Set in 2027, Battlefield 6 marks a return of a single-player campaign mode alongside a customisable multiplayer experience. Dubbed “Battlefield Portal”, you can customise game modes with different rules via a platform based on the open-source game engine, Godot.
Changing the in-game movement was one of the focus areas for Battlefield 6‘s developers. You can now drag wounded teammates out of the fray to revive them, or mount weapons on walls to steady your aim.
The game’s developers say that Battlefield 6‘s four classes — Assault, Recon, Support, and Engineer — have been improved as part of the overall gameplay refresh. Multiplayer also gets a new mode called “Escalation”, which sees two teams “fight to capture strategic control points”.
Unlike the competing Call of Duty franchise, Battlefield doesn’t have an annual release cycle. Battlefield 6 is the series’ first new entry since the futuristic Battlefield 2042 in 2021, which followed 2018’s Battlefield V.
Development cycles aren’t the only big difference between the two sets of games; where Call of Duty mainly focuses on compact battles between small teams, Battlefield concerns itself with the entire theatre of war — big squads do battle with tanks, helicopters and other armaments in a more team strategy-centric setting.
Ahead of Battlefield 6‘s 10 October release date, EA has two open betas planned: one between 9 and 11 August, with a follow-up open beta between 14 and 18 August. The game is set to launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC.
Third-party developers took centre stage during Nintendo’s “Partner Showcase” Direct overnight. Most of the games shown were ports of existing titles on other platforms or previously announced projects, but there was a fair bit of quality on show.
The handful of new games revealed look impressive, adding to the growing library of Switch 2 games on the horizon. Rather than just show you everything that was announced, which you can find anywhere — like on the excellent Nintendo news site Vooks — I wanted to highlight several that will consume my waking hours in the coming months.
From Zelda spin-offs to a new Monster Hunter entry, these are the eight games I’m most excited to play from last night’s Nintendo Direct.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
Hyrule Warriors is a severely underrated Zelda spin-off. What if you could lead massive armies against the forces of evil in Hyrule? That’s precisely what you do in Hyrule Warriors, so I’m definitely looking forward to Age of Imprisonment.
Zelda fans will be pleased to know that this entry is a canonical telling of the events leading into Tears of the Kingdom. A lot of stuff happens in these games that’s not always depicted on-screen, so it’s cool to see new bits of information come to light.
It got a new trailer in the latest Nintendo Direct, but no release date yet, other than “spring”. Which makes me wonder if Nintendo also has an update planned for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. It launched on the original Switch and struggled to run smoothly on the older hardware. I get the feeling it’d be much better on the Switch 2.
Oh, and a heads-up for anyone searching for further information: don’t just search “Age of Imprisonment”. The first result I got was a Wikipedia article about the age of criminal responsibility in Australia.
Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles
Final Fantasy Tactics was a big hit among my friends growing up, particularly the Game Boy Advance entry. It’s a smart strategy series that borrows a lot of the good high fantasy stuff from the main series, wrapping it in a fun tactical package.
Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles is a new version of the 1997 PlayStation One original, and I’m very excited that people who missed out the first time can enjoy it with a fresh coat of paint. It’s coming to both Switch and Switch 2 on 30 September.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection
A gentler entry into the complex Monster Hunter series, the Stories spin-offs take on a more Pokémon-like approach. Instead of real-time combat, the series is turn-based, letting you take your time when battling huge monsters.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection looks like it’ll be right at home on Switch 2 for people like me who prefer a slower approach to their monster hunting. It’s out sometime in 2026.
My first Madden game was Madden 08 on the Wii, so I’ve got a soft spot for Nintendo versions of the annual NFL sports sim. This year, Madden NFL 26 has two major drawcards for me: the return of the series on Nintendo, and its cover athlete. Philadelphia Eagles’ Saquon Barkley graces this year’s cover, so I’m grabbing a copy and Tush Pushing my way to victory.
If you want to join me, Madden NFL 2 hurdles onto Nintendo Switch 2 on 14 August.
