Robotics

Going with the theme of Roku, I went with a TCL Roku TV for our guest bedroom TV, but there are other options from Toshiba, Samsung, Insignia, and more built in with streaming capabilities right off the bat–no streaming stick required. I plugged the TV in, signed directly into Roku, and it was set up in seconds. How easy is that? Most smart TVs come with Dolby Atmos support for cinema audio quality or Dolby Vision for crystal clear pictures. The other benefits of smart TVs is that aside from built-in streaming, you can set up voice controls via Alexa, Hey Google, or even Siri with an Apple HomeKit speaker to cast to the TV, control smart home devices, and more. Also: The best Roku TVs you can buy More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Vivobook S 15, Asus’ first Copilot+ PC, normally retails for over $1,000, but it’s currently on sale at Walmart for $709. It’s sleek and lightweight with a gorgeous OLED, 120Hz display, great battery life, and snappy performance. Users might run into the usual compatability issues seen on Arm-compatible devices. –> […] More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways Vonmählen’s Evergreen Mag is currently only available in Europe for €70. It’s ultra-thin and light with a premium metal finish, USB-C port, and Qi2 charging pad. Unfortunately it’s not available in North America yet. –> The tech explosion has vastly outstripped our ability to recycle tech once it reaches the end […] More

gremlin/Getty Images In the year ahead, nine out of 10 organizations are expected to hire talent with generative AI expertise, with a quarter of organizations forecasting that at least half of their new hires will need this skill. In addition, six in 10 companies now have a chief AI officer (CAIO) to guide the process. […] More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The 2025 iPad 11th Generation is on sale now for $299 (typically $349.) The upgraded iPad has double the base storage as year’s model, more RAM, and an upgraded processor in the A16 Bionic chip. However, it still isn’t compatible with Apple Intelligence and doesn’t support the Apple Pencil Pro. more […] More

ZDNETHere we go again. A zombie news story that should have been laid to rest last January has risen from the grave and is walking among us again.The original storyIn case you missed the original story, here’s a recap: Last January, dozens of tech-focused news sites reported that the free upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 was “for a limited time only.” In a quote from the same source, they warned that Microsoft had decreed you would need to upgrade to Windows 11 to continue using Microsoft 365 apps on your PC after the Oct. 14, 2025, end-of-support deadline for Windows 10. Also: How to upgrade your ‘incompatible’ Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 – 2 free optionsThe problem with all those reports is they were based on an article by a very junior Microsoft employee posted on an obscure blog for Microsoft nonprofit customers. It wasn’t an official announcement, and the post was deleted that same day. A Microsoft spokesperson told ZDNET’s sister publication PCMag that the blog post “contained inaccurate information and a misleading headline.” Microsoft’s official support document, “What Windows end of support means for Office and Microsoft 365,” had been published a month earlier and was much less alarming. It begins: “Microsoft 365 apps will no longer be supported on Windows 10 after it reaches end of support on October 14, 2025.” That statement is repeated in bold later in the document: Support for Windows 10 will end on October 14, 2025. After that date, if you’re running Microsoft 365 Apps on a Windows 10 device, the applications will continue to function as before. However, we strongly recommend upgrading to Windows 11 to avoid performance and reliability issues over time. Back in the newsSo why did this zombie story start appearing in my news feeds today? I blame Forbes.They’re the ones standing there, shovel in hand, shouting about “Microsoft’s surprise deadline u-turn” while continuing to quote from the inaccurate, long-since-deleted zombie blog post. Also: Is your Microsoft account passwordless yet? Why it (probably) should be and how to do it rightToday’s fuss is based on a newly published page at Microsoft’s product documentation site, Microsoft Learn: “Windows 10 end of support and Microsoft 365 Apps,” which contains this note: To help maintain security while you transition to Windows 11, Microsoft will continue providing security updates for Microsoft 365 Apps on Windows 10 for three years after Windows 10 reaches end of support. These updates will be delivered through the standard update channels, ending on October 10, 2028. That shouldn’t be a surprise. The three-year continuation in security updates for Microsoft 365 matches the Windows 10 Extended Security Updates available to Microsoft’s enterprise customers. It would be a nightmare to rebuild the Microsoft 365 update servers so they delivered updates only to PCs running Windows 10 with an ESU subscription while blocking other Windows 10 devices. So everyone gets those updates. More

Through the Nitro Pro workspace, you can quickly download Windows, macOS, and iOS apps, as well as open up tools including requests to sign, self-signing, converting Word to PDF, and PowerPoint to PDF — or vice versa. The software’s user interface is easy to understand and contains all the functions you could need including text editing, highlighting, annotation, freestyle drawing, and conversion. However, in my opinion, Nitro Pro might be overkill for casual users. There are a few annoyances, such as trying to format and align large amounts of text, and sometimes the text correction function doesn’t work very well.The most interesting feature to note is Document Assistant. This tool, currently in beta, utilizes AI to create summaries, answer queries, or translate PDFs. You can upload files up to 25MB in size. So far, it seems quite good as a summary tool. You can choose between a variety of plans, including an individual license for $15 per month, starter pack bundles, small team subscriptions, and Nitro Pro Business, which includes volume license discounts. A 14-day free trial is available, but you don’t have to hand over any financial information. Demo modes, however, will watermark your documents. Although a lack of readily available support has been noted, many customers are still happy with the power of this PDF editor.Nitro Pro features: Editing functions | Document conversion | Demo available | Document Assistant AI | E-sign facilities | Free trial | SSO  More

“We’re excited to become a clinical-stage biotech company; it’s exciting from an AI drug discovery standpoint,” says Absci founder and CEO Sean McClain. Absci Artificial intelligence has been working its way into the drug development process for years now, but with little to show so far in revamping the notoriously burdensome process. While drugs are […] More