It’s been more than a year and a half since T-Mobile and Sprint announced their $26.5 billion merger in a bid to revamp the US wireless industry. With the deal stuck in legal limbo, T-Mobile on Thursday used its latest Un-carrier event and the promise of a combined 5G network to make its most compelling …
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AMD Ryzen out
The core wars are incomprehensible to many people. But those people don’t need to work in four (or more) of Adobe’s applications at the same time, encode and decode 4K (or bigger) video, render high-quality 3D stills or animations, mix complex multitrack audio or perform any number of other tasks that absorb CPU cycles like a power sponge. If you …
Read More »Duolingo vs. Rosetta Stone: How to choose the best language
If you’ve embarked on a journey to learn a language (in or out of school), odds are you’ve come across Duolingo or Rosetta Stone. Of the multiple language apps available, these are the two that come to mind first for many people. But how do you choose which one will work best for your learning style? Duolingo and Rosetta Stone …
Read More »HoloLens 2: Microsoft’s augmented reality headset launches, but it’s $3,500
Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 augmented reality headset, which was introduced at Mobile World Congress back in February, is now available to buy, the company announced Thursday. Earlier this year, Microsoft showed CNET the next-generation headset up-close. The self-contained, comfortable flip-up device has no controllers. It uses hand and eye tracking, and slides over glasses. I was impressed how easy it was to use. …
Read More »Wikipedia integrates digital book previews to help verify citations
Verifying a citation on Wikipedia can be as easy as clicking the online source linked within a page. But what if a citation calls back to a physical book instead, one you’d typically need to find at a library or bookstore? The Internet Archive and Wikipedia last week said they’ve teamed up to provide digital previews of books cited on …
Read More »Beat holiday stress with a lifetime meditation subscription for $50
When you think of this time of year, you no doubt imagine idyllic scenes of sleds on snow-covered hills, charming holiday decorations and families gathered around a warm fireplace. The reality for most of us is a psychotic frenzy of work and anxiety unrivaled at any other time of year. Need to unclench your brain? Right now, you can take …
Read More »Matrix PowerWatch 2: This smartwatch might never need charging
The Matrix PowerWatch 2 is the sequel to a watch I wore a couple of years ago made by Matrix Industries, a thermoelectrics startup in Menlo Park whose headquarters I visited last year. The original PowerWatch worked, but wasn’t great. This version, which I first got a peek at nearly a year ago, feels a lot better. It’s finally close to being an everyday watch …
Read More »YouTube gives you control of up
YouTube is offering desktop users a way to take the wheel that steers what YouTube plays next, and it’s also morphing the look of its homepage on desktop web browsers and its tablet apps. The changes for Google’s massive video service start rolling out Thursday. The desktop-only additions give viewers more control over choices traditionally made by YouTube’s recommendation algorithm, a …
Read More »AT&T calls T
T-Mobile took some shots at AT&T and Verizon on Thursday during its “new T-Mobile Un-carrier” event and now AT&T is firing back. In a statement provided to CNET, an AT&T spokesperson called out T-Mobile’s newest pledges for first responders and education as a “marketing stunt.” “We have a deep and genuine commitment to connecting first responders and using technology to enrich …
Read More »Microsoft can nearly eliminate background noise in video now
Microsoft has been using artificial intelligence technology to teach computers to automatically create closed-captions for voice chats and meetings, teach apps to create to-dos just by listening to you talk, and translate what people are saying in different languages in real time. Now the company is taking on background noise. The software giant said Monday that it’s come up with new …
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