Taming the Oracle: Key Principals That Bring Our LLM Agents to Production 1 like November 15, 2024Share this postAuthor(s): Nate Liebmann Originally published on Towards AI. A Tame Oracle. Generated with Microsoft DesignerWith the second anniversary of the ChatGPT earthquake right around the corner, the rush to build useful applications based on large language models (LLMs) of its like seems to be in full force. But despite the aura of magic surrounding demos of LLM agents or involved conversations, I am sure many can relate to my own experience developing LLM-based applications: you start with some example that seems to be working great, but buyers remorse is soon to follow. Trying out other variations of the task could simply fail miserably, without a clear differentiator; and agentic flows could reveal their tendency to diverge when straying away from the original prototyping happy path.If not for the title, you might have thought at this point I was a generative AI luddite, which could not be further from the truth. The journey my team at Torq and I have been on in the past two years, developing LLM-based software features that enhance the no-code automation building experience on our platform, has taught me a lot about the great power LLMs bring if handled correctly.From here on I will discuss three core principals that guide our development and allow our agents to reach successful production deployment and customer utility. I believe they are highly relevant to other LLM based applications just as much. The least freedom principleLLMs interact through free-text, but its not always the way our users will interact with our LLM-based application. In many cases, even if the input is indeed a textual description provided by the user, the output is much more structured, and could be used to take actions in the application automatically. In such a setting, the great power in the LLMs ability to solve some tasks otherwise requiring massive and complex deterministic logic or human intervention can turn into a problem. The more leeway we give the LLM, the more prone our application is to hallucinations and diverging agentic flows. Therefore, a-la the least privileges principle in security, I believe its important to constrain the LLM as much as possible.Fig. 1: The unconstrained, multi-step agentic flowConsider an agent that takes a snapshot of a hand-written grocery list, extracts the text via OCR, locates the most relevant items in stock, and prepares an order. It may sound tempting to opt for a flexible multi-step agentic flow where the agent can use methods such as search_product and add_to_order (see fig. 1 above). However, this process could turn out to be very slow, consist of superfluous steps, and might even get stuck in a loop in case some function call returns an error the model struggles with recovering from. An alternative approach could constrain the flow to two steps, the first being a batch search to get a filtered product tree object, and the second being generating the order based on it, referencing appropriate products from the partial product tree returned by the search function call (see fig. 2 below). Apart from the clear performance benefit, we can be much more confident the agent will remain on track and complete the task.Fig. 2: A structured agentic flow with deterministic auto-fixingWhen dealing with problems in the generated output, I believe its best to do as much of the correction deterministically, without involving the LLM again. This is because against our intuition, sending an error back to an LLM agent and asking it to correct it does not always get it back on track, and might even increase the likelihood of further errors, as some evidence has shown. Circling back to the grocery shopping agent, it is very likely that in some cases invalid JSON paths will be produced to refer to products (e.g., food.cheeses.goats[0] instead of food.dairy.cheeses.goat[0]). As we have the entire stock at hand, we can apply a simple heuristic to automatically fix the incorrect path in a deterministic way, for example by using an edit distance algorithm to find the valid path closest to the generated one in the product tree. Even then, some invalid paths might be too far from any valid ones. In such a case, we might want to simply retry the LLM request rather than adding the error to the context and asking it to fix it. Automated empirical evaluationUnlike traditional 3rd-party APIs, calling an LLM with the exact same input could produce different results each time, even when setting the temperature hyper-parameter to zero. This is in direct conflict with fundamental principals of good software engineering, that is supposed to give the users an expected and consistent experience. The key to tackling this conflict is automated empirical evaluation, which I consider the LLM edition of test-driven development.The evaluation suite can be implemented as a regular test suite, which has the benefit of natural integration into the development cycle and CI/CD pipelines. Crucially, however, the LLMs must be actually called, and not mocked, of course. Each evaluation case consists of user inputs and initial system state, as well as a grading function for the generated output or modified state. Unlike traditional test cases, the notion of PASS or FAIL is insufficient here, because the evaluation suite plays an important role in guiding improvements and enhancements, as well as catching unintended degradations. The grading function should therefore return a fitness score for the output or state modifications our agent produces. How do we actually implement the grading function? Think, for example, of a simple LLM task for generating small Python utility functions. An evaluation case could prompt it to write a function that computes the nth element of the Fibonacci sequence. The models implementation might take either the iterative or the recursive path, both valid (though suboptimal, because there is a closed form expression), so we cannot make assertions about the specifics of the functions code. The grading function in this case could, however, take a handful of test values for the Fibonacci functions argument, spin up an isolated environment, run the generated function on those values, and verify the results. This black-box grading of the produced output does not make unnecessary assumptions, while strictly validating it in a fully deterministic fashion.While I believe that should be the preferred approach, it is not suitable for all applications. There are cases where we cannot fully validate the result, but we can still make assertions about some of its properties. For