At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Unlocks almost instantly after recognizing an enrolled palm Never failed to recognize a palm Local data storage means it can operate without a Wi-Fi connection Removable, rechargeable 10,000mAh battery Solid build, quick installation Cons No support for Matter or HomeKit No NFC keycard or fob is included Auto-lock lacks door-ajar detection App and firmware updates can be buggy Our Verdict The TCL D2 Pro Palm Vein Smart Lock looks and operates like a device you’d see in a sci-fi movie. The touchless unlock feature is both captivating and rock-solid, but you might be disappointed that it doesn’t support Apple Home or Matter. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: TCL D2 Pro Palm Vein Smart Lock Retailer Price $169.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices First, we ditched our housekeys for a numerical code that unlocked our doors, then we moved up to sometimes balky fingerprint readers. The TCL D2 Pro Palm Vein Smart Lock ups the ante with an amazing palm vein reader that takes just 0.3 seconds to unlock your door once you present your hand in front of its tiny scanner. TCL, best known for its budget-friendly TVs, moves further into the home security market with its second generation of smart door locks that hit the market alongside its B1 Security Camera. The D2 Pro is the top of the line and TCL’s only lock to feature a palm vein reader. The D2 Pro also features a built-in doorbell (but not a camera). Pressing the doorbell button a sounds a chime on the lock itself, and it also sends a push notification to your smartphone. You can unlock the door six ways: With your palm, of course, by tapping a PIN on its numeric keypad, using the TCL app, with a voice command (via Amazon Alexa or Google Home), with an NFC keycard or fob (not included), or a physical key (two are provided). Each of those methods has its own advantages and, if you’re not looking for a lock to seamlessly integrate into one brand’s suite of smart home products, the D2 could be an excellent choice for your home security. The palm vein reader in the TCL D2 Pro instantly unlocked my door once I mastered the waving gesture. Build quality The TCL D2 Pro Palm Vein Smart Lock will be an imposing presence on the interior side of your door.James Barber/Foundry The D2 Pro comes sports an aluminum housing—silver, with black accents—that’s all hard angles and sharp corners, a design that echoes the future imagined by the movie Robocop. The vaguely brutalist design won’t be for everyone, even though TCL’s promotional literature hopefully points out a resemblance between the D2 Pro and the Tesla Cybertruck. Its specs are typical: The lock is rated IP55, meaning that no amount of dust can get inside and cause the lock to fail, and that it’s protected from water jets coming from any direction. It has an operating temperature range of -4 degrees Fahrenheit to around 140 degrees F (-20 C ~ 60 C). It has the customary adjustable bolt to accommodate doors with different-sized backsets (2.36- or 2.76 inches, 60- or 70mm), and it fits in either a 1.5-inch (38mm) or 2.13-inch (54mm) cross-bore (an adapter is included for the larger diameter).  TCL has not submitted this deadbolt for ANSI or BHMA certification, so there’s no standardized rating as to its suitability for commercial (ANSI) or residential (BHMA) installations. The two standards bodies measure such things a open/close cycles, survivability after repeated hammer blows, and the quality of a lock’s finish, among other things. That missing rating could be an issue if your insurance carrier or local building code requires such certification (although that’s not typical). We have another story that explains ANSI and BHMA certification in more detail if you want to know more about it. Setup and installation TCL was smart to provide a rechargeable battery that can be removed and plugged into a power source via a USB-C cable when you need to recharge it. James Barber/Foundry Setup and installation were easy and incredibly straightforward, at least until the final step. First, I had to give the included 10,000mAh battery a full charge, which I did overnight before the day I planned to install. That battery is removable and is charged via USB-C cable. If the battery dies while you’re out and about, you can use the USB-C port on its exterior escutcheon to charge enough for the lock to operate. Since I was replacing a previously installed deadbolt, I didn’t need to replace the strike plate on my door jamb. That made for quick 15-minute install that only required a Phillips-head screwdriver. After installing the battery in the unit and the TCL Home app on my phone, I was able to use the app to connect to my wireless network with the D2’s built-in 2.4GHz Wi-Fi adapter (5GHz networks are not supported). You’ll need to thread a power cord from the exterior escutcheon, through your door’s bore hole, and then plug it into a socket on the interior escutcheon.James Barber/Foundry If the process ended here, I’d be telling you how easy this lock was to install. Unfortunately, my lock required four incremental firmware upgrades before it was ready to use. Would it be easier if the lock could just download the latest firmware upon its first connection to the internet? Absolutely! Is it possible to write the software so that these incremental steps aren’t required? I have no idea, but this isn’t an issue I’d previously encountered when reviewing other smart home devices. Fortunately, there was mostly good news once the updates were complete. Well, almost. I realize that the app was written to work with all TCL smart home devices, but I had trouble setting up