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ZDNET’s key takeaways The Vizio 5.1 Soundbar SE system is sold for $250 It has immersive surround sound at an affordable price thanks to customizable EQ settings and sound modes The Bluetooth connection can sometimes be spotty, and be prepared to hide lots of wires. more buying choices One of the easiest ways to upgrade your movie- or TV-viewing experience is by upgrading your TV’s sound with a soundbar. However, not all soundbars are created…

Kayla Solino/ZDNET What’s the deal?  The Baseus PicoGo Magnetic Power Bank is on sale for 17% off at Baseus ahead of Black Friday. Snag one for $42 (save $8).  ZDNET’s key takeaways  The Baseus PicoGo Magnetic Power Bank nails a fun and functional design, ample battery boost, and a fair price.  The $50 Qi2 power bank can boost your devices with up to 5,000mAh of added juice via 20W wired charging or 15W of wireless,…

ZDNET’s key takeaways Super smooth and highly responsive app The tiny carry case can be attached to a keyring for easy transportation Needs the supplied USB-C extension cable to connect to most ruggedized smartphones Regular readers will know that I am a big fan of thermal cameras. They are cool and give you a view of the world you can’t otherwise see, but they are also super useful and have become a key tool in…

Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET OpenAI has expanded the reach of its ChatGPT Windows app. Launched a month ago just for subscribers, the app is now freely available to anyone with a ChatGPT account. That means you no longer have to head to the website to chat with your favorite AI. Also: OpenAI is working on a AI agent that can do tasks for you The free app is compatible with Windows 10 and 11. To grab it,…

filo/Getty Images Sometimes, I think AI chatbots are modeled after teenagers. They can be very, very good. But other times, they tell lies. They make stuff up. They confabulate. They confidently give answers based on the assumption that they know everything there is to know, but they’re woefully wrong. See what I mean? You can’t tell from the context above whether my descriptions refer to AIs or teenagers. Also: How I tricked ChatGPT into telling…

Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET Microsoft doesn’t make it easy to install or upgrade to Windows 11, imposing strict hardware limitations on which PCs can run the operating system.  At the very least, your computer’s motherboard needs to support Secure Boot and TPM 2.0, both of which are security features that aim to protect against malicious access. But such requirements leave older PCs out of the running, giving you little choice but to remain on Windows…

Bringing AI as close as possible to enterprise SoftBank performed an outdoor trial in Japan’s Kanagawa prefecture in which its AI-RAN infrastructure built on Nvidia AI Enterprise achieved carrier-grade 5G performance while using excess capacity to concurrently run AI inference workloads. These workloads included  multimodal retrieval-automated generation (RAG) at the edge, robotics control, and autonomous vehicle remote support. SoftBank is calling the trial ‘AITRAS.’ In inferencing, pre-trained AI models interact with previously unseen data for…

Jason Hosking/Getty Images As an active user of Bluesky, I’ve witnessed the platform’s remarkable growth firsthand. In recent weeks, my follower count has surged alongside the influx of many new users joining the network, reflecting a genuine demand for a fresh social media experience. However, with such rapid growth come some challenges. Today, Bluesky experienced significant strain, resulting in numerous errors and slow loading times. My experience on Bluesky today was both exciting and frustrating….

ZDNET’s key takeaways Amazon’s base model Kindle retails for $110 and promises quicker page-turning, a brighter display, and a fun matcha green colorway (alongside the classic black). The e-reader is more reactive and vivid, and reading anything on the lightweight, portable device is convenient. This model has the shortest battery life out of the entire lineup, but it’s still six weeks long. more buying choices Kindles aren’t like other tablets or smart devices; their sole…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The Oukitel RT3 Pro is available for preorder now on Oukitel’s site. This tablet is a rugged little beast that will take a beating and still perform as well as any mid-range Android. The RT3 Pro’s performance will not blow you away. I’ve become a fan of Oukitel phones and tablets. The company creates devices that don’t have to be treated with a heightened sense of fear that any drop or spill…