example, consider an agent that generates short summaries of system logs. Some properties of its outputs, like length, are easy to check deterministically. Other, semantic ones, not as much. If the otherwise business-as-usual logs serving as input for an evaluation case contain a single record about a kernel panic, we want to make sure the summary will mention that. A naive approach for the grading function in this case will involve an LLM task that directly produces a fitness score for the summary based on the log records. This approach might lock our evaluation in a sort of LLM complacency loop, with none of the guarantees provided by deterministic checks. A more nuanced approach, however, could still use an LLM for grading, but craft the task differently: given a summary, the model could be instructed to answer multiple-choice factual questions (e.g. Has there been a major incident in the covered period? (a) No (b) Yes, a kernel panic (c) Yes, a network connectivity loss). We can be much more confident that the LLM would simply not be able to consistently answer such questions correctly if the key information is missing from the summary, making the score much more reliable.Finally, due to non-determinism, each evaluation case must be run several times, with the results aggregated to form a final evaluation report. I have found it very useful to implement the evaluation suite early and use it to guide our development. Once the application has reached some maturity, it could make sense to fail the integration pipeline if the aggregate score for its evaluation suite drops below some set threshold, to prevent catastrophic degradations. Not letting the tail wag the dogGood LLM-based software is, first and foremost, good software. The magic factor we see in LLMs (which is telling of human nature and the role language plays in our perception of other intelligent beings, a topic I will not cover here of course) might tempt us to think about LLM-based software as a whole new field, requiring novel tools, frameworks and development processes. As discussed above, the non-deterministic nature of commercial LLMs, as well as their unstructured API, indeed necessitate dedicated handling. But I would argue that instead of looking at LLM-based application as a whole new creature that might here and there utilise familiar coding patterns we should treat such an application as any other application, except for where it is not. The power of this approach lies in the fact that by doing so, we do not let external abstractions hide away the low-level LLM handling, which is crucial for truly understanding its capabilities and limitations in the scope of our application. Abstractions can and should be adopted where they save time and reduce boilerplate code, but never at the cost of losing control over the most important part of your application: the intricate touchpoints between the LLM and your deterministic code, that should be tailored to your specific use case.Wrapping up, LLMs can be viewed as powerful oracles that enable previously-unfeasible applications. My experience developing LLM based agents has taught me several principles that correlated with successful production deployment and utility. Firstly, agents should be given the least possible freedom: flows should be structured, and whatever can be done deterministically should be. Secondly, automated empirical evaluation of the LLM task and surrounding logic should be a cornerstone of the development process, relying as much as possible on deterministic scoring. Thirdly, abstractions provided by libraries and frameworks should not be adopted where they hide essential details of the integration between the LLM and our code, the core of LLM-based applications.Feel free to reach out to discuss this matter further and tell me what you think!Join thousands of data leaders on the AI newsletter. Join over 80,000 subscribers and keep up to date with the latest developments in AI. From research to projects and ideas. If you are building an AI startup, an AI-related product, or a service, we invite you to consider becoming asponsor. Published via Towards AITowards AI - Medium Share this post

Lots of competition has led to a glut of outstanding televisions for gaming in basically every price tier. Thanks to HDMI 2.1 support pushing 4K at up to 120Hz, gaming on a TV is probably cheaper and more enjoyable than using a gaming monitor. So whether you enjoy your PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, or pushing the limits further with a PS5 Pro or dedicated gaming PC, getting a good 65-inch television that supports high-end performance is really just a matter of choosing how much you want to spend. That said, there are some features you want to look for as a baseline: namely, support for Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM). The good news is, these can be found on basically any TV worth its salt these days. That means were looking for TVs that are going to offer even more, like our top pick, the LG G4. TL;DR These are the Best Gaming TVs:Our top pickLG 65" G4 OLED EvoSony 65" A95L QD-OLEDSony 65" Bravia 7 Mini-LED QLEDHisense 65" U8N Mini-LED ULEDBest ValueTCL 65" QM7 QLEDGreat brightness and excellent contrast are a must for HDR gaming, the likes of which youll want for games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake II. Along with that great contrast, though, you also want a television that has low input lag, support for 120Hz or even 144Hz, and dimming zones that respond fast enough to not interrupt scenes with slowly transitioning highlights. Competitive gamers who enjoy Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 or Apex Legends will want the ability to pull shadows up so that enemies cant hide in dark spots but theyll also want highlights that dont blow away the ability to see a target set against bright objects. That means televisions that have dedicated gaming modes like the LG G4 OLED, the TCL QM7, or the Sony Bravia 7 should all be considered because they are designed to support all types of gaming. Additional contributions by Kevin Lee and Danielle Abraham.LG G4 Photos1. LG 65" G4 OLED EvoBest Gaming TV Our top pickLG 65" G4 OLED EvoEnjoy excellent color accuracy, contrast, and pixel response times, while features like a 4K/144Hz refresh rate, VRR and ALLM are ideal for gaming.Product SpecificationsScreen Size65"Resolution4KPanel TypeOLEDHDR CompatibilityDolby Vision, HDR10, HLG, HGiGRefresh Rate144HzAdaptive SyncG-Sync (Nvidia Certified), FreeSync Premium, VRRInputs4 x HDMI 2.1, 3 x USB, EthernetPROSExcellent picture qualityLimiteless contrastOutstanding gaming supportCONSWobbly standLGs Gallery