the palm vein reader after the app asked me to set up both a security code for using the app and another one that would allow me to unlock the D2 Pro (and any of the other locks in the D2 line). I had to dig around in the app’s settings for a few minutes before I found what I was looking for. After navigating to User Management > Administrator (me), I found the palm vein settings and was able to set up the palm security. Unlocking your door TCL says its own lab results show that its palm vein tech is 99.9999 percent accurate. The infrared light reads the veins under your skin, avoiding both the positioning and pressure issues that affect fingerprint readers. And if you believe the Mission: Impossible movies, using your palm instead of a fingerprint will prevent an intruder from engineering a workaround from prints you might leave on a drinking glass or door handle. As you can see here, the TCL D2 Pro’s interior escutcheon is much larger than the half you’ll mount on the outside.James Barber/Foundry Once I had it up and running, the palm vein reader instantly unlocked my door once I mastered the waving gesture.  If you’re worried about security, TCL stores the palm data on the device itself, a feature that also makes it possible to open your door when your Wi-Fi or broadband is down. The numerical keypad was 100 percent reliable in my testing, as was using the controls in the TCL Home app. Setting up with Alexa and Google worked as well as you might hope, and the ability to unlock the door for a visitor via voice command is a definite plus. TCL does not include an NFC keycard or fob with the D2 Pro, so I was unable to test that entry method. Based on its performance with the other entry methods, I would expect them to work seamlessly as well. Note that you can only unlock the door via the TCL Home app when there’s an active internet connection to the D2 Pro. Also keep in mind that this lock doesn’t support Matter or Apple Home, so you won’t be able to integrate the lock into that kind of smart home setup. There’s also no Bluetooth, Thread, Zigbee, or Z-Wave support, as is typical of a Wi-Fi lock. The TCL Home app The TCL Home app may not be the most polished user experience, but its settings are straightforward once you set up your lock.James Barber/Foundry The TCL Home app looks simple at first glance, but there are a host of options buried in its settings. You can set up a security code for each device you add to the app. Users must type in the code to access the settings. You might want to skip that extra level of security because it’s a chore to type it in every time you want to make an adjustment. Tap the Settings gear icon to get access to Auto Lock, which sets a time (between 10 seconds and two minutes) for the door to automatically relock after opening. If you enable that setting, however, be aware that the lock has no means of determining if the door is ajar before it throws its bolt. That can lead to damage to the molding around your door if someone tries to close the door while the lock’s bolt is extended. Wrong-Try Protection locks down the D2 Pro for a time (2- to 5 minutes) after a set number of wrong code attempts. There’s volume control for both the doorbell and the pleasant British accent that delivers voice prompts. Away Mode disables all user permissions aside from the master password. On the main screen, you can check the battery level, set up one-time-use passwords for visitors or service people, unlock the door with a long press, or access an Events Summary that tells you who unlocked the door at what times over the past seven days. Parents can monitor curfews by creating a Homecoming Reminder that alerts the administrator if a user has not unlocked the door by a certain time. TCL offers other options, too If you’re looking for a lower-priced lock from TCL the TCL D2 Plus ($119.99) swaps the palm vein scanner for AI-enhanced fingerprint recognition; retains the app, keypad, and physical key options for unlocking; Wi-Fi connectivity; voice control; and IP55 weatherization. But it relies on 8 disposable AA batteries (with a 6-month lifespan) rather than rechargeable power. The base TCL D2 ($79.99), meanwhile, offers the simplest feature set: unlocking via PIN, app, or key; the same aluminum alloy build; IP55 weather resistance; Wi-Fi connectivity; and voice-assistant integration. It also runs on 8 AA batteries. Should you buy the TCL D2 Pro Palm Vein Smart Lock? The TCL D2 Pro Palm Vein Smart Lock replaces the D1 Pro model that came out last year, and it features impressive upgrades. The 10,000 mAh battery in the D2 Pro offers 10 months of battery life, where the D1 Pro’s 7,800 mAh battery was limited to 9 months. The D2 Pro is more water resistant, with an IP55 rating compared to the D1 Pro’s IP54. There’s also no doorbell on the D1 Pro. The palm vein technology and other unlock methods are the same on both models. Unlocking a door by waving a hand in front of a sensor can feel like we’re finally living in the future that Star Trek promised on those after-school reruns. The palm-vein entry is secure and reliable, a godsend for anyone who’s usually lugging packages with them when returning home. TCL offers all the other basics, including individual profiles, one-time codes, and remote unlock that you’d expect from a high-end smart home lock in 2025. The firmware update experience could use some work, the app needs a bit more polish, and TCL should really find a way to have its devices better integrate with other manufacturers’ smart home hardware. This lock’s touch-free entry is just too magical to be stuck in a smart home silo. This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart locks. Read...

