Digital transformation remains a key priority for organizations seeking to maintain competitiveness and drive operational efficiency. Spanning cloud computing, infrastructures, change management strategies, and organizational alignment, a successful digital transformation has many crucial components. Multicloud environments, in particular, are recognized as instrumental in propelling digital transformation forward, offering organizations enhanced scalability, speed, and agility.

However, managing these environments poses various challenges. For instance, the vast volumes of data they generate can be difficult to capture, analyze, and act on. For example, recent research has shown that 87% of technology leaders say multicloud complexity makes it more difficult to deliver outstanding customer experience. To solve these challenges, organizations need to identify how to tame the complexity of multicloud environments, before they spiral out of control.

Digging into the multicloud conundrum

Google is continuing its experimentation with its best-known staple, Google Search, with trials of AI-generated answers that will appear ahead of the usual list of results. It began by trying out its new plan on a limited number of results in the US, and now the trial is expanding to the UK.

The idea is for Google to provide AI-generated comprehensive written answers, providing an ‘overview’ at the top of selected search results. In the initial testing phase, this will only be visible to a small number of UK users who are logged into their Google accounts when using Search. 

The AI-generated overviews will only appear as a part of certain search results, with Google now having a better idea based on its previous trials – which the company claims suggested that users found them helpful. Hema Budaraju, a senior director at Google of its Search Generative Experience (SGE) and one of the key drivers behind Google’s generative AI search efforts, spoke to the BBC about Google’s efforts and gave the example of “how to get marks off painted walls” as one where users had found the generated response useful. 

Google’s intentions going forward

Sony has revealed the slate of games joining the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog in April. In the coming weeks, PS Plus Extra and Deluxe/Premium tier members will get access to deep-sea exploration RPG Dave the Diver, Metroidvania action title Tales of Kenzera: Zau, indie platformer Animal Well, open-world racing title Crew 2, action platformer Raji: An Ancient Epic and more. Most of these games will be available on the PS Plus catalogue on April 16. Tales of Kenzera: Zau and Animal Well, on the other hand, will join the service as day-one launch titles on April 23 and May 9, respectively.

April’s lineup of PS Plus Game Catalog titles was confirmed on the PlayStation Blog Wednesday. Both Dave the Diver and Tales of Kenzera: Zau were revealed as Game Catalog titles for April earlier this month.

Developed by Mintrocket, Dave the Diver made quite a splash when it was released last year on PC. A Nintendo Switch port followed, and the game will finally arrive on PlayStation consoles on April 16 as part of the PS Plus catalogue. Dave the Diver features a colourful pixel art style and puts players into the swimfins of Dave, the eponymous diver who explores the sea during the daytime to catch exotic fish and then helps run a sushi joint in the night with the day’s catch. As Dave, players dive into the depths of the Blue Hole with a harpoon gun in hand, fighting off dangers, finding treasures and exploring the sea. At nighttime, players must help run a bustling sushi restaurant, providing unique dishes and exceptional service to their customers. Dave the Diver will be available on both PS4 and PS5.

This month’s lineup of Game Catalog titles is full of smaller, indie games. Animal Well, a cute but dark pixel-art style Metroidvania platformer developed by a one-person team of Billy Basso, arrives as a day-one launch title on May 9. In it, players take control of a shapeless blob, explore intricate levels and encounter a number of animal spirits. Aside from platforming, the game includes a fair number of puzzles. Animal Well will be available to PS Plus Extra and Deluxe/Premium tier subscribers on PS5.

Animal Well features pixel art visuals
Photo Credit: Shared Memory

Tales of Kenzera: Zau is another Metroidvania platformer that arrives as a day-one launch title on April 23. First announced earlier this month for PS Plus Game Catalog, Tales of Kenzera: Zau is a narrative-focussed 2.5D action platformer where players take control of the titular Zau, a young warrior seeking the God of Death. Its gameplay and visuals echo Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown from earlier this year, with fast-paced action combat and intricate platforming. Tales of Kenzera: Zau will be available on PS5.

