Portable retro greatness, with great compromises.

Jun 06, 2025The Hacker NewsMalware / Endpoint Security Cybersecurity researchers are alerting to a new malware campaign that employs the ClickFix social engineering tactic to trick users into downloading an information stealer malware known as Atomic macOS Stealer (AMOS) on Apple macOS systems. The campaign, according to CloudSEK, has been found to leverage typosquat domains mimicking U.S.-based telecom provider Spectrum. "macOS users are served a malicious shell script designed to steal system passwords and download an AMOS variant for further exploitation," security researcher Koushik Pal said in a report published this week. "The script uses native macOS commands to harvest credentials, bypass security mechanisms, and execute malicious binaries." It's believed that the activity is the work of Russian-speaking cybercriminals owing to the presence of Russian language comments in the malware's source code. The starting point of the attack is a web page that impersonates Spectrum ("panel-spectrum[.]net" or "spectrum-ticket[.]net"). Visitors to the sites in question are served a message that instructs them to complete a hCaptcha verification check to in order to "review the security" of their connection before proceeding further. However, when the user clicks the "I am human" checkbox for evaluation, they are displayed an error message stating "CAPTCHA verification failed," urging them to click a button to go ahead with an "Alternative Verification." Doing so causes a command to be copied to the users' clipboard and the victim is shown a set of instructions depending on their operating system. While they are guided to run a PowerShell command on Windows by opening the Windows Run dialog, it's substituted by a shell script that's executed by launching the Terminal app on macOS. The shell script, for its part, prompts users to enter their system password and downloads a next-stage payload, in this case, a known stealer called Atomic Stealer. "Poorly implemented logic in the delivery sites, such as mismatched instructions across platforms, points to hastily assembled infrastructure," Pal said. "The delivery pages in question for this AMOS variant campaign contained inaccuracies in both its programming and front-end logic. For Linux user agents, a PowerShell command was copied. Furthermore, the instruction 'Press & hold the Windows Key + R' was displayed to both Windows and Mac users." The disclosure comes amid a surge in campaigns using the ClickFix tactic to deliver a wide range of malware families over the past year. "Actors carrying out these targeted attacks typically utilize similar techniques, tools, and procedures (TTPs) to gain initial access," Darktrace said. "These include spear phishing attacks, drive-by compromises, or exploiting trust in familiar online platforms, such as GitHub, to deliver malicious payloads." The links distributed using these vectors typically redirect the end user to a malicious URL that displays a fake CAPTCHA verification check in an attempt to deceive users into thinking that they are carrying out something innocuous, when, in reality, they are guided to execute malicious commands to fix a non-existent issue. The end result of this effective social engineering method is that users end up compromising their own systems, enabling threat actors to bypass security controls. The cybersecurity company said it identified multiple ClickFix attacks across customer environments in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and in the United States. And these campaigns are gaining steam, adopting several variations but operating with the same end goal of delivering malicious payloads, ranging from trojans to stealers to ransomware. Earlier this week, Cofense outlined an email phishing campaign that spoofs Booking.com, targeting hotel chains and the food services sector with fake CAPTCHAs that lead to XWorm RAT, PureLogs Stealer, and DanaBot. The fact that ClickFix is flexible and easy to adapt makes it an attractive malware distribution mechanism. "While the exact email structure varies from sample to sample, these campaigns generally provide Booking[.]com-spoofing emails with embedded links to a ClickFix fake CAPTCHA site which is used to deliver a malicious script that runs RATs and/or information stealers," Cofense said. The email security firm said it has also observed ClickFix samples mimicking cookie consent banners, wherein clicking on the "Accept" button causes a malicious script file to be downloaded. The user is subsequently prompted to run the script to accept cookies. In one April 2025 incident analyzed by Darktrace, unknown threat actors were found to utilize ClickFix as an attack vector to download nondescript payloads to burrow deeper into the target environment, conduct lateral movement, send system-related information to an external server via an HTTP POST request, and ultimately exfiltrate data. "ClickFix baiting is a widely used tactic in which threat actors exploit human error to bypass security defenses," Darktrace said. "By tricking endpoint users into performing seemingly harmless, everyday actions, attackers gain initial access to systems where they can access and exfiltrate sensitive data." Other ClickFix attacks have employed phony versions of other popular CAPTCHA services like Google reCAPTCHA and Cloudflare Turnstile for malware delivery under the guise of routine security checks. These fake pages are "pixel-perfect copies" of their legitimate counterparts, sometimes even injected into real-but-hacked websites to trick unsuspecting users. Stealers such as Lumma and StealC, as well as full-fledged remote access trojans (RATs) like NetSupport RAT are some of the payloads distributed via bogus Turnstile pages. "Modern internet users are inundated with spam checks, CAPTCHAs, and security prompts on websites, and they've been conditioned to click through these as quickly as possible," SlashNext's Daniel Kelley said. "Attackers exploit this 'verification fatigue,' knowing that many users will comply with whatever steps are presented if it looks routine." Found this article interesting? This article is a contributed piece from one of our valued partners. Follow us on Twitter  and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. SHARE    

As a Canadian who has spent the last two and a half years working as an intern architect in Helsinki, these questions have been on my mind. In my current role, I have had the opportunity to participate in numerous architectural competitions arranged by Finnish municipalities and public institutions. It has been my observation that the Finnish system of open, anonymous architectural competitions consistently produces elegant and highly functional public buildings at reasonable cost and at great benefit to the lives of the everyday people for whom the projects are intended to serve. Could Canada benefit from the adoption of a similar model? ‘Public project’ has never been a clearly defined term and may bring to mind the image of a bustling library for some while conjuring the image of a municipal power substation for others. In the context of this discussion, I will use the term to refer to projects that are explicitly in-service of the broader public such as community centres, museums, and other cultural venues. Finland’s architectural competition system Frequented by nearly 2 million visitors per year, the Oodi Central Library in Helsinki, Finland, has become a thriving cultural hub and an internationally recognized symbol of Finnish design innovation. Designed by ALA Architects, the project was procured through a 2-stage, open, international architectural competition. Photo by Ninara (flickr, CC BY 2.0) In Finland, most notable public projects begin with an architectural competition. Some are limited to invited participants only, but the majority of these competitions are open to international submissions. Importantly, the authors of any given proposal remain anonymous with regards to the jury. This ensures that all proposals are evaluated purely on quality without bias towards established firms over lesser known competitors. The project budget is known in advance to the competition entrants and cost feasibility is an important factor weighed by the jury. However, the cost for the design services to be procured from the winning entry is fixed ahead of time, preventing companies from lowballing offers in the hopes of securing an interesting commission despite the inevitable compromises in quality that come with under-resourced design work. The result: inspired, functional public spaces are the norm, not the exception. Contrasted against the sea of forgettable public architecture to be found in cities large and small across Canada, the Finnish model paints a utopic picture. Several award-winning projects in my current place of employment in Helsinki have been the result of successes in open architectural competitions. The origin of the firm itself stemmed from a winning competition entry for a church in a small village submitted by the firm’s founder while he was still completing his architectural studies.  