Perplexity’s Comet is the most advanced AI browser right now, and it’s actually pretty cool. You can watch the browser’s built-in AI perform actions in real time, like clicking buttons on web pages and navigating between links. Yet while Comet might be a foretaste of the future of web browsing, it’s not quite what it’s hyped up to be. I’ve been playing around with Comet on Windows for a few weeks now… and it leaves me wanting. You can use Comet right now with a Perplexity Pro subscription for $20/month, but read this before you spend cash on it. Comet’s AI can browse the web for you Comet’s hallmark feature is unique among AI browsers right now. Yes, it does have “standard AI browser” features like an AI sidebar that summarizes content, a voice mode that lets you speak with Perplexity’s LLMs, and a Perplexity chat box on the New Tab page. But the core feature here is that you can open Comet’s chat experience and then say something like: “Hey, control my web browser and do something.” Research flights, plan travel, find products to buy—nearly anything is possible, and Comet will actually do it for you. Chris Hoffman / Foundry There’s something weirdly magical about opening Google Maps, telling Comet to research and plan a route for you, and watching in real time as it reasons through the process of clicking buttons, typing text, and interacting with the web page. You can see it all happen right before your eyes—and when the AI is controlling a page, you’ll see a blue border around it to let you know. You’ll see how the AI reasoning model talks to itself as it walks through the task, and you can interrupt it at any time. I may have gripes with Comet, but none of them take away from how cool it is to see this agentic AI browser in action the first time. This is a glimpse of the future. Nearly every web browser—apart from Vivaldi—will be following in Comet’s footsteps, whether we like it or not. Comet’s AI browsing can be pretty slow Once you get over how magical the technology seems, the limitations quickly become apparent. This is true for large language models in general, but it’s especially true with Comet. As I watch every task completed by the agentic AI, I realize how much faster it would be to just do all the clicking and navigating myself. Watching the AI use Google Maps is fun, but it quickly loses its luster when you’re one minute into a task and get outputs like: “Oops, I entered the address, but I didn’t hit backspace first to clear the box. I’ll need to erase the text in the box, and then type the address again.” It can be surprisingly slow. You’d save time by doing the browsing yourself, or even just using a more traditional AI chatbot that isn’t built into your web browser. Prompting ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, or even Perplexity itself for information can be faster—it’s just smoother to let the AI focus on compiling and synthesizing data instead of commandeering the browser and navigating user interfaces. In a nutshell, agentic AI is cool but not quite as useful as it sounds. The typical AI chatbot experience still comes out ahead. The AI can access your websites… as you Many websites block access to AI tools, so the conventional AI chatbot search experience can’t always get the job done. But when the AI model has access to your browser, it can use those websites on your behalf. Even if a website requires you to sign in, Comet can use it—as long as you’re sign in to the site before Comet starts navigating it. That’s a huge advantage over the classic AI chatbot search experience. An AI browser can do a lot more with the web, and you can see exactly what it’s doing and take over whenever you like. But it also means that any exploit could directly affect your browser and your data. Comet is vulnerable to LLM exploits Large language models are vulnerable to something called “prompt injections,” which can happen whenever the LLM is made to process and interpret text. The problem is that when text is fed into an LLM, it isn’t always clear whether that text is from you or elsewhere. For example, an LLM might process and analyze the source code of a web page to perform some kind of task. But the source code of a web page could potentially include hidden prompt instructions designed to hijack an AI that’s analyzing the source code. The LLM can’t distinguish the hidden prompt in the source code from the source code itself. In other words, that hidden prompt was injected into the source code, and the AI will be none the wiser. Hence, prompt injection attack. Chris Hoffman / Foundry Security researchers at Guardio found that Comet was vulnerable to attacks like this, and that it could be tricked into falling for