Yakuza Kiwami 1 & 2
Whenever a Yakuza game takes to the screen, I’m there. Yakuza Kiwami 1 and 2, remakes of the series’ first two games, have been around for a while, but the allure of playing them on the Switch 2 is strong. And yes, I’m aware that these are technically two games, but I’m counting them as one for the purposes of this article.
For the uninitiated, the Yakuza series follows the stoic yet sensitive Kazuma Kiryu, who navigates Japan’s criminal underworld and its many back-stabbing factions while protecting those he loves. It’s incredibly earnest and melodramatic, with some of the best mini-games and side-quests in all of gaming.
You can play both games on Switch 2 when they come out on 13 November.
Octopath Traveller 0
Square Enix’s gorgeous pixel art games tell some ripping stories, which is exactly what I’m expecting from Octopath Traveller 0. Unlike the rest of the series, you create your own protagonist while accumulating a hearty roster of companions.
There’s a cool-looking settlement builder element that tasks you with rebuilding your hometown after it’s been razed to the ground. It looks like the moreish combat of previous Octopath games returns, too — no point fixing what ain’t broke.
Octopath Traveller 0 comes to both Switch and Switch 2 on 4 December.
Persona 3 Reload
I never got around to finishing Persona 3 Reload when it debuted on Xbox Game Pass last year. A remake of the 2006 JRPG, Reload modernised the game for those who jumped on the Persona bandwagon with Persona 5 — which was my entry point.
It’s a game begging to be played on a portable device, which is exactly what I’ll do when Persona 3 Reload hits the Nintendo Switch 2 on 23 October.
Star Wars Outlaws
I liked Star Wars Outlaws a lot when it came out last year. Not everyone shared the same sentiment, but that’s okay, variety is the spice of life and all that. It’s had a lot of updates since, including some additional content, so I think Outlaws deserves a second look.
At the time, I really appreciated how authentic Outlaws felt to the Star Wars Universe, and while it was expansive, it wasn’t unnecessarily bloated by modern open-world standards. Plus, Nix, your fuzzy little companion, is utterly adorable.
I’m keen to see how Star Wars Outlaws runs on the Switch 2’s handheld mode when it drops on 4 September.
DJI’s new camera shoots at up to 8K resolution at 50fps when recording in 360 mode. The company claims that the Osmo 360 can record for 100 minutes at a time in 8K and 30fps. It’s technically longer than Insta360’s flagship X5 camera, which can record up to 93 minutes non-stop, although dropping the frame rate to 24fps can boost the runtime to 115 minutes.
The Osmo 360 uses a front and rear lens to capture its 360-degree footage, and you can also use a single lens by itself as a first-person action camera. DJI says its camera uses the equivalent of a 1-inch CMOS sensor in 360-degree mode with an f/1.9 aperture and 2.4μm pixels, a larger size designed to capture more light and details.
Capable of snapping still images, too, the Osmo 360 can take a 360-degree image in up to 120 megapixels. Like many of DJI’s devices, including the Osmo Pocket 3, its latest camera lets you track subjects automatically, which would be handy when trying to record fast-moving scenes.
On the inside, the Osmo 360 comes with 105GB of internal storage, and a battery that lasts up to 190 minutes. Available to order now, it comes in two main bundle options: the $759 Standard Combo, and the $989 Adventure Combo. What sets the two apart is that the Adventure Combo includes a few extras, including an additional battery, a selfie stick, and a battery case.
Melbourne will be the place to be for game lovers over the next few months. Aside from PAX Aus in October, ACMI will open its doors in September for the Game Worlds exhibition, an interactive behind-the-scenes exhibit of big games like Minecraft, World of Warcraft, The Sims, and the yet-to-be-released Hollow Knight: Silksong.
Including more than 30 games from over 50 years, the exhibition chronicles the development history of prominent games from around the world, including some made right here in Australia. Visitors can expect to play many of the games on display, including early development versions and rare prototypes.
ACMI also commissioned four microgames made by emerging local talent, which will be playable as part of the exhibition. Game Worlds will run for several months, including a series of developer talks and events, before touring internationally.
