I’ve had my iPhone 15 Pro Max for three years and have completed 1,000 battery charge cycles. Here’s what the experience has been like.
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My iPhone hit 1,000 charge cycles — Here’s how it’s holding up
I’ve had my iPhone 15 Pro Max for three years and have completed 1,000 battery charge cycles. Here’s what the experience has been like.
AMD Acquires Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs For $8.2 Billion
AMD has agreed to acquire Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs for about $8.2 billion in stock, making it the chipmaker’s second-largest acquisition and giving it a major foothold in “world models” that simulate 3D environments for robotics and other physically grounded AI. CNBC reports: AI researchers expect world models will be able to help develop robots and other physically-grounded artificial intelligence applications. AMD plans to keep World Labs separate from its chipmaking business until the transaction closes later this year. The lab’s research on next-generation models will allow AMD to plan for what its AI chips need to be capable of years in advance.
World Labs was founded by AI researcher Fei-Fei Li, who is widely seen as an AI pioneer as a Stanford professor, and who previously worked for Google leading AI research. Li will become an AMD’s chief scientist and an executive vice president at the company.
In a demo presented by Li and AMD CEO Lisa Su earlier this year, the two executives showed a World Labs model called Marble creating a three-dimensional scene out of a few images. “Intelligent agents, whether it’s robots or vehicles or even tools, can learn inside very-rich physics-aware digital worlds before they even need to be deployed into the real one, making them much safer,” Li said at the presentation.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
AMD Acquires Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs For $8.2 Billion
AMD has agreed to acquire Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs for about $8.2 billion in stock, making it the chipmaker’s second-largest acquisition and giving it a major foothold in “world models” that simulate 3D environments for robotics and other physically grounded AI. CNBC reports: AI researchers expect world models will be able to help develop robots and other physically-grounded artificial intelligence applications. AMD plans to keep World Labs separate from its chipmaking business until the transaction closes later this year. The lab’s research on next-generation models will allow AMD to plan for what its AI chips need to be capable of years in advance.
World Labs was founded by AI researcher Fei-Fei Li, who is widely seen as an AI pioneer as a Stanford professor, and who previously worked for Google leading AI research. Li will become an AMD’s chief scientist and an executive vice president at the company.
In a demo presented by Li and AMD CEO Lisa Su earlier this year, the two executives showed a World Labs model called Marble creating a three-dimensional scene out of a few images. “Intelligent agents, whether it’s robots or vehicles or even tools, can learn inside very-rich physics-aware digital worlds before they even need to be deployed into the real one, making them much safer,” Li said at the presentation.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Experts worry about Nvidia’s AI chip sales in China and influence over Trump
On its face, the recent summit between Donald Trump and China’s president Xi Jinping didn’t change much in the world of AI regulation. Export controls were not discussed, with neither country seemingly interested in making concessions. An already tenuous trade truce was temporarily extended for just two months, and looming US controls that could drop soon could easily end that and trigger China to retaliate by cutting off exports of rare earths, analysts expect.
However, in the background of these shaky talks, Nvidia appeared to notch a big win, as China is currently mulling relaxing controls and allowing some of its biggest AI firms to import perhaps millions more of Nvidia’s banned chips over the next year.
Sources familiar with China’s talks told The Information that China’s tech oversight arm, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, asked Alibaba and ByteDance to share plans to buy Nvidia’s RTX Pro 5500 chips. Although these are gaming chips, China asked firms to detail how they plan to use them, with expectations that chips could be put into servers to help power the country’s most in-demand AI models.
Experts worry about Nvidia’s AI chip sales in China and influence over Trump
On its face, the recent summit between Donald Trump and China’s president Xi Jinping didn’t change much in the world of AI regulation. Export controls were not discussed, with neither country seemingly interested in making concessions. An already tenuous trade truce was temporarily extended for just two months, and looming US controls that could drop soon could easily end that and trigger China to retaliate by cutting off exports of rare earths, analysts expect.
However, in the background of these shaky talks, Nvidia appeared to notch a big win, as China is currently mulling relaxing controls and allowing some of its biggest AI firms to import perhaps millions more of Nvidia’s banned chips over the next year.
Sources familiar with China’s talks told The Information that China’s tech oversight arm, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, asked Alibaba and ByteDance to share plans to buy Nvidia’s RTX Pro 5500 chips. Although these are gaming chips, China asked firms to detail how they plan to use them, with expectations that chips could be put into servers to help power the country’s most in-demand AI models.