phishing scams while online shopping. Security researchers from Brave also found that Comet was vulnerable to indirect prompt injection attacks. Here’s the wildest part from Brave’s blog post: “The vulnerability we’re discussing in this post lies in how Comet processes webpage content: when users ask it to ‘Summarize this webpage,’ Comet feeds a part of the webpage directly to its LLM without distinguishing between the user’s instructions and untrusted content from the webpage. This allows attackers to embed indirect prompt injection payloads that the AI will execute as commands.” Did you catch that? It’s not that Comet’s protections against prompt injection were bypassed, but rather that Comet (in its initial release) didn’t even have prompt injection protections that tried to distinguish between trusted user instructions and untrusted web page data sent to the AI model (at least with the summarization function). This sort of thing is a known problem with large language models. While Comet now has better protections against this, it’s unclear how good those safeguards are. Comet hasn’t been properly battle-tested. Other agentic AI browsing solutions—like ChatGPT’s agent mode—interact with websites by loading those websites in their own browser in the cloud apart from your data. Even when those LLMs are exploited by prompt injection attacks, at least the damage is somewhat limited. But when the AI has access to everything in your browser—as is the case with Perplexity’s Comet—the risk goes up by quite a bit. From what I can tell, it seems like Perplexity is “moving fast and breaking things” while competitors are at least paying attention to security before launching. Comet is minimal and uncluttered… Comet is focused on AI browsing—and that’s it. You’re getting a clean, uncluttered Chromium browser. It has AI integration, yes, but aside from that it’s stripped down and doesn’t get in your way. Chris Hoffman / Foundry It’s not like using Microsoft Edge, for example. Microsoft’s Edge browser is built on the same Chromium codebase that powers Google Chrome and Comet, but Edge packs in a lot of its own bloat: a New Tab page cluttered with viral junk, a sidebar with links to MSN web games, various shopping tools, and so many other features that I personally can’t stand it. I greatly enjoy the lightweight, stripped-down Chromium experience presented by Comet. Apart from the AI, it’s pretty sleek. …but maybe too minimal? Right off the bat, you’ll notice that Comet doesn’t come in mobile app form. Want to use the same browser on your PC and your phone? With Comet, you can’t—at least not yet. But the problem goes further than that. Even with Comet installed on multiple PCs, it doesn’t yet offer the ability to sync data between multiple PCs. For someone like myself, who regularly switches between desktop PC and laptop while also reviewing many laptops for PCWorld, this is a huge shortcoming and obstacle for daily use. It’s 2025. I need my web browsers (and AI tools) to sync my data between devices, and I can’t be bothered to manually copy or migrate data. I don’t want to be asking myself “Wait, which PC did I have that conversation on?” if I need to dig up an AI chat log. Is that too much to ask for? I mean, I don’t think so… Even if I thought Comet was perfect aside from this—and I don’t—the lack of cross-device sync means Comet just isn’t an option as a day-to-day driver for me yet. Perplexity is working on it, but if sync is important to you, save your $20 until they eventually get it rolled out. Here’s my current verdict on Comet Comet doesn’t feel designed to be your day-to-day browser—as it is right now, it’s more of a flashy demo. Whether it’s the animated video intro or the way Comet was vulnerable to known LLM exploits at launch, it feels like it was primarily made to position Perplexity for acquisition by an even bigger company (like Apple, maybe?). Even the $5-per-month Comet Plus subscription that gives revenue back to publishers who are affected by AI feels more like a PR move to warm up feelings around Perplexity’s brand than a serious long-term solution. (That might sound overly cynical, but I stand by the statement.) Comet is incredibly cool, don’t get me wrong. It’s the first time you can experience agentic AI browsing in action on your PC. But it just isn’t ready to replace the web browser you already trust with everything you do online. It’s a gimmick and it wears off quickly. If you’re interested in Comet, you should give it a try—as no more than a secondary browser. It may be the future, but it isn’t there yet. Subscribe to Chris Hoffman’s newsletter, The Windows Readme, for more Windows PC tips, tricks, and experiments. Read...

