Proton’s latest VPN app will be among the first to work natively on Windows ARM PCs, the company announced. The new app was built in collaboration with Microsoft by the same team that developed the encrypted Proton Mail service and promises “best in class security and privacy” on Windows ARM devices, according to Proton.

The ARM app offers the same functionality as the x86 version and natively supports Proton VPN’s core security and privacy features. Normally, native support means it should also load and run a bit quicker than x86 apps running on Windows 11’s emulator, but improved security is the main selling point.

As for its claim to be among the first native Windows ARM VPN apps, rival Surfshark launched such an app in August and NordVPN recently said that it’s planning to release an ARM-native app “this autumn.”

Proton also revealed its upcoming winter 2024 roadmap, promising new apps for iOS and iPadOS. Those will include commonly requested features like sorting servers by load, selecting a server based on its city, hiding free servers and more. Proton also promised IPv6 support in more apps, port forwarding on macOS and Linux plus guest modes for iOS and iPadOS.

Proton’s app topped our best VPN services list for 2024, thanks to its overall security, usability and privacy features. It also offers a no-logs policy, an open-source framework and an official vulnerability disclosure program. There’s a free version (with access limited to servers in three countries) or a paid version starting at 4.99 euros ($5.44) per month. Proton recently released an Apple TV app that allow customers with a paid plan to stream their media content from any location on Apple’s set-top box.

Incredibuild has acquired Garden to bolster its acceleration capabilities for the entire DevOps lifecycle for game devs and other software makers.

Incredibuild said the integration of Garden’s CI/CD Pipeline (continuous integration/continuous development) acceleration capabilities positions it as the leader in end-to-end acceleration solutions for software development. (In this case, Garden is the software tool maker, not the game studio, which is a different company).

Incredibuild provides acceleration technology for software development, helping game developers and others get their products out the door faster.

Garden is a pioneer in DevOps pipeline acceleration solutions. The integration of Garden’s technology into Incredibuild’s platform will provide customers with seamless, swift, automated software delivery, from development to production.

Garden’s technology accelerates CI workflows managed by DevOps teams — making Dev and CI pipelines faster, easier, and smarter. With features like stack graph, caching, production-like environments and easy onboarding, Garden empowers DevOps teams to quickly develop cloud-native applications and deliver software more efficiently.

Garden’s advanced CI acceleration capabilities complement Incredibuild‘s comprehensive C++ and shader compilation acceleration, together providing an end-to-end software acceleration platform for myriad industries including gaming, automotive, FinServ, healthcare, manufacturing and beyond.

Combining approaches

Both Garden and Incredibuild provide tools to help companies build and release software faster. Garden specializes in cloud-native applications, especially for companies using Kubernetes; while Incredibuild is widely used in areas like gaming and financial modeling to speed up complex processes like compiling code.

By combining these two technologies, companies across industries can speed up their entire development cycle — from writing code to launching the final product – allowing teams to work more quickly and bring products to market faster. In our fast-moving, software-focused world, we are fulfilling the most pressing need for an extremely wide range of companies.

The intended customer base includes any company developing software with containers and Kubernetes looking to accelerate its development process – in short, an extremely wide range of companies from a wide range of industries.

“The acquisition of Garden advances our goal of taking the pain out of long development cycles – particularly at build-time,” said Tami Mazel Shachar, CEO of Incredibuild, in a statement. “Customers have long complained that CI pipelines are slow, complicated, and hard to manage, so we are excited to now accelerate the entire CI process. Garden’s expertise streamlining CI pipelines and environments aligns perfectly with our mission: Accelerating every aspect of software development.”

Origins

Founded in 2018, Garden is known for its powerful open-source tools that empower developers to speed up CI pipelines, increasing deployment frequency and shortening development cycles.

By joining with Incredibuild, Garden will bring its offering to a broader audience and enhance Incredibuild’s ability to accelerate the entire software development lifecycle.

“What excites me most is our shared passion for making devs faster, and how together, we provide a complete suite of tools to help developers worldwide,” said Jon Edvald, CEO of Garden, in a statement. “Incredibuild’s acceleration technology, combined with our unique approach to CI and DevOps, means we’re embarking on a relentless mission to accelerate pipelines in every way, including changing developers’ interactions with automation across the development cycle. We have two extremely powerful products, and united, the whole is even greater than the sum of its parts.”

