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TCL Nxtpaper 11 Plus <!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The TCL Nxtpaper 11 Plus is available for $249. This tablet can switch from full color to an E Ink-like display with the press of a button, it has 256GB of storage, and an eye-catching matte display with 120Hz refresh rate. The Nxtpaper 11 Plus can get […] More
TCL 60 XE Nxtpaper 5G <!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways TCL’s 60 XE Nxtpaper 5G is on sale on Amazon for $222. It has a unique display, and a feature set that promotes minimalism and digital well-being. I just wish the camera system and general performance were better. –> Being glued to your smartphone’s screen all […] More
Voltme Hypercore 10K power bank <!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways Voltme’s Hypercore 10K power bank is available on Amazon for $23. It’s very compact and easy to carry, with both USB-C and USB-A ports to charge two devices simultaneously. Its small but chunky, as some might prefer a flatter charger. –> Power banks are a tradeoff: […] More
JBL Bar 1000MK2 <!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The JBL Bar 1000MK2 includes a soundbar, two detachable rear speakers, and an external subwoofer for $1,200. It’s a versatile system, with powerful audio performance suitable for large rooms. It’s not an ideal option for people who want permanent rear speakers. more buying choices The original JBL Bar […] More
Jack Wallen/ZDNETZDNET’s key takeawaysDebian 13 (aka “Trixie”) is now available for general use.This latest release is an elegant, smooth, and stable OS.Trixie ships with plenty of applications, a new theme, and a modern kernel.Debian is often called the “mother of all distributions” because so many distributions (such as Ubuntu) use it as a base. The reason for this is twofold: Debian is user-friendly and is absolutely rock-solid. It’s a rare occasion that I run into an operating system that is as reliable as Debian. Part of the reason for this is the time the developers take before releasing a new iteration. The time between releases allows them to do extensive testing, which ensures the release is sound.As far as what’s new in the release, you can check out this detailed description from my brother in open-source, Steven Vaughan Nichols. For this piece, I want to give you my initial impression of the latest iteration of that Linux distribution that inspires so many others.Debian 13.It is, in a word… smooth.Also: 7 things every Linux beginner should know before downloading their first distroBut what is smooth, with regard to an operating system?It’s simple: as you use Debian 13, you feel calm, like you’re interacting with an old friend who somehow always looks and behaves much younger than they should. While you’re with them, you always seem at peace.That’s the feeling I get with Debian 13.It’s not a showstopperI don’t mean this in a bad way. If you’ve used Debian for any length of time, you know full well that each release isn’t going to bring massive, profound, and eye-opening changes. With this distribution, it’s all about subtlety.At least on the surface.There are some significant changes that have been undertaken below the surface (such as the new /tmp behavior, apt 3.0, a new default theme, and all the upgrades to whatever desktop environment you choose), but from the naked eye, it looks very much like “second verse, same as the first.”Again, that’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s that familiarity that keeps many a user sticking with Debian. I can’t remember a time when I’ve installed a new Debian release and thought, “Wow! That’s changed a lot!” It’s always, “This looks surprisingly just like the last release.” Also: You can try Linux without ditching Windows first – here’s howOf course, that also depends on which desktop environment you select. I went with KDE Plasma for my testing, and it looks pretty much like every KDE Plasma-based distribution I’ve tried lately (only with a slightly different theme). Of course, I immediately switched themes (I’m not a fan of dark themes), which is as easy as going to System Settings > Colors & Themes and selecting Breeze.Debian 13 ships with kernel 6.12 and KDE Plasma version 6.3.6. Those two together make a brilliant combination. Apps open quickly, animations and scrolling are buttery smooth, font rendering is stellar, updates/upgrades are fast, and everything behaves exactly as you’d expect from a high-performing desktop operating system.And, of course, it’s KDE Plasma, so it looks great and is highly configurable. In just a few quick clicks, I changed the look and feel of the desktop (even adding widgets). More
