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Showing posts from March, 2021

Google Cancels April Fools Pranks a Second Time, Due to COVID-19 Crisis

Google sent out an email to managers in March itself asking them to hold on to the pranks this year as well. The tech giant cancelled April Fool’s day pranks last year as well due to the hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and it decided to repeat the same this year as the crisis is far from its end. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3ude7og

The Full Nerd ep. 172: Core i9-11900K review, Intel's future, Nvidia adds ReBAR

In this episode of The Full Nerd, Gordon Ung , Brad Chacos , and Adam Patrick Murray dive deep into Intel’s new 11th-gen “Rocket Lake” Core processors and the company’s plans for the future. The headline of Gordon’s Core i9-11900K review sums it up nicely: Intel’s 14nm farewell tour can’t end soon enough. Rocket Lake chips marry the company’s 10nm Ice Lake architecture to the 14nm process that Intel has stuck with for over half a decade. This slightly unnatural union results in the loss of two cores, leaving the 11900K with just 8 compared to its 10900K predecessor's 10. This makes the 11th-gen chip's performance a bit of a mixed bag versus AMD’s rival Ryzen 5000 processors, and even Intel’s own last-gen flagship, despite various speed and feature improvements. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3wetgYf

You just bought a new Amazon Echo device? Do these 6 things first

Get the scoop on how to train Alexa to recognize your voice, prevent unauthorized purchases from Amazon, tell it where you live and work, and more. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2GzYQYg

Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 review: Radar delivers a birds-eye view

As usual, you’ll need to pay a subscription fee to enjoy all of this doorbell cam’s features. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/31AtWsQ

Google Stack Scanner App Announced, to Help in Smartly Categorising Documents

Google Stack is the latest document scanner that utilises Google’s Doc AI to smartly categorise and sort bills, documents, and receipts. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/31COilf

Watch us build our 'Mirror Universe' RGB PC!

Back in December, we built a spectacular RGB PC using Lian Li’s O11 Dynamic Mini and Unifans, along with a bunch of AMD parts. It looked great, and thanks to those modular Unifans, had an extremely clean look. Normally when you pack six RGB fans into a case, you end up with a mess of cables to route. Getting the parts needed to replicate that Lian Li x AMD PC is rough going at the moment, though. And between that and another intriguing set of modular fans on the market— InWin’s Saturn line —we decided to do a mirror universe version of the build. Inside will be a 10th-gen Core i7-10700K and a Z490 board, and we even found a case that’s a near duplicate of the O11 Dynamic (not a Mini version, alas, but close enough). To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3m6EUzH

10th-gen Comet Lake vs. 11th-gen Rocket Lake: Which should you buy?

Intel’s new 11th-generation desktop processors hit shelves on Tuesday, and as you’ll see in our comprehensive review , Rocket Lake does zip along. But should you purchase it rather than the previous generation of Comet Lake chips? We pitted the top part from each line against each other, with a surprising end result. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3cCXP1R

Google Expands News Showcase, Inks Deals With Over 600 Publications for Content

Google has reached licensing deals with over 600 news outlets around the world and is seeing a "huge increase" in users requesting more content from specific publications as part of its News Showcase programme. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2PdncP7

Google Meet Extends ‘Unlimited’ Video Calling Support for Free Gmail Accounts Until June

Google Meet has extended the availability of ‘unlimited’ free video calls for Gmail users until June 2021. As a result of the latest update, Gmail users will be able to connect with their contacts virtually free via Google Meet for up to 24 hours. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3rEp3cA

Carbonite Safe review: Cleverly integrated online backup

It's been a few years since we reviewed the Carbonite backup service and, outwardly, things have changed a bit. There's a new owner, OpenText; the name of the service has morphed from Carbonite Online to Carbonite Safe; and there's been a very slight drop in price. What remains intact is its status as the most elegantly realized and integrated online backup service in the industry. Data selection and clever OS integration Carbonite Safe offers unlimited data backup, but by default it intelligently targets only the most common data and locations: the Windows Documents, Pictures, Music, etc. folders. If you store important data outside those locations, it requires a bit more user intervention than, say, competitor Backblaze, which backs up everything, lock, stock, and barrel—a safe but unnecessarily wasteful approach. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3foqB8m

How cord-cutters can watch Major League Baseball without cable

After being forced by the COVID-19 pandemic into a delayed and truncated season in 2020, Major League Baseball will return to something approaching normal in 2021. We’ll get a full 162-game regular season running from April 1 to October 3, and most teams will allow limited fan attendance at their games. Unfortunately for those of us watching at home, it might be more difficult to catch our favorite teams in action. Over the last two years, Sling TV, FuboTV, YouTube TV, and Hulu + Live TV have each in turn dropped Sinclair-owned Fox Sports regional networks from their lineups. Only the pricey AT&T TV streaming service will offer those channels, now rebranded Bally Sports regional networks, in 2021. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2Ywvgdi

Intel Rocket Lake-S vs AMD Ryzen 5000: Which should you buy?

AMD versus Intel. Ryzen versus Core. Over the past few years, the two chip giants have been going toe-to-toe. This round pits AMD’s powerhouse desktop Ryzen 5000 chip (represented by the Ryzen 5900X) versus Intel’s new 11th-gen desktop Core chip, Rocket Lake-S (the Core i9-11900K). We’ve gathered information that each manufacturer has published about the Ryzen 5000 and the Rocket Lake-S chips, plus our own conclusions from our reviews of each chip on features, price, power, and performance, to help you choose which is best for you. Some factors, however, are out of our control—namely chip availability, and the price-gouging that can come with that. The best chip for you may be the one you can buy at the most reasonable price.  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3sJQXWk

Google Collects 20 Times More Data on Android Than Apple Does on iPhone: Study

Google collects 20 times more data from Android users than Apple does from iOS users, according to a new research conducted by researchers from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/31yMzxd

Google Starts Testing FLoC as Alternative for Cookies: What It Means for Your Privacy

Google FLoC is rolling out beta testing for third party users. FLoC is touted to be a replacement for cookies for Chrome browser. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3ubHmYG

Free speed: Nvidia flips on Resizable BAR for all GeForce RTX 30-series GPUs

After debuting the performance-boosting Resizable BAR feature in the ho-hum GeForce RTX 3060, Nvidia promised that it would add the feature to all existing RTX 30-series graphics cards by the end of March. On the next-to-last day of the month, Team Green delivered. The newly available Game Ready driver version 456.89 unlocks Resizable BAR on every RTX 30-series desktop graphics cards . It’s not quite that easy though. While the new drivers activate Resizable BAR, you’ll also need to wait for a new VBIOS from your graphics card’s specific manufacturer to add support for your particular model. Nvidia is releasing a VBIOS with Resizable BAR for its own Founders Edition graphics cards, for example, while EVGA owners will need to grab one of its fresh VBIOS upgrades . To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3foZB8I

Arm v9 promises ray tracing for smartphones and a big performance boost

Arm said Tuesday that ray tracing and variable rate shading will migrate from the PC to Arm-powered smartphones and tablets as part of Armv9, the next-generation CPU architecture that the company expects will power the next decade of Arm devices. Chips based upon the v9 architecture will be released in 2021, providing an estimated 30-percent improvement in performance over the next two Arm chip generations and the devices that run them. Arm’s v9 will also add SVE2, new AI-specific instructions that will probably be used for the AI image processing used on smartphones, such as portrait mode. Arm v9 will also include what Arm is calling Realms, a hardware container of sorts specifically designed to protect virtual machines and secure applications.  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3dipHHH

