Brian Fagioli

In a world dominated by Windows laptops, the KDE Slimbook V emerges as a compelling alternative, blending cutting-edge hardware with the freedom of open-source software. This collaboration between Slimbook and KDE brings to the table a Linux machine that's not just about performance but also about user choice and privacy.

At the heart of the KDE Slimbook V lies an AMD 7840HS CPU, boasting 8 cores and 16 threads, ready to tackle everything from office tasks to code compilation. Paired with the impressive AMD 780M GPU, equipped with 12 cores and RDNA 3, this laptop promises smooth gaming and 3D rendering experiences, challenging the notion that Linux laptops can't keep up with their Windows counterparts in terms of graphics performance.

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Apple has launched a new sports app. The unimaginatively named Apple Sports not only provides real-time scores and stats for sports enthusiasts but also includes betting odds provided by DraftKings. This unexpected feature is sure to raise concerns among some users and observers who may be shocked by Apple's apparent endorsement of gambling, a move that seems uncharacteristic for a company usually associated with promoting good morals.

Apple Sports, now available for free in the App Store in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada, is designed to offer a personalized experience for sports fans, with a focus on speed and simplicity. The app covers a wide range of leagues currently in season, including the MLS, NBA, NHL, and Premier League, among others. Additional leagues like the MLB, NFL, and WNBA will be added in the future.

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Today, Google launches Gemma -- a new family of open AI models designed to help developers and researchers build responsible AI applications. Developed by Google DeepMind and other teams across Google, Gemma models are built on the same technology as the Gemini models.

Gemma models are available in two sizes: Gemma 2B and Gemma 7B, each with pre-trained and instruction-tuned variants. Google is also releasing a Responsible Generative AI Toolkit to guide the creation of safer AI applications. The toolkit includes a safety classification methodology, a model debugging tool, and best practices for model builders.

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The Xbox Insider Program, initially known as the "Xbox Preview Program," marked its 10th anniversary in a blog post today. Over the past decade, the program has served as a platform for Xbox enthusiasts to provide feedback and participate in previews, ostensibly contributing to the development of Xbox products and services.

While the program has been touted as a way for fans to directly influence the future of Xbox, it raises questions about the ethics of relying on unpaid labor for product testing. Participants, often referred to as Xbox Insiders, essentially act as beta testers, identifying bugs and suggesting improvements without any form of monetary compensation.

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Micron has unveiled the Crucial T705 solid state drive. This PCIe 5.0 SSD is built using the company's advanced 232-layer TLC NAND technology, aiming to maximize the potential of Gen5 performance levels. It offers sequential read and write speeds up to 14,500MB/s and 12,700MB/s respectively. These speeds are promise quicker gaming experiences, faster video editing, and more efficient 3D rendering and AI application processing.

In terms of design, the T705 SSD features a premium black aluminum heatsink. This design choice is not just for aesthetics; it serves the practical purpose of dissipating heat efficiently. The SSD is engineered to operate without the need for noisy fans or liquid cooling systems, which could be an advantage for users seeking a quieter computing environment. Additionally, the T705 SSD is backwards compatible with Gen3 and Gen4 motherboards.

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Acer has announced the latest additions to its Swift series, the Swift Edge 16 and Swift Go 14. These laptops are designed to offer a blend of AI power and innovative features in a stylish, thin, and light package. Seriously, folks, they are both quite stunning.

These new models are equipped with AMD Ryzen 8040 Series processors, up to AMD Radeon 780M Graphics, and Ryzen AI technology, providing versatile performance and support for Acer’s AI-powered capabilities such as Acer PurifiedVoice, Acer PurifiedView, and the new Acer LiveArt photo-editing feature.

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CORSAIR has released the K65 PLUS WIRELESS. This keyboard features a compact 75% profile, which saves desk space while including essential arrow and utility keys for convenient game controls. It comes equipped with pre-lubricated CORSAIR MLX Red linear switches, known for their smooth operation and crisp responsiveness. These switches are hot-swappable, allowing users to customize the keyboard with their preferred switches.

In addition to its performance capabilities, the K65 PLUS WIRELESS is designed for a satisfying typing experience. It incorporates two layers of integrated sound dampening to reduce internal noise, resulting in quieter keystrokes. The keyboard is adorned with PBT dye-sublimated keycaps in midnight gray and silver accents, making it a stylish choice for daily use.

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Plugable has launched its latest offering, the USBC-6950M. This is a USB-C dual 4K HDMI adapter specifically designed for Apple Silicon Mac users seeking to expand their screen real estate beyond the laptop’s native capabilities. While it is designed for Apple Silicon Mac computers, it is not limited to them -- it is compatible with Chromebooks and Windows laptops too.

