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Showing posts from May, 2024

Unfortunately, AI is the best thing that could have happened to smartphones

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support AI is the next big thing in smartphones, and there’s nothing we can do about it. I’m sorry if you were hoping for a foldable iPhone or a rollable Motorola Rizr coming soon. Instead, you get AI, and for smartphone makers, it couldn’t have come at a better time.  Hoping something else would be the next big thing? Did you think it would be glasses? I thought it would be glasses. I admit I seriously overestimated the state of smart glasses technology before now. Real smart glasses are a decade away, maybe more. I still believe that smart glasses are the next thing, but now it’s more like the next next thing, or what’s after what’s next. You know, not next, but NEXT.  Real smart, ahem, glasses (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future) We’re stuck with our phones. The phone you just bought won’t be the last thing you buy called a ‘smartphone.’ There will be another, and it will do more than the one you have now, and what it will mostly do mor
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Italy could be the next country to receive a billion-dollar AWS boost

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support According to exclusive reporting by Reuters , Amazon Web Services is in discussions with the Italian government about a significant investment aimed at expanding its data center operations in the country. The rumored 10-figure deal would see the company expand its cloud computing infrastructure in the country to fuel the continued AI growth. As with most such deals, it will likely also comprise other aspects designed to support the country and its citizens, such as training and upskilling efforts as well as local employment opportunities. AWS to invest in Italy next The company, which already has a cloud region in Italy, has clients like Ferrari and Assicurazioni Generali on its books. With the likely upcoming investment, AWS will be hoping to attract even more customers thanks to more European-centric infrastructure. AWS’s Italy investment comes amid a broader push to expand its European operations. A colossal $17 billion deal was recently an
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'No one knows yet': Donut design could create quadrillion-transitor compute monster — analysts discuss unusual interconnection as Cerebras CEO acknowledges that we don't know what happens when multiple WSEs are connected

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support Tri-Labs (comprised of three major US research institutions - the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)) has been working with AI firm Cerebras on a number of scientific problems, including breaking the molecular dynamics (MD) timescale barrier. There’s a paper explaining this particular challenge, which you can read here , but essentially it refers to the problem of conducting molecular dynamics simulations on a larger timescale than would normally be possible. The barriers here are twofold: computational power and communication latency between different nodes of an HPC system. Traditionally, to compensate for the lack of computational power, scientists assign more work to each node and scale up the simulation size with the node count. Unfortunately, the slow inter-node communication caused by high latency further exacerbates the timescale problem. Like a do
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Want to shove 30 GPUs in a computer system? Here's an AI solution that will work as long as you are using Dell — Liqid allows one R760 server to connect to a whopping 30 Nvidia GPUs for now with AMD and Intel likely soon

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support Composable infrastructure firm Liqid has created a cost-effective and scalable solution for organizations looking to deploy high-performance inference capabilities in their data centers.  Unveiled at Dell Technologies World 2024 , the UltraStack 30 crams a whopping thirty Nvidia L40S GPUs into a single Dell PowerEdge R760 server.  Liqid previously released a technical whitepaper for its UltraStack server at Nvidia GTC 2024 and at that time it had only managed to jam up to 20 Nvidia L40S into a PowerEdge server, so that's quite a leap in a short amount of time. AMD and Intel support coming Nvidia L40S GPUs have fewer cores and are generally less powerful than Nvidia’s H100 and A100 accelerators, as well as the newer Blackwell GB200 and B200 systems. However, they are well-suited for a variety of high-performance tasks, including AI, data analytics, and 3D rendering. This makes them a versatile choice for modern data centers and professional
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Kick this robot: Ecovacs' new robovac wants you to give it the boot – literally

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support There are robot vacuum cleaners that only vacuum, others vacuum and mop, some even empty their dust canisters and dirty-water tanks themselves, and still others get their mop pads washed and dried automatically too. So what do you do to make sure you stand apart in a crowded and very competitive robot vacuum cleaner market? You come up with features you won't find elsewhere. And that's exactly what Ecovacs Robotics has done with its latest Deebot. The Ecovacs Deebot T30 Pro Omni comes with a rather impressive list of features and what has me most excited is the kick-to-start functionality that I haven't seen on any other robovac.  Ecovacs calls its Foot Touch Control but a simple touch will not do it. As long the T30 is charging in its dock (aka idling), you can give it a good kick – literally – to get it to start up. Of course, the startup process takes a while, with the mop pads first being cleaned and moistened, and only then doe
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Nifty eSIM provider offers free mobile data for life whenever you are but there's a big catch — Firsty gives you 60 minutes of data anywhere in the world, but you will have to watch an advert if you want more