Experts worry about Nvidia’s AI chip sales in China and influence over Trump
On its face, the recent summit between Donald Trump and China’s president Xi Jinping didn’t change much in the world of AI regulation. Export controls were not discussed, with neither country seemingly interested in making concessions. An already tenuous trade truce was temporarily extended for just two months, and looming US controls that could drop soon could easily end that and trigger China to retaliate by cutting off exports of rare earths, analysts expect.
However, in the background of these shaky talks, Nvidia appeared to notch a big win, as China is currently mulling relaxing controls and allowing some of its biggest AI firms to import perhaps millions more of Nvidia’s banned chips over the next year.
Sources familiar with China’s talks told The Information that China’s tech oversight arm, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, asked Alibaba and ByteDance to share plans to buy Nvidia’s RTX Pro 5500 chips. Although these are gaming chips, China asked firms to detail how they plan to use them, with expectations that chips could be put into servers to help power the country’s most in-demand AI models.
SpaceX’s Starship goes orbital, deploying first next-gen Starlinks
SpaceX’s Starship rocket thundered into the sky over South Texas early Monday. It was the 14th test flight of the world’s most powerful launch vehicle. This time, however, the rocket’s massive upper stage squeezed out some extra oomph from its Raptor engines and accelerated to orbital velocity.
On all of Starship’s previous flights, SpaceX intentionally dialed back the full capability of the rocket to fly a suborbital trajectory, slow enough for Earth’s gravity to pull the vehicle back into the atmosphere before it could complete a full lap around the planet. After several successful suborbital flights in a row, SpaceX officials decided this launch should go all the way to low-Earth orbit. And it did.
What’s more, SpaceX packed 26 of the company’s newest generation of Starlink broadband satellites into the rocket’s cargo bay. One by one, the flat-packed satellites—too large to fit inside SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket—were released from Starship’s payload deployer using a system of pulleys and cables to eject the satellites overboard like a Pez dispenser spits out candy.
SpaceX’s Starship goes orbital, deploying first next-gen Starlinks
SpaceX’s Starship rocket thundered into the sky over South Texas early Monday. It was the 14th test flight of the world’s most powerful launch vehicle. This time, however, the rocket’s massive upper stage squeezed out some extra oomph from its Raptor engines and accelerated to orbital velocity.
On all of Starship’s previous flights, SpaceX intentionally dialed back the full capability of the rocket to fly a suborbital trajectory, slow enough for Earth’s gravity to pull the vehicle back into the atmosphere before it could complete a full lap around the planet. After several successful suborbital flights in a row, SpaceX officials decided this launch should go all the way to low-Earth orbit. And it did.
What’s more, SpaceX packed 26 of the company’s newest generation of Starlink broadband satellites into the rocket’s cargo bay. One by one, the flat-packed satellites—too large to fit inside SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket—were released from Starship’s payload deployer using a system of pulleys and cables to eject the satellites overboard like a Pez dispenser spits out candy.
SpaceX’s Starship goes orbital, deploying first next-gen Starlinks
SpaceX’s Starship rocket thundered into the sky over South Texas early Monday. It was the 14th test flight of the world’s most powerful launch vehicle. This time, however, the rocket’s massive upper stage squeezed out some extra oomph from its Raptor engines and accelerated to orbital velocity.
On all of Starship’s previous flights, SpaceX intentionally dialed back the full capability of the rocket to fly a suborbital trajectory, slow enough for Earth’s gravity to pull the vehicle back into the atmosphere before it could complete a full lap around the planet. After several successful suborbital flights in a row, SpaceX officials decided this launch should go all the way to low-Earth orbit. And it did.
What’s more, SpaceX packed 26 of the company’s newest generation of Starlink broadband satellites into the rocket’s cargo bay. One by one, the flat-packed satellites—too large to fit inside SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket—were released from Starship’s payload deployer using a system of pulleys and cables to eject the satellites overboard like a Pez dispenser spits out candy.
Florida invokes extinction fears in legal bid to halt OpenAI development
The state of Florida is seeking a temporary injunction to stop OpenAI from continuing to develop what it calls a “reckless, unacceptably risky product” without the deployment of “third-party approved safety guardrails.”
The new legal motion, filed Monday morning, is part of a civil lawsuit the state of Florida originally filed in June, arguing that ChatGPT represented “a threat to the public safety of Floridians,” specifically by preying on vulnerable populations like children and violent or delusional adults. But that original lawsuit came before the Hugging Face hacking incident and the subsequent publicized warnings of catastrophic misalignment risk that have spurred industry-wide calls to slow the development and training of so-called frontier models.
