Must Have Products

Anyone who uses a PC should have an external drive. It’s both a useful means of data backup and storage, and a way to transport files from your desktop or laptop to another device. Xbox One X  users, as well, would be wise to invest in an external drive as a way of augmenting the console’s measly 1TB hard drive (the external drive needs to be USB 3.0-compatible and will be formatted when you insert the drive).  Two things are for sure: No one ever said they wanted less storage space, and no one ever said they wanted a slower drive. Our latest top picks for best external performance drive ( SanDisk's Extreme Pro Portable and Samsung's T7 ) are blazing-fast, great news if you're moving around large amounts of data. If backup or connectivity are your priorities, we’ll also walk you through our other top picks, and everything you need to know to buy the best external drive for your needs. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2usN...

In February, Microsoft revealed that it would be slowly phasing out Cortana functionality in mobile and other devices, implying that the third-party Harman Kardon Invoke would be among them. On Friday, Microsoft clarified that these changes will occur in early 2021, including the Invoke—but the company will offer gift cards of up to $50 to sweeten the deal. Microsoft said Friday that it is eliminating the third-party Cortana skills —Cortana plug-ins that could be used to ask for a Fitbit activity summary, for example—by September 7. In January, 2021, the mobile Cortana app for iOS and Android will stop working.  And in “early 2021,” Microsoft says, the Cortana functionality for the Invoke will also cease to exist. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2XeTYzQ

The Q90 by Powkiddy is yet another portable device for lovers of handheld retro gaming emulation. Priced affordably at  $36 on Powkidy.com  (sic), it comes with some nice features and a nice build quality. But like all the products on the market today you still have to deal with some quirks. This tiny handheld emulator is worth checking out, especially given its price, though it falls short in some key places. In my opinion the real competition in this $30 space is the PocketGo , which I reviewed last year and continue to use even though I own more powerful hardware. The Q90 boasts a number of upgrades over the PocketGo and should be considered when looking for such a small and cheap device. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2DshiTJ

How to play music you own on Google Home and Chromecast after Google Play Music shuts down. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/338WsDT

If you’re spending time poring over Android phone spec sheets when deciding which phone to buy, then you know there are basically two processors to look for: the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon chip—right now, that would be the Snapdragon 865 or slightly faster 865+—and everything else. Smartphone processors move so fast that even the previous year's flagship processor’s speeds are old news. That’s changed this year. Along with the high-end Snapdragon 865 that powers flagships like Samsung's Galaxy S20 and the Snapdragon 865+ for even higher-end gaming phones , Qualcomm is also selling the Snapdragon 765 and 765G chips, which raises the middle tier substantially. While mid-range phones have typically run Snapdragon 6 and 7 Series chips, the 765 is a different animal. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/31a4zNI

With all the upheaval and cancellation of trade shows this year, product announcements have been plentiful and scattershot as companies fire off news at different times. It’s a lot to take in—so to help you keep up, we’ve pulled out the best of the bunch with an eye on PC components, PC accessories, and software. We’ve also included items that launched this month so you don’t miss out, since shortages are a real thing these days. July’s announcements include a juicy 8TB SSD, a powerful Ryzen mini PC, and a wireless version of one of our favorite gaming headsets. Let’s dive in. July 2020’s top product announcements Samsung 870 QVO 8TB SATA SSD Samsung Despite the insane pricing of this 8TB SSD, we’re still excited for its imminent arrival. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2DmSexw

Nearby Share, Android’s answer to Apple’s AirDrop sharing feature, has now been rolled out to Windows users via Google Chrome. It allows users to share files between compatible devices wirelessly and instantly. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3hRGVfM

Of all the PC components, few require more care and attention than a hard drive. We’ve all heard the admonishments to defragment drives, and clean up junk files to keep all our 1s and 0s sparkling. No matter how well you care for it, however, at some point that drive is going to fail. Sometimes you can hear it coming, sometimes it happens suddenly in the middle of a project, and other times it just refuses to boot one morning. Whatever way your hard drive meets its end, it’s a certainty you’ll see it happen if you use a PC long enough. Hard drives are complicated little devices. The primary components are the magnetic platters that contain the data, as well as the head that reads and writes the data. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3k0lRW8

Smart, motorized shades and blinds cost a pretty penny, but do they ever bring the wow. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3gjMXWi

Thunderbolt 3 based eGPUs have been around for many years, offering the ability to plug a full desktop-class GPU into a laptop. Theoretically it’s an appealing idea, especially if someone is using an older laptop that has a perfectly fine CPU to handle games, but the GPU is long in the tooth. But there are some drawbacks. In this video I talk about my experiences using an eGPU over the past 4 months to play 10 of the biggest games from the past couple of years. Each game was tested in four different ways, and below are the specs of the equipment I used—all of which is covered in the video. Dell XPS 15 7590 specs: 15.6-inch 4K OLED panel Intel 9th-gen Core i9-9980HK Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 32GB DDR4/2666 1TB Samsung NVMe M.2 SSD eGPU setup: Asus XG Station Pro ( $330 from B&H Photo Remove non-product link ) Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super Founders Edition ( $856.80 from Amazon Remove non-product link ) As you can see in the video, the 2070 Super inside this ...

Big Tech firms delivered robust Q2 results, underscoring growing consumer reliance on giants like Amazon during the pandemic as well as their extraordinary economic power — the subject of a heated US congressional hearing a day earlier. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3jZmbET

Australia will force US tech giants Facebook and Google to pay its media outlets for news content in a landmark move to protect independent journalism that will be watched around the world. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/39P9987

Google parent Alphabet reported a rare drop in revenue and profit in a quarterly update that nonetheless topped market expectations. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/30h8CJ8

Google is now teasing the arrival of a new phone on August 3 on its online store. White the teaser doesn’t reveal any details on which this might be, it most likely will be the Pixel 4a. The teaser page suggests the Pixel 4a will have a long-lasting battery and the camera is likely to support macro shots. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2X9XCuP

Dell confirmed that charging issues with some of the company’s new XPS 17 9700 laptops, as well as some of its Precision 5750 corporate laptops, have been identified and fixed. The problem came to light when Dell XPS 17 9700 review units tested by Notebookcheck.com ( which first reported it ) and PCWorld exhibited the strange behavior of discharging their battery while plugged in , if the laptop was under heavy load. To help diagnose the issue, PCWorld sent its review unit and charger back to Dell for analysis. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3hW6uMR

