NETWORKING

ZDNET’s key takeaways KeySmart’s SmartCard is available from Amazon for $40 (3-pack for $90). It’s super thin, works with Apple iOS Find My, has a wireless rechargeable battery, and is IPX7-rated. It needs to be recharged every 5 months or so. Apple AirTags have changed my life, saving me countless hours looking for keys and other items that I absent-mindedly misplaced. But AirTags have a few design flaws. First, the replaceable battery means you’re chucking…

ZDNET’s key takeaways Microsoft has made one of the best work tablets of 2024 with the 11th-generation Surface Pro for $1,000. It’s one of the latest Copilot+ PCs housing next-gen hardware, long-lasting battery, and a stunning OLED touchscreen. As great as it may be, the device’s generative AI features don’t perform at the same level as the rest of the machine’s features. more buying choices There’s been a lot of hype surrounding Copilot+ PCs in…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is available for $200. I’ve been testing the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, which features the fastest performance yet and up to 12 weeks of battery life; alternatively, the 16 GB Kindle Paperwhite is available for $160. Remember that Amazon’s promise of up to 12 weeks of battery life assumes 30 minutes of daily use with wireless off. I’ve used the TCL Nxtpaper Tab 10 as my e-reader…

ZDNET’s key takeaways Amazon sells the Echo Hub for $180. The Echo Hub gives Alexa the place it has earned in the smart home market: A control panel to easily access smart devices, no ads, and no unnecessary fluff. The smart display can be slow and buggy, especially while loading multiple camera views more buying choices Many smart home enthusiasts, myself included, are tired of juggling dozens of apps on their phones to control the smart…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The Ring Battery Doorbell Plus is priced at $150. The Ring Battery Doorbell Plus offers a clear head-to-toe view of your front door, a removable rechargeable battery pack, reliable motion detection alerts, and seamless integration with Alexa. Ring continues to keep most features behind its Ring Home subscription; though the video quality is better than HD at 1536p, the video clips have a slight fisheye look and prominent vignetting. more buying choices…

Jason Hiner/ZDNET The hottest frontier in the wearables market is smart rings, health trackers worn discreetly on your finger. Although Samsung just unveiled the Galaxy Ring, its take on the trend, this past July, its successor may be announced soon.  A new report from DigiTimes reveals that the Galaxy Ring 2 will be launched at Samsung Unpacked 2025, the company’s annual hardware launch event. Building on its predecessor, the ring will feature an improved battery…

Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET Fitness wearable company Whoop claims data from its screenless wristband has revealed a “novel biomarker” for tracking menstruation, which could make some health issues easier to catch earlier on.  Vital signs, including body temperature and heart rate, change through each phase of a person’s menstrual cycle. But Whoop’s research, published on Monday, indicates that the amplitude, or size, of those changes can tell us more than previously thought.  Also: The best fitness trackers you can buy The…

Vladimir_Timofeev/Getty Images The building of more powerful data centers for artificial intelligence, stuffed with more and more GPU chips, is driving data centers to enormous size, according to the chief executive of Ciena, which makes fiber-optic networking equipment purchased by cloud computing vendors to connect their data centers together.  “Some of these large data centers are just mind-blowingly large, they are enormous,” says Gary Smith, CEO of Hannover, Maryland-based Ciena. Also: OpenAI’s o3 isn’t AGI…

Maria Diaz/ZDNET What’s the deal? The Eufy Security Floodlight Cam E340 is on sale for $150, saving you 32%.  Why this deal is ZDNET-recommended The Floodlight Cam E340 from Eufy Security, which I’ve been testing over the past five months, is one of the four newest security cameras that the company recently launched. It’s equipped with an ultrawide and telephoto lens for capturing more distant subjects, and the camera works really hard. At times, too…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 has a reliable 1-inch CMOS sensor that captures stabilized 4K footage. It’s compact, has a built-in gimbal, and is very easy to use. The control pad can be wonky, and low-light performance takes a hit. more buying choices I didn’t expect a pocket camera to be one of my favorite tech gadgets of this year — not when smartphone cameras have gotten so good — but the…