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Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET Those who like to spice up text messages with emojis may get tired of using the same old generic images. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could create your own emojis? Now, you can, if you own an iPhone or iPad that supports Apple Intelligence. Unveiled in iOS/iPadOS 18.2, a new feature called Genmoji lets you cook up your custom emoji. Just describe the character or object you envision, and Apple’s…

ChargerLAB Power-Z AK001 USB-C cable with power meter. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET If you’re a professional repair technician, then having one or more USB power meters in your toolkit is essential. These devices are invaluable as they provide a quick and efficient means of diagnosing issues.  A USB power meter can instantly read voltage and amperage, what power protocols are being used, and much more, helping technicians pinpoint power-related problems with various devices. This capability makes them…

Getty Images/Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library Slowly but surely, Starlink is growing into a leading broadband internet alternative. Its network of low Earth orbit satellites ensures its users high-speed internet access, even in areas where traditional infrastructure such as cell towers can’t reach. Now, that technology can provide service to your mobile device.  On Monday, T-Mobile opened registration for a T-Mobile Starlink beta program that aims to eliminate dead zones by leveraging Starlink’s 300 direct‑to‑cell satellites…

Screenshot by Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET OpenAI upped the ante in the video generation space earlier this month, making Sora — its state-of-the-art text-to-video generator model — available to ChatGPT Plus users with Sora Turbo. Now, Google is gearing up to compete with the launch of its most advanced video generator.  On Monday, Google launched Veo 2, a text-to-video generator that boasts improvements from the company’s previous model, including a better understanding of real-world physics, which helps the AI…

Google’s Willow quantum computing chip has 105 physical qubits crafted from superconducting “transmons,” a technique pioneered in 2007 at Yale University. Google Google’s quantum computing scientists this month demonstrated breakthroughs in the field that reinforce the sense that quantum computing is for real and will be able to find its place among other kinds of computers as a valuable resource.  But much remains to be done: Google’s latest quantum chip — called Willow and fabricated…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The LTV-3500 Pro projector is available now from the official AWOL site for $6,000. The LTV-3500 Pro projector creates some of the clearest images of any projector I’ve used, and the screen is remarkable, even with too much ambient light. The AWOL package is far too expensive for most family budgets. Let’s face it: I dig video and audio. Any chance I can try a new piece of technology, I’ll jump at…

Netflix Several months ago, Netflix made it easier to watch your favorite moments again and again and share them with friends. With the new “Moments” feature, you can quickly bookmark a scene while watching on your phone. At first, this was only available on iOS, but now it’s available on Android too.  Here’s how it works: tap “Moments” in the bottom left corner when you’re watching on the mobile app, and the scene will save directly…

DKosig/Getty Images Have you decided what to do with your Windows 10 PCs when they reach their official end-of-support date less than a year from now? I know some people who are convinced that Microsoft will back down at the last minute and extend that deadline. Take this prediction to the bank: That’s not gonna happen.  Also: The 3 most Windows-like Linux distros you can try because change is hard The end date is right there on…

Cisco is acquiring threat-detection startup SnapAttack for an undisclosed amount as it continues to expand its security portfolio. Established in 2001 by Booz Allen’s Dark Labs, SnapAttack is known for its threat detection and engineering technology, which melds threat intelligence, attack emulation, and behavioral analytics to help customers identify potential vulnerabilities and gaps in their networks, ideally before problems happen.  “SnapAttack provides a solution that supports the complete detection content lifecycle, starting with curated detection…

A video generated by Amazon’s new frontier model, Reel, using the phrase, “A snowman in a Venetian gondola ride, 4k, high resolution.” Amazon AWS Most reports on AWS’ re:Invent conference earlier this month, which brought us new chips and new data centers, overlooked the cloud giant’s unveiling of its first “frontier” models in generative artificial intelligence, code that can compete with the best from OpenAI and Google. Amazon debuted Nova, a “new generation of state-of-the-art foundation models that deliver frontier intelligence…