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We're expecting the Google Pixel Watch 2 to appear in the not-too-distant future, and the leak of new watch faces for the wearable would seem to suggest that the device is indeed about to be unveiled.

These watch faces come courtesy of Android Authority, and there are four in total. They're all going to be exclusive to the second-gen watch apparently, and they all offer plenty of options in terms of the way they can be customized.

The four watch faces are Accessible, Analog Bold, Arc, and Bold Digital, and we've embedded a quick look at them below. If the rumors are true, we'll be seeing these watch faces and the attached smartwatch in October at the Pixel 8 unveiling.

While it's disappointing that these faces won't make it to the original Pixel Watch launched last year, it's also worth bearing in mind that Google has pushed several new features to the wearable in recent months.

More watch faces to look forward to (Image credit: Android Authority / Google)

Those watch faces in full

First up in the leaked watch faces we have Accessible: it's very plain and simple, and easy to read, and you can have a variety of complications alongside the time (including the current watch battery level and the date.

Then there's Analog Bold, which has a chunky hour hand, chunky numbering, and a variety of color options to pick from. The face can be customized in a variety of ways, showing the date and alarms if necessary.

The Arc watch face is a more complex one, with six variants in total. These variants change the number of complications you get and where they're positioned, and control the display of different elements like the date.

Lastly in the leaked watch faces we have Bold Digital, which is based on one of the lock screen clocks recently added to Pixel phones running Android 13. Again you've got a few options to choose from in terms of colors and complications.

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It's time for your daily dose of Quordle hints, plus the answers for both the main game and the Daily Sequence spin off. 

Quordle is the only one of the many Wordle clones that I'm still playing now, around 18 months after the daily-word-game craze hit the internet, and with good reason: it's good fun, but also difficult.

What's more, its makers (now the online dictionary Merriam-Webster) are also keeping it fresh in the form of a new variant called the Daily Sequence, which sees you complete four puzzles consecutively, rather than concurrently. 

But Quordle is tough, so if you already find yourself searching for Wordle hints, you'll probably need some for this game too. 

I'm a Quordle and Wordle fanatic who's been playing since December 2021, so I can definitely help you solve Quordle today and improve your game for tomorrow. Read on for my Quordle hints to game #552 and the answers to the main game and Daily Sequence. 

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #552) - hint #1 - Vowels

How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too). 

Quordle today (game #552) - hint #2 - total vowels

What is the total number of vowels in Quordle today?

• The total number of vowels across today's Quordle answers is 7.

Quordle today (game #552) - hint #3 - repeated letters

Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 0.

Quordle today (game #552) - hint #4 - total letters

How many different letters are used in Quordle today?

• The total number of different letters used in Quordle today is 14.

Quordle today (game #552) - hint #5 - uncommon letters

Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #552) - hint #6 - starting letters (1)

Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #552) - hint #7 - starting letters (2)

What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• S

• W

• A

• D

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #552) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #552, are…

• SHAWL
• WRITE
• ALONG
• DEMON

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

---

Daily Sequence today (game #552) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #552, are…

• CRASS
• COMMA
• MANIC
• BILLY

---

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #551, Saturday 29 July: VALUE, ALONG, ALIVE, LEAST
• Quordle #550, Friday 28 July: TOTEM, BASAL, PULSE, COUCH
• Quordle #549, Thursday 27 July: EVADE, SPICE, FLOAT, ALIGN
• Quordle #548, Wednesday 26 July: INDEX, TAKER, CURVE, PEACH
• Quordle #547, Tuesday 25 July: HAIRY, ROWDY, QUARK, LIMIT
• Quordle #546, Monday 24 July: STUFF, HIPPO, LIVER, BLINK
• Quordle #545, Sunday 23 July: ENTRY, GIDDY, STAMP, VOMIT
• Quordle #544, Saturday 22 July: BEFIT, JIFFY, ARENA, TOUCH
• Quordle #543, Friday 21 July: ROUND, TEPID, LIVER, IRATE
• Quordle #542, Thursday 20 July: ENTER, TRULY, USUAL, CIVIL
• Quordle #541, Wednesday 19 July: WORST, KAYAK, HENCE, ZEBRA
• Quordle #540, Tuesday 18 July: DEBUT, HOARD, SILLY, UPPER
• Quordle #539, Monday 17 July: LUPUS, ALIVE, SALLY, ABLED
• Quordle #538, Sunday 16 July: STEAM, SALTY, SLOOP, TRUSS
• Quordle #537, Saturday 15 July: CYCLE, FALSE, FRILL, HEAVY
• Quordle #536, Friday 14 July: LIBEL, CABLE, WREAK, SCOPE
• Quordle #535, Thursday 13 July: BASTE, QUERY, SNAIL, PEARL
• Quordle #534, Wednesday 12 July: VOICE, MANGA, FROTH, BLOAT
• Quordle #533, Tuesday 11 July: MODEL, AISLE, LIMBO, TULLE
• Quordle #532, Monday 10 July: FILET, DULLY, IRATE, NOSEY

