Google has introduced a new app for Windows desktops and, unsurprisingly, it puts AI front at center. If you aren’t a big fan of Google’s Gemini chatbot, then skip on past this download. For those of you who are heavy Gemini users, though, this could mean a simpler and more integrated experience on Windows machines.

Once installed, you can pull up the app’s search bar with the Alt + Space shortcut. Queries typed into this open-ended search box can hunt down information from the web like typical Google search, where AI Mode will be enabled for an extra layer of artificial intelligence for follow-up questions or a deeper dive down a rabbit hole. But the app isn’t limited to web search. It can delve into your computer’s files, other installed apps or Google Drive files to retrieve information. Screen sharing is also built into the app, which enables using Google Lens to conduct AI-powered searches on content displayed on your monitor.

The app is rolling out globally today in English. Interestingly, this hasn’t been gated to the most recent Windows 11, but it does require a machine running at least Windows 10.

The Batman: Part II is now set for an October 1, 2027 release, following multiple delays that pushed the sequel well beyond its original 2025 window. The extended timeline reflects a longer development cycle for director Matt Reeves’ follow-up, with the script only recently completed and production now expected to begin in spring 2026.

The sequel continues Reeves’ grounded take on Gotham, which began with The Batman in 2022. That film earned over $770 million globally and established a more detective-driven version of Bruce Wayne, set within what Reeves has described as an “epic crime saga.” Part II is expected to build directly on that foundation, exploring the aftermath of Gotham’s collapse and Bruce’s evolving role within it.

The delays have been tied to both industry-wide disruptions and Reeves’ deliberate approach to the script. DC Studios co-head James Gunn has confirmed that a completed draft is now in place, allowing the project to move forward after a prolonged development phase. With production finally on the horizon, the sequel is shifting from uncertainty to execution.

Robert Pattinson will return as Bruce Wayne/Batman and there are details with regards to the other cast as well. In a recent interview to French reality show C à vous, Pattinson shared that  “The new script is so, so good, I’m very excited about it.” However, that is not all there is to update about this much-talked about film and thus, here is a complete rumor roundup.

When is The Batman Part II releasing?

The Batman: Part II has seen several release date changes. The Batman Part II was initially supposed to premiere on October 3, 2025. Unfortunately, nothing is guaranteed in the world of filmmaking.

The Batman Part II‘s release date was pushed by nearly a year to October 2, 2026. The film was then delayed again by almost another year. The Batman Part II is now scheduled to premiere on October 1, 2027. Oof.

Yes, the world will have to wait even longer to see Pattinson suit up again, marking a five-year span between the original film and the sequel. The delays stem from a combination of factors. The writers’ and actors’ strikes slowed development across Hollywood, while Reeves took additional time to finalize the script. Given the scale and expectations surrounding the sequel, the extended timeline appears to be a deliberate choice rather than a production setback.

The result is a five-year gap between the first film and its sequel — longer than typical superhero franchise timelines, but not unusual for director-driven projects of this scope.

What’s the plot of The Batman Part II?

Plot details remain tightly under wraps, but the sequel is expected to continue directly from the events of The Batman.

The first film ended with Gotham flooded and its institutions exposed as deeply corrupt. Bruce Wayne, having begun his transformation from a symbol of vengeance into a figure of hope, now faces a city in deeper chaos. Crime is likely to rise in the power vacuum left behind, setting the stage for a more complex and unstable Gotham.

My money is on Batman facing Thomas Elliot, a.k.a. Hush. Once a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne, this villain is famous for teaming up with the Riddler in the comics, as well as recruiting multiple other villains to battle and torment Batman with his knowledge of the hero’s true identity. At one point, Batman was even forced to fight a brainwashed Superman because of Hush.

The Batman did have the Riddler reveal that Bruce’s father inadvertently caused the death of a reporter named Edward Elliot. Given his surname, Edward may very well be Hush’s father. Combined with online rumors, it seems likely that the sequel will feature Hush as the main villain, seeking vengeance against Bruce for his father’s role in Edward’s murder.

Reeves also revealed that Bruce Wayne is going to have trouble being the hero Gotham needs.

“This was a time of great turmoil in the city, it’s literally the week after what happened,” he explained to Digital Spy. “Much of the city is in desperation, so police can’t get everywhere, there’s crime everywhere, it’s a very, very dangerous time. [Batman’s] out there trying to grapple with the aftermath of everything that happened, which to some degree he blames himself for.”

Even in the recent interactions, Reeves has indicated that the sequel will explore that instability, focusing on how both Batman and Bruce Wayne evolve in response to the city’s changing conditions.

Who is in the cast of The Batman Part II?

When Warner Bros. announced The Batman Part II in April 2022, only Pattinson was confirmed to return as Bruce Wayne/Batman. This seemed pretty obvious, given he plays the franchise’s lead character. Regardless, we’re almost 100% sure these core cast members will return: Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon and Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth.

Reeves confirmed to SFX magazine that Colin Farrell’s character, Oz Cobb/The Penguin, will be part of the movie. Farrell also starred in HBO Max’s spinoff series, The Penguin, which chronicled Cobb’s rise to the top of Gotham’s criminal underworld.

