Nvidia announces GameWorks VR: Smarter graphics for virtual reality

GameWorks VR aims to make virtual reality graphics faster and smoother Cheryl Holloway TAIPEI — Nvidia has revealed a new set of tools for game developers working with virtual reality under the GameWorks VR label. The set of programming tools and graphics engine updates aims to ensure best possible performance for computers that deliver virtual …

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Nvidia’s new graphics card pushes for better 4K

Nvidia TAIPEI — Nvidia has announced a souped-up version of its previous flagship graphics card and given it a titanium sheen, pre-empting the formal opening of the Computex 2015 trade show. Dubbed the GeForce GTX 980 Ti, Nvidia says the GTX 980 Ti will deliver better support for 4K PC gaming, allowing new games such as The Witcher 3 to …

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Apple Watch infrequent heart rate measurements are intentional

Enlarge ImageThe Apple Watch’s green LED lights detect and measure blood flow. Sarah Tew/CNET Apple’s wearable, the Apple Watch , received its first update nearly two weeks ago, and already it has some explaining to do. First noticed by 9to5Mac, the Apple Watch’s heart monitor, which is supposed to consistently record a user’s heart rate every 10 minutes, began to …

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22 essential IFTTT recipes for Twitter

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET Keeping your Twitter followers happy is tough, especially since tweets come and go in the blink of an eye. You need to be on top of your Twitter account to grow your following, even if you’re not a social-media marketing manager or an Internet celebrity. Here’s a whole slew of IFTTT recipes you can use to track, …

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19 essential IFTTT recipes for Facebook

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET Facebook is a huge time-suck. It’s a lot of work, keeping your profile alive by updating statuses, liking people’s photos and wishing everyone you went to high school with a happy birthday! But you can make your Facebook life easier, and way more efficient, by activating a few key IFTTT recipes. IFTTT, or “IF This Then That,” …

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30 essential IFTTT recipes for Instagram

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET These days, we capture most of our memories through a smartphone camera — and then we add a filter and a few witty hashtags and post those memories on Instagram for the world to see. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with this (I definitely do it), but if Instagram photos are your only snapshots of life, …

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Naim Mu

Naim Mu-so speaker Naim First things first: the Naim Mu-so is a brilliant work of industrial design. Build quality is solid, the massive finned heat sinks on the speaker’s rear end look awfully impressive, and the silky-smooth volume control inspires confidence. Mu-So is the real deal — it looks and feels like a high-end component. What about the sound? That’s …

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Have mobile operating systems stalled out?

Photo by James Martin/CNET For a big part of the Google I/O 2015 keynote, Google showed off Android M, the next iteration of its mobile operating system. Some of the highlights include a new USB Type-C charger, better app permissions, a new Doze mode for better power management, and the advent of Android Pay. Yawn. None of the Android announcements …

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Facebook adds GIF support to News Feed because we need more dancing bananas

Why would words alone be enough when you can express yourself with this guy?Comedy Central/Giphy Today marks the end of a long, dark and dismal era of social media. We’ve moved from the equivalent of starting fire with rocks and sticks or praying to the thunder gods to discovering the disposable Bic lighter in one giant evolutionary step. Facebook has …

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Recorded and live music are even more different than you think

Carnegie Hall in New York City. Steve Guttenberg/CNET When it comes down to live versus recorded music, I’m definitely in the recorded camp. I’ve been to too many utterly forgettable concerts by my favorite artists. Great musicianship and performances are rare; in the studio you don’t have to sing in tune or play in time. Recorded music is massively edited, …

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Essential IFTTT recipes for every social network

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET Keeping up with social media — even if you use only the big three (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) — can be very hard. In fact, you might find yourself spending so much time liking people’s statuses, tweeting your every move and Instagramming your meals that your actual social life is hurting. And you might find yourself wondering, …

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Getting started with Google Photos

Matt Elliott/CNET You can have your Android M, your Brillo, your Cardboard and any of the other products announced at Google’s I/O developer conference yesterday. I just need Google Photos , a product I’ve been waiting for to create order out of my sprawling photo library. I have used Picasa for years to share photos with family, but it wasn’t …

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Get a Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 with keyboard for $179

Lenovo Is it a tablet with a keyboard or a laptop with a removable screen? Semantics, my friends, semantics. For a limited time, and while supplies last, Lenovo has the refurbished Yoga Tablet 2 10 with keyboard for $179 shipped. It fits the definition of a hybrid PC, and it sold new for $369.99 when it debuted just a few …

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How to install the Android M developer preview

Sarah Tew/CNET Google on Thursday unveiled Android M, the next version of its popular mobile operating system. The update will revamp app permissions, improve battery life, and make the Google Now personal assistant even smarter. Android M won’t be available until this later this year, but you don’t have to wait to give it a test right now. As it …

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Google teams with Levi’s on smart clothes

Google just made it possible to call your mom with your pants. In this CNET Update report, learn about Google’s Project Jacquard and how it’s weaving smarts into clothing with conductive yarn. The company also came up with a way to control devices with hand gestures. Why? As screens get smaller on smartwatches, touchscreen controls don’t do us much good. …

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