At that time, many architecture firms in Finland were founded in this manner with the publicity of a competition win serving as a career launching off point for young architects. While less common today, many students and recent graduates still participate in these design competitions. On the occasion that a young practitioner wins a competition, they are required to assemble a team with the necessary expertise and qualifications to satisfy the requirements of the jury. I believe there is a direct link between the high architectural quality outcomes of these competitions and the fact that they are conducted anonymously. The opening of these competitions to submissions from companies outside of Finland further enhances the diversity of entries and fosters international interest in the goings-on of Finland’s architectural scene. Nonetheless, it is worth acknowledging that exemplary projects have also resulted from invited and privately organized competitions. Ultimately, the mindset of the client, the selection of an appropriate jury, and the existence of sufficient incentives for architects to invest significant time in their proposals play a more critical role in shaping the quality of the final outcome. Tikkurila Church and Housing in Vantaa, Finland, hosts a diverse range of functions including a café, community event spaces and student housing. Designed by OOPEAA in collaboration with a local builder, the project was realized as the result of a competition organized by local Finnish and Swedish parishes. Photo by Marc Goodwin Finland’s competition system, administered by the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA), is not limited to major public projects such as museums, libraries and city halls. A significant number of idea competitions are organized seeking compelling visions for urban masterplans. The quality of this system has received international recognition. To quote a research paper from a Swedish university on the structure, criteria and judgement process of Finnish architectural competitions, “The Finnish (competition) experience can provide a rich information source for scholars and students studying the structure and process of competition system and architectural judgement, as well as those concerned with commissioning and financing of competitions due to innovative solutions found in the realms of urban revitalization, poverty elimination, environmental pollution, cultural and socio-spatial renewals, and democratization of design and planning process.” This has not gone entirely under the radar in Canada. According to the website of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), “Competitions are common in countries such as Finland, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. These competitions have resulted in a high quality of design as well as creating public interest in the role of architecture in national and community life.” Canada’s architectural competition system In Canada, the RAIC sets general competition guidelines while provincial and territorial architect associations are typically responsible for the oversight of any endorsed architectural competition. Although the idea of implementing European architectural competition models has been gaining traction in recent years, competitions remain relatively rare even for significant public projects. While Canada is yet to fully embrace competition systems as a powerful tool for ensuring higher quality public spaces, success stories from various corners of the country have opened up constructive conversations. In Edmonton, unconventional, competitive procurement efforts spearheaded by city architect Carol Belanger have produced some remarkable public buildings. This has not gone unnoticed in other parts of the country where consistent banality is the norm for public projects. Jasper Place Branch Library designed by HCMA and Dub Architects is one of several striking projects in Edmonton built under reimagined commissioning processes which broaden the pool of design practices eligible to participate and give greater weight to design quality as an evaluation criterion. Photo by Hubert Kang The wider applicability of competition systems as a positive mechanism for securing better public architecture has also started to receive broader discussion. In my hometown of Ottawa, this system has been used to procure several powerful monuments and, more recently, to select a design for the redevelopment of a key city block across from Parliament Hill. The volume and quality of entries, including from internationally renowned architectural practices, attests to the strengths of the open competition format. Render of the winning entry for the Block 2 Redevelopment in Ottawa. This 2-stage competition was overseen directly by the RAIC. Design and render by Zeidler Architecture Inc. in cooperation with David Chipperfield Architects. Despite these successes, there is significant room for improvement. A key barrier to wider adoption of competition practices according to the RAIC is “…that potential sponsors are not familiar with competitions or may consider the competition process to be complicated, expensive, and time consuming.” This is understandable for private actors, but an unsatisfactory answer in the case of public, tax-payer funded projects. Finland’s success has come through the normalization of competitions for public project procurement. We should endeavour to do the same. Maintaining design contribution anonymity prior to jury decision has thus far been the exception, not the norm in Canada. This reduces the credibility of the jury without improving the result. Additionally, the financing of such competitions has been piece-meal and inconsistent. For example, several world-class schools have been realized in Quebec as the result of competitions funded by a provincial investment.  With the depletion of that fund, it is no longer clear if any further schools will be commissioned in Quebec under a similar model. While high quality documentation has been produced, there is a risk that developed expertise will be lost if the team of professionals responsible for overseeing the process is not retained. École du Zénith in Shefford, Quebec, designed by Pelletier de Fontenay + Leclerc Architectes is one of six elegant and functional schools commission by the province through an anonymous competition process. Photo by James Brittain A path forward Now more than ever, it is essential that our public projects instill in us a sense of pride and reflect our uniquely Canadian values. This will continue to be a rare occurrence until more ambitious measures are taken to ensure the consistent realization of beautiful, innovative and functional public spaces that connect us with one another. In service of this objective, Canada should incentivize architectural competitions by normalizing their use for major public projects such as national museums, libraries and cultural centres. A dedicated Competitions Fund could be established to support provinces, territories and cities who demonstrate initiative in the pursuit of more ambitious, inspiring and equitable public projects. A National Competitions Expert could be appointed to ensure retention and dissemination of expertise. Maintaining the anonymity of competition entrants should be established as the norm. At a moment when talk of removing inter-provincial trade barriers has re-entered public discourse, why not consider striking down red tape that prevents out-of-province firms from participating in architectural competitions? Alas, one can dream. Competitions are no silver bullet. However, recent trials within our borders should give us confidence that architectural competitions are a relatively low-risk, high-reward proposition. To this end, Finland’s open, anonymous competition system offers a compelling case study from which we would be well served to take inspiration. Isaac Edmonds is a Canadian working for OOPEAA – Office for Peripheral Architecture in Helsinki, Finland. My observations of the Finnish competition system’s ability to consistently produce functional, beautiful buildings inform my interest in procurement methods that elevate the quality of our shared public realm. The post Op-Ed: Could Canada benefit from adopting Finland’s architectural competition system? appeared first on Canadian Architect.

