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This $20 Anker power bank solved my biggest problem with portable chargers
Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNETWhat’s the deal?Right now, you can get the Anker Nano 22.5W Power Bank More
Eliana Willis
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- in Robotics
I revisited the System76 Thelio, and it remains my all-time favorite desktop
As The Tubes once sang, “She’s a beauty.” Jack Wallen/ZDNETZDNET’s key takeawaysThe System76 Thelio r3 More
- in Robotics
Upgrade to Windows 11 Pro for $20 – the lowest price we’ve seen
Get Windows 11 Pro at a big discount right now. StackSocial Need an operating system upgrade? Windows 11 Pro puts productivity in your hands with features that make everything from hybrid work to streaming entertainment easy, and you can grab the software for a discounted price right now through StackSocial. A lifetime subscription for the […] More
- in Robotics
My new favorite MagSafe battery pack supports Qi2 charging, has a kickstand, and isn’t made by Anker or Baseus
Kayla Solino/ZDNETZDNET’S key takeawaysThanks to some upgrades and a handy kickstand, Belkin’s BoostCharge Pro Qi2 MagSafe power bank More
- in Robotics
Gemini Live is finally available. Here’s how you can access it (and why you’ll want to)
Kerry Wan/ZDNETOne of generative AI’s most useful (and needed) applications is enhancing voice assistants, which have remained relatively unchanged for years. Now, Google is making several upgrades to its voice assistant experience with the help of Gemini. At the company’s Made by Google event on Tuesday, Google made Gemini its default voice assistant, replacing Google Assistant with a smarter alternative that can be interrupted, is aware of your Google apps, and can even help answer questions about the contents of your screen. Also: Google tops the Index with Gemini Live and Pixel’s AI featuresArguably the biggest Gemini announcement is that Google made Gemini Live available three months after announcing it at Google I/O. Gemini Live is an advanced voice assistant that can have human-like, multi-turn (or exchanges), verbal conversations on complex topics and even give you advice. For example, when speaking to the assistant, you can interrupt it mid-sentence, and the assistant will still understand you. You can also pick from multiple voices to enhance your conversation experience.However, there’s a catch: only Gemini Advanced subscribers on Android devices can access it. The feature is already being rolled out to both Samsung and Pixel devices. As a bonus, Pixel Pro 9 users get access to the Google One AI Premium Plan, which includes access to Gemini Advanced — and, therefore, Gemini Live — at no additional cost for the first year. But for all other Android users, it’s hard to say whether Gemini Live is worth paying $20 per month for a Google One AI Premium Plan. If you want to see whether the plan is worth it, you can try it for free via a one-month trial. Also: How to try Google’s new Gemini Live AI assistant for freeWhen announced at Google I/O, Gemini Live also had multimodal capabilities, which allowed it to use the camera to see the world around you and ingest that as context for answers. That feature, however, has not been released yet. More
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I love everything about this Android tablet (especially the $219 price)
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET ZDNET’s key takeaways The Blackview Mega 1 is available directly from Blackview More
A ‘very large percentage’ of Pixel phones have a hidden security vulnerability
Kerry Wan/ZDNETIf you have a Pixel phone, there’s a newly discovered vulnerability you should be aware of.Security firm iVerify just published a blog about its report which details how “a very large percentage” of Pixel phones shipped since 2017 have an app with a vulnerability that leaves them “susceptible to man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks, giving cybercriminals the ability to inject malicious code and dangerous spyware.”Also: How to find and remove spyware from your phoneThe vulnerability in question is showcase.apk, a software package that turns a phone into a demo device for employees at Verizon stores to show off features of Pixel phones to potential customers. While it was just for Verizon employees, the software was present on almost all Pixel phones in the past 7 years.The problem is, the application runs at the system level and has deep system privileges, even remote software installation and code execution (something iVerify notes isn’t even needed for the intended purpose). More
IBM to set up ‘full stack’ AI facility at university
MF3d/Getty Images IBM has unveiled plans to set up a “full-stack” tech infrastructure at a Singapore university to support research and development efforts in artificial intelligence (AI). Located at the National University of Singapore (NUS), the new facility will be decked out with IBM’s AIU (AI Unit) accelerators and open-source AI models, including the tech […] More
