-conspirators, in which he openly admitted to perpetrating fraudulent activity and warned others to prepare.
Joseph Garrison received an 18-month imprisonment sentence in January 2024, while Kamerin Stokes received a 30-month sentence in April 2026.
In addition to the prison sentence, Austad received three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $463,684 in forfeiture and $1,327,061 in restitution.
TL;DR
Micron Q3 revenue hit $41bn, quadrupling year-over-year on surging AI memory demand, with gross margins above 81 percent and Q4 guidance of $50bn.
Micron Technology posted fiscal third-quarter revenue of nearly $42bn, quadrupling from just over $9bn a year earlier and beating Wall Street estimates by a wide margin. The results, reported on Tuesday, confirm that the company riding the AI memory boom hardest is the one whose stock has already climbed roughly 700 percent over the past year.
Adjusted earnings came in above $25 a share, compared with analyst expectations of roughly $21. GAAP net income exceeded $28bn, or nearly $25 a share, up from just under $2bn in the year-ago quarter. Gross margins hit above 81 percent, up from 69 percent in the prior quarter and 27 percent a year earlier.
The headline number is revenue growth. Micron brought in nearly $42bn against a consensus estimate of roughly $36bn, driven almost entirely by surging demand for high-bandwidth memory, the stacked DRAM chips that sit next to GPUs inside AI accelerators built by Nvidia and Google. HBM has become the binding constraint on AI infrastructure expansion, and Micron is one of only three companies in the world that can make it.
CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said Micron can currently fulfil only between half and two-thirds of customer demand for HBM. The company’s entire 2026 HBM supply is sold out under multi-year contracts, and it has collected $22bn in customer cash deposits, essentially prepayments from hyperscalers desperate to lock in supply.
Micron’s next-generation HBM4 chips are ramping what the company described as twice as fast as the previous HBM3E generation. HBM4 revenue has already exceeded one billion dollars. The technology is essential for the latest accelerators from Nvidia and Google, where memory bandwidth rather than raw compute increasingly determines inference throughput.
The forward guidance was equally aggressive. Micron projected fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of approximately $50bn, plus or minus one billion, against analyst estimates of roughly $44bn and a year-ago figure of just over $11bn. The company raised its full-year capital expenditure forecast to more than $25bn, up from a previous target of $20bn, to expand production capacity for HBM and advanced DRAM.
Micron’s market capitalisation crossed one trillion dollars on 26 May, making it the latest memory chipmaker to reach that threshold as the AI-driven memory supercycle reshapes valuations across the semiconductor industry. The stock’s roughly 700 percent gain over the past year reflects a market that is pricing memory not as a cyclical commodity but as structural AI infrastructure.
The company said it expects the total addressable market for HBM to grow at a compound annual rate of roughly 40 percent through 2028, rising from approximately $35bn in 2025 to around $100bn. Micron plans to return 100 percent of excess free cash flow to shareholders, a commitment enabled by the cash deposit programme that reduces the capital risk of its expansion.
There are caveats worth noting. Micron remains the smallest of the three HBM suppliers, behind SK Hynix and Samsung, and its share of Nvidia’s HBM4 allocations is the thinnest of the trio. The broader memory market is also shifting, with Chinese manufacturers like CXMT expanding aggressively into consumer DRAM segments that the Big Three have deprioritised in favour of AI chips.
Memory pricing is cyclical by nature, and the current supercycle depends on hyperscaler capital expenditure continuing at its current pace. If AI infrastructure spending slows or HBM supply catches up with demand, the margins that Micron reported this quarter would compress rapidly. The 81 percent gross margin is historically extraordinary for a memory company and reflects shortage economics as much as product superiority.
For now, the numbers speak for themselves. Revenue that quadruples in a year, margins that triple, and a guidance print that exceeds estimates by more than $6bn are not normal results for any company, let alone one that was losing money two years ago. Micron’s earnings confirm that the AI memory shortage is intensifying, not easing, and that the companies making the chips inside AI accelerators are capturing value at a rate the market is still recalibrating to price.
TL;DR
Anthropic accused Alibaba’s Qwen lab of using 25,000 fake accounts for nearly 29 million Claude exchanges, the biggest such campaign yet.
Anthropic has accused Alibaba of waging the largest distillation campaign yet against a US AI company, telling senators and White House officials that operators linked to Alibaba’s Qwen AI lab used nearly 25,000 fraudulent accounts to extract Claude’s capabilities between April and June. The letter, a copy of which was seen by Bloomberg, described nearly 29 million exchanges with Claude targeting software engineering and agentic reasoning, the model’s most commercially valuable skills.