“Game Worlds is not just an exhibition for videogame fans and their families, but for those who are curious about why we say they are the ‘defining art form of this century’,” said Seb Chan, ACMI Director and CEO. “This exhibition celebrates the people, the players, the craft and technologies that make on-screen worldbuilding possible.”
Hollow Knight: Silksong, by Adelaide studio Team Cherry, is set to be a major attraction. Image: Team Cherry.
A major drawcard will be the inclusion of Hollow Knight: Silksong, the long-awaited sequel to Adelaide studio Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight, an international hit that originally launched in 2017. Exclusive Silksong merch will be available at Game Worlds, like a 64-page zine officially endorsed by the game’s developers. That’s quite the scoop, given Team Cherry’s notably media-shy nature.
More than just one game, however, Game Worlds is about the people and communities who connect through games, according to a quote co-attributed to Bethan Johnson and Jini Maxwell, the exhibition’s curators.
“Our exhibition honours the real-life experiences that are made possible by and through videogames, highlighting the players and developers – and stories that bring videogame worlds to life.”
ACMI’s Game Worlds exhibition opens on 18 September 2025 and runs until 8 February 2026. Tickets are available now directly from ACMI, priced at $17 for children and $30 for full-priced adults.
Nintendo has announced a Direct “Partner Showcase” presentation scheduled to air tonight, dedicated to Switch and Switch 2 games made by third-party developers.
That means we won’t see any games made by Nintendo’s internal team, so don’t expect any Metroid Prime 4 news. However, the Partner Showcase could reveal more information about Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, a Zelda spin-off being made by Koei Tecmo. There’s also a chance of Hades II getting a release date, following the success of Supergiant Games’ original mythological dungeon crawler.
There was speculation that Nintendo was preparing for its first Direct not focused on one game since launching the Switch 2 in June. Despite concerns over tsunami warnings for Japan, everything looks to be going full-speed ahead.
Australians can tune into the 25-minute Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase tonight (31 July 2025) at 11 PM AEST via the company’s YouTube channel.
Keen to prove wet-dry vacuums are as good as applying a healthy dose of elbow grease, Tineco has launched a new set of appliances as part of the Floor One S9 Artist range.
“Artist” is an interesting label to give a cleaning appliance, one that likely reflects the new wet-dry vacuums’ darker, more chic design. Both models, the S9 Artist Steam and the S9 Artist Pro, look much less sterile in aesthetic than your run-of-the-mill cleaning device.
You might have to earn more than an artist to bring one home, though. The Tineco Floor One S9 Artist Steam costs $1,499 in Australia, while the Pro model costs $1,299. Based on Alice Clarke’s review of the Steam model, it’s a worthwhile investment considering the improved cleaning performance compared to other wet-dry vacuums.
One of the big improvements comes from the repositioned water tank. Previously located in the appliance’s body, the tank now sits in the head at the base of the unit. Combined with its motorised wheels, the weight distribution helps with manoeuvrability while applying more force to clean up sticky messes.
As the name differences suggest, the Steam model uses high temperatures to dislodge stains. Meanwhile, the Pro model relies on 22,000Pa of suction power to get the job done. Both models use self-cleaning technology, can lie flat at a 180-degree angle, and automatically adjust cleaning performance based on how messy the floor is.
While on the pricier side, Tineco’s new wet-dry vacuums look promising for anyone wanting to ditch the traditional mop and bucket combo.
The Tineco Floor One S9 Artist range is out now in Australia. As part of a launch promotion, buying one of the new wet-dry vacuums by 31 August also bundles in a bonus Tineco Go Mini Pet Hand Vacuum.
With the rise in popularity of hard flooring this past decade comes the rise of the wet-dry vacuum cleaner. I have tried a lot of wet-dry vacuum cleaners over the years, most of which I haven’t been impressed by. So, I was a little hesitant when I first approached the Tineco Floor One S9 Artist Steam. That all changed once I actually started using it.
This is the first wet-dry floor cleaner I’ve tried that I’ve actually loved. But, is it worth the huge $1,499 price tag?
This is a sleek and premium-looking appliance. It has the aesthetic of a robot from a 1960s TV show.
