Marc Piasecki/Getty Images Elon Musk’s xAI, the startup that owns the X (formerly Twitter) social media platform and builds AI models, unveiled its latest innovation, Grok 3, on Monday. This AI model challenges the best from OpenAI in reasoning and other tasks. The unveiling follows Musk’s hostile bid for OpenAI, Inc., the non-profit that controls […] More
Getty Images / NurPhoto / Contributor Elon Musk was an investor in OpenAI when it was founded in 2015. Since then, he’s completely severed his ties with the startup, alleging the company has departed from its original non-profit mission. He created his own AI company, xAI, and with it, a large language model (LLM) called […] More
Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETWhat’s the deal?Dell’s Inspiron 16 Plus (7640) More
JBL/ZDNETIf you’ve been looking to upgrade your home audio this winter, this soundbar from JBL has excellent audio quality for music and movies and is on sale. Also: The best Presidents’ Day deals still availableYou can still get the JBL Bar 700 More
Allison Murray/ZDNETWhat’s the deal? The Samsung Freestyle 2 More
Kerry Wan/ZDNETNearly everything you do on your desktop, laptop, phone, and tablet begins with a Domain Name System (DNS) query. Essentially, DNS turns domain names (such as ZDNET.com) into an IP address so web browsers and apps know where to get the information you want. Also: I tried a new anti-stress browser to see if it could really help me relax – and it actually worksWithout DNS, you’d have to type 34.149.132.124 every time you wanted to go to ZDNET.com. Even by simply running a Google search, DNS is at work. The problem is that standard DNS isn’t encrypted, meaning all your queries are sent over the network as plain text.Why is non-encrypted DNS a problem?Let’s say you’re on a public network — like a coffee shop — and you start searching for things on your Android device. Or maybe you have to access a CMS or another work tool, and you don’t want the public to know the address you’re typing. If someone else is on the same network and has the skills, they could intercept your non-encrypted search queries (or the URLs you visit) and know exactly what you’re looking for.That’s where Private DNS Mode comes into play. Once you enable this feature, all of your DNS queries are encrypted, so any bad actors won’t be able to view them (even if they capture those packets). In other words, Private DNS Mode should be an absolute must for anyone who values their privacy and security.Also: How to easily use Cloudflare’s secure DNS on your Mac and why it even mattersBut how do you enable Private DNS Mode on Android? It’s actually pretty simple. Let me show you how.How to enable Private DNS mode on AndroidWhat you’ll need: The only thing you need to enable Private DNS Mode is an Android device running at least Version 9 of the operating system (which released in 2018). I’m using a Pixel 9 Pro but have used the feature going way back in the Android release cycle. Pretty much every modern Android phone is capable of enabling Private DNS. More
Kerry Wan/ZDNETGoogle is set to release the Pixel 9a, and WinFuture has released a fairly detailed look at this new device. The Pixel 9a will measure 6.09 x 2.89 x .35 inches, sport a 6.3-inch display with a resolution of 2424 x 1080 and a 120 Hz refresh rate and a 5100 mAh battery, and weigh 188g (which is less than the Pixel 8a), according to the leak. Also: The iPhone SE 4 this week isn’t what you’re expecting – and we can thank Apple Intelligence for thatThe handset runs on a Google Tensor G4 CPU, has 8GB of RAM, and either 128GB or 256GB of storage. The Pixel 9a also includes wireless charging capability, NFC, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 6, satellite support, and biometrics (finger and face). As for cameras, you’ll get a 48MP main with a 13MP ultrawide capable of 120-degree field of view, and a 13MP front-facing camera.Let’s compare that to my Pixel 9 Pro:Specifications More
<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways Lenovo’s sixth-generation ThinkPad T14s is available now, starting at $1,598. It’s is a powerful workhorse thanks to the new AMD Ryzen AI chipset and support for the speedy Wi-Fi 7 standard. Its display, on the other hand, isn’t all that impressive considering its price tag. more buying choices Whenever Lenovo isn’t […] More