Following that string of events, OpenAI on Friday announced it had already halted training of its “most-capable models” until it could validate safety protocols intended to prevent agents from accessing the open Internet during training. But in seeking an injunction from the state court, Florida argues that OpenAI has “repeatedly shown they are incapable of monitoring their AI, and hesitant in revealing rogue activity once discovered.”
Florida invokes extinction fears in legal bid to halt OpenAI development
The state of Florida is seeking a temporary injunction to stop OpenAI from continuing to develop what it calls a “reckless, unacceptably risky product” without the deployment of “third-party approved safety guardrails.”
The new legal motion, filed Monday morning, is part of a civil lawsuit the state of Florida originally filed in June, arguing that ChatGPT represented “a threat to the public safety of Floridians,” specifically by preying on vulnerable populations like children and violent or delusional adults. But that original lawsuit came before the Hugging Face hacking incident and the subsequent publicized warnings of catastrophic misalignment risk that have spurred industry-wide calls to slow the development and training of so-called frontier models.
Following that string of events, OpenAI on Friday announced it had already halted training of its “most-capable models” until it could validate safety protocols intended to prevent agents from accessing the open Internet during training. But in seeking an injunction from the state court, Florida argues that OpenAI has “repeatedly shown they are incapable of monitoring their AI, and hesitant in revealing rogue activity once discovered.”
Florida invokes extinction fears in legal bid to halt OpenAI development
The state of Florida is seeking a temporary injunction to stop OpenAI from continuing to develop what it calls a “reckless, unacceptably risky product” without the deployment of “third-party approved safety guardrails.”
The new legal motion, filed Monday morning, is part of a civil lawsuit the state of Florida originally filed in June, arguing that ChatGPT represented “a threat to the public safety of Floridians,” specifically by preying on vulnerable populations like children and violent or delusional adults. But that original lawsuit came before the Hugging Face hacking incident and the subsequent publicized warnings of catastrophic misalignment risk that have spurred industry-wide calls to slow the development and training of so-called frontier models.
Following that string of events, OpenAI on Friday announced it had already halted training of its “most-capable models” until it could validate safety protocols intended to prevent agents from accessing the open Internet during training. But in seeking an injunction from the state court, Florida argues that OpenAI has “repeatedly shown they are incapable of monitoring their AI, and hesitant in revealing rogue activity once discovered.”
New device captures carbon dioxide by pumping it across a battery
Equipment to capture carbon dioxide from ambient air or smokestacks generally works through a sort of reversible filter. Air is passed through granules or a liquid that absorbs the CO2, then that CO2-loaded substance undergoes a process (usually heating) that causes it to let go of all that CO2. The resulting gas can be collected in a separated stream.
It’s also possible to do a similar sort of operation on a smaller scale—like inside a battery. A new study from a team led by James Buchen of the University of Delaware demonstrates an example of a battery-based electrochemical carbon-capture technique that they say is more viable than previous attempts. It has the potential to require less energy—and therefore be cheaper—than the reversible-filter designs that currently dominate.
Carbon chemistry
The basic idea behind a device of this type is that hydroxide produced at the battery cathode reacts with CO2, converting it to carbonate or bicarbonate that passes through the separator membrane to the anode. There, the lower pH causes the reaction to reverse, with carbonate turning back into CO2 gas. The role of the cathode is to produce hydroxide ions; the role of the anode is to consume them.
New device captures carbon dioxide by pumping it across a battery
Equipment to capture carbon dioxide from ambient air or smokestacks generally works through a sort of reversible filter. Air is passed through granules or a liquid that absorbs the CO2, then that CO2-loaded substance undergoes a process (usually heating) that causes it to let go of all that CO2. The resulting gas can be collected in a separated stream.
It’s also possible to do a similar sort of operation on a smaller scale—like inside a battery. A new study from a team led by James Buchen of the University of Delaware demonstrates an example of a battery-based electrochemical carbon-capture technique that they say is more viable than previous attempts. It has the potential to require less energy—and therefore be cheaper—than the reversible-filter designs that currently dominate.
Carbon chemistry
The basic idea behind a device of this type is that hydroxide produced at the battery cathode reacts with CO2, converting it to carbonate or bicarbonate that passes through the separator membrane to the anode. There, the lower pH causes the reaction to reverse, with carbonate turning back into CO2 gas. The role of the cathode is to produce hydroxide ions; the role of the anode is to consume them.
New device captures carbon dioxide by pumping it across a battery
Equipment to capture carbon dioxide from ambient air or smokestacks generally works through a sort of reversible filter. Air is passed through granules or a liquid that absorbs the CO2, then that CO2-loaded substance undergoes a process (usually heating) that causes it to let go of all that CO2. The resulting gas can be collected in a separated stream.