The accusation marks the first time Anthropic has named a major Chinese technology conglomerate as the source of a distillation attack. Previous allegations in February targeted smaller Chinese AI startups, including DeepSeek, MiniMax, and Moonshot AI, which Anthropic said had collectively generated more than 16 million exchanges through about 24,000 fake accounts. The Alibaba campaign alone exceeded the combined volume of all three earlier efforts.
Distillation is the practice of feeding carefully constructed queries to a frontier AI model, collecting its responses, and using those responses to train a cheaper rival system that approximates the original’s capabilities. The White House flagged the technique as a national security concern in April, when OSTP Director Michael Kratsios published a memo committing the government to share intelligence with US AI labs about foreign distillation campaigns. Anthropic said in its letter that the Alibaba campaign took place after the Kratsios memo, in defiance of the administration’s warnings.
The 💜 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
Alibaba had no comment on the allegations. An Anthropic spokesperson declined to discuss specifics but emphasised the importance of combating distillation through coordinated action between government and industry.
Alibaba’s American depositary receipts fell more than three percent on the news, dropping below $100 in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The stock decline adds to a difficult period for the company in Washington, where it faces pressure on multiple fronts.
The Pentagon added Alibaba to its Chinese military companies blacklist on 8 June, a designation Anthropic cited in its letter. Alibaba sued the Defense Department this week to win removal from that list, calling the label baseless and arguing it has no military affiliation. The distillation accusation now opens a second front, framing Alibaba not just as a company with alleged military ties but as an active participant in what Anthropic calls the systematic theft of American AI capabilities.
In its letter, Anthropic warned that adversarial distillation lets Chinese labs replicate frontier AI at a fraction of the training cost, and that models built this way often lack safety guardrails. The company urged the Trump administration to clarify antitrust guidelines so US labs can share more information about distillation attempts, reiterated its support for export controls on advanced AI chips, and called for penalties against firms that use the technique.
Lawmakers are moving in parallel. Senators Bill Hagerty and Andy Kim plan to introduce an amendment to must-pass defence legislation that would blacklist or sanction any Chinese firm found to be improperly accessing US AI model output. A related bipartisan bill in the House, backed by Representatives Bill Huizenga and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, is also being considered, though whether either proposal survives to the final version of the defence bill is uncertain.
The timing is sensitive for Anthropic as well. The company, now valued at $965bn after a $65bn Series H round, filed confidentially for an IPO this month and is preparing for a listing that could come as soon as this autumn. US officials have estimated that unauthorised distillation costs Silicon Valley labs billions of dollars, and the threat of cheaper imitation products from China that siphon away customers is a material risk for a company heading to public markets.
Anthropic’s calls for government support may not find a fully receptive audience, given that the company is embroiled in a separate dispute with the Trump administration over export controls imposed on its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models less than two weeks ago. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick signed an order blocking foreign nationals from accessing those models, citing security concerns, and Anthropic disabled them to comply. Even after meetings between the company’s technical staff and White House officials, little progress has been made to restore service.
The result is a company caught between two fronts of its own. Anthropic needs the government to crack down on Chinese labs extracting its technology, but it is simultaneously fighting the same government’s decision to restrict its own products. The letter to senators is an attempt to separate the two issues, arguing that protecting US models from distillation and allowing those models to be deployed commercially are complementary rather than contradictory goals.
Whether Washington agrees will shape both the regulatory environment for US AI companies and the competitive dynamics of the industry’s most consequential rivalry. Anthropic has now named four Chinese labs as distillers of its technology, with the Alibaba accusation by far the largest in scale. If the legislative proposals gain traction, the consequences could extend well beyond Anthropic’s models to the broader question of how the US enforces an intellectual property border around AI systems that exist as software, not hardware, and that can be copied over the internet through nothing more than a well-crafted prompt.
Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s not terribly tough, though I always hate it when two clues rely on each other, like 4-Across and 7-Across do today. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword
Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.
The completed NYT Mini Crossword puzzle for June 25, 2026.
Mini across clues and answers
1A clue: Texter’s “Wow!”
Answer: OMG
4A clue: With 7-Across, something often marked with a star in elevators
Answer: FIRST
7A clue: See 4-Across
Answer: FLOOR
8A clue: Currency of Ireland and Italy
Answer: EURO
9A clue: Went illegally fast
Answer: SPED
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: Not working
Answer: OFF
2D clue: A marathon has a little over 26
Answer: MILES
3D clue: Airline boarding section
Answer: GROUP
5D clue: Feeling it the next day
Answer: SORE
6D clue: Walked
Answer: TROD
Tech
These are the Nintendo Switch 2 games I’ve spent my hundreds of hours with the console playing so far
I’ve been using the Nintendo Switch 2 since its launch week, playing practically every title released for the platform either as part of my work covering games here at TechRadar Gaming or my own personal enjoyment.