Moving the water tank from the body to the head of the device has changed the way the machine is weighted compared to previous models, making it easier to manoeuvre while adding extra downward force to remove tough stains. Despite it being heavy, it almost feels weightless when I glide it around, thanks to the motorised wheels on the base.
Image: Alice Clarke.
The setup process was nice and easy, and overall it took me about 15 minutes to go from a taped-up box to a clean kitchen floor, and it doesn’t get much better than that.
Tineco Floor One S9 Artist Steam specifications and price
Steam temperature
140°C
Clean water tank capacity
880mL
Dirty water tank capacity
750mL
Operation noise
78dB(A)
Battery runtime
75 minutes
Charging time
3.5 hours
Price (RRP)
$1,499
Manufacturer’s warranty
Two years (in addition to your Australian consumer law rights)
Overall, there’s a lot to love there. Other good features not listed in the specs are that it can lie flat, and it has a smart sensor to sense how dirty the floor is (and adjust power based on that information). Because the rollers take up so much of the base, it’s able to get pretty close to walls on three sides. It also has an LED screen, which to me feels like overkill (there could just be little lights indicating which modes it’s in), but looks very pretty and premium.
It also, and this is a very important feature, cleans itself. You press a button, and then it washes and dries the roller. You then have to physically (and somewhat grossly) empty the dirty water tank. But you’ll almost never have to touch the roller, unlike on some other brands.
To me, this is worth the extra money, because I do not want to touch the roller. I know how gross my floor is, and I want no part of that nonsense.
Performance
My old testing methods used to include wiping assorted foods on the ground, and strategically dropping flour and other debris and then testing how efficient the cleaner was at picking those things up.
I have since levelled up my testing by having a toddler, which really increases the difficulty level on multiple fronts.
Tile steam cleaning
My kitchen floor should be cleaner than it normally is. I know this, and you know this. The toddler who occupies most of my waking non-work hours does not care about this. So, I value any device that is able to be more thorough than our Roborock robot vacuum cleaner, very quickly.
My previous device (the Tineco S7 One) just didn’t have the lifting power this disaster zone requires. The Artist Series S9 Steam’s hotter steam and heavier cleaner head massively increases the lifting power, making it able to clean off the encrusted porridge, and splashes from last night’s pasta sauce. A bit of sprinkled flour was nothing to the S9 Steam.
I did have to go over a couple of dried-on sauce splashes four or five times, but I didn’t have to put in any elbow grease, and it doesn’t take long to go back and forth a few times. It’s certainly a lot faster than a traditional mop.
It didn’t leave behind any streaks; the floor was merely moist in the wake of the S9, rather than wet.
Lying flat helps the appliance fit under more furniture. Image: Tineco.
While I still think my manual steam mop cleans slightly better, that’s only with the addition of putting my back into it and using the heft of my body weight. Meanwhile, I could comfortably and calmly push around the beautifully balanced S9 in a half-asleep daze and still have it come out looking excellent.
Being able to lie the cleaner flat to go under the kitchen island with minimal suction loss sounds like a really good idea. But because the body is so thick (or “thicc“, as the kids would say), I couldn’t get it too far under any of my furniture. Still, the distance it can get under is more than the previous model, and is better than the complete nothing I did previously.
Hardwood flooring cleaning
This is the test that I pulled out the big guns for. I fed my daughter porridge and chia pudding for breakfast. If you’ve never seen a 13-month-old eat porridge and chia pudding, then you’re missing out. I think it’s roughly akin to the sight of Jackson Pollock creating a masterpiece, but with more joyful abandon.
Porridge, when dried, is reminiscent of papier-mâché glue. Dried chia pudding could be used in place of super glue, and the seeds are the glitter of the toddler food world — they are everywhere, and you will be finding them for decades to come.
I also gave her some avocado, because why not throw caution to the wind?
We have sealed French oak hardwood floors I absolutely love and am constantly afraid of damaging. Wooden floors should never get too wet, let alone hot and steamy. So, I’m always nervous about using wet-dry devices on it, as well as traditional mops, because you never know what will happen.
