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8 Aug 2025

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Government emails hacked to send scams to 56,000 people
‘Phishing’ messages seeking sensitive information were sent from Tertiary Education Commission system.

Going out for breakfast shouldn’t break the bank, say pop-up eatery pair
The aim is to offer breakfast and coffee for the “unfeasibly low” price of under $20, says Jo Bro’s Burgers and MARGY’s co-owner.

OpenAI claims GPT-5 model boosts ChatGPT to 'PhD level'
GPT-5's release comes as tech firms continue to compete in an effort to claim the world's most advanced AI.

Police shooting: Coroner rules Shargin Stephens' death was 'preventable'
Shargin Stephens needn't have been shot dead by an inexperienced, emotionally charged police officer in 2016, a coroner has ruled.

Artificial intelligence saves doctors time, but makes mistakes - study
Of nearly 200 health professionals surveyed, 40 percent used AI for patient notes.

Major Gas Users Group to meet with Resources Minister Shane Jones over supply
Trying to secure an affordable supply of the rapidly shrinking resource is putting medium-to-large companies at their financial limits, the group says.

The Detail: Will NZ move with tide over Gaza?
With starvation reaching crisis point in Gaza and an impetus to pressure Israel to pull back, New Zealand's reactions to the conflict remain muted.

Anand Subbaraman named CEO as Icertis nears USD $350 million
Icertis appoints Anand Subbaraman as CEO as the AI-powered contract intelligence firm nears annual recurring revenue of USD $350 million.

LG’s newest OLED gaming monitor hits an incredible 720Hz
How much speed do you need when you’re getting sweaty with your gaming PC? “More” is the obvious answer, at least if you ask LG. The company’s newest OLED gaming monitor can hit up to 720Hz, though not without some compromises: the 27-inch 1440p panel needs to step down to 1080p resolution to hit that blistering speed. At its native 2560×1440 resolution, the OLED can still hit an impressive 540Hz, more than double the current standard for 27-inch OLED gaming monitors. LG is calling the tech Dynamic Frequency & Resolution (DFR). It’s not the first time we’ve seen monitors sacrifice resolution for speed in a dedicated mode, with LG showing off a similar OLED monitor last year that can shift between 4K/240Hz and 1080p/480Hz. Other highlights at the LG OLED Heritage exhibition in Seoul included a 45-inch 5K2K panel with an impressive 5120×2160 resolution (pictured above). That’s essentially a sized-up version of current ultrawide formats, with the semi-standard 34-inch size using 3440×1440. LG also showed off a fourth-generation 83-inch OLED TV panel with a huge boost in brightness up to 4,000 nits. Expect these panels to show up in monitor designs from LG—and the many industrial partners that buy its panels to put in their own monitors—starting in 2026. It’s possible we might see some of them shown off as soon as CES in January.