Continuing the trend of indie action platformers, Raji: An Ancient Epic, developed by Indian studio Nodding Heads Games, also joins the PS Plus catalogue this month. The game is inspired by Indian mythology and lets players take on mythical beasts and demons as the eponymous protagonist Raji searches for her little brother. Raji features plenty of puzzles and sports a distinct art style and will be available on both PS4 and PS5.

Raji: An Ancient Epic is developed by Pune-based Nodding Heads Games
Photo Credit: Nodding Heads Games

Aside from Animal Well and Tales of Kenzera: Zau, all new PS Plus Game Catalog titles will be playable starting April 16. Do note that Game Catalog titles cannot be added to your game library and are only accessible till the time they are available on the service.

Late last month, Sony also announced the PS Plus monthly free games for April, available to subscribers across all tiers. These include Immortals of Aveum, Minecraft Legends and Skul: The Hero Slayer. The three free games are live right now on the service and can be added to your game library till May 6.

Here’s the full list of games arriving on PS Plus Game Catalog this month for PlayStation Plus Extra and Deluxe/ Premium members, starting April 16.

Additionally, Sony also announced the list of games coming to its PS Plus Classics catalogue this month, available only to PS Plus Deluxe/ Premium members. These include original PlayStation versions of Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire and MediEvil.

PlayStation Plus Extra subscription starts at Rs. 749 per month in India, while the Deluxe tier subscription costs Rs. 849 per month.

Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is expected to go official alongside the Edge Fusion and Edge 50 Pro at Motorola’s global launch event on April 16. Ahead of the launch, the handset has appeared on the Geekbench benchmarking site with impressive scores. The listing hints at some of the hardware features of the handset. The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is listed with Qualcomm’s recently unveiled Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC, which is paired with 12GB of RAM.

The purported Geekbench listing of the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra with 12GB of RAM shows that the phone runs on Android 14. In terms of benchmark performance, the smartphone has received a single-core CPU score of 1,947 and a multi-core score of 5,149. This could be early performance results obtained from the prototype of the handset. We will have to wait for the handset’s official debut to know the accurate benchmark performance results.

Regarding the SoC, the listing suggests a high-performance core with a maximum clock speed of 3.01GHz, four cores capped at 2.80GHz and three cores capped at 2.02GHz. These CPU speeds are associated with the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC.

Motorola will unveil its entire Edge 50 series for global markets on April 16. The series is expected to include at least three models —Motorola Edge 50 Pro, Motorola Edge 50 Fusion, and Motorola Edge 50 Ultra. The former launched in India earlier this month with a starting price tag of Rs. 31,999 for the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant bundled with a 68W charger.

The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is expected to debut with the Motorola Edge+ 2024 or Edge Ultra 2024 moniker in the US. It is said to feature a triple rear camera setup comprising a 50-megapixel primary sensor. The phone could get a 6.7-inch OLED display with 165Hz refresh rate.

Knowing where to pre-order Star Wars Outlaws is now a hot topic, with the game’s release date out in the wild – it arrives on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on August 30.

Plenty of retailers are getting in on the listing action already and there’ll likely be more to come out of the woodwork soon. So getting to the right places efficiently to spend your hard-earned cash is paramount – and that’s where we come in as we can direct you to the best place to pre-order Star Wars Outlaws quickly.

As anyone who read our Pure Woodland Radio review will know, Pure’s got a keen talent for fashioning portable, forward-thinking IP67-rated DAB and FM radios. You’ll find the name featuring several times in our best DAB radios roundup. 

But what if you want something in a slightly more heritage style? Pure’s got an answer for that too – in fact, it’s got three. So let’s meet them! The new Classic Series includes the “kitchen helper” affordable Classic H4, the mid-range Classic C-D6, and the flagship Classic Stereo.