They the technology isn`t conclusive enough to accuse students of cheating and there are other ways of finding the likely use of AI. Read...

Marco Silva unpacks the science and technology of cloud seeding. Read...

Murray Leinster’s short story Things Pass By, published in 1945, includes what may be the first description of 3D printers: But this constructor is both efficient and flexible. I feed magnetronic plastics – the stuff they make houses and ships of nowadays – into this moving arm. It makes drawings in the air following drawings it scans with photo-cells. But plastic comes out of the end of the drawing arm and hardens as it comes … following drawings only. Practical 3D printers, or additive manufacturing as it is also known, have been around since the 1980s. After some theoretical experiments, American Bill Masters developed and patented several techniques that laid the foundation for the first commercial 3D printers. 40 years later, 3D printers have become so cheap and easy to use that anyone who is interested can get one. 3D printer using liquid resin.Erik Mclean Rapid development For a long time, the technology was only used as a way to quickly create prototypes before a final design was produced in a more mature and cheaper process such as injection moulding. For a long time, it was also only possible to print 3D objects in various plastic materials, but in recent years both the applications and the materials have broadened. “What I have seen is that 3D printers have come a long way in recent years. Both the hardware and the software have improved, but more importantly the ecosystem has matured. Printers can now handle many different materials – from pla (a kind of polyester) and resin to steel, kevlar, and even organic materials. After over 25 years of development, I have seen a real boom in the last 2-3 years, especially with more accessible and user-friendly software. There is now an evolution where 3D printers are spreading from specialists to wider use in industry and among consumers,” says Chris Fotheringham, a game developer and entrepreneur who is just starting a new company combining 3D printers and AI. Brian LoudonBrian Loudon Brian Loudon, a design consultant based in Glasgow, says even old tried-and-tested techniques have evolved a lot in recent years. This is particularly true of filament printers, also known as FDM or FFF (as in Fused Filament Fabrication) – the type of 3D printer most people are familiar with, which is fed with long strands of, for example, ABS plastic. “After a key patent on FDM expired in 2009, there was an explosion of low-cost consumer printers that made it possible to use 3D printers in various hobbies. The big price cuts also helped small design and engineering studios like mine. In this market, China’s Bambu Labs has made a massive and rapid impact with new printers that take 3D technology to the max. They have achieved several times faster printing with techniques that utilize printer vibrations and more, with clean prints despite the high speeds.” Vexma Tech “What used to take a whole working day can now be done in an hour”, says Brian Loudon. Now he can have an idea in the morning, produce a cad model and have an early prototype by the afternoon. Resin-based printers, which use liquid polymer, have also become significantly faster. New materials open up new possibilities Like Chris Fotheringham, Brian Loudon points to the many new materials that can be used with modern 3D printers as an important part of the development, giving as an example the company Markforged, which makes a filament with carbon fiber. This makes it possible to print fittings and other components that need high strength and heat resistance. Metal has come on strong in recent years as a material used for additive manufacturing. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, for example, have made great strides towards materials that can achieve similar properties to casting or forging. Concrete is another example. Several companies around the world today manufacture various buildings on site using huge 3D printers that build houses in layers. A Japanese manufacturer recently developed yet another technology that blends state-of-the-art with techniques thousands of years old. Lib Work uses soil, lime, and natural fibers and its buildings have achieved the highest level of earthquake safety. In 2024, the University of Maine unveiled the world’s largest 3D printer, which can print objects up to 29 meters long. Called Factory of the Future 1.0, it’s intended to be used mainly to make house parts for renovations of historic buildings. With up to 227 kilograms printed per hour or over five tons per day, it’s no mean feat. Cecilia PerssonMikael Wallerstedt Can create previously impossible structures Cecilia Persson, professor at Uppsala University, discusses another exciting consequence of developments in additive manufacturing: the possibility of creating shapes and structures that have not been possible before. Can 3D printers do something that has never been possible before? “Yes, they can! I usually give two examples, one in component manufacturing and one in materials. You can optimize structures, for example, to minimize material use but get