Thank goodness for self-cleaning technology — ongoing maintenance is pretty hands-off. Image: Alice Clarke.
All of that is to say that I gave the Tineco Floor One Artist Series S9 Steam one hell of a challenge. According to Tineco, the auto mode on the Floor One Artist Series S9 Steam is designed to be gentle enough to use on sealed wood floors.
I’m pleased to report that it did an excellent job on these dried breakfast foods. I did have to rub a couple of the crusty stains with my socked foot to loosen them after it had been moistened by the S9, but the appliance was then easily able to lift them after that.
With the S7 model, I used to have to get down on hands and knees with a cloth after the machine had done some of the work. Being able to push it with a toe and then allow the T9 to do its job was a huge step up.
This was all done in auto mode, with no damage done to the floor after a week of use. It’s the cleanest this floor has looked in 13 months.
Bin emptying experience
This is the bit I was most nervous about. I think I have PTSD from the time I forgot to empty the S7’s dirty water tank for a couple of weeks. The contents had started a new civilisation.
Cleaning the Tineco Floor One Artist Series S9 Steam’s dirty water tank is still a deeply, deeply gross experience, don’t get me wrong. But it is now a less gross experience that’s less likely to clog up your plumbing, and that’s nice.
The dirty water tank grabs the chunks (for want of a better term) and holds them in the lid, and then the gross liquid goes to the bottom of the tank. I found that there were still chunks in the water, and I am vaguely concerned for my plumbing, though less concerned than I was previously. Tineco recommends flushing the dirty water tank down the toilet instead of pouring it down the sink, but the pipes are still the same.
I’m not going to gross you out by showing the chunks here. Image: Alice Clarke.
It’s then easy to bash the chunks out of the lid into the household bin, without having to touch any of them. This is the way it should be.
Despite my concern about the remaining chunks in the plumbing, this is the best bin-emptying experience I’ve ever had on a wet-dry floor cleaner. So, while it’s not perfect, I’m pretty sure it’s among the best currently available. Sometimes that’s enough.
Who is the Tineco Floor One S9 Artist Steam for?
This is the wet-dry floor steam cleaner you get when you want your floor clean at any price. It’s perfect for toddler parents, lazy people, people who love to cook, and anyone with hard floors and a large budget.
Price aside, this is the best wet-dry floor cleaner I’ve ever used, and I’ve used a lot over the years.
Tineco Floor One S9 Artist Steam
This is the wet-dry floor steam cleaner you get when you want your floor clean at any price.
Features
9.5
Value for money
8
Performance
9
Ease of use
9
Design
8
Positives
Cleans the floor really well
Dirty water tank is easier to clean than other models I’ve tried
Well-balanced and easy to manoeuvre
Negatives
Dirty water tank chunk holder doesn’t capture all of the chunks
Every year, one of the best parts of PAX Aus is the Indie Showcase. It gives a prominent platform for independent developers to show their work at one of the country’s biggest gaming and pop culture expos. Ready for this year’s event in October, PAX Aus has announced the 2025 Indie Showcase winners, including a range of digital and tabletop creators.
Like last year’s winners, the 2025 showcase includes 12 games from across the country, made up of six digital games and six tabletop games.
One of the digital Indie Showcase winners is Doggy Don’t Care, a mischievous game from Sydney developer Rotub Games about causing mayhem as an adorable pup. Set in a highly interactive 3D environment, it lets you pee on whatever you want. So, just like a real-life naughty canine, then!
I also like the sound of Panda Party Game, another New South Wales-made game by Cheerfolk, which is described as “a fast-paced, pick-up-and-play card game” about throwing “wild pizza-fuelled parties” with pandas.
All of the 2025 Indie Showcase winners also have a dedicated section on the PAX Aus website. This year’s expo takes place between 10-12 October in Melbourne; three-day passes have already sold out, while single-day passes are quickly selling out.
Budget phones, typically devices that cost $300 or less, usually don’t get many years of software support. You might get one operating system upgrade and a few years of security updates. However, the new Oppo A5 4G and A5x 4G phones subvert budget expectations in a big way.
