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Showing posts from January, 2021

Global Chip Sales Rose 6.5 Percent in 2020 After Year-End Rush: Report

Semiconductor sales rose 6.5 percent globally to $439 billion in 2020, with the major recovery occurring in the last three months of the 2020, according to data from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2MeyUHO

iCloud Passwords Extension Released on Chrome Web Store, Helps Access Saved Apple Passwords on Windows

The iCloud Passwords extension is available for download on the Chrome Web store, and is available for both Windows and Mac versions of Chrome. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3pwx0k1

As Google Eyes Australia Exit, Microsoft Talks Bing With PM

Australian PM Scott Morrison says Microsoft is confident that its search engine Bing can fill the gap in Australia if Google pulls its search over required payments to media outlets for their content. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2MdTKqN

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Reached Out to Australian Lawmakers Over New Media Rules

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reached out to Australian lawmakers to discuss rules that would make internet giants pay news outlets for content but failed to persuade them to change policy, said the country's Treasurer. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/39BNzFH

GeForce Now Beta Now Available for M1-Powered Mac Machines and Chrome Web Browsers

Bringing resource-intensive games to laptops and other devices that might not have the capability to run them on their own, Nvidia has now launched its cloud gaming service GeForce Now's beta version for Chrome web browsers and M1 Macs. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/39y4w3P

Best antivirus: Keep your Windows PC safe from spyware, Trojans, malware, and more

Antivirus software is nearly as crucial as a PC’s operating system. Even if you’re well aware of potential threats and practice extreme caution, some threats just can’t be prevented without the extra help of an AV program—or a full antivirus suite.  You could, for example, visit a website that unintentionally displays malicious ads. Or accidentally click on a phishing email (it happens!). Or get stung by a zero-day threat, where an undisclosed bug in Windows, your browser, or an installed program gives hackers entry to your system. We’re not suggesting that PC security software is fool-proof. Antivirus software often can’t do much to stop zero-day exploits, for example. But it can detect when the undisclosed vulnerability is used to install other nasty bits, like ransomware, on your machine. Anyone who actively uses email, clicks on links, and downloads programs will benefit from an antivirus suite. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https:/...

11 GeForce RTX 30-series gaming laptops you can buy right now

Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 30-series laptops are finally here, and while they’re no longer equivalent to their identically named desktop cousins, this new breed of GPUs is still formidable, as our RTX 3080 mobile review proves . Even better? Unlike desktop graphics cards, you can actually buy them! Well, some of them. Most of the GeForce RTX 30-series we’ve spotted so far come paired with Intel’s potent, yet older 10th-gen Comet Lake H gaming processors. New AMD Ryzen 5000 Mobile and Intel Tiger Lake H35 gaming processors were announced at CES 2021, but they’re not available quite yet—though the page for Asus’s intriguing Ryzen 9 5900HS-powered ROG Flow X13 laptop and its complementary ROG XG Mobile graphics dock teases that they’ll be available soon, and we’ve already got a review unit in our hands. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2NR1gZ7

Scalpers auctioned nearly 7% of new Xbox consoles and 50,000 GeForce GPUs

Nearly 7 percent of all U.S. Xbox game consoles were resold on auction sites along with nearly 50,000 GeForce 30-series cards in recent months, according to a new study. We covered data scientist Michael Driscoll’s initial scalper report in December . In newly published data , it appears that some 113,220 Xbox game consoles were resold on auction sites eBay and StockX, spanning both the “Xbox One” and “Xbox Series” generations. That’s enough to equal 6.85 percent of all Xboxes sold in the United States. Nvidia’s new graphics cards were almost as hot as Xbox consoles, with an astounding 49,580 Ampere GPUs resold on auction sites, according to Driscoll’s numbers. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3ct45tD

Scalpers auctioned nearly 7% of new Xbox consoles and 50,000 GeForce GPUs

Nearly 7 percent of all U.S. Xbox game consoles were resold on auction sites along with nearly 50,000 GeForce 30-series cards in recent months, according to a new study. We covered data scientist Michael Driscoll’s initial scalper report in December . In newly published data , it appears that some 113,220 Xbox game consoles were resold on auction sites eBay and StockX, spanning both the “Xbox One” and “Xbox Series” generations. That’s enough to equal 6.85 percent of all Xboxes sold in the United States. Nvidia’s new graphics cards were almost as hot as Xbox consoles, with an astounding 49,580 Ampere GPUs resold on auction sites, according to Driscoll’s numbers. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3ct45tD

What is the proper way to clean your desktop PC or laptop? | Ask an expert

Q: I’ve had my computer several years now, and I was wondering if I needed to clean it—and if yes, the right way to do it. A: Over time, computers do accumulate dust (and fur, if you have pets) within their interiors. This happens because the intake fans suck in air to help cool your system, and any free-floating particles in your environment get pulled in, too. As a result, in multi-pet or smoking households, build-up can pile up faster. Same too for homes in areas with big wildfires. Layers of grime can reduce the efficiency of fans, which can in turn affect your PC’s performance, so it is ideal to clean them semi-frequently. For folks with less particulate in the air, that can be once a year. For others, it may be several times a year. The easiest way to figure out a cleaning schedule is to visually inspect your machine. If you can see a thin spread of dust on your parts, it’s time. Do that often enough and you’ll know about how often to check up on your PC. To read this articl...

Tenet Now Available on Apple TV and Google Play in India

Tenet is now available for download on Apple TV and Google Play in India in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. Christopher Nolan’s time-bending movie costs Rs. 690 / Rs. 820 in India. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/36qsVpU

Senic Friends of Hue Outdoor Smart Switch review: A versatile problem solver

This brilliantly simple smart lighting solution can do a lot more when deployed with Apple’s HomeKit. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3ouJZl5

EVGA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti FTW3 Ultra review: Speed and sensors

The $450 GeForce RTX 3060 Ti FTW3 Ultra stands as EVGA’s best-in-class initial offering for Nvidia’s fantastic 1440p GPU , shipping with a healthy factory overclock and extra sensors that provide temperature readings for areas throughout the graphics card. EVGA attacked the 3060 Ti FTW3 from a different angle than it did for its beefier RTX 3070 and 3080  cards, however, as well as most of the aftermarket 3060 Ti models we’ve seen so far. While those pricier FTW3 incarnations come loaded with massive coolers and just-as-massive premiums, the 3060 Ti FTW3 Ultra opts for a more restrained design that should fit into even tiny gaming PCs. Better yet, EVGA charges a mere $50 extra for the FTW3’s improvements—a smart call, as it avoids pushing too close to the (ostensibly) $500 starting price of the step-up GeForce RTX 3070 . To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/39uCRAN

Nanoleaf Essentials A19 review: A Thread-enabled smart bulb with 120 sides

The first standard light bulb from Nanoleaf, the Essentials A19 connects to Thread networks and will support a variety of nifty features—eventually, anyway. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3ckEhQ2

iOS 14 Carries ‘BlastDoor’ Sandbox Security System to Protect iMessage, Google Researcher Discovers

Apple’s iOS 14 carries a new security system called BlastDoor that is meant to protect data transmitted via iMessage. The new system separates data processing on iMessage from other elements of the operating system. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2KZVvXV

Google Chrome Getting Tab Groups, Grid View for Android: Reports

Google Chrome is rolling out grid view along with tab groups for Android, according to reports. Users can reportedly drag and drop one tab on another on Google Chrome to form groups. The Google Chrome grid view and tab group features started rolling out for some users with the Google Chrome 88 update. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2Ysst6l

Google Play Allows Gambling, Betting Apps in 15 New Countries Including US, Canada, and Australia

Google Play has updated its policies allowing gambling and betting apps in 15 new countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, and the US. The latest change is, however, not applied to India where gambling apps are mostly illegal. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2Ym7TV4

Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter Asked by EU to Extend Fake News Watch With COVID-19 in Focus

The European Commission has told Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Microsoft to continue monthly reports on their efforts to tackle fake news, especially on COVID-19, for another six months. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/39qGUxS

Google Search Bombards Australian Users as PR Campaign Intensifies Against News Payment Rule

US tech giant Google stepped up its public relations campaign against Australian regulation, presenting all search users in the country with a "proposal" to water down planned rules. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/36pCKEy

Razer's Viper 8K escalates the war for ultimate gaming mouse responsiveness

In the battle for the fastest gaming mouse , Razer just fired the first shot in a new front. The $80 Razer Viper 8K boasts a wild 8,000Hz polling rate that’s eight times faster than the industry standard, paired with a blistering 20,000 DPI (dots per inch) sensor. Holy smokes. While esports pros should immediately start drooling over specs like that, most people will never come close to utilizing its full potential, especially since you’ll need a fairly beefy PC setup to get the most out of it. That’s not to sell the Viper 8K short, though—it looks like a very impressive piece of kit. Polling rates measure how often your mouse tells your PC when its cursor is located onscreen. Standard 1000Hz mice take about one millisecond to do so, but the Viper 8K’s high-speed USB controller causes that input delay to plummet all the way down to a mere 1/8th of a millisecond, theoretically providing smoother tracking. Paired with that 20,000 DPI sensor, this mouse can almost move where you want ...