This acquisition is part of Incredibuild’s initiative to expand its singular product portfolio, providing developers with the most comprehensive and powerful set of tools for accelerating development processes.

Incredibuild’s platform of distributed and cached build acceleration, build observability tools, and build orchestration software means developer teams spend less time waiting for builds and platform engineers and DevOps orgs help organizations cut costs and compute times on-prem and in the cloud – without changing code, tools, or processes.

Incredibuild has been innovating and helping companies speed up the development process and save money for over 20 years – including dozens of Fortune 500 companies including some of the biggest names in technology, games, and banking.

• More than 50 games are to receive PS5 Pro enhancement patches on launch day
• Titles include Alan Wake 2, Demon’s Souls, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard
• PS5 Pro launches this week on November 7

With PS5 Pro arriving in just a couple of days, you might be curious to know exactly which games you can expect to receive PS5 Pro enhancement patches especially if you’ve put down a PS5 Pro pre-order of your own.

Thankfully, Sony has you covered with an official PlayStation Blog post which confirms more than 50 PS5 games are set to receive PS5 Pro enhancement patches when the mid-gen console launches on November 7.

The regulator says a merger between Vodafone and Three could go ahead – if both companies make price promises for consumers and commit to boosting the UK’s 5G rollout.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had previously said that creating what would be the country’s biggest mobile network could drive up prices and harm competition.

But it has now provisionally concluded those concerns could be addressed – and the merger could proceed – if the firms agree to its proposed remedies.

A Vodafone spokesperson said both companies would need to study the CMA’s proposal more closely but believed on first impressions it “provides a path to final clearance”.

They insisted, as they have throughout, that the deal was in everyone’s interests.

“It will bring significant benefits to businesses and consumers throughout the UK, and it will bring advanced 5G to every school and hospital across the country,” they said.

The CMA’s findings are the latest step in its probe into the merger, which began in January.

Vodafone and Three announced their plans to merge their UK-based operations in June last year.

Their combined network would have around 27 million customers.

“We believe this deal has the potential to be pro-competitive for the UK mobile sector if our concerns are addressed,” said Stuart McIntosh, who is leading the CMA panel investigating the merger.

“We anticipate in the longer term that the significant commitment to upgrade the merged companies network over the next 10 years or so will ultimately create a competitive environment that will maintain the competition we’ve seen in mobile in recent years,” he told the Today programme, on BBC Radio Four.

But he also made clear that short term commitments not to increase the price of certain existing mobile tariffs and data plans for at least three years were also key to making sure consumers did not lose out.

The regulator also said upholding pre-agreed deals or prices with Mobile Virtual Network Operators such as Sky Mobile, Lyca and Lebara could protect consumers and and wholesale customers alike.

Industry analyst Paolo Pescatore told the BBC it marked “another key step towards approval” and showed all concerned were trying to find a way to make the deal happen.

The two largest players in the market are currently EE and 02 – Mr Pescatore said a merged Vodafone and Three would be in a better place to take them on.

“To date, both parties are demonstrating that this is genuinely in the interest of UK plc, the economy, and users which paves the way for a far stronger three-player market than the current imbalance,” he said.

The CMA is seeking responses to its proposed remedies by 12 November, with a deadline of 7 December for a final decision on the merger.

The New York Times has introduced the next title coming to its Games catalog following Wordle’s continued success — and it’s all about math. Digits has players adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing numbers. You can play its beta for free online right now. 
In Digits, players are presented with a target number that they need to match. Players are given six numbers and have the ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide them to get as close to the target as they can. Not every number needs to be used, though, so this game should put your math skills to the test as you combine numbers and try to make the right equations to get as close to the target number as possible.

Players will get a five-star rating if they match the target number exactly, a three-star rating if they get within 10 of the target, and a one-star rating if they can get within 25 of the target number. Currently, players are also able to access five different puzzles with increasingly larger numbers as well.  I solved today’s puzzle and found it to be an enjoyable number-based game that should appeal to inquisitive minds that like puzzle games such as Threes or other The New York Times titles like Wordle and Spelling Bee.
In an article unveiling Digits and detailing The New York Time Games team’s process to game development, The Times says the team will use this free beta to fix bugs and assess if it’s worth moving into a more active development phase “where the game is coded and the designs are finalized.” So play Digits while you can, as The New York Times may move on from the project if it doesn’t get the response it is hoping for. 
Digits’ beta is available to play for free now on The New York Times Games’ website