10nm? 7nm? Who cares? Intel may be trying to ditch chip technology definitions

Chip vendors including AMD and Intel have for years defined a chip by a nanometer measurement such as 14nm or 10nm, which also described the manufacturing process of a chip. Such “nm” designations used to be nearly as important as clock speed, power, or any of the other various metrics of a chip. Intel, however, may be preparing to de-emphasize it entirely. What does “nanometer” mean in semiconductor manufacturing? “Nanometers” refer to the size of the individual transistors inside the chip. The smaller the transistor, the more dense the chip. Smaller transistors also imply that chips can be run at faster speeds, at lower power, or some combination of the two. Chipmakers use terms like “10nm” and 7nm” to describe the manufacturing process technology used to make these transistors, and this terminology has become widely adopted to indicate what’s leading-edge, and what isn’t. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3cALueP

Google Maps can now give you directions inside a mall or airport

Ever get lost in a mall, airport, stadium, or some other grand indoor location? Google on Tuesday revealed a new Maps feature for its iOS and Android apps to help you get around in such a place, along with several other new features for both iOS and Android phones. Live View uses augmented reality to help you determine where you are, and then you can use it to figure out how to locate exits, restrooms, ATMs, counters for assistance, gates, and a lot more. It works with your phone’s camera to scan a location, and it then flashes directions arrows, and banners to signal points of interest. Live View can also give you directions within a mall even if that mall is multi-story. It’s unclear what system Google is using for indoor mapping, but Apple’s own Indoor Mapping Data Format was certified as an industry standard earlier this year. Apple has been working on indoor mapping for years, but Apple Maps has yet to integrate indoor mapping into its consumer features. To read this article...

The best graphics cards for PC gaming: Nvidia and AMD battle for 1440p supremacy

“What graphics card within my budget gives me the best bang for my buck?” That simple question cuts to the core of what people hunting for a new graphics card look for: the most oomph they can afford. Sure, the technological leaps behind each new GPU can be interesting on their own, but most everyone just wants to crank up the detail settings on Cyberpunk 2077  and get right to playing. Gaming GPU cheat sheet Our quick-hit recommendations: Best budget GPU: GeForce GTX 1650 Super   [amazon.com] Best 1080p GPU: GeForce GTX 1660 Super  [ newegg.com ] Best 1440p GPU: GeForce RTX 3060 Ti   [bestbuy.com]  Best 4K GPU:  GeForce RTX 3080 Remove non-product link   [bestbuy.com]  or  Radeon RX 6800 XT [bestbuy.com] Updated March 30  to include an explainer about why graphics cards cost so much in the news section, and add the RTX 3060 and Radeon RX 6700 XT to the 1440p section. To read this article in full, please click here ...

Tested: How Nvidia Reflex can make you a better esports gamer

“Frames win games,” Nvidia likes to say, but there’s more to esports domination than raw frame rates. How those frames get delivered matters too. Latency—the time it takes for an on-screen action to happen after you press a button—reigns supreme in the blink-and-you’re-dead competitive esports scene. If your game looks beautiful but feels sluggish, you’ll find yourself outgunned by rivals playing with crummy visual settings to increase responsiveness. Enter Nvidia Reflex, introduced alongside the GeForce RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 . If you’ve heard of it before, you probably associate it with low-latency features being added to games like Call of Duty: Warzone, Valorant, and Fortnite . But Reflex is actually Nvidia’s overarching brand name for a wide range of new latency-obsessed tools. Yes, the Low Latency Mode being added to games is part of it, but on Tuesday, Nvidia and its partners are also rolling out blisteringly fast 360Hz G-Sync Esports monitors with Reflex Latency Analyz...

Intel 11th-gen Rocket Lake CPU power consumption: Not great, not terrible

How much power a desktop uses hasn't often mattered that much, because usually there was a performance benefit to compensate. But it's hard to ignore power consumption with Intel's 11th-gen Rocket Lake given early reports of its guzzling habits. To look at just how much power the chip uses, we set up two systems with the base components of CPU, motherboard, RAM, GPU, Cooler and M.2 SSD. All motherboard LEDs were disabled, and the machines were put into airplane mode. With both machines equipped with matching Corsair HX1000 80 Plus Platinum power supplies, we then used a USB device to control the mouse and keyboard actions simultaneously on both machines, while recording the power consumptions of both at the plug. The power was measured using external watt meters, with the capture on a laptop to prevent any additional loads on the test systems. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3ubqelN

Bang & Olufsen Beoplay Portal ANC headphone review: Audiophile gamers rejoice

This premium headphone will please audiophiles, road warriors, and Xbox gamers, but they'll all have to pay to play. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3cxnI3g

Google Nest Hub (2nd gen) review: The new Nest Hub is a yawner, literally

The Nest Hub’s successor arrives with a virtually identical design, plus the ability to monitor your sleep without a wristband. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/39rZu8J

Core i9-11900K review: Intel's 14nm farewell tour can't end soon enough

Intel's 11th-gen Rocket Lake-S CPU is a star athlete on farewell tour. The 14nm process at the heart of this chip is very much like that player who, with hair graying and multi-season records and clutch wins distant memories, has probably hung on just a little too long. There are no more buzzer beaters or overtime games. Just an early out to watch the playoffs on television with everyone else. Still, the heart of any champion always has some fight. Its arch nemesis, AMD's Ryzen 9 5900X, may be the stronger chip for many tasks. Despite its weak knees, the old 14nm process shows it still has a few moves left in Rocket Lake. There's a lot to cover, so if you want to jump to a specific section, use our links below: To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/31w6Pj5

Google Maps to Start Directing Drivers to 'Eco-Friendly' Routes

Google Maps will soon start recommending eco-friendly routes to users estimated to generate the lowest carbon emissions based on traffic, slopes and other factors. Google said the feature would launch later this year in the US and eventually reach other countries. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2PcBwr8

Auto-Payments of Your Utility Bills, OTT Subscriptions May Get Disturbed Due to New RBI Rule

Auto-payments of your mobile and utility bills as well as subscription charges to any of your favourite over-the-top (OTT) platforms may get disrupted starting Thursday, April 1. This could come as a result of a new rule set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that was planned back in August 2019. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3dmptPZ

Hands-on: Evil Genius 2: World Domination fulfills your wildest Bond villain fantasies

Evil Genius 2: World Domination , the sequel to a PC cult classic launched 17 long years ago, sunk its hooks into me from the start with its pitch-perfect campy spy flick vibes. But it was the traps that made me fall in love with this fun, yet flawed gem. In case the name didn’t tip you off, in Evil Genius 2: World Domination you play as an evil genius hell-bent on world domination. After taking your pick of four different villains—I chose Maximilian Von Klein, a Dr. Evil lookalike and the star of the first game—you begin constructing your lair, starting with a vault to hold your ill-gotten gold bars and slowly expanding until your secret volcanic island base is riddled with power generators, interrogation chambers, training centers, radio control rooms, all built by your loyal minions (who also need devoted areas to keep their bodies and minds in tip-top shape). To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3d9TWAs

Mila air purifier review: Breathe better, and make a fashion statement

This sophisticated air purifier has a refined mobile app to match. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3wbYM95

How much staying power will future CPUs and GPUs have? | Ask an expert

Q: Given how quickly new technology is developing, will we ever see another generation of the staying power of Polaris, Sandy Bridge, or Pascal? A: That depends on how you define staying power. Is it based on a line of products being so good that they held their own against the lure of new, more powerful hardware? Or is it based on circumstances in which less innovation triggers indifference to fresh hardware launches? Some people can (and do) argue that Sandy Bridge processors weren’t that good. Rather, the incremental gains in performance with Ivy Bridge and Haswell made Sandy Bridge look phenomenal—so much so that loyal Core i7-2600K (and even Core i5-2500K) owners are only now replacing them with modern CPUs. Intel’s Core processors offered conservative improvements across multiple generations until AMD’s Ryzen processors upped the ante. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/39mmDck