Adata XPG Gammix S70 SSD review: Fast, affordable, and trapped under a heat sink

The Adata XPG Gammix S70 is a very fast PCIe 4 NVMe SSD that’s also considerably more affordable than the competition. Alas, in a first for an NVMe SSD—there are some fitment issues due to a massive non-removable, pre-installed heat sink.  This review is part of our ongoing roundup of the best SSDs . Go there for our top picks, and for information on competing products and how we tested them.  Design and features The drive inside the massive heat sink is your standard M.2 2280 (22mm wide, 80mm long) SSD using an Innogrit IG5236 controller, and 96-layer, TLC NAND. There’s 1GB of DRAM cache per terabyte of NAND, and about 33 percent of the NAND can be treated as SLC for secondary caching purposes—333GB for the 1TB version and 666GB for the 2TB version I tested. That’s with the drive empty; as it fills up, those amounts will drop.  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3t72hvW

Cable-bill transparency laws haven't killed sneaky fees

Cable TV's sneaky fees are still a problem, even with a new transparency law on the books. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/36gXoqj

Samsung Galaxy S21 review: A premium phone that's a great value

The Galaxy S21 might be the smartest phone Samsung has ever made. Like the iPhone 12, it doesn’t have the best specs or the biggest screen. But it delivers where it counts, at a price that’s very attainable for a phone with a full complement of 5G, a high-end camera, and the latest Snapdragon processor. At $800, $29 less than the iPhone 12, and just $100 more than the Pixel 5 and Galaxy S20 FE, the S21 is already a strong contender for smartphone of the year. Android and Galaxy enthusiasts will moan and wail over the things that are missing, which is admittedly a pretty lengthy list: 12GB of RAM, QuadHD+ resolution, expandable microSD storage, MST payment support, earbuds, a glass back, and a charger. But if you aren’t the kind of person who dives deep into spec sheets, the S21 will give you everything you need in a 2021 smartphone at a price that won’t make your eyes water. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2Yje2kS

Amazon, Facebook, Google, More Big Tech’s Digital Taxation Debate Heating Up on Global Stage

An international debate over how countries tax big US technology companies such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook is heating up, presenting a challenge for US President Joe Biden's new administration. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2L1rwik

Google, More Big Tech Firms Face Challenge From Australian Regulator Over Advertising Dominance

An Australian regulator is considering letting Internet users choose what personal data companies like Google share with advertisers, as part of the country's attempts to shatter the dominance of tech titans. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3qZIHjG

Google Opens Dublin Hub to Tackle Harmful Online Content

Google opened a centre to tackle harmful online content, in a move also designed to ease regulatory concerns about how the company and other tech giants police a growing problem on the Internet. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3t6nJ4c

YouTube Suspends Donald Trump Indefinitely, Stops Rudy Giuliani Monetising Clips

YouTube has suspended Donald Trump indefinitely from the platform and said it will also prevent the former president's lawyer Rudy Giuliani from being able to monetize his clips, US media reported. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3opAVOm

Google Apps to Stop Using Apple Tool to Track iPhone Users, Avoiding New Pop-Up Warning

Google's iPhone apps such as Maps and YouTube will stop using a tool from Apple that allows them to personalise advertisements, avoiding a new Apple warning that informs users their browsing is being tracked. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3clty82

Google updates Chrome OS with security, smart display and personalization features

Windows 10 has always offered robust personalization options, but Google’s Chrome OS is catching up. Chrome OS 88, which started rolling out Tuesday, now offers the ability to customize your lock screen as well as some security conveniences for accessing Web sites. Specifically, Chrome OS 88 now offers you the ability to pull from your Google Photos when displaying the lock screen. Google’s OS also now supports WebAuthn, a standard that allows you to use your Chromebook as a second factor in logging into websites. The debate between whether to buy a Chromebook versus a Windows laptop encompasses many fronts. Windows has offered many options to personalize your PC .  Chromebooks have always suffered somewhat here—they’ve been designed primarily to get things done.  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3sZLniR

Chromebooks versus Windows laptops: Which should you buy?

Should I buy a Chromebook or a Windows laptop? Whether you’re seeking out the best computer for your child or just weighing which inexpensive computer would make a great gift, we can help you choose the right one for Black Friday, the holidays, or otherwise. Our latest update includes new personalization and security options that have been added to Chromebooks, bringing them up to par with Windows PCs. We've also explained how some Windows applications now natively on Chromebooks—though just for enterprise customers. Read on for our up-to-date buying recommendations and more. Who should buy a Windows PC? A notebook PC powered by Microsoft Windows offers several advantages. Windows offers the most flexibility to run just about any app, your choice of any browser, and configure antivirus options, utilities, and more. You can tweak and configure your PC as you choose. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2HsqjfR

Why Intel's first Xe graphics cards won't work in AMD systems

Intel started shipping its first Iris Xe graphics cards to PC manufacturers on Tuesday—a fantastic milestone for the company’s newfound push into discrete GPUs. But shortly after we covered the announcement, the company delivered a major bummer of a clarification: Intel’s first graphics card won’t work on AMD-powered systems. “The Iris Xe discrete add-in card will be paired with 9th-gen (Coffee Lake-S) and 10th gen (Comet Lake-S) Intel Core desktop processors and Intel B460, H410, B365, and H310C chipset-based motherboards,” an Intel spokesperson told PCWorld. “These motherboards require a special BIOS that supports Intel Iris Xe, so the cards will not be compatible in other systems.” To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3ouSnkA

The Full Nerd ep. 165: Ryzen 5000 Mobile and GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile tested

In this episode of The Full Nerd, Gordon Ung , Brad Chacos , and Adam Patrick Murray render judgement on the powerful CPUs and GPUs you’ll find inside the next generation of gaming laptops. We kick things off with a deep-dive into AMD’s Ryzen 5000 Mobile CPUs . Tune in (or hit that link) for an abundance of charts and discussion, but bottom line? For now, Ryzen 5000 is the ruler of all it sees. You can’t squeeze Intel’s current 14nm 8-core CPUs into laptops this thin, nor this light. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2NBilG1

Find gorgeous PC background images every day with Bing Wallpaper

Are you tired of booting your PC each and every workday to the same boring background image? If so, change it up! Use Microsoft’s Bing Wallpaper app to refresh your PC's desktop wallpaper with a new, gorgeous wildlife or landscape photo every single day. Sound familiar? Well, it is, somewhat: We’ve previously shown you how to personalize your PC , with sounds and themes and custom backgrounds. With Microsoft’s theme packs, you choose the background. With Bing Wallpaper, Microsoft’s team curates a new photograph to serve as your PC’s wallpaper. While the app refreshes daily, there’s a small control to cycle through the available wallpapers if you’re looking for a different mood. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3pnj5wI

Ring's $60 Video Doorbell Wired aims to take on Wyze

The new Video Doorbell Wired marks Ring’s smallest doorbell yet, and at $60, it’s also its least expensive. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2KVLF9q

Best password managers: Reviews of the top products

We are terrible at passwords. We suck at creating them (the top two most popular remain “123456” and “password”), we share them way too freely , and we forget them all the time . Indeed, the very thing that can ensure our online security has become our biggest obstacle to it. This is what makes a good password manager essential. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2CujK96