Quordle FAQs: Everything you need to know

What is Quordle?

Where Wordle challenges you to guess a new five-letter word each day, Quordle presents you with four puzzles to solve. And rather than complete them in turn, you do so simultaneously. You get nine guesses, rather than the six for Wordle, but the rules are otherwise very similar. 

It's played online via the Quordle website and you can also get to it via the Merriam-Webster site, after the dictionary purchased Quordle last year. 

As with Wordle, the answers are the same for every player each day, meaning that you're competing against the rest of the world. And also as with Wordle, the puzzle resets at midnight so you have a fresh challenge each day.

The website also includes a practice mode - which I definitely recommend using before attempting the game proper! - and there are daily stats including a streak count. You also get Quordle Achievements - specific badges for winning a game in a certain number of turns, playing lots of times, or guessing particularly hard words.

Oh, and it's difficult. Really difficult.

What are the Quordle rules?

The rules of Quordle are almost identical to those of Wordle.

1. Letters that are in the answer and in the right place turn green.

2. Letters that are in the answer but in the wrong place turn yellow. 

3. Letters that are not in the answer turn gray…

4. …BUT the word you guess appears in all quadrants of the puzzle at the same time, so an A could turn green in one square, yellow in another and gray in the final two. 

5. Answers are never plural.

6. Letters can appear more than once. So if your guess includes two of one letter, they may both turn yellow, both turn green, or one could be yellow and the other green.

7. Each guess must be a valid word in Quordle's dictionary. You can't guess ABCDE, for instance.

8. You do not have to include correct letters in subsequent guesses and there is no equivalent of Wordle's Hard mode.

9. You have nine guesses to find the Quordle answers.

10. You must complete the daily Quordle before midnight in your timezone.

What is a good Quordle strategy?

Quordle needs to be approached in a different way to Wordle. With four puzzles to solve in nine guesses, you can't blindly throw letters at it and expect to win - you'll stand a far better chance if you think strategically.

That's the case in Wordle too, of course, but it's even more important in Quordle.

There are two key things to remember. 

1. Use several starting words

Firstly, you won't want just a single starting word, but almost certainly two or three starting words. 

The first of these should probably be one of the best Wordle starting words, because the same things that make them work well will apply here too. But after that, you should select another word or possibly two that use up lots more of the most common consonants and that include any remaining vowels.

For instance, I currently use STARE > DOILY > PUNCH. Between them, these three words use 15 of the 26 letters in the alphabet including all five vowels, Y, and nine of the most common consonants (S, T, R, D, L, P, N, C and H). There are plenty of other options - you might want to get an M, B, F or G in there instead of the H, maybe - but something like that should do the trick.

If all goes well, that will give you a good lead on what one or sometimes two of the answers might be. If not, well good luck!

2. Narrow things down

Secondly, if you're faced with a word where the answer might easily be one of several options - for instance -ATCH, where it could be MATCH, BATCH, LATCH, CATCH, WATCH, HATCH or PATCH - you'll definitely want to guess a word that would narrow down those options. 

In Wordle, you can instead try several of those in succession and hope one is right, assuming you have enough guesses left. It's risky, but will sometimes work. Plus, it's the only option in Hard mode. But in Quordle, this will almost certainly result in a failure - you simply don't have enough guesses.