HP Envy 14 (2021) review: This budget content-creation laptop does it all

Laptops like the HP Envy 14 fall into the category of “content creation:”  notebook PCs with a modestly powerful discrete GPU that can play some games, edit video, or simply serve as a solid all-around PC. This $1,200 14-inch laptop satisfies all three. In our tests, we found that while some laptops outperformed the Envy 14, many couldn’t do so for the price. Here, the Envy 14 offers top-notch battery life, support for powerful external Thunderbolt hardware, and a pleasing everyday typing experience. We’ve awarded it an Editor’s Choice, and in this review you’ll see why. HP Envy 14 basic features HP says it ships its Envy 14 in one of three configurations. The model we tested is the midrange configuration (14-eb0010nr), which includes a Core i5-1135G7, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q, 16GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. The MSRP is $1,250, but we saw it on sale for $1,210 at Amazon Remove non-product link during testing. HP also sells a $1,070 basic version of the Envy 14 (kn...

Amazon Prime Video vs Hulu vs Netflix: The top three cord-cutting services compared

Which streaming-video service delivers the best original entertainment, user interface, and bottom-line value to cord-cutters? from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2FYrJfZ

Google's App Store Privacy Labels: What They Mean for Your Data and Privacy

Google has a suite of apps on the App Store including Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Docs, Google Drive, and Google Chrome. We take a look at privacy labels of all of these apps on the App Store to let you know what they mean, and help you attain more clarity. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3w6lakf

The best SSDs of 2021: Watch out for price increases

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

At what price does a console become better than a gaming PC? | Ask an expert

Q: What price makes a console a better choice for gaming than a PC? I’m asking both in general and specific to current times, when it’s hard as heck to get my hands on computer components. A: The exact number varies depending on what type of gamer you are. Generally speaking, this question applies when you tend to play games that aren’t PC exclusives and your PC budget is in the same price range as modern consoles. After last fall’s new console launches, that range falls between $300 and $500. To pinpoint it further than that, you’ll need to compare the performance of equivalently priced consoles and gaming PCs, then factor in the genres you play and your general computing needs. So for example, let’s say you only ever play single-player AAA titles, and you like to play them as soon as they come out. You also already have a device that you use for everyday tasks like web browsing and video calling, like an older laptop or PC. So long as you don’t need universal mouse and keyboard s...

Google Photos Now Showing What the Icons Mean in Media Viewer Through Labels: Report

Google Photos is reportedly adding labels to the functions in the media viewer within the app. The new feature is currently undergoing testing and is visible only to PIxel and OnePlus smartphones. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3vYRSE9

Reolink Go PT review: This home security camera can operate almost anywhere

You don’t need to worry about Wi-Fi range, because it connects via 4G LTE, and a solar panel keeps its battery charged. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3cq4zjA

MSI GE76 Raider review: High-wattage RTX 3080 GPU for the win

Does RGB really make a laptop go faster? Indeed it does. At least, you’ll probably believe that after seeing the in-your-face RGB bar running across the front of the MSI GE76 Raider gaming laptop.  Because it couldn’t be the 8-core Core i7-10870H CPU, nor the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU set to a blistering 155 watts, that makes the laptop go fast. It’s all in the RGB light strip.  Yes, we’re being facetious, but let’s be honest that looks typically matter more than specs to most people. In the case of the MSI GE76, however, there’s plenty of substance to back up all that flash, namely its high-wattage GPU. It's an expensive machine, but it's worth it. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2NSCnMK

Chrome can now caption almost any video or audio

A lot of the web revolves around video content ( subscribe to our YouTube channel !) and podcasts these days, but that brings some accessibility challenges you won’t find with the written word. Hundreds of millions of people are deaf or hard of hearing. Other folks have trouble processing spoken words. And sometimes, you’re just in a noisy area. Good news! Google Chrome’s new Live Caption accessibility feature can provide closed captioning for many videos and audio files—online or offline—even if those videos don’t offer native support. “Now with Live Caption on Chrome, you can automatically generate real-time captions for media with audio on your browser,” Google’s announcement post states. “It works across social and video sites, podcasts and radio content, personal video libraries (such as Google Photos), embedded video players, and most web-based video or audio chat services.” To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/31gVqUf

PSA: Lock in a year of Disney+ before tomorrow’s price hike

You can lock in a year of Disney+ at a lower rate if you act quickly. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2NVwQVU

Crucial X6 USB SSD review: Good price, good performance, good design

Crucial’s X6 is square to be hip. Or placed in your hip pocket, at any rate. In a sea of portable SSDs whose shape makes them a literal pain when pocketed, the thin, rounded-edge X6 is a sigh of relief. It’s not state-of-the-art fast, but it’s fast enough for most users and extremely affordable. This review is part of our ongoing roundup of the best external drives . Go there for information on competing products and how we tested them. Design and features The X6 is squarish, approximately 2.4 inches tall by 2.6 inches wide. It's extremely thin for the breed at about 0.35 inches, and the aforementioned rounded edges and corners snag on nothing. I just pulled it from my back pocket, where it had been for over a day. Yup--it's so comfortable that I forgot it was there. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3clYDIp

Peacock reps are telling Fire TV users to sideload the app

Peacock reps are telling Fire TV users to sideload the app. Here's how to do it. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3sldusb

A perfect storm: Why graphics cards cost so much now

It’s a bleak time to be a PC gamer. Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 30-series and AMD’s new Radeon RX 6000-series graphics cards blaze new performance trails compared to last generation’s disappointing offerings—but most people have no chance of getting their hands on either, especially not at a sane price. New graphics card stock drops disappear in minutes, if not seconds, at online retailers, often at crazily high prices. Many of those cards reappear shortly thereafter on resale sites like Ebay and Craiglist for twice their suggested price, or more. Here’s a very tangible recent example. AMD’s Radeon RX 6700 XT launched at $480 in mid-March. We said that in a sane GPU market, the price was about $100 too high for the performance offered. Sapphire said it would charge $580—an additional $100 premium—for its fantastic, custom-designed Nitro+ variant . When the Nitro+ 6700 XT actually hit the streets at Newegg, however, it cost a whopping $730 and still sold out in no time. The card is c...