Be careful: Shopping for gaming laptops just got a lot harder

Nvidia’s next-gen graphics have finally arrived in notebooks, and as you can see in our GeForce RTX 3080 laptop GPU review , the mobile version of Team Green “Ampere” architecture spits out frames at blazingly fast rates. But the performance you get from mobile RTX 30-series graphics chips won’t necessarily be equal, even between two laptops with the same hardware inside. One GeForce RTX 3070 laptop might not be as fast as another, for example. And it’s even possible that in some cases a slower GPU could theoretically be faster than pricier models. Yes, you might ( might ) see a GeForce RTX 3070 laptop that can match or possibly outperform an RTX 3080 laptop in some games, though we’ll need to see more reviews trickle in before we can state that definitively. Regardless, you’re going to want to do a lot more homework than before when you’re shopping for a gaming laptop. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/36jdfF7

Galaxy S21 Exynos vs Snapdragon: Samsung's CPU might finally be ready for prime time

Samsung’s Exynos processors have never quite been able to live up to their Snapdragon counterparts. Whether we’re talking about the 990 in the S20 or the 850 in the A21s, Qualcomm’s chips have always enjoyed a comfortable lead when it comes to power and performance. That might be changing with the newest Exynos 2100 processor that powers the Galaxy S21 phones around the world. Samsung made a bit of a splash during the launch of the chip, declaring “Exynos is back” with a processor that “sets a new standard for premium mobile experiences.” To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3ceUxlz

Google Said to Revive Australia News Platform Launch Amid Content Payment Fight

Google is reviving plans to launch its own news website in Australia within weeks, according to a local media outlet contracted to provide articles for the venture, as the search giant fights world-first proposed laws on content payments. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/39lVSW5

Xbox, PCs and gaming drive AMD and Microsoft's revenues

Microsoft’s Xbox was the thread joining Microsoft and AMD on Wednesday, as both companies reported stellar quarterly profits and revenues that benefited from the “stay at home, play at home” pandemic experience. AMD continued to benefit from the rabid demand for its embedded console processors as well as its GPUs and CPUs for the PC, as the chip company reported profits that soared about 450 percent, from $390 million a year ago, to $1.78 billion for the fourth quarter of 2020. Revenue also increased by 53 percent, to $3.24 billion. More tellingly, AMD predicted that revenue for the current first quarter would be about flat, at $3.2 billion—evidence that demand, and revenue, would continue. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2YjCwL0

Report: Surface Laptop 4's major change will just be its Tiger Lake, Ryzen processors

Microsoft’s next-gen Surface Laptop 4 will follow Microsoft’s recent trend of upgrading internal components more often than external features. The new laptops will include up-to-date Intel Core and AMD Ryzen processors and not much else, a new report says. Windows Central reports that the Surface Laptop 4 will include Intel’s 11th-gen Tiger Lake processors and AMD’s Ryzen processors—though whether they’ll be a “Surface Edition” chip based on the Ryzen 5000 Mobile chips that began appearing today, the site can’t say. Prices will remain the same: $999 for the 13.5-inch model, and $1,299 for the 15-inch model. They’re expected to ship in April. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2YdP46B

Intel's debut Iris Xe graphics cards are headed to prebuilt PCs (but not for gaming)

Either the GPU shortage really is that bad , or maybe Intel’s DG1 is really that good, because the company announced Tuesday morning that its first-generation Iris Xe desktop graphics cards is shipping to partners. The company said its Iris Xe, previously codenamed DG1 , will be sold to system integrators—basically PC companies smaller than OEMs such as Dell and HP—who will use the graphics cards in PCs aimed at mainstream users as well as small- and medium-sized businesses. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3qXh4Yb

Ryzen 5000 mobile review: AMD wins big in laptops

AMD’s new Ryzen 5000 mobile CPU has arrived with a bang. Its predecessor, Ryzen 4000, reset the bar for what to expect from laptop performance. But AMD's not nearly finished. With the Ryzen 9 5980HS, AMD has fit an even more powerful CPU into a 13-inch, 3-pound convertible laptop that simply hammers competitors that weigh twice as much. Read on to learn more about how it operates in the new Asus ROG Flow X13. More stories How the tiny Asus ROG Flow X13 can outpunch big gaming laptops 5 innovations that pushed laptops forward at CES To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2Mo5syL

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 mobile review: The fastest laptop GPU just arrived

The only real problem with Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 30-series laptops is its stunning RTX 30-series desktop cousins. No matter how impressively fast the mobile CPUs are—and our first tests show they offer everything from good to outrageous performance—they will never measure up to full-fat GPUs. Nor should they be expected to, except in the messy stew of physics, modern marketing, and occasionally toxic consumer expectations.  So don’t expect this mobile GPU to be a desktop GPU. But do expect laptops with RTX 30-series to offer very impressive graphics performance, even compared to some of the biggest and heaviest laptops around. More stories To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/39jsEHd

Vacos Cam review: This promising security camera is handcuffed to a mess of an app

Slow load times, video playback problems, and cloud connectivity issues plague this battery-powered security camera. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2KNAQ9d

Apple VP Dan Riccio to focus on ‘new project’ and step down as leader of hardware engineering

Apple announce that Dan Riccio, senior VP of hardware engineering, will be leaving his position to focus on a 'new project' and report directly to CEO Tim Cook. John Ternus will replace him. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3a2P4vE

Apple launches ‘Time to Walk’ for Fitness+ with Dolly Parton, Draymond Green, others

Apple has launched a new component of its Fitness+ service designed to get people walking. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/368Dga8

Apple launches Fitness+ ‘walking experiences’ with Dolly Parton, Draymond Green, others

Apple has launched a new component of its Fitness+ service designed to get people walking. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3iLxnEO

Why your browser's password manager isn't good enough

Back in the day, conventional wisdom said to never store your passwords in your browsers. That’s not true anymore. Modern browsers are much more secure, tied to accounts protected by two-factor authentication. Most of the major ones can now double as a basic password manager, complete with the ability to create strong, random passwords-- Microsoft’s Edge browser is the latest to support the feature. Most people will still probably be better off using a third-party password manager , though. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3okkjHr

Imilab C20 Home Security Camera review: Pan/tilt support on a budget

Despite some operational hiccups, you can’t beat the value on this PTZ cam. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3pkjb84

D-Link Outdoor Wi-Fi Smart Plug review: D-Link brings a unique USB port to its pricey exterior plug.

The question is, is it worth paying a lot more to get an outdoor USB charging port? from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2Y8Hkml

Corsair's new mid-tower cases make personalizing a PC build even easier

Back in September, Corsair launched its 4000 series —three new compact mid-tower cases that shared the same design and only varied in terms of front panel and included fans. This kind of modularity allowed consumers to choose between solid, airflow, and tempered glass models. Now the company has followed up with a 5000 series, which both upsizes and upgrades the 4000D, 4000D Airflow, and 4000X. As you’ll see in our video above, these bigger mid-towers offer more room (66 liters versus 48 liters) and additional modular pieces to aid in personalizing a build.  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2Nyy6h8

YouTube.com Now Available to Be Installed as a Progressive Web App

The main YouTube site can now be installed as a Progressive Web App (PWA) for quicker access. Google had recently announced that it was bringing Stadia to iOS as a PWA. After the PWA is installed, the users get a large red play logo in the app launcher to open YouTube in a window that doesn’t have the address bar among other user interface elements. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3r1yljl

Cyberpunk 2077 Gets Patch 1.1 With Stability Improvements and Bug Fixes on PC, Consoles

Cyberpunk 2077 has got Patch 1.1 for PC, consoles, and Stadia. CD Projekt Red shared the changelog for the patch on the official website and it focuses on stability improvements, some visual fixes, fixes for quests, and more. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/396AbZY

Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google CEOs Invited to EU Hearing on Big Tech on February 1

EU lawmakers have invited the chief executives of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook to a February 1 hearing in Brussels as they try to crack down on the powers of US tech giants. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3pnlpDC

The next MacBook Air could get even lighter and thinner and bring back MagSafe

Apple’s consumer-level laptop could see a redesign later this year or in early 2022. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3c1bikj