In the scenario above, CLAMP would be a great guess, as it could point the way to four of the seven words in one go.

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Classic Korean real-time strategy game, Kingdom Under Fire, has allegedly been "hijacked by a crypto-scam company".

As spotted by Twitterer Tegiminis, Steam player Arsene Lupin – who's on a crusader to "write a review for every game in [their] Steam library" – posted a review on the game's Steam page, reporting that the "future is here, and it sucks" and claiming that whilst Kingdom Under Fire "was" a "RTS/RPG hybrid that launched in 2001", its current iteration runs "Locus Game Chain" in the background when you're trying to play, "demanding 80-100% of your CPU".

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the developer, Bloom Technology, was quick to respond and posted a wall of text explaining there had been "a misunderstanding" and that the developer has replaced the 22-year-old's RTS' P2P networking system - previously known as wargate.net - with its own, Locus Chain.

kingdom under fire, a korean rts on steam that originally released in 2001, has apparently been hijacked by a crypto scam company that says the blockchain acts as the master server lol pic.twitter.com/G1YNkeGyt1July 28, 2023

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"This technology will be a stepping stone and an excellent example of how online game developers, who sometimes go out of business because of high server maintenance costs, can save up tons of money and focus on building the games," the developer said. "Old online games can be revived at no significant costs, while modern online games can significantly reduce their service maintenance costs as well.

"As far as we know, Kingdom Under Fire is the first successful attempt to apply and operate a blockchain node as part of the game, so I understand that this is as misleading as it is unprecedented. Kingdom Under Fire was launched free through Early Access because of the need to test the environment in real-time. You can see the progress we have achieved so far and the track record in the Updates section on Steam to gauge how we actually make use of this new tech."

Interestingly, the game currently sits on an aggregate Steam user score of "Very Positive" – albeit from just 150-odd reviews – although another unhappy player surmises their issue with the game a little more concisely than Arsene Lupin, simply saying this in their review: "Blockchain go home".

Bloom Technology says: "Kingdom Under Fire: War of Heroes utilizes Locus Game Chain to provide online multiplayer capability without the need of an online game server. The game does not support cryptocurrencies or NFTs, and has complied with all Steam's guidelines and regulations." 

There is seemingly no mention of blockchain in the game's About section or its system requirements. 

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Newly leaked information for the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Fan Edition) indicates the upcoming budget smartphone may charge very slowly – at least wirelessly.

A listing for the device recently appeared on the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), a website created to promote wireless charging and its various standards. It shows the GalaxyS23 FE has been given a “maximum received power” rating of 4.4 watts. According to some theorizing by 9to5Google, it may take “three or more hours” to fully charge the phone using a wireless charger. There’s no information on how long it would take to charge through a USB-C connection. 

That’s certainly a long time just to charge a smartphone battery, especially in 2023. Anker, a company specializing in power banks and charges, states the average charge for a phone is around 30 minutes to an hour. So what gives? We don’t really know. Although to be fair, there is a good chance Samsung will equip the Galaxy S23 FE with tech to boost its charging capabilities. The last time the company launched a Fan Edition phone was Galaxy S21 FE, which supports 15W wireless charging. That’s not greased lighting, but it’s still better than what we’re seeing in this leak. 

Imminent launch

It is worth pointing out Justin Hume, Vice-President of Samsung Mobile in South Africa, recently told Android Authority that “there is an FE-sized gap between the Galaxy A54 5G and Galaxy S23”. Hume goes on to say there will be “an announcement made” for a new Fan Edition device. He never gives a date; although the WPC post has a registration date of July 25. Some online theorize the date could mean Samsung is finishing up its paperwork before formally announcing the model. 

Putting two and two together, there's a good chance the reveal is coming sooner rather than later.

The listing also has what appears to be an image for the S23 FE on someone’s desk. The quality isn’t great, but it does showcase the front of the phone displaying the bezels around the screen plus the buttons on the right side. There’s no photo of the the rear, unfortunately, so what the rear lenses look like remains a mystery. Recent renders suggest the Galaxy S23 FE will have a camera system similar to the standard Galaxy S23.