There might not be an I/O keynote to stream this week, but some new hot Google hardware might still be on the way. All rumors and signs suggest that Google will celebrate the first anniversary of the launch of the bodaciously budget Pixel 3a with an equally affordable Pixel 4a follow-up. Here's what we already know about it. Update 7/30: Google has announced that the Pixel 4a will arrive on Monday, August 3. Design While the Pixel 3a was basically a plastic version of the high-end Pixel 3, the Pixel 4a will reportedly deviate from the bezel-heavy design of Google’s Pixel 4. Based on leaked images , the Pixel 4a may be Google’s first phone to adopt a hole-punch camera, which will be aligned in the upper left corner of the screen. The 4a design was seemingly confirmed by Google exec Rick Osterloh , who tweeted about his Fitbit Earth badge with an Android screenshot sporting an indented status bar. (However, he could have been using a OnePlus 8 .) To read this article in ful...

The Cherry DW 9000 Slim is a modestly priced wireless desktop keyboard-and-mouse combo. With its full-size layout and comfortable keys, the keyboard can be easily swapped in for your daily driver without missing a stroke. And, though the mouse is a little on the small size, its half-dozen customizable keys allow you to tailor it to your productivity needs. This review is part of our ongoing roundup of the best wireless keyboards . Go there for reviews of competing products and buying advice, including how we tested.   Design The Cherry DW 9000 Slim is quite a looker. The underside of my review model was done in bronze, with the top deck and keys in black. (It’s also available in a very Apple-like silver-and-white color scheme.) There’s a bit of cutaway around each key to allow a sliver of bronze to show through, creating a nice accent trim. Despite the plastic casing, the keyboard weighs about half a pound due to a solid metal plate placed inside the chassis to increase stabil...

Razer on Thursday announced the next version of its venerable BlackShark gaming headset, the BlackShark V2, leveraging a partnership with THX to provide spatial-audio profiles for gaming using positional sound. The $100 wired headset can be used as a “standalone” wired headset via its 3.5mm jack. But the V2 also ships with a USB soundcard that the headset can plug into, which adds additional filtering capabilities to the headset’s built-in mic. A second, $60 budget option, the Razer BlackShark V2 X, does away with the sound card but provides a similar driver and the same mic as the more expensive version. Both headsets ship today, though Razer won’t be able to provide the THX spatial-audio profiles until August 6, the company said. On that day, you’ll be able to download specific profiles for eighteen games, such as Valorant, Apex Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive , and more.  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3hPvQM5...

Diving into Halo 3 ’s campaign with an online friend (or several) sometimes simply doesn’t...work. You’ll send out the invites and group up, pick and load a mission, and then the game abruptly hangs before kicking you to the main screen. Or you’ll get to play for a short while, and then everything freezes and boots you. Either way, you get torn apart and can even lose your progress, both of which are irritating as hell. And this experience isn’t isolated to Halo 3 —it can happen with other Microsoft games that rely on Xbox Live servers for multiplayer too, be it the rest of the Master Chief Collection or Forza . The problem is usually related to network address translation (NAT) and Windows 10’s Teredo service. As a networking issue, it can be a little nebulous to solve, as the reasons for the trouble vary from person to person. To help, we’ve gathered all the major troubleshooting steps you can take (and have had to try ourselves) to fix the problem. To read this article in ful...

Google's $2.1 billion (roughly Rs. 15,700 crores) bid for fitness wearable maker Fitbit will face a full-scale EU antitrust investigation next week, people familiar with the matter said. The deal would see the tech giant compete with the likes of Apple, Samsung, Huawei, and Xiaomi. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/30aAa2I

Photoshop Shapes are vector images that you can size up or down without degrading the image quality. The best thing about using Shapes is that it saves you time. For example, few people can draw a perfect circle (especially with a mouse). If you click, drag, and draw a vector image, as opposed to drawing them by hand with one of the pen tools, you can draw a Custom Shape in mere seconds. You start by selecting the Shapes tool. The default is the rectangle shape, so look for a square on the toolbar, (currently seventh icon from the bottom between the Path Selection and the Hand tool). You can choose from the Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, Line, or Custom Shape tools. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/39HnVhm

How cord-cutters can take advantage of newly-enforced privacy rules. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2D4M0T7

Just like your PC or Mac, a lot of what ails your Android phone can be fixed with a simple restart. Laggy navigation, crashing apps, and system quirks can be cleared easily that way. But some maladies need more than a restart. Here’s how to remedy those peskier problems.   Bluetooth devices won’t connect If you own an Android phone—especially a Pixel or a Galaxy—you’ve encountered this: The Bluetooth device that you were using yesterday simply won’t connect anymore. You could try toggling the Bluetooth switch, but even if that works it’ll likely be a temporary fix. IDG If your Bluetooth devices are constantly refusing to connect, try clearing out the cache. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3geEwey

Google Camera app version 7.5 teardown, rolled out for Android 11 beta users, shows mentions of three upcoming Pixel devices - Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a (5G), and Pixel 5, with no reference to the Pixel 5 XL. This hints that Google may be ditching the Pixel 5 XL this year. The codenames of the three upcoming Pixel devices are listed to be sunfish, bramble... from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3gd9bJp

Chief executives of four Big Tech firms — including Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Apple's Tim Cook — gave virtual testimony before the US House Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel. Online viewers took to social media to ridicule several moments from the inquiry. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3fa1lib

The ‘automatic phone backup’ feature that was introduced last year for Google One paid users has now been made free for everyone, regardless of an active subscription or not. This feature will also be available for iPhone users for free. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3k0rCDB

Big Tech executives faced an onslaught of criticism from US lawmakers at the high-stakes antitrust hearing which could lay the groundwork for tougher regulation of the major internet platforms. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3gdUg1F

Qualcomm said Wednesday that it expects global smartphone sales to fall by 15 percent over the next three months, due to the coronavirus. Qualcomm, which sells many of the smartphone processors and radios that go into the world’s smartphones, said that the coronavirus would slow sales for its current fourth fiscal quarter. Qualcomm reported third-quarter fiscal results on Wednesday. “Our guidance for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 includes an impact of greater than ($0.25) to EPS attributable to a planning assumption of an approximate 15 percent year-over-year reduction in handset shipments due to COVID-19, including a partial impact from the delay of a global 5G flagship phone launch.” Qualcomm said in a statement accompanying its earnings results. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3fb1hyV