Intel's next CEO Pat Gelsinger promises a return to greatness

There were essentially two parts to Intel’s fourth-quarter 2020 earnings call on Thursday: the actual results , and the homecoming of former Intel CTO Pat Gelsinger as the company’s incoming chief executive. Gelsinger, who doesn’t officially return until February 15, was invited to sit virtually alongside outgoing chief executive Bob Swan. Though Swan shepherded the call, Gelsinger contributed frequently, including outlining his vision for what he hoped to achieve at Intel. Gelsinger has his eyes fixed on 2023, when it sounds like Intel plans to reboot its manufacturing leadership on the next-gen 7nm process. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3c1JzQh

Q Acoustics Q Active 200 review: This high-end powered bookshelf audio system delivers impeccable performance

Wired or wireless, this audio system can accommodate nearly any source: High-res streaming services, a local server, a TV, Bluetooth, even an old-school turntable. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3c3ahIg

Ryzen 5000 doubles AMD's gaming laptop share, but Nvidia still rules

AMD has said it would make impressive inroads into gaming laptops this year, and so far it’s trending well, according to an ongoing list of gaming laptops available to order or pre-order. Youtuber GizmoSlipTech created the list of gaming laptops with GeForce RTX 30-series GPUs that are available to buy or pre-order. Our sample set below dates from January 15, when, by GizmoSlipTech’s count, there were 28 different RTX 30-series laptops with Intel CPUs and 13 RTX 30-series laptops with AMD CPUs. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3o5m2jT

How much of my budget should I spend on a graphics card? | Ask an expert

Q: What percentage of my build budget should go toward the graphics card? While a lot of advice says to aim for an even balance between the CPU and the GPU, some people suggest choosing a mid-tier processor and then plowing as much of my remaining budget toward the video card as possible. This PC will be for gaming. A: When giving general advice, we usually recommend letting your monitor dictate the limits of a graphics card purchase for a gaming PC. Its resolution and refresh rate will make it clear what you need in performance, and where the line sits between a bit of future proofing and extreme overkill. For example, if you have a 1080p 75Hz monitor, you don’t need to spend a ton on a GPU. In normal times (when prices and availability of graphics cards are reasonable), shopping in the $200 to $300 range will max out your hardware’s capabilities and, at the higher end, leave room for the card to keep up with future AAA titles. To read this article in full, please click here ...

YouTube Rolls Out Hashtag Landing Pages That Offer a New Way to Discover Videos

YouTube has completed the roll out for its hashtag landing pages that will help users discover videos through hashtags. This feature is available on its Android and iOS apps as well as the desktop version. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2MeQ33q

Google Suspends Second AI Ethics Researcher, Union Says

Google has suspended an artificial intelligence (AI) ethics researcher weeks after dismissing another member of the team, Timnit Gebru, a recently formed union said. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3p8y8u1

Facebook, Google Grants Australian Local Government PR Website News Provider Status

Google and Facebook have granted an Australian local government news provider status, drawing questions about the internet giants' efforts to curate news media. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3p8u9xz

Alphabet Shutting Down Loon, Its Balloon-Based Internet Alternative to Cell Towers

Alphabet is shutting down its Internet balloon business, Loon, that aimed to provide a less expensive alternative to cell towers, saying that "the road to commercial viability has proven much longer and riskier than hoped." from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/39VKTSa

Google Says It Will Shut Search Engine in Australia if Forced to Pay for News

Google said it would block its search engine in Australia if the government proceeds with a new code that would force it and Facebook to pay media companies for the right to use their content. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2Mb9CK3

PC market soars, driving Intel's revenue and profits unexpectedly higher

Outgoing Intel chief executive Bob Swan previously told  PCWorld that he was worried that, when the pandemic hit, PC sales would drop off a cliff. As Intel’s fourth-quarter earnings revealed, the exact opposite occurred. Intel reported $5.9 billion in profits and $20 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2020, with profits down by 15 percent and revenue essentially flat. But those numbers far exceeded analyst expectations, and the PC was primarily the cause. “Fourth-quarter revenue exceeded prior expectations by $2.6 billion driven by record PC-centric revenue, with PC unit volumes up 33 percent year-over-year led by record notebook sales,” Intel said in a statement in advance of a conference call with analysts on Thursday afternoon. In a related presentation for Wall Street analysts, Intel broke down the PC’s success further: While PC volumes grew by 33 percent, notebook revenue soared by 30 percent. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld ht...

Microsoft Edge will open your email from the new tab page

Microsoft’s latest version of its Edge browser, in conjunction with Microsoft Bing, are rolling out some intriguing new features as part of the latest Microsoft Edge version 88 update. The most unique: Edge will now show a few new emails when you open a new tab page. Edge 88 offers some nifty new security features, such as the long-awaited  password generator . The company has also added some useful personalization and productivity features, including what could be my favorite: the Edge sidebar search function, which is now generally available. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3qH2Jzb

Microsoft Edge can finally generate new passwords for you

Microsoft is poised to release several substantial security updates to version 88 of its Edge browser, including a long-awaited password generator and monitor. Edge 88 is rolling out now, according to Microsoft, though the new Password Monitor feature may take a couple of weeks to demonstrate any real results, the company said in a blog post on Thursday morning.  From a user’s perspective, Microsoft’s automated complex password generator is one of the biggest competive weaknesses the browser faced. Google’s Chrome has offered this feature for over a year. When you're using Chrome and you sign up for a new web service and enter a user name, the browser offers to generate a new, complex password and store it for future use. Now Edge does the same, generating the password according to the site’s rules, storing it and syncing it across your browsers. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3p7MP0e

Otter's transcription service now integrates with Google Meet

Transcription service Otter.ai has added a Chrome extension to enable customers using Google Meet to transcribe their meetings on the fly. Microsoft began making live transcription available in Teams late last year via its own transcription service. But with Google Meet, there hasn’t been a good way to transcribe a meeting automatically as it happens; users report that Chrome plugins Google Meet Transcribe and Chat Transcribe  don’t perform well. Otter.ai’s own Otter.ai plugin for Chrome  steps in and uses the Otter service to provide the transcription. Zoom, for its part, already has an integration with Otter . To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2M6zsyS

How to see what Facebook knows about you, and download your data

What data does Facebook have on you? A staggering amount if you’ve been using the service for a while. Fortunately, the social network makes it easy (if not straightforward) to find out exactly what information it has about your activities, and even lets you download your Facebook data. Here’s how. Before you begin, make sure you’re logged into your Facebook account in your web browser. If you’re not, this won’t work. Once that’s done, head over to the “Your Facebook Information” section of Facebook’s account management options. You can do it the easy way by simply following this link , or the more tedious way by clicking the downward-pointing arrow at the top-right corner of the page and selecting Settings & Privacy > Settings > Your Facebook Information . The company’s Help Center page on “ Accessing & Downloading Your Information ” also provides handy links to the various resources available in the Your Facebook Information page. To read this article in full, plea...

Asus talks about the new Rocket Lake chipset: Z590

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Intel's 11th-gen Rocket Lake CPU isn't here yet, but the Z590 chipset for the motherboards that will use it is. Unfortunately, that's left us with more questions than answers. To get a better idea of just what Z590 and PCIe 4.0 in Intel CPUs bring us, we talk with Juan Jose Guerrero of Asus about its new line up of LGA1200 boards. And yes, JJ even tells us if you can use Intel's 11th-gen Rocket Lake CPU in older Z490 Asus boards or run an older 10th-gen LGA1200 CPU in a Z590 board. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2MdhtGR

Google Signs Deal on Copyright Payments to French Press

Google and French newspapers said they had signed an agreement aimed at opening the path to digital copyright payments from the online giant after months of heated negotiations. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2M66L58

ATSC 3.0 in 2021: Why it's still early days for antenna TV's big upgrade

ATSC 3.0 in 2021: Why NextGen TV is still early days for cord cutters. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3p6At8z

Google Working on Nearby Share Feature That Could Allow Android 12 Users to Share Wi-Fi Passwords

Google is working on an easy way to share Wi-Fi password via a Nearby Share feature that could debut on Android 12. A new commit on this feature has been submitted by a Google engineer in AOSP. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3bXmHBy

Google Calendar Offline Support Relaunched for Desktop Users

Google Calendar is relaunching offline support for desktop users. Users will now be able to see their Google Calendar from four weeks prior or any time in the future, by day, week, or month offline when accessed through a computer. But you won’t be able to create or edit events, e-mail guests, or access tasks and reminders while using the Google Calendar offline. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2LQ6PGp

