Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s proposed national environmental and energy controls for the country’s A$150 billion data centre pipeline hit their first obstacle on Tuesday, when two jurisdictions declined to back them. Federal, state and territory energy ministers met virtually to discuss the plan, and Queensland and the Northern Territory opposed most of the measures, including the idea of a national rulebook at all.
The structural problem is that the policy requires unanimity. Every state and territory must support the federal framework for it to proceed, which gives any single jurisdiction an effective veto.
Operators would also be expected to build renewable generation, minimise water use, maximise energy efficiency, and fund any additional water infrastructure they need. Albanese offered few details on how any of it would work in practice.
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Why Queensland objects
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli had signalled his position before the announcement, saying the state does not support imposing renewable power requirements because it wants to stay attractive to investors. That is precisely the behaviour the national framework was designed to prevent.
“The policy the PM has announced doesn’t work unless there’s buy-in from all the states and territories,” said Rob Nicholls, a senior researcher at the University of Sydney’s Centre for AI, Trust and Governance. “Part of the reason you have a policy is to avoid a race to the bottom from the states.”
The industry is broadly onside, with conditions
Belinda Dennett, chief executive of industry group Data Centres Australia, whose members include Google, AirTrunk, and Microsoft, said the group supports the principle that new electricity demand should be backed by new supply. Many operators and customers already underwrite renewable energy, she noted.
The industry wants clarity on three points. Whether the compliance obligation sits with the operator or the tenant, when it takes effect, and whether the offset is measured against actual electricity consumption or nameplate capacity.
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That third question is not a technicality. Nameplate capacity is typically far higher than real-world draw, so the answer could change the size of the obligation by a wide margin.
The public is well ahead of the politics
A YouGov survey commissioned by Australia’s Climate Council found 82% of respondents agreed that new data centres should pay for the extra renewable energy and storage infrastructure needed to meet their power demand. The measure is not short of popular support.
The economics also cut both ways. Data centre investment could reach A$150 billion by 2030 with six gigawatts of planned capacity, according to Commonwealth Bank associate economist Lucinda Jerogin, and the construction boom is helping prop up a slowing economy.
Why Australia is a target market
Australia was second only to the United States in dollars invested in data centres in 2024, according to Knight Frank. Bloomberg Intelligence analysts led by Matt Ingram flagged the country in June as one of Asia’s top build locations, citing renewable potential, political stability, and low-latency submarine cables to the rest of the region.
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Demand is coming from hyperscalers including Microsoft and Meta, alongside opposition from community and environmental groups. Both pressures are intensifying at once.
The federal government will work with states, territories, and market bodies on detailed policy design, with the possibility of more stringent local requirements layered on top. Energy ministers meet again in September.
National Cabinet is expected to consider the approach in August, with legislation anticipated in early 2027. Whether it arrives intact depends on whether Queensland and the Northern Territory can be persuaded that a national floor beats competing on who asks the least.
A talk from the recent Electromagnetic Field event in the UK caught our eye, in which [Amy Jeskins] looked at the overlooked engineering skill of pattern cutting. She takes us through the mechanics of creating a pattern for a piece of clothing, and asks why it is not a skill taught to engineers.
She’s a specialist in theatrical costume, and the talk takes us through some examples of her work before looking at the history of tailoring and pattern making. She explores flat cutting and draping a pattern on a form before coming into the present day with CAD packages designed for clothing work. It’s the social aspect of the talk that’s perhaps the most interesting, looking at how it has become a gendered skill and thus not something considered where it should belong, as engineering. We’re reminded of one of the most important additions for a healthy hackerspace, a textile room, as we’ve seen people there bridge this divide from both directions.
A silver-suited hero once limited to Japanese PlayStation discs now races across any modern screen you point him at. Pepsiman Recompiled takes the 1999 cult classic, turns its original code into something a browser can run directly, and lets anyone with a legal disc image jump back into the chase at a smooth 60 frames per second.
In March 1999, developer KID released Pepsiman exclusively in Japan. You play as the Pepsi mascot, physically running, sliding, and hopping your way through city streets and obstacle courses, grabbing cans and dodging trucks, roadwork, and public humiliation, all in order to reach the next vending machine. There are also live-action videos of Mike Butters drinking Pepsi to break up the action. Pepsiman never officially left Japan, but it amassed a sizable fan base thanks to imports, emulator enthusiasts, and speedrun crowds.
PlayStation 5 Console – 1TB, includes wireless controller, 1TBSSD, Disc Drive, 2 Horizontal Stand Feet, HDMI cable, AC power cord, USB cable, printed…
1TB of Storage, keep your favorite games ready and waiting for you to jump in and play
Ultra-High Speed SSD, maximize you play sessions with near instant load times for installed PS5 games
Kem0x (aka Kareem Olim) revived the old game with the PSXRecomp framework. Unlike straight-up emulators, his version recompiles the original PlayStation code into WebAssembly, allowing it to run directly in a compatible browser, eliminating the need to draw around an outdated platform. Users must bring their own CUE and BIN files, which are simply image files from a physical disc, but that’s it. It’s entirely done on your machine, with no server issues.