Soliom S600 Solar Security Camera review: Home security, powered by the sun

If you don’t mind its monster size, this camera can fill a certain need. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3vZLjBm

How to get Peacock on your Fire TV right now

How to sideload Peacock on Fire TV while Amazon and NBCUniversal fight over money. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2CL6AHC

BrandPost: Deploy Windows 10 Pro images using one consistent process, no matter the CPU

Comparing laptops for your remote workers is critical in this work-from-home era, especially if the laptops you’re considering contain a CPU from a different manufacturer than the ones already in your fleet. After all, being able to use the same deployment process across all devices—regardless of processor—makes things easier on your IT staff. This white paper offers a detailed comparison of time and steps on AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4650U and Intel Core i5-10310U vPro processor-based HP EliteBook 800 G7Series Notebook PCs and Lenovo ThinkPad T14 laptops. We used an automated task sequence in Microsoft Configuration Manager (formerly SCCM) to deploy a Microsoft Windows 10 Pro image on four enterprise laptops: To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/31e2Ib4

In a radical change, Intel will build x86 chips for other companies

Intel’s manufacturing revival includes an intriguing footnote: The company’s new foundry business plans to make its x86 processor portfolio and other technologies available for other chipmakers to potentially license. It’s a radical shift for Intel, which has historically been very protective of its x86 product designs. Specifically, Intel’s new Intel Foundry Services will offer access to Intel’s intellectual property, including “x86 cores, graphics, media, display, AI, interconnect, fabric and other critical foundational [intellectual property],” Intel representatives confirmed via email late Tuesday.  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3lN5b5T

Amazon's revamped Alexa Voice Remote for Fire TV adds shortcuts to Netflix, Disney+

The new voice remote for Amazon’s Fire TV players also comes with a Guide button for live TV, as well as a redesigned Alexa button. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3rjE2J5

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 the school year or a gift, too. Our latest update includes more answers to questions you might have: if I'm buying a Chromebook, how slow (and inexpensive) can it be before it stops being usable? What new features are being added to Chromebooks to make them more competitive with Windows laptops? Read on for the answers, plus our up-to-date buying guide 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

Google Search Gets New Tools to Improve Online Learning Capabilities for Students and Teachers

Google Search is getting five new tools to help students, teachers, and parents with complex STEM concepts through Google’s L.E.A.R.N initiative. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2P5wCvV

Watch us build our 'unicorn' PC, live!

Back in early 2020, AMD released two budget Zen 2 chips, the 3100 and the 3300X. Then the pandemic hit, and getting your hands on affordable components became...difficult. But while the 3100 pops back into stock now and then, the 3300X has remained mysteriously unavailable. Given that this $130 four-core, eight-thread processor held so much possibility for kickass builds under $500, we were dying to get our hands on one since its launch. But even after we did, we waited, since it didn’t seem fair to flaunt our acquisition while the part remained hard to find.  Alas, computer parts have shelf lives, and by the time prices normalize, the 3300X likely will already be bumped in favor of a Zen 3 successor. So we’re gonna seize our chance and build a unicorn PC with it. It’ll even sport rainbow lights. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/39cN1p7

Google and Microsoft Join Forces to Fix Compatibility Issues Across Browsers

Google and Microsoft along with Web Committee joined hands to fix five main problems Web developers face regarding compatibility across different browsers. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2P1h7oJ

Is your VPN secure? How to make sense of VPN encryption

Virtual private networks use slick marketing terms to charm potential users, but you can easily get tangled up when trying to pick it all apart. The language describing encryption methods is thick with acronyms and technical jargon, so searching cute phrases like “military-grade encryption” usually turns up more questions than answers. But while the details of encryption can initially be confusing, things become pretty clear once you know how to sort out the information. Concepts like TLS, RSA certificates, keys, AES encryption, and the like will seem far less foreign, and it’ll be a snap to evaluate how worthy a VPN is of your attention. Here’s how to get there. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2NL50eK

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano review: Lenovo drops the mic with its light, fast, and long-lasting ThinkPad

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano is just the kind of powerful, light, and long-lasting laptop you’ll want to take with you on post-pandemic business trips—and it’s handy even now just because it’s so easy to take all over the house. It also performs right there in the ballpark with other 11th-gen Tiger Lake competitors, and at a hair under two pounds, it weighs less than almost all of them. Equipped with an IR camera for facial recognition, a presence-detecting radar, a 2K display with Dolby Vision HDR, and a premium keyboard, the X1 Nano covers the most bases for corporate users, and we haven’t mentioned the superlative battery life yet. But with only two available ports (Thunderbolt 4, at least), you’ll need to invest in a USB-C hub to connect legacy accessories. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3sjlSbJ

Wyze Robot Vacuum review: Top-shelf feature set with a budget price tag

Wyze continues to make advanced products affordable with its first robot vacuum. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/31akTyu

Google Chrome 90 Becomes Faster and More Secure With HTTPS Protocol Update

Google Chrome 90 update will make HTTPS protocol standard across the Web browser, making it faster and more secure. Here are all the details. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3ceZvyh

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger pledges a return to greatness through chip design

On Tuesday, newly minted Intel chief executive Pat Gelsinger outlined his vision for returning Intel to greatness: a manufacturing strategy called “IDM 2.0” that will impact Intel’s development of 7nm chips, including the upcoming Meteor Lake. At its heart, Gelsinger’s IDM 2.0 is about fabs: building two new fabs in Arizona to help alleviate worldwide semiconductor supply concerns; establishing a brand-new Intel Foundry Services business to sell chips from those fabs to other customers; and, conversely, creating a culture where Intel will turn to  other chip foundries to manufacture products that it can’t manufacture itself. Intel’s new Intel Foundry Services will offer design services that incorporate processor technologies that Intel hasn’t traditionally touted: the open-source RISC-V architecture, but also Arm. Intel is a current Arm licensee, but it hasn’t developed an Arm CPU since the StrongARM chip was discontinued in the early 2000s. To read this article in full, plea...

Firefox's new SmartBlock makes private browsing less of a headache

Firefox 87 just dropped with a killer new feature for privacy buffs: SmartBlock for private browsing . Mozilla’s browser has been pushing hard on pro-privacy features recently in a bid to differentiate itself from Google’s juggernaut Chrome. Along those lines, Firefox offers a Tracking Protection tool for its Private Browsing and Strict Traction Protection Modes that “automatically blocks third-party scripts, images, and other content from being loaded.” Blocking those scripts prevents users from being tracked across sites—but it can sometimes result in websites rendering slowly or incorrectly. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2PjtADZ

You can now stream Steam games in ridonkulous 8K resolution, but you probably don't want to

Steam’s most popular games may be dominated by e-sports titles that run on practically any PC, but Valve doesn’t just cater to the masses. This week, a Steam update added the ability to stream Remote Play games at a pixel-packed 8K resolution . “Results may vary depending on hardware,” Valve’s patch notes warn, and they aren’t kidding. 8K gaming only recently gained attention as a way for Nvidia to pitch its ferocious $1,500 GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card . Even still, our 8K testing with the 3090 proved that achieving playable 60 frames per second-plus frame rates with good graphics settings isn’t possible in most games, especially ones that lack support for Nvidia’s AI-enhanced DLSS upscaling technology . To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3lK5qPd

OnePlus 9 Pro review: Revolutionary display, evolutionary camera

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The OnePlus 9 Pro arrives with a major focus on camera performance, an improved display, and the newest Qualcomm processor, the Snapdragon 888 . Over the years, OnePlus has been aiming at the flagship end of the market, hoping to gain a foothold in that exclusive smartphone tier. But do these latest improvements—particularly in the camera—put OnePlus in a position to challenge Samsung’s Galaxy S21 or Apple’s iPhone 12? Let’s dive in. Adam Patrick Murray/IDG OnePlus 9 Pro review unit in Morning Mist color option. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3vMC33r

Nvidia's magical DLSS feature could be coming to consoles

Nvidia’s second-generation Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS 2.0) technology could be breaking free of its PC confines to power the visuals in a forthcoming Nintendo Switch upgrade, Bloomberg reports . A new version of the Switch with a fresh Nvidia GPU and a luscious OLED display could appear in time for the holidays. If true, a DLSS-powered Switch will open a new front in the war between Nvidia and AMD. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3cbbgpw

Report: Microsoft is in talks to buy Discord for over $10 billion

Microsoft is reportedly in talks to buy gaming chat service Discord for a price tag that's above $10 billion, according to Bloomberg. Neither Microsoft nor Discord have confirmed the talks, Bloomberg reported . Venturebeat reported earlier that Discord was trying to put the service up for sale, and named the $10 billion figure as a target. Venturebeat had also reported that Discord was hoping to be acquired by a major game platform company, including the possibility of Microsoft. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3tLdYId

