For one reason or another, we’ve all become very familiar with Zoom calls in recent years. Although we thankfully don’t need to use them quite as much as we used to, they’re still an important part of many people’s work and socializing. Unfortunately, Zoom isn’t 100% private and there are ways in which nefarious individuals and organizations can use your calls to steal your information, identity, or private data. Foruntately then, there are ways in which you can protect yourself and make Zoom more of the secure platform it can be. Here are some of our top tips. Use a meeting password Jon Martindale The most important safeguard you can have in place to protect you, your meeting participants, and any information and data shared there, is to put a password on your meeting room. This ensures no one can just wander in unexpected, shutting down Zoom-bombing opportunities. It also means that no one can enter without your knowledge and snoop on what you’re discussing. Passwords are enabled by default on all meetings for free users, as well as licensed users, so it should be enabled, but it never hurts to check. Similarly, when setting up your meeting, you can set a custom password in the meeting settings if you prefer. Use a waiting room Enable a waiting room in Zoom for enhanced security. Jon Martindale A password ensures no one can just enter your room uninvited, but if that password leaks, someone shares it without realizing it, or someone’s system is compromised, it can still be possible for troublemakers to enter your meeting. The best way to ensure that doesn’t happen by surprise and disrupt your proceedings, is with a waiting room. This means anyone wanting to join the meeting has to receive your approval to enter. If they don’t belong, you can boot them easily. You can add a waiting room to a meeting using the toggle option when you set up the meeting under the “Meeting Security,” heading. Alteratively, if you’ve started a meeting already and want to add a waiting room to it, select Host Tools and then tick the Waiting room setting. Enable End-to-End encryption Use end-to-end encryption to hide meeting contents from outsiders, including Zoom itself.Jon Martindale Zoom’s standard “Enhanced encryption” is pretty good at securing your data, but if you want to make it so that no one but the meeting participants can see you or what you’ve talked about (even Zoom itself) enabling End to End encryption is a more secure solution. When it’s enabled, your devices store your private encryption keys locally, so any intercepted data will be garbled and illegible. To enable end-to-end encryption, when you’re setting up the meeting, navigate to the Encryption section and toggle on the End-to-end encryption. Note: The end-to-end encryption is not supported by the Zoom web client, so all meeting participants will need to use the Zoom app to take advantage of it. Video recording is also not possible when end-to-end encryption is enabled. Other disabled features include AI companion, live streaming, polling, and companion Zoom apps like Whiteboard and Notes. Use a random Meeting ID When you set up a meeting you have the option of using your own personal meeting ID or a random one. Although using your own ID can be useful for repeat meetings with friends, family, or select colleagues, it does let people enter your personal meeting space even after the meeting is over. Instead, use a randomly generated meeting ID for each meeting. If you can, use 2FA If you have a Pro, Business, Education, or Enterprise account, or your work administrator has enabled Two-Factor-Authentication (2FA) you can use it to better secure your account. It means that when you login you’ll have to input a code from an authentication app as well as your username and password, making it much harder for someone else to break into your account. Sign in to your chosen authentication app, and tap the option to scan a QR code. Sign in the Zoom web portal and navigate to Profile > Sign In and then toggle Two Factor Authentication to On. Once it’s enabled, select Set up and scan the QR code using your phone in the Authentication app. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete setup. Don’t share meeting links in public When you’re inviting people to a meeting, make sure to only share the links with each participant directly. That way you reduce the chance of someone you don’t want in the meeting from trying to get in – they can’t if they don’t have the meeting ID and/or password. There are range of ways you can share meeting IDs or links with people you want to join. Private messages, emails, individual messaging apps are all fine ways to distribute the details of the meeting. Manage participants As the person who set up the meeting and its host and administrator, you are in charge of the meeting and its participants, and can set the tone for what is acceptable. Make sure everyone conducts themselves in a manner that respects other users and the privacy. Restrict file sharing and screen sharing in the meeting if you have any concerns over malware or information theft. Equally, watch out for phishing scams. Although they’re unlikely in pre-arranged meetings, any unauthorized participants could use fake login screens or requests for personal information to steal the identities of participants. Each user should exercise strong personal caution in this regard, but as the meeting administrator you can also play a role in keeping everyone safe. Turn off optional data gathering Turn off “Optional Diagnostic Data” to keep any personal data from being shared with Zoom. Jon Martindale Zoom does gather some data on its users. It’s anonymized and nothing to do with the actual content of your meeting, but if you want to cut out any extra data Zoom has on you, you can disable the collection. Navigate to the Zoom web portal and login to your account. Then navigate to My Account > Data & Privacy and toggle off Optional Diagnostic Data. Keep Zoom up to date Zoom, like every app and program out there, gets updates from time to time and some of them improve security and privacy, or fix a bug in the system that might allow your data to be leaked. Keeping your Zoom client up to date and using the latest version for all your meetings, rather than the web client, is a good way to make sure your meetings are as secure as they can be. Real world OPSEC This doesn’t relate to Zoom itself, but operational security that you and your meeting participants should consider as part of the meeting. They’re the kind of things you can do to enhance your privacy and that of everyone in the meeting by adjusting the way you conduct it. Only participate in meetings in a private place where no one else can look at your screen. Use headphones and a headset microphone to limit what anyone else can hear. Use a mute switch on your microphone, rather than the mute function in Zoom itself (or as well as). This way you can be doubly sure that no one can hear what you’re saying. Consider using a camera cover when you don’t want to be seen. This ensures that even if you accidentally enable your camera, no one can see you. If you have to conduct a meeting using Wi-Fi that you aren’t sure is 100% secure, such as in a hotel or public space, consider using a VPN to hide your data from anyone else on the network. Read...

