NETWORKING

Jean-Luc Ichard/Getty Images I know you’ve heard of gamification, but have you ever heard of festification? That’s what Microsoft will be doing in April and May, with the Microsoft AI Skills Fest. It’s a little odd, but it also looks like it might be a heck of a lot of fun. Also: Microsoft at 50: Its incredible rise, 15 lost years, and stunning comeback – in 4 charts I’ve written a lot about Microsoft over…

Just_Super/Getty Images Nearly 80 years ago, in July 1945, MH Hasham Premji founded Western India Vegetable Products Limited in Amalner, a town in the Jalgaon district of Maharashtra, India, located on the banks of the Bori River. The company began as a manufacturer of cooking oils. In the 1970s, the company pivoted to IT and changed its name to Wipro. Over the years, it has grown to become one of India’s biggest tech companies, with…

Kerry Wan/ZDNET In the age of smart TVs, convenience is king. With just a few clicks, we can dive into endless entertainment — but that ease comes with a downside: the buildup of cache data. Also: 5 easy ways to instantly improve your soundbar’s audio (without spending a dime) Just like on your phone or computer, a cluttered TV cache can lead to sluggish performance, app crashes, and even hinder new content from loading properly….

Kerry Wan/ZDNET One reason why the Pixel phones are so popular is the camera. There’s a depth, a level of clarity, and brilliant/accurate colors that most phone cameras cannot match. Also: If you’re planning to upgrade your electronics, you might want to buy them now – here’s why Google is always trying to one-up itself by improving the Pixel camera with every iteration. Back with the Pixel 8, Google introduced the P3 wide gamut capture…

ZDNET’s key takeaways At $130, the Blink Outdoor 4 Floodlight Camera is a practical, battery-powered solution for darker areas around your house that lack wiring and outlets. The AA batteries allow the floodlights to beam at 700 nits of brightness, which is not the most powerful on the market but good enough to see your surroundings. The Blink app is feature-rich, with plenty of camera settings to customize for the best surveillance, but you’ll need…

ZDNET’s key takeaways KeySmart’s SmartCard is available on Best Buy for $40 (3-pack for $90). It’s super thin, works with both Android and Apple iOS, 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…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The Beats Solo Buds are budget earbuds at $80 (and currently on sale for $35 less) Their compact size, fun colors, and 18-hour battery life make them earbuds appealing to Beats devotees Other earbuds offer features these earbuds lack — like active noise cancellation and Bluetooth multipoint — for less money. The Beats Solo Buds across all four colors (Transparent Red, Matte Black, and Storm Gray) are on sale for $59.95. These days,…

Kerry Wan/ZDNET ZDNET’s key takeaways The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL has a starting price of $1,099, while the Pixel 9 Pro starts at $999. For the price, you’re getting a larger, brighter-than-ever 6.8-inch display, exclusive Google AI features, and the most forgiving camera system on the market. I just wish the base storage (128GB) was at least double and the AI features were more reliable. On Amazon, the Pixel 9 Pro XL is $200 off,…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The iPad Mini 7 is available for $500 but is currently $100 off. The compact iPad Mini 7 has gone everywhere with me this past week, fitting easily into bags and purses without weighing them down. Aside from the more powerful A17 Pro chip, the iPad Mini 7 isn’t much of an upgrade (especially for 6th-gen users), plus its display tops out at 60Hz. more buying choices The iPad Mini 7 is…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The OnePlus Pad 2 is the company’s latest Android tablet with a premium design and flagship specs for $550. It’s compatible with a keyboard and pen that OnePlus sells separately, so you can turn it into an Android-powered laptop. While the multitasking features are excellent, and the Pad 2 checks all the boxes when it comes to entertainment, it still suffers from the pitfalls of using Android on a big screen. more…