As always, take this information with a grain of salt. We do believe the S23 FE will have better wireless charging capabilities even if the WPC post says otherwise. Presuming Justin Hume’s statement is true, the world will know for sure soon.

Be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of the best cheap smartphones for 2023.  

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Samsung’s $1300 Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra may seem like an overpriced entry into the Android tablet market – but there’s a pretty good reason Samsung released such an expensive device. It sells better than you’d expect.

According to Samsung in an interview with TechRadar, the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra accounted for 30% of the Tab S8 series, with most users opting to use it for productivity over consumption, at least in comparison to the Tab S8 and Tab S8 Plus.

Samsung’s Junho Park, VP (Director of Global Product Planning), told Techradar, “Customers are using the S8 Ultra for both productivity and entertainment, but the proportion of customers using the tablet for productivity is higher than the equivalent figure for the rest of the Tab S8 series.”

In other words, while the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra accounted for a third of total Tab S8 sales (Despite its price difference), users who selected it were intentional with their choice. Samsung says that people were more likely to be productive on the Tab S9 Ultra than other devices. And if you check out our Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra review, it’s pretty obvious why. Samsung did a great job of building an iPad Pro rival. The optimized One UI software, powerful hardware, and elegant keyboard accessory all came together to build a competent laptop replacement. There’s just one problem: laptops still exist.

Can a tablet really be productive?

With the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra and the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, Samsung certainly hopes you think the answer is yes. Whether it’s true or not will depend on you. In my experience, tablets can be productive in a pinch. I’m not opposed to the concept. I have a OnePlus Pad with a keyboard and full access to Android apps. I've used a BlackBerry PlayBook to write school essays. I was a big advocate of being productive on a tablet with Microsoft’s Surface Pro. Excellent as the Surface Pro 9 and the (short-lived) Surface Pro X were, I’m now a big believer in the right tool for the job.

When it comes to productivity, laptops have an inherent advantage. They are built for working first and foremost. They come with keyboards and trackpads. They have access to peripherals and all sorts of extensible ports. They can run all software ever, whether directly as on Windows, or through systems like Parallels if you’re using one of the best MacBooks or best Chromebooks. More than a Tab S9 Ultra can ever dream of, a real computer like the MacBook Pro or the Surface Laptop is a versatile workhorse.

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WhatsApp is introducing Instant Video Messages to its platform which, as you can probably guess, allows people to send short video messages to chats.

According to the platform, you have up to 60 seconds to say whatever you want, be it wishing a friend happy birthday wish or giving them good news. Recording a video works similarly to recording an audio message. All you have to do is tap the microphone icon in the bottom corner to turn it into the camera option. Pressing and holding the button records the clip. Swiping up on the camera icon after holding it locks the video for a hands-free recording.

There are a couple of things you need to be aware of regarding the new feature. First, the videos will play without any sound although tapping the screen unmutes them. Second, the messages don’t take up the whole screen as they’re confined to a circular space. It’s a big enough view for most recordings, but be aware the sides of the clip will be cut off. Naturally, the end-to-end encryption the service is known for will be applied to Instant Video Messages to keep them secure.

The official announcement states this update is currently “rolling out and will be available to everyone in the coming weeks.” So be sure to keep an eye for the patch when it arrives. It’s unknown if the messages are permanent or if they’ll automatically delete themselves after a period of time like Snapchat Stories. We reached out to Meta for clarification. This story will be updated at a later time.

Future safety upgrade

Meta is constantly testing out WhatsApp features, and if you were to take a look at the most recent beta, you’ll see the company is working on new safety tools for the platform. WABetaInfo recently stated that in the future, whenever you get a text from an unknown number, a window will appear to allow users to instantly block or report the person who contacted you out of the blue. Below those tools will be a series of suggestions on ways you can stay safe in chats and improve your security. On top of that, the report claims that Meta has plans to introduce a way to disable read receipts for those mystery numbers.

It’s unknown at the moment when the safety update will launch. If you’re on Android, you can try it out yourself by first joining the Google Play Store Beta Program then downloading the most recent WhatsApp Beta build. Spots are limited so there’s a chance you may not gain access.

If you are looking for ways to protect your online data, check out TechRadar’s list of the identity theft protection software for 2023. 

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