Series televisions have always represented the best LG has to offer and that remains the case with the G4. Its not only the best OLED Ive tested, but it also represents the best overall package (specifications, price, and performance) of any television in 2024. The LG G4 is as close to perfect as a TV can be in 2024 and is an example of what OLED can do at its best, combining infinite contrast, excellent color reproduction, and fantastic brightness in one elegant, super-slim display. There was a fear that the development of Samsungs QD-OLED technology would leave WOLED TVs like LGs in the dust, but LG successfully pushed its technology in response and its brightness and color accuracy now rival what Samsung has produced, while packaging it in a more approachable television that gives you more control over how you want your content to look. While other OLED brands have over-simplified the user interface, LG believes in its users and gives them plenty of control over color, saturation, and contrast. Thanks to its boosted brightness, the G4 can excel in pretty much any environment. With outstanding color, infinite contrast, great HDR support, and outstanding gaming performance, its the best TV on the market in 2024 for gaming and quite honestly anything else. 2. Sony 65" A95L QD-OLEDBest High-End OLED TV for GamingSony 65" A95L QD-OLEDIf money is no object, the Sony A95L is the best there is.Product SpecificationsScreen Size65"Resolution4KPanel TypeOLEDHDR CompatibilityDolby Vision, HDR10, HLGRefresh Rate144HzAdaptive SyncG-Sync CompatibleInputs2 x HDMI 2.1, 2 x HDMI 2.0, 2 x USB, EthernetPROSExcellent picture qualityLimitless contrastCONSEye-watering price tagSpeaking of QD-OLED, Samsung didnt keep that technology to itself, licensing it to Sony to produce the A95L. Outside of an updated processor, not a lot has changed between Sonys most recent OLED model compared to the A95K I reviewed a few years ago, since the panel itself hasnt needed updating since it debuted. And what a panel it is. While LGs G4 is overall the best television for gaming given its price to performance ratio, if price doesnt matter to you and you only care about the best possible picture quality across the most use cases, then Sonys QD-OLED televisions are the best there is. Samsungs implementation of its QD-OLED is good, but the company does a poor job with giving users any control over how the picture looks and the result is an over-saturated, overly contrasty picture that can look too strong. That, and Samsung has not entered into an agreement with Dolby to support Dolby Vision, meaning HDR support is seriously weaker than the competition. Sony dials that back down to reality and gives full HDR support, allowing it to take advantage of that excellent QD-OLED panel. Sony also has the best processing in the industry and is better able to deal with noise, artifacts, and pixelation that comes as the result of streaming. Even the best streaming signals have problems and Sonys tech cant be beaten for smoothing that out and providing a picture with better tonality and cleaner sharpness. With best-in-class color accuracy, incredible brightness, and unlimited contrast, Sonys A95L is unbeatable, if you can get past the high asking price. If your budget has no limit, then Sony is the way to go.Sony Bravia 7 Photos3. Sony 65" Bravia 7 Mini-LED QLEDBest High-End LED TV for GamingSony 65" Bravia 7 Mini-LED QLEDWhile the Bravia 7 wont outperform OLED and isnt as bright as some competitors, its color accuracy and picture quality make for a premium experience at a fair price.Product SpecificationsScreen Size65"Resolution4KPanel TypeMini-LED QLEDHDR CompatibilityDolby Vision, HDR10, HLGRefresh Rate120HzAdaptive SyncG-Sync CompatibleInputs2 x HDMI 2.1, 2 x HDMI 2.0, 2 x USB, EthernetPROSGreat color and contrastFantastic processingCONSTakes up a 4K 120Hz port with eARCIf you like the sound of excellent processing but arent a fan of OLED, then Sonys Bravia 7 is the answer. It offers very good brightness, excellent color (which is consistent across the panel), great HDR support, and top-tier processing to create the best overall LED television experience on the market. A benefit of Sonys most recent televisions, the Bravia 8 included, is the pairing of Sony Remote Play built-in. The Bravia 7 allows you to treat your TV like a giant Playstation Portal, wirelessly connecting with your Playstation so you arent blocked from your console if the TV its connected to is in use. That makes the Bravia 7 a great second television either for the bedroom or office while your main television is tied up in the living room. Thanks to mini LED technology, the Bravia 7 attains very good contrast and brightness that is as close as you can come to OLED before jumping up a price tier and Sony did a great job this year of keeping its high-end LED approachable in price, which is in contrast to Samsungs strategy. That means that Sony-level picture quality and processing are more easily attainable to more people and it gives brands like TCL and Hisense more competition to keep pushing the envelope (which they have done). Sonys Bravia 7 does an excellent job of being a television that gets a lot right and doesnt overly charge for it, which feels like a shift for the company. As I noted in my review, the color accuracy it is capable of hitting and its consistency across the entire panel is hard to beat, and while it doesnt get quite as bright as some of its competitors, its got enough juice to overcome reasonably well-lit rooms and does so without sacrificing picture quality. As a result, the Sony Bravia 7 is the companys most compelling mini LED television in years and the best high-end model on the market. Hisense U8N Photos4. Hisense 65" U8N Mini-LED ULEDBest Mid-Range Gaming TVHisense 65" U8N Mini-LED ULEDCombining great brightness, good color accuracy, tons of ports, and a slick new design, the Hisense U8N not only displays content well, it looks good doing it.Product SpecificationsScreen Size65"Resolution4KPanel TypeMini-LED ULEDHDR CompatibilityDolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HLGRefresh Rate144HzAdaptive SyncG-Sync Compatible, FreeSync, VRRInputs2 x HDMI 2.1, 2 x HDMI 2.0, 2 x USB, EthernetPROSFantastic brightnessGreat HDR supportFantastic for gamingCONSWeak off-angle viewingHisense has really come into its own in the last couple of years and the U8 represents the cumulative knowledge it has learned over that time. Hisense was the first mini LED maker to push brightness to new heights and the U8N is easily the brightest television I tested this year with the ability to push out 2,000 nits of brightness. Everything else