As confirmed to WhistleOut Australia, the Oppo A5 phones come with guarantees of six years’ worth of security updates and three years of operating system updates. Considering the Oppo A5 costs $259, while the A5x costs $219, that’s a remarkable promise of post-launch support.
One trade-off is the lack of 5G connectivity across both phones. Not to be confused with the $299 A5 5G model, the 4G version is similar yet different in a few key areas. Both use a 1604 x 720 display, which was one of the main criticisms we had of the Oppo A5 5G.
Elsewhere, the A5 4G steps up the RAM from 4GB to 6GB, while abandoning the MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chipset in favour of the Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 1 processor. It shares the same 6,000mAh battery along with up to 45W wired charging speeds.
For the slightly lower price, the Oppo A5x 4G model retains 4GB of memory, while employing a 32MP main wide-angle camera — the other phones use a 50MP sensor instead.
Both the Oppo A5 4G models also come with an IP65 dust and water resistance rating. While that’s not quite as high as the Oppo A5 Pro 5G’s impressive IP69 rating, it’s still decent for the sub-$300 price.
But the true value lies in the software support. Six years of ongoing security updates is right up there with the seven years of support offered with Samsung and Google’s flagship phones.
Both the Oppo A5 4G and Oppo A5x 4G are out now in Australia from tech retailers, including JB Hi-Fi and Officeworks.
The Australian federal government has confirmed that YouTube will be included in the upcoming youth social media ban.
It means that any Australian under the age of 16 will not be permitted to have a YouTube account. YouTube Kids, Google’s dedicated platform for children that does not enable video uploading or commenting, will not be part of the ban. Australians of all ages will still be able to access and view YouTube content without an account.
YouTube was not initially included in the government’s proposed youth social media ban. At the time of the proposed legislation’s passing in the Senate last year, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok were included, while YouTube was considered exempt.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant urged the government in June to reverse YouTube’s exemption, citing the platform as “the most prevalent social media site” used by children.
In response, YouTube argued that it is a “video sharing platform, not a social media service, that offers benefit and value to younger Australians.”
Platforms defined as an “age-restricted social media platform” will be subject to the government’s underage ban starting on 10 December 2025. Social media platforms that fail to take “responsible steps to prevent underage account” access could be fined up to $49.5 million.
How will the youth social media ban be enforced?
Enforcement is now the next step of the government’s plans. There’s a lot of discussion about how social media platforms will verify users’ ages. Internet users in the UK have found multiple ways to bypass recent age verification technology, including using VPNs and scanning the faces of video game characters.
When asked whether Australians would need to upload their ID to verify their age, Communications Minister Anika Wells said that social media platforms “have to provide an alternative to providing your own personal identification documents”.
“These platforms know with deadly accuracy who we are, what we do, and when we do it,” Wells said during a press conference. “They know you’ve had a Facebook account since 2009, so they know that you’re over 16. There are lots of ways this can be done.”
Wells added that the government is awaiting the latest research from the eSafety Commissioner following a recent age assurance trial. More details about the implementation of the ban will be known closer to its December deadline.
Google recently announced a new feature for Chrome users in the US that provides AI-generated summaries of reviews for online storefronts. That sounds like a recipe for disaster, given how much AI-generated content exists online.
On the surface, Google’s review summarising feature seems altruistic: saving you time by collating a bunch of reviews and advising you of what’s worth spending money on sounds helpful, right?
But how can you trust an AI summary when so many online reviews are fake?
Fake AI-generated reviews of products and services are a growing problem. Companies dedicated to detecting fake reviews estimate that millions of reviews use generative AI as part of efforts to falsely boost a company’s standing.
Search “AI-generated reviews” on Google, and you’ll see the first page flooded with results from services offering to use AI to produce reviews for companies’ products and services. One such service claims to “automatically generate genuine and unbiased testimonials and reviews”.
To this I ask one question: how? How can a review generated by an AI model, programmed with the inherent biases of its dataset, provide a “genuine” and “unbiased” perspective?