Google Asks US Judge to Move States' Antitrust Lawsuit to California

Google has asked a US judge in Texas to transfer an antitrust lawsuit filed by 10 states in December to a court in California, a state that has more relevant witnesses and documents needed by the company, it said. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/35ZAJic

There will be no GeForce RTX 3060 Founders Edition, Nvidia confirms

Nvidia won’t release its own Founders Edition model of the $329 GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card scheduled to launch at the end of February, the company confirmed to PCWorld today. “From time to time we decide not to design a Founder’s Edition card for cards targeted at the mainstream part of the market,” a spokesperson said in response to a PCWorld query. “So it’s all [partner cards] for this one.” While Nvidia crafted Founders Edition models for the GeForce RTX 2060 and GTX 1060, it did not create a reference version of the older GeForce GTX 960. This decision indeed is not unprecedented. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3qInv1r

The Full Nerd ep. 164: GeForce RTX 3060 and Intel 11th-gen CPUs dissected

In this episode of The Full Nerd, Gordon Ung , Brad Chacos , Alaina Yee , and Adam Patrick Murray dig deeper into some of CES 2021’s biggest PC hardware announcements, then dive deep into your questions. Brad kicks things off by dissecting the specs for Nvidia’s affordable $329 GeForce RTX 3060 —though he worries it won’t actually be anywhere near that price when it launches in late February. And why did Nvidia equip this card with 12GB of memory when the pricier RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3070 only have 8GB? It’s all explained. After that, Gordon wades into what we can expect from Rocket Lake S, the codename for Intel’s newly revealed 11th-gen Core desktop processors . To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/35W5l4a

Netflix's long-awaited shuffle button will arrive this year

After months of testing a “shuffle play” button, Netflix will roll out the feature in the first half of 2021. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2LNbuc0

RIP old-school Internet: Chrome 88 lays Flash and FTP to rest

Google started rolling out Chrome 88 this week, and while browser releases usually herald what’s new, the most noteworthy change in this update is what’s not included. Chrome 88 lays Adobe Flash and the FTP protocol to rest. RIP circa-2000 Internet. Neither comes as a surprise, though it’s poetic that they’re being buried together. Adobe halted Flash Player downloads at the end of 2020, making good on a promise made years before, and began blocking Flash content altogether a couple weeks later. Removing Flash from Chrome 88 is just Google’s way of flushing the toilet. On the other hand, FTP isn’t dead, but it is now for Chrome users. The File Transport Protocol has helped users send files across the Internet for decades, but in an era of prolific cloud storage services and other sharing methods, its use has waned. Google started slowly disabling FTP support in Chrome 86, per ZDNet , and now you’ll no longer be able to access FTP links in the browser. Look for standalone FTP softw...

What are the best pre-built PCs for basic tasks? | Ask an expert

Q: What are the best options for a pre-built desktop PC? My parents need a new computer, but building them one isn’t an option, as I don’t live in the same state. All they do is surf the web and play an ancient card game, so I don’t need to buy them much. A: Since this question can be interpreted as either one about best form factors or best vendors, I’ll tackle both topics.  In regards to the best types of pre-built PCs, the easiest option is an all-in-one computer. Having the system components housed within the monitor simplifies setup and thus any potential technical woes that come up when trying to help troubleshoot from afar. (“What do you mean by an input? What’s an input? No, I don’t have an HDMI.”) Some now come with built-in webcams, too, which means your parents would only need to plug in the keyboard and mouse. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3c0blwD

What are the best pre-built PCs for basic tasks? | Ask an expert

Q: What are the best options for a pre-built desktop PC? My parents need a new computer, but building them one isn’t an option, as I don’t live in the same state. All they do is surf the web and play an ancient card game, so I don’t need to buy them much. A: Since this question can be interpreted as either one about best form factors or best vendors, I’ll tackle both topics.  In regards to the best types of pre-built PCs, the easiest option is an all-in-one computer. Having the system components housed within the monitor simplifies setup and thus any potential technical woes that come up when trying to help troubleshoot from afar. (“What do you mean by an input? What’s an input? No, I don’t have an HDMI.”) Some now come with built-in webcams, too, which means your parents would only need to plug in the keyboard and mouse. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3c0blwD

Samsung Galaxy S21 vs iPhone 12: Which should you spend your $800 on?

January has barely begun and we already have our first heavyweight smartphone battle of 2021. Samsung has released its lineup of Galaxy S21 phones a little earlier than usual this year, and it’s clear they have Apple’s newest phone in its sights. Samsung hasn’t reinvented the S21 as much as it’s retooled it to take on the iPhone 12 , with a lower price point, sharper design, and some new camera tricks. Here’s how the two $800 phones stack up. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3qH9vFb

Rocksteady Stadium 2-Pack review: You could fill an arena with these portable Bluetooth speakers

They sound great, but “AI-powered” audio smells like hype to us. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3sIBtSM

How to buy the right-sized TV (the only problem is that it might not exist)

Quality over size is our usual mantra, but vendors don't generally offer their best technology in TVs smaller than 55-inch class. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/390W1OE

India National Cricket Team Test Series Victory Against Australia Celebrated With Virtual Fireworks on Google

Google will show virtual fireworks once you type India National Cricket Team in the search query box. The celebratory move comes in response to India’s success in the Border-Gavaskar Test series. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/39012a5

Former Google Engineer Anthony Levandowski, Sentenced for Stealing Trade Secrets, Pardoned by Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump said he had given a full pardon to a former Google engineer sentenced for stealing a trade secret on self-driving cars months before he briefly headed Uber's rival unit. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3o3Eklw

MediaTek's powerful Dimensity 1200 smartphone CPU will challenge Qualcomm

On Tuesday night, MediaTek launched the Dimensity 1100 and 1200, a pair of smartphone chipsets that aim to challenge the best that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon smartphone chipsets have to offer. MediaTek released just two performance benchmarks to support its claims. But the specs of both the Dimensity 1100 and 1200 CPUs match up well against the Snapdragon 888, Qualcomm’s recent smartphone launch, with even higher clock speeds. There’s a good chance that you’ll have either one or the other in your next phone. While Qualcomm tends to dominate the market for smartphone chipsets that cover premium phones, MediaTek is actually the largest smartphone chipset vendor in the world, with 31 percent market share, according to CounterPoint Research . MediaTek passed Qualcomm during the third quarter of 2020, thanks especially to the rise of midrange phones and MediaTek’s success in India and parts of Asia. MediaTek’s presence was helped by aggressive pricing moves to help the lower the cost of 5G ...

World Wide Web Inventor Tim Berners-Lee Opposes Australia's News Payment Plan

World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee says Australia's plan to force digital giants to pay media outlets for news content is "unworkable" and undermines a "fundamental principle" of the Internet. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2LHhbZg

The best SSDs of 2021: Intel says goodbye to Optane in desktops

Switching to a solid-state drive is the best upgrade you can make for your PC. These wondrous devices obliterate long boot times, speed up how fast your programs and games load, and generally makes your computer feel fast . But not all solid-state drives are created equal. The best SSDs offer solid performance at affordable prices—or, if price is no object, face-meltingly fast read and write speeds. Many SSDs come in a 2.5-inch form factor and communicate with PCs via the same SATA ports used by traditional hard drives. But out on the bleeding-edge of NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) drives, you’ll find tiny “gumstick” SSDs that fit in M.2 connections on modern motherboards, SSDs that sit on a PCIe adapter and slot into your motherboard like a graphics card or sound card, futuristic 3D Xpoint drives , and more. Picking the perfect SSD isn’t as simple as it used to be. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2UuEZi9

Intel quietly kills its face-melting Optane desktop SSDs

Surprise! Out of nowhere, Intel killed its entire lineup of Optane SSDs for desktops over the weekend, signaling the end for the Optane 800P, 900P, and 905P, as well as the Optane Memory H10, as spotted by Tom’s Hardware . The radical Optane drives were so durable and ultra-fast that we maintained a discrete section for them in our guide to the best SSDs , but the brand doesn’t have the same staying power as the hardware itself, it seems. Don’t expect replacements either. “Intel will not provide a new large capacity Optane Memory SSD as a transition product for the client market segment,” the discontinuation notice states . “Intel will focus on the new Optane Memory H20 with Solid State Storage for the client market segment.” To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2XWG45r

Samsung 870 EVO SATA SSD review: The speed you need, at sane prices

Samsung’s been at the top of the SSD storage food chain since the day the company entered the market, and the 870 EVO honors that tradition. It’s the fastest SATA SSD we’ve tested, it’s available in up to 4TB of capacity, and it’s exceedingly affordable given its speed.  Specs and pricing The 870 EVO is a 2.5-inch, SATA 6Gbps SSD employing Samsung’s own TLC (Triple-Level Cell/3-bit) V-NAND. The company is typically coy as to on the actual controller technology or the number of layers, but it’s likely an in-house Samsung-designed controller with, judging from the capacities, 92 or 96 layers. The drive will ship in 250GB/$50, 500GB/$80, 1TB/$140, 2TB/$270, and 4TB/$520 flavors. There’s 512MB of primary DRAM cache for every 250GB of capacity, and the drives are rated for 150TBW (TeraBytes that may be Written) or five years of service—whichever comes first. That is, the five-year warranty is invalid once you exceed the TBW rating. Most end users won’t come close to writing that mu...