Roku looks less like a neutral platform without HBO Max and Peacock from PCWorld https://ift.tt/33dn2ff

In this special episode of The Full Nerd, Gordon Ung , Brad Chacos , and Adam Patrick Murray are joined by special guest Ed Crisler ! Ed’s been a PC geek since the seventies and currently spearheads gaming evangelism and North American PR for Sapphire Technology . Sapphire creates Radeon graphics cards, including one of our favorite graphics cards of this generation, the Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 5700 XT . To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/30fgYB3

If you're in need a webcam for all the video conferences you're doing nowadays, your iPhone can carry the load. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2wWdabI

Samsung’s phones may be the among the most popular Android handsets, but they’re also the furthest from Google’s vision, with their own app store, UI, and digital assistant. But with the launch of the Galaxy Note 20 just a week away, a new report from Bloomberg suggests that Google is looking to rein in some of Samsung’s freedom. According to correspondence between the two companies, Google is looking to take back search on Samsung’s handsets, the foundation for everything Android does. The two companies are discussing a deal that would “promote Google’s digital assistant and Play Store for apps” on Galaxy devices. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3078tb1

Though it’s a slow writer by NVMe standards, the 1TB Adata Falcon we tested is a great real-world, everyday performer. It’s also priced below the competition at the moment ( currently $157.61 on Amazon ). We don’t recommend it for pros or heavy workloads, but it’ll save casual computing types and bargain PC vendors a buck or two. Specs and pricing The 2280 form factor (22 mm wide, 80 mm long), x4 PCIe 3.0 Falcon is available in other capacities: 256GB ( $46 on Newegg Remove non-product link ), 512GB ( $70 on Newegg Remove non-product link ), and 2TB ( $264.47 on Newegg Remove non-product link ). They're all just a bit cheaper than the average bargain drive at the time of this writing. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/331z6QB

Anker's new waterproof true wireless earbuds boast a great bass-heavy listening experience at an affordable price that makes up for their lack of more robust features. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/30RBrLa

Kick-ass sound and a raft of high-end features make Russound's music streamer worth pursuing, even though it suffers from the occasional temper tantrum. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2BIeVfe

Once a competitive option, Amazon’s 450-watt UPS doesn’t match up head to head. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2P7pN9C

As Windows 10 turns five years old this week, it’s a good time to look at how much Windows 10 has changed the PC—with everything from Windows Hello to free updates, seemingly in perpetuity.  Microsoft began shipping Windows 10 to PCs on July 29, 2015 —“ ordering pizza for 1.5 billion people ,” as one Microsoft executive put it. Few remember now that PC makers barely made the launch , with even Microsoft admitting most PCs would ship with Windows 8 pre-installed instead —even as PC makers  hoped and prayed that Windows 10 would outsell the debacle that was Windows 8 .  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2X7nmYP

Google AR Search new insect roster include various kinds of beetles, butterflies, and cicadas. To search for the new insects, type the name in search and then click on the ‘View in 3D’ option. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2X64MjL

If chaos defined Intel’s second-quarter earnings report , a sense of normalcy was the theme of AMD’s second-quarter earnings. AMD reported strong revenue in its Ryzen and Epyc processor lines, with notebook revenue more than doubling from a year ago. AMD’s only weak point was in its graphics business, where lower channel sales in desktop products offset a double-digit increase in mobile GPU sales. Overall, AMD reported profits of $157 million, a sharp increase over the $35 million AMD reported a year ago, on revenue that climbed 26 percent to $1.93 billion. AMD’s Computing & Graphics segment, which includes its Ryzen CPUs and its Radeon GPU business, grew a whopping 45 percent over the previous year, to $1.37 billion. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/39BgCYd

Microsoft To-Do is now officially Microsoft’s latest Microsoft 365 app, which means, ironically, that you may see less of To-Do as a standalone app and more To-Do functionality scattered across apps like Outlook. The latest example of this is Microsoft Teams, where To-Do now integrates into the Tasks app.  For years, Microsoft’s lists app was Wunderlist, which was finally replaced last May in favor of To-Do. In the early days of its existence, To-Do existed primarily as a standalone app, which lessened its importance and made new “to-do” task lists more of a pain to create. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/304d7GK

Now you can co-watch any title in your Movies Anywhere locker with up to nine friends, although your guests might need to jump through some hoops to start watching. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/30XwiRI

When we reviewed Logitech’s G Pro X gaming headset last year, awarding it 4.5 out of 5 stars and an Editors’ Choice award, we listed only a single substantial drawback: “If only it were wireless.” Well, now there’s a version that is, thanks to today’s announcement of the $200 Logitech G Pro X Lightspeed . The Pro X Lightspeed packs Logitech’s 2.4GHz “Lightspeed” wireless technology, as the name implies, with a whopping 42 ft. range and over 20 hours of battery life. Speaking of, the headset powers up via a USB-C connection, which remains a rarity in gaming headsets. Your PC may not even have a USB-C connection if it’s more than a couple of years old, but fear not: Logitech’s included charging cable is USB-C to USB-A, acknowledging the relative scarity of the port on gaming desktops. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2OZUEoo

You no longer need to be in the same room to launch a Spotify Group Session with your buddies. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2P02nTz

Google Chrome’s lazy loading feature has reduced its distance-from-viewpoint threshold, allowing you to save more data. It will only load images on the site when you’re about to come in view with it. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/333ySrV

The fallout from Intel’s disastrous 7nm delay news was swift . On Monday, the company announced that it was breaking up its Technology, Systems Architecture and Client Group and top exec Murthy Renduchintala was headed out the door. Renduchintala’s group, TSCG, will be broken up in five pieces, each reporting directly to Intel CEO Bob Swan. Technology Development, led by Dr. Ann Kelleher Manufacturing and Operations, led by Keyvan Esfarjani Design Engineering, led in the interim by Josh Walden Architecture, Software and Graphics will continue to be led by Raja Koduri Supply Chain will continue to be led by Dr. Randhir Thakur “I look forward to working directly with these talented and experienced technology leaders, each of whom is committed to driving Intel forward during this period of critical execution,” Swan said in a release. “I also want to thank Murthy for his leadership in helping Intel transform our technology platform. We have the most diverse portfolio of leade...