It’s also possible to do a similar sort of operation on a smaller scale—like inside a battery. A new study from a team led by James Buchen of the University of Delaware demonstrates an example of a battery-based electrochemical carbon-capture technique that they say is more viable than previous attempts. It has the potential to require less energy—and therefore be cheaper—than the reversible-filter designs that currently dominate.
Carbon chemistry
The basic idea behind a device of this type is that hydroxide produced at the battery cathode reacts with CO2, converting it to carbonate or bicarbonate that passes through the separator membrane to the anode. There, the lower pH causes the reaction to reverse, with carbonate turning back into CO2 gas. The role of the cathode is to produce hydroxide ions; the role of the anode is to consume them.
How to improve your FPS for better gaming (without buying new hardware)
Frame rates and graphical fidelity have an inverse relationship, so making your games look a little less beautiful runs them much better.
How to improve your FPS for better gaming (without buying new hardware)
Frame rates and graphical fidelity have an inverse relationship, so making your games look a little less beautiful runs them much better.
How to improve your FPS for better gaming (without buying new hardware)
Frame rates and graphical fidelity have an inverse relationship, so making your games look a little less beautiful runs them much better.
These Are the Best Tech Gifts Under $50
Tech products can get expensive fast. When you factor in the historic demand from the ongoing memory crisis, you might find yourself spending more than you’d like for the people on your list. It doesn’t have to be this way. There’s a surprising variety of products you can pick up for $50 or less. While not everything in the tech world can be found at this price point (at least, not with any expectation of quality), you can buy name-brand speakers, headphones, trackers, and more. If someone on your gift-giving list is looking for a new gadget, these under $50 products may just be it.
Best portable speaker under $50 to gift: JBL Go 4
If your giftee wants a portable speaker, it’s tough to beat the JBL Go 4 at this price point. This is a great portable (emphasis on portable) speaker from a company that makes excellent audio equipment. It has up to seven hours of battery life on one charge and an IP67 rating against water and dust, which makes it as good of a speaker to bring to the beach as it is for your shower. As it happens, one of my favorite things about this speaker is the fact that it’s made by JBL: For less than $50, you get a speaker that can pair with any other compatible JBL speaker, big or small. I’ve found it to be a lifesaver for parties, events, or when traveling: Usually, someone else in the group has a JBL speaker (if not multiple people), which makes setting up an impromptu sound system easy. Better yet, outlets like Amazon often have these speakers on sale, which means you can pick it up well under its already-reasonable MSRP.
Longest-lasting portable speaker to gift under $50: Soundcore Select 4 Go
If you’re looking for something even less expensive for your gift, Anker’s Soundcore Select 4 Go is a great option. It, too, has an IP67 water and dust resistance rating, though its main advantage is its 20-hour battery life. You can pair two of these speakers together to create a stereo system, and, depending on available discounts, you may be able to buy two for under $50—though its MSRP is $34.99.
Best wireless mic under $50 to gift: DJI Mic Mini
Wireless microphones are often pricey, and “cheap” options are often not worth the money. However, if you need wireless lav mics on a budget for someone on your list, DJI’s “Mic Minis” might be the move. This particular option comes with two mini mics and one USB-C receiver. You can connect the receiver to any smartphone (iOS or Android) that supports USB-C, and mic up two different subjects to capture remote audio. Your subjects can move up to 300 meters away from the receiver while recording, and each mic supports noise cancellation.
Best smartphone game controller to gift under $50: 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller
Dedicated portable handheld gaming consoles, like the Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck, are great, but most of us already own capable game systems of our own: our smartphones. The problem is, playing on a touchscreen doesn’t come close to matching the experience of a physical controller, which is why smartphone game controller accessories are such a great buy for any gamer on your list. One of the best—$50 or under, anyway—is 8BitDo’s Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller. This device turns your giftee’s iPhone or Android into a Switch or Steam Deck, complete with an Xbox-designed button and joystick layout.
Best game controller to gift under $50: 8BitDo Ultimate 2C
Let’s switch gears slightly. If your giftee wants a great gaming controller but for PC, console, or to wirelessly connect to a mobile device, the Ultimate 2C from 8BitDo is also an excellent option. Unlike other gaming controllers that can get expensive fast, the Ultimate 2C retails for $29.99—but Amazon reviews note that it doesn’t feel “cheap.” The build quality feels solid, the connections are snappy, and there are even three sets of triggers, in case you find yourself needing to assign extra functions in your games. While third-party game controllers have had poor reputations over time, 8BitDo’s products seem to offer a lot of value at these price points.