— 吉野@連邦(renpou.com) (@yoshinokentarou) July 24, 2026
Click on the page, then select your disk images to reveal the silver runner. The default presentation is widescreen, but if you prefer a more traditional format, there is also a 4:3 alternative. Another good detail is that the browser-based version plays at 60fps, smoothing out the animation while maintaining the original timing, physics, and music. It all only works with regular gamepads. You can also remap the keyboard controls. Another cool feature is that memory card saves occur in real time, and you can even import or export them in raw format. Just for fun, they included a pause menu with level selectors, restart, and return to title choices, which the original did not have. As you continue through the stages, you will gain access to practice sessions distinct from the saves. All of this is wrapped up as a progressive web app, so once the files are cached, you may play them offline.
Chromium desktop browsers for macOS are now the most dependable alternative, although other browsers and mobile devices still have certain flaws. They still need to test several later-stage visual options and full campaign audio looping, but despite these constraints, the game is totally playable from beginning to end. To view the source code and release notes, visit the RepsiMan GitHub website. To play, simply go to pepsiman.ol.mr, provide your own disc image, respect the rights holders, and you’ll be set. [Source]
Just as Larry Ellison and Paramount executives had worried, the state antitrust challenge to their $111 billion merger with Warner Brothers has resulted in significant delays that could prove terminal.
Two weeks ago California and eleven other states filed an antitrust lawsuit to block the merger, pointing out that the consolidation would undermine market competition, resulting in mass layoffs, higher consumer prices, and product quality hits as the merged company attempts to pay down a massive debt load. This isn’t hard to predict or prove given that every single merger that Warner Brothers has been involved with in the last quarter century has been a disastrous dud.
The judge overseeing the case granted a 14-day restraining order pausing the deal. But Paramount has now agreed to suspend the merger for far longer in the apparent belief that this could speed up the looming trial:
Paramount framed the agreement as a “significant win” that would help it close the deal. The company said the move would speed up the legal process by pushing the case to a trial sooner. It will also help avoid prolonged back-and-forth over some legal issues, like the merits of a court-ordered delay.
So as it stands, the Paramount merger will simply expire if they can’t win or dismantle the antitrust trial by June 4, 2027. That’s a problem for all sorts of reasons, the biggest being that the terms of the agreement involve Paramount being forced to pay a ticking fee of about $7 million per day (or $650 million per quarter) to investors starting in October until the deal closes (or doesn’t).
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As mentioned previously, Larry Ellison and Oracle are also hugely over-leveraged on the AI bubble and data center investment; if that bubble pops during this window (which is broadly expected since nobody but Nvidia is making any money), that could heavily complicate his financial backing for the already very debt-heavy deal. At the same time, broadcast television isn’t magically getting more popular anytime soon.
And even if this deal does ultimately succeed, there’s been very little evidence that Paramount, much like the Trump administration that rubber-stamped the superunion, has any idea what they’re doing.
Trying to monitor a camera feed, cue the next track in a crowded booth or hear what is actually coming through the console is not the moment to discover that the ANC battery is dead or Bluetooth has decided to take the afternoon off. The Beyerdynamic DT 275 PRO is built around that problem, using a compact closed back on-ear design, 22dBA of passive isolation, a 195 gram chassis and a locking cable that can connect to either earcup. It sells for $149 and should be just as useful on location as it is later that night when I want to hear the horns, strings and vocals on Dusty in Memphis without the room joining the performance.
The DT 275 PRO is available now through Beyerdynamic’s U.S. website and authorized retailers. It joins the DT 270 PRO but serves a different purpose: the DT 270 PRO is an over-ear model for recording, podcasting and indoor studio work, while the DT 275 PRO trades some long-session comfort for greater isolation, faster handling and a smaller footprint.
Built for Rooms That Have Abandoned Indoor Voices
Active noise cancellation works well on airplanes and commuter trains, but it can introduce processing, latency and another battery that inevitably dies during the part of the production nobody can repeat.
Beyerdynamic DT 275 PRO
The DT 275 PRO takes the less fashionable approach of using closed earcups, leatherette pads and clamping pressure to reduce outside noise mechanically. Beyerdynamic specifies 22dBA of ambient-noise attenuation, which is the feature separating it from most compact studio headphones at this price.
The sound is tuned for clear speech, controlled bass and reliable signal assessment rather than a dramatic consumer presentation. Beyerdynamic specifies a frequency response of 5Hz to 24kHz, 45-ohm impedance, 105dB SPL at 1mW and total harmonic distortion below 0.04 percent.
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The 45-ohm load should make the headphones practical with field recorders, cameras, audio interfaces, laptops and mobile devices without requiring a dedicated headphone amplifier. They can also produce substantial output, so protecting one’s hearing remains preferable to discovering the maximum level personally.
The Cable Goes Where You Need It
The detachable 1.5-meter cable can connect to either the left or right earcup and uses a locking bayonet mechanism to prevent an accidental disconnection. Beyerdynamic says the decoupled design also reduces cable and handling noise when the headphones are used with cameras, recorders and portable audio bags.
