Browsing: Tech Reviews

Amazon may have announced new Echo Show devices recently, but it didn’t touch the humble Echo Spot. The smart alarm clock remains the smallest Echo device with a display, but it’s one that’s really best just for showing the time, weather and other quick bits of information. You can grab one now for only $45 thanks to Prime Day deals; that’s 44 percent off its usual price.The latest incarnation of the diminutive Spot was introduced in July 2024, and this matches its record-low price. For that you get a comfortably bedside-sized device with a sharper display than its predecessor, as…

Anker Soundcore Motion 300: Bose makes its excellent SoundLink Flex Bluetooth speaker that sells for about $150 and sometimes goes on sale for less. The Soundcore Motion 300 is Anker’s answer to that Bose speaker. Around the same size as the Bose, it doesn’t sound quite as good but it sounds impressive for its compact size and lists for only $80. Like the SoundLink Flex, it can be laid down flat with its speaker firing up toward the ceiling or propped up as shown in the photo above. It’s IPX7 waterproof and delivers up to 13 hours of audio at…

AI writers are quietly replacing authentic communication in many workplaces todayAI-generated performance reviews leave employees questioning trust and management’s empathyManagers admit to using AI writers for reviews and even layoffsAI-assisted writing has moved from an optional experiment to an everyday reliance in many workplaces, new research has warned.A ZeroBounce survey of 1,000 US professionals claims employees and managers are integrating AI tools into routine communication, sometimes in ways which raise uncomfortable questions about trust and authenticity.The study found mearly a quarter of employees (24%) now report using AI daily for drafting or editing emails, with those in tech most likely…

UniFi Drive is the latest development within Ubiquiti’s UniFi ecosystem, designed to transform the host hardware device, often referred to as the UniFi console, into a network-attached storage (NAS) server, known as UniFi NAS or UNAS. Among over half a dozen UniFi applications, UniFi Drive is the youngest—less than a year old to date. Consequently, Ubiquiti’s NAS is also new in the market. For example, UGREEN, the second newest player on the field, debuted its first servers, represented by the NASync DXP6800 Pro, in March 2024. In contrast, Synology, the founding member of the NAS concept, began its storage journey…

Together, these teams would operate as intelligence arms of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division. They will receive tips and incoming cases, research individuals online, and package the results into dossiers that could be used by field offices to plan arrests. The scope of information contractors are expected to collect is broad. Draft instructions specify open-source intelligence: public posts, photos, and messages on platforms from Facebook to Reddit to TikTok. Analysts may also be tasked with checking more obscure or foreign-based sites, such as Russia’s VKontakte. They would also be armed with powerful commercial databases such as LexisNexis Accurint and…

Redemption Road’s absolutely bonkers-looking medieval shooter, Kingmakers, was slated to launch in Early Access on October 8, but now its release has been pushed back with no new date in sight. The developers posted an update on Steam to say that the scheduled launch, just days away, “will no longer be possible,” going on to explain that they need “a bit more time on content polish before we feel good about charging money for it.”A statement posted by the developers of Kingmakers announcing that the game is delayed(Redemption Road Games)Kingmakers has generated a fair amount of hype since it was…

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a tough one. One of the answers — it starts with S — is especially tough, both to find and then to unscramble. So if you need hints and answers, read on.I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1:…

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test. HP ZBook Ultra G1a 14: 30-second reviewExternally, this machine bears an uncanny resemblance to HP’s EliteBook X G1a, and while there are differences on the underside, the whole top of this machine, including the screen, keyboard and ports, is identical.However, inside this machine is a radical departure, as it uses the AMD Ryzen AI 395 Max+ processor, a full-blown Strix Halo chip. Therefore, HP has given it the title…

This post will help you upgrade to the latest Windows 11 25H2 (or any previous release) on any PC that’s capable of running Windows 10, including those that do not meet Windows 11’s hardware requirements—without TPM 2.0, powered by an unsupported CPU, or lacking Secure Boot. There’s no need for a third-party tool, special commands, a USB thumb drive, or finicky registry tweaks if you use the ISO installer files I provide below. I’ll also point you in the right direction to upgrade your computer using an original installer ISO downloaded directly from Microsoft. Dong’s note: I first published this…

As generative AI has taken off since ChatGPT’s debut, inspiring hundreds of billions of dollars in investments and infrastructure developments, the top question on many people’s minds has been: Is generative AI a bubble, and if so, when will it pop? To help us potentially answer that question, I’ll be hosting a live conversation with prominent AI critic Ed Zitron on October 7 at 3:30 pm ET as part of the Ars Live series. As Ars Technica’s senior AI reporter, I’ve been tracking both the explosive growth of this industry and the mounting skepticism about its sustainability. You can watch…