Best tracker to gift under $50: Apple AirTags
There’s really no beating AirTags when it comes to keeping tabs on your stuff—assuming your giftee has other Apple products already. AirTags work with Apple’s Find My network: While they don’t have the ability to connect to the internet on their own, they can communicate securely and privately with other internet-connected Apple devices in the wild, which then update the AirTag’s location on the Find My network. In addition, if your giftee is within Bluetooth range of their AirTag, their compatible iPhone or Apple Watch can use Precision Finding to guide them to its location. These retail for $29.99, but when they’re on sale, you can pick up two for under $50.
Best earbuds to gift under $50: Soundcore P30i by Anker Noise-Cancelling Earbuds
Wireless earbuds are not cheap, especially if your friend or family member wants them to come with noise cancellation. Anker’s Soundcore P30i earbuds, however, retail for $49.99 and come with both noise cancellation and transparency mode. Anker says you can get up to 10 hours of playtime on one charge (or six hours with noise cancellation turned on). The charging case even doubles as a phone stand, which is quite clever—especially at this price point.
Best earbuds to gift Apple users under $50: Beats Flex Wireless Earbuds
You may want to consider these wireless earbuds from Beats for the Apple users in your life. The Beats Flex wireless earbuds come with Apple’s W1 chip. That means your giftee can quickly switch between their various Apple devices (iPhone, Mac, Apple TV, etc.) and their Beats will follow, all without having to repair them at each juncture. While they retail for over $50, Amazon hasn’t listed them at that price in three months, according to Keepa. As such, I’m recommending them here, if for no other reason than to offer the Apple users in your life an Anker alternative.
Best headphones to gift under $50: Soundcore Anker Life Q20
Similar to the Beats Flex, the Soundcore Anker Life Q20 retail for more than $50. However, Amazon has had them priced well below that for the past three months, which makes them an excellent over-the-ear headphone purchase. RTings says these headphones have “an excited sound profile,” with nearly 50 hours of battery life between charges. These headphones have noise cancellation, transparency mode, as well as 40mm drivers in each earcup. Your giftee can also pair them to two Bluetooth devices at once, so they can quickly switch between both when they need to.
Best portable charger to gift under $50: Anker 622 Magnetic Battery (MagGo)
Whenever I travel, I always have the same two thoughts concerning my iPhone: I wish I could prop it up, and I worry about when I can charge it up. This MagSafe power bank from Anker solves both those problems. It attaches magnetically to your iPhone, giving you extra battery life, while also serving as a stand, so you can use it hands-free. That’s perfect for planes, trains, though perhaps not automobiles—assuming the latter doesn’t offer a seatback tray-table equivalent. Anker says this 5,000mAh charger is typically good for one full charge at a time, which should mean your giftee can double their iPhone’s total battery life.
Anker Magentic Battery Stand
$25.98
at Amazon
$47.99
Save $22.01
Save $22.01
$25.98
at Amazon
$47.99
Save $22.01
Save $22.01
Best streaming device to gift under $50: Amazon Fire TV 4K
If your giftee needs a new streaming device, but you don’t have more than $50 to spend, the Amazon Fire TV 4K Select may be your best bet. As the name implies, this device can stream in 4K, but it’s also compatible with HDR10+. Amazon is happily advertising this device’s Alexa+ capabilities, which add the company’s generative AI assistant to the streaming device. But even if your giftee just need something to stream Apple TV, HBO, or Netflix in 4K, this stick can handle it. Plus, as of this article, the device is heavily discounted, making it an excellent deal.
Best gaming mouse to gift under $50: SteelSeries Rival 3 gaming mouse
If your giftee needs a new gaming mouse, but the “best” options are giving you sticker shock, consider the Rival 3 from SteelSeries. This is one of CNET’s picks, and despite its $35 price tag, it comes with the same switches as some of SteelSeries’ premium mice, as well as a 8,500 DPI sensor. It’s lightweight at 77g, and while that might not be surprising at this price point, it could make for a convenient travel mouse, as well as a dedicated gaming option.
Best Razer gaming mouse to gift under $50: Razer DeathAdder Essential
If your giftee is more of a Razer fan, the company has its own affordable gaming mouse. The DeathAdder Essential is the budget version of its more expensive DeathAdder mouse, but it comes with a 6,400 DPI sensor, five programmable buttons, and support for up to 10 million clicks. As of this article, Razer is offering this mouse for just over $20, an excellent price for a capable gaming mouse.
