No platform has become as synonymous with 2020 as Zoom, the video conferencing service that grew seemingly overnight from a useful business tool to a ubiquitous way to connect for everything from remote education to virtual happy hours to game nights and holiday meals. From a technology standpoint, Zoom managed to do the almost impossible: …
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This story is part of Gift Guide, our year-round collection of the best gift ideas. With so many people working from home or remote learning, this is a good year to give the incredibly thoughtful gift of upgrading a loved one’s slow or clunky old system. Our picks for the best laptops and desktops to buy for the holidays include brands like Apple, …
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Every once in a while, back in a year called 2019, I’d run off every few weeks or so and spend time in a VR headset, or peek at some augmented reality device. I’d come back from demos imagining a world lived virtually. With all the pieces in play from so many companies, it seemed like the possibilities were almost …
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Law enforcement aimed to make it harder for criminal hackers to cover their tracks on Tuesday. Europol, joined by the FBI and law enforcement agencies from Germany, the Netherlands and France, said they shut down a service favored by ransomware groups and other cybercriminals for hiding their identities, a VPN called Safe-Inet. The service, which hides its customers’ IP addresses …
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During a pandemic year marked by mounting economic and emotional challenges, the latest advances in technology helped us stay employed, continue the education of our children, comfort loved ones, and reimagine our ideas about community. In CNET’s second annual Innovation Awards, we wanted to recognize a handful of advances that changed things for the better in a really tough year. …
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Disney Plus subscribers will need to say goodbye for now to Baby Yoda. Season 2 of The Mandalorian wraps up with episode 8 (a.k.a. Chapter 16) on Friday, and the show won’t return until this time next year on Disney’s streaming service. So, clear your calendar for Friday evening and get ready for the season 2 finale. (What am I saying? No …
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When I joined up with executives from Spatial to try a new phone app last Friday night, I was expecting some sort of AR meeting experience where people would seem to float in my virtual space. That isn’t exactly what I got. Instead, I felt like I was floating in someone else’s space. Or rather, in a third space. Chatting …
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Zoom is repeating its Thanksgiving gift for the festive season, lifting its 40-minute limit for three periods until Jan. 2, it said earlier this week. The video chat app has been an invaluable tool for much of the world throughout the coronavirus pandemic, by letting people connect while maintaining physical distance. You’ll be to video chat for as long as …
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Microsoft is working on a homemade chip to power its Surface line of computers, according to a report Friday from Bloomberg News. This is in addition to the tech giant exploring processor designs for its server computers running Microsoft‘s cloud services, the report said, citing unnamed sources. The moves are part of a bid to end reliance on Intel’s chips, …
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This story is part of Gift Guide, our year-round collection of the best gift ideas. How goes the holiday shopping? I won’t say everything here today is gift-worthy, though I certainly wouldn’t mind being on the receiving end of any of these items. (If you decide to get me that Star Wars game bundle, though, please make sure to include …
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