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Amazon/ZDNET Amazon is curtailing a privacy-minded feature that will affect owners of certain Echo devices. In an email sent last Friday to a number of customers, Amazon revealed that as of March 28, it will remove an opt-in setting that prevented audio of your Alexa requests from being shared with the company. Available to users with certain Echo devices, this option processes your Alexa requests locally instead of sending their recordings to the cloud. Also:…

The KubeVirt open-source project was started by Linux vendor Red Hat in 2016. The project joined the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), which is the home of Kubernetes, in 2019. As part of the CNCF, KubeVirt benefits from a broad ecosystem of vendors that contribute to the project. According to the CNCF contributors include: Amadeus, Apple, CloudFlare, IBM, NEC, Nvidia, SAP and SUSE. The project is maintained on GitHub, with the primary repository GitHub –…

Nutanix – which is actively courting disgruntled VMware customers – provides storage services that aggregate storage in a global pool that enables any VM to access and consume storage resources. Features include compression, deduplication, high-availability and snapshots. Enterprises running high-performance databases often require external storage arrays, and Nutanix has addressed that need by certifying storage with SAP HANA and Oracle RAC. (Read more: Cisco, Nutanix strengthen joint HCI package) 4. Scale Computing Platform Scale provides…

This dilemma of whether to absorb the Broadcom price hikes or embark on the arduous and risky journey of untangling from the VMware ecosystem is triggering a broader C-level conversation around virtualization strategy. “For enterprises navigating this uncertainly, the challenge isn’t just finding a replacement for VMware. IT shops of all sizes see Broadcom’s actions as an opportunity to rethink their approach to virtualization, cloud strategy and IT modernization,” says Steve McDowell, chief analyst at…

ZDNET’s key takeaways On sale for $179, Sony’s new LinkBuds Fit are shaping up to be a gym-goer’s new workout buddy. These earbuds boast a solid ANC feature and a comfortable design that is second to none. Their audio output, however, isn’t very powerful. more buying choices What is the most important aspect of a pair of earbuds? My answer changes depending on the circumstances. I prefer power and volume when I’m at home listening…

ZDNET’s key takeaways HP’s 16-inch Envy x360 2-in-1 (2024) comes in a variety of configurations, but the version with 1TB of storage and an OLED display starts at $1,299. It sports one of the most gorgeous displays I’ve seen on a convertible laptop in this price range. It’s a little on the heavy side, and the configuration swapping can be buggy. We saw a host of great 2-in-1 laptops in 2024, forcing more and more…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The Boox Note Max comes bundled with the pen and case for $649. It’s thin and light, has a high-contrast display, and has a long list of features that make it a very versatile device. Theres no backlight, it’s monochromatic, and there’s a bit of a learning curve to use it to its fullest. more buying choices I went hands-on with the Remarkable Paper Pro last year and thought that was a…

Getty Images / Bloomberg / Contributor AI agents are the next frontier of AI assistants, going beyond answering questions to performing tasks. Qualtrics is implementing agents so its technology can interact directly with customers to improve their experiences.  On Monday, ahead of Qualtrics’ X4 2025 Experience Management Summit, which kicks off on Tuesday, the company unveiled Experience Agents, assistants who can step into customer interactions to learn more about and resolve existing issues. Experience Agents…

rob dobi/Getty Images The older I get, the more and more I wonder what Scrooge McDuck did for a living. I don’t remember him going to the “office” not one time. 🤔 Clearly, Scrooge knew what he was doing, so if I needed a business idea, I’d copy his strategy. Also: Why you should ignore 99% of AI tools – and which four I use every day But if you don’t have a rich cartoon…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The Eero Pro 7 is available for $300. The tri-band Eero Pro 7 supports wireless speeds of up to 3.8Gbps and a coverage area of up to 2,500 square feet per unit, making it ideal for congestion management. As a midrange router, the Eero Pro 7 is not great for complicated smart home setups, and it’s also not the most attainable at $300 each. I’ve been testing the Eero Pro 7 for…