US Republican Senator Josh Hawley introduced a legislation that aims to penalise large tech brands that sell or show targeted advertisements, enabling invasive data gathering. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/30RrLAp

Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple — The four major tech firms whose chief executives are testifying at a congressional antitrust hearing face a variety of complaints about their dominance in the US and elsewhere. Take a look at a summary of the main issues. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/30T2qGe

Emoji 13.1 has been announced by the Unicode Consortium as Emoji 14 has been delayed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The development was shared by Emojipedia, which is a voting member of the Unicode Consortium. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2X6SKa6

Budget laptops continue to improve, and the Acer Spin 3 is a good example. For an affordable price it offers adequate components and battery life, with enough flexibility to accommodate a range of peripherals. Though the 14-inch, 360-degree convertible laptop delivers middling performance, a modern Thunderbolt port and a nifty integrated stylus stand out. In all, it’s a solid laptop, but in a market whose competition is growing stronger, quickly. This review is part of our ongoing roundup of the best laptops . Go there for information on competing products and how we tested them.  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3hKhLQg

Google Photos is one of the best ways to sync and store the picture you take on your phone, but getting them out of your library is another story—especially if you want to keep your metadata (date, time, caption, etc.). Since  Photos no longer includes an option to sync with Google Drive, keeping a rolling backup of your photos is going to take some work. Here and your options are for creating a backup that keeps your photos and metadata intact: Google Drive Storage Like before, Google will store high-quality photos and videos in Photos for free, so they won’t affect the space in your Google Drive. If you opt for Original Quality, however, Google Photos will use some of the space in your Google Drive to store your library, even though you won’t be able to see or access the photos. Any photo or video that resides in both places will take up twice the space. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2EuLtdP

QNAP's handsome NAS box offers dual 2.5GbE ports and a PCIe slot for adding 10GbE, SSDs, or both. It can also play multimedia directly to an attached 4K display. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/30SLPlZ

Searches for “ableism” and “ableist language” are at an all-time high, Google said while revealing the latest search trends. The search giant also saw a rise in queries around “black mental health” globally in June. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3g1qLzX

Google Pixel 4a has been long awaited and as per a new leak, the phone may be launched on August 3. A new tipster, who initially claimed the Pixel 4a announcement for July 13 was pushed back, now states that the company has finally fixed a date. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2CSYQUw

Google has decided that most of its 200,000 employees and contractors should work from home through next June, to ensure safe health for everyone amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3hKRwJA

The fallout from Intel’s disastrous 7nm delay news was swift . On Monday, the company announced that it was breaking up its Technology, Systems Architecture and Client Group and top exec Murthy Renduchintala was headed out the door. Renduchintala’s group, TSCG, will be broken up in five pieces, each reporting directly to Intel CEO Bob Swan. Technology Development, led by Dr. Ann Kelleher Manufacturing and Operations, led by Keyvan Esfarjani Design Engineering, led in the interim by Josh Walden Architecture, Software and Graphics will continue to be led by Raja Koduri Supply Chain will continue to be led by Dr. Randhir Thakur “I look forward to working directly with these talented and experienced technology leaders, each of whom is committed to driving Intel forward during this period of critical execution,” Swan said in a release. “I also want to thank Murthy for his leadership in helping Intel transform our technology platform. We have the most diverse portfolio of leade...

There are good reasons why you might want to take a screenshot in Windows 10. A screenshot can be useful for quickly showing someone what’s on your desktop, or grabbing a quick moment from a video that you need to share. Windows 10’s built-in screenshot controls are easy to use, but they aren’t exactly obvious. Here are three built-in Windows screenshot keyboard shortcuts, most of which will also work in earlier versions of Windows. We’ll also suggest a few third-party applications for those who need a more powerful screenshot utility. Print Screen The old screenshot standard still exists in Windows 10. Press the PrtScn  (or Prt Scr ) button on your keyboard and your entire screen (or screens, in a multi-monitor setup) is copied to the clipboard. From there you can paste it into Paint, GIMP, IrfanView, Photoshop, or any other photo program that allows you to paste in an image. If PrtScn isn't working on your laptop, it's possible you can't access it without pressing a...

Qualcomm on Monday announced Quick Charge 5, its latest quick-charging solution to power a compatible smartphone to a 50 percent charge state in just five minutes. That's a whole lot faster than Quick Charge 4's 15-minute claim, but it'll probably be a while before it lands on Android's most popular phones. Charging may not be the first thing you look for among the feature list of new phones, but it’s a handy convenience if you’ve forgotten to charge your phone overnight and need to dash out the door. Qualcomm announced Quick Charge 4 in 2017, but it's yet to reach most phones.  None of Samsung's flagship phones support the protocol, and you won't find it on Pixels or OnePlus' latest phones either.  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3024MTS

Ruggedized for the elements, battery-powered—and priced at just $50. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2CK3B2R

What's the value of 100MHz? Apparently $35. At least that's how much of a discount Intel will give those who buy the new Core i9-10850K "Comet Lake-S" CPU it officially unveiled today. That makes it fairly easy to memorize the specs of the newest 10th gen chip: Take the 10-core Core i9-10900K and literally subtract 100MHz across all keys specs of the x86 cores. For example, the Core i9-10900K has a 3.7GHz base clock, 5.1GHz single-core boost and all core boost 4.8GHz. With its Thermal Velocity Boost feature running speeds up higher when the chip is properly cooled, you get 5.3GHz on single-core boosts and 4.9GHz on all-core boosts. And yup: The 10-core Core i9-10850K has a 3.6GHz base clock, 5GHz single-core boost, and all core boost of 4.7GHz. When running on Thermal Velocity Boost, it's 5.2GHz on single-threads and 4.8GHz on all core TVB. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3g6VoE5

Google will send you a free replacement for a Nest thermostat that’s suffering from the dreaded w5 Wi-Fi error, but there are also some troubleshooting steps you can try. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/302efuj

If you’re spending time poring over Android phone spec sheets when deciding which phone to buy, then you know there are basically two processors to look for: the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon chip—right now, that would be the Snapdragon 865 or slightly faster 865 Plus—and everything else. Smartphone processors move so fast that even the previous flagship processor’s speeds are old news. That’s changed this year. Along with the high-end Snapdragon 865 that powers flagships like Samsung's Galaxy S20 and the Snapdragon 865 Plus for even higher-end gaming phones , Qualcomm is also selling the Snapdragon 765 and 765G chips, which raises the middle tier substantially. While mid-range phones have typically run Snapdragon 6 and 7 Series chips, the 765 is a different animal. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/32Y17bF