That sounds like a minor detail until a cable runs across the wrong side of a camera rig or escapes during a live take.
The earcups swivel for storage and single-ear monitoring, while the ear pads, headband pad and cable are replaceable. The connection cable is also compatible with Beyerdynamic’s DJ 300 PRO X and CLUB models.
Replaceable wear components should be mandatory on professional headphones. Throwing away an otherwise functional pair because the ear pads have absorbed five years of sweat is not innovation.
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Beyerdynamic DT 275 PRO Specifications
Design: Closed back, wired, on-ear
Driver type: Dynamic
Frequency response: 5Hz to 24kHz
Impedance: 45 ohms
Sensitivity: 105dB SPL at 1mW and 500Hz
Passive noise attenuation: 22dBA
Total harmonic distortion: Below 0.04 percent
Maximum short term power handling: 100mW
Cable: 1.5 meters, detachable and lockable
Cable connection: Left or right earcup
Connector: 3.5mm with 6.35mm adapter
Weight: 195 grams without cable
Replaceable parts: Ear pads, headband pad and cable
What Is Missing?
The DT 275 PRO does not include Bluetooth, ANC, a microphone or an inline remote. None belongs on a professional monitoring headphone built to avoid latency and electronic processing, but buyers looking for one pair to handle production work, commuting and phone calls should understand what is not included.
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Unlike the DT 270 PRO, the product page does not list a USB-C audio adapter. The DT 275 PRO terminates in a conventional 3.5mm plug and includes a 6.35mm adapter, so owners of port-free smartphones and laptops will need a separate dongle.
The larger concern is comfort. The DT 275 PRO is light at 195 grams, but its on-ear design uses a fairly firm clamp to achieve that 22dBA of passive isolation. That should help keep outside noise where it belongs, although the pressure may become noticeable during a long production session. Isolation and all-day comfort rarely arrive holding hands.
The Competition
The Sennheiser HD 25 is the most direct rival. It also costs approximately $150, uses a closed on-ear design and has remained a fixture in DJ booths and broadcast bags for decades. It is lighter and already has an enormous replacement-parts ecosystem, while the DT 275 PRO counters with its dual-side locking cable, newer design and published 22dBA attenuation rating.
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Sony MDR-7506
The Sony MDR-7506 currently sells for $113 and remains one of the most widely used production headphones ever made. Its over-ear design may prove more comfortable, but the fixed coiled cable is considerably less convenient for mobile work and Sony does not position it around the same level of passive isolation.
Audio-Technica’s ATH-M40x costs $109 and offers an over-ear fit, detachable cables and swiveling earcups. The ATH-M50x moves closer to the Beyerdynamic’s price at $159 and adds larger 45mm drivers and three supplied cables, but both occupy more room in a production bag.
Beyerdynamic’s own DT 270 PRO remains the obvious alternative for podcasting, music production and longer indoor sessions. It uses velour over-ear pads and weighs almost exactly the same, but offers lower passive isolation and a less compact wearing style.
Who Is It For?
The DT 275 PRO is intended for production crews, field recordists, broadcast engineers, livestream operators, front of house staff and DJs who need compact wired headphones with strong isolation and no wireless delay.
It should also appeal to commuters who value durability and passive isolation more than apps, firmware updates and hearing a synthetic voice announce that the battery is low.
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Who Should Avoid It?
Home-studio users working in a quiet room will probably find the DT 270 PRO or DT 770 PRO X more comfortable over longer sessions.
Anyone who needs wireless connectivity, calls or active noise cancellation should also look elsewhere. The DT 275 PRO is a tool, not a lifestyle platform with a login screen.
Beyerdynamic DT 275 PRO
The Bottom Line
The Beyerdynamic DT 275 PRO fills a specific gap between traditional studio headphones and DJ models. Its combination of 22dBA passive isolation, low weight, swiveling earcups, replaceable parts and a cable that locks into either side makes sense for people who monitor audio in environments where the environment refuses to cooperate.
Beyerdynamic’s advantage is that it has designed the DT 275 PRO around modern mobile-production workflows rather than asking another 35-year-old headphone to keep learning new tricks.
The CIA has never confirmed or denied the following story.
The only evidence we have that it happened at all is a 1997 article in Popular Science Vol. 250, Issue 1, where journalist Dawn Stover spoke to the mastermind behind one of the best-kept secrets of the Cold War.
We think of digital surveillance as a relatively modern fear. We worry that our phones are spying on us. That CCTV watches our every move. Even laptops have physical privacy covers to mitigate security risks. But it turns out, this goes back at least 60 years – right to the heart of the Soviet embassy in Washington DC.
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The year is 1963. Kennedy still sits in the White House. Khrushchev holds the Kremlin. The Cuban Missile Crisis is still fresh in everyone’s mind. Paranoia runs high on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
And a repairman strolls unnoticed through the halls of a mansion in the capital. He steps into a busy administrative office used by Russian diplomats and the KGB. His bag of tools clunks with every swing. The man pauses at a large, boxy machine in the corner of the room. It hums and whirs.