The USBC-6950M enables users to connect dual 4K 60Hz displays to their Macs effortlessly. It should be a great option for business travelers, hybrid office users, or anyone aiming to boost the productivity, really. It provides a seamless dual-display experience without the need for a full docking station, making it a convenient solution for those on the move.

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A new intelligent SIM card technology, known as rSIM (Resilient SIM), has been introduced in partnership with global operators Deutsche Telekom IoT and Tele2 IoT. The rSIM technology is designed to enhance network connectivity for IoT devices by offering an “always on” solution that aims to improve network resilience.

The rSIM is the world's first resilient SIM card that checks its own network connectivity and automatically switches between mobile operator profiles when disruptions occur. This technology allows two independent mobile operator profiles to be stored on a single SIM card, effectively upgrading a Single SIM device to a Dual SIM. By switching to a backup mobile operator profile in the event of an outage, rSIM aims to reduce the risk of disconnection, providing a potential solution for uninterrupted internet access for IoT devices.

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Wyze customers experienced a service disruption last Friday morning due to an outage originating from their partner, Amazon Web Services (AWS). This incident temporarily disabled Wyze devices, preventing users from accessing live camera feeds and event recordings. The company has since apologized for the inconvenience this caused.

During efforts to restore camera functionality, a security issue emerged. Approximately 13,000 Wyze users inadvertently received thumbnails from cameras that were not their own, and 1,504 users interacted with these thumbnails. In some instances, users were able to view event videos from other accounts. Wyze has confirmed that all affected users have been notified and reassured that the majority of accounts remained unaffected.

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In a surprising turn of events, the popular IRC client HexChat has announced its final release, 2.16.2, marking the end of an era for the open-source project. The release, which was made public on February 9, 2024, includes a handful of minor fixes and features that have been in the works over the past two years.

The decision to cease development comes from the project's lead, who revealed that HexChat has been largely unmaintained for several years. Despite the lack of active maintenance, the client continued to be a favorite among many in the IRC community. However, with no one stepping up to take over the reins, the time has come to say goodbye.

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In a significant upgrade from its predecessor, SABRENT has launched the Rocket RGB USB-C 20Gbps M.2 SATA/NVMe SSD Enclosure, promising to double the transfer speed of the previous 10Gbps model. This latest enclosure is available in two editions -- the EC-RGBG (available here for $49.99) and the "special edition" EC-RGBC (available here, also for $49.99) The special edition is essentially the same, but with a funky pinkish color scheme rather than grey.

The Rocket RGB enclosure supports both NVMe and SATA M.2 SSDs, accommodating a variety of sizes including 2230, 2242, 2260, and 2280. This versatility ensures that users won't be limited by the type of SSD they can use, making it a flexible option for a wide range of storage needs. The device operates over a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 connection, offering speeds of up to 20Gbps with compatible USB ports, and maintains backward compatibility with 5 and 10Gbps ports.

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Today, Google releases Android 15… sort of. You see, it is not a stable release, but instead, it is the official Developer Preview. And most likely, you cannot run it on your phone or tablet either. Right now, it is only available for certain Google Pixel devices -- the Pixel 6 series, Pixel 7 series, Pixel 8 series, Pixel Fold, and Pixel Tablet. Got a different Android device? Sorry, you must wait.

Android 15 continues to focus on elevating developer productivity while introducing new capabilities for creating superior media experiences. The platform is designed to minimize battery impact and maximize app performance, all while maintaining a strong emphasis on user privacy and security.

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Google has decided to make Magika open source, but what exactly is it? Well, it is an innovative AI-powered system that the search giant designed to revolutionize the way binary and textual file types are identified. Magika stands out for its ability to deliver precise file identification within milliseconds, even when operating on a CPU.

Magika employs a custom, highly optimized deep-learning model that has been meticulously designed and trained using Keras. This model is remarkably lightweight, weighing in at just about 1MB. For inference, Magika utilizes Onnx as an engine, ensuring that files are identified swiftly, almost as quickly as non-AI tools, even on a CPU.

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Lenovo has announced a strategic partnership with Anaconda Inc., the leading provider of the world’s most popular artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and data science platform. This collaboration aims to empower Lenovo’s renowned ThinkStation and ThinkPad workstation product portfolio by integrating Anaconda’s enterprise strengths in open-source leadership, security, and reliability.

The partnership comes at a time when the world of AI, deep learning, and generative AI is rapidly evolving, presenting new opportunities for businesses and data scientists. With the majority of AI innovation driven by open-source software and cloud-based solutions, and Python being a leading software language for AI applications, there is a growing need for secure and cost-effective AI development solutions.

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