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 870 is a faster 865, but without WiFi 6E

Roughly a month after launching the Snapdragon 888 for next-gen smartphones, Qualcomm decided to go back to its earlier Snapdragon 865 to tweak it once again, resulting in the upgraded Snapdragon 870. The only gotcha? A lack of Wi-Fi 6E. In a nutshell, the new Snapdragon 870 is a faster version of the original Snapdragon 865 . Qualcomm corralled a number of its partners to endorse the new 870 chip, including OnePlus. Devices based on the Snapdragon 870 will be released this quarter, Qualcomm said. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/38ZxiKc

PhonePe Surpasses Google Pay to Become Leading UPI App in December, NPCI Data Reveals

PhonePe has surpassed Google Pay and become the top unified payments interface (UPI) app in December. It processed 902.03 million transactions accounting for Rs. 1,82,126.88 crores in total, according to the latest data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3qxfsnP

HDFury 4K Arcana review: This magic box fixes a crucial shortcoming of pre-2019 TVs

The HDFury Arcana unlocks the Sonos Arc's full potential on non-eARC TVs for $199. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3qEXcJz

Google Play Store Introduces New Icons That Show Trending Apps

Google Play has introduced new icons that lets the people see which apps are trending and which ones are seeing a fall on the Play store charts. The Top Charts tab below the search bar of Google Play has got new icons. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3sFW5Ld

Wyze Sprinkler Controller review: 8 zones, 50 bucks

A dirt-cheap way to take care of what’s in your dirt. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2M1Ju4o

The Full Nerd: What you need to know about Ryzen 5000 mobile

AMD announced its new Zen 3-based Ryzen 5000 mobile chips January 12 at CES, and to hear the company tell it, last year's stunning Ryzen 4000 was just a warm-up.  Although there's still much to be known about just how fast the new chip is, it's expected to increase single-threaded performance significantly and offer better battery life. But if you're wondering how many PCIe lanes it has and how AMD was able to get Zen 3 into laptops so quickly, who better to tell us than AMD's Director of Technical Marketing Robert Hallock, who joins us in this special CES edition of The Full Nerd. Hallock also tells us what to expect from performance and battery life, and which laptop CPU he thinks will be the predominant choice in high-end gaming laptops this year (the answer won't surprise you). To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/39FiQq5

Wait, did Nvidia just say it could make graphics cards for cryptocurrency miners?

If you heard that Nvidia might make graphics cards just for cryptocurrency miners, hold your fire. As GPU supplies remain lean, Nvidia’s priorities appear to lie in other directions.  Nvidia Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress acknowledged that the company could make cards for crypto miners, at least in theory. “If crypto demand begins or if we see a meaningful amount, we can also use that opportunity to restart the...product line to address ongoing mining demand,” Kress said in a conversation with analysts at the J.P. Morgan Tech/Auto Forum Conference on Tuesday,  transcribed by Seekingalpha.com. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2XN6vKS

How to Do Mobile Recharge via Google Pay

Here’s an easy guide on how to do mobile recharge via Google Pay. Before beginning the steps, if you’ve never used Google Pay, you will have to download it via the Google Play Store. It’s a free download and registering on the app is an easy process as well. It asks for your mobile number and verifies it via an OTP to register. Prepaid customers of Reliance Jio,... from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/38Rg3uB

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro: Unboxing and ears-on impressions

Samsung just unleashed its first premium pair of earbuds, the Galaxy Buds Pro, and they come brimming with features such as improved water resistance, spatial 3D audio, adjustable active noise cancellation, a four-step ambient noise mode, and the ability to dial down the ANC and up the ambient sound when you start talking. We’ll have a full review of the Galaxy Buds Pro once our review takes them for a thorough test drive, but I couldn’t resist cracking the box and taking them for a quick spin. Read on for my first impressions. Design Inside the box you’ll find the Galaxy Buds Pro sitting in their charging case (roughly an inch thicks, and two ounces with the earbuds inside), along with a USB-C to USB-A charging cable and three eartips—small, medium, and large—in addition to the tips that are already on the buds. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/38IMaN3

Apple’s next MacBook Pros might dump the Touch Bar, revive MagSafe

Two new reports from Ming-Chi Kuo and Mark Gurman claim that Apple is planning big changes for the next MacBook Pro: MagSafe and function keys. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3qnWRup

Gigabyte unrolls GeForce 30-series with both Core and Ryzen CPUs

Gigabyte will adopt Nvidia’s new 30-series GPUs across its powerhouse Aero and Aorus laptop lines—and finally offer Ryzen 5000 alongside its Intel-based laptops, too. Announced at CES, pricing and availability weren't immediately available, but we do know a fair amount about the features. We’ll start with Gigabyte’s Aorus family, which is aimed at gamers. The largest and likely the most powerful is the Aorus 17G. As its name implies, it’s a 17.3-inch laptop that will feature a mechanical keyboard using Omron switches, and up to a GeForce RTX 3080 Max-Q GPU and 8-core Core i7-10870H CPU. There are caveats wth the 17G. As a Max-Q variant of the 3080, the graphics memory is cut in half to 8GB. Also, the laptop’s fairly thick 26mm body and 6-pound weight strain the definition of portable. It'll get the last laugh in performance testing, though: We’d guess it’ll outrun other 17-inch laptops with thinner bodies and lighter weights. There is an option for an RTX 3070 version as w...

YouTube Testing a New Feature That Lets Users Buy Products Shown in Videos

YouTube users may soon be able to shop for products they see in videos directly from the platform. The Google-owned company is currently testing a feature that will let viewers discover and shop for products featured in videos. The feature is being tested with a limited number of users in the US right now. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3ii5DaM

With the Galaxy S21, Samsung has finally figured out the iPhone's secret: Value

With the Galaxy S21, Samsung is delivering premium performance and design at a much cheaper price. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3oLkv3C

Best of CES 2021: The smart home and home entertainment products that captured our attention

Attending a virtual tradeshow is a suboptimal experience, but these new offerings still made an impression. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/35KKkcF

Video: Intel answers our Rocket Lake S questions

Perhaps outgoing Intel chief executive Bob Swan said it best : Everyone expected PC demand to drop off a cliff when the pandemic hit, and it soared instead. Why? In part because of PC gaming.  At CES, Intel announced Rocket Lake S: a new 10nm (whoops!  14nm core) that carries on the five-year tradition of 14nm process technology at Intel. But there was a reason for that, and Brandt Guttridge, Intel’s senior director of the Desktop Products Group, spoke with Gordon Mah Ung and Mark Hachman on The Full Nerd to explain why.  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/39ysWZL

5 innovations that pushed laptops forward at CES 2021

CES 2021 may be virtual, but the event still offered up a trove of PC innovations, and that goes doubly so in the mobile space. Intel , AMD , and Nvidia all announced new laptop CPUs or GPUs, which in turn unleashed new generation of cutting-edge notebooks from every major vendor. We’ve covered our favorite PC hardware announcements in our best of CES roundup .   To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3idQPJY

Nokia Partners With Google to Build Cloud-Based 5G Network

Nokia partnered with Google Cloud unit to build 5G core network infrastructure and allow business customers to offer services such as smart retail and automated manufacturing. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3bKAqeT

