Week in Review: The top stories in phones, AI, computing, and more

Google Veo 2 vs Sora, ChatGPT vs Perplexity, and the TechRadar podcast does Christmas
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December 20, 2024
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Welcome to the Week in Review
Welcome
We’re nearing the end of 2024, but there’s no sign of the tech world slowing down. If anything, it seems to be speeding up, with the past seven days giving us a dizzying array of new developments in AI, plus leaks aplenty around some of 2025’s most anticipated new gadgets. Oh, and there’s the little matter of a new Superman, too.
 
Video is the next battleground in the AI war, and this week Google revealed its new Veo 2 model. From what we’ve seen of it, it looks incredible. But then again, so does Open AI’s Sora; this match-up will only get more competitive next year. Ditto AI search, another front being contested by the major AI combatants. We pitched upstart contender Perplexity against ChatGPT to see which is on top there right now, and the results make for great reading.
 
There’s sure to be plenty of AI on show at CES 2025, which is now only a couple of weeks away. We’ve pulled together our full event preview to whet your appetite for the Vegas show.

But even our excitement around AI and CES hasn’t distracted us too much from the most important topic of the week: the fact that the holidays are nearly here. The latest edition of the superb TechRadar Podcast (I’m allowed to describe it in those terms, because I’m not in it) features much debate about what we want for Christmas and what the best tech gifts are, plus one of the best puns you’ll ever hear, as our gift to you. Enjoy!
 
We’ll be back with a special end-of-year edition of this newsletter next week, but for now Happy Christmas!   
 
Marc McLaren, Global Editor-in-Chief
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The week in AI
Google launches its Veo 2 AI video maker
A still from a Veo 2 video (Google)
AI video generators continue to get more and more powerful, and Google has announced the arrival of its next-level Veo 2 tool – though you'll have to join a waitlist if you want to make use of it. From the examples we've seen, it's a worthy competitor to OpenAI Sora.
Read the full story
The week in Phones
The Samsung Galaxy S25 leaks are flooding in
A successor to the Galaxy S24 Ultra is likely just weeks away (Future)
There's been a bucketful of Samsung Galaxy S25 leaks and rumors to pick through this week, as the expected January 22 launch date draws ever closer – and the most recent piece of information to come our way points to a boost in RAM.
Read the full story
The week in Apple
Apple may finally redesign the Magic Mouse
You still need to charge your Magic Mouse upside down for now (Future)
Have the upside-down charging jokes finally become too much? Apple is rumored to be redesigning the classic Magic Mouse, though it may take more than a repositioned charging port to win over new fans to the much-mocked peripheral.
Read the full story
Today's best deals, hand-picked by TechRadar's experts
The week in computing
Big Nvidia upgrades tipped for CES 2025
There's Nvidia news to look forward to for gamers (Shutterstock)
CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) is approaching fast, and we've just got word of two new upgrades that Nvidia might be bringing to its graphics card technology – including new AI-powered capabilities that are being described as "revolutionary".
Read the full story
The week in entertainment
The best new movies and shows to watch this weekend
There's lots to watch this weekend (Apple TV Plus / Netflix)
The last full working week of 2024 is behind us, so it's time to enjoy a whole host of new movies and shows on Netflix, Prime Video, Max, and more – that is, after you've watched the official trailer for Jame Gunn's Superman movie, of course…
Read the full story
More of this week's top stories
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