the same strength, for durability for example, including saving fuel with lighter components. In other words, you have a completely different kind of design freedom. Then you can develop materials with other microstructures, for example gradients of different microstructures within the same material as well as amorphous materials like metallic glass. Metal glass has traditionally been made only as thin films or wires, but now you could make larger, more complex parts.” A typical filament printer.Osman Talha Dikyar Brian Loudon also talks about how 3D printers enable lighter components by optimizing the three-dimensional structure such as for extremely efficient heat exchangers that could not be made using traditional methods such as CNC machines or injection molding. Making a big difference in medical technology Cecilia Persson’s research focuses on how additive manufacturing can be used in medical technology. “3D printers are mainly used for three different things: anatomical models to practice and/or explain surgical procedures, surgical guides – that is, patient-specific aids to surgery – and patient-specific implants and/or implants with specific properties that cannot be achieved with other manufacturing methods, or are much easier with 3D printers. Examples of patient-specific implants so far come mainly from skull and jaw surgery. She points to an article in the 2023 issue of Tandläkartidningen that shows how 3D printers are already being used to rebuild damaged jawbones, allowing patients to receive dental implants that would otherwise not have been able to be attached anywhere. (*Beware of graphic images of surgical procedures.) One area Persson is currently researching is the development of degradable materials for temporary implants, such as replacement bones that break down as the body’s own bones grow back. Wrist support designed by Brian Loudon using 3D printers.Brian Loudon Brian Loudon also works with clients developing medical devices of various kinds. He often uses 3D printers in combination with 3D scanners to produce, for example, different types of supports that fit a patient’s body exactly. He explains, “I have also used 3D printers that handle more than one material at a time to develop new supports for patients with arthritis with the National Centre for Prosthetics and Orthotics in Glasgow. The finished product will be injection molded with a rigid core and soft exterior, and multi-material printers have allowed prototypes of the same design to be produced and tested.” Customized design and flexible manufacturing Brian Loudon has been working with 3D printers for prototyping and design development for over ten years. For him, the benefits of being able to go from an idea to a physical prototype more or less instantly are obvious, but he also sees the technology being used more and more to make the final products. “That’s one of the big changes we’re starting to see. Maybe not quite on the scale required for mass production yet, but both Adidas and Nike, for example, have started making midsoles with 3D printers and in Formula 1 McLaren uses 3D printed components in their cars. An interesting trend that has now been supported by a major consumer brand is the printing of spare parts. Philips has introduced Philips Fixables with Prusa Research to encourage users to repair instead of discarding gadgets when any part breaks. Efe Yagiz Soysal Chris Fotheringham believes that the ability to produce unique, customized designs will drive huge growth on the consumer side as consumers will be able to solve problems and realize their ideas themselves. He cites the example of how 3D printers are being used in the hobby of cosplay to produce costume parts with incredible detail. In various hobbies, 3D printers have long since changed what is possible for individuals to do themselves, and also what role manufacturers play. This is especially true for miniature games and model railways. 3D printers make it possible to print spare parts and components that manufacturers have never sold separately. Users can also design and print completely new components and accessories. Where in the past many people built landscapes by hand using materials such as cardboard, Styrofoam, and cellular panels, today the use of 3D printers has become commonplace. Chris FotheringhamPrivat “On the industrial side, the potential is even greater. I see 3D printers as a way to localize manufacturing again. Countries will be able to manufacture exactly what they need at home. Look, for example, at how Ukraine has used 3D printers in its own defense,” says Fotheringham. His new company is developing AI-based software that turns two-dimensional images into 3D models that users can then print without any prior knowledge. In the image opposite, you can see an example of a dog figure that Chris Fotheringham has made to test and showcase the software. Chris Fotheringham “One of our long-term goals is to create a catalog of printable household products, to help people return to a culture of repair.” Read...

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SentinelOne has appointed Ana Pinczuk as President of Product & Technology to lead global AI and cybersecurity innovation efforts. Read...