Google Closes $2.1-Billion Fitbit Deal as US, Australia Probes Continue

Google closed its deal to buy fitness tracking company Fitbit, the companies said on Thursday, even as US and Australian competition regulators said they were continuing probes of the $2.1-billion (roughly Rs. 15,340 crores) transaction. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3idb9es

Windows 10X leaks: Hands-on with Microsoft's new, simplified OS

Microsoft’s Windows 10X has leaked, and it’s boring. Well, it’s designed to be boring. Simple, really—uncomplicated, straightforward, without the fuss and clutter of “traditional” Windows. We wrote last year that Windows 10X now appears to be the new Windows 10 S (Windows 10 in S Mode) ; after spending some hands-on time with the leaked build, we believe those impressions have been confirmed. We’d like to say that Windows 10X has been graphically overhauled, with a variety of new features. However, the fact is that if you read our early Windows 10X coverage a year ago —when Microsoft was visualizing Windows 10X as the future of dual-screen devices—little has changed. (Here’s our original Windows 10X hands-on video for reference.) Well, there’s been one major tweak, of course: Windows 10X is now designed for single-screen PCs . To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2Kexk7A

8 quirks to know about the Samsung Galaxy S21 before you preorder

Samsung’s Galaxy S21 is easily its best flagship bargain in years, with the latest flagship Snapdragon processor, a powerful triple-camera array, and a premium look and feel. But if you’re thinking it’s just an updated version of the S20 or even a smaller version of the new Galaxy S21+, there are a few things you need to know before you plunk down $800 to preorder. The screen resolution is Full HD+ 1080p Galaxy S buyers are used to getting the very best screens around. The Galaxy S20 brought a 6.2-inch Quad HD+ 3200x1440 Infinity-O Edge display with a pixel density of 563ppi and a 120Hz refresh rate. While the size is the same, you’re not getting all that with the new Galaxy S21. Rather, you’re getting a flat Full HD+ 2400x1080 Infinity-O display with a 421ppi pixel density and an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate. That’s still an excellent display, of course, but it’s definitely a step down from what Galaxy S buyers are accustomed to getting. To read this article in full, please click...

Samsung's new Galaxy S21 lineup chooses refinement over reinvention

Last year’s Galaxy S20 lineup was such a massive change that Samsung introduced a new naming scheme to hammer home how consequential the upgrade was. This year, the Galaxy S21 series refines that vision at much lower prices. Samsung has launched three Galaxy S21 models in very similar sizes. The S21 and S21+ have 6.2-inch and 6.7-inch screens like their S20 predecessors , while the S21 Ultra is slightly smaller, 6.8 inches versus the S20 Ultra ’s 6.9-inch screen. The top and bottom bezels are a bit slimmer as well to create a near-all-screen look, but all three models are essentially the same size as last year's: To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3snexrT

Google Pixel 4a 5G Users Say Touchscreen Issue Not Fixed After January Update

Google Pixel 4a 5G devices on Android 11 have been reportedly touchscreen issues since the December update. While Google had said last month that a fix for the issue will be included in an upcoming software update, the January update does not resolve it. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3spr26p

AMD CEO Lisa Su talks: Chip shortages, GPU prices, more cores, Apple M1, and tariffs

If you’re still smarting from the inability to buy AMD’s fantastic Ryzen 5000 CPUs and Radeon RX 6000 GPUs many months after their release, CEO Lisa Su feels your pain but says more products are on the way. “I do want to be very specific, and the main thing I want to say to our fans and enthusiasts is: I get it, I completely understand that there’s a huge desire for more Ryzen 5000 and Radeon 6000 graphics cards,” Su responded during a Tuesday press briefing when asked what she would say to her exasperated customers. Her talk addressed supply issues, Apple’s M1 chip, the impact of tariffs, and whether 16-cores was the limit for consumers. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/39pi0NS

Google Says It ‘Immediately Removed’ Personal Loan Apps in India Violating User Safety Policies

Google India on Thursday revealed that it “immediately removed” personal loan apps violating its user safety policies. The company reviewed hundreds of personal loan apps in the country based on reports it received from users and government agencies. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2MTig03

Best of CES 2021: The most intriguing and innovative PC hardware

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CES 2021 was virtual, but the parade of PC hardware went on regardless. Big names AMD, Intel, and Nvidia all made splashy announcements, and PC manufacturers followed in their wake with new products, many coming soon. No time to sift through all our CES coverage ? No problem! Read on for our Best of CES picks—the most intriguing and innovative products we saw. AMD Ryzen 5000 Mobile AMD Last year you couldn’t find a high-end gaming laptop with a Ryzen CPU In it to save your life. This year the tables are turning, with probably a dozen different designs announced or in the works. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/35FrXWs

Google to Pause Political Advertisements in US Ahead of Presidential Inauguration

Google will not be selling political ads that reference US elections, presidential inauguration, impeachment, or the violence at US Capitol last week until January 21, the company has said in a statement. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/38HMlZ7

Google 'Experiment' Blocks Australian News From Local Searches Amid Government Push to Pay Media Firms

Google Search is hiding Australian news sites for some local users in a new ‘experiment’. It comes amid the government’s push to compel tech firms, such as Google and Facebook, to pay media outlets for their content. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3bC7OV6

PCWorld's January Digital Magazine: How much scalpers make selling the hardware you want most

Stay on top of the latest tech with PCWorld’s Digital Magazine. Available as single copies or as a monthly subscription, it highlights the best content from PCWorld.com—the most important news, the key product reviews, and the most useful features and how-to stories—in a curated Digital Magazine for Android and iOS, as well for the desktop and other tablet readers. In the January issue In the January issue find out how much scalpers make on your favorite, hard-to-find hardware. See our suggestion of 5 things Samsung could borrow from the iPhone 12. Want the latest PC hardware? Check out our round up of the best pre-built gaming PCs. Plus, find out how to make Cyberpunk 2077 faster. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2LyPYHQ

Here's how much more gaming you did due to COVID

It’s no surprise that the global pandemic has spurred a huge uptick in gaming, but we now have an idea of just how much more that might be. According to figures released from Valve, the parent company of online gaming service Steam, subscribers spent some 31.3 billion hours playing PC games in 2020. That’s a 50.7-percent increase over the hours spent in 2019. Valve also gained 2.6 million new buyers for the year, a 21.4-percent increase over 2019.  Steam is the largest online service for PC gaming, and like most, it requires you to log in in to play a game. So if you’re looking for a sign of just how much more time people spent mashing keyboards or game controllers, it’s likely an accurate representation. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/38IlvQk

MSI will support Resizable BAR across Intel and AMD motherboards, even Threadripper

MSI said it will support Nvidia’s unsexy-sounding, yet performance-boosting PCIe Resizable BAR feature across many of its AMD and Intel-based motherboards. Enabling PCIe Resizable BAR is a way to allow the technology underpinning AMD’s new Smart Access Memory feature on Nvidia and Intel hardware, too. Smart Access Memory gives AMD Ryzen 5000 CPUs full access to a Radeon RX 6000-series GPU’s memory, which can deliver varying levels of extra performance, as we found in our Radeon RX 6900 XT testing . Since Smart Access Memory is based on Resizable BAR, activating it on Intel motherboards should offer similar performance benefits, while Nvidia already said Resizable BAR support is coming to GeForce GPUs , which should work with any compatible CPU/motherboard combination.  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3bAAuOa

Qualcomm buys CPU startup Nuvia to beef up PC, smartphone performance

Qualcomm said Wednesday that it plans to buy startup Nuvia for $1.4 billion, potentially as a way to beef up its own CPU efforts and challenge Apple more directly in the Arm computing space. Nuvia was founded by an ex-Apple chip architect, Gerard Williams III, who was reportedly pushed into designing server chips because of a non-compete clause that he had signed with his former employer. Nuvia’s mission is, in its words, to “reimagine silicon design to create a new class of processor that delivers the step-function performance and energy efficiency improvements needed to power the next era of computing.” Nuvia has never announced a product, though it was suspected to be developing its own Arm CPU for data centers. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3qn2qJL

