May 05
The highly contagious coronavirus variant made up 36.5% of total U.S. cases last week, up from 26.6% the week before.
May 05
As part of Lenovo’s big spring laptop refresh, the company today unveiled a new generation of Slim clamshell laptops in the US (which confusingly share the ‘Slim’ branding with older, unrelated models). These include the Slim 9i, the Slim 7i and Slim7i Pro X, the Slim 7i Carbon and the Slim 7. The last of those come with an AMD Ryzen 6000 Series processor rather than the Intel chips inside its sisters, while the Slim 9i claims to be carbon neutral. While the improvements aren’t dramatic, the new line offers decent boosts in performance, longevity and screen quality.
Lenovo’s Slim 9i is a 14-inch laptop with WiFi 6 and three Thunderbolt 4 ports. It’s also supposedly carbon-neutral, which makes this a solid bet if you’re eco-conscious. The display includes an option to upgrade to a 4K OLED Puresight touchscreen display, which will no doubt make for sharper visuals and more immersive gaming. It also includes the IdeaPad’s infrared webcam, which means it will have facial recognition abilities. It also features 12th-gen Intel Core processors. The laptop starts at $1,799 and will be available in US stores starting in June.
Both the Slim 7i Pro X and Slim 7 Pro X are 14-inch laptops; the former offers 12-gen Intel Core processors and the latter includes an AMD Ryzen 6000 Series processor. You can expect up to 32 GB of RAM and the option of an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU. At 3.5 pounds, both machines are also very lightweight, especially for ones with dedicated graphics cards. The 7i Pro X starts at $1,699 and the 7 Pro X starts at $1,499.
The Slim 7 features a 16-inch screen and is outfitted with an AMD Ryzen 6000 Series processor, and starts at $1,499. The Slim 7i is available in either 14 or 16-inches and includes 12th-gen Intel Core processors. It is priced starting at $1,199 or $1,599, respectively.
For those in the market for a lightweight laptop that also won’t weigh down their carry-on bag, a decent option may be Lenovo’s 13-inch 2.2 pound Slim 7i Carbon. As the name implies, it saves weight by having a carbon frame. It includes 12th-gen Intel Core processors and self-adjusting fan and power speeds to save battery life. The 7i Carbon is available as either a 13-inch laptop or an upgraded model that features a 13.3-inch Lenovo Puresight touchscreen. The price starts at $1,299, and will be available in the US this June.
For those afraid of losing their laptops while on the go (or heaven forbid, their machine getting stolen), Lenovo will be offering its Smart Lock program in North America, starting in June. The cloud-based security program includes an app and browser version and essentially allows users to track and find their machines, as well as remotely lock or wipe any personal data from them.
May 05
Lenovo has introduced its new Slim series laptop, promising consumers a combination of powerful performance, long battery life, and a slim form factor.
May 05
Gaming has been one of Chrome OS’ weak spots for years. Most Chromebooks have lower-power hardware paired with an OS built on web technology, so playing AAA titles found on Windows has simply not been an option. Cloud gaming, like Google’s own Stadia, offered a solution of sorts, but many players have been eager to see how Steam would fare, after Google announced Valve’s platform was in an early alpha phase.
News Editor Nathan Ingraham tested things out on one of the seven Chromebooks that can run Steam, an ASUS Chromebook CX9 with Intel’s 11th-generation Core i7. (Google says Steam required a device with at least a Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM.) He explains that many games run like a dream; however, his attempts to play 2018’s God of War, originally released for the PS4 and ported to Windows in January this year, was apparently a “totally unplayable slideshow.” God of War’s spec requirements demand either NVIDIA’s GTX 960 or AMD’s R9 290X graphics cards — it wasn’t a huge shock.
While Google and Valve will improve the Steam experience from this early alpha, it’s fair to say Chrome OS will never be the place to play cutting-edge games. But, Steam’s library is vast, and there are thousands of titles — most playable offline, something Stadia can’t offer.
— Mat Smith
The biggest stories you might have missed
‘Elden Ring’ for PlayStation falls to $50 in a good day for gaming deals
AMD teases new ‘Dragon Range’ CPUs for high-end gaming laptops
Samsung’s new dashcam memory card records non-stop for up to 16 years
Apple employees criticize work-from-home policy in open letter
New ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ trailer includes some Darth Vader assembly
The six-episode series debuts on Disney+ on May 27th.
Lucasfilm and Disney+ celebrated May the 4th by offering another look at the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series. There’s not a ton of new footage, but it includes a peep at Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) being pieced together, which is much more than the breathing cameo from the previous trailer.
Wordle brought ‘tens of millions’ of users to The New York Times
Many players stuck around, too.
The New York Times has revealed it added “tens of millions” of new users in the first quarter of 2022 thanks to Josh Wardle’s hit word game. That led to the company’s best quarter yet for subscriber additions to games, and “many” of those incoming players have stuck around to try other games.
Samsung’s new phone storage standard is twice as fast
The company will start mass-producing Universal Flash Storage 4.0 in the third quarter.
Samsung has introduced the latest iteration of its Universal Flash Storage product, which it says is much, much faster than its predecessor. UFS was created to enable SSD speeds for cameras, phones and other devices, but this version — called UFS 4.0 — can reach 23.2Gbps per lane. That’s double the speed of UFS 3.1, the storage used in Samsung’s Galaxy S22.
Sonos’ rumored $250 soundbar is reportedly called the Ray
It may be smaller than the Beam, with some high-end features.
Sonos’ rumored budget soundbar was briefly posted online at Colombian store KTronix. The listing suggested g it will be called the Sonos Ray and be smaller than the already compact Beam Gen 2 at just 22 inches long (versus 25.6in), if slightly taller and thinner. A previous leak hinted Sonos might release it as soon as early June. And while the Colombian price (about $323) likely won’t reflect the exact pricing for the US, it does imply the rumored $250 sticker is at least close to the mark.
The best gifts to upgrade your grad’s tech setup
Due a refresh.
Engadget
Graduation is traditionally a big time for gift-giving, so if you know someone heading out into the real world who could use an upgrade after four (or more!) long years of higher education, we’ve got a host of options — even if the giftee is in deep with tech already.
May 05
Ford Motor Company has just 2.5% of the U.S. electric vehicle market. But if a new ad from the carmaker is any indication, Tesla CEO Elon Musk should look out, because Detroit is gunning for him. Ford has a new ad that pokes fun at the notoriously thin-skinned billionaire, albeit without naming Musk explicitly. And…
May 05
Lenovo's New 'Slim' Series Laptops Make a Serious Run At the Dell XPS and MacBook Air
Posted in: Today's Chili
Lenovo, which makes the beloved ThinkPad series, revealed today a new generation of “Slim” laptops. We’ve seen this branding before, but gone are the confusing Yoga, Legion, and IdeaPad classifiers—these are just “Slim.” The new clamshell systems closely match the convertible laptops in Lenovo’s flagship Yoga lineup…
May 05
The former Democratic Party leader explained why he wants the former president on the ballot in the next election.
May 05
If you have several items (or pets) you want to keep track of, this is a great chance to grab multiple Apple AirTags at once. You can pick up a four-pack from Best Buy for $84.55, or $14.45 less than its retail price of $99. That’s even cheaper than the package’s recent deal on Amazon, where it was being sold for $89. The catch is that the Best Buy deal is only available today, with only 20 hours left as of this writing.
Buy Apple AirTag (4-Pack) at Best Buy – $84.55
AirTags are probably the best choice if you have an iPhone, especially if you have a newer device. These coin-sized trackers come equipped with Apple’s U1 ultra-wideband chip that acts as a beacon allowing devices that have the same chip to find it more easily. That means if you have an iPhone 11 or newer, you can simply press the “Find” button in the Find My app to access its precise tracking capabilities and narrow down your search.
Since the AirTag was made to make items easier to find, it comes with a speaker that can play an alert tone that was surprisingly louder than we expected when we tested it out. Apple also says the device is easy to pair as its AirPods — we found that to be the case — and has user-replaceable batteries. Perhaps the only downside if you’re an iOS user is that it doesn’t have a built-in keychain ring, which means you may have to purchase extra accessories to attach it to whatever it is you want to track.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
May 05
The U.S. has surpassed 1 million deaths from covid-19, the worst death toll in the world, according to a tally from NBC News. The grim milestone comes as U.S. covid-19 cases have started to climb in recent days and high-profile figures test positive, like Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
May 05
Rep. Lauren Boebert Says She Wrote A Book And Twitter Users Are Absolutely Baffled
Posted in: Today's ChiliThe far-right lawmaker’s history of botching both spelling and facts has many wondering just what’s in her book.
Who's in charge here?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.