Floodlight cameras pull double security duty, casting a wide pool of light while keeping an eye on your property. Pan/tilt models, like the all-new Tapo C615F KIT, can monitor much more ground, but their high voltage requirements usually mean they must be hardwired to your home’s electrical system, putting severe constraints on where they can be installed unless you hire an electrician. That’s not the case here: The Tapo C615F KIT not only runs on a 10,400mAh rechargeable battery, but it also comes with a large solar panel that can keep that battery perpetually topped off. Voila! You can mount this camera/floodlight combo just about anywhere its panel will be exposed to the sun. The $250 Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera (Battery) is probably its closest competitor, but that unit has a fixed-position 2K camera and a solar panel is a $50 option. Camera features Tapo’s camera boasts a 3-megapixel image sensor that captures video in 2K resolution. TP-Link, the manufacturer, says it features both color and infrared (i.e., black-and-white) night vision. While it has a relatively narrow, 100-degree field of view, the camera can pan 360 degrees and tilt 130 degrees, while an auto-tracking feature promises to move the camera to capture virtually anything in front of it (not to mention below or above it). The Tapo C615F KIT is a battery-powered, pan/tilt floodlight camera that comes with a solar panel with flexible mounting options.TP-Link/Tapo Unlike so many of its competitors, you won’t need to sign up for a subscription to enable person, vehicle, and pet detection with the Tapo C615F KIT (lacking only facial recognition). Provide your own microSD card (capacities up to 512GB are supported), and you can record and store motion-triggered video recordings locally, on the camera itself. A promised firmware update will enable 24/7 recording. If you prefer offsite video storage, you can sign up for a TapoCare plan to keep them in the cloud. A subscription also includes other benefits, including rich notifications that include a snapshot (a TapoCare plan costs $3.49/month or $34.99 a year for up to cameras). Floodlight features Given the fact that this rig runs on battery power, it’s not surprising that its floodlight produces a modest 800 lumens at a neutral color temperature of 4,000 Kelvin. Compare that to our current favorite floodlight cam—the hardwired, pan/tilt Eufy Floodlight Camera E340—that can blast your patio with 2,000 lumens at the same color temperature. That said, the Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera can also deliver 2,000 lumens on battery power, and 3,000 lumens when connected to its 50-foot outdoor magnetic charging cable (a $50 option). I should also mention that the floodlights on all three of these products are dimmable. We’ll have to wait for our review unit to determine how large of a pool of light the Tapo floodlight will be able to cast, but judging by the pictures, I imagine it will be smaller than the other two products discussed here. TP-Link gives the Tapo C615F KIT a weatherization rating of IP65, meaning no amount of exposure to particulate matter will cause the device to fail, and that it’s protected from water jets projected from any direction. The floodlight camera is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Home. The Tapo C615F KIT is available now at Amazon, Best Buy, and the official Tapo store for $89.99 for a limited time, after which it will return to its $99.99 MSRP. This news story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of home security cameras and smart lighting products. Read...

TL;DR: Grab this refurbished 13.3-inch M1 MacBook Air with 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD for $399.99 and get fast, quiet performance, a Retina display, and all-day battery in a 2.8 lb package. If your current laptop stutters through tabs and spreadsheets, this is a clean upgrade path. This Apple MacBook Air 13.3-inch refurb runs on Apple’s M1 chip, so everyday tasks feel snappy and quiet thanks to its fanless design. You get 8GB of memory for smooth multitasking and a generous 512GB SSD for apps, photos, and projects. This grade-A refurbished model keeps the premium feel without the premium price — it’s $399.99. The 13.3-inch Retina display (2560 × 1600) makes text crisp and photos pop, while the 720p FaceTime HD camera, stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support, and backlit Magic Keyboard cover calls and late-night typing. Touch ID speeds up logging in and making purchases, and two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports handle charging, fast storage, and external displays. The wireless features are modern, too, with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 onboard. Battery life remains a highlight, with up to 15 hours of wireless web and up to 18 hours of Apple TV app playback, so you can work or stream longer between charges. At 2.8 pounds, it’s easy to slip into a bag for class, commute, or couch. Pick up this 2020 refurbished Apple MacBook Air M1 on sale for $399.99 while supplies last. Apple MacBook Air 13.3? (2020) M1 MGN63LL/A 8GB RAM 512GB SSD Space Gray (Refurbished)See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Innovative modular design Camera delivers 3K video resolution Moves around to keep an eye on your home Cons Pricey App is cluttered and unintuitive Mobile base station can’t cross thresholds as low as 3mm Our Verdict The SwitchBot K20+ Pro Patrol Kit is such an interesting product, it’s unfortunate that it has so many downsides. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: SwitchBot K20+ Pro Patrol Kit Retailer Price Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket SwitchBot is known for manufacturing quirky smart home products, and its SwitchBot K20+ Pro Patrol Kit is certainly no exception. One part mini robot vacuum cleaner and mop, one part automated security guard, it promises to clean your floors while patrolling your home with an indoor security camera mounted atop a piggybacked mobile base–like a triple-decker bus. Yes, it’s a weird combo, but it works—although it won’t in every home (I’ll get to that in a bit). The bundle reviewed here includes the tiny SwitchBot K20+ Pro robot vac/mop, its self-emptying base station, a mobile dock that can host various accessories, and a SwitchBot Pan/Tilt Cam Plus 3K security camera. You’ll also need to have the $120 SwitchBot Hub 3 Matter-certified smart home hub for everything to work. Features and design The diminutive SwitchBot K20+ Pro robot vac/mop is the core of the system. It docks to a rolling platform that can support other SwitchBot modules for various tasks, ranging from the camera included in this bundle to your choice of a battery-powered cooling fan, one of two battery-powered air purifier models (both with table-top surfaces), or a telescopic smartphone/tablet stand. You’ll buy this system to have a security camera patrol your house. And patrol it will. The rolling platform can host the camera with any one of those other accessories, and they all have secure mounts. There is also, of course, a self-emptying base for the vacuum itself. SwitchBot sells a cordless stick vac, too, but it mounts to the mobile vac’s base station–taking advantage of its auto-empty feature–but the stick vac is not autonomous. Each product boasts a clean design with no sharp edges in sight for those who love rounded corners. Everything felt sturdy and polished with excellent build quality. The security camera is equally well designed. It twist-locks onto a purpose-built peg that plunges into the top of the mobile base, and it comes with a short USB-C cable for drawing power from the vacuum’s battery (an AC adapter and a longer cable are provided if you’d prefer to set up the camera somewhere other than on the mobile base). The camera can pan 360 degrees and it tilts 115 degrees, which is ideal for tracking a moving subject. The camera can host up to a 256GB microSD card (not included) for storing video recordings, or you can sign up for SwitchBot’s cloud-storage service, which also grants you access to some AI features, such as pet detection. SwitchBot’s least expensive plan costs $3.99/month or $34.99 per year for a single device. A family plan that supports up to 10 devices costs $20.99/month or $209.99/year. Setup and performance Setting up this thing is an experience–and not necessarily a pleasant one given the number of components involved. What’s more, you must also have–or acquire and set up before you set up the K20+–the SwitchBot Hub 3 (a Matter-certified, multi-function smart home hub). The SwitchBot K20+ Pro Patrol Kit cannot work without it. Fortunately, the Hub 3 itself is fairly easy to set up; just plug it in and connect it to the SwitchBot app. That’s the simplest step in the process. Next, you need to decide where to place the robot vacuum’s charging station, which must be near an electrical outlet. The mobile base docks into the charging station and the robot vacuum goes underneath, docking into the station. It’s a whole matryoshka situation, and you need to make sure the pins are aligned correctly so everything charges. At this point in the process, you can only connect the docking station to the SwitchBot app, because it will be the only component with power. To save yourself from unnecessary frustration, step away and focus on other tasks for a couple of hours. The devices won’t function properly—nor can they be added to the app—until they’re nearly fully charged. Gabriela Vatu I know we’re here to review this product’s home security element, but I must tell you that the K20+ Pro vacuum does a decent enough job. It’s super tiny and fits into places most other larger models wouldn’t, but it’s definitely not a product you’d use as your main cleaning device. There’s also a “mopping” plate you can install, but the mops in question are just glorified wet wipes that get dragged across your floor. Now, onto the important bit. The camera (along with any other K20+ accessories you add) will appear in the mobile base menu. So you must to go SwitchBot – Mobile Base – camera icon in the top right corner. This takes you to a full-screen view of the camera’s live feed, complete with an overlay of your home’s map and quick access to two-way talk or Privacy mode. There’s also the option of going through the Cameras menu that shows up on the app’s main page, but that one takes you to all the SwitchBot cameras you have before loading your desired feed. But you’re not getting this whole ensemble just for static camera images, right? If that’s all you wanted, you could just plug in the SwitchBot camera anywhere in your home. No, you’re buying this system to have a camera patrol your house. And patrol it will. From the mobile base interface, you can set up three Waypoints. Once the robot vacuum has mapped out your home, you can add these spots wherever you see fit, such as next to doors and windows in your home. Then you can just send the whole ensemble on patrol. It will go around your home, checking out all surroundings and sending push notifications when humans are detected. Gabriela Vatu The camera’s settings are quite extensive, allowing you to enable motion detection, adjust sensitivity, set up what types of notifications you want to get, and more. If you want to use the patrolling feature while you’re asleep, for instance, or when you’re at work, you can set up schedules. You can set up various other automations, too. The camera itself does a good-enough job, delivering great video resolution and clear video. Pair it up with the mobile base and you have a really cool way to keep an eye on your home when you’re on vacation, or to keep watch on your pets while you’re at work. Since it comes with two-way audio, you can chat with your pets or warn an intruder that they’ve been spotted. When you’re home and want privacy, you can instruct the camera to roll its lens back into its enclosure for instant privacy. The inevitable caveats So far, so good. Now let’s discuss the caveats, and the first one is a biggie: SwitchBot’s app is somewhat of a nightmare. It’s hard to figure out how to access features and fiddle with settings at times, and while you can set up Scenes and activate them with a single tap, the app’s user interface is hopelessly cluttered. The rolling base station element of SwitchBot K20+ Pro Patrol Kit couldn’t manage to traverse this slightly sloped transition between the author’s hardwood and tile floors. Gabriela Vatu/Foundry And then there’s the fact that the mobile base cannot manage to cross a threshold; i.e., any type of