Articles about Tech News

Amazon has some good news for fans of its eero routers. The retail giant has just added two new models to its Wi-Fi 7 lineup -- the eero 7 and eero pro 7. These new devices promise fast multi-gigabit speeds at prices that won’t empty your wallet.

The eero 7 is a dual-band router running on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, and offers wireless speeds up to 1.8 Gbps and wired speeds up to 2.3 Gbps with its two 2.5 GbE ports. Its small size means it should fit neatly on a shelf or desk, perfect for tighter spaces, and a single unit covers 2,000 square feet, which will be enough for an apartment or modest home. A twin-pack will cover 4,000 square feet, while a triple-pack will stretch to 6,000 square feet. Pricing starts at $169.99 for one, $279.99 for two, or $349.99 for three, which feels like a steal for Wi-Fi 7.

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Black History Month is officially here, and Google is kicking things off with a major celebration of Black creators, artists, and innovators across its platforms. From YouTube and Google TV to the Play Store and Chrome, the search giant is making it easier than ever to explore Black culture all month long.

On YouTube, Google is shining a spotlight on rising Black stars and legendary voices in music, TV, and social media. YouTube Music is serving up playlists dedicated to regional dance genres like Chicago House and NOLA Bounce, while artwork from Stonie Blue will bring even more energy to the platform throughout February.

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In a brief but surprising announcement on icq.com, it was revealed that ICQ, one of the pioneers of instant messaging, will be shutting down next month. This news comes as a shock to the many users who have relied on the service for decades. The announcement on ICQ's official website was concise, stating simply that the service would stop working on June 26, 2024.

ICQ, which stands for "I Seek You," was launched in 1996 and quickly became a staple of online communication. It introduced millions to the concept of instant messaging, long before the advent of social media and modern messaging apps. Over the years, ICQ evolved to keep up with technological advancements, but its core functionality remained the same: connecting people in real-time.

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Following the discovery of malicious code, fwupd, the popular firmware update utility, has decided to transition from xz to zstd compression for its metadata. Richard Hughes, the lead developer behind fwupd, outlined the rationale behind this decision in a recent blog post.

For years, fwupd has relied on compressed metadata to facilitate firmware updates for a wide array of hardware. This metadata, essentially a large XML file, was initially compressed using gzip, resulting in a 1.6MB download for end-users. However, in 2021, the fwupd team switched to xz compression, further reducing the file size to 1.1MB and saving significant bandwidth.

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Today, Ubuntu-maker Canonical announces a comprehensive redesign of its Snapcraft.io platform. The online store, known for its collection of “snaps” -- software packages designed for Linux distributions -- has taken a major leap forward, moving away from its long-standing user interface and style.

The redesign project, which Snapcraft.io embarked upon after numerous years of maintaining a consistent aesthetic, has been executed with the aim of modernizing the overall look and feel of the platform. The initiative has involved a meticulous analysis of potential improvements, resulting in a two-stage rollout.

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