20 bucks for a doorbell camera sounds like a great deal, right? Well, you’ll get what you paid for. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2CJ1UCN

Australia's competition regulator has launched court proceedings against Alphabet's Google for allegedly misleading consumers about the expanded use of personal data for targeted advertising. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3hELMAV

A congressional hearing on digital marketplace competition featuring the chief executives of four of the largest American tech companies has been rescheduled for Wednesday, a House subcommittee said on Saturday. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/300QMdd

Follow this guide to learn how you can enable dark mode on Google Docs, Sheets and Slides. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3jI9rSC

A highly anticipated antitrust hearing including top executives of four Big Tech firms, originally set for Monday, has been postponed. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3g2fQWF

YouTube is planning to add Hindi support to its mechanism reducing the recommendations and visibility of content that could spread conspiracy theories. The change is specifically designed for the India market. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/30JlbMd

Choosing the right virtual private network (VPN) service is no simple task. A VPN should keep your internet usage private and secure, but not every service handles your data in the same way. Just look at the critiques of notable computer security experts and online pundits to understand the challenge. Even supposed experts in the field can turn out to be frauds .  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2TBK375

Buying a processor for a gaming rig isn’t as hard as it used to be. Now that Ryzen 3000-series and Intel’s 10th-gen Core CPUs come with more performance and cores than ever before, it’s hard to buy a stinker these days—especially because most games favor graphics firepower over CPU oomph. All that said, there are specific chips that stand out from the horde as the best gaming CPUs due to their price, performance, or nifty extras. Best CPU for gaming cheat sheet Our quick-hit recommendations: To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2PBT7Gx

Follow this guide as we tell you how to disable Google Meet in Gmail for Android, iOS and web. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/30KPZME

Nest isn’t the only thermostat maker with greater smart home ambitions. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/32RD5PE

In announcing a six-month delay on its transition to 7nm products, Intel is doing its best to keep things moving—tweaking 10nm processors into another ‘+’ iteration, pushing out 10nm desktop CPUs, and announcing delays for its first Xe GPUs for the datacenter, too. In order to keep products on schedule, Intel may even manufacture them using external foundries—shocking news for industry watchers well-acquainted with Intel’s massive fab investment. Still, the shift could affect those chips’ pricing, and it’s uncertain whether Intel can deliver them on time. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2WPdenm

For a short while, PC building was gloriously affordable. The cost of graphics cards and RAM finally dropped after 2018’s dark times, AMD kept cramming more cores into its CPU lineup without increasing prices, and SSDs could be had for a song. Nowadays building a basic x86 PC is pretty expensive. Overwhelming demand, tighter supply, and tariffs mean that, compared to last year, you’ll spend $10 more here and $15 more there across the board—even as much as $40 more on a power supply. It adds up to a steep increase for those who only browse the web, watch streaming videos, edit documents, and/or code. Fortunately, you can sidestep that financial outlay with an alternative: the humble but mighty Raspberry Pi 4 . This fourth-generation version of the popular single-card computer starts at just $35 and packs enough punch to easily handle everyday tasks. Moreover, its simplicity means building is ultra fast. We put together a Linux-based desktop system for just over $100 and in about an ...

AMD’s mighty Ryzen processors and Intel’s high-octane 10th-gen Core CPUs continue to spark interest in PC building, but some people still hesitate at the idea of crafting a custom PC. Don’t! Building your own PC isn’t some arcane art or esoteric skill that only the most hardcore of hardware geeks can pull off. In fact, assembling a DIY PC is pretty straightforward once you’ve settled on your parts list.  Rolling your own computer offers a number of advantages that boxed desktops just can’t match, even though high demand during the pandemic has made PC parts scarcer and more expensive. You still get granular control over every single aspect of the hardware. You still get to choose not only the nuts-and-bolts-level details like processing and graphical performance, but also deeply personal touches like the PC’s case design and cooling capabilities. There’s no need to settle for a boring black box, unless you want a boring black box. To read this article in full, please click he...

Oppo may be planning for a new smartwatch reveal on July 31, this time running on Google’s Wear OS, as per a new report. The company released its first smartwatch, simply called the Oppo Watch, in China back in March. It ran on a custom version of Oppo's ColorOS and only recently reached the German market. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2Bqomjc

Though Intel reported solid second-quarter revenue while weathering the pandemic, the company’s outlook appears to be much more grim. Intel said it was delaying its next-generation 7nm transition, pushing it out a full year behind the company’s internal target. The delay will be six months behind its prior forecast, the company said. Intel’s second-quarter results were very much a mixed bag. The company said in a press release that it is accelerating its transition to 10nm chips, with the upcoming Tiger Lake chip “launching soon,” and a 10nm-based “Ice Lake” chip designed for servers planned before the end of the year. But Intel also said it won’t deliver a 10nm desktop CPU until the second half of 2021. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3eWrHEu

The endless fake E3 summer continued on Thursday with yet another Xbox games showcase from Microsoft. Unlike the ho-hum reveals of May’s Xbox event , today’s show brought the hits, as Microsoft revealed a slew of first-party blockbusters destined to land on Windows 10 PCs as well as the forthcoming Xbox Series X —including an extended demo of Halo: Infinite , which got itself a Steam page while the 10-minute video played. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/30IcXUu

In this episode of The Full Nerd, Gordon Ung , Brad Chacos , Alaina Yee , and Adam Patrick Murray dive into AMD’s latest APUs, rumors of a 12-pin power connector on Nvidia GPUs, and plenty of your questions. We kick things off with an overview of AMD’s new Ryzen 4000 G-series processors , which pair AMD’s 7nm Zen 2 CPU cores with more potent 7nm Vega graphics cores to let you game on the cheap even better than before. Yes, you can finally get an 8-core, 16-thread Ryzen APU now—at least in a prebuilt system. These won’t be coming to DIY builders just yet, alas. After that, Brad explains why you shouldn’t get worked up into a tizzy over those rumors of a 12-pin power connector for future Nvidia GPUs . Seriously. Chill. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/330bJHd

If you’re a content creator that needs a great USB microphone for voice recording, look no further. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3eNduJW