In technical fields like information technology, definitions are fundamental. They are the building blocks for constructing useful applications and systems. Yet, despite this, it’s easy to assume a term’s definition and wield it confidently before discovering its true meaning. The two closely related cases that stand out to me are “security” and “privacy.” I say this with full awareness that, in my many writings on information security, I never adequately distinguished these two concepts. It was only after observing enough conflation of these terms that I resolved to examine my own casual treatment of them. So, with the aim of solidifying my own understanding, let’s properly differentiate “information security” and “information privacy.” Security vs. Privacy: Definitions That Matter In the context of information technology, what exactly are security and privacy? Security is the property of denying unauthorized parties from accessing or altering your data. Privacy is the property of preventing the observation of your activities by any third parties to whom you do not expressly consent to observe those activities. As you can see, these principles are related, which is one reason why they’re commonly interchanged. This distinction becomes comprehensible with examples. Let’s start with an instance where security applies, but privacy does not. Spotify uses digital rights management (DRM) software to keep its media secure but not private. DRM is a whole topic of its own, but it essentially uses cryptography to enforce copyright. In Spotify’s case, it’s what constitutes streaming rather than just downloading: the song’s file is present on your device (at least temporarily) just as if you’d downloaded it, but Spotify’s DRM cryptography prevents you from opening the file without the Spotify application. The data on Spotify (audio files) are secure because only users of the application can stream audio, and streamed content can’t be retained, opened, or transmitted to non-users. However, Spotify’s data is not private because nearly anyone with an email address can be a user. Thus, in practice, the company cannot control who exactly can access its data. A more complex example of security without privacy is social media. When you sign up for a social media platform, you accept an end-user license agreement (EULA) authorizing the platform to share your data with its partners and affiliates. Your data stored with “authorized parties” on servers controlled by the platform and its affiliates would be considered secure, provided all these entities successfully defend your data against theft by unauthorized parties. In other words, if everyone who is allowed (by agreement) to have your data encrypts it in transit and at rest, insulates and segments their networks, etc., then your data is secure no matter how many affiliates receive it. In practice, the more parties that have your data, the more likely it is that any one of them is breached, but in theory, they could all defend your data. On the other hand, any data you fork over to the social network is not private because you can’t control who uses your data and how. As soon as your data lands on the platform’s servers, you can’t restrict what they do with it, including sharing your data with other entities, which you also can’t control. Both examples illustrate security without privacy. That’s because privacy entails security, but not the reverse. All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares. If you have privacy, meaning you can completely enforce how any party uses your data (or doesn’t), it is secure by definition because only authorized parties can access your data. Mobile Devices: Secure but Not Private Casually mixing security and privacy can lead people to misunderstand the information security properties that apply to their data in any given scenario. By reevaluating for ourselves whether a given technology affords us security and privacy, we can have a more accurate understanding of how accessible our data really is. One significant misconception I’ve noticed concerns mobile devices. I get the impression that the digital privacy content sphere regards mobile devices as not secure because they aren’t private. But while mobile is designed not to be private, it is specifically designed to be secure. Why is that? Because the value of data is in keeping it in your hands and out of your competitor’s. If you collect data but anyone else can grab your copy, you are not only at no advantage but also at a disadvantage since you’re the only party that spent time and money to collect it from the source. With modest scrutiny, we’ll find that every element of a mobile OS that might be marketed as a privacy feature is, in fact, strictly a security feature. Cybersecurity professionals have hailed application permissions as a major stride in privacy. But whom are they designed to help? These menus apply to applications that request access to certain hardware, from microphones and cameras to flash memory storage and wireless radios. This access restriction feature serves the OS developer by letting users lock out as much of their competition as possible from taking their data. The mobile OS developer controls the OS with un-auditable compiled code. For all you know, permission controls on all the OS’s native apps could be ignored. However, even if we assume that the OS developer doesn’t thwart your restrictions on their own apps, the first-party apps still enjoy pride of place. There are more of them; they are preinstalled on your device, facilitate core mobile device features, require more permissions, and often lose core functions when those permissions are denied. Mobile OSes also sandbox every application, forcing each to run in an isolated software environment, oblivious to other applications and the underlying operating system. This, too, benefits the OS vendor. Like the app permission settings, this functionality makes it harder for third parties to grab the same data the OS effortlessly ingests. The OS relies on its own background processes to obtain the most valuable data and walls off every other app from those processes. Mobile Security Isn’t Designed With You in Mind The most powerful mobile security control is the denial of root privileges to all applications and users (besides, again, the OS itself). While it goes a long way toward keeping the user’s data safe, it is just as effective at subjecting everything and everyone using the device to the dictates of the OS. The security advantage is undeniable: if your user account can’t use root, then any malware that compromises it can’t either. By the same token, because you don’t have complete control over the OS, you are unable to reconfigure your device for privacy from the OS vendor. I’m not disparaging any of these security controls. All of them reinforce the protection of your data. I’m saying that they are not done primarily for the user’s benefit; that is secondary. Those of you familiar with my work might see the scroll bar near the bottom of this page and wonder why I haven’t mentioned Linux yet. The answer is that desktop operating systems, my preferred kind of Linux OS, benefit from their own examination. In a follow-up to this piece, I will discuss the paradox of desktop security and privacy. Please stay tuned.

Nvidia's RTX Remix is a remarkable tool that allows game modders to bring state-of-the-art path traced visuals to classic PC games. We've seen Portal RTX from Nvidia already, along with the development of a full-on remaster of Half-Life 2 - but I was excited to see a community of modders take on 2004's Painkiller, enhanced now to become Painkiller RTX. It's still a work-in-progress project as of version 0.1.6, but what I've seen so far is still highly impressive - and if you have the means, I recommend checking it out. The whole reason RTX Remix works with the original Painkiller is due to its custom rendering technology, known as the PainEngine. This 2004 release from People Can Fly Studios was built around Direct X 8.1, which gave it stellar visuals at the time, including bloom effects – specular lighting with limited bump mapping and full framebuffer distortion effects. Those visuals dazzled top-end GPU owners of the time, but like a great number of PC releases from that era, it had a DX7 fallback which culled the fancier shading effects and could even run on GPUs like the original GeForce. RTX Remix uses the fixed function DX7 path and replaces the core rendering with the path tracer - and that is how I have been playing the game these last few days, taking in the sights and sounds of Painkiller with a new lick of paint. It's an upgrade that has made me appreciate it all the more now in 2025 as it is quite a special game that history has mostly forgotten. To fully enjoy the modders' work on the path-traced upgrade to Painkiller, we highly recommend this video.Watch on YouTube Painkiller is primarily a singleplayer first-person shooter that bucked the trends of the time period. After Half-Life and Halo: Combat Evolved, many first person shooters trended towards a more grounded and storytelling-based design. The classic FPS franchises like Quake or Unreal had gone on to become wholly focused on multiplayer, or else transitioned to the storytelling route - like Doom 3, for example. Painkiller took all of those 'modern' trappings and threw them in the garbage. A narrative only exists in a loose sense with pre-rendered video that bookends the game’s chapters, acting only as a flimsy excuse to send the player to visually distinct levels that have no thematic linking beyond pointing you towards enemies that you should dispatch with a variety of weapons. The basic gameplay sounds familiar if you ever played Doom Eternal or Doom 2016. It is simple on paper, but thanks to the enemy and level variety and the brilliant weaponry, it does not get tiring. The game enhanced its traditional FPS gameplay with an extensive use of Havok physics – where a great deal of the game’s environmental objects could be broken up into tiny pieces with rigid body movement on all the little fragments, or environmental objects could be manipulated with ragdoll or rope physics. Sometimes it is there for purely visual entertainment but other times it has a gameplay purpose with destructible objects often containing valuable resources or being useful as a physics weapon against the game's enemies. So, what's the score with Painkiller RTX? Well, the original's baked lighting featured hardly any moving lights and no real-time perspective-correct shadows - so all of that is added as part and parcel of the path-traced visuals. The RTX renderer also takes advantage of ray-traced fog volumes, showing shadows in the fog in the areas where light is obscured. Another aspect you might notice is that the game’s various pickups have been now made to be light-emissive. In the original game, emissives textures are used to keep things full bright even in darkness, but they themselves emit no light. Since the path tracer fully supports emissive lighting from any arbitrary surface, they all now cast light, making them stand out even more in the environment. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The original game extensively used physics objects, which tended to lead to a clash in lighting and shading for any moving objects, which were incongruous then with the static baked lighting. Turn on the path tracer and these moving objects are grounded into the environment with shadows of their own, while receiving and casting light themselves. Boss battles are transformed as those enemies are also fully grounded in the surrounding environments, perfectly integrated into the path-traced visuals - and even if the titanic enemies are off-screen, their shadows are not. The main difference in many scenes is just down to the new lighting - it's more physicalised now as dynamic objects are properly integrated, no longer floating or glowing strangely. One reason for this is due to lighting resolution. The original lighting was limited by trying to fit in 256MB of VRAM, competing for space with the game’s high resolution textures. Painkiller RTX's lighting and shadowing is achieved at a per-pixel level in the path tracer, which by necessity means that you tend to see more nuance, along with more bounce lighting as it is no longer erased away by bilinear filtering on chunky light map textures. Alongside more dynamism and detail, there are a few new effects too. Lit fog is heavily used now in many levels - perhaps at its best in the asylum level where the moonlight and rain are now illuminated, giving the level more ambience than it had before. There is also some occasional usage of glass lighting effects like the stain glass windows in the game now filtering light through them properly, colouring the light on the ground in the pattern of the individual mosaic patterns found on their surface. Half-Life 2 RTX - built on RTX Remix - recently received a demo release. It's the flagship project for the technology, but modders have delivered path traced versions of many modern games.Watch on YouTube New textures and materials interact with the path tracer in ways that transform the game. For some objects, I believe the modders used Quixel megascan assets to give the materials parallax along with a high resolution that is artistically similar to the original game. A stoney ground in the graveyard now actually looks stoney, thanks to a different texture: a rocky material with craggy bits and crevices that obscure light and cast micro shadows, for example. Ceramic tiles on the floor now show varying levels of depth and cracks that pick up a very dull level of reflectivity from the moon-lit sky. Some textures are also updated by running them through generative tools which interpret dark areas of the baked textures as recesses and lighter areas as raised edges and assigns them a heightmap. This automated process works quite well for textures whose baked features are easily interpreted, but for textures that had a lot of noise added into them to simulate detail, the automated process can be less successful. That is the main issue I would say with the RTX version so far: some of these automated textures have a few too many bumps in them, making them appear unnatural. But that is just the heightmap data as the added in material values to give the textures sheen tend to look universally impressive. The original game barely has any reflectivity, and now a number of select surfaces show reflections in full effect, like the marble floors at the end of the game's second level. For the most part though, the remix of textures from this mod is subtle, with many textures still being as diffuse as found in the original game: rocky and dirty areas in particular look much the same as before, just with more accurately rendered shadows and bounce lighting - but without the plasticy sheen you might typically find in a seventh generation game. Whether maxed on an RTX 5090 or running on optimised settings on an RTX 4060, the current work-in-progress version of Painkiller RTX can certainly challenge hardware. | Image credit: Digital Foundry Make no mistake though: path tracing doesn't come cheap and to play this game at decent frame-rates, you either need to invest in high performance hardware or else accept some compromises to settings. Being a user mod that's still in development, I imagine this could improve in later versions but at the moment, Painkiller RTX maxed out is very heavy - even heavier than Portal RTX. So if you want to play it on a lower-end GPU, I recommend my optimised settings for Portal RTX, which basically amounts to turning down the amount of possible light bounces to save on performance and skimping a bit in other areas. Even with that, an RTX 4060 was really struggling to run the game well. With frame generation on and DLSS set to 1080p balanced with the transformer model, 80fps to 90fps was the best I could achieve in the general combat zones, with the heaviest stages dipping into the 70s - and even into the 60s with frame generation. The mod is still work-in-progress, but even now, Painkiller RTX is still a lot of fun and it can look stunning if your hardware is up to it. But even if you can't run it, I do hope this piece and its accompanying video pique your interest in checking out Painkiller in some form. Even without the path-traced upgrade, this is a classic first-person shooter that's often overlooked and more than holds its own against some of the period's better known games.

Age verification is coming to app stores in Texas, meaning that users could soon be required to provide some form of identification in order to download anything from the Google Play and Apple App stores, regardless of the app's content. Earlier this week, Gov. Greg Abbott signed the Texas App Store Accountability Act, which is set to take effect at the beginning of next year. The new law, which purports to be about keeping children safer online, has significant implications for user privacy and data security. What will be required for app store age verification in Texas?The Texas law will require Google and Apple to verify the age of all users before they download any app through their app stores, even if the app has no sensitive or age-specific content. Parents will have to provide consent for minors to download apps or make purchases, and app stores will have to confirm that parents or guardians have the legal authority to make those decisions for their children. App stores will also have to share which age categories users fall into (child, young teen, older teen, or adult) with app developers. While the specifics are yet to be determined, that means Google and Apple will have to collect some form of user identification, whether that's a driver's license, passport, or other government-issued ID, or biometric data, such as a facial scan, for anyone using their app stores in Texas. Even more documentation will be required for parents proving legal guardianship of minor users. Utah passed a similar bill earlier this year making app stores responsible for centralizing age verification, and while its requirements are slightly less onerous, they're not much better when it comes to your privacy. How age verification compromises your privacyPrivacy experts—as well as both Apple and Google—have raised alarms about the implications of age verification, noting that requiring all users to turn over sensitive personal information included in data-rich documents that can prove your age is a form of digital surveillance. It creates an identifiable record of online activity and increases the risk that the data will be used, shared, or sold (unlike physical ID checks, which are momentary and impermanent). Age verification also presents security concerns with how sensitive user data is collected and stored. Data breaches are a fact of life in 2025, and individuals may have very little (if any) knowledge about whether and how their information is used and stored without their consent, and without recourse if it is compromised. Aaron Mackey, free speech and transparency litigation director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), notes that the Texas law doesn't have any built-in protections for user data, such as minimizing what is collected and transmitted and for how long it is retained. Plus, there are risks present in the likelihood that app stores will utilize third-party verification services to comply with the requirements, meaning data is available to multiple parties. The EFF and the ACLU also argue that online age verification requirements violate users' First Amendment rights, as they may make protected free speech inaccessible—if adults don't have a valid form of identification, or facial recognition inaccurately estimates age, or minors can't get parental consent—or force people to choose between shielding their privacy and being online. "If I have to provide this level of personal information because the government mandates it just to download an app from an app store, I'm going to be significantly worried about what happens to my data, and I might just decide to not actually download the app or even use this app store," Mackey says.