elevated transition between two floor surfaces. I had to move the vacuum’s base unit to a different location and remap the whole house because of this. The Robovac itself crosses thresholds just fine, but the mobile base simply cannot. And don’t imagine I have this giant step that must be crossed—it’s a simple baguette-type plastic thing in between the hardwood flooring in my living room to the tile flooring in my hallways and kitchen area. The transition is even rounded so it doesn’t pose a tripping hazard, but the mobile base just cannot manage to roll over it. And you can forget about expecting the mobile base to traverse plush carpeting or thick rugs–anything more than 3mm (0.12 inches) high will be insurmountable. That said, one of the other use cases SwitchBot posits for this kit is to put one of its tabletop-equipped air purifiers on the mobile base, so you can ferry things like drinking glasses from one room to another. So, you wouldn’t want the table to jiggle much in that scenario, especially with long-stemmed wine glasses on it. During my first test runs, I tried having it cross the threshold for several minutes before muttering “I’m done” and sending it back to its station. If your home has any sort of transitions between flooring, this whole SwitchBot K20+ ensemble is not for you.   Should you buy the SwitchBot K20+ Pro Patrol Kit? Well, the answer truly hinges on whether or not you have transitions between the floors in any of the rooms in your home. If you do, don’t count on the robot patrolling your entire home–you’ll be left with blind spots wherever there’s a transition–not to mention stairs. The SwitchBot K20+ Pro Patrol Kit isn’t an inexpensive security system, either. The complete rig costs $750, although you’ll find it on sale relatively often. And don’t forget to factor in the cost of the required SwitchBot Hub 3, which will cost you another is another $120 (if you don’t already have one). That’s quite a bit of money for a tiny robot vacuum and a mobile base that will carry a security camera around your home without being able to cross thresholds. To be frank, I’m a bit peeved because I really wanted to like this thing. It’s such a cool idea: One gadget that can both clean your floors and patrol your house with a security camera to show you what’s happening inside it–and warn you if it detects someone who shouldn’t be there. Genius! But its inability to cross the lowest transitions between flooring defeats its entire purpose. Perhaps a more powerful motor in the vacuum element or larger wheels on the mobile base would do the trick. But that would be a wholly different product that what’s on offer today. Read...

Today, Meta announced that it has begun rolling out a range of new tools and features to protect its users from fraud, scams, and other cybersecurity risks on the company’s social media platforms, which include Facebook, Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Meta Facebook Messenger will now be able to detect and warn users when chats appear to be scams, and it will also be possible to ask Meta’s AI tool to review any suspicious chats. WhatsApp will now display a new warning that users should only share their screen with people they trust during video calls. In addition, Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp now all support passkeys—learn more about why passkeys are better than passwords—and it will also be possible to get a quick overview of the security settings in Facebook and Instagram. Meanwhile, WhatsApp will now have a new privacy settings guide. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Available with up to 16TB Far faster than HDDs Attractive design and logo Cons Very pricey per TB in the 16TB capacity. Our Verdict If you’re shopping HDDs because of their vast capacity per unit, first take a long look at the VectoTech V-MAX, a SATA SSD that’s available with up to 16TB of storage per unit. You’ll get much better performance than with a hard drive, albeit at far greater cost per TB. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: VectoTech V-MAX SATA III SSD Retailer Price $1,799 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket VectoTech’s V-MAX SATA SSD lets you add up to 16TB of storage capacity per unit to your system without suffering the poor reliability and dawdling performance associated with an HDD’s spinning platters. And, yes, that’s 16TB in a single drive. The upshot is that with most systems offering 4 to 8 SATA ports, stacking V-MAX drives can add up to 128TB of fast (compared to HDDs) storage for your system. Alas, it ain’t gonna be cheap. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best SSDs for comparison. Not NVMe? Ah, the elephant in the room. We love the NVMe interface and its superb performance, but it maxes out at 8TB per drive in the consumer space and sucks up PCIe resources in a hurry. Many systems can’t support more than one or two NVMe SSDs. But, those same systems will generally have 4 to 8 SATA ports, meaning you can add a lot more SATA SSDs than NVMe types without an add-in card such as the Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen5. It was actually SATA SSDs that changed the storage game, not NMVe. Prior to SATA SSDs, slothful HDD access (seek) times and throughput negated much of the gains CPUs had realized over the years. Long story short, you likely won’t hate the performance of an SATA SSD, especially if you combine a couple in RAID 0 or similar for increased throughput. What are the V-MAX’s features? Back to the product at hand: The VectoTech V-MAX is a SATA III (6Gbps) SSD in the common 2.5-inch form factor. You can fit it in any 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch bay with only a slight amount of jockeying and four screws. I use 2.5-inch SATA SSDs in my 3.5-inch bay NAS boxes. The V-MAX is a nice-looking product styled in black with the charcoal gray logo and info labeled onto the front and back. It won’t sully the view with an innards-on-full-display gaming rig. And you can, of course, fit a heck of a lot of games on 16TB. And it is really the per-unit capacity that makes this product special. I’m only aware of one other greater-than-4TB SATA SSD on the market. But it’s “only” 8TB and is priced significantly higher than the 8TB V-MAX (see the bad news below). The V-Max