All promise “timeless style, enhanced connectivity and improved sound quality” within relatively accessible prices – and I’d agree; aside from the top-tier model, prices here are refreshingly palatable. Also, every product within the trio is available in your choice of ‘Coffee Black/Walnut’ or ‘Cotton White/Oak’ finish.

Let’s start small, with the Classic H4 (pictured above). It’s a DAB+/FM radio with Bluetooth. This model has a 10W power output and the ability to store 40 presets – which is a lot for the money – plus a kitchen timer to stay on top of things when making dinner.  

The bigger Classic C-D6 (below) builds on the FM/DAB+ radio idea by adding a CD player, advanced Bluetooth, USB-A and AUX connectivity, 2x15W stereo speakers and a sleep timer. 

The Classic Stereo is billed by Pure as “the gateway to refined HiFi sound wrapped in a comforting, familiar setup” and we see what they mean – it’s a set of stereo speakers and a receiver. Power output is a much beefier 100W thanks to the standalone speakers (which should make it a viable option for parties as well as chilled listening at home) and here, you get DAB+/FM radio, Internet radio, Bluetooth, CD playback, Spotify Connect and extra connectivity perks including USB-A, Optical (meaning you could hook it up to your TV), Phono (for a turntable) and 3.5mm AUX ports (for headphone listening, say). 

Prices? Of course. Pure’s Classic range is available from today (April 11). The Classic H4 is priced £89.99 (so around $114, AU$174); the Classic C-D6  is priced £179.99 (approximately $227, AU$349). 

WhatsApp, the widely used messaging app owned by Meta, is finally joining the AI club. The Meta AI icon is finally showing up for some users in India in the main chat list. Meta AI is powered by the company’s Large Language Model Meta AI, or long for Llama. It is an advanced artificial intelligence technology developed by Meta. For WhatsApp users, the Meta AI can have conversations about anything, from answering a query or making recommendations to just chit-chatting with AI.

I got brief access to this AI-enabled feature on Wednesday, after which it vanished, prompting that it may be available for a limited time. The screenshots below show that the Meta AI chat opens with a verified badge and says “#with Llama#”. The chat pop-up says, “Ask Meta AI anything,” and has a number of suggestive prompts on the screen. The prompts are stacked in a carousel format and can be swiped to show more suggestions. As visible in the screenshot, prompts like “imagine a car race on Mars”, “imagine a holographic bus”, “Healthy life goals”, and more can be given. Notably, the Meta AI icon is placed in the top right corner along with the Camera and New Chat options. The icon reminds me a lot of Microsoft’s Cortana assistant. 

The Meta AI feature is available in limited countries and only supports English. When starting a chat conversation with Meta AI, the platform notifies, “Messages from Meta AI and other characters are generated by artificial intelligence (AI), using a service from Meta, in response to the prompts you send to the AI.” The chat platform also clarifies that Meta AI can only read and reply to chats mentioning @Meta AI, which means the tool doesn’t have access to other chats. The prompt adds, “As always, your personal messages and calls remain end-to-end encrypted, meaning not even WhatsApp or Meta can see or listen to them.”

How to start a chat with AI from Meta on WhatsApp

Firstly, the Meta AI feature within WhatsApp can answer questions, offer recommendations, and can also talk about interests. To start a chat:

• Tap the circular icon on the top right of the main chat list on your WhatsApp
• Read and accept the terms (if prompted)
• Select a suggested prompt from the screen or type your own
• Tap the send button, and you’ve initiated the conversation

Interestingly, WhatsApp also takes feedback from users on Meta AI. Users can tap and hold the AI-generated responses and tap on ‘Good response’ or ‘Bad response’. Users can also type a reason and submit it.

Meta on the WhatsApp FAQ page mentions that “some messages generated by AIs might not be accurate or appropriate.”

Meta recently announced Llama 2, the next generation of its large language model powering generative AI assistants and is expected to release Llama 3 in the coming weeks.