With both the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro, the visual experience on Sony’s console is incredible, especially when paired with the right TV for gaming. Playing games at 4K resolution and 60fps on that new PS5 Pro is fantastic, but to really get in the game, you need the audio experience to match. You’ll do justice in a home theater setup with the proper 7.1 speakers or a great soundbar, but you probably don’t want to be rattling your walls at all times. That doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice sound quality – one of the most important PS5 accessories is a good gaming headset, and there are plenty out there.Pulse Elite is one of the best picks for PS5 since it’s a Sony first-party product that features some nice platform integration. But if you’re willing to spend more for pure audio quality, the Audeze Maxwell is an easy choice. And if you want to ditch having something clamping over your head, the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds elevate earbuds to the headset levels of performance. TL;DR - These Are the Best PS5 HeadsetsOur Top PickSteelSeries Arctis Nova ProSee it at AmazonBest First-PartyPlayStation Pulse EliteSee it at AmazonBest 3D AudioPlayStation Pulse 3DBest High-EndAudeze MaxwellSee it at AmazonBest BudgetTurtle Beach Stealth 500See it at AmazonBest Open-BackTurtle Beach Atlas AirSee it at AmazonBest WiredHyperX Cloud IIISee it at AmazonBest Noise-cancelingAlienware Pro HeadsetSee it at AmazonBest EarbudsSteelSeries Arctis GameBudsSee it at AmazonIt's worth noting that from now until June 11 is Sony's PS5 Days of Play sale, which features several deals on hardware and games. This includes accessories like headsets and controllers; unfortunately, it does not include the Pulse Elite or Pulse 3D headsets. However, you can get deep discounts on the Pulse Explore gaming earbuds, the Sony InZone H9 headset, and the InZone noise-cancelling earbuds, all of which we have reviewed and gave high marks.When it comes to our picks, you may notice some crossover in our best overall gaming headsets roundup since many of them have PS5-specific models that take advantage of the console’s specific features. There are also a few first-party options that make the most of the PS5 with features like Tempest 3D spatial audio and further customization that’s native to the platform. Regardless of what you choose to pick up, you’ll end up with something great, which I can attest to since I have first-hand experience with every product I recommend. Everything from sound quality and comfort to ease-of-use and feature set are all factors in deciding which headsets get my stamp of approval. Below, you can read my detailed explanations behind each pick to help you decide which one is right for you. As new headsets come out and I test more of them, I’ll update this list to make sure you’re looking at the top picks. If you're looking for discounts on the best PS5 accessories, check out our picks for the best PS5 deals.This guide contains contributions by Danielle Abraham.1. SteelSeries Arctis Nova ProBest Overall PS5 HeadsetOur Top PickSteelSeries Arctis Nova ProMultiple connectivity options, a hot-swappable battery, excellent sound, and hybrid active noise canceling make this a hard-to-top headset.See it at AmazonProduct SpecificationsConnectivity2.4 GHz wireless, Bluetooth, wiredDrivers40mm NeodymiumBattery life18-22 hours (per battery)Weight338gPROSFully featured with ANC, base station, etcSwappable battery system is innovativeFantastic sound qualityCONSANC could be betterIt seems like everywhere you look for headset recommendations, you’ll come across someone singing the praises of the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro – us included. It’s the current top pick in our overall best gaming headset roundup and it’s also tremendous when using it on the PS5. You still get all the great features with some new technology including active noise cancellation and improved audio all around. Using a hybrid noise-canceling system with four mics, you can drown out harsh noises from outside your room to the ambient hum of loud fans. But it's the full compatiblity with the PS5’s Tempest 3D audio that give it the edge, which is one of console-specific perks you should expect from a top-end headset such as this one.Most importantly, the Nova Pro offers some fantastic sound quality out of the box with bold and balanced audio for those PlayStation-exclusive single-player cinematic experiences. Its positional audio is great as well, so it's easier to hear enemy footsteps around the corner or gauge the distance of action happening in a competitive shooter like Call of Duty Warzone or Apex Legends.The Arctis Nova Pro represents the biggest design shift since the start of the Arctis lineup. Its telescoping arms on its adjustable headband better accommodate larger head sizes and proper fitment. The earcups are also slimmer and sleeker, giving off less of a gaming headset vibe and more of a look akin to wireless headphones without sacrificing the comfort SteelSeries headsets are known for. And one of our favorite features remains intact with a few upgrades: the hot-swappable rechargeable battery system. This means that when the battery runs low during a gaming session, you can quickly change it out without having to plug in, giving you wireless freedom indefinitely.The Arctis Nova Pro is one of the best headsets you can buy right now, regardless of platform but especially for PS5. It’s well-rounded with uniquely robust features, great sound quality for gaming, and comfort to keep you going. Take our word for it – in our Arctis Nova Pro headset review, it earned a rare 10 for all the aforementioned reasons and more.2. PlayStation Pulse EliteBest First-Party PS5 HeadsetBest First-PartyPlayStation Pulse EliteGreat sound, a unique look, and multipoint connectivity all come with this headset made with the PS5 in mind.See it at AmazonProduct SpecificationsConnectivityWired, Bluetooth, PlayStation LinkDriversPlanar magneticMax battery life30 hours Weight347gPROSClear, detailed audioWireless multipointCONSUnique design won’t appeal to allThe PlayStation Pulse Elite wireless headset turned out to be an absolute beast when we reviewed it, which didn’t come as much of a surprise considering its more affordable counterpart, the Pulse 3D, was already a fantastic headset. It has some versatility with Bluetooth connectivity, but when connected to the PS5 with the USB dongle, you can access EQ settings and 3D audio natively. Additionally, you’re able to get audio feeds from both the PS5 and a Bluetooth device simultaneously. With a sleek unibody design, its on-device controls are easy to use since it’s easy to distinguish each button.But at the end of the day, it’s all about audio quality, and the Pulse Elite delivers on that front. The planar magnetic audio drivers help minimize distortion and provide tremendous sound quality that’ll get the most out of your games. There’s strong bass that doesn’t overpower other frequencies, and playing games at loud volumes doesn’t sound harsh when it comes to the mids and highs. Especially when you use the right EQ settings, the Pulse Elite sounds tuned just right for each game. Sony's own Tempest 3D audio is the cherry on top, and a single-player game that takes advantage of this feature gives the experience of an immersive soundstage few headsets can pull off right.For $150, you’re getting a lot for your money. It’s priced well below other high-end headsets, yet performs on par with many of them. It’s also packed with several extra features that make the most of the PS5 as a platform. For all that and more, the Pulse Elite is one of the best PS5 headsets you can get today.3. PlayStation Pulse 3DBest PS5 Headset for 3D AudioBest 3D AudioPlayStation Pulse 3DDesigned for the PS5 but compatible with many other devices, this affordable headset offers Tempest 3D positional audio for detailed, immersive sound.Product SpecificationsConnectivityUSB dongle, 3.5mm jackDrivers40mm NeodymiumMax battery life12 hoursWeight292gPROSTailored to the PS5Affordable for official Sony gearBase level sound quality is greatCONSMediocre battery lifeThe official PlayStation headset that launched alongside the PS5, the Sony Pulse 3D was specifically designed to show off the console’s next-gen audio capabilities. Even several years removed from its release, it still does that very well, particularly when it comes to the PS5’s Tempest 3D AudioTech, the virtual surround sound system designed to enhance positional audio feedback – think enemy fire coming from a certain height and direction, or an NPC talking to you from behind.Even without that 3D audio, our review of the Sony Pulse 3D revealed it to performing headset with a wide soundstage alongside solid overall sound quality. The rounded, well-padded leatherette ear cups are wider than they look, although they can get a tad warm after continuous