uses a Phison PS3112-S12 controller and 112-layer Kioxia TLC NAND. DRAM is provided with 256MB per terabyte on the 1TB and 2TB models, and 1GB per terabyte on the 4TB, 8TB, and 16TB units. VectoTech warranties the V-MAX for three years, and provides 750TBW (terabytes that can be written) per terabyte of capacity for the 1TB and 2TB models, 3420TBW for the 4TB, 3125TBW for the 8TB, and 2,812.5TBW for the 16TB. Why the nonlinear TBW ratings, I can’t tell you, but all are beyond the industry norm. In the three larger capacities, way beyond the norm. Consumers are extremely unlikely to write more than those ratings within a three-year period, so the years in this case might be the more worrisome factor. Most internal SSDs are warrantied for five years. More worrisome, yes, but I haven’t seen an internal SSD go belly up in over a decade, so that’s more on the lesser end of worrisome things. How much is the V-MAX? The VectoTech V-MAX is available in 1TB/$69, 2TB/$179, 4TB/$299, 8TB/$799, and 16TB/$1,799 capacities. Yes, that’s NVMe-like pricing, but large-capacity SSDs don’t grow on trees. Most vendors don’t make large-capacity consumer SSDs. The only other one I’ve found that’s currently available, the 8TB Micron 5210 Ion, is $1,100 — way more than the 8TB V-MAX, and it’s QLC, not TLC like the V-MAX. By way of comparison, two 16TB HDDs are only around $500. Why two? Never trust data solely to an HDD without it being mirrored to another one, or backed up in some other way. I’ve had too many go belly up, albeit not in quite a while — quality has improved quite a bit over the years. If you don’t need SSD speed, you can save a whole lot of moolah going that route. If you want something faster and more robust than a hard drive in a single package, the 16TB V-MAC could be your dream product. How fast is the V-MAX? SATA III, being 6Gbps, maxes out at around 550MBps in sustained throughput — about twice that of a modern 3.5-inch HDD, but far slower than NVMe. However, seek times are another story, with SSDs being 0.04 to 0.1 milliseconds while HDD seek times are tens of milliseconds. NVMe runs between 0.01 and 0.02 ms. I retested two older SATA SSDs (Seagate’s IronWolf and Samsung’s 870 QVO) on our new testbed to compare them to the V-MAX. Given the SATA performance ceiling, there’s not a whole lot of difference but you’ll definitely want to avoid the Samsung 870 QVO (if you can even find it) for large writes. The V-MAX was the best of this small lot when it came to sustained throughput as measured by CrystalDiskMark 8. The V-MAX was the best of this small lot when it came to sustained throughput as measured by CrystalDiskMark 8. Longer bars are better. The same deal with CrystalDiskMark 8’s 4K tests — the V-MAX ruled. Albeit, by small margins. The same deal with CrystalDiskMark 8’s 4K tests — the V-MAX ruled. Albeit, by small margins. Longer bars are better. Our real-world 48GB transfers were a mixed bag for the V-MAX, with it fastest at some and not so much in others. Overall, there wasn’t a whole lot of difference to choose from. Our real-world 48GB transfers were a mixed bag for the V-MAX, with it fastest at some and not so much in others. Overall, there wasn’t a whole lot of difference to choose from. Shorter bars are better. This chart is wonky as the 870 QVO is an older QLC NAND drive that drops to below 100MBps when it runs out of secondary cache, which unfortunately, was well before 450GB was written. As you can see, the more modern components in the V-MAX made a difference in that regard. As you can see, the more modern components in the V-MAX made a difference in that regard. Shorter bars are better. So yes, it’s faster than a hard drive by far, and faster than the other (far older) SATA competition. Seek times, as discussed, are quite good in the broad scheme of things. In another universe from HDDs, and, subjectively, in the ballpark with NVMe. Should you buy the V-MAX SATA SSD? If capacity is your most pressing issue, and you want something faster and more robust than a hard drive in a single package, then yes — the 16TB V-MAC could be your dream product. It’s also pretty much the only game in town for maxing out the SSD storage of a consumer PC without multiple add-in cards. That said, the 16TB V-MX is not for financially faint of heart, I mean wallet. I’d have a hard time myself rationalizing it over HDDs. But I’m not working on massive video or other large data-set projects with performance concerns. In other words, you’re on your own by way of determining monetary suitability. How we test Drive tests currently utilize Windows 11 24H2, 64-bit running off of a PCIe 4.0 Samsung 990 Pro in an Asus Z890-Creator WiFi (PCIe 4.0/5.0) motherboard. The CPU is a Core Ultra i5 225 feeding/fed by two Crucial 64GB DDR5 4800MHz modules (128GB of memory total). Both 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 5 are integrated into the motherboard and Intel CPU/GPU graphics are used. Internal PCIe 5.0 SSDs involved in testing are mounted in a Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen5 adapter card siting in a PCIe 5.0 slot. We run the CrystalDiskMark 8.04 (and 9), AS SSD 2, and ATTO 4 synthetic benchmarks (to keep article length down, we only report one) to find the storage device’s potential performance, then a series of 48GB and 450GB transfers tests using Windows Explorer drag and drop to show what users will see during routine copy operations, as well as the far faster FastCopy run as administrator to show what’s possible. A 20GBps two-SSD RAID 0 array on the aforementioned Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen5 is used as the second drive in our transfer tests. Formerly the 48GB tests were done with a RAM disk serving that purpose. Each test is performed on a NTFS-formatted and newly TRIM’d drive so the results are optimal. Note that in normal use, as a drive fills up, performance may decrease due to less NAND for secondary caching, as well as other factors. This issue has abated somewhat with the current crop of SSDs utilizing more mature controllers and far faster, late-generation NAND. Note that our testing MO evolves and these results may not match those from previous articles. Only comparisons inside the article are 100% valid as those results are gathered using the current hardware and MO. Read...