Reuters TV, Fubo Sports Network, The Bob Ross Channel, Kidoodle TV, and more are now streaming on Plex, and they’re all free (though ad-supported). from PCWorld https://ift.tt/30CfRdC

The chief executives of four of the largest US tech companies plan to deflect criticism next week in a Congressional hearing into their use of market power to hurt rivals by saying they themselves face competition and by debunking claims they are so dominant. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3eRNKMr

Speedify in brief: P2P allowed:  Yes Business location:  Philadelphia, PA Number of servers:  1,000+ Number of country locations:  34 Cost:  $72 VPN protocol:  Speedify protocol (proprietary) Data encryption:  ChaCha20 (mostly for older devices); AES-256 (for devices with AES hardware acceleration) Data authentication:  DTLS 1.3 Handshake encryption:  DTLS 1.3 Speedify is a weird VPN. It doesn’t just connect to a server, and then leave you to your business. Speedify stands ready to offer a helping hand to make sure your internet access performs at its best when connected. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3jztuCH

AMD has a dream that we’ll all buy more PCs, including AMD-based ones, of course—and that dream just may be coming true. Citing data from the National Retail Federation , Rick Bergman, AMD’s VP of Computing and Graphics, said he believes the sudden shift to working and learning from home during the pandemic will drive a PC onto every desk (and coffee table and kitchen counter) at home. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3fTsNCb

Roku looks less like a neutral platform without HBO Max and Peacock from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3huql5C

As consumers worked on Windows PCs during the pandemic and played games on their Xbox in the evening, Microsoft benefited from both trends. In a shift from prior quarters, Microsoft’s More Personal Computing business, the home of Windows and Xbox, helped drive company growth. In its earnings call Wednesday, Microsoft reported that net income fell by 15 percent to $11.2 billion. However, second-quarter revenue jumped 13 percent from a year ago, to $38 billion. This was helped in part by a 14-percent increase in revenue for the MPC group, to $12.9 billion. There, the drivers were Microsoft’s traditional consumer pillars: Windows, Surface, and Xbox. The first six months of 2020 have been affected by the coronavirus in most areas of the world, and Microsoft has struggled to sell pricier Windows 10 Pro licenses. In the recent quarter, Pro license sales actually fell, down 4 percent. But as consumers and businesses turned to cheaper PCs, Windows 10 “non-Pro” (Windows 10 S and Windows 10 ...

Microsoft’s latest Windows 10 Insider build reanimates the often passed-over Surface app, adding a new capability: a way to use AI so that your eyes appear to meet the gaze of those you’re speaking to on video chats.  Microsoft’s Windows 10 Insider build 20175 for the Dev Channel also takes the Alt+Tab functionality that it introduced at the beginning of July, and expands upon it. Now, in addition to the ability to cycle through various Microsoft Edge tabs using ALT+Tab , users can now pin active tabs to the taskbar, with improved preview features. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2WLUiWW

Websites are becoming more and more like apps these days, complete with the ability to push notifications your way in every major browser. Unfortunately, it feels like every website wants your permission to push notifications your way these days, and every time you stumble across a new one, you can’t progress until you allow or deny the request—at least if you’re using Chrome’s default settings. The good news is Google’s browser lets you shut off those annoying prompts altogether, with just a few settings tweaks. How to block website notification prompts in Chrome Once you block all website notification prompts in Chrome, you’ll never see another one again. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3eTcWC8

Describing its newest line of Ryzen 4000 G and Ryzen Pro 4000 G chips with graphics cores as the “ultimate” desktop chips, on Tuesday AMD unleashed no fewer than 18 new processors. There’s a catch, though: They’ll be available only in pre-built systems from large PC makers. Six of the new Ryzens, as well as three new Athlons, are aimed at consumers who would like leading multi-core performance and the ability to play games at 1080p resolution, the company said. Mirroring the nine new Ryzen and Athlons for consumers, AMD also introduced nine Pro models with enhanced security and manageability features. ”So if those enthusiasts are reading the news tomorrow and thinking ‘where my’s upgrade?!’ I promise it’s coming,” Hallock said. The new chips are essentially desktop cousins of the company’s impressive Ryzen 4000 chips found in laptops, tuned for the higher thermal and power capabilities of a desktop. The new processors are built using a single-die design, with the x86 cores sitting...

While the gaming world anxiously awaits the next piece of information about the next-generation of Playstation and Xbox consoles arriving later this year, Asus and Lenovo are targeting a different kind of gamer who may or may not actually exist. The Asus ROG Phone 3 and Lenovo Legion Phone Duel are being marketed as gaming phones, and they certainly have the goods to back it up. Both phones are powered by the Snapdragon 865 Plus processor and up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM with 144Hz displays; side- and bottom-mounted USB-C ports; sport top-of-the-line cameras; and weigh more than half a pound. And of course, they’re loaded with over-the-top “console-inspired” design choices that proudly show off their thickness and aggressive bezels and contours. And you get plenty of the appropriate gaming bells and whistles: To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2WMa9o7

With ambient modes, customizable gestures, an equalizer, and smart assistant support, these true wireless earbuds offer a lot more value and options than their price suggests. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/30DWSzh

This isn’t the best smart thermostat you can buy, but it’s not a bad value. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3fRdvhi

There are so many smart thermostats to choose from today. We'll help you pick the right one. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2CPRXAd

The XPG Xenia 15 may not look “new” to you if you’ve been conditioned to consider “old hardware” obsolete the day the new models come out. But it’s actually proof that prior-generation parts can be perfectly relevant, and even as fast as the latest generation of hardware. The Xenia XPG 15’s main specs consist of the Intel 9th-gen Core i7-9750H and the  Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q. Both CPU and GPU are technically eclipsed by the newer 10th-gen Intel CPUs and Nvidia’s new Super line of RTX GPUs, but if you think about the power and thermal limitations of laptops, the picture gets more complex. Gordon Mah Ung The Xenia 15 was primarily designed by Intel and even has its logo on the bottom. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3fLPloi

Adobe Premiere Pro acceleration usually gets love from Nvidia's CUDA and Intel's QuickSync, but AMD has joined the party too. The company posted a blog on Tuesday morning highlighting that the recent Adobe 14.2 update  added support for AMD GPUs to its Media Encoder. The support means Ryzen 4000 laptops (and likely the newly announced Ryzen 4000 G desktop chips ) will be Premiere Pro-ready. The blog post by Alexander Blade Davies said the newest update to Premiere uses AMD's Advanced Media Framework to enable hardware acceleration of H.264 and HEVC encoding. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2WGnhLK