SimpliSafe Outdoor Security Camera 2 review: Barely an upgrade
At a glanceExpert's Rating Pros Sets up quickly and easily, integrates well with the SimpliSafe ecosystem. Petite, attractive hardware. Cons Camera has no real technology upgrades over older gen hardware. AGOP drops video quality down to a grainy 720p. Monitoring service is extremely costly and may not be as effective as desired. Our Verdict SimpliSafe’s new outdoor camera enables its new active response system, but it provides literally no other reason to upgrade from the previous camera. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: SimpliSafe Outdoor Security Camera Series 2 Retailer Price Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices SimpliSafe is one of the most venerable smart home security companies, and while it regularly refreshes its hardware, it does so device by device, rather than upgrading the entire system at once. Makes sense, because it has at least 16 different components you can mix and match with your existing SimpliSafe base station or add on to one of its hardware bundles. The latest upgrade to the SimpliSafe family is a new version of the SimpliSafe Wireless Outdoor Security Camera, which was released in 2021. The SimpliSafe Outdoor Security Camera 2 keeps the overall look and feel of the original, while making a few changes that offer some compelling upgrades. Features and design Quite a few things remain the same: It’s still—surprisingly—a 1080p camera with IP65 weatherproofing (meaning it’s dust-proof and resistant to water jets sprayed from any direction) and a 140-degree field of view. Infrared night vision is included, along with a small spotlight, built-in two-way audio, and a 90 dB siren, while a magnetic base allows for easy repositioning. The camera can be powered either by its internal battery (SimpliSafe says it will last for up to 3 months), a microUSB power cable, or an optional solar panel ($80). If you don’t want or need SimpliSafe’s active response service, there’s really no reason to upgrade from the older, cheaper outdoor camera. Again, none of camera’s core features offer any major changes, and were it not for the sizeable ridge that now juts out beneath the lens housing, you might not notice any difference at all between the SimpliSafe Wireless Outdoor Security Camera 2 and its predecessor. The new SimpliSafe Outdoor Camera 2 looks and works almost exactly the same as the previous version.Christopher Null/Foundry Setup If you already have a SimpliSafe system, setting up the camera is a simple affair that should take only a few minutes of onboarding. I set up a new hub from scratch for this review. Including all the unboxing, setup, tutorials, and upgrades, preparing a small system of hub, keypad, two sensors, and two cameras took about 45 minutes, with only one hiccup requiring an indoor camera to be reset. The camera still works in conjunction with most other SimpliSafe gear, which means it will automatically record if the system is armed and one of the sensors is triggered. (SimpliSafe last updated its motion and entry sensors in 2023.) My only real complaint is that, bizarrely, SimpliSafe cameras still use dated microUSB connectors and cables for power instead of more modern (and symmetrical) USB-C. AI-powered threat detection The biggest upgrade to the camera is its support for SimpliSafe’s Active Guard Outdoor Protection (AGOP), a new service that uses AI to detect potential threats on video, then alerts live (human) agents to view the camera feed and take action. Agents can speak to trespassers, sound the siren, or turn on the spotlight—or all three—and dispatch police if the situation warrants it. Of course, to take advantage of this new feature, you will need one of SimpliSafe’s upper-tier monitoring plans. The Core plan ($32/month) doesn’t include AGOP. The Pro plan ($50/month) includes the AGOP service but only from 8pm to 6am local time each day. You’ll need the Pro Plus plan ($80/month, gulp) if you want 24/7 monitoring. Other than that, all the plans are about the same, including unlimited cloud storage for up to 10 cameras, agent intervention on indoor cameras, and emergency dispatch services. Performance I tested AGOP on the new Outdoor Camera 2 by arming the system and walking through the camera’s frame multiple times, as well as having my wife do so. What’s supposed to happen, per SimpliSafe, is that a SimpliSafe agent should connect to the camera’s speaker and let the intruder know they’re being monitored and recorded, then ask, “How can I help you?” What did happen during my testing is none of that: Not once did a voice come over the speaker at all. SimpliSafe’s Active Guard Outdoor Protection (AGOP) service uses AI to detect potential threats on video, then alerts live (human) agents to view the camera feed and take action. Christopher Null/Foundry The videos were, however, successfully monitored by SimpliSafe, as the app’s Timeline indicates when a clip is viewed by the company’s agents. Nearly all of these were categorized within a few minutes as “Common activity” and apparently dismissed as harmless. It wasn’t until I put on a baseball cap and ran through the frame—as suspiciously as I could—that the clip was categorized as “Person on property,” after which I received an email from SimpliSafe to that effect, along with a still from the video. The vetting process takes a few minutes to complete for each occurrence. The results might have been different had I run through the frame wielding a machete or repositioned the camera so it could spot me picking the lock. But SimpliSafe formally advises against simulating such criminal scenarios, as their agents can opt to call police directly in the event of serious emergencies. (Besides, there are limits to what I am willing to do for PCWorld.) The bottom line is that while testing AGOP to its fullest extent may not be wholly possible, it clearly doesn’t quite work the way it is marketed. AGOP also comes with some caveats. It only works with outdoor cameras (as the name implies) and it makes some mandatory changes to the camera’s settings in the process, notably dropping video quality down to 720 by 1280 pixels (720p), turning on IR night vision, and activating the status light. Medium motion sensitivity and people-only motion detection are also mandatory. As well, cameras with AGOP enabled must also be connected to wall power and can’t be running on battery power or have a solar connection. The only camera feature that the user has any real control over is the activity zone setting, so you can block out areas you don’t want monitored. Of these constraints, the resolution drop is the most notable: 720p video is grainy and pixilated, and at a distance it’s difficult to make out faces with any level of reliability. Night vision is similarly washed out and murky. Should you buy the SimpliSafe Outdoor Security Camera 2? The $200 asking price for the camera (much less if you shop around) is of course misleading, as you’ll spend a minimum of at least $600 more each year on monitoring. If you don’t want or need the AGOP service–and it’s tough to say whether it’s worth that outlay–there’s really no reason to upgrade from the older, cheaper outdoor camera, which can be had for as little as $73 at this writing. This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best security cameras.