This week was wild. DeepSeek came and changed the AI landscape, but it seems like the full impact of its arrival is still yet to be fully understood. Meanwhile Garmin accidentally bricked many of its devices globally thanks to an errant update, and Android XR broke cover in our first hands-on look at the software.
Al that and more of the otehr big tech news stories you might have missed from the week are recapped below so you can catch up with everything then get on with your day.
If you’re looking to catch up on the biggest entertainment of the moment too then chekc out our picks for the 7 new movies and TV shows to stream this weekend (January 31).
7. DeepSeek R1 conquered the AI world
It’s been a rollercoaster week for the AI industry with the DeepSeek app rocketing to the top of the Apple App Store and beating ChatGPT. DeepSeek is a Chinese startup who claim to have developed their deep reasoning model, R1, for a fraction of the price that US AI companies have invested in their technologies.
It also offers people access to it for free in its chatbot and at a much reduced price as an API compared to OpenAI. The news that a Chinese company can produce an equivalent technology for a fraction of the price caused a complete crash of the share value of US tech companies that are heavily invested in AI. Nvidia came off particularly badly with $600 billion being wiped off their stock value in just one day. Share prices have since recovered, but it doesn’t feel like the AI market will ever be the same again.
6. But did it cheat to win?
Questions are already being asked about how DeepSeek managed to produce its AI model so quickly, especially after OpenAI claimed it had evidence of distillation of some of its models. Distillation is a development technique where you piggyback off another model’s learning, but is against the OpenAI terms and conditions of use. To make matters worse for DeepSeek, it appears that when questioned about which AI model is best, DeepSeek will often refer to itself as ChatGPT, which some users think of as a bit of a smoking gun.
OpenAI released a statement on the matter, stating: “We know that groups in the PRC are actively working to use methods, including what’s known as distillation, to try to replicate advanced U.S. AI models. We are aware of and reviewing indications that DeepSeek may have inappropriately distilled our models, and will share information as we know more. We take aggressive, proactive countermeasures to protect our technology and will continue working closely with the U.S. government to protect the most capable models being built here.”
5. Garmin became the Sonos of wearables
A tough few months of software quirks boiled over into a massive Garmin outage this week that saw users in their thousands completely lose access to their devices. A rogue GPS file accidentally pushed to Garmins saw user devices plunged into a boot loop dubbed the ‘Blue Triangle of Death.’ Few customers found they could escape, and even those who did encountered further issues with connectivity and synchronisation.
The outage lasted well over 24 hours and we heard from hundreds of customers, owners of devices like the Forerunner and Epix range, as well as more niche devices like Garmin’s dive computers, cycling computers, and Approach Golf Range.
Garmin has since fixed the underlying issue, but lots of customers remain stuck in boot loops and without a device. Plenty have even told us they regret their Garmin purchases or plan to depart for companies like Apple. Garmin has a PR disaster on its hands that has vastly overshadowed the launch of the Instinct 3. The company has lots of work to do, or it risks becoming the Sonos of wearables.
4. Nvidia’s new RTX 5090 came and went
Nvidia’s new graphics cards are here and… they’re already gone as stock sold out lightning fast across the internet for these highly sought after GPUs. Some will have been bought by legitimate gamers looking to upgrade their rig – and they’re in for a treat with our RTX 5090 review highlighting how it’s a seriously powerful upgrade that approaches complete overkill performance, and our RTX 5080 review telling us it boasts some solid gains too at a more modest (but still not inexpensive) price.
Unfortunately some Nvidia cards also seem to have been picked up by scalpers taking advantage of the limited availability to flip them for a profit on resale sites by listing the GPUs for several times their MSRP. Resale sites have also been flooded with listings that seem to be selling the new GPUs for prices closer to what they should cost, but when you take a closer look you’ll see they’re promising to send you a picture of the graphics card you desire rather than the real thing.
So our advice is to wait for another official drop so you don’t get tricked by a scammer or pay three or four times more for the GPU you’re after – and you can follow our coverage for updates on when and where these drops will happen.
3. Nothing Phone 3 was teased
Nothing shared a short video of its CEO Carl Pei this week. Normally that wouldn’t be super newsworthy, but as the camera zooms in on his glasses we see the words “Launch 4 March” reflected in the lens. A previous Nothing Phone 3 teaser suggested this would be the announcement date for its next smartphone, but now it’s all but certain.
What’s more interesting is a cut in the middle of the clip that seems to shift from a shot from a wide lens, to one from a telephoto lens – the latter of which is absent from all Nothing phones. We’re taking this as a hint that the Nothing Phone 3 could have a triple-lens camera – with a telephoto camera joining the wide and ultra-wide lens setup found on the Nothing Phone 2.
2. We got our first in-depth look at Android XR
Thanks to a hands-on video from Marques Brownlee on his YouTube channel, MKBHD, we got our first look at Android XR and the Project Moohan prototype this week. While many details including price, release, and some specs are still a mystery we did get to see aspects of the headset’s design and software.
It looks a lot like a combination of the Meta Quest Pro and Apple Vision Pro. There’s no over-the-head strap but instead a Meta Quest Pro-like adjustable strap round the back, and the Android XR headset borrows the Quest’s optional light blockers to change between a VR-optimized and MR-optimized design. It also uses an external battery pack like the Vision Pro to help save weight.
As for software, Brownlee’s video predominantly focused on Gemini’s integration – which looks impressive. Though many of the AI features look like they’d be much better suited to a pair of AR glasses – so while we expect Moohan will be impressive, we’re already waiting to see what XR hardware Samsung and Google will launch next.
1. Our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man swung in
Our favorite wall-crawling superhero is finally back! The latest adaptation of Peter Parker to enter the fray is in Marvel’s new animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
The show has a unique release schedule, though, as each week two episodes will be released instead of one – the first two of which debuted on Disney Plus this Wednesday (January 29).
TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter Tom Power has already seen all 10 episodes and says the show’s “a spectacularly fun ride” in his Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man review.
Which is great news for Spidey fans, because two more seasons have been greenlit and the show’s creator already has “big ideas” for where it could go next.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