If you’re shopping for a cheap tablet and want to skip Apple‘s pricey iPad, Amazon‘s best-selling Fire tablet is a fantastic budget choice. Luckily, Amazon has some excellent Fire tablet deals right now, with up to 38% off and prices starting at just $64.99.

• Shop more of today’s best deals at Amazon

Amazon Fire tablets are great for streaming movies and TV shows and enjoying Amazon’s ecosystem, including Amazon Prime Video and Kindle ebooks. Children and parents will also enjoy Amazon’s dedicated line of kids’ tablets, which are also included in today’s sale. While iPads offer more power and higher performance, an Amazon Fire tablet is suitable for most people with basic needs and the price is significantly lower.

Below, you’ll find today’s best Amazon Fire tablet deals. I have also included the best iPad deals if you’re an Apple fan and won’t be tempted by Amazon’s budget options.

Keep in mind that Amazon’s Fire tablets are rarely on sale outside of holiday sales like Prime Day, and today’s discounts are very impressive.

Today’s best Amazon Fire tablet deals

Today’s best iPad deals

Shop more offers with our roundup of the best cheap Fire Tablet deals. If you’re interested in iPad offers, you can also see the best cheap iPad deals happening right now.

Best Buy is taking the plunge and incorporating AI-powered shopping tools for its customers, announcing at Google Cloud Next 24 that it’s partnered with Google Cloud and Accenture to bring users AI-powered customer assistance. The retailer claims that this move will enable it to give customers “even more personalized, best-in-class tech support experiences.”

Customers can expect a self-service support option when they visit and shop on BestBuy.com, when using Best Buy’s app, or when they call Best Buy’s customer support line (presumably through a conventional automated selection system). When customers make use of one of these, they’ll be able to interact with Best Buy’s new AI-powered virtual assistant, which it expects to debut in late summer 2024. 

These new customer support tools are part of Best Buy’s efforts to offer customers the most tech-forward ways of getting the assistance they need, expanding that it’s making use of Google Cloud’s AI capabilities, including Vertex AI (a Google Cloud machine learning platform), and Google’s new Gemini generative AI models. 

What the generative AI will help Best Buy do

OnePlus devices will reportedly go off store shelves across the Southern and Western regions of India as per a new directive by the South Indian Organised Retailers Association (ORA). As per a report, the mobile retailers association that commands a large number of stores announced this development in a letter, which has yet to be made public. Starting 1 May, 2024, the ORA reportedly stated that it will discontinue the sales of OnePlus mobile devices across retailers under its network. The ORA commands big stores in the south like Poorvika, Sangeetha, Big C. The association cites ongoing issues with the Chinese brand and its products to be the reason behind this move.

A report by Money Control claims to have had access to this letter (reportedly directed to OnePlus India’s Director of Sales, Rajeet Singh) that describes ORA’s long-standing issues and challenges faced by its retailers when dealing with the popular Chinese smartphone brand. The association claims that its retailers have faced major obstacles when selling OnePlus products over the years, which still remain unresolved.

One of the more prominent issues are the consistently low-profit margins set by OnePlus, that according to the association makes it hard to sustain their businesses. The association also mentions the delays when it comes to processing warranty and service claims, which it states leaves customers dissatisfied.

Retailers also claim that they often have to bundle products and services with OnePlus devices, which according to ORA, limits their ability to cater their customer needs and also results in unsold inventory of devices.

OnePlus has yet to officially comment on the move by the South Indian Organised Retailers Association, but we have reached out to them on this topic.

OnePlus has been selling its smartphones via its website and other e-commerce platforms for several years, giving its customers a choice to purchase products directly from the brand, sans any middlemen. This is not just the case with OnePlus, but other Chinese smartphone brands like Xiaomi, Vivo and even bigger Korean brands like Samsung.

Over the years, the above brands have also focussed on opening their own experiential stores in India, where customers can try out and purchase products at the store itself, pushing mobile retailers further away from customers. After years of delays, Apple too opened two of its own Apple Stores in the country last year, with Samsung following up with a similarly designed store in Mumbai.