I’ve spent hours in everything from big new entries in first-party franchises like Mario Tennis Fever and Mario Kart World to groundbreaking ports such as Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition. I’m not just playing the big hitters either, and have invested loads of time in getting to grips with underrated gems including Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess and Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army.
• View all of Amazon’s current prices and deals on Nintendo Switch 2 games this Prime Day
While many of these games will be discounted over the course of the ongoing Amazon Prime Day deals, every title that I’ve included is well worth your time and attention regardless of its price.
Amazon Prime Day game deals
Amazon Prime Day – the best Nintendo Switch 2 games I’d buy right now
More Prime Day deals in the US
- Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
- Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
- Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
- Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
- Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
- Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
- Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
- Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
- Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
- Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
- Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
- Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
Grand Theft Auto 6 preorders started at midnight your local time after publisher Rockstar Games finally confirmed the new installment’s price. The likely Game of the Year winner for 2026 will cost $80 when it releases on Nov. 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles, according to a statement from Rockstar.
Along with the standard edition, Rockstar is also offering an Ultimate Edition of the game that comes with more content, including exclusive vehicles and cosmetics, for $100.
Calling GTA 6 a highly anticipated game doesn’t do it justice. It’s been more than a decade since the release of GTA 5, and after multiple delays, the latest entry in the GTA franchise is finally on its way. Will GTA 6 be the greatest game ever created? Who knows, but the excitement has already hit a fever pitch with three months left before launch.
What is the release date for GTA 6?
GTA 6 is currently slated to be released on Nov. 19, 2026. The game was initially scheduled for a 2025 release, but was twice delayed, to a May 2026 release, then to November.
How much will GTA 6 cost?
The standard edition for GTA 6 will cost $80. This makes it one of the few games with a price tag above the typical $70. Mario Kart World for the Switch 2 was the first game with a regular price tag of $80 when it launched last year.
A GTA 6 Ultimate Edition is also available for $100. This version comes with a collection of vehicles, weapons, apparel and customizations. Here’s what comes in the Ultimate Edition:
- ’67 Vapid Dominator Buggy & Paradise Garage
- ’95 Grotti Cheetah
- Dinka Enduro motorcycle & Crest Kayak
- Exclusive Vapid Ganado Retro Build mods
- Rideout Customs & One-Eyed Willie’s mod shops
- Classic Car Collection missions
- Shitzu Squalo boat
- Hawk & Little Morgan Revolvers
- Personalized weapon variants
- PTT Youngin$ Compound activities
- Exclusive clothing, hairstyles, tattoos, and customization options for Jason and Lucia
Rockstar says the content will unlock for players who own the Ultimate Edition as they play through the single-player campaign.
Is GTA 6 available for preorder?
GTA 6 preorders started on June 25 at midnight local time for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles. Those who preorder will receive the Vintage Vice City pack that includes:
- ’55 Vapid Stanier
- Shore Court Garage near Ocean Beach
- Exclusive Vice City-inspired outfits and hairstyles for Jason and Lucia
- A tropical weapon pattern inspired by Tommy Vercetti’s iconic look
Which platforms will GTA 6 be available for?
So far, GTA 6 is coming to the PS5 and Xbox Series X and S consoles. GTA 6 will likely come out on PC, but it won’t be at launch. There is currently no word on GTA 6 coming to the Switch 2.
Will there be a physical edition of GTA 6?
Not really. Rockstar confirmed there will be a physical edition of GTA 6 sold at retailers, but it won’t include a disc. Instead, it will just have a code to download the game. Some gamers have expressed their disappointment with the lack of a physical disc on social media sites like Reddit.
Rockstar did say that pre-loading for GTA 6 will take place starting Nov. 12.
Where does GTA 6 take place?
GTA 6’s setting is the state of Leonida, the fictional version of Florida. It’ll include some time in the big city and surrounding areas, including the coasts and swamplands. The star of the game will be the return to Vice City, a fictitious version of Miami. GTA 6 takes place in a modern setting, so don’t expect the ’80s version players first experienced in GTA: Vice City.
What is GTA 6’s story?
Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos are two criminals in love. Jason has been working for drug runners, and in the opening, he’s on his way to pick up Lucia from the Leonida Penitentiary. She was serving time for an unknown crime, but it involved protecting her family. The two will work together to improve their lives one crime at a time.