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support Using mobile data while traveling abroad tends to be a costly affair due to international roaming fees, the additional charges mobile operators slap on customers who want to use their phones in a foreign country, with differences in network systems and alliances between carriers also factoring into these higher costs. Addressing this frustrating issue, Firsty has launched an eSIM service that promises free basic mobile data for life, wherever you may be. Boasting a simple user interface, Firsty offers a seamless mobile experience for travelers, expats, and globetrotters. The 'Firsty Free' package pledges to eliminate unexpected fees and provides users with an instant data connection for essential use. Firsty utilizes a global network of regional telecom partners, automatically connecting users to the best local provider, without the need for manual intervention. Firsty's technology seamlessly switches providers in the background, avo
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30TB hard drives will finally become mainstream next year — Japanese rival to Seagate and Western Digital reveals plans to launch two 30TB+ HDDs in 2025 using two different technologies

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support Toshiba has announced plans to bring 30TB+ hard drives to the commercial market in 2025. The large capacities have been made possible through two magnetic recording technologies: Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) and Microwave Assisted Magnetic Recording (MAMR).  HAMR technology significantly enhances writing capabilities by heating the disk material with a near-field laser. HAMR does have its critics, with questions regarding the technology’s readiness, quality, reliability and compatibility, but all of the major drive manufactures are adopting it, and Seagate recently announced the results of an experimental test in which one of its Mozaic 3+ HAMR-equipped drives ran continuously, and problem free, for over 6,000 hours . Yo MAMR! Using HAMR, coupled with Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR), which increases storage capacity by overlapping data tracks, allowed Toshiba to successfully achieve a drive capacity of 32TB over 10 x 3TB platters.
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Thanks a bunch, Netflix – its Windows app is about to lose downloads

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support Netflix has managed to annoy a good number of its users with an announcement about an upcoming update to its Windows 11 (and Windows 10) app: support for adverts and live events will be added, but the ability to download content is being taken away. As reported by MSPowerUser , that means no more offline viewing if you're on a Windows device, something Netflix users are understandably upset about on Reddit . It essentially means the Windows app will be little more than a wrapper for the Netflix website. Netflix hasn't given any reason for ditching downloads on Windows: when Windows Latest asked about it they were simply directed to the relevant support document , which confirms that a new app is "coming soon", without the download option. "While downloads will no longer be supported, you can continue to watch TV shows and movies offline on a supported mobile device," the Netflix document says – so you're just goi
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Like the Fujifilm X100VI but want to swap lenses? The new X-T50 could be your best bet

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support The Fujifilm X100VI has grabbed the headlines so far this year, but the trending compact camera’s fixed lens might be too restricting for some people, who might instead prefer the new interchangeable-lens X-T50.  It has the same stabilized 40MP crop-sensor and X-Processor 5 engine as the X100VI and pricier Fujifilm X-T5 , offers a healthy dose of retro charm, and comes with an all-new film simulation dial that puts Fujifilm’s superb range of effects right at your fingertips. Read our in-depth Fujifilm X-T50 review The X-T50 is essentially a baby X-T5, with a smaller, plastic, and non-weather sealed body, and it’s cheaper. Logically it should replace the X-T30 II , which we've long rated as the best retro Fujifilm X-series mirrorless camera for beginners ; however, Fujifilm says the older model will remain on sale. It’s a similar situation to when the X-S20 was launched. It didn’t replace the X-S10 , but sits above it as a pricier and m
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Apple and Google have teamed up to help make it easier to spot suspicious item trackers

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support As part of iOS 17.5, Apple is finally rolling out its Detecting Unwanted Location Trackers specification, allowing mobile users to locate suspiciously placed AirTags and other similar devices. Simply, this update has been a long time coming.  To give a quick breakdown of the situation at large, Bluetooth trackers were being used as a way to stalk people. Google announced that it and Apple were teaming up to tackle this problem . The former sought to upgrade its Find My Device network quickly but decided to postpone the launch, partly to wait until Apple finished developing its new standard. With iOS 17.5, though, Apple states that your iPhone will notify you if an unknown Bluetooth tracker device was placed on you. If it sniffs something out, an “[Item] Found Moving With You” alert will appear on the smartphone screen.  Upon detection, your iPhone can trigger a noise on the tracker to help you locate it. An accompanying notification will includ
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'The Entire History of You': How a lone developer created free app that records everything you do on your PC — and allows you to rewind and search for anything in a weird homage to an episode of Black Mirror