CyberGhost VPN review: An easy-to-use VPN for content streamers

CyberGhost in brief: P2P allowed: Yes Business location: Romania Number of servers: 7,000 Number of country locations: 90 Cost: $47.88 per year VPN protocol: IKEv2 (default) Data encryption:  AES-256 Data authentication: SHA-256 Handshake: 4096-bit RSA CyberGhost is back with a new update, and we really liked what the company has done with its desktop app. Version 8 of CyberGhost improves the interface, expands the number of servers, and adds WireGuard as a VPN protocol option—making for marked differences from  version 7 , which we reviewed two years ago. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3r99qcZ

Google Fixes Gmail, Chrome Crash Issue With Android System WebView Update

Google has fixed an issue that caused apps like Gmail, Google Chrome, and others to crash by releasing an update for Android System WebView and Google Chrome. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3lFxJhP

Hulu’s 10 best original movies for cord-cutters

Films like these make a Hulu subscription worthwhile. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3rdaAnS

Big Tech Critic Lina Khan Named by US President Joe Biden for Key Regulatory Post

US President Joe Biden named a prominent advocate of breaking up Big Tech firms to a key regulatory post, in a move suggesting an aggressive posture on antitrust enforcement. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3vTHmhB

Leaked: Big changes coming with Intel's next CPU, code-named Alder Lake

Even though Intel just announced its Rocket Lake-S desktop processor , eyes are already turning to what Intel has next up its sleeve: the next-generation CPU code-named Alder Lake, expected before the end of 2021. The latest Alder Lake leaks, provided by Videocardz , suggest that Alder Lake will represent a sharp break from existing Intel designs, for better or worse. Last year, Intel confirmed that Alder Lake existed , and that it would ship in 2021. Originally, however, Alder Lake didn’t seem like that big of a deal. It’s built upon the same mixed-core design as Lakefield, which shipped in 2020 as the 9-watt Intel Core processor with Intel Hybrid Technology , inside the Samsung Galaxy Book S . Reviews called the Galaxy Book S performance anemic, and more of the same was expected from Alder Lake.  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2PiNr6p

Resident Evil Village is coming to Stadia, and Google will give you free hardware to play it

The internet is ready for Resident Evil: Village , the next game in the iconic horror series, and Google wants to make sure you’re ready for it on Stadia. If you preorder the game for Google’s stream-from-the-cloud gaming service, the company will send you a full Stadia Premiere Edition hardware kit for free. The Stadia Premiere Edition includes a white Stadia controller, a Chromecast Ultra that can stream the game on your TV, and a complementary one-month trial to Stadia Pro for new subscribers. Normally, the Stadia Premiere Edition costs $100 Remove non-product link , so getting it for free with Resident Evil: Village —which costs $60 for the Standard or $70 for the Deluxe edition—is one heck of a deal if you’re interested in Google’s fledgling gaming ecosystem. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3vReJBq

Graphics cards ranked, from fastest to slowest

When it comes to gaming PCs, nothing matters more than your graphics card. To push as many pixels as possible you’re going to want the fastest graphics card you can afford—but ever-shifting prices and product lineups make it difficult to keep track of what’s available. In honor of keeping frame rates high, we decided to rank all the major available discrete GPUs from Nvidia GeForce and AMD Radeon, starting with the fastest graphics card available and working on down. This list focuses on each company’s most current GPU lineups, and doesn’t include significantly older graphics cards. You’ll find all GeForce RTX 20- and 30-series offerings, however, as well as AMD’s last two graphics card generations. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2XTtIg4

Google VP for Payments and Next Billion Users Caesar Sengupta Exits After 15-Year Stint to Start Entrepreneurial Journey

Sengupta announced his departure from Google in a LinkedIn post that also confirms his last day to be April 30. He looks to indulge in some downtime to chill, talk to interesting people, reconnect with the external world and ride his bike. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3s6o99Y

Google Releases ‘WifiNanScan’ App for Developers to Measure Accurate Distance Between Phones

Google has launched a new ‘WifiNanScan App’ for developers, vendors, university researchers to experiment with the Wi-Fi Aware protocol that helps two devices in proximity to connect with each other without the need for an Internet connection. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3tMGSrp

Tested: How the Epic Games Store can drain your laptop's battery life

As laptop performance improves over time, you may be excited to discover that the PC you reserved exclusively for Excel and Zoom calls now can serve as a gaming PC, too. But beware: Leaving a game store app like the Epic Games Store open may significantly slice into your laptop’s battery life. Consider Intel’s latest Tiger Lake H35 announcement . The new CPUs enable a class of ultraportable laptops that wield office apps and Zoom calls by day, then play  Destiny 2 or Valorant by night. The problem is that if you buy a game via, say, the Epic Game Store, the EGS app must be running while you play the game. The app remains active once you quit the game, too. As we found, simply leaving the store app in place when you’re not gaming can reduce your battery life by as much as 20 percent, cutting hours off of your laptop’s longevity off AC. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3vQBHsD

Microsoft's 'Find My Device' is the PC management tool you didn't know you needed

Microsoft’s “Find My Device” feature is so much more than a simple device locator that it’s like calling a “car” nothing more than just four tires and a steering wheel. The online service is a powerful PC manager in its own right, and arguably more effective in that regard than Windows itself. We originally covered Find My Device when it debuted about six years ago as a service to, obviously, find a lost device. It's changed so little that you can still use the instructions in the original article to enable it. The feature made far more sense when Microsoft actually sold devices that  could be lost—i.e., Windows phones. Once Microsoft discontinued Windows 10 Mobile, you might think that much of that value went away. Over time, though, the opposite occurred. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3tIMiUp

Google Photos App Gets Integrated Lens Features to Scan Saved Images

Google Lens can grab relevant pieces of text from photos. Upon tapping on the selected text, users can translate it, copy it to a different app, have their device speak it aloud, or transfer it to a Google-connected PC. These Google Lens features have now been made available within the Google Photos app. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/31iNbHn

Vidgo review: A cheaper live TV service with some big omissions

Vidgo review: A cheaper way to stream sports, but restrictions apply from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3eZTLug

Pleco Smart Water Watch review: Want to track your water usage? Look elsewhere

This science project-turned-commercial device is a mess. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3r3BSNu

Jio 5G Smartphone, JioBook Laptop May Debut at AGM 2021: Report

Reliance Jio may launch a 5G smartphone and a low-cost laptop called JioBook at this year’s Annual General Meeting, which may take place in September, as per a report. The 5G phone may run on Android Go, or Android-based JioOS, the report cited an executive close to Jio and Google as saying. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3r9xzQX

How to Recharge Your FASTag Using Google Pay App

In this article, we are covering the steps you need to follow to recharge your FASTag using Google Pay. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/391X6VU

Dash cam reviews: Catch the maniacs and meteors of daily driving

Our latest dash cam review is of the Nextbase 222X, a Walmart exclusive ( $139 at Walmart.com ) front/rear dash cam with some nice features for the price, including a modular design and a 48-hour parking mode. It cuts a few corners but is still a solid budget deal. Read our full review .  We have a new top pick: The Aukey DRS1 ( $120 on Amazon ) is our best 4K dash cam. It takes great day and night video and is easy to install and use. These high-resolution models gobble SD card space (so they aren’t for everyone), but the video quality sure is nice. Read our full review . To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2CAistf

Spring Season 2021: Google Doodle Celebrates Equinox With Animated Hedgehog, Flowers