Farrell already shared his expectations for the sequel and what his contract with the franchise entails. “I signed up for three Batman films, but I didn’t know if I’d be in the second film,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “Matt Reeves is a brilliant writer and an extraordinary filmmaker, and what I’m most excited-slash-nervous about in the second film is not what Oz does – or what predicaments he finds himself in, or what moments of success he gets to experience – but what his voice is.”

“I was told I have five or six scenes. I don’t have any hopes or any expectations. I’m really an open book, and that’s the way I get excited by shit or not,” he continued. “I think sometimes actors, if they have a career that has a certain length of time, they sometimes get to make too many decisions. Which isn’t to say I won’t push back or argue or fight in Oz’s corner – I do believe I know him better than anyone now.”

Ising models are designed to help perform quantum error correction and calibration.

Nvidia has announced a new family of open-source quantum AI models on World Quantum Day (14 April).

‘Ising’, the “world’s first” open models for building quantum processors, joins a growing list of Nvidia open-source models including ‘Alpamayo’ for autonomous vehicles, ‘Nemotron’ for agentic systems and ‘Cosmos’ for physical AI.

Ising models are designed to help researchers and enterprises perform quantum error correction and calibration.

The family includes Ising Calibration, a vision language model that can interpret and react to measurements from quantum processors, and Ising Decoding, two variants of a 3D convolutional neural network model that can perform real-time decoding for quantum error correction.

Ising Decoding can deliver up to two and a half-times faster performance and three-times higher accuracy than current open-source industry standards, Nvidia said. The models are available for download on GitHub, Hugging Face and Nvidia.

The Ising models are already in use at the Harvard John A Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, IQM Quantum Computers, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Advanced Quantum Testbed, the UK National Physical Laboratory and the University of California San Diego, as well as a list of other prominent names disclosed by the company.

“AI is essential to making quantum computing practical,” said Jensen Huang, the founder and CEO of Nvidia. “With Ising, AI becomes the control plane – the operating system of quantum machines – transforming fragile qubits to scalable and reliable quantum GPU systems.”

Ising joins other Nvidia quantum-specific products, including the CUDA-Q quantum software platform, and the NVQ Link that connects GPU computing with quantum processors.

With major funding rounds, and a strong focus on research and development, the quantum sector is expected grow to more than $11bn in value by 2030.

In Ireland, home-grown start-up Equal1, which announced a $60m round in January, is working towards bringing its rack-mounted quantum processing units to the enterprise market.

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We’re sliding into developer conference season and one of the biggest events on the upcoming calendar is Google I/O. This year’s edition is taking place on May 19 and 20. As usual, the in-person element will happen in Mountain View, California, though many of the keynotes and sessions will be livestreamed. Google will surely make its biggest announcements during the opening keynote, which will start at 1PM ET on May 19. A developer keynote will take place later the same day.

As ever, the rumor mill will pick up speed in the leadup to Google I/O. We do have some ideas about what Google will discuss at the event. So let’s take a look at what to expect at Google I/O 2026 (we’ll update this story as we hear more credible rumors).

What’s officially on deck

When it confirmed the dates for this year’s I/O, Google revealed a little bit about what it has in store for us. As you might imagine, AI will be a major focus of the event. Google plans to share its “AI breakthroughs and updates in products across the company, from Gemini to Android, Chrome, Cloud and more,” it wrote in a blog post in February.

There will be news on Gemini model updates as well as agentic coding. Google will have some product demos too.

The company has released its initial schedule of keynotes and sessions, but it doesn’t provide us with a lot of specifics as yet. It has lined up discussions on what’s new in the likes of Google Play, Firebase (a mobile and web app development platform), the Gemma open model family and the open-source app development framework Flutter. Interestingly, there isn’t a dedicated session for Android XR on the schedule just yet.

What to expect

There haven’t been many credible leaks ahead of Google I/O as yet, but we can make some educated guesses about what to expect from the event. It’s all but certain that we’ll get more details about Android 17 at I/O. Developers need time to tweak their apps ahead of the next major version of the operating system rolling out to everyone if they want to take advantage of new features as soon as possible, and they invariably get a heads up about those at I/O every year. (That said, Google has been moving away from a big annual release approach in favor of juicier Pixel Drops/Android updates, so we may not see some of the new features it unveils at I/O for some time.)

As for other operating systems, Google is planning to meld ChromeOS and Android into a unified platform. This seems to be the project that’s being referred to as Aluminium OS, which we got a first glimpse of earlier this year thanks to some leaks. I/O seems like the perfect venue for Google to start showing that off to the public.

On the AI front, a reveal of Gemini 4 could be on the docket, along with details of the latest Veo text-to-video model. Maybe we’ll hear more about Project Astra, Google’s pitch for a universal AI assistant.