What else is new in GTA 6?
The big innovation coming to GTA 6 is the dual protagonists. This system will be similar to the three-protagonist setup from GTA 5, but expect Jason and Lucia to be playable in certain missions. Rockstar includes RPG elements that let the protagonists customize their bodies based on the food they eat and the exercises they do. There will also be a wealth of changes that modernize the gameplay, such as making melee attacks more realistic and improving gun controls.
Will there be a new GTA Online?
Rockstar has yet to confirm that there will be a new GTA Online with GTA 6 at launch. It is likely that the online mode will be made available sometime after launch, which is what the studio did with the launch of the original GTA Online, as well as Red Dead Online.
8BitDo is celebrating the Nintendo 64’s 30th anniversary with new versions of two of its most popular accessories. It is giving the Retro 87 Mechanical Keyboard and Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller a translucent blue makeover inspired by the classic console.
The new “Clear Blue” editions were initially announced in China. However, both products are also heading to the US, where they’re priced at $99.99 and $59.99 respectively.
The Retro 87 Mechanical Keyboard leans heavily into Nintendo 64 nostalgia. Alongside its translucent blue shell, it features yellow arrow keys modelled after the N64 controller’s iconic C-buttons. Meanwhile, the A, B and Start keys borrow the same blue, green and red colour scheme as the original gamepad.
Beyond the retro styling, the keyboard retains the same feature set as the standard model. That includes an aluminium plate, hot-swappable PCB and 8BitDo’s Cloud Gray linear switches. These were developed in partnership with HUANO. It supports Bluetooth, 2.4GHz wireless and wired connectivity. Moreover, it works with Windows and Android, and can be customised through the company’s Ultimate Software V2.
The keyboard also ships with two matching Super Buttons, though unlike some previous special editions, these aren’t wireless.
The Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller receives a similar treatment. It combines a translucent blue top shell with coloured ABXY buttons and grey thumbsticks. Also, a translucent white lower shell closely resembles some of the Nintendo 64’s most recognisable colour variants.
Thankfully, the cosmetic refresh doesn’t come at the expense of features. The controller still includes TMR thumbsticks, RGB lighting rings, a six-axis motion sensor and a 1000Hz polling rate. This rate applies when used in wired or 2.4GHz wireless mode. Furthermore, compatibility extends across Windows, Android, SteamOS and Apple devices.
While 8BitDo regularly releases game-themed accessories, this marks the first Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller designed around a console rather than a specific title.
The Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller N64 Edition is available now. Meanwhile, the Retro 87 Mechanical Keyboard N64 Edition is scheduled to launch on August 14, with pre-orders already open through 8BitDo’s online store.
Today only, B&H Photo is selling Samsung’s 32-inch M8 4K monitor for $299.99 via a $400 in-cart coupon.
Beating Amazon’s Prime Day price by $85, B&H Photo has dropped the Samsung M8 display to just $299.99 during its 24-hour Deal Zone event.
Save $400 on Samsung M8 monitor
The $400 discount, which is in the form of an in-cart coupon, delivers the lowest price anywhere on the 32-inch monitor. Equipped with both HDMI and USB-C ports, this monitor, now at a budget-friendly price, pairs well with modern Macs.
Along with the robust discount, B&H is throwing in free 2-day shipping within the contiguous U.S. on the M80F monitor in Warm White, so you can begin using it quickly.
If you’re looking for a budget-friendly MacBook to pair with the monitor, B&H is offering AppleInsider readers an exclusive deal on a closeout M4 13-inch MacBook Air with 512GB of storage, bringing the price down to $899.
You can also browse our roundup of the top Apple Prime Day deals throughout the last days of the sale.
The Seattle Seahawks are in search of a buyer — but first they’ve locked up the organization’s first-ever global partner, signing a multi-year partnership with Accenture this week.
The deal pairs one of the world’s largest technology consulting firms with the NFL’s reigning Super Bowl champions, with Accenture bringing data and AI capabilities to bear on the franchise’s business operations and fan engagement.
Starting with data infrastructure and platform design, Accenture will work to modernize the Seahawks’ technology foundation with an eye toward broader innovation down the road.
The collaboration launches with a tangible fan-facing element: an Accenture-presented “Trophy Tour” taking the Seahawks’ Super Bowl LX hardware on the road to Germany, Australia and Canada — markets where NFL interest is growing and fans can connect to Seattle’s football story.
“This partnership brings together two organizations committed to innovation and global engagement, and is an exciting step forward for the Seahawks as we continue to expand our international efforts,” Isabelle Van Coevorden, Seahawks managing director of global markets, said in a statement.