Spring season of 2021 is being welcomed by Google through a colourful, animated doodle. The season begins this year from March 20 and ends on June 21. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3lxMBOW

The best laptops: Premium laptops, budget laptops, 2-in-1s, and more

The dogpile of new laptop technologies—AMD’s Ryzen 5000 and Intel’s Tiger Lake CPUs, plus Nvidia’s RTX 30-series mobile GPUs—are leading to a welcome rain of faster, better portable PCs, the latest of which we’ve just started reviewing. It’s still a tight market, as  pandemic-fueled sales remain strong . But if you yearn for the latest and greatest, this is your time. Keep reading for the latest news and reviews. (Psst: We also have a list of the first laptops available with RTX 30-series .) To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2VwDY9f

Amazon’s Blink offers new storage options for its home security camera line

Customers can choose between two cloud-storage subscription plans or a $35 local storage option. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2Qe32o2

Nextbase 222X dash cam review: Classy, versatile design, good day video

Nextbase makes some of our favorite dash cams, but they’re also on the pricey side. The company’s new, Walmart-exclusive, dual-channel (front/rear) 222X reviewed here is more affordable ( $139 at Walmart.com ), and it handles the basics with Nextbase’s singular style. But it’s less expensive for a reason. Actually, a couple of reasons. This review is part of our ongoing roundup of the best dash cams . 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/3eWC4eU

Google Lens Logo Gets a Complete Redesign to Emphasise Its Camera Function: Report

Google Lens is reportedly getting a new logo that is very different compared to the previous two logos for the app. Blue is the most dominant colour followed by red, yellow, and green. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3eXsfNN

Windows 10: Guides, tips, tricks, and everything you need to know about Microsoft’s OS

Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system is constantly being updated, with major feature drops such as the Windows 10 October 2020 Update, plus smaller enhancements to new, built-in apps. Meanwhile, new builds are being tested as part of the Windows Insider updates, and we have some cool new features on their way. We’ve built this guide to present you with the most recent Windows 10 review, notify you about new Windows 10 Insider (beta) news, and list a number of new tips, tricks, and other hints to help you get the most out of Windows 10. Bookmark this guide and check back, as we’ll be updating it with new information as it comes in. In this update, we've added new information about what's coming in upcoming releases of Windows 10, including some cool new features that have shown up in the Windows 10 Insider Dev Channel. More tips and tricks are in here, too, like making your PC easier on the eyes. Read on! To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld ...

How to make your PC take the Steam Hardware Survey

You hang up on phone surveys and pretend no one is home when a government census taker rings the door bell, but god forbid if your gaming PC doesn’t get counted in Valve’s important Steam Hardware Survey. And why not? As the pulse of the world’s largest gaming store, you want your hardware to count if it helps tell developers they need to make games that support 16-core CPUs and ultrawide screens. While there’s definitely reason to question whether the Steam Hardware Survey is truly a random sample of hardware—as Jarred Walton of Tom’s Hardware notes here  and Extreme Tech’s Joel Hruska talks about here —even worse is not to be counted at all. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3c1skhS

Andover Audio Songbird review: This budget-priced music streamer is no featherweight

A low-priced audio component that compares favorably to the likes of Sonos and Bluesound—at a fraction of the price. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3vDNjPn

XFX Radeon RX 6700 XT Merc 319 review: Big, beautiful, and utterly silent

The Radeon RX 6700 XT is here, and once again , XFX returns with an absolutely spectacular custom spin on AMD’s new GPU—if you have room for it in your case, that is. The $570 XFX Radeon RX 6700 XT Merc 319 costs $90 more than the reference card (and will no doubt sell for much more than that on the street during today’s crippling GPU shortage), but you get a lot for your cash: A big, bold, barn-burning graphics card capable of fueling no-compromises 1440p gaming experiences without making a peep. Seriously, this graphics card is downright inaudible . It looks amazing too, with one of the cleanest and most aesthetically pleasing custom designs in recent memory. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3tGnsER

Android 12 DP2 Now Out: How to Download It on Your Pixel Phone, and What’s New

Android 12 Developer Preview 2 (DP2) has started rolling out for all compatible Google Pixel phones. The new Android release brings a list of interface-level changes and various new features over the previous Android developer preview. It is available for download for app developers. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3c2aZVU

Google Launches Threadit, a ‘Tiktok for Work’ Short Video Clips Messaging Service

Google says that Threadit helps you say and show more with a video message than with an email or chat. It can be used to show each other progress, ask questions or request feedback without needing to coordinate schedules. It eliminates the need to host virtual meetings. It also equips users more time to think, do more focused work, and the eventual meetings that do ta... from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3cQO7rJ

YouTube Shorts Beta Rollout Begins in US After India Testing

YouTube Shorts beta version is being rolled out in US after testing in India. The short video feature of the popular video streaming app aims to take on TikTok. The popularity of YouTube Shorts soared during testing in India, and it has been racking up more than 6.5 billion views a day by people tuning in overall, according to product lead Todd Sherman of the Google-o... from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2QlSlQz

Astell&Kern offers a USB-C DAC for mobile high-res audio

The tiny USB-C Dual DAC Cable can be used with smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other mobile devices equipped with a USB-C port. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3eU7Zgj

The Full Nerd special episode: Radeon RX 6700 XT deep-dive with AMD's GPU chief

Our comprehensive Radeon RX 6700 XT evaluation tells you everything you need to know about AMD’s just-launched graphics card, including performance results with Smart Access Memory and real-time ray tracing active. But if you want to dive even deeper, don’t miss PCWorld’s exclusive interview with Radeon chief Scott Herkelman below. Scott’s no stranger to the show, and he returned to answer well over an hour’s worth of questions about AMD’s latest RDNA 2 GPU  from both us and the live audience. During the course of the interview he provided fresh insight into AMD’s forthcoming FidelityFX Super Resolution feature and other topics, like: To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3cKddbI

Nvidia doubles GeForce Now's paid price to $10 per month

When it launched last year , Nvidia warned that the $5 “Founders” subscriptions to its stellar GeForce Now game streaming service would only exist for a limited time, and on Thursday the company kept its promise. Going forward, the premium tier for GeForce Now will be dubbed a Premium membership and cost $10 per month or $100 per year, twice as much as before. Bummer. Doubling the price of a paid GeForce Now subscription doesn’t look good at first blush, but it’s not quite as bleak as it sounds. Nvidia will still offer free, unlimited-use GeForce Now accounts that let you play your PC games for up to an hour before asking you to join the queue again. The paid Premium membership earns you a spot at the front of that queue and extends session lengths to six hours, and it lets you turn on real-time ray tracing in games that support it. It’s an exact match for the previous Founders subscription’s feature set, just with a new name and twice the cost. To read this article in full, pleas...