If Google has some consumer hardware to show off at this year’s event, I suspect it’ll be an Android XR device or devices, rather than a Pixel phone or watch. There is a chance that we’ll get a tease of the Google Pixel 11 lineup. But don’t be surprised if we don’t see that or the Pixel Watch 5 until Google’s dedicated hardware event, which has taken place in August or October in recent years (Google will want to stay well away from Apple’s iPhone event, which will likely take place in September as usual).

Here’s hoping for a big surprise or two

Sure, Android updates are all well and good. If Google insists on cramming Gemini and other AI tools into all of its tools and services, we’ll at least listen to what they have to say about all that.

But I have my fingers crossed for some cool surprises. Give us something new from Google X (Alphabet’s moonshot factory, not the thing that was once Twitter), an idea that could be a net benefit for humanity and boost the company’s bottom line at the same time. These events are always more fun when there’s something for us to get genuinely excited about, even if it’s something relatively niche but out there, like the Google Beam 3D video conferencing tech.

Susan Kelly discusses Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet’s tech leadership master’s programme, which is celebrating 20 years in operation.

Last week, Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet announced its plans to award four fully funded places on its MSc in Leadership, Innovation and Technology programme to celebrate 20 years since the programme’s inception.

The funding – called the ‘Big 20 Giveaway’ – is valued at €20,000 per annum per place and will cover all tuition fees of the two-year programme for four candidates.

“The Big 20 Giveaway is a celebration of the programme’s 20-year impact, but also a very practical initiative to support future talent,” says Susan Kelly, network director at Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet.

“What we’re really celebrating is the impact the programme has had with over 300 graduates who have gone on to lead teams, functions and transformation initiatives across Ireland’s technology landscape and beyond.

“For us it is not just about looking back, it’s about investing in what comes next.”

The programme

But what is the course actually about?

The programme, which is delivered at Technological University Dublin, is a part-time, applied master’s designed specifically for experienced professionals working in technology and innovation-led environments.

“Its core objective is to help people move beyond technical expertise and develop the capability to lead, whether that is leading teams, driving innovation or shaping strategy at an organisational level,” says Kelly.

She tells SiliconRepublic.com that the programme focuses on three key areas: leadership capability, innovation and transformation, and business and strategic thinking.

“What really differentiates it is that it is applied, not theoretical,” she says. “Participants work on real challenges from their own organisations, so the learning is immediately relevant and delivers tangible value both to the individual and their employer.”

The programme has been in operation since 2006, and in the 20 years since then, technology has advanced considerably.

Kelly explains that a course such as this is more important than ever today because “the challenge right now isn’t access to technology, it is the ability to lead with it effectively”.

“Organisations are dealing with rapid change driven by AI, digital transformation and global competition,” she says. “The professionals who will stand out are those who can connect technology, strategy and people.”

She adds that the biggest benefit of the programme is that it enables participants to make the shift “from being the person who delivers technology to the person who shapes how and why it’s used”.

“It gives them the language of business and strategy, the confidence to operate at senior levels, and the ability to lead transformation and not just contribute to it.

“For many, it’s the difference between continuing to grow technically and actually stepping into leadership roles with broader organisational impact.”

Who it’s for

With four fully funded places on the programme up for grabs, what constitutes an ideal candidate for the course?

Kelly says the programme is designed for what she calls the “strategic technologist”, which she explains refers to someone who is already established in their career but is ready to take the next step.

“Typically, participants are mid- to senior-level professionals working in roles like software engineering, architecture, product, project management, cybersecurity or IT leadership,” she says. “They are already technically credible but looking to expand into broader leadership or strategic roles.”

She says course participants are often “at a career inflection point”, where they may be leading teams or projects already but “they recognise that technical expertise alone won’t get them to the next level”.

“Many are experiencing a technical ceiling, where they are highly capable but they don’t yet have the strategic, commercial or leadership toolkit to move into senior decision-making roles. This programme is designed specifically to help them break through that barrier.”

For anyone considering applying for one of the funded positions, Kelly says the organisation is looking for motivated, ambitious people who have strong technical or functional expertise and are already operating at a high level in their organisation, and who want to have a greater impact, “not just within their team but across their organisation”.

An important criteria that she emphasises is that they’re not looking for people at the start of their careers or those looking for purely academic study.

“This is for professionals who are already doing significant work and want to elevate their influence and capability,” she clarifies. “We’re also looking for people who will apply what they learn in real time by bringing challenges from their workplace into the programme and using it as a platform to drive meaningful change.

“Ultimately, the strongest candidates will be those who recognise that they’ve outgrown a purely technical role and are ready to take on the responsibilities and opportunities of leadership.”

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• Smartphone limits drive creators toward microphones, lenses, gimbals, and dedicated cameras
• Accessory spending rises as creators invest hundreds and thousands into gear upgrades
• AI-driven production growth exposes capture weaknesses and boosts hardware demand worldwide

Smartphones still dominate video creation, but growing evidence suggests their physical limits are driving a new spending wave on dedicated gear among millions of creators, experts have said.

A new report from Futuresource Consulting estimates the global population of online video creators reached 246 million in 2025 and could grow to 267 million by 2030. That growth is only part of the story, however, as spending patterns and equipment upgrades appear to be the real commercial driver behind the next phase.