If you’re waiting for OnePlus’s U.S. website to update with ordering information for the new 5G Nord, we’ve got some bad news. It’s not happening. Not later today or probably ever. The announcement of the long-rumored and oddly named Nord represents a return to OnePlus’s mid-range mindset, but it’s only launching in Europe and India. And while sales of the OnePlus 8 Pro are reportedly not great , the company isn’t looking to bring the Nord to the States: “Our history has shown that focusing on just a few markets first and then expanding has worked well. While this new smartphone product line will initially be available in Europe and India, we look forward to bringing more affordable smartphones to North America in the future.” To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2WErrDG

Rocket League, the multiplayer soccer game played with rocket-powered cars, took the world by storm over the last few years, complete with proper esports leagues and world championships. This summer, it’ll take yet another step toward total supremacy by going free to play —though you won’t be able to download it from Steam anymore once that transition happens. First, the game news. The core Rocket League experience will remain the same, Psyonix says, though the developer intends to touch up the main menus “to make exploring the game easier.” Psyonix also plans to refine and improve game modes like Tournaments and Challenges, as well as introduce cross-platform progression so you can start shooting goals with the same account no matter what hardware you’re playing on at any given time. Yay! To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3hnjB9l

Microsoft has revealed what it’s thinking about for upcoming iterations of Microsoft 365 and its Office apps, combining a flexible ribbon and a more muted color scheme with adaptive commands and a greater emphasis on artificial intelligence.  In a blog post  on Tuesday, the chief designer of Office 365, Jon Friedman, said that some of the changes were on the table, while others were simply exploratory. Friedman didn’t provide a timeline for the changes beyond a “year or two,” but it’s likely that this will be another wholesale update of the Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) suite. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/39h1EX9

With models from Lutron, Wemo, Leviton, iDevices, and others, it can be difficult to know which easy and inexpensive device is best for controlling the lamps and small appliances in your smart home. We’ll help you find the right one. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2ZlCD7u

If you’re waiting for OnePlus’s U.S. website to update with ordering information for the new 5G Nord, we’ve got some bad news. It’s not happening. Not later today or probably ever. While the announcement of the long-rumored and oddly named Nord represents a return to OnePlus’s mid-range mindset, it’s only launching in Europe and India. And while sales of the OnePlus 8 Pro are reportedly not great, the company isn’t looking to bring the Nord to the States: “Our history has shown that focusing on just a few markets first and then expanding has worked well. While this new smartphone product line will initially be available in Europe and India, we look forward to bringing more affordable smartphones to North America in the future.” To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/32F8IM4

If you've been longing for a pair of AirPods but don't want to drop quite so much on a pair of earbuds, OnePlus may have the answer to your dilemma. Meet the OnePus Buds , the company's first pair of true wireless earbuds that look and feel at lot like Apple's iconic AirPods with one exception—the price. Even before you dive into their impressive features. the first thing you’ll notice about the OnePlus Buds is how little they cost: just $79, significantly cheaper than the $159 AirPods or $150 Galaxy Buds Plus. They’re even cheaper than OnePlus’ own Bluetooth neckband-connected earbuds, the Bullets Wireless 2. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2OKCFSJ

The Google Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max just became the first smart displays to support Netflix streaming. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/32H8VhF

Most workers wouldn’t even think about emailing a confidential planning document outside of the company. Microsoft’s new Endpoint Data Loss Prevention service might flag you for a chat with your IT department if you carelessly copy it to a local hard drive, however. Microsoft’s new Endpoint Data Loss Prevention (Endpoint DLP) builds upon the existing DLP services within Microsoft 365 (Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Exchange, and OneDrive, among others), which can track email and other documents sent to and from your company’s servers. That service will likely flag an attempt to forward an internal confidential email to an external email address, which most users already know not to do. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2WIBsQm

On Tuesday, Microsoft continued its drumbeat of enhancements to Microsoft Teams and its other collaborative apps, announcing new features and readying others for deployment into preview or other modes.  Microsoft’s announcements were made at Inspire, its annual partner conference that’s now evolved into a virtual showcase. There, Microsoft showed off Microsoft Lists, the latest app in its Microsoft 365 suite. Meanwhile, Microsoft Teams has emerged the star. Microsoft simply can’t stop adding more to the Teams platform, which now has its own internal apps. Microsoft also added a fresh coat of paint to Yammer, and the company plans to release a cloud-printing solution that could pick up where Google Cloud Print leaves off.  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2OHtgLB

For the past few months U.S.-based LG fans have looked on with envy as the rest of the world was able to get their hands on the Velvet, a 5G-powered phone with a sleek design, high-end cameras, and a headphone jack. Today that changes. LG has announced that AT&T subscribers will be able to purchase the Velvet in four colors: white, silver, red, and gray. The phone is also coming to Verizon and T-Mobile “later this summer,” the phone maker said. The Velvet is something of a reboot for LG. With a renewed focus on design and price, the Velvet breaks from the flagship G phones that come packed with top-of-the-line parts. You won’t find a Snapdragon 865 or 12GB of RAM here. But you will get solid specs for a price that’s hundreds of dollars less than the premium crop of 5G Android phones: To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3fPhf2S

Describing its newest line of Ryzen and Ryzen Pro chips with graphics cores as the “ultimate” desktop chips, on Tuesday AMD unleashed no fewer than 18 new processors. There’s a catch, though: They’ll be available only in pre-built systems from large PC makers. Six of the new Ryzens, as well as three new Athlons, are aimed at consumers who would like leading multi-core performance and the ability to play games at 1080p resolution, the company said. Mirroring the nine new Ryzen and Athlons for consumers, AMD also introduced nine Pro models with enhanced security and manageability features. ”So if those enthusiasts are reading the news tomorrow and thinking ‘where my’s upgrade?!’ I promise it’s coming,” Hallock said. The new chips are essentially desktop cousins of the company’s impressive Ryzen 4000 chips found in laptops, tuned for the higher thermal and power capabilities of a desktop. The new processors are built using a single-die design, with the x86 cores sitting alongside the...