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support We've all been there: you remember reading or watching something on your PC, but all attempts to locate the item again prove futile. Repeating past searches yields nothing, and your browser history is of no use either. You’re not sure where you saw the item, and eventually you begin to question whether you might simply have imagined it. There’s an early episode of Black Mirror called "The Entire History of You" in which "grain" technology allows people to record and replay their memories on demand. This episode, along with the Rewind app on macOS and FOMO (the fear of missing out), has led a developer to create a new open-source app. Windrecorder, the “personal memory search engine”, records everything you see and do on your screen and allows you to rewind and search through it. 15 minute blocks The app uses FFmpeg to record screen activity in 15-minute fragments and then indexes them using a Windows local OCR API and i
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Western Digital's new external SSD is aimed at content creators and offers 8TB of fast storage – but the firm plans to double capacity by next year

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support Content producers are churning out data in unprecedented volumes, with high-definition images and 4K/8K video content consuming an enormous amount of storage space. Creators typically need to store several versions of their projects, including the initial raw files, edited versions, and the published format.  Catering to this need, Western Digital has launched a new external SSD, the SanDisk Desk Drive, which comes in 4 and 8TB capacities.  External SSDs can operate at incredibly high speeds compared to their HDD counterparts, which means that content creators can not only store, but also edit their photos and videos directly from the drive itself, decreasing the time spent on transferring files, accelerating work efficiency while ensuring that the data is securely stored. 16TB versions planned  “As digital content creation continues to soar, there is an increasing need for high-performing and high-capacity storage solutions to help manage and
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How to watch Google I/O 2024 live

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support Google I/O 2024 , the search giant’s developer and software-focused event, is set for May 14, and it should be quite the event for fans of Android and AI.  That’s because we're expecting to get the lowdown on Android 15 , and find out which of the many new features we've seen rumored have made it into the full release, and likely hear about a whole lot of new software and tools based on generative AI. We’re not expecting to see any new hardware unfortunately – I/O tends not to be an event where Google launches hardware, though it has done in the past, as we saw with the Google Pixel Fold last year.  So read on for how to watch Google I/O 2024. How to watch Google I/O 2024? Google I/O will be livestreamed on May 14, with the keynote starting at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST, which is May 15 at 3am AEST.  The best way to watch Google I/O will be on YouTube at Google's main account . But you can also go on over to the Google I/O websit
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Tech startup connects to two satellites in orbit from Earth via Bluetooth — using off the shelf chip and a software update

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support Most of us use Bluetooth every day for tasks such as streaming audio, sharing files, connecting to devices, and making hands-free calls.  That's because Bluetooth technology is typically designed for short-range communication between devices, and while the first generations had a very limited range of up to 30 feet, it can now achieve over 200 feet in real-world conditions. Tech startup Hubble Network , which has secured a $20 million Series A funding round from the likes of Transpose Platform and Y Combinator, has managed to stretch that even further, making a Bluetooth connection from Earth to space.  Building a network of satellites As the Hubble Network Blog explains, “On March 4, 2024, from the grounds of Vandenberg Space Force Base, Hubble successfully launched its first two satellites. These aren’t just any satellites; they’ve successfully reached their orbits and managed to receive signals [from Earth] from a simple 3.5mm Bluetooth
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Sennheiser's new wired headphones look like comfortable audiophile cans ready for travel

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support Sennheiser has launched the HD 620S , its latest pair of headphones that try to balance performance, noise isolation, and comfort. This model is a bit of an odd duck but in a good way. The line that it’s a part of, the HD 600 series, consists entirely of open-back headphones . These are great at outputting high-quality audio. However, they're not so good at blocking outside noise, making them a poor fit for travel. The HD 620S is swimming against the current by being a pair of closed-back headphones . Devices with this design are much better at stopping noise from leaking in.  The company states the cup covers are reinforced with steel that acts as “an efficient isolator”. Each one houses a 42mm dynamic transducer with a 38mm diaphragm engulfing the listener in a bubble of sound. Alongside them are 150-ohm aluminum voice coils ensuring clear vocal clarity and accurate output. The result is a pair of high-performing headphones able to cover a
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Matter 1.3 pushes the standard into your kitchen, laundry room, and garage

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) has rolled out Matter version 1.3 giving smart home brands another avenue to expand their tech into the kitchen and other areas of the house. One of the cornerstones in the update is the ability to control important, or more essential, household appliances. This includes ovens and cooktop stoves.  With the former, homeowners can check the “state of the oven”, like whether it’s preheating or cooling down, and control how it operates. You can instruct the device to begin broiling the ribs placed inside. Cooktop stoves will see a similar level of control. Users can turn it on or alter the temperature from afar. When it comes to laundry rooms, the CSA is adding support for dryers and enabling control over several functions like changing the drying mode. The machine will even send out a notification letting you know when your clothes are dry. If you’re curious about support for washing machines, that was add
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