Furthermore, how can anyone trust an AI-generated summary of a bunch of reviews, many of which were likely published using AI? It’s an ouroboros situation that’s purely concerned with consumerism at the expense of critical thinking.
Many of us took to baking and attempting to make bread to whittle down the hours during pandemic-induced lockdowns. Although that baking phase may have passed for some, Panasonic’s new compact bread maker looks like an alternative for small families.
Dubbed the “SD-PN100 Compact Bread Maker”, the $269 kitchen appliance makes smaller loaves of bread, so you don’t waste any leftovers by making more than you can eat. Panasonic says it makes roughly 400g loaves, while a store-bought loaf typically weighs around 700g.
The smaller bread maker also comes with 18 different automated settings, letting you make pizza dough and gluten-free options, as well as jam. There’s also a 13-hour delay timer, so you can make bread overnight. For the crust-lovers (me), the bread maker can customise the colour of the crust to suit your tastes. When it comes to bread, darker is better, I say.
It’s out now in Australia from appliance retailers, including The Good Guys, who have it listed for a cheaper $229 price.
If there’s one game that whips fans into a frenzy, it’s Hollow Knight: Silksong. And it’s not even out yet. That long-awaited launch might soon become reality, with Silksong set to appear as a playable demo at Gamescom next month.
As part of Xbox’s exhibition plans at Gamescom, Hollow Knight: Silksong will be among the playable demos at the Germany-hosted event from 20 August. Xbox promises a “new” demo of the anticipated game, playable on either PC or the ROG Xbox Ally X, the handheld gaming PC collaboration with Asus’ gaming brand.
For those of us who played the original demo back in 2019, it’s an exciting development. The original Hollow Knight is one of the best Australian-made games, so expectations have been sky-high for its successor.
A quick glance at the r/Silksong subreddit shows a ravenous fan base desperate for any news relating to the game. For the longest time, even the most fervent followers started to waver in their belief that Silksong would launch out of its lengthy development. Shitposts labelled as “Silkposts” littered the forum, using humour as a coping mechanism.
But now, that humour is making way for hope. Silksong is real.
Sites and online platforms like Reddit and Discord now require users in the UK to verify their age. The process involves scanning a user’s face via a phone camera or uploading a form of photo ID. Rather industrious folks tried scanning the face of Death Stranding 2‘s protagonist to see if it would pass the age check. Long story short, it did.
Adding another smartwatch to the local market, the CMF Watch 3 Pro comes to Australia as an affordable wearable for fitness beginners.
Made by Nothing’s CMF sub-brand, known for its equally affordable phones, the new watch is billed as a smart wearable for “everyday users and casual fitness explorers”.
At $179 in Australia, the CMF Watch 3 Pro targets the entry-level market, so it’s not directly competing with the likes of the Apple Watch or the Samsung Galaxy Watch. It includes a 1.43-inch AMOLED watch face and many of the sensors ubiquitous with smartwatches (heart rate, GPS, and so on).
CMF banks on the watch’s long battery life as a main drawcard. It claims that the watch lasts up to 13 days of “typical use”, and up to 60 days when used in its power-saving mode. That’s a lot longer than many of the flagship wearables that typically last for a day or two between charges.
Image: Nothing, CMF.
Compatible with Android and iOS phones, the CMF Watch 3 Pro makes the Nothing X app its home base. Here, you customise watch faces, adjust settings, and track your health metrics.
Consistent with other Nothing devices, the watch supports a built-in ChatGPT integration and voice memo transcriptions. It looks like a bid to compete with Apple’s Siri and Google’s Gemini AI platforms, enlisting a generative AI assistant that communicates in natural language, an end goal that big tech companies are all aiming for.
Available to order from JB Hi-Fi and Optus, the CMF Watch 3 Pro comes in Dark Grey, Light Grey, and Orange designs. Based on JB’s online listing, the watch will arrive by mid-August.
I don’t know about you, but that bright orange band is my pick of the bunch. Brightly coloured tech is my modus operandi, after all.
While all eyes are on the NBN, as it approaches a major speed upgrade in September, it hasn’t been widely communicated whether other fibre internet providers will follow suit. The good news is that Opticomm appears to be offering the same speed increases, according to its latest wholesale pricing schedule.