about the U8N comes in just slightly under what Sony has been able to achieve. Color accuracy, contrast, off-angle viewing, and overall performance of the operating system are just slightly under the heights reached by the Sony Bravia 7, but the tradeoff is more brightness and a lower asking price. But compare it to the Samsung QN90D, a television that costs nearly twice as much as the U8N, and youll find that it gets brighter, has more customization options, and provides wider HDR format support. The Hisense U8N isnt going to win in a blow-for-blow fight against Sony and Samsung, but it still exists as a very compelling option for game rooms or brightly-lit living rooms, especially given its lower asking price. It sports fantastic gaming performance, great color accuracy, and spectacular brightness along with a redesigned frame that looks less like a discount TV and more like the high-end options it competes against.TCL QM7 Photos5. TCL 65" QM7 QLEDBest Entry-Level TV for GamingBest ValueTCL 65" QM7 QLEDTCLs QM7 is the best deal in gaming televisions and gets just about everything right. From excellent color rendition to top-end gaming performance, its a lot of television for quite a low price. Product SpecificationsScreen Size65"Resolution4KPanel TypeQLEDHDR CompatibilityDolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HLGRefresh Rate144HzAdaptive SyncG-Sync Compatible, FreeSync, VRRInputs2 x HDMI 2.1, 2 x HDMI 2.0, 2 x USB, EthernetPROSGreat brightnessGreat gaming and HDR supportBetter-than-average sound qualityIncredible valueCONSWeak off-angle viewingTCLs QM7 is the king of value. As I found in my review, it offers outstanding color accuracy, good contrast, good brightness, and has a processor that is fast enough to make browsing the operating system feel quick and snappy. At $600 for a 65-inch set, you probably arent expecting a lot, so the QM7 kind of sneaks up on you with how much it does right. It offers a solid 1,500 nits of peak brightness, separated its pair of 4K 144Hz ports from its eARC port (so you can actually use all three simultaneously), comes packed with one of the better gaming menus, and comes with support for all the most-used HDR formats. It even sounds pretty darn good out of the box thanks to an Onkyo 2.1 sound system which includes a subwoofer built-into the rear of the panel. The achilles heel of the QM7 is off-axis viewing, though. While contrast loss isnt huge, bright objects set against dark backgrounds will exhibit a rather large halo effect and that is most visible when watching this TV from the side. The QM7 does a lot right, avoiding the expected norms of conceding some performance in order to arrive at that lower asking price and instead providing a television that just does everything pretty darn well. How to Choose a TV for GamingThere are several key features that make for a great gaming TV, according to our TV buying guide. The first one to pay attention to is the refresh rate. If you want the smoothest possible gameplay, you should be seeking out TVs with higher refresh rates. All of our picks offer 4K/120Hz, which perfectly match up with the specs of both the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and some TVs hit 144Hz when PC gaming. However, with 8K TVs making their way onto the scene 8K/60Hz also offers some solid gameplay. Next up, variable refresh rate is essential for staying immersed in the best PS5 and Xbox games. VRR helps to eliminate screen tearing by adjusting the refresh rate to match the frame rate coming out of your gaming system. Before VRR and high refresh rates, game consoles would force you to play with a 30 or 60fps cap in order to match the TV's 60Hz refresh rate otherwise you'd encounter screen tearing. With VRR, however, the system is free to push out as many frames as possible, confident that the TV will vary its refresh rate to match. In other words, VRR lets you play with an uncapped frame rate while still preventing screen tearing.HDMI 2.1 connectivity may be the most crucial specification to seek out when purchasing a gaming TV. If youre looking to game at 120Hz in 4K, which both the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S offer, you'll need this port. An HDMI 2.0 port will only offer 4K at speeds of 60Hz. Gaming TV FAQWhat kind of TV do I need for PS5?Most modern TVs will work with the PS5, but to take full advantage of all the console has on offer (including being one of the best Blu-Ray players), you may want to spend a little extra for better specs and more features. The PS5 can output a 120Hz refresh rate in 4K through HDMI 2.1, while some games also support VRR and ALLM, ensuring smoother and more enjoyable gameplay. The best TVs for PS5 will offer those specs. What are the disadvantages of gaming TVs? Gaming TVs are great for consoles, providing speedy refresh rates, VRR, and game modes to ensure an enjoyable playing experience, but that doesn't mean they're not also great for watching movies or streaming TV shows. These days, the best TVs come with gaming features, whether they're marketed as gaming TVs or not, so you can rest assured that if a TV is good for gaming, it's good for everything else too.Is a gaming monitor or TV better?Choosing a display to game on depends on personal preference and how you want to play. The best gaming monitors have an edge when it comes to responsiveness, sporting even higher refresh rates than the best TVs, as well as lower input lag and other advanced display features. Of course, monitors are often smaller in size, more adjustable, and live on a gaming desk. TVs are meant for couch gaming and tend to pull ahead in image quality and HDR performance. We discuss gaming monitors vs TVs here. When is the best time to buy a TV? TVs go on sale throughout the year. But some key times are Black Friday, before the Super Bowl, and Prime Day. Outside of that, many manufacturers churn out new TV models in the spring, so you can score deals on older offerings. Check out the best time to buy a TV guide for more info. Where to Get the Best TVs for Gaming in the UKLG 65" Class C1 Series Smart OLED 4K TVBest High-End Gaming TV for Next-Gen Consoles879.00 at Currys PC WorldHisense 55U8HSee it at CurrysSony A95K QD-OLED1,099.00 at AmazonSamsung QN65QN900BFXZA349.00 at AmazonSony BRAVIA XR | XR-55X90L1,599.00 at AmazonSamsung 75 Inch QN85B Neo QLED 4K Smart TVSee itJaron Schneider is an award-winning commercial filmmaker, an internationally-published consumer technology journalist, and long-time digital imaging expert across the fields of both video production and traditional photography. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of PetaPixel.