Kerry Wan/ZDNETPixel phones have an excellent reputation for smart software, but battery life has been a common complaint with Google’s smartphones. Thankfully, that same smart software is now improving battery life and longevity, though many features aren’t set up for maximum endurance out of the box. I’ve found that a handful of features can dramatically improve how long your Pixel lasts, both in a single day and over the long haul.Also: I’ve owned every Google Pixel flagship phone since the first – here’s why 2025 will be differentHere are the battery tweaks I rely on with my Pixel, and how you can set them up for the best results.1. Use Battery Saver and Extreme Battery Saver modes More
SOPA Images / Contributor / Getty Images ZDNET’s key takeaways AT&T’s $177 million settlement is for data breaches in 2019 and 2024. Claim up to $5,000 (first breach) and $2,500 (Snowflake hack), or both. File claim by Nov. 18, 2025, either online or by mail. If you’re a current or former AT&T customer, here’s some […] More
ZDNETZDNET’s key takeaways:Grok 4 is now accessible by default for unpaid xAI usersRestrictions around the “limited” free access period are unclear.The move appears to be an effort to attract more paying users.Elon Musk’s AI start-up xAI has made its latest model, Grok 4, available to all users — both paid and unpaid. Grok now automatically opens in Auto mode for users of the chatbot’s free tier, meaning the system automatically determines whether or not a given query needs Grok 4’s advanced reasoning capabilities, or if a more limited model will be up to the job (a similar approach to what OpenAI’s new GPT-5 model aims to do). Users can also manually select “Fast” mode, which generates responses more quickly using Grok 3, or “Expert” mode, which exclusively uses Grok 4, taking more time to come up with higher-quality responses.Also: GPT-5 bombed my coding tests, but redeemed itself with code analysisThe company announced the “limited” release in an X post on Sunday, though it didn’t specify the number of messages that unpaid users could exchange with the chatbot over a given time period or any other restrictions.”For a limited time, we are rolling out generous usage limits so you can explore Grok 4’s full potential,” the post read.Even Grok 4 itself was uncertain about the rules. “Exact limits for Grok-4’s free tier are unclear, as xAI hasn’t publicly detailed them, and they may vary by region or account type,” the chatbot wrote when I asked about the limits of the free access period. “To be safe, expect around five to 10 messages per 12 hours with Grok-4 on the free tier, but you might hit the limit sooner if you use complex queries or during peak times.”When xAI unveiled Grok 4 last month, Musk described it as “the world’s most powerful AI model,” claiming it outperformed frontier models like Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro and OpenAI’s 4o on several key benchmarks, including Humanity’s Last Exam.Also: How Google’s Genie 3 could change AI video – and let you build your own interactive worldsSubscriptions to Grok’s subscription tiers, SuperGrok and SuperGrok Heavy, still cost $30 per month and $300 per month, respectively.Covering the high costs of AIBy temporarily making Grok 4 available to all users, xAI appears to be angling in part to get its new model into the hands of as many people as possible — a tactic ZDNET senior editor Sabrina Ortiz has been tracking. A percentage of those people may be impressed enough by the new model’s abilities that, when they hit the limits of the free access window, they’ll decide that it’s worth upgrading to a paid subscription. xAI also plans to introduce ads into Grok’s responses to help pay for the high costs of running and refining the model, the Financial Times reported Thursday.Also: You can try Gemini Live in your favorite Google apps now, and it blew me awayMusk announced in another X post Sunday that xAI users can now “long press” — holding down on an icon for longer than just the usual quick tap of the thumb — on any image to pull up an option to turn it into a video using AI. This could also ultimately be a play to draw in advertisers: Amazon recently debuted a similar AI-powered text-to-video feature. Grok 4 vs. GPT-5The temporary release of Grok 4 to unpaid users comes just days after OpenAI — with whom Musk has long had a very public squabble — released GPT-5 to all users at once, a new approach for the company. Also: GPT-5 bombed my coding tests, but redeemed itself with code analysisAs of Monday, GPT-5 occupied the top spot in multiple critical categories (including text-generation, vision, and coding) on LMArena, an online platform where users can rate and compare the performance of large language models. OpenAI’s o3 model also defeated Grok 4 in the final round of Google Game Arena’s chess tournament last week. You can watch models duke it out here.Grok 4, however, outperformed GPT-5 by a hair in the ARC-AGI-2 — a test designed to gauge AI models’ high-level reasoning capabilities — though at a much higher cost ($2.17 per task versus $0.73 per task). Artificial Intelligence More