Intel unexpectedly names former CTO Pat Gelsinger as its new CEO

Intel unexpectedly brought back one of its own to lead the company on Wednesday, naming Pat Gelsinger, its former chief technology officer and current VMware chief executive, as its new CEO. Gelsinger will take over on February 15, replacing Bob Swan, Intel’s former chief financial officer who had transitioned to a full-time role as chief executive after former CEO Brian Krzanich stepped down in 2018. Swan was named as a temporary CEO while the company’s board of directors sought a new hire, but was eventually named as the full-time candidate. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/35ABXQO

More graphics card makers roll out significant price hikes

A week ago, Asus warned that its graphics cards and motherboards were about to receive significant price hikes due to “increases in cost for components, operating costs, and logistical activities plus a continuation of import tariffs.” Now, other GPU makers are following Asus's lead—one overtly, and the other quietly. Like Asus, EVGA isn’t hiding the fact that it’s increasing prices on its popular graphics cards. “Due to ongoing events, EVGA has made price adjustments on the GeForce RTX 30 Series products. This change was necessary due to several factors and will be effective January 11, 2021,” a notice at the top of EVGA’s graphics card landing page reads. “For those who are currently in the EVGA.com Notify Queue system or Step-Up Queue, EVGA will honor the original MSRP pricing through April 16, 2021, if your purchase position is processed before this date.” To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/35TUNTp

Ring rolls out end-to-end encryption for select doorbells and security cameras

Available starting today, end-to-end encryption adds another layer of protection for your Ring video recordings, although implementing it also means giving up some key features. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3ibyaP5

MSI's powerful, portable gaming laptops go all-in on GeForce RTX 30-series

MSI will go all-in on Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 30-series mobile GPUs with its upgraded gaming notebook lineup, as well as Intel’s 10th- and 11th-gen Core CPUs. MSI GE76 Raider Dragon Edition Tiamat Let's start with MSI’s head-turning GE76 Raider Dragon Edition Tiamat. The laptop features artwork of Tiamat, one of the primordial gods. And no, it’s not just paint or a sticker—the artwork has an engraved look and texture on the lid and keyboard. The GE76 Raider Dragon Edition includes a 17.3-inch screen with refresh rates ranging from 144Hz to 300Hz at 1080p resolution, as well as a 4K UHD option. The 6.4 lbs. laptop will run off of a 230-watt to 280-watt power brick depending on your chosen GPU. Of course, the GPUs you can choose from are Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 3070, or RTX 3060 Max-Q. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3nFuO80

Three AMD Ryzen 5000 Mobile chips you should avoid buying

Amid the fanfare over AMD’s  new Ryzen 5000 Mobile chips , you might have missed one important detail: Some of the new CPUs use older technology, and it’s hard to tell which ones they are. The majority of AMD’s Ryzen 5000 Mobile family of chips are built around the company’s Zen 3 architecture—the same architecture underlying the latest Ryzen 5000 desktop processors, which we called the “ best consumer CPU we’ve ever seen .” However, a small group is based on the older Zen 2 architecture instead. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with that—the Zen 2-based mobile Ryzen 4000 series crushed Intel’s H-series processors in our earlier tests—the fact that AMD isn’t labeling them as such is like finding out the bottle of champagne you just bought is actually filled with beer.  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3skJsFo

Google Backs Joe Biden’s Immigration Efforts, Will Cover Fees in Threatened DACA Programme

Google said it would support President-elect Joe Biden's efforts to pass a new US immigration law and would help cover application fees for immigrants seeking lawful work under a threatened government programme. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2KdGHVa

Hex Home Security monitors your Wi-Fi network to detect intruders

The system analyzes how your Wi-Fi router’s radio waves are disrupted as people move around your home and is supposed to be smart enough to ignore pets. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3oFiR3r

Samsung Galaxy S21 preview: New look, small changes, and a price cut

If you took my advice last month and returned your new Galaxy S20 , the day you’ve been waiting for has nearly arrived. On Thursday, Samsung will hold its first Unpacked event of 2021, and the star of the show will be the first Android flagship of the year, the Galaxy S21. Here’s everything we think we know about the new phones: Design and display Just when you thought Samsung had run out of ways to make rectangular slabs of glass unique, it finds a new way to spice things up. Based on leaked renders published by Voice , the S21 has a very unique look this year, with a camera module that appears to be cut out from the top corner of the phone. It’s a major visual change from both its own phones and its competitors and is likely to be the start of a new design language for Samsung’s handsets. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3oGLLAp

Google Meet Adds Troubleshooting Menu to Let Users Analyse Network and Performance Issues

Google Meet is bringing out a new Troubleshooting menu to help users easily understand how their local desktop and network environments affect the quality of their video call. Users can browse through the Network Stability graph in the new menu to see the connection delays in milliseconds. The menu also provides users with General Tips to help improve the call perfor... from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/39sHfir

YouTube Removes New Content Uploaded on Donald J Trump Channel, Disables Comments

YouTube’s action against Donald J Trump comes after US civil rights group threatened to organise an advertiser boycott if Trump’s official channel was not taken down. YouTube, however, has just prevented the channel from not uploading for seven days. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3sn3oHs

YouTube Must Take Down Donald Trump’s Channel or Face Advertiser Boycott, US Civil Rights Groups Demand

US civil rights groups will organise an advertiser boycott against YouTube if it does not remove President Donald Trump's channel, the groups said. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3oGTWwq

The Arris Surfboard Max is a Wi-Fi 6 mesh router

The new entry-level Wi-Fi 6 router was announced at CES 2021. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3i41Hu0

Best VPN services: Reviews and buying advice

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.  Rest assured, we’ve done the legwork to determine if a VPN service has a history of good or bad behavior. A service has to protect online privacy; allow you to keep anonymity; offer a good variety of locations from which to direct your traffic; offer fast, reliable performance; and provide an easy-to-use interface. Scroll to the bottom of this article to learn more about VPNs and what to look for when choosing one. Updated 1/12/21  to include our review of PureVPN , which now has an updated app, an overhauled network infrastructure, and streaming-service compatibility. See links to all of our VPN reviews at the bottom of this article. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2TBK375

New Radeon GPUs were barely seen at CES, but they cast a long shadow

Gamers hoping to hear more from AMD’s Radeon division at CES 2021 wound up disappointed on Tuesday, as CEO Lisa Su’s keynote barely touched on graphics hardware. But there was some info tucked into the avalanche of Ryzen 5000 Mobile announcements : Su said that mainstream graphics chips based the company’s new RDNA 2 graphics architecture will land sometime in the first half of the year. That might give enthusiasts pause. First half ? Not first quarter ? Didn’t the Radeon RX 6800-series and flagship 6900 XT just launch at the end of the year? Indeed they did, and they’ve been barely available ever since. Stocks instantly disappear, and prices on custom models rise through the roof. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3i9fiQL

Razer is bringing RGB to N95 masks, because why not?

Masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 range have evolved from protection to a fashion statement. Now Razer is taking it a step further with Project Hazel, a voice-amplified RGB mask it’s announcing at CES 2021. Yes, RGB. In March 2020, Razer announced that it would convert some of its manufacturing lines to develop certified surgical-grade masks to help fight the spread of coronavirus, and company executives said they’ve already manufactured a million masks. “And as a natural progression, the evolution of this initiative, we wanted to test our team with looking at developing a new mask, something designed from the ground up for the new normal,” said Mike Scharnikow, a senior marketing manager at Razer. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/35QPbcz

The Arris Surfboard Max DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem integrates a Wi-Fi 6 mesh router

The new modem/router combo costs less than its predecessors, but it’s also a little slower. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3i4L9Cd

How the tiny Asus ROG Flow X13 can outpunch big gaming laptops

In one of the boldest claims to come out of CES, Asus claims its convertible ROG Flow X13 can be as fast, if not faster, than much larger gaming laptops. Let’s say that one more time: Asus is claiming a 2.8 lbs. 13-inch thin and light convertible laptop can outperform desktop replacement gaming laptops that weigh more than twice as much. While you might dismiss it as hyperbole, when you hear about the trick Asus pulls to do it, you just might be impressed. The ROG Flow X13 itself offers up to 10 hours of battery life during video playback, and a 13.4-inch IPS panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio. You’ll be able to choose between either a 1920x1200 screen at 120Hz or 4K at 60Hz. Inside, you’ll find a CPU up to AMD’s new 8-core Ryzen 5980HS, paired with a GeForce GTX 1650.  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3i6ISWS