Half-Life: Episode 3 remains one of the great what-ifs in gaming history. Originally set to follow on from Episode 1 and 2, its cancellation instead left the series dangling on a cliffhanger it never directly resolved. Now, on the occasion of Half-Life 2's 20th anniversary, Valve has opened up about its development in a brand-new documentary that shows never-before-seen work-in-progress footage, a brand-new Ice Gun, and a raft of new concept art. You can see the gameplay segment from the documentary in the video below.PlayIGN's Twenty Questions - Guess the game!IGN's Twenty Questions - Guess the game!To start:...try asking a question that can be answered with a "Yes" or "No".000/250Among the details shown in the video, Episode 3 would have been set in the Arctic, and it would have focused on Alyx as a companion character. Aside from the Ice Gun, the footage shows a blob-like enemy that could split into multiple parts. According to the documentary, the team had complete a "collection of playable levels in no particular order" and expected to be able to release the game within a year or two.In addition to the new gameplay footage, writer Marc Laidlaw, founder Gabe Newell, and others also talk frankly about why it was never released, ultimately chalking it up to a lack of compelling new ideas and other reasons. At one point Laidlaw jokes, "Are we allowed to cry in this documentary?"We could have shipped it. It wouldn't have been that hardThe reason for Episode 3's cancellation has been the subject of much discussion over the years, not the least because Episode 2 ended on a grim cliffhanger. In an interview with IGN shortly before Alyx's release, Valve level designer Dario Casali described it partly as an issue of scope screep. Laidlaw would later reveal the plot in a story called "Epistle 3," featuring "Gertie Freemont" and "Alex Vaunt" plays on Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance.Half-Life 2: Episode 3 would have been set in the Arctic and featured an Ice Gun. Image source: Half-Life 2 Documentary.It's possible to detect a lot of regret over the decision not to go through Episode 3. At one point Laidlaw jokes, "Are we allowed to cry in this documentary?" Others talk about how Episode 3 probably could have been released in hindsight. Newell says, "We could have shipped it. It wouldn't have been that hard. My personal failure was being stumped. I couldn't figure out why Episode 3 was pushing anything forward."Valve finally released Half-Life Alyx in 2020, sending the story spinning off in a new direction, but many fans remain wistful about Half-Life: Episode 3 (not to mention the long lost Half-Life 3). Now, 20 years after its release, Valve is celebrating Half-Life 2 amid unconfirmed rumors that a new game is in the works. In the meantime, it's worth watching the entire documentary, which delves deep into Half-Life 2's fraught development.Image source: Half-Life 2 Documentary / ValveKat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Both the Rebel Alliance and the Resistance have called a few different planets and moons home over the course of Star Wars history, and yet Yavin 4 continues to be the best of them all. Finding somewhere safe outside the purview of a fascistic government cant be an easy task, but Rebels somehow keep finding their way to the jungle moon of the gas giant Yavin Prime. We first see this moon in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope as the home base of the Rebel Alliance and again in Rogue One. Though weve yet to see how or why the Rebels came to settle on Yavin, Andor season 2 might just give us some insight into how this Rebel base came to be.Series creator Tony Gilroy told Empire Magazine that there will be a return to Yavin this season. I mean, we have to end up in Yavin, right? So, well tell the story of Yavin. No one has quite dealt with Yavin the way we will be doing it.Settling on a planet like Hoth, as the Rebel Alliance does in The Empire Strikes Back, makes logistical sense. It has a harsh, unforgiving, frozen surface, which makes it less likely for there to be Empire-sympathizers hidden on the planet and it makes it less likely for random ships to show up and find them. Obviously, we know that this logic wasnt totally foolproof as the Empire does find them, but it makes more sense, in some ways, to make a home base on a planet like this than it does on Yavin 4.But we cant fault the Rebels for choosing Yavin 4 as their first major base either. From what weve seen of it thus far, Yavin is a gorgeous place. Its lush and green and inviting. It does make sense that Rebel leaders would want to settle on a place that kind of feels like a vacation destination probably makes for a nice little morale boost.Weve yet to see other people on Yavin 4 other than the Rebels. This doesnt necessarily mean that the moon was uninhabited, but the Rebels also dont seem like the kinds of people who would force their way into a place if it meant angering or displacing people indigenous to the planet. Thats what the Empire does.In the Doctor Aphra comic series, it was revealed that a species known as the Massassi once lived on Yavin 4, but they were extinct for millennia before the Battle of Yavin took place. They built temples at the behest of a tyrannical Sith Lord, which we have yet to see on screen. It doesnt seem likely that Gilroy would reference these in Andor, as the series likes to stay grounded in the everyday people outside of the Sith and Jedi, but its still an important part of the moons history that could come into play.It will certainly be interesting to see how Yavin 4 went from what was likely an abandoned moon to the hub of the Rebel fleet. By the time we see Yavin in Rogue One and A New Hope, the base is thriving with forces moving in and out as needed. The Battle of Yavin is so important to Star Wars history that it has become the point from which all other time in the Star Wars universe is based. Everything either happens before the Battle of Yavin (BBY) or after (ABY). We cant wait to see what Andor has in store for this moon and what the show will add to its history.Andor season 2 premieres Tuesday, April 22, 2025 on Disney+.

This article contains major spoilers for Cobra Kai season 6 part 2.Season 6 is the final bow for Cobra Kai, but dont be fooled. The abrupt ending of episode 10 is akin to how Monty Python and the Holy Grail concluded. For Cobra Kai, this season is different its more like a season and a half. While the previous five outings of the Karate Kid sequel were 10-episodes long, this one goes to 15.This isnt the end just yet. There are five more episodes of Daniel (Ralph Macchio), Johnny (William Zabka), and Chozens (Yuji Okumoto) journey to go. Cobra Kai showrunners Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg sat down with Den of Geek to discuss the rest of that journey.Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2s Cliffhanger Ending at the Sekai TaikaiSeason 6 episode 10 ends with another edge-of-your-seat cliffhanger a stupefying camera cut right smack in the middle of an all-out battle royale with everyone in the mix. And when it comes to cliffhangers, Cobra Kai has earned a black belt.Our initial plan was that we would keep the final five episodes a secret to the world and then would end [episode 10] this way, grins Hurwitz. But I think a lot of people dont realize that theres a third batch. So were going to get what we wanted out of a lot of viewers who are just like What? It ended like that!?Season 6 takes Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do far away from the All Valley Karate Tournament, the fictional battleground for the two rival dojos, to the Sekai Taikai, a world tournament set in Barcelona.The big thing for us was weve built up the Sekai Taikai to be something that is unlike other karate tournaments that theres added levels of danger and unpredictability when it comes to what the events are going to be, Hurwitz says.The set up for the tournament is such that each character gets to fight in succession, allowing for complex character development within the fights and escalating tension. Its not like any tournament seen before, real