Microsoft's PowerPoint Presenter Coach uses AI to help you nail your presentation

If you’re the type of person who methodically fine-tunes their PowerPoint presentations the night before, or someone who just wants to improve their speaking style—well, Microsoft’s AI is ready and eager to help you out with PowerPoint Presenter Coach. Originally launched in July 2019 , PowerPoint Presenter Coach is now generally available for Windows, the web, and even iOS and Android, Microsoft said Wednesday. The tool looks at several aspects of your presentation, from the language you use to even how you address speakers, and offers advice. You’ll need to subscribe to Microsoft 365 to use Presenter Coach, however. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/38OwcAL

YouTube Studio Gets New 'Checks' Feature, Flags Copyright Issues Before Publishing

YouTube’s new Checks feature will allow creators to modify their content before publishing and avoid copyright infringement. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3tvmawc

Google Moving Away From Tracking Users via ‘Cookies’ Said to Be Drawing US Antitrust Scrutiny

Google Chrome phasing out the practice of tracking user behaviour through cookies could draw scrutiny from US Justice Department investigators who have been asking advertising industry executives whether the move by the search giant will hobble its smaller rivals, people familiar with the situation said. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3cNYFaO

Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 6700 XT review: Performance-boosting Trixx

The Radeon RX 6700 XT hits the streets today, and it’s a fantastic graphics card for 1440p and high refresh rate 1080p gaming. But in an unusual twist, AMD’s darn good reference version of the RX 6700 XT isn’t your only option available on day one. While the Radeon RX 6800-series and flagship RX 6900 XT  initially released in reference form with custom models following weeks later, AMD partners like Sapphire, XFX, and Asus can ship their bespoke 6700 XT versions at the same time as the reference card for this launch. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3rZyyEq

How to find a new AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT: Go to the store

To help combat scalpers and bots, AMD will turn to an old-school solution to get its new Radeon RX 6700 XT into the hands of gamers: brick and mortar. The company said it has allocated more than its usual allotment of GPUs to retail store Micro Center as an experiment to see if it will help get the graphics cards to its core customer base of PC gamers. AMD GPU chief Scott Herkelman told PCWorld the company hopes physical retail availability should help blunt some of the bots that have intercepted cards over the last few months. MicroCenter maintains 25 stores spread across the United States. It's unclear whether MicroCenter will open stores earlier or otherwise try to accommodate eager GPU buyers, but the store has opened extra early in the past. For example, customers have lined up at zero-dark-thirty to buy AMD's Ryzen 3000 chips in the past. If the Micro Center test works, Herkelman said the company will likely seed additional retail stores with cards, too. To read th...

More of your cord-cutting questions answered

Cord-cutting questions answered: Internet options, antenna issues, DVR solutions, and more. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/30QZB8W

Learn how to clean your Roomba’s bin the right way

Sure, you’ve been tossing the dirt in your Roomba’s bin into the trash after every cleaning. But have you checked its filter lately? from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2OKo6Cj

Mastering your password manager: 5 must-know tips

If you aren’t using a password manager yet, you really need to start, because protecting online accounts has never been more important. To take just one example, a personal email account now contains years of not only correspondence, but also purchase histories, travel plans, and links to other key accounts, including credit cards and banks. You probably also have passwords for banking, home security systems, social media, and digital platforms at work. And on, and on, and on. With all that critical information floating around your digital world, securing that world is extremely important—and that’s where password managers come in. With a password manager, you no longer have to rely on that old (and insecure) trick of using one easily remembered password on multiple accounts. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3lsV8CL

Justice League Snyder Cut Out Now in India on BookMyShow Stream, Hungama Play, More

Justice League Snyder Cut is out now in India on Apple TV, BookMyShow Stream, Google Play Movies, Hungama Play, Tata Sky, and YouTube Movies. Here’s how you can watch Zack Snyder’s Justice League in India. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3vKSFsr

OnePlus Watch Won’t Run on Wear OS by Google, Will Feature ‘Burdenless’ Design

OnePlus Watch won’t come with Google’s Wear OS and will run on a custom operating system, OnePlus Co-Founder and CEO Pete Lau confirmed on the company’s forum. Lau also said that the new smartwatch will feature a “burdenless” design. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3s0qQd4

Microsoft is testing its own IFTTT clone within Windows

Microsoft’s Power Platform is an entire suite of Microsoft applications you’ve probably never heard of. Think of it as a framework for developing apps for people who can’t develop apps. And now one of the applications, Power Automate Desktop, may be headed to Windows as a sort of superpowered macro tool. Power Automate Desktop will now be part of the Windows Accessories folder, accessible from the Start menu. Power Automate Desktop also arrives as Microsoft does a little tidying up in the Windows interface, eliminating apps that it’s given up on, such Paint3D and 3D Viewer.  So what is Power Automate Desktop? It’s easiest to think of it as a supercharged macro program, combining what Microsoft calls “robotic process automation” with AI smarts. The tool is designed to eliminate “busy work” by acting like a macro—taking information from one field, adding it to another, and so on. Power Automate Desktop works across various applications—launching them, recording and then repe...

Microsoft is testing Auto HDR to improve non-HDR Windows PC games

When the Xbox Series X and S launched with its Auto HDR feature late last year, the PC was left out in the cold. That could soon change. Microsoft has begun testing the feature on the PC as part of the Windows 10 Insider Build 21337, and there’s even a cool new split-screen feature that lets you see the differences on your own screen. What’s HDR, more formally known as High Dynamic Range? If you’ve recently purchased a television, chances are it contains HDR support, which offers increased brightness, higher contrast, and a wider color gamut. HDR is used to make everything look better, such as accurately displaying a blazing sun while maintaining dark shadows across other parts of the screen. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3cG9Ylu

Intel mocks Apple by hiring the 'I'm a Mac' actor

Apple's former "I'm a Mac" dude now says MacBooks actually kind of suck now that they're not based on x86-chips. That's right: Actor Justin Long, who wrankled PC fans for years with Apple's catchy "I'm a Mac" commercials from the late 2000s, has turned on Macs. The series of videos posted on Youtube punch the Mac platform over a lack of hardware diversity, touchscreens, and 2-in-1 capability. All that, plus invisible gaming capabilities and even the inability to run three monitors simultaneously. The videos even parody the same catchy jingles that Apple used in its commercials, which Steve Job's once deemed too funny at one point. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3bX2ueK

More than 60 EA games are headed to Xbox Game Pass for PC tomorrow

If you subscribe to Xbox Game Pass for the PC and have been looking for something new to play, look no longer: EA Play is bringing more than 60 PC games to the Game Pass for PC and Game Pass Ultimate services beginning on Thursday. EA Play arrived on console last year, and since then Xbox One and Series S/X gamers have been able to choose from a number of different games, including  FIFA 20,  Madden, Titanfall,  the Battlefield series, and more. Now those games are coming to the PC, along with the new  Star Wars: Squadrons. We wrote last year that the Game Pass for PC subscription was the best deal in PC gaming , and it’s just become even better. The Game Pass for PC service costs $10 per month, and as of last year it included 193 games. (But why pay? If you haven’t heard of Microsoft Rewards, give it a try .) And now it’s even adding more games to its portfolio. The Game Pass backlog is real. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWor...

Ask AMD's GPU chief about the Radeon RX 6700 XT on The Full Nerd today

Reviews lifted for AMD’s new Radeon RX 6700 XT today ahead of the graphics card’s release tomorrow. Our comprehensive Radeon RX 6700 XT evaluation tells you everything you need to know about the GPU, including performance results with Smart Access Memory and real-time ray tracing active, but if you want to dive even deeper be sure to tune in later today when we interview Radeon chief Scott Herkelman live on our Full Nerd podcast . Scott’s no stranger to the show, and he returns this afternoon to answer our (and your) questions about AMD’s latest RDNA 2 GPU . Do you want to learn more about how the Radeon RX 6700 XT manages to hit its ludicrous 2.4GHz clock speeds? What the company’s radical new Infinity Cache means for performance? What AMD is doing in response to miners gobbling up graphics cards left and right? Tune in and find out. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3rWWXKQ

OnePlus Watch Specifications Leaked, Could Feature Warp Charge, IP68 Rating

OnePlus Watch key specifications have been tipped. It is said to come with features like IP68 dust and water resistance as well as Warp Charge support. The wearable, which is scheduled to launch alongside the OnePlus 9 series of smartphones, could also feature a swimming mode, sleep tracking, and heart rate and SpO2 monitoring. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3rYLLNH

AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT review: A good GPU that (understandably) costs too much

“There are no bad products, only bad prices.” That well-worn adage, attributed to Anandtech founder Anand Shimpi, kept popping into my head as I reviewed AMD’s Radeon RX 6700 XT. This is a barn-burning graphics card for 1440p and 1080p gaming, but at $479 the price is far too high—at least in theory. In reality, graphics cards have been almost impossible to find thanks to a crushing mixture of supply shortages, insane demand for all gaming hardware, logistics woes, tariffs, and the mania swirling around the booming Ethereum cryptocurrency. Newly stocked graphics cards sell out instantly at proper retailers and go for hundreds of dollars over MSRP at resale sites like Ebay and Craigslist. Even used two- and three-generation-old GPUs are being scooped for more than their launch prices new many, many years ago. Things are so bad that Nvidia recently revived the ancient GTX 1050 Ti —an entry-level graphics card that first launched in 2016. To read this article in full, please click ...

