jewhyte/Getty Images I know you’ve heard of gamification, but have you ever heard of festification? That’s what Microsoft did last month and is continuing until May 28, 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. And you still three full weeks to participate. Free AI training for everyone Microsoft’s AI Skills Fest offers courses that are open for…

Kerry Wan/ZDNET The thought of upgrading your phone can be both exciting and slightly stressful. Phones seem to be getting more expensive, and the upgrade options seem endless. But Verizon has got you covered with a new trade-in deal.  Also: Here’s how to get a free iPhone 16 Pro from T-Mobile with no trade-in required Through this offer, new and existing customers on Verizon’s Unlimited myPlans can trade in any phone and receive a free…

Adam Breeden/ZDNET After the initial setup, most people rarely engage directly with their smart TV. With wireless connectivity, phone apps, and remote controls, there’s little need to. Tucked next to the essential HDMI ports, a USB 2.0 port — likely sitting unnoticed on the back or side panel — offers more potential than you might expect.   Also: Your car’s USB port has hidden superpowers: 5 features you’re not taking advantage of USB ports are…

Lance Whitney / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET The iPhone 16 comes with a physical Action button that you can program to launch a specific task. By default, the button switches your phone between Ring and Silent mode. But you can change that to trigger other features, including the camera, the flashlight, or the magnifier. You can also program the button to activate a certain control or Siri shortcut. Also: Here’s how to get a free…

ZDNET’s key takeaways Perfect way to share 100W of power between three devices This cable does exactly what it says it will on the box — something that a lot of cables can’t claim Some might find the 65W limit a bit restrictive for charging laptops. Over the past couple of years, I’ve tested a handful of multi-connector USB-C charging cables. You’ve probably seen them for sale on big-name e-commerce websites, and maybe on social…

Humain will deploy the Nvidia Omniverse platform as a multi-tenant system to drive acceleration of the new era of physical AI and robotics through simulation, optimization and operation of physical environments by new human-AI-led solutions. The AMD deal did not discuss the number of chips involved in the deal, but it is valued at $10 billion. AMD and Humain plan to develop a comprehensive AI infrastructure through a network of AMD-based AI data centers that…

Lenovo/ZDNET The Lenovo Tab M9 is one of the more understated tablets out there, but its most recent discount should put it on everyone’s radar. This midrange tablet has just gone from $160 to $95, a huge 40% drop in price. Also: This Android tablet brings a $1,700 iPad Pro feature to the $400 price point – and it’s nearly as good While this sale is on the 2023 model, the tablet is still a…

For this reason, Gartner recommends identifying specific use cases and planning the applications and data distributed across the organization that could benefit from a cross-cloud deployment model. This allows workloads to operate collaboratively across different cloud platforms, as well as different on-premises and co-location facilities. 4. Industry solutions According to Gartner, another upward trend is industry solutions. The consulting firm sees an upward trend toward industry-specific cloud platforms, with more vendors offering solutions that address…

Apple Apple has officially revved up its next-generation CarPlay Ultra, an integrated system that promises to change the way you control your car. Uniting key functions of both your car and your iPhone, the new flavor of CarPlay will let you view and access a variety of options from your dashboard and touchscreen. Also: This touchscreen display adds Apple CarPlay or Android Auto to any car “CarPlay Ultra builds on the capabilities of CarPlay and provides…