or fantasy, which creates a compelling showcase for the young cast.We definitely did some research on world tournaments, Hurwitz says. But we tried to free ourselves from what was real and create things that would happen in this tournament that was a little larger than life.The Villains Old and NewAt the end of season 5, Kreese (Martin Kove) escaped from jail and weaseled his way back as the sensei of Cobra Kai to terrorize Daniel, Johnny, and their students. In a wicked season 6 twist, it turns out that Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) also evaded incarceration and returns for the Sekai Taikai.Injecting Terry Silver into the world, you have the twist of him double crossing Kreese, which you never see coming, Schlossberg says. So theres always the soap opera between the original actors from The Karate Kid that we just love, that this little rivalry from 1984 is still reverberating today and causing all this havoc.The return of Silver ratchets up the action and the mercilessness. Suddenly Kreese is fighting a multifront war.We like playing with the iconography of the original movie, adds Schlossberg. Its always fun when you can take something from the original movie and repurposed it in Cobra Kai.Taking the Sekai Takai global opens the door to many new rival dojos. And within them, there are new villains. In the very early going, we were really concentrating on bringing in new villainy, new bad guys and bad girls, Heald says. Cobra Kai and Miyagi-do must face off against a brutal opposing team, the Iron Dragons. Leading that dojo is Sensei Wolf (Lewis Tan) and Zara Malik (Rayna Vallandingham), two real life martial arts masters in roles that couldnt be more perfect for them.Tan is the son of Philip Tan, making him a second-generation martial artist and actor. Previously he has starred in martial-themed projects like Into the Badlands and Mortal Kombat.It was important to us that [Sensei Wolf] be somebody of substance and of martial art pedigree that can enter this world believably and scarily, says Heald. There were very few people who could deliver that. When they discovered Tan was available and willing to come and play, they pursued him aggressively. We couldnt really see it any other way.Vallandingham is a 13-time World Champion in Taekwondo. And just like her character Zara, shes a martial arts influencer with 2.5 million followers on Instagram and 2.3 million on TikTok. Rayna became kind of a model for that character before we went into production, says Heald. We were following her online and thinking, okay, she could potentially come in and nail this. As an influencer in real life, Vallandinghams role as Zara went meta. We were watching it play out in real time on Instagram while writing it, continues Heald. At one point, the lines got blurred.I just want to say she is not like Zara at all, adds Hurwitz, Shes kind and sweet and game and supportive of everybody. Shes amazing. Oftentimes the sweetest, kindest people do such a great job of playing villainous characters because they get to let loose in a fun way thats not like them at all.The Future of the FranchiseThe stage, or perhaps the mat, is set for the Cobra Kai finale, but Netflix has yet to announce a release date for the final five episodes. Nevertheless, the showrunners claim to have many more twists up their sleeves to stick that landing.There are scenes in the final few episodes that weve been talking about for seven or eight years now. Some of them even longer, Hurwitz says. Its really exciting to be able to finish what we started in a way that has intent as opposed to just being told No more Cobra Kai, and the fans are left with an incomplete story.Cobra Kai might be ending, but the franchise never dies. Sony has announced Karate Kid: Legends, a feature-length film that will unite Ralph Macchios Daniel with Jackie Chans Mr. Han from the 2010 reboot thatstarred Jaden Smith (Will Smith is a producer of Cobra Kai, The Karate Kid reboot, and this upcoming Karate Kid: Legends). Slated for release in May 2025, Heald, Hurwitz, and Schlossberg are not involved with this new project.Were as curious as everybody about that movie, says Heald. Within the Cobra Kai Miyagi-verse, Jackie Chan exists as Jackie Chan, but Mr. Han does not. However, they understand why Sony wants to blend those franchises and are eager to see how this movie goes. We love Ralph, adds Heald, We root for all things Karate Kid.And there may be more to come from the Cobra Kai showrunners, but nothing they are able to disclose at this time. We have so many different ideas for kinds of spinoffs, says Hurwitz. Some of the ideas they have been spitballing are a deeper exploration of Mr. Miyagis past, Johnny Lawrences journey down the road, the futures of Tori, Robbie, Miguel, Samantha, the Binary Brothers, and Chozen. Even new characters like the Iron Dragons, Hurwitz adds. We just love playing in this sandbox and hopefully in the wake of Cobra Kai, there will be opportunities to go down different paths.Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2 is now available on Netflix. The final five episodes of Cobra Kai are scheduled for some time in 2025.

Game Pass is all about options. Want the total gaming experience? What about high-quality games on PC? Or do you just want to play with your friends? Whatever type of player you are, Game Pass has you covered with an ever-expanding set of top-tier games.Heres a one-stop shopping guide to Game Pass to help you choose the plan thats right for you:PC Game Pass Want to play high-quality games on PC? PC Game Pass offers hundreds of games, including new titles on day one like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Plus, get an EA Play membership, Riot Games benefits in Valorant, League of Legends, and Teamfight Tactics, and more. Members also enjoy discounts of up to 20% on many games. If youre a PC player, then PC Game Pass is designed for you.Game Pass Core Is your main interest jumping on your Xbox console and challenging your friends online or teaming up to take down a final boss? Game Pass Core is a great avenue for online console multiplayer. For a low monthly price, play with others online, get member deals of up to 50% off select titles, and enjoy a select catalog of over 25 high-quality games in the Game Pass library, including Grounded, Among Us, Halo 5: Guardians, Gears 5, and more.Game Pass Standard Are you looking to level up your Xbox console gaming experience at a great value? Then Game Pass Standard may be right for you. In addition to all of the benefits you receive with Game Pass Core, including online console multiplayer and member discounts, you get access to hundreds of high-quality console games in the Game Pass library. Legendary series like Halo or Age of Empires, and massively popular games such as Minecraft, Forza Horizon 5, and Tom Clancys Rainbow Six Siege are ready for you to play. Dive in and discover your next favorite game today.Game Pass Ultimate Are you a player who wants the total gaming experience? Then Game Pass Ultimate has what you need with all the Game Pass benefits we have to offer. Enjoy hundreds of high-quality games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Starfield, and Diablo IV, including new games on day one like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on your console, PC, and cloud. Get beloved series like EA Sports F1, Battlefield, and Star Wars with EA Play. Get a head start in Valorant, League of Legends, and more of the biggest PC and mobile games from Riot Games. Join friends and play together with online console multiplayer. Experience premium member benefits with deals and discounts on games and add-ons, free Perks, and more. Stream a game with cloud gaming before you download it on your console no installs required. With Game Pass Ultimate, theres always something new to play.We continue to be focused on delivering the best gaming experience at a range of price points so players can choose the plan with the features that best fits their gaming needs and budget. If you are interested in learning more about Xbox Game Pass and pricing for each plan, please visit our main page.