The deal also has a local giving component, with plans for scholarship support, volunteer engagement and community access programs in Seattle. For Accenture, it extends a broader push into sports — the firm already works with the NFL, women’s tennis and golf organizations on technology and operations.
Accenture has a significant Seattle-area presence, and the Seahawks have been intertwined with tech since Paul Allen — the late Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist — bought the team in 1997, kept it in Seattle, and turned it into Super Bowl champs.
Allen died in 2018, and his estate put the Seahawks up for sale in February — shortly after the team’s Super Bowl LX victory over New England — with all proceeds directed toward philanthropy. The franchise is expected to fetch upwards of $7 billion.
Several high-profile names have surfaced as potential buyers. Former Boston Celtics majority owner Wyc Grousbeck and ArcelorMittal CEO Aditya Mittal were reported in May to be preparing a bid. Todd Boehly, who owns the Los Angeles Dodgers, L.A. Lakers and Chelsea Football Club, emerged as another potential suitor in June.
Accenture employs 799,000 people in offices around the world, including locations in Seattle, Redmond and Kirkland. The company says it serves approximately 9,000 clients and generated about $70 billion in FY25 revenue.
Shares of Cerebras Systems dropped almost 20% on Wednesday, even after the company delivered better-than-expected first-quarter earnings on Tuesday.
That’s because in its first earnings report since going public, the AI chipmaker forecast a narrower gross margin in its core business, guiding for a full-year margin of 38% to 41%, compared with the 47% reported in the first quarter. The stock hit a new low on Wednesday, almost hitting the company’s IPO price.
Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman told CNBC that investors had misunderstood the company’s margin guidance, noting that Cerebras will need to rent back some equipment from one of its largest customers.
The company said during its earnings call that it decided to make more capacity available sooner by temporarily renting its own systems back from an existing customer while it builds out and deploys its own data center capacity. The company said this would cut into profit margins this year.
According to the company’s earnings report, revenue for the quarter reached $193 million, up 94% year-over-year. Net loss narrowed to $14 million, down from $23.9 million a year earlier.
Crypto World51 seconds ago
AAA Launches Legal Layer for AI Agent Transactions
Sports3 minutes ago
Guillermo Ochoa Retires From Professional Football With Huge Record In Final Appearance
Tech4 minutes ago
DraftKings hacker ‘Snoopy’ sentenced to 18 months in prison
-
Fashion6 days agoWeekend Open Thread: Miami – Corporette.com
-
Entertainment4 days agoRenter of Home in Anne Heche Crash Denies Settlement With Son
-
Sports1 day agoTwo goals and an assist by sheer aura: Cristiano Ronaldo just entered the World Cup chat
-
Tech3 days agoMicrosoft accidentally kills epic Outlook email threads
-
Business4 days agoSoccer-U.S. defends Iran World Cup travel restrictions, says discussions ongoing
-
Crypto World1 day ago
Bitcoin (BTC) Dips Below $62K, Ethereum (ETH) Plunges 6% Daily: Market Watch
-
Politics5 days agoAndy Burnham and the meaning of Makerfield
-
Politics6 days agoBBC Reporter Discusses Cross Party Criticism Of Trumps Iran Deal
-
Crypto World24 hours agoSecuritize Wraps Roubini's SEC-Registered ETF as Dubai VARA Digital Security
-
Business1 day ago
Entergy settles forward sale agreements, raises $672 million in cash proceeds
-
NewsBeat6 days agoKeir Starmer Allies Question His Chances For No 10
-
Business5 days agoWall Street Week Ahead: Investors see Micron earnings as pulse check of AI rally momentum
-
Tech7 days agoAWS enters the context layer race with a graph that learns from agents, not manual curation
-
Crypto World5 days agoCan Charles Hoskinson Really Rescue Cardano?
-
Crypto World5 days agoHIVE shares jump as $220M AI deal speeds Bitcoin mining pivot
-
Crypto World5 days agoJake Chervinsky accuses CME of protecting derivatives monopoly
-
Tech4 days agoSignal’s Meredith Whittaker says AI chatbots ‘are not your friends’ and calls Copilot agents a backdoor
-
Entertainment5 days agoJose Alvarado Wants Taylor Swift at More Knicks Games
-
Tech2 days agoNearly 7,000 fake Amazon domains registered ahead of Prime Day 2026, researchers warn
-
Business6 days agoBrexit cost 6% of UK economy, Bank of England company data suggests
You must be logged in to post a comment Login