Just because you aren’t buying a new phone this year doesn’t mean the one you’re using has to look as old as the day you bought it. We’re not talking about a new case or even a deep cleaning—we’re talking about a full digital makeover that makes your old phone look and feel like a brand-new one. For an extreme makeover Download a new launcher IDG Your Android phone comes with a launcher installed—Pixel, One UI Home, OnePlus, etc.—but the beauty of Android is you don’t have to keep it. You’ll find numerous launchers in the Play Store that open up your Android phone to nearly limitless opportunities with themes, icons, features, and optimizations that you won’t get out of the box. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/32FXBCw

Wiring can be confusing, so Jasco offers a simplified workaround. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2WB6slh

Just because you aren’t buying a new phone this year doesn’t mean the one you’re using has to look as old as the day you bought it. We’re not talking about a new case or even a deep cleaning—we’re talking about a full digital makeover that makes your old phone look and feel like a brand-new one. For an extreme makeover Download a new launcher IDG Your Android phone comes with a launcher installed—Pixel, One UI Home, OnePlus, etc.—but the beauty of Android is you don’t have to keep it. You’ll find numerous launchers in the Play Store that open up your Android phone to nearly limitless opportunities with themes, icons, features, and optimizations that you won’t get out of the box. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3jrs51e

Google has announced that Google Assistant users on KaiOS devices in India can translate real-world text from their phones. There is a new camera icon in Google Assistant, and clicking on it will open the Google Lens camera. Users simply have to point their phone at real-world text and have it read back in their preferred language, translated, or d... from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3jnbX0B

Anyone who uses a smartphone knows the importance of carrying a backup battery pack. But given the large number of options on Amazon, you might feel overwhelmed, understandably. Besides the various charging specs, ports, and even cables you have to consider, there are a ton of competing brands. But how do you know which ones actually deliver on their promises? Is it worth saving a few bucks if a battery pack’s performance is lacking? Cheat sheet: Best power banks 2020 Mophie Powerstation XXL: Best overall [ mophie.com ] Xiaomi 10,000mAh Mi Power Bank: Most portable [ amazon.com ] Sherpa 100AC Portable Power Bank: Best for road warriors [ goalzero.com ] Anker Powercore+ 26800 PD: Best USB-C pack with Power Delivery [ amazon.com ] RockPals 300W Power Station:  Best portable power station [ amazon.com ] We decided to do the legwork for you, acquiring a wide range of power banks from different manufacturers, some offering unique features. We then spent weeks testing the ...

According to reports, Microsoft is even more explicitly pushing its upcoming Windows 10X as a competitor for Chromebooks and Chrome OS, retooling it to eliminate support for legacy code. Microsoft also plans a “Cloud PC” running apps from the cloud, they say. All this will have significant effects on Windows 10, which may slow its development cycle even more.  Reports from ZDNet on the Windows roadmap rescheduling and the cloud efforts , as well as Windows Central’s own  reporting on both efforts, seem to support the conclusion we reached when the Surface Neo was delayed and dual-screen devices were pushed out to 2021: that Windows 10X essentially is the new Windows 10 S . To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/30zsQfQ

As Samsung prepares for its first Unpacked event of this stay-at-home era, rumors are swirling over what will be released. They’re about to get swirlier. Samsung mobile president TM Roh announced in a blog post that five, count em, five new “power devices” will be unveiled at the event.  Update 3 pm ET: Added additional details about the Galaxy Note 20. The Galaxy Note 20 is a slam dunk—being that it’s an August event and basically everything about the phone has already leaked. In fact, recent rumors point to two Note 20 devices, with a cheaper model joining the high-end Ultra much like the S20—but what are the other four “power devices that will arrive on August 5? Here are our best guesses: To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3hgBPJN

If you follow PCWorld’s The Full Nerd podcast , you might know that my general rule of thumb is that you should upgrade your PC’s components when they’re no longer performing as well as you need. Waiting for new hardware tends to be a fool’s game because in the technology world, faster and better things come out at relatively breakneck speed. If you’re sniffing around for a new high-end graphics card, however, consider holding off on the purchase for a few months. It’s an awful time to buy one right now. Don’t get me wrong: Current enthusiast-class GPUs like the GeForce RTX 2080 Super and 2080 Ti  kick all kinds of ass. But while AMD and Nvidia haven’t announced any new consumer graphics cards just yet, there’s every reason to believe we’ll see new high-end hardware from each over the next few months. Splurging on a $500 graphics card now runs a high risk of leaving you with a severe case of buyer’s remorse in mere weeks. To read this article in full, please click here f...

As Samsung prepares for its first Unpacked event of this stay-at-home era, rumors are swirling over what will be released. They’re about to get swirlier. Samsung mobile president TM Roh announced in a blog post that five, count em, five new “power devices” will be unveiled at the event.  The Galaxy Note 20 is a slam dunk—being that it’s an August event and basically everything about the phone has already leaked—but what are the other four “power devices that will arrive on August 5? Here are our best guesses: Galaxy Fold 2 It’s been more than a year since Samsung unveiled its first foldable phone, but after numerous production issues, it didn’t actually land on shelves until September 6, 2019. Almost exactly 11 months later, Samsung is expected to unveil its predecessor. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/39crnAd

Last year, Silverstone released the Lucid LD03, a slender micro tower swathed in dark tempered glass. Like its inspiration—the company’s popular FT03, which came out in 2011—this mini-ITX case both rotates the motherboard by 90 degrees and vents air out the top. Now Silverstone has followed up with the LD03-AF , a second-generation version that sports a key update in response to feedback on the first model. As you’ll see in our video above, one of the case’s three tempered-glass panels has a cutout to improve air flow around the graphics card and address concerns about GPU temperature. In theory, this addition should help lower temperatures by allowing a graphics card’s fans to draw in cool air from outside the case. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3hhyOIZ

A $4.5 billion deal under which Alphabet's Google will collaborate with India's Reliance Industries on a new smartphone likely heralds a big shake-up for the world's second-largest mobile market, industry executives and analysts say. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2WDeUQY

The Google Pixel 4 XL back panel is peeling off for some users. The issue, which is apparently happening due to the battery swelling, has impacted a large number of Pixel 4 XL units, and some users have reported an identical problem with the Pixel 4 as well. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2ZKjcrR

India’s decision to levy a tax on companies offering digital services in the country is not aimed at any particular country and the decision will not be reconsidered, people with knowledge of the matter said. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2OHerZy