use. It’s lightweight, too, and the slick white-black color scheme perfectly fits the PS5 hardware. However, I do find the headset to clamp a bit tighter than most, so that's one thing to take note of.A pair of noise-canceling microphones are built into the headset’s ear cups. They work fine and audio comes through loud and clear, though they struggle to completely isolate and eliminate background noise. For the most part, that won’t be a problem. Also, remember to charge this headset at the end of the day or have a very long USB-C cable to plug it in mid-session since it's battery life is on the shorter end.The Pulse 3D headset is an incredible value at $100, giving you a great option for PS5 audio with all the Sony-specific bells and whistles you'd want if you're not willing to shell out the extra money for the Pulse Elite.4. Audeze MaxwellBest High-End PS5 HeadsetAudeze MaxwellThe Audeze Maxwell is a high-end wireless gaming headset from one of the best headphone manufacturers on the planet.See it at AmazonProduct SpecificationsConnectivityUSB-A / USB-C, Bluetooth 5.3, 3.5mm wiredDrivers90mm planar magneticMax battery life80+ hoursWeight490gPROSTop-notch audio experienceSleek, low-key designCONSLeans on the heavier sideAlthough our overall top pick is the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro with the Pulse Elite not too far behind, I still find the Audeze Maxwell worth its price tag and a surefire recommendation for those who want the absolute best audio quality. It sports a sleek, non-descript design akin to many audiophile-style pairs of headphones and performs just like one as well. Sometimes I need to break away from the misconception that wired is always better for sound quality, especially when the Audeze Maxwell proved me wrong.Its 90mm planar magnetic drivers jump out from the spec sheet – and while bigger drivers doesn’t always mean better, this is one case in which the audio experience matches the boastful driver size. Overall clarity, balance across frequencies, and a rich natural audio profile make this high-end headset stand out from the rest of the pack. While the aforementioned headsets on this list are fantastic in their own right, especially for their robust features, it’s hard to compete with the Audeze Maxwell purely in the audio department.That said, while the Maxwell is comfortable, it does land on the heavier side of gaming headsets. It’s built like a tank, but if you’re okay with that, then it’s more of a non-issue. When you get a great mix of sound quality, battery life, and features such as a mic with pinpoint noise isolation, it’s easy to justify its high price. I praised it for all that and more in my Audeze Maxwell review where it earned a 9 on our scoring scale.5. Turtle Beach Stealth 500Best Budget PS5 HeadsetTurtle Beach Stealth 500The Turtle Beach Stealth 500 is a wireless gaming headset for under $100, and you can't beat that value.See it at AmazonProduct SpecificationsConnectivity2.4GHz, Bluetooth 5.2Drivers40mm driversBattery life40 hoursWeight235gPROSDurable and flexible buildGreat sound quality for its priceCONSBulky design with messy button layoutYears of solid headsets proves that Turtle Beach knows what it's doing, and its high-end offerings have been competitive options for a while now. But as I go down the pricing hierarchy, there are still impressive headsets like the Stealth 500 that punches above its weight. Although it’s quite bulky in its physical build, I find the Stealth 500 to be smartly designed with a super flexible headband that's durable and lightweight, which also translates to solid comfort that’s easy on the ears.What's most important is sound quality, and what you get from the Stealth 500 is nothing to scoff at. While it may struggle in higher frequencies, which tend to sound a bit crunchy at louder volumes, its strong bass and clear mids make games sound full without coming across as artificial. With the Swarm II software’s Signature Sound profile, you’ll be set without having to fiddle with too many settings. Its positional audio was great as well, which I sussed out while playing ranked matches of Counter-Strike 2, so you don’t really need to shell out the big bucks to get that kind of advantage in competitive games on PS5.Even at this price point, you get Bluetooth capabilities and can swap between devices with the press of a button. While the mic isn’t anything to boast about, it’s serviceable and can be customized in the software as well. It’s no surprise that there are compromises that need to be made in budget-level headsets, but it gets the essentials right, which earned it an 8 in my Stealth 500 review.6. HyperX Cloud IIIBest Wired PS5 HeadsetBest WiredHyperX Cloud IIIWith great comfort, sound quality, microphone clarity, and durability, the Cloud III is one of HyperX's best headsets.See it at AmazonProduct SpecificationsConnectivityWired (3.5mm), USB-A / USB-CDrivers53mm Angles DriversBattery lifeN/AWeight318gPROSExtremely durable and flexibleDense earpads for premium-grade comfortGreat sound and mic quality, especially in its price rangeCONSMay clamp a little too tightNo matter which version of the HyperX Cloud headset you go with, you get a quality product. If you’re running on a budget and want to get the most bang for your buck, I always recommend the wired HyperX Cloud III, which can often be found below its $100 base price. It punches above its weight with impressive sound and mic quality and great comfort. Plus, it’s built like a brick house so it’s not going to fall apart through years of use.Out of the box, the Cloud III impressed me with its build and durability – its aluminum frame can be flexed and contorted in any which direction without ever feeling like it’s going to break. Stretching the headset out to fit on your head is super easy and you can toss them on your desk without worrying about damaging them. It's built for comfort as well with dense foam earpads wrapped in a leatherette (just be aware it tends to get a bit sweaty), although its clamp force may be a bit much for some.At the end of the day, it’s all about sound quality and the Cloud III handles various frequencies wonderfully. In my Cloud III headset review, I felt comfortable tracking enemy footsteps while playing a ton of Valorant and enjoyed the balanced audio in Final Fantasy XIV, which this more budget-friendly headset handled gracefully. Assuming you’re on a budget, you probably don’t want to spend extra on a decent microphone – luckily, the mic clarity on the Cloud III was equally as impressive. While there is a wireless version of the Cloud III available, the wired model presents some of the best value and performance. Something like the Beyerdynamic MMX 300 Pro is a current analog favorite, but since you're plugging into the DualSense when you're using a wired headset on PS5, it somewhat limits what you can get out of said headset. Thus, the Cloud III strikes the better value proposition.7. Alienware Pro HeadsetBest Noise-Canceling PS5 HeadsetBest Noise-cancelingAlienware Pro HeadsetDefying its own brand tradition, Alienware went with a super-sleek design for the Pro headset and brings great sound quality as well as great ANC and comfort.See it at AmazonProduct SpecificationsConnectivityBluetooth, USB-C dongle, USB wiredDrivers50mm Graphene-CoatedMax battery life70 hours (35 hours with ANC)Weight315gPROSStrong bass responseSleek, non-descript designANC and mic ANC both work excellentlyCONSSoftware support isn't greatOver the years, Alienware's forte has been custom built PCs and has explored gaming peripherals since. It rethought its design philosophy and came out with the Pro headset earlier this year with great success, as I detail in my Alienware Pro headset review. I love its slim and sleek design (somewhat matching the design philosophy of Sony's PS5 products), which also makes it easily double-up as a casual everyday pair of headphones, and that really makes its active noise-canceling features sing.As a gaming headset, it brings booming bass to support all the other frequencies so PS5 games are going to have a powerful low-end to give a proper cinematic experience, but it's also tuned to be fit for competitive games as well. When it comes to comfort, its memory foam earbuds get the job done even though they don't look impressive at first glance. The flexible headband lets the Alienware Pro headset clamp easily on my head to help it stay comfortable for several hours of play.If you're looking for good ANC above all else, I can easily recommend the Alienware Pro headset since it's very good at drowning out ambient noise and retains solid battery life even though ANC tends to drain battery rapidly. That good ANC extends to the microphone as well, so while the overall microphone quality isn't that impressive, it's fantastic at isolating your voice.8. Turtle Beach Atlas AirBest Open-Back PS5 HeadsetBest Open-BackTurtle Beach Atlas AirThe Turtle Beach Atlas Air is a high-end open-back PC gaming headset that is extremely comfortable, and sounds good to boot.See it at AmazonProduct SpecificationsConnectivityBluetooth, USB dongle, 3.5mm jackDrivers40mmMax battery life50 hoursWeight301gPROSUnique, ultra comfortable lightweight designExcellent audio performanceCONSSome sound leakageIf the name wasn’t a dead giveaway, our hands-on review of the Turtle Beach Atlas Air confirmed it is a well-cushioned, surprisingly lightweight headset you’ll be happy to have on your noggin for hours. The earcups are stuffed with memory foam and are are almost "floating" for multidirectional movement to limit pressure and improve weight distribution. The headband is made of super flexible mesh with an adjustable velcro strap, aiding in the feathery feel. If that’s