Like NBN Co, Opticomm is a statutory infrastructure provider (SIP) that provides fibre internet infrastructure to telcos, who then sell access to customers. While NBN has become synonymous with internet access in Australia, some property developments use Opticomm to provide connectivity instead.
Under the NBN’s “Accelerate Great” project, full-fibre internet plans with download speeds of 100Mbps or more will automatically be upgraded at no extra cost. 100Mbps plans become 500Mbps, while 250Mbps plans increase to 750Mbps, while also increasing upload speeds. NBN Co put faster speeds on the agenda last year, but Opticomm hasn’t been as public with its communication.
Based on Opticomm’s wholesale pricing document that came into effect on 1 July 2025, the internet infrastructure provider will sell faster speeds on par with the NBN. The document lists 500/50 Mbps, 750/50 Mbps, and 1000/100 Mbps products as being “available from 1 September 2025.”
A screenshot from Opticomm’s wholesale price list as of 1 July 2025. Image: Opticomm.
Opticomm lists its 100/20 Mbps wholesale product at $70.23 per month, while the upcoming 500/50 Mbps tier costs $71.03. Meanwhile, NBN Co lists the 100/20 Mbps tier at $58.53 per month on its SAU Tariff List, with the disclaimer that it will become 500/50 Mbps from 14 September.
While Opticomm hasn’t communicated whether premises on its infrastructure will automatically be transferred to the faster speeds, its wholesale pricing document indicates that faster speeds will be available at similar costs. Telcos contacted by GadgetGuy were unable to comment on Opticomm’s plans.
Ahead of the NBN speed upgrade in September, nearly four million Australian premises have yet to take up the fibre upgrade required to access faster internet.
According to NBN Co’s latest Annual Service Improvement Plan report, approximately 806,000 premises were upgraded to fibre connections. As of the end of the previous financial year, more than 4.6 million locations were eligible for a Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) upgrade.
As part of NBN Co’s “Accelerate Great” project, FTTP connections are scheduled to get faster speeds at no extra cost. Internet plans currently with 100Mbps download speeds will automatically increase to 500Mbps — but only for FTTP and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) connections.
To encourage Australians to adopt the faster speeds, NBN Co has expanded the number of locations eligible to upgrade to FTTP connections. Millions of Australian premises still use Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) and Fibre to the Node (FTTN) connections, which use a combination of fibre and copper technologies.
Faster internet speeds aren’t the only reason behind the push to FTTP. Independent testing by the ACCC in 2024 found that FTTN resulted in a much higher outage frequency than FTTP. NBN Co also claims that as copper technology ages, it’s more prone to “reduced speed” and “instability” over time.
For most locations eligible for a fibre upgrade, there’s no cost when paired with an NBN 100 plan or a faster tier. NBN Co waives the high-speed requirement for “FTTN locations that have never connected to (the) NBN”, and some FTTC locations.
Why haven’t more Australians upgraded to FTTP?
However, this speed tier requirement may be a barrier to upgrading for many Australians. Based on ACCC’s wholesale NBN market reporting, more than 5 million residential connections are on plans with speeds of 50Mbps or slower.
Looking at the cheapest NBN plans, these lower-speed tiers cost between $60 and $75 per month. Compared to NBN 100 plans, which cost upwards of $80 a month, the cheaper prices are appealing when money is tight.
As if to tackle this issue directly, Exetel, Tangerine, and SpinTel have launched plans with 500Mbps download speeds ahead of the official NBN upgrade in September. At around $80 per month each, they aim to make faster speeds more palatable. Before, similar internet speeds could cost upwards of $100 every month.
NBN Co plans to increase FTTP upgrade eligibility to 3.5 million FTTN and 1.5 million FTTC locations by the end of the year. That leaves a further 622,000 FTTN premises stuck in limbo. Of which, NBN Co expects to offer FTTP upgrades to “more than 95 per cent” of premises by the end of 2030. Anyone remaining after that “may be upgraded to future next-generation technologies.”