Radeon RX 6700 XT tested: 5 key things you need to know

The wait is over. Today, we can tell you what we think about AMD’s $480 Radeon RX 6700 XT graphics card, ahead of its March 18 launch date tomorrow. Our comprehensive Radeon RX 6700 XT review covers everything you need to know about the card, while our RDNA 2 deep dive explains the GPU architecture that powers it. We know not everyone has the time (or the inclination) to parse thousands of words and dozens of performance graphs. Here are five key things you need to know about the Radeon RX 6700 XT, distilled from the long hours we’ve spent benchmarking the graphics card. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3bSorvA

Google Chrome 89 Getting Live Caption Feature on Desktop

Live Caption feature is now rolled out for Google Chrome 89 on desktop. It was previously available to Android phones. The feature can be enabled from the Accessibility settings. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3qYg4CO

How to make Windows 10 more tolerable with these six simple tricks

In what was either a revelation or a sign of getting older, I recently experienced a sudden urge to make my Windows 10 mouse cursor bigger. Squinting at the teeny default cursor in Windows 10, I wondered why I was punishing myself. A quick trip to Windows settings, and I was in business with a larger pointer. Life’s too short to feel ashamed at making screen elements larger than the default. Making this switch got me thinking about all the other little tweaks I’ve done to make using Windows a little more pleasant. A short list is below: Change your Windows 10 cursor size and color In Windows, you can make the cursor larger by heading to Settings > Ease of Access > Mouse Pointer , or by typing “mouse size” in the Start menu and pressing Enter. Look for the “Change pointer size” slider on the settings page. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3tuQ9o1

Sensibo Pure smart air purifier review: This smart appliance clears the air using brains more than brawn

This small, smart, and connected room air purifier can work alone or in conjunction with one of Sensibo’s air-conditioner controllers. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3vJFoQO

SwitchBot Curtain review: Transform your dumb drapes into smart curtains

This surprisingly inexpensive gadget lends an air of sophistication to your window coverings. from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3tlXSVs

Google Lens for Android Gets Gallery Mode for Quicker Access to Screenshots: Report

Google Lens for Android will now let you access your gallery from within the app. However, only a beta version has been spotted as of now. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3rV0LMJ

Apple, Google’s New App Store Revenue Policy to Affect Only Up to 5 Percent of Their Earnings: Sensor Tower

As per key estimates from Sensor Tower, if Google had introduced the 15 percent fee schedule rule for all companies with Google Play revenue up to $1 million (roughly Rs. 7 crores) in 2020, the tech giant would have missed out on $587 million (roughly Rs. 4,260 crores) of earnings last year. This is reported to be just about 5 percent of total Google Play fees, which ... from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3bTJFco

Google US Antitrust Case: More US States Join Texas-Led Lawsuit

Four more states have joined a lawsuit filed by Texas and others against Google that accuses it of breaking antitrust laws to boost its already dominant advertising business, the Texas attorney general said. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3eIaqlY

Google Nest Hub 2nd-Generation Smart Display With Sleep-Tracking Features Launched

Google Nest Hub, the company’s second-generation smart display, has been launched. Apart from audio-related upgrades, the device now has Sleep Sensing features that uses Soli low-energy radar technology to track the user’s sleep. The second-generation Google Nest Hub comes with a dedicated on-device machine learning chip. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/38NcLZ9

Google Play to Cut App Store Fee by Half on Developers' First $1 Million in Sales

Google will cut the service fee it charges developers on its app store by half on the first $1 million (roughly Rs. 7 crore) they earn in revenue in a year, after a similar move by rival Apple last year. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/38JE7PN

Dropbox adds a free, limited password manager

Last year, Dropbox launched a password manager as part of its paid Dropbox plans. On Tuesday the company said it’s making the technology available to those who use the free Dropbox plans, too. Unfortunately, the Dropbox solution isn’t as good as what other free password managers offer. Beginning in April, users of the Dropbox Basic plan can try a limited version of the Dropbox password manager, known as Passwords. Here’s the catch: You’ll be able to save only 50 passwords. You’ll also be limited to syncing those passwords on three devices. (Eventually you’ll be able to share those passwords securely via another user—that feature is coming soon, Dropbox says.) To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3rXYsZ9

Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 is on sale for up to 30 percent off

Microsoft is issuing substantial discounts of up to 30 percent on the Surface Laptop 3 Remove non-product link . Whether it’s because Microsoft will soon release an updated Surface Laptop 4, as rumored, we don’t know for sure, but keep that possibility in mind as you shop.  To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3rXOl6w

Why XMP and memory overclocking are OK even if they void your warranty

Now that Intel’s 11th-gen Rocket Lake CPUs have formally adopted memory overclocking on locked CPUs, including adding support for more budget-friendly motherboards, you might assume the behavior carries no risk of voiding your CPU’s warranty. Like most assumptions, with this one you’d be wrong. Memory overclocking typically means running the memory beyond industry specs, such as running DDR4/2933 at the speed of DDR4/3200. Even though Intel now allows non-K chips or locked chips to overclock memory on cheaper H570 and H510 motherboards, the company still considers such behavior to be outside the warranty. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/38Ly5yb

Warning: LastPass's free password manager becomes a lot less useful today

Everyone should use a password manager, and LastPass is the best password manager around. One of its most appealing features is going away though. Currently, even free users can use the service on all their devices, but starting March 16 , you’ll be able to use it only on a single class of device (computer or mobile) at no cost. If you want to use Lastpass’s saved passwords on your laptop and your phone, you’ll need to pay up for a premium account. Editor’s note:  We’re bumping this post to make sure people are aware of the changes on the day they’re taking effect. Since its original publication on February 16, we’ve published a roundup of the best free password managers , though if you don’t mind paying a few bucks a month for the service, LastPass remains our favorite password manager overall . The original article continues below. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3vsc0yp

Windows 10's latest update fixes BSODs that occur while printing

If your PC is suffering from a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) while trying to print, a recent Windows Update from Microsoft may be to blame. Fortunately, Microsoft issued a patch on Tuesday that appears to solve the problem. However, the new patch requires you to manually search it out via the Windows Update function within Windows 10, for now. Last week, Microsoft issued Windows Update KB5000802, which inadvertently caused a user's PC to register a BSOD when they tried to print with printers reportedly ranging from Kyocera to Ricoh. Microsoft later acknowledged the issue. On Monday, Microsoft issued KB5001567 , an out-of-band patch which specifically resolves the problem. No other fixes are part of the release. To read this article in full, please click here from PCWorld https://ift.tt/3qQG4Ac