not enough to convince you this is one of the comfiest headsets out there, the open-back design provides more airflow and breathability, ideal for gaming marathons.Turtle Beach makes it simple to connect the Atlas Air to the PS5, with an option for a wired or wireless link, including a USB dongle for a low latency connection. Buttons on the earcups also make it easy to switch between different connectivity modes. Beyond being great for the PS5, this versatile option is one of the best gaming headsets for PC, as well. Plus, when using it wirelessly, the 50 hours of battery life is a massive boon, so recharging is less of a hassle. Perhaps most important is how the Turtle Beach Atlas Air sounds, and it doesn’t disappoint. The open-back design makes for a more natural sound and better directional audio, though you’ll have to deal with some leakage. The 40mm drivers support 24-bit audio with booming lows and crisp highs that put other gaming headsets to shame. It’s also chock full of features to tweak your sound like Waves 3D Audio, 10-Band EQs, and even "Superhuman Hearing." However, not all these features will be available on the PS5.Rounding out this absolutely stunning gaming headset is a highly capable unidirectional detachable boom mic that’ll keep you coming across clear to teammates. It’s hard not to fall for this light, flexible, great-sounding headset.9. SteelSeries Arctis GameBudsBest PS5 EarbudsBest EarbudsSteelSeries Arctis GameBudsSteelSeries built the Arctis GameBuds for gaming and deliver booming audio with solid battery life low-latency thanks to its 2.4GHz dongle.See it at AmazonProduct SpecificationsConnectivityBluetooth, 2.4GHz USB-C dongleDrivers10mm Neodymium MagneticMax battery life10 hoursWeight5g per earbudPROSImpressive sound qualityBetter battery life than most earbudsControls, software, and ANC add valueCONSA few features are hard to get workingGaming earbuds are a fairly recent trend with the notable peripheral companies like Razer, Asus, and PlayStation making their own that are suited for games. It's tough because of the limited driver size and battery life, earbuds tend to make sacrifices in one way or another. But the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds are so impressive because of how uncompromising these little rounded buds are.On top of having solid foundations of sound quality, battery life, and long-term comfort, SteelSeries has one of the most robust software suites, which is easily controllable through a mobile app. This takes out the inconvenience of having to flip through PS5 menus to customize the earbuds, while also letting you access its 100+ custom-tuned EQ profiles easily. Although there are a few minor inconveniences with how some of its quality-of-life features work (autoplay when taking it on and off, connecting through Bluetooth reliably), the GameBuds do all the important things extremely well. While you should definitely use these as your primary earbuds to listen to music on your phone, they really shine in games with the kind of bold audio experience you expect from a headset. For all that and more, I gave a 9 to the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds in my review, and they'll pair nicely with your PS5.At $160, these have cheaper base price than the Razer Hammerheads I previously recommended. While I still think the Hammerheads have a very slight edge in sound quality, it's the battery life, software support, and overall comfort that make the GameBuds the best all around.PS5 Headsets FAQHow do you determine sound quality on a gaming headset?There are ways to extract audio data from a headset to get a look at how they handle various frequencies, like artificial ear and audio analyzing software, but that alone won’t be able to tell you what the actual audio experience is like. Admittedly, it can be quite abstract to have someone describe what games, music, or movies sound like. Paying attention to descriptors like distortion, drowning, cleanliness, or balance when talking about frequencies are common ways to explain the sound quality of a device, and at some point you need to trust the reviewer’s trained ear.There’s also the factor of driver size, the actual hardware that delivers the audio. Generally, bigger drivers means better potential for cleaner and bolder sound, but again, that alone isn’t going to determine whether or not a headset sounds good. Quality can also come down to spatial or positional audio which gives the impression of sound effects having distance and direction – it’s important for competitive settings but can make for audio more suited for cinematic games.As I talk about further down, the PS5 in particular has embraced 3D audio in a way other platforms have not. It may seem like a gimmick at first glance, but when done right, it can give you a genuinely immersive experience – not just for direction and distance, but also verticality in the sound design. This gives headsets like the Pulse Elite and Pulse 3D an advantage when picking out the best PS5 headset since 3D audio definitely affects how good games can sound.What makes gaming headsets different from headphones?Gaming headsets tend to pack additional features that support the actual gaming experience, some of which may be gimmicky, but many that I would call essential. Not everyone wants to have a standalone microphone, for example, but the key feature that separates a headset from headphones is a built-in microphone. While most headset mics are passable in terms of clarity that can suffice for in-game communication, some go the extra mile to provide better clarity or mitigate ambient noise spilling through.Good gaming headsets are generally tuned to pick up on certain sound effects and have a more intimate sound profile since you’re an active participant in the experience rather than a passive observer (especially in competitive games). When it comes to wireless capabilities, most gaming headsets come with 2.4GHz USB dongles for the lowest latency possible – something that wireless headphones rarely include. As you’ll see in the next section, software suites for USB-based headsets (wireless or otherwise) have gotten sophisticated and sometimes offer a level of customization for specific gaming scenarios.Should I go wired or wireless for a gaming headset?Of course, it depends on your needs. On PC, I still gravitate towards wired headsets and headphones since I tend to prefer the sound profiles of a properly-tuned analog audio device (I also tend to forget about charging devices until it’s too late, but that’s a me-problem). However, battery life and latency of modern gaming headsets have come so far that you rarely, if ever, see them being issues on the latest releases. Good software suites and apps can also help you get more out of your headset by letting you customize EQ settings or swap sound profiles for certain games.Wireless headsets are also sometimes capable of multi-device connectivity and simultaneous Bluetooth, which makes them versatile and opens them up to more use-cases (especially swapping to a mobile connection within seconds). Even though they tend to be more expensive, there’s a lot of upside to going with a wireless gaming headset, just be sure you know what you’ll be getting out of it.On PS5, you're better going off with a wireless headset, though. Since 3.5mm analog wired audio devices have to go through the DualSense controller's, there's an upper limit to how good they can sound. Don't get it twisted, though – headsets and headphones can still sound great when fed through the DualSense, but it'll be diminishing returns when using audiophile-type gear. After all, the console experience is best when free of wires.Is 3D audio worth it?Made specifically for the PS5, Tempest 3D AudioTech to simulate 360-degree audio in supported PS5 games. That means you can tell the direction the audio is coming from, be it a helicopter overhead or enemy fire coming from whichever direction, it's an experiential marvel more so than an advantage. It’s similar to Windows Sonic on the Xbox Series X/S, but Sony has embraced it to greater extent and its implementation on the PS5 is a really neat perk. And to boot, plenty of the best PS5 headsets support Sony’s 3D audio, including the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7P, Sony Pulse 3D, and PlayStation Pulse Elite wireless headset.The Sony Pulse 3D does a good job showing off the PS5’s next-gen 3D audio tech, whereby noises and sounds are emulated to appear in a 360-degree space around your ears, and even expressing a greater level of verticality to positional sound in some instances. It’s straightforward to set up, comfortable, and surprisingly affordable for an official PlayStation headset, and a great choice if you want to see exactly what the PS5’s 3D audio can do.Do you need a Bluetooth adapter for your PS5?If you're hoping to connect wireless headphones and headsets to your PS5, you will need a compatible Bluetooth adapter. The PS5 does not currently support direct pairing with any Bluetooth headphones for audio output. However, when it comes to latency, you're best served using headsets with 2.4GHz dongles, which all our recommended headsets come with.What is PlayStation Link? PlayStation Link is Sony’s latest wireless connectivity standard that provides a lightning-fast connection, lossless audio, and ultra-low latency with easy switching between different devices. The PlayStation Portal is the only gaming device with the technology built-in. So, you’ll need the PS Link USB dongle when using the PS5, PS5 Slim, PS5 Pro, and PC. Still, at the moment, only a couple of Sony’s peripherals have this technology, including the PlayStation Pulse Elite wireless headset in this guide.