If you’re looking for a powerful gaming laptop that can get you playing all the best games with Nvidia’s latest DLSS 4 tech without breaking the bank, then this Lenovo Legion 5i with a stellar configuration is the one for you. It’s currently on sale at B&H for just $1,249.99, which is a massive $450 off its original $1,699.99 and one of the best prices we’ve seen for a laptop with specs like this. Supplies are limited so act fast! This Lenovo Legion 5i is a powerhouse in every way, clearly built to tackle whatever tasks you need to handle during the day and then effortlessly run all the games you could possibly want to play at night. The RTX 5060 GPU is the pièce de résistance here, but the rest of the machine ain’t a slouch either. You’re looking at a 20-core Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX processor, a whopping 32GB of lightning-fast DDR5 RAM, and a spacious 1TB SSD for top-tier performance across Windows 11, apps, and games. The RTX 5060 unlocks DLSS 4 features like multi-frame generation, allowing you to enjoy gorgeous visuals at smooth frame rates via the power of AI—and those games are going to pop on this laptop’s stunning 15.1-inch OLED screen that delivers a sharp 2560×1600 resolution and a buttery-smooth 165Hz refresh rate. It’s rounded out by a handful of ports (HDMI 2.1, USB4, USB-C, triple USB-A, LAN, 3.5mm audio) plus Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3. At 4.4 pounds, it’s even somewhat portable! Don’t sleep on this eye-popping deal! Grab this Lenovo Legion 5i for a whopping $450 off while you still can. Again, B&H has this marked as a “limited supply at this price” deal, so if you’re thinking of cashing in on it, maybe do it sooner than later. This stacked RTX 5060 laptop with OLED screen is currently $450 offBuy now from B&H Read...

Creating professional-grade videos no longer requires high costs, complex tools, and expert skills. BananaImg AI changes that by offering a unified online platform for AI-powered image and video generation. Designed to simplify creative production, it allows users to generate, edit, and refine visuals within minutes. This article provides an overview of BananaImg AI – its technology, key features, and usability – highlighting how it helps creators produce high-quality visuals quickly and efficiently. BananaImg AI Introducing All-in-One Platform BananaImg AI is an all-in-one AI image and video generator free and online that integrates creation, editing, and production into a single platform. Built to make content generation accessible to everyone, it combines simplicity with advanced AI performance. For AI image generation, BananaImg AI leverages industry-leading models such as Google Nano Banana and ByteDance Seedream 4.0, ensuring high-fidelity, consistent visuals. For AI video generation, it utilizes Google Veo 3, one of the most advanced AI video models available, delivering cinematic quality and smooth motion. By continuously refining its algorithms and updating its creative tools, BananaImg AI empowers users to produce professional-quality visuals – quickly, intuitively, and without technical barriers. Key Features that Make BananaImg AI Stand Out BananaImg AI, the all-in-one AI image and video generator free and online, brings advanced AI image and video generation capabilities into one interface, minimizing the need to switch between multiple tools. AI Image Generation The core highlight of BananaImg AI lies in its fast, high-quality image creation. Character Consistency BananaImg AI maintains stable appearance across edits – faces, hairstyles, and backgrounds remain coherent, ideal for storytelling, branding, and design continuity. BananaImg AI Lightning Speed Compared to many alternatives, BananaImg AI delivers results in seconds. The images are produced within seconds without compromising resolution or detail. Real-World Awareness BananaImg AI understands how things look in reality. With every edit, details such as lighting, textures, or reflections are refined automatically, making images more natural and trustworthy. AI Video Generation BananaImg AI video generation powered by Google Veo 3, producing cinematic videos with audio directly from text or image prompts. Video with Audio Users can automatically generate clips with background music, environmental sounds, or synchronized dialogue. example video Prompt Optimization Text prompts are intelligently refined to improve creative accuracy without requiring complex scripting. Just describe it in plain language, and BananaImg AI will optimize the text into a video-ready prompt. Lip-Sync and Multilingual Output Character speech aligns naturally with audio tracks, and Veo 3 supports multiple languages for global creators. For creators seeking greater flexibility and professional-grade controls, SuperMaker AI expands upon the same core technologies – Google Nano Banana and Google Veo 3 – while integrating additional state-of-the-art models such as OpenAI Sora 2 and others. This broader creative environment offers enhanced customization, advanced prompt tuning, and multi-model access, allowing users to explore complex visual storytelling and push the boundaries of AI-generated content. How to Generate Images or Videos Using BananaImg AI Getting started with BananaImg AI – all-in-one AI image and video generator free and online is easy and intuitive. Here’s how to begin: AI Image generation Step 1: Choose Mode Select text-to-image or image-to-image mode. Step 2: Enter Prompts Text-to-image: Type words to describe the desired scene. Image-to-image: Upload a reference image and add descriptive text for modifications. BananaImg AI Step 3: Generate and Preview Click ‘Generate image’, then review and adjust as needed. For enhanced prompt creation, users can use AI prompts feature, which is powered by Google Gemini then get accurate prompts tailored to your needs. AI Video Generation Step 1: Choose Mode Select from text-to-video or image-to-video. Step 2: Enter Prompts Text-to-video: Type words to describe the video you want. Image-to-video: Upload an image and define how it should animate. example video  Step 3: Generate and Preview Click ‘Generate video’ to produce a final cinematic sequence. Why BananaImg AI Is a Reliable Choice There are some reasons that make BananaImg AI, the all-in-one AI image and video generator free and online, a reliable choice. Consistent Quality and Updated Service The team keeps user experience and output quality at the top of their