Xbox Design Lab is a one-stop shop that allows you to create your very own controller. From the controller itself to every external component, Xbox Design Lab is a hugely customizable platform that lets you create controllers for yourself, or as a truly personal gift for the Xbox player in your life.But before you get started, There are a lot of options to choose from let us break down every single one, to help you create the perfect Xbox controller:Choose Your ControllerThe key question before you begin using Xbox Design Lab is: which Xbox controller do you want to design?Xbox Wireless Controller Starting at $69.99 USD, the Xbox Wireless Controller is our standard model, bringing you high performance at an affordable price. With textured triggers and grips, a hybrid D-Pad, and Bluetooth technology that allows you to connect it to multiple devices. Click here to start creating an Xbox Wireless Controller.Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 Starting at $149.99 USD, the Elite Series 2 makes our premium controller better than ever. With refined components, paddle slots offering extra options, adaptable elements like adjustable thumbsticks and hair trigger locks, and rubberized grips as standard, this controller delivers pro-level performance. Click here to start creating an Xbox Eliter Wireless Controller Series 2.Customize ComponentsOnce youve chosen your controller, Xbox Design Lab gives you 10 different customization options, allowing you to make a controller thats uniquely yours. And if you cant quite decide as you go, Xbox Design Lab allows you to preview your controller at any time, as well as save designs to your own personal gallery, allowing you to create multiple options to compare before you pick the final one.BodyApplied to the entire front case, your choice of Body makes a statement. With the Xbox Wireless Controller, choose from a variety of matte finishes, or from a selection of gorgeous patterns, including the swirling Vapor designs, the multi-toned Shift patterns, bold Camo looks, our vibrant Pride design, or special, game-inspired designs like the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 top case and the Fallout top case. With the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, choose from matte finishes, our new Cipher series which adds a transparent case that allows you to see through the case to the components inside, or game-inspired designs.BackYour choice of Back encompasses everything behind the grips on your controller. With all the standard colors available in the Body category, you can choose to match the front of the controller, or create a two-tone pop of color.GripsFor a small extra cost, you can add rubberized back and side grips to your Xbox Wireless Controller, offering an extra level of control in the hand. Rubberized grips come as standard on the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2.BumpersYour choice of Bumper color encompasses the two buttons on the top of the controller, and the case in between them. On the Xbox Wireless Controller, choose from all the standard colors available for the Body and Back. For the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, choose from an array of metallic finishes.TriggersThe Triggers are key to controlling many games, and come with multiple options. With the Xbox Wireless Controller, all the standard colors are available, but Xbox Design Lab also offers a variety of metallic options, allowing you to add a stately point of difference from the rest of the design. On the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, choose from a series of metallic designs that can blend in with your bumpers, or choose a different tone to create a standout design.D-PadOn the Xbox Wireless Controller, choose from all the standard colors available in other categories, or pick a metallic hue. On the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, pick from the classic four-direction D-Pad, or our unique Faceted design for extra control. Both D-Pad choices offer a variety of single-tone metallic finishes, or pick our new multi-toned Chroma designs for a truly standout look.ThumbsticksOn the Xbox Wireless Controller, thumbsticks can take on any of the standard colors available on the rest of the controller. Take more control with the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 pick the color of the metal base, as well as separate colors for both the thumbstick ring and topper.ABXY ButtonsOn the Xbox Wireless Controller, pick from seven different designs for the iconic Xbox buttons, from classic colored looks to different two-tone treatments. With the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, get even more choice with 20 different treatments, including colored variants that allow you to create even more specific looks.View, Menu, Share ButtonsOn the Xbox Wireless Controller, choose from 5 different designs for the central buttons on your controller. With the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, pick from 24 color options to help bring your design to life.EngravingFor that final touch, both controller types allow you to add a 16-character engraving. Add a name, a Gamertag, or a personal message to make the controller truly theirs.Pick a Pre-Made DesignIf youre looking to create a controller to celebrate a particular game, we may already have what you need. Xbox Design Lab is always adding new Inspired By designs that celebrate games on Xbox pick a pre-configured design, make any changes you see fit, and show your fandom. Theres also the Xbox Design Lab Game Collection, which offers extra-special designs for the likes of Fallout and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 all of which can be customized further.Choose Some Elite ExtrasIf youre opting for an Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, Xbox Design Lab offers a number of extra adjustable elements for the premium controller, all of which can be customized to fit your design. The Carrying Case and Charging Pack helps you take your controller anywhere in safety. The Paddle Pack adds a number of easily added extra paddles for the back of your controller, which can be used by adjusting options on your console. The Thumbsticks and D-pad Pack offers both D-Pad options and multiple interchangeable thumbsticks to let you swap how you want to play, game-by-game. And the Everything Pack includes all of the above in a single package. If you already own an Elite Series 2 controller, you can also opt to purchase the additional accessories packs by themselves.Adaptive Thumbstick ToppersWe collaborated with community members, charity organizations, and a hospital involved in adaptive gaming and 3D printing to design complimentary 3D printable files for adaptive thumbstick toppers with Xbox Design Lab. Available to download, these designs can be 3D printed to create thumbsticks that meet multiple accessibility needs and are available for both the Xbox Wireless Controller and Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2. Xbox Design Lab also offers thumbstick topper designs for the upcoming Xbox Adaptive Joystick, coming in early 2025 for select Xbox markets.You now have everything you need to start creating a unique Xbox controller head over to Xbox Design Lab to start experimenting!