What a time to be alive—especially if you're in the business of making things that people actually want to touch, wear, and, well... use intimately.San Francisco-based Crave launched their latest edition of the Tease Necklace while doing something radical in our current trade war environment. Instead of the usual manufacturing shell game (where your "designed in California" product mysteriously appears from a factory you've never heard of), they're offering customers a choice:- Made in China - Assembled in USA - Fully Made in USASame product. Three different manufacturing stories. Full transparency on what each option actually means, and how much each option costs. The price breakdown on the Kickstarter page provides a quick eduction on supply chain economics. The Uncomfortable Truth About "Choice"When most brands talk about consumer choice, they mean colorways or storage tiers. This is different. This is helping customers understand how the sausage gets made—or in this case, how the vibrator gets manufactured.For design professionals, these choices are pretty well understood. When working in the gap between concept and reality, every material choice, every manufacturing process, every supply chain decision shapes the final product, often times in ways that marketing teams prefer to gloss over.Think about your last product launch. How much of the manufacturing complexity made it into the final story? How many compromises got buried under "premium materials" and "precision engineering"?Why This Matters Beyond the ObviousThe real innovation here isn't the product itself—it's the process transparency. In an industry where NDAs shroud everything from injection molding parameters to assembly line workflows, consumer honesty is an eye-opener.Communicating even part of the manufacturing story is a challenge for mose products and companies. Meanwhile, rising labor costs in China, reshoring initiatives, tariff uncertainties—the old playbook of "design here, make there" is getting complicated fast. Yet most companies are still operating like it's 2015, hoping their supply chain issues will magically resolve themselves.Crave is simply saying: "Here's how three different approaches to making the same thing actually work. You choose."The Design Lesson Hidden in Plain SightStrip away the provocative product category, and you're left with something fascinating: a masterclass in manufacturing communication. No corporate hedging about "exploring domestic production capabilities" or "optimizing our global footprint." Just three options, three stories, three different ways to navigate the current manufacturing reality.It's the kind of supply chain transparency that B2B companies spend millions trying to achieve through "digital transformation" initiatives and "end-to-end visibility platforms." Yet here it is, demonstrated through a piece of intimate jewelry that most procurement teams would blush discussing.The Uncomfortable QuestionsIf a small firm can offer this level of manufacturing choice and transparency, why can't larger companies? Is it really about scale and complexity, or is it about corporate comfort zones?More pointedly: What other uncomfortable truths about our manufacturing processes are we avoiding? How much of our "Designed in [insert prestigious location]" storytelling is really just geographic marketing?In a world where every other product claims to be "thoughtfully designed" and "consciously made," actual transparency feels revolutionary. Sometimes the most important design lessons come from the most unexpected places. The Tease Vibrator Necklace is currently live on Kickstarter, with 47 days to go on the "All-Or-Nothing" funding campaign.

Enders Analysis Amazon Fire Sticks enable “billions of dollars” worth of streaming piracy Research firm blames outdated DRM tech, Facebook ads, Amazon hardware, and more. Scharon Harding – May 30, 2025 5:18 pm | 114 An Amazon Fire Stick and remote. Credit: Amazon An Amazon Fire Stick and remote. Credit: Amazon Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Amazon Fire Sticks are enabling “billions of dollars” worth of streaming piracy, according to a report today from Enders Analysis, a media, entertainment, and telecommunications research firm. Technologies from other media conglomerates, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook, are also enabling what the report’s authors deem an “industrial scale of theft." The report, "Video piracy: Big tech is clearly unwilling to address the problem," focuses on the European market but highlights the global growth of piracy of streaming services as they increasingly acquire rights to live programs, like sporting events. Per the BBC, the report points to the availability of multiple, simultaneous illegal streams for big events that draw tens of thousands of pirate viewers. Enders' report places some blame on Facebook for showing advertisements for access to illegal streams, as well as Google and Microsoft for the alleged “continued depreciation” of their digital rights management (DRM) systems, Widevine and PlayReady, respectively. Ars Technica reached out to Facebook, Google, and Microsoft for comment but didn’t receive a response before publication. The report echoes complaints shared throughout the industry, including by the world’s largest European soccer streamer, DAZN. Streaming piracy is “almost a crisis for the sports rights industry,” DAZN’s head of global rights, Tom Burrows, said at The Financial Times’ Business of Football Summit in February. At the same event, Nick Herm, COO of Comcast-owned European telecommunication firm Sky Group, estimated that piracy was costing his company “hundreds of millions of dollars” in revenue. At the time, Enders co-founder Claire Enders said that the pirating of sporting events accounts for “about 50 percent of most markets.” Jailbroken Fire Sticks Friday's Enders report named Fire Sticks as a significant contributor to streaming piracy, calling the hardware a “piracy enabler.” Enders’ report pointed to security risks that pirate viewers face, including providing credit card information and email addresses to unknown entities, which can make people vulnerable to phishing and malware. However, reports of phishing and malware stemming from streaming piracy, which occurs through various methods besides a Fire TV Stick, seem to be rather limited. Still, at the February Financial Times event, Herm said that Fire Sticks account “for about half of the piracy in the UK.” “People think that because it’s a legitimate brand, it must be OK. So they give their credit card details to criminal gangs. Amazon is not engaging with us as much as we’d like," he said. In the UK, there has been a push to crack down on illegal usage of Fire Sticks. For example, in November 2024, a man received a three-year, four-month sentence for hacking Fire Sticks. In June 2024, another man got a two-year suspended sentence after a police raid found jailbroken Fire Sticks in his home. In the US, however, there aren’t nearly as many publicized efforts to combat illegal streaming on Amazon devices. While Enders’ report accuses Amazon of contributing to the piracy problem, as the owner of its own streaming service, Prime Video, Amazon has an incentive to fight piracy. Amazon’s streaming business includes selling streaming hardware, but the business is more centered on getting people to sign up for Amazon services (like Prime Video), data collection, and ad sales. When reached for comment, an Amazon spokesperson told Ars Technica: Pirated content violates our policies regarding intellectual property rights and compromises the security and privacy of our customers. We work with industry partners and relevant authorities to combat piracy and protect customers from the risks associated with pirated content. Our Appstore prohibits apps that infringe upon the rights of third parties, and we warn customers of the risks associated with installing or using apps from unknown sources. Amazon’s representative also told Ars that Amazon works with industry partners to break up piracy networks and has assisted law enforcement efforts, including the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit in London and UK IP Crime Group. DRM limitations Enders’ report also blamed poorly updated DRM systems, especially from Google and Microsoft, for contributing to streaming piracy. Google’s Widevine and Microsoft’s PlayReady "are now compromised across various security levels,” the report said, pointing to a lack of upkeep. Microsoft issued its most recent big update to PlayReady, version 4.6, in December 2022. The report authors wrote: Over twenty years since launch, the DRM solutions provided by Google and Microsoft are in steep decline. A complete overhaul of the technology architecture, licensing, and support model is needed. Lack of engagement with content owners indicates this a low priority. Outside of Enders' report, Google was criticized by the Italian government earlier this year for allegedly failing to block pirate websites identified by Italy’s communication regulator, AGCOM. In March, the Court of Milan ordered Google to poison its public DNS servers with the goal of blocking illegal soccer streams. And beyond the aforementioned tech giants, earlier this month, France ordered five VPN providers (NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark, Proton VPN, and CyberGhost) to block illegal sports streaming sites. Unsurprisingly, the move has been slammed by VPN providers as setting “a dangerous precedent," per i2Coalition, an Internet infrastructure trade association that manages the international VPN Trust Initiative consortium of VPN providers. A growing problem As the Internet solidifies its position as the primary method for watching shows, movies, and, increasingly, live events, it presents new challenges to content distributors and owners seeking to curb online piracy. In the case of sports, especially, the distribution of sports rights across various linear networks and streaming services often means signing up for multiple services in order to watch a single team’s season. For some fans—including NFL players themselves—that's financially and/or logistically impractical. Simultaneously, anti-piracy advocates argue that piracy could lead to higher subscription fees for streaming services. As legislation and rights holders become more stringent about piracy, we can expect more effort from tech providers and law enforcement to block piracy, while hackers also seek new ways to enable illegal streams. Scharon Harding Senior Technology Reporter Scharon Harding Senior Technology Reporter Scharon is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica writing news, reviews, and analysis on consumer gadgets and services. She's been reporting on technology for over 10 years, with bylines at Tom’s Hardware, Channelnomics, and CRN UK. 114 Comments