priority list. They regularly bring in new models, update special effects, and release templates to inspire creativity. In addition, BananaImg AI develop new image effects and tools for better user experience, such as Group Photo to put separate individuals into one. BananaImg AI User Privacy and Data Protection BananaImg AI prioritizes secure processing and user confidentiality. User data and personal information remain safe and will not be revealed in any ways. Free Trial and Daily Rewards New users can access a free trial and earn daily credits – up to 20 per week – by checking in, allowing ongoing experimentation at no cost. BananaImg AI Intuitive Interface BananaImg AI is designed for everyone – not just tech experts. The clean and minimal design supports users of all experience levels, enabling both beginners and professionals to create efficiently. With all of these advanced features, you can even use BananaImg AI to build and grow your YouTube channel – just like in the guild How to Get Your Business Started on YouTube. The Future of BananaImg AI BananaImg AI continues to evolve in response to user feedback, focusing on expanding its library of image tools, creative effects, and precision editing features. Each update enhances usability and visual quality, allowing creators to produce more natural and expressive results. Looking ahead, the platform will keep pace with the latest advances in AI modeling to maintain both speed and realism. Its ongoing improvements aim to provide users with more efficient workflows and greater creative freedom in image and video generation. Final Words BananaImg AI is a free, all-in-one online image and video generator free and online that blends simplicity with advanced performance. Powered by Google Nano Banana and Veo 3, it delivers stable, realistic results for both personal creativity and professional projects. For creators seeking even greater flexibility, the same team offers SuperMaker AI – a companion platform that builds upon BananaImg AI’s foundation with expanded features and deeper creative control. BananaImg AI provides an accessible entry point for creators seeking AI-powered image and video generation. Try the platform’s free trial to explore its capabilities. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Powerful performance Large and tall display Great I/O selection Cons Keys are a bit soft The display’s color could be richer It could be slightly lighter weight Our Verdict The HP Zbook Ultra G1a is a classy mobile workstation, featuring a large display, a robust design, and plenty of graphics power. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: HP Zbook Ultra G1a Retailer Price $2229 View Deal Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices HP’s Zbook Ultra G1a is an all-round performer. It benefits from a powerful Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 chip that made all my computing needs so easy. From mucking around in office apps to browsing the web, the G1a did it all. This laptop could even play a few triple-A games thanks to the integrated Radeon 8050S chip. On top of all that, it just oozes luxury. From the spacious keyboard to the large display, this is a mobile workstation that feels very smooth to use. The HP Zbook Ultra G1a is an ideal mobile workstation. With a generously sized display and keyboard, it provides the kind of luxurious computing that office workers seek. HP ZBook Ultra G1a: Specifications HP’s website shows the HP Zbook Ultra G1a in configurations up to AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 395 and AMD Radeon 8060S graphics with a top-of-the-line model costing $3,699. My laptop had the step-down build with an AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 processor with an integrated Radeon 8050S chip, which, at the time of writing, cost $2,229. The full specifications are as follows: Model number: B90JJUA#ABA CPU: AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 RAM: 64GB LPDDR5x 8533 MT/s Graphics: Integrated Radeon 8050S Display: 14-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) UWVA, anti-glare, 400nits, 100 percent sRGB color gamut. Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe Connectivity: 2 x Thunderbolt 4, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 2.1, 3.5 mm combo jack, Kensington lock. Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Battery capacity: 74.5 Wh Li-ion polymer Dimensions:  12.29 x 8.45 x 0.71 inches Weight: 3.31 lbs (1.50kg) Cost: $2,229 (this configuration) Compared to competitors, Dell offers the Dell 14 Premium, which features a Core 7 255H CPU with Intel Arc 140T graphics, and an MSRP of $1,899.99. At 3.79 pounds, it’s the slightly heavier of the two options and its NPU features only 13 TOPS of neural processing power. HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Design and build The HP Zbook Ultra G1a looks a lot like the laptops in HP’s EliteBook series. The design is very compact measuring just 12.29 x 8.45 inches, but the design is pretty luxurious. The laptop is comprised of an aluminum body that feels strong and very robust. There’s a scarcity of plastic here and more metal than you’ll find in a heap of cheaper laptops, However, the metal material means it’ll last a good while. At 0.71 inches thick, the Zbook Ultra G1a is also very slender. It’s relatively light too at 3.33 pounds. It’s even lighter than the HP Pavilion Laptop 16. it was easy to pick up with one hand and carry around the office. When I slipped it into my work bag, it nestled right up against my work laptop without any fuss. Dominic Bayley / Foundry HP did such a great job balancing the main components that the whole design feels effortless. 