London-based startup Gendo has secured 5.1mn amid booming demand for its generative AI software built for architects.British architectural designer George Proud and software engineer Will Jones founded Gendo in 2022. The platform transforms simple inputs like sketches, 2D drawings, or text descriptions into hypereal building designs.It works a bit like Midjourney or DALL-E, except its built by architects for architects. The tool allows you to precisely edit specific details of your design, such as colours, lighting, structural elements, or furniture. The model produces more life-like results than more general AI algorithms. Whats more, Gendo claims it can generate detailed visualisations 100 times faster than conventional software. The tool also comes at a reasonable price point 15 per month for the mid-range package.Register NowWe are huge believers in bespoke generative AI tools that are designed for specific use cases the reception to Gendo has been a huge validator of that belief, said Proud, who serves as the startups CEO.Gendo launched its platform just four months ago, after securing 1mn in pre-seed funding. Early adopters include big names such as Zaha Hadid Architects, KPF, David Chipperfield Architects, and Benoy.Gendo stands out because it makes it easy and affordable to generate professional designs, filling the gap between basic visualisation tools and time-consuming rendering software like Autodesks Forma or Spacemaker.Patrik Schumacher, principal at Zaha Hadid Architects, called Gendos platform a step-change for our discipline. Schumacher was recently appointed to Gendos board, as the startup embarks on its next phase of growth. Gendo said it will use the fresh capital to expand its AI capabilities and the development of customised workflows and licensing models aimed at big design firms.German early-stage funds PT1 and LEA Partners co-led the funding round. The UKs largest pre-seed fund Concept Ventures also chipped in, as did London-based Koro Captial. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

German tech darling DeepL has (finally) launched a voice-to-text service. Its called DeepL Voice, and it turns audio from live or video conversations into translated text.DeepL users can now listen to people speaking a language they dont understand and automatically translate it to one they do in real-time.The new feature currently supports English, German, Japanese, Korean, Swedish, Dutch, French, Turkish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Italian.What makes the launch of DeepL Voice exciting is that it runs on the same neural networks as the companys text-to-text offering, which itclaims is the worlds best AI translator.As someone whos just moved to a foreign country, Im keen to try a voice-to-text translator that actually might work. All the ones Ive tried so far arent real-time theres a lag that renders them pretty useless and the translation quality is pretty poor.Register NowFor face-to-face conversations, you can launch DeepL Voice on your mobile and place it between you and the other speaker. It then displays your conversation so each person can follow translations easily on one device.You can also integrate DeepL Voice into Microsoft Teams and video-conference across language barriers. The translated text appears on a sidebar as captions. It remains to be seen whether DeepL Voice will be available on platforms like Zoom or Google Meet anytime soon. The next frontier While this is DeepLs first such offering, its unlikely to be its last. DeepLs founder and CEO, Jarek Kutylowskicalled real-time voice translationthe next frontier for the business.DeepL is already a leader in written translation, but real-time speech translation is an entirely different story, said DeepLs founder and CEO, Jarek Kutylowski.When translating speech as it happens, youre dealing with incomplete input, pronunciation issues, latency and more, all of which can lead to inaccurate translations and poor user experience.Sowe built a solution that would take these into account from the offset and enable businesses to break down language barriers by enabling them to communicate in multiple languages as required, said Kutylowski.Quality will likely be DeepL Voices differentiating factor from the countless other providers of voice-to-text translations. From a technological perspective, DeepLs success lies in the architecture of its neural networks, the input from human editors, and the training data. But Kutylowski also believes it has a key advantage over its competitors: focus.Focus is always an important thing, Kutylowski previously told TNW. Translate isnt the core business of Google its one of the 100 side gigs. The same goes if you consider LLMs and the OpenAIs of this world as our competition; translation is only one thing of what theyre doing and their GPU is doing a tonne of different things. Were focused on one particular area.In May, the DeepL reached a $2bn valuation after securing a new investment of $300mn (277mn). It covers 32 languages and counts over 100,000 business users. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Brought to you by Uniq: Crafted with 28 bidirectional magnets, the Uniq Revix Apple Watch band collection features exceptional durability in a range of materials from premium leather to ultra-soft silicone. Learn more. The new Apple Watch is the thinnest and lightest version of the wearable to date. But how much thinner is Series 10 compared to Series 9 and earlier? And will you notice a difference? Read on for all the details.Apple Watch Series 10features new sizes with the biggest displays in combination with the thinnest design.Interestingly, Apple increased the displays bezel slightly with Series 10. But youre getting more rounded corners that give a softer and sleeker feel.Heres how much thinner Apple Watch Series 10 vs Series 9 and earlierSeries 10 is almost 10% thinner than Series 7-9. Series 10 is an impressive ~50% thinner than Apple Watch Ultra/2Will you notice the difference? You likely will between the thinness, larger screen, and lighter weight. But the best way to know is to try one on at an Apple Store or other retailer.Series 10987Ultra 2Case size46/42mm45/41mm45/41mm45/41mm49mmThickness9.7mm10.7mm10.7mm10.7mm14.4mmWeight35-41 grams for 46mm, 29-34 grams for 42mm (depending on model)39-51 grams for 45mm, 32-42 grams for 41mm (depending on model)39-51 grams for 45mm, 32-42 grams for 41mm (depending on model)39-51 grams for 45mm, 32-42 grams for 41mm (depending on model)61 grams (2.15 oz)Display size416 x 496 pixels, 1220 sq mm (46mm model)396 x 484 pixels, 1143 sq mm (45mm model)396 x 484 pixels, 1143 sq mm (45mm model)396 x 484 pixels, 1143 sq mm (45mm model)410 x 502 pixels, 1185 sq mm display areaApple Watch Series 10 models are also lighter with the thinner design and titanium for the high-end versions instead of steel. However, even the aluminum Series 10 models are lighter than Series 9 and earlier.For the displays, the 46 and 42mm cases offer what Apple says is up to 30% more screen area compared to Series 6. That means you get an additional line of text on the display and for the 46mm Series 10, a display that is ever-so-slightly larger than even the 49mm Apple Watch Ultra/2.Another new feature is the wide-angle OLED display that delivers up to a 40% brighter screen when looking from an angle.What do you think? Does the thinnest and lightest Apple Watch design matter to you? Share your thoughts in the comments!Brought to you by Uniq: Crafted with 28 bidirectional magnets, the Uniq Revix Apple Watch band collection features exceptional durability in a range of materials from premium leather to ultra-soft silicone. Learn more. Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel