Hasta La Gadget!

During its Copilot AI and Surface event in May, Microsoft unveiled Recall, an AI-powered feature for Windows created to help you find anything you’ve ever looked at on your PC. The feature, Microsoft said, is exclusively available on the recently launched and future Copilot+ PCs, which are devices that come with onboard neural processing units (NPUs) for AI tasks. Now, someone using the pseudonym Albacore has released a console Windows app on Github called Amperage that will allow users to run Recall even on older computers that the feature doesn’t officially support. 

The tool can only enable Recall on computers with Arm64-based SoCs, which means they have to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon, a Microsoft SQ or an Ampere chipset. Users also have to make sure they’re running Windows 11 version 24H2 build 26100.712, because older and newer beta versions of the OS don’t have the components needed to activate the feature. As The Verge notes, though, future iterations of the tool may be able to unlock Recall for more devices, seeing as AMD- and Intel-based Copilot+ PCs are expected to be available later this year. 

Recall works by taking snapshots of the PC while the user is on it, storing them locally on the computer and then using local multi-modal small language models to recognize text, images and videos on them. If a user wants to find something they previously looked at on their PC — whether it’s an image, a website, a document or an email — they can search the Recall timeline. Microsoft said it will work even if the user types in vague contextual clues in case they can’t remember exact phrases or descriptions. And since the snapshots Recall takes are stored locally and offline, users’ data are supposed to remain private and secure. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/this-tool-unlocks-windows-ai-powered-recall-feature-for-unsupported-pcs-110046086.html?src=rss

June is here, and it’s bringing tons of new sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books for summer reading. They’re full of star-crossed couples, deep-space bounty hunters, intergalactic art thieves, and passengers on a magical train—plus two different tales of cursed movies, as well as two different tales of utopias gone wrong.

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Oh, the irony of the National Security Agency suggests that smartphone users turn off their phones occasionally. But the NSA is right: you do need to restart your phone regularly to rid it of demons. Some phones even let you schedule the restart, so you don’t have to think about it.

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Oh, the irony of the National Security Agency suggests that smartphone users turn off their phones occasionally. But the NSA is right: you do need to restart your phone regularly to rid it of demons. Some phones even let you schedule the restart, so you don’t have to think about it.

Read more…

A misdelivered order, theft and a hasty return: those are the three acts comprising Playdate’s recent real-life adventure. According to the handheld gaming system’s account on X (formerly Twitter), FedEx dropped off $400,000 worth of Playdates to a construction site near their actual warehouse destination. Then, poof, it was all gone — but that wasn’t the last of it. Suddenly, the shipment reappeared, not at the warehouse door but in front of a random restaurant. The return was seemingly quick, with some packages toppled over and entering the street.

We don’t know who was behind the theft and eventual return, though no one seems too bothered, as a follow-up post says the necessary detective work was “enjoyed.” Plus, the account (jokingly?) pitched selling these devices as a limited edition run called Playdate Hot. Playdate promised further details in the future — possibly on the Playdate Podcast. One user on X asked about getting their hands on any devices they don’t need, to which Playdate responded, “Check the streets of North Las Vegas.” 

The Playdate came out in April 2022 as a cute, monochromatic alternative to high-level gaming systems that features a crank on its side. Panic, which owns Playdate, sold about 70,000 units in the first two years and offers more than 100 titles in its built-in library. These black-and-white games are relatively simple but include everything from first-person shooters to puzzles. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-400000-delivery-of-playdates-were-briefly-stolen-124519551.html?src=rss