The Mrs George Pullman House where the Soviet Union Embassy was located in 1963, pictured in 2010 (Image credit: Getty Images // Coast-to-Coast)
Launched just three years prior, the Xerox 914 was the company’s first successful photocopier – with a troubling tendency to catch on fire. But that’s not why the repairman is here today.
He drops his bag to the floor. The diplomats and KGB agents ignore him, the clerical staff barely see him, the hawkish security guards notice nothing out of the ordinary. The repairman diligently begins, as he always did, his routine maintenance work.
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When he’s finished the job, he slips away as quietly as he came. He leaves behind a single trace of his presence.
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The repairman has just become one of the CIA’s best assets.
But the real story begins the year before in New York, at a disused bowling alley so anonymous you wouldn’t give it a single glance, let alone two. It’s far away from prying eyes.
Inside, Xerox’s head of government programs Donald Cary meets with four engineers. They’re not there to bowl. The Xerox men selected for the mission are Douglas Webb, Kent Hemphill, James Young, and thirty-six-year-old Ray Zoppoth, who knows the Xerox 914 inside out. He should do. He helped create the photocopier in the first place.
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It’s exactly the expertise the CIA needs if the agency’s plan is to work.
Because the plan is to heist as many files as they can from the Soviet Union embassy, located within the Mrs. George Pullman House in downtown DC. With security so tight, not even a repairman, however inconspicuous, could hope to walk out unfrisked with stolen files stuffed down his pants.
So, the secret service has to get creative.
For days, the engineers discuss potential ways to capture images of the files being photocopied on the Xerox 914. Finally, Zoppoth hits upon an answer. Like all great ideas, it’s as maddeningly simple as it is cunning.
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Mount a battery-powered home-movie camera with a zoom lens inside the copier. Aim the lens at the mirror used to reflect images onto the drum. And start taking pictures.
According to Stover’s piece, Zoppoth suggests the team “Mount a battery-powered home-movie camera with a zoom lens inside the copier. Aim the lens at the mirror used to reflect images onto the drum. Add a photocell that would prompt the camera to snap still frames whenever the photocopier lit up. And start taking pictures.”
Every time someone lays a document on the bed and presses ‘Copy’, the photocopier lights up, triggering the camera.
Easier said than done, but the Xerox engineers are excited by the breakthrough. They set to work installing a Bell & Howell 8mm movie camera inside a copier located in Xerox’s New York campus.
A vintage 8mm likely similar to one allegedly fitted inside the Xerox 914 (Image credit: Getty Images // Celine Lyneborg)
The noisy, bulky 914 is, it turns out, perfectly tailored to the role of spying device. It’s so impossibly large, it conceals the camera even when the maintenance panels are removed, and the operational sound as staff make copies masks the whir of the camera. No-one has any idea they’re being covertly watched.
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The test run proves a success. Ray Zoppoth and the rest of the research team can see everything passing through the photocopier. “When we developed the pictures, we found recipes and copies of music and cartoons and jokes and all kinds of things,” he later tells Popular Science.
Weeks later, Ray Zoppoth finds himself deep inside a building used by the CIA. He’s led into a basement room allegedly code-named ‘Disneyland East’. Zoppoth shows the spooks the Xerox invention. He teaches them how to fit the camera inside the 914. They, in turn, train the embassy’s regular repairman to install the camera and extract the film each time he returns.
Then, one day, in 1963, a familiar face arrives at the Soviet Embassy to carry out routine maintenance work. He holds a bag containing tools and, in its depths, an innocent 8mm home-movie camera. He’s waved through the gates without a thought.
The rest is history.
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With lips tightly sealed and files classified, we’ll never know what was learned. The Cold War dragged on for another 27 long years.
But shortly after the project ended, Zoppoth confessed that the secret service again tapped up Xerox. This time, they want cameras hidden inside the more streamlined Xerox 813 desktop photocopier, used by ministries, agencies, and diplomatic offices around the world.
If the story is true – and only Zoppoth admitted it, with his colleague confirming but refusing to go on record – it suggests the joint operation was a success.
It remains a reminder that even the unsexiest machine in the office can be a security risk.
You’d think getting wrong advice would make you more cautious. New research says the opposite happens when that advice comes from AI. A study led by Valerio Capraro, a psychology professor at the University of Milan-Bicocca, found that incorrect AI advice made people less accurate, yet noticeably more confident in their answers (via IBM Think).
The study also found that people who received incorrect AI advice became far less willing to admit they didn’t know an answer, even when staying silent was an option, and they were rewarded for accuracy.
Why does wrong AI advice make people so sure of themselves?
Representative Image (AI-generated)
Researchers asked participants six questions about obscure movie details, deliberately picking ones the AI model consistently answered incorrectly. This let them isolate what happens when people consult AI, regardless of whether its advice is actually good.
The results were striking. Without AI, participants declined to answer roughly 36 to 44% of the time across two experiments. With AI available, that dropped to just 3 to 6%. Accuracy fell too, from 27.5 percent correct when working alone to just 9.2 percent with AI involved.
Capraro suspects AI may lower the amount of confidence people need before committing to an answer, essentially shifting how they judge their own certainty. Oddly, this held true even when AI advice appeared automatically without being requested, suggesting the effect isn’t just about actively seeking help.
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Sensor Tower
Does raising the stakes change anything?
Adding financial rewards and penalties made people somewhat more cautious and accurate, though the underlying pattern never fully disappeared. Capraro draws a clear distinction here. AI should augment human judgment, not replace it entirely.
If you are working or aim to work in the research and development field, then consider undertaking an online course to boost your skills.
Whether you are an industry veteran, a newbie, or somewhere in the middle, the industry you are in is likely changing as fast as you can keep up with. That is certainly true of the research and development sector, where innovation and transformation are par for the course.
As a result, it is an absolute necessity that professionals, regardless of which stage of their career they are in, stay aware of the skills, techniques and processes making waves in the sector. If you want your career to evolve in step with the space itself, then make use of every educational opportunity that comes your way – starting with some free and inexpensive online courses.
Coursera
For students or professionals looking to better develop an understanding of research methodologies, Coursera, via the Queen Mary University of London, is running the Research Methodologies programme.
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This flexible 20-hour course consists of four modules in which participants will study different research methodologies, different sampling approaches, and primary and secondary data collection approaches. Students will also look at the role of the internet in market research as well as non-comparative scaling techniques and the course will end with a discussion on different data collection approaches, observation, content analysis, narrative research, phenomenology and the collection of data using ethnography.
A similar course suited to those looking to develop foundational skills is the Coursera/University of London programme titled Understanding Research Methods. This flexible, six-hour course has four core modules and is particularly suited to those conducting research as part of their postgraduate studies or who are looking to build their knowledge base. No prior knowledge or experience in research is required.
Alison
Alison and NPTEL are running the Understanding Research Methods and Approaches programme which involves exploring qualitative research methods, fieldwork and literature reviews among other topics. The free online course offers a general introduction to understanding different research methodologies and various approaches. Students will learn the significance of linking the gap between theory and practice. The advanced level course takes around five to six hours, includes three modules and is CPD accredited.
If you want a more specific education, Alison and NPTEL have additional courses such as a beginner level Introduction to Biomedical Research programme, an Academic and Research Skills for Business Success course and a Research Skills for Healthcare programme.
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Oxford Home Study Centre
The Oxford Home Study Centre is running a free Research Skills training course designed to teach students how to conduct effective research and make efficient use of their time.
The course is flexible, takes around 20 hours to complete and comes with a certificate upon completion. This course delves into the fundamental elements and benefits of research capabilities and will focus on why research skills are important, tips and tricks for reading and note-taking techniques, and how to utilise Miller’s Law, which is a proposed memory retention rule that the average person can only keep seven (plus or minus two) items in their working memory at any given time.
It is ideal for an individual looking to boost the skills that empower research in the long-term, at a core level.
Class Central
Class Central, via Yale University, is running a Fundamentals of Qualitative Research Methods programme.
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The course, which is a Yale University programme accessed for free through YouTube, is a self-paced video course that takes under an hour and a half to finish. Students will learn the fundamentals of qualitative research methods, develop a qualitative research question and gather data using interviews and focus groups.
Class Central, via various other edtech platforms, also offers research programmes such as the Understanding Clinical Research: Behind the Statistics module, Research Ethics and Plagiarism course, and Research Skills, Communication and Dissemination.
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Ukraine approves indigenous turbojet-powered guided bombs for frontline combat operations
Domestic guided bombs now strike military objectives up to 200 kilometers away
Seven Ukrainian manufacturers now build guided bomb conversion systems domestically
Ukraine has officially approved several domestically built guided aerial bombs for combat use, including turbojet-powered versions capable of striking objectives up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) away.
Brig. Gen. Andrii Lebedenko, deputy commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said several of these designs have already seen use on the battlefield, while others remain in testing.
“We already have systems that use more than just gliding. They now carry turbojet engines to increase their employment range to between 100 and 200 kilometers,” said Lebedenko.
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Ukraine expands the reach of indigenous guided bombs
The program began in 2024 as an effort to convert older unguided aerial bombs into precision-guided weapons after Ukraine lacked domestic manufacturers capable of producing such systems.
Ukrainian officials now say the country has seven manufacturers producing guided bomb systems, compared with none when the initiative was first introduced.
“This task was set in 2024. We did not have any such manufacturers in the country. Now there are already seven. They already know how to do it,” said Lebedenko.
He also confirmed that Ukraine already operates aircraft capable of launching domestically produced weapons, while expanding manufacturing capacity has become the next priority for the defense industry.
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According to Ukrainian officials, the program has also created a growing community of engineers capable of designing glide kits and propulsion systems for increasingly sophisticated aerial munitions.
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“Moreover, a school of specialists and engineers has emerged who know how to create gliding systems. They know how to make them with engines,” said Lebedenko.
Some of the latest variants are no longer limited to gliding after release because turbojet engines continue powering the bombs toward military objectives at greater stand-off distances.
Alongside upgrading older munitions, Ukraine has also developed entirely indigenous guided aerial bombs, expanding its domestic precision strike capability.
Ukraine’s Brave1 defense innovation platform announced the country’s first indigenous guided aerial bomb after approximately 17 months of development.
The weapon carries a 250-kilogram warhead designed to strike fortified positions, command centers, and other military objectives located dozens of kilometers away.
Developers have described the weapon as a completely original Ukrainian design rather than an adaptation of an existing foreign guided bomb.
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Ukrainian military officials have also indicated that improving strike accuracy remains more important than producing larger numbers of guided bombs for operational use.
“We are looking toward precision so that we can effectively destroy enemy command posts, drone control centers, infrastructure, and other targets,” said Lebedenko.
Ukraine has also disclosed expanding manufacturing capacity, growing engineering expertise, and longer operational reach for its guided bomb program.
However, independent verification of battlefield performance remains limited because operational details surrounding combat employment have not been publicly released.
The Amazfit T-Rex 2 Ultra is a well-stocked smartwatch for adventurers – you just need to be willing to handle its hulking watch frame.
Plenty of battery life
High-end watch features at a more affordable price
A useful LED flashlight
It’s a big watch to wear
Smartwatch ecosystem lags behind competition
GPS and heart rate tracking not best in class
Key Features
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Review Price:
£549
Built-in LED flashlight
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Integrated white and green LED modes offer high visibility for nighttime outdoor activities.
Dual-band GPS tracking
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Dual-band GPS technology delivers strong distance and pace tracking accuracy during outdoor workouts.
Long-lasting battery life
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An 870mAh battery provides up to 30 days of typical use and up to 10 days with always-on display.
Introduction
The Amazfit T-Rex Ultra 2 is a smartwatch built for outdoor lovers who don’t want to spend the big bucks on a new Garmin Fenix 8, Garmin Instinct 3 or Apple Watch Ultra 3.
The Android and iOS-friendly outdoor smartwatch offers many of the same features you’ll find on those more premium options. That includes offline colour maps, turn-by-turn navigation, and sports modes aplenty, all packaged up in a watch design that’s built to operate in extreme environments.
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When you’re not heading off for a multi-day hike, the Ultra 2 will let you pay your way, make calls over Bluetooth and let you load up music to keep you company on your off-road outings.
With the arrival of the Ultra, Zepp Health has now grown its T-Rex series to three watches. This sits at the top of that pile, but is it the one you should go for and is this one of the best outdoor smartwatches? I’ve been wearing it for a few weeks to find that out.
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Design and screen
Now larger case size
Larger AMOLED display
Comes in one colour
If we’re comparing the Ultra 2 to the last Ultra and the T-Rex 3 Pro, this is a considerably larger watch to live with. You now have a 51mm case that measures in at 14.3mm thick.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
It’s inevitably going to get compared to Garmin’s 51mm Fenix 8 model, which is thinner, though opting for a titanium bezel and buttons helps to ensure it’s not super heavy to wear. At just shy of 90g, it actually sits at around the same weight as Garmin’s 51mm Fenix. You can find lighter, smaller and still rugged watches, including in Zepp Health’s own Amazfit line.
It’s a watch dominated by its titanium bezel that surrounds a now larger 1.5-inch, 480 x 480 resolution AMOLED touchscreen. That’s a screen that can achieve a maximum brightness of 3,000 nits. I did find that in some brighter outdoor light, it can still be challenging to view the screen at some angles. The screen visibility and overall quality are good, but I think you’ll find better screens on rival watches.
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Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
The strap attached to that big polymer case is unsurprisingly a pretty robust silicone one. At 26mm, it’s a sizable strap to whip on. The traditional watch clasp ensures it stays securely in place at all times, with a clippable design that makes it very easy to swap the strap out for a new one.
The visible screws are your indicator that Zepp Health has designed this watch to operate in extreme environments. Whether it’s the ability to handle recreational dives up to 45 metres or offer military-grade resistance to extreme heat and cold temperatures, this is a watch truly built for some serious rough and tumble.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
There is room on that case exterior for an LED flashlight, which has become an on-trend feature for outdoor watches. This one shines nice and bright, making it a worthy addition. There are both white and green LED light modes along with a boost mode, when you need a bump in visibility.
Performance and software
ZeppOS supports Android and iOS
Zepp Pay, App Store and free offline maps
Bluetooth calls supported
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Zepp Health keeps the software all in-house. So the Ultra 2, like other Amazfit smartwatches, runs on ZeppOS, which is available for both Android and iOS users. The experience of using it across the two platforms is largely the same, bar a few missing features on either side. iPhone users can control their phone camera remotely, while Android users have the added ability to send quick replies to messages.
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The big addition from the first Ultra is the built-in microphone and speaker. This allows you to handle calls, hear turn-by-turn directions during navigation mode, and it also brings the voice memo feature into play. The speaker goes pretty loud, if not the clearest when using it for calls.
It can also be used with Zepp Flow, which means you can speak to the watch to ask about your fitness stats, switch on the do not disturb mode or just set a timer. While it is not as sophisticated a voice assistant as Google’s Gemini or Apple’s Siri, it works well enough to give you an alternative way to interact with the watch.
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In terms of core features like viewing notifications, using music controls and loading audio, making contactless payments, and generally getting around on the watch, everything works well enough. If you’re looking for a watch you can download apps and watch faces, you can do that here – just don’t expect a storefront that matches the likes of Google Play in Wear OS in terms of variety and the number of available apps and watch faces.
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ZeppOS still lags a little behind the likes of Garmin, Apple, and Wear OS watches when it comes to offering a polished smartwatch ecosystem. It doesn’t necessarily shortchange you in features; it just doesn’t quite match up to the competition.
Tracking and features
Over 180 sports modes
Works with Strava, Komoot and TrainingPeaks
Promises pre-loaded maps and automatic re-routing
Whether you run, swim, bike, stay indoors or love Hyrox-style workouts, the Ultra 2 pretty much has you covered. This is a watch that can also track your daily step counts, monitor sleep time or continuously track heart rate. Those are likely not the main reasons you’re going to be looking at it, though.
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You’re probably going to be sizing it up because of its abilities to accurately track your movements outside, offer maps you can view and follow on the watch and be able to quickly know when you’re about to hit higher-altitude terrain.
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I’ll start with tracking accuracy: you get dual-band GPS, giving you the latest GPS technology available in smartwatches. Though as I’ve found, not all dual-band GPS watches deliver the same results.
I’d say the T-Rex Ultra 2 delivers very strong GPS accuracy. The likes of Garmin, Apple and Suunto just shade it overall for the best showcase of dual-band, but for distance tracking and metrics like average pace, I was happy with what the Ultra 2 served up.
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For mapping and navigation support, there is the promise of preloaded maps, but I ended up having to sync them over from the Zepp phone app as I’ve done with other map-supporting Amazfit smartwatches.
Depending on how big the location or region you want to sync is, it can take anywhere from 20-30 minutes to transfer maps to the watch. Even with the option of doing that over Wi-Fi, I found things a bit slow going.
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When the maps are loaded, you can use a mixture of the touchscreen and physical buttons to zoom and move around maps, pick from two different map viewing styles and make use of the onboard navigation features.
You can upload a route to follow, explore nearby spots like coffee shops and create routes directly on the watch. Maps are nicely detailed and easy to view, and the navigation features work well to steer you in the right direction if you veer off course.
If you’re looking for a more traditional sports watch experience, the Ultra 2 can give you that as well. I’ve used it for a range of indoor workouts including pool swims and the tracking in general has been very good.
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Heart rate tracking accuracy is a mixed bag – though I do typically find this is the case with bigger watches. Given the size of the Ultra 2, I do think that contributes to some of the inaccurate readings I’ve seen during more high-intensity workouts. You can pair external heart rate monitors over Bluetooth, as well as various cycling sensors, if you want a more accurate read on your data.
The training features and training insights available are a work in progress for Zepp Health. You can better understand your training volume, see recommended recovery times, and set up interval training sessions, with the watch capable of automatically recognising a range of strength training movements. While these features are well-built and the insights do feel mostly reliable, the presentation needs a bit of work.
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It’s good to see that you can link it to the likes of Strava, Runkeeper, Apple Health and Google Fit, which means you can pull in workout and training data from other sources if you’re not just a one-device person.
Up to 30 days battery life
Up to 10 days with always-on display mode
50-177 hours GPS battery life
The T-Rex Ultra 2 is built to be on your wrist for big adventures, which means it needs to deliver big battery life.
There’s an 870mAh capacity battery inside of its hulking 51mm frame that can max out to a month with what Zepp Health deems typical use. That’s basically when you’re not regularly using GPS, the flashlight or using the most accurate continuous health monitoring support.
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When you start to add some of those features into the mix, those numbers drop. That said, it’s still designed to be a watch that can last over a week – even with the screen on at all times.
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I found the battery life in general to be very good. On some heavier usage days, the battery drop was around 10%. Overnight, the drop can be as little as 2%. I never felt there was a noticeable battery drain. When you keep the screen on at all times, you can get up to 10 days of battery, depending on whether you’re using those more power-hungry features.
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When you’re using the GPS, battery numbers range from 50 hours with its most accurate GPS mode to up to 177 hours with the GPS max battery life mode. In most cases, you’ll have to sacrifice the most accurate GPS tracking; I found that an hour of tracking in the most accurate GPS mode dropped the battery by around 5%. That doesn’t equate to the 50 hours promised.
If you compare those GPS battery numbers to the pricier 51mm Fenix 8 Pro, Garmin’s watch can go anywhere from 21 hours to 24 days. So it’s not quite the mammoth numbers promised by the watch it’s clearly trying to emulate.
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Should you buy it?
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You want an outdoor-friendly smartwatch that’s cheaper than the competition
While an expensive smartwatch, the T-Rex 2 Ultra does undercut the competition while offering a solid all-round performance.
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You want the best-value Amazfit outdoor smartwatch
The Amazfit T-Rex 3 Pro is smaller and offers a lot of the same features as the T-Rex 2 Ultra for considerably less money.
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Final Thoughts
If the plan for the Amazfit was to offer a good, cut-price alternative to Garmin’s largest Fenix 8 model and similarly priced Garmin Instinct 3, then I think the T-Rex Ultra 2 mostly achieves that.
It’s got a rugged design, a bucketload of outdoor features and can deliver the kind of battery life that means it can last for weeks. The problem is that the T-Rex 3 Pro exists and that’s not far off offering the same qualities for less money.
Really, the Pro model feels like the smarter buy unless you really value a bigger display, a bit more battery and that pretty handy flashlight.
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How We Test
We thoroughly test every smartwatch we review. We use industry-standard testing to compare features properly, and we use the watch as our main device over the review period. We’ll always tell you what we find and we never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Worn as our main smartwatch during the testing period
Health data compared against other wearables
FAQs
What are the main differences between the T-Rex Ultra 2 and the T-Rex Pro 3?
The T-Rex Ultra 2 includes a larger 51mm case, more battery life, a built-in flashlight, and more onboard storage than the T-Rex Pro 3.
Apple is presenting John Ternus as the steady continuation of Tim Cook‘s leadership, with the incoming CEO praising the company’s momentum while declining to reveal how he intends to reshape it.
Cook and Ternus appeared together July 27 at the Los Angeles premiere of the Apple TV series Ted Lasso, giving Apple an unusually public setting to present its approaching leadership handoff.
The event was Cook’s final Apple TV premiere as CEO and Ternus’ first since Apple named him as Cook’s successor. Both executives arrived in navy suits, open-collar white shirts and “Believe” pins, reinforcing the image of continuity.
Cook offered an emphatic endorsement of the executive who will replace him on September 1, 2026.
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Cook called Ternus “the perfect person for this role.”. Ternus described the promotion as an extraordinary opportunity after 25 years at Apple.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “I’ve been at Apple for 25 years, I love Apple, and to have this opportunity is beyond words.”
Ternus isn’t showing his hand
Ternus offered few details when asked how he might change Apple TV after becoming CEO.
“I am just so excited about the momentum we have,” Ternus said. “There’s so much great content on Apple TV, and now is just the perfect time for us to keep the momentum up, keep bringing in incredible storytellers and creative folks to keep making it better.”
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Asked whether he had begun discussing his own plans for Apple TV with services chief Eddy Cue, Ternus said, “I think it’s pretty amazing right now.”
He declined to discuss whether Apple should release more films in theaters, bringing his answer back to the Ted Lasso premiere instead. When asked what he planned to do first on September 1, Ternus was equally guarded.
“You have to wait and see,” he said.
The answers don’t reveal whether Ternus plans substantial changes to Apple TV. They do show that Apple isn’t using the transition to promise an immediate strategic reset.
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Apple is selling continuity, not reinvention
Apple announced the succession plan on April 20, 2026. Ternus will take control of Apple’s daily operations, while Cook will become executive chairman and assist with certain matters, including engagement with policymakers around the world.
The cast and Apple executives attend the Ted Lasso Season 4 premiere at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles on July 27, 2026. Image credit: Getty Images
Cook said at the premiere that the transition had gone exceptionally well for Apple’s employees and investors.
“It’s over the top great,” Cook said. “John is the perfect person for this role, and the whole thing has just been great.”
Cook previously told employees that he selected the timing because Apple had a strong business, an ambitious product roadmap and a successor ready to take charge. He also said he planned to remain executive chairman for a long time and serve as a sounding board for Ternus.
The arrangement puts Ternus in charge while keeping Cook involved as an adviser and executive chairman. Their appearance at the premiere reinforced Apple’s message that the transition is about continuity rather than an urgent change in direction.
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Ternus isn’t an outsider hired to overturn Cook’s strategy. He joined Apple in 2001 and became senior vice president of Hardware Engineering in 2021 after working on products including the Mac, iPad and iPhone.
He also became the executive sponsor for Apple’s design organization at the end of 2025, giving him a wider role across hardware and software design before Apple announced his promotion. Ternus later told employees that Apple would continue focusing on design because it remained central to the company’s work.
Those responsibilities could influence where Ternus places his attention as CEO, but they don’t point to an immediate break with Cook. Apple’s products and strategies develop over several years, so releases during the opening stretch of Ternus’ tenure will largely reflect work completed before he took charge.
No individual executive can quickly redirect a company with Apple’s size, organizational structure and long development cycles.
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Ternus may eventually put a distinct mark on Apple, particularly through the design and hardware organizations he already knows. His first public appearance beside Cook as the incoming CEO instead showed that Apple wants the transition to look steady, familiar and deliberately uneventful.
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