14-inch The 1920×1200 display is generous and frames up to a tall 16:10 aspect ratio. The keyboard is large and the keys spacious. The hinges are strong and hold the lid at any angle you want it to. I couldn’t get any flex out of the lid despite using a lot of weight on it. The 140W charger is also small and compact and suitable for carrying. HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Keyboard and trackpad HP has provided a well-balanced keyboard with left and right Shift keys and right arrow keys, but it doesn’t have a numpad. Although only a 14-inch laptop keyboard, HP has managed to fit in the Page Up and Page Down keys above the arrow keys, the placement of which I really liked after a while. Dominic Bayley / Foundry For typing, the large low set keys are a little on the soft side, but the rebound isn’t completely mushy, so they don’t feel fatiguing. On the plus side, the keys are very stable. They don’t wobble or skew sideways on the down press, which makes for very accurate typing. The backlighting illuminates the top of each key well so that they are bright and easily visible at night. The touchpad is located in a very central position. Its moderate size means there’s plenty of room either side to rest your wrists. HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Connectivity The laptop has three USB-C ports and one USB-A port, which accommodated my external mouse and keyboard and my external SSD with no fuss. Two of the USB-C ports are Thunderbolt 4 ports, which means they provide a maximum file transfer speed of up to 40Gbps and you can also output to two displays at 4K resolution at 60Hz. The Ultra G1a also has an HDMI 2.1 port, a 3.5 mm audio jack, and a Kensington lock. Wi-Fi 7 functionality provided me with a snappy enough connection to download the programs I needed to benchmark the laptop. My review model also had Bluetooth 5.4, which was handy for streaming music through my laptop speaker. The connectivity was quick enough to render images via the laptop’s 5MP IR camera in fine detail. The AI enhanced camera produced very natural-looking images and the dual array microphones did a decent job making my voice sound clear. HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Display, audio My review model shipped with a 14-inch 1920x1200p LCD IPS-grade display. I had the base version, but some configurations come with an upgraded 2880×1800 resolution OLED touchscreen. Overall, the display itself is quite decent. The panel delivers 100 percent sRGB color and 400 nits of peak brightness, which together make for a sharp image. I’ve seen much richer color saturation and contrast in other OLED panels, though. Still, I was never unhappy with the visuals. There was no lag or delay playing media, and videos were fluid and flicker free. The anti-glare functionality also kept reflection down to a minimum. The laptop’s upward firing speakers also produced quite a detailed sound for a laptop so thin. HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Performance My review model’s AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 chip is a powerful mobile processor launched in January 2025 and based on AMD’s Zen 5 architecture. It has 12 cores and supports 24 threads, and reaches a maximum boost clock speed of up to 5.0GHz. The Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 includes the Radeon 8050S integrated graphics chip and a 50 TOPs XDNA 2 neural engine. The first benchmark I tested it on was Maxon’s Cinebench Multi-Threaded benchmark. This test fired all the processor’s 12 cores to simulate how it could handle a similar all-hands on-deck computing task. Dominic Bayley / Foundry As you can see, the Ultra G1a topped the field in this test. That’s not surprising considering the power of the AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 chip compared to the power-conserving ultralight laptop chips in the field. The Ultra G1a proved it can keep thermals in check to finish heavy tasks quickly, which even gaming laptops with high-performance processors sometimes struggle with. I figured that from the fast time it took to finish our standard PCWorld encoding test in the Handbrake utility. This is a better result than most light and thin laptops will achieve. Dominic Bayley / Foundry The PCMark benchmark provided an indication of how the Ultra G1a might handle a range of different office tasks from spreadsheeting to web browsing. Dominic Bayley / Foundry To be sure, the Ultra G1a performed very well in this task, almost topping the field again. In fact, a score of 6,083 means it will comfortably run office apps and programs. HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Graphics performance The Radeon 8050S features 32 compute units and is based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture. It’s similar in performance to the Nvidia RTX 4060 laptop GPU, so I was expecting better performance than many of the ultralight laptops in the lineup. In the 3DMark Time Spy 1.2 benchmark, the HP Zbook Ultra G1a performed well. It achieved an overall score of 4,343. This indicates it does have a slightly better graphics performance than a lot of productivity laptops. Dominic Bayley / Foundry You can even do some gaming on the HP Zbook Ultra G1a as was confirmed by the Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark. In this test, the Ultra G1a averaged 59 FPS, which beat out some lower-tier gaming laptops in performance. Dominic Bayley / Foundry These results point to the laptop being a strong graphics performer for one with an integrated GPU. Performance is still far below many top-tier gaming laptops, but it’s strong enough for undertaking tasks like 3D editing that would make full use of the laptop’s Radeon 8050S. HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Battery life To test the laptop’s battery life, I set a 30GB 4K video on repeat in the Windows Films and TV app. But first I charged it up full, changed the volume to 50 percent, activated airplane mode, and adjusted the brightness. I also switched the keyboard backlighting off and plugged in a cheap pair of headphones to keep the noise down. Just before pressing play, I unplugged the laptop from the power outlet and timed how long it took to run out of juice. Dominic Bayley / Foundry The HP Zbook Ultra G1a managed just over 14 hours before running out of juice. That result is better than expected. That said, our battery test is a lightweight one (it’s not too demanding). You can expect the laptop to last approximately half that time running more demanding applications. HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Conclusion The HP Zbook Ultra G1a is an ideal mobile workstation. With a generously sized display and keyboard, it provides the kind of luxurious computing that office workers seek. It also features powerful performance that beats out most ultrabooks. It even holds its own against some gaming laptops. While it may be more powerful than most ultrabooks, it’s just as portable, being a slim and relatively lightweight 14-inch laptop, perfect for the daily commute. Read...

People who rely on Alexa to use basic home features like lights and other appliances experienced issues during the widespread internet outage on Monday night. Read...