Welcome to The Full Nerd newsletter—your weekly dose of hardware talk from the enthusiasts at PCWorld. Missed the shocking topics on our YouTube show or freshest news from across the web? You’re in the right place. Want this newsletter to come directly to your inbox? Sign up on our website! Intel and Nvidia’s partnership is huge. Brad even called it the biggest tech news to drop this decade. This momentous alliance spans both consumer and enterprise, for starters. It marks several major firsts, too. Each company will integrate the other’s technology into their chips—Nvidia embedding Intel CPUs into its AI data center platforms, and Intel joining Nvidia RTX graphics with its consumer processors. Nvidia also is now an Intel shareholder, taking a roughly 4 percent stake in the company after an investment of $5 billion. And Nvidia makes its first foray into x86 as well. The announcement caused a flurry of surprise and interest. The Full Nerd crew speculated plenty on the implications of the partnership, as did our Discord members. More than one person wondered: Is AMD screwed? This question is a half-joke, a reference to what Gordon used to ask about Intel over the years (and even turned into a series of videos with Steve Burke of Gamers Nexus). It’s also a fair question, as joint Intel-Nvidia silicon could result in juggernaut chips. A joint Intel-Nvidia SoC could result in Nvidia graphics powering handhelds beyond the Switch.Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd But it can’t be answered yet—not when so many other questions sit on the table as well: Where can we expect to see these chips? Laptops seem most likely, but we don’t know yet in which segments. Brad wants to see them in $500 to $1,000 mainstream laptops. But they could appear in cheaper gaming laptops as well (or just instead). Mini-PCs also could end up spreading the love, too. Would mini-PCs benefit more than laptops? Interest in mini-PCs has steadily climbed in recent years, with more vendors producing them — and the vast majority run on AMD’s Radeon-infused Ryzen APUs. This space could become hot with addition of RTX-infused processors, as affordable gaming for the masses slips further out of reach. I’d love to see a return of gaming NUCs the size of VHS tapes. (Shout out to Hades Canyon and its Kaby Lake-G processor, the hybrid SoC that temporarily united Intel and AMD in similar fashion as this Intel-Nvidia venture.) What happens now for Qualcomm? Qualcomm is still chiseling at a foothold in laptops—will its ambitions be limited to reigning as the battery life champ? Though, that fate wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, as it carves a clear spot for the company to rule. AMD would have the more awkward position, without a distinctive lane it yet owns for notebooks. Will budget discrete graphics get a boost…or a nerf? I’d love to see laptops in the $500 to $700 range get RTX integrated graphics, both thin-and-light or gaming models alike. But what if that results in the abandonment of RTX 50-class graphics (e.g., 5050)? Would an Intel CPU with RTX integrated graphics perform as well? Or would the 50-class discrete mobile GPUs disappear and result in a downgrade of performance at the same prices? Is Arc dead? I heard this question the most last week, more than any concerns about AMD’s future. We ended up debating this idea during this week’s show, with most signs pointing to “No”—if for no other reason than Intel avoiding too much dependence on Nvidia. The catchphrase “Wait for Arc” could take on a whole different meaning in the near future.Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry Ultimately, the fruits from this partnership won’t show for a few years. That gives AMD time to continue gaining ground and entrenching against Intel. It’s not in a weak position—Team Red is currently estimated to reach about 40 percent market share for data centers in 2025, and it has long-standing relationships with Microsoft and Sony. AMD’s modern Ryzen CPUs are simply better than Intel’s right now; because of that, Ryzen desktop adoption surged in recent years, and the company enjoys a virtual stranglehold in handhelds. Plus, AMD could use its competitors’ ramp-up period to make further inroads on the laptop front. That last point is a tall order, with Intel holding close to 80 percent of the laptop market. But AMD has shown a consistent ability to execute its roadmap, as evidenced by Intel’s decline—it used to hold over 90 percent for mobile CPUs. If AMD focuses even more attention there before Intel rights its ship, those numbers could change more dramatically. Because AMD also has one more key factor in its corner: Intel and Nvidia remain separate companies. They could stay aligned for just a handful of years. Any threat to AMD may not be permanent. Intel and Nvidia’s surprising partnership is a strategic response. Intel has struggled as of late, yes. But without the stress of current geopolitics, this historic agreement likely would have never come to pass. Such turbulence apparently makes strange bedfellows. In this episode of The Full Nerd In this episode of The Full Nerd, Adam Patrick Murray, Brad Chacos, Alaina Yee, and Will Smith dive into Nvidia’s $5 billion investment in (and partnership with) Intel, as well as security aggravations sparked by Microsoft’s beef with the WinRing0 driver. Apparently, Microsoft knows how to push Will’s buttons, because I’ve never seen him so indignant about anything.  (How indignant? I might have described him as looking like an angry, fluffy chicken to audio listeners of the show.) But despite the theatrics from me and Will, Adam stole the show with this quote: “Windows—it’s trying its best.” Someday, I’ll learn the art of damning others with kind words. Alex Esteves / Foundry Missed our live show? Subscribe now to The Full Nerd Network YouTube channel, and activate notifications. We also answer viewer questions in real-time! Don’t miss out on our NEW shows too—you can catch episodes of Dual Boot Diaries and The Full Nerd: Extra Edition now! And if you need more hardware talk during the rest of the week, come join our Discord community—it’s full of cool, laid-back nerds. This week’s uplifting nerd news What crossed my desk this week had a practically rosy tinge, with fun gems spanning both science and technology. (One exception was yet another security hazard, but such are the times we live in.) Plus, I found an excuse to have cake. Doesn’t have to be my birthday to celebrate, right? I genuinely can’t imagine having more than even a few hundred games in my backlog.Eugen Wegmann Why YTX? I can see the appeal of an expanded (wider) version of mini-ITX for some builders. I’m not one of them yet. Still thinking on it. Qualcomm is still scrapping: Qualcomm wants the focus to be on performance for its new Snapdragon X2 Elite chips, but “multi-day” battery life is still what stands out for me, due to software support. Dogs can sort their toys by function: I love cats. But dogs win my heart in far less destructive ways. (Yes, I know I should probably rethink my fondness for furry jerks who destroy glass tumblers, vases, and even Brad’s personal laptop.) I don’t feel as bad about my Steam backlog now: I can’t imagine owning 40,000 games. I can’t imagine spending $250,000 on games. I can’t imagine dropping $250K on games alone, not including DLC. Holy cow. Careful, malware in games wants your crypto: A Twitch streamer lost $30,000 of crypto to malware, pushed through what was a legitimate game. This kind of attack is on the rise—so be careful of not just what you download, but what you keep installed on your system. I love how science and technology intersect: Goop-powered encryption is just the latest incredible concept. Combined with earlier reports about storing data in DNA, I can’t wait to see what the future will look like in 20 years. I’m glad that Microsoft didn’t just keep Paint alive, but has invested in making it better.Foundry Microsoft Paint is going to support layered files?! I don’t know the last time I felt excitement about a Microsoft app update, but here we are. Maybe it’s a CD. Maybe it’s a PC? I almost mistook Qualcomm’s ultra-thin, presumably concept PC for an old-school media disc. I hope it becomes real. Earth’s had a hidden quasi-moon companion for 60 years: Space feels a little less (emotionally) cold to me now. You can now relive early 2000s case design: Silverstone’s retro FLP02 PC case is out. It’ll cost you a lot of money if you live in the U.S. I’m pretty sure if you’re buying this, you won’t care. ‘You can hold on to your butts thanks to DNA that evolved in fish’: This headline from Ars Technica’s John Timmer is just too good not to quote directly. Also, what? Happy birthday, Windows NT! I’m still grateful you paved the way for Windows 2000. (Hands-down my vote for the GOAT of all Windows versions — I still reminisce about my legendary uptimes.) Catch you all next week—hopefully by then, I’ll be able to show off a new PC case I’ve been excited about. This little aesthetic upgrade is just in time for the change of the seasons. ~Alaina This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and executive editor of hardware at PCWorld. Read...

One of the most confusing moments of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit was when I accidentally flipped over the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme in the testing room. Was that actually embedded memory? Yes, it is. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme Arm processor does support on-package memory as an option, though the standard X2 Elite chips do not. Kedar Kondap, Qualcomm’s senior vice president of compute and gaming, told PCWorld that the 48GB of embedded memory that the X2 Elite Extreme was simply a choice Qualcomm made for performance testing, not a number PC makers are locked into. That’s probably why Qualcomm barely mentioned the technology at all — it’s confusing, and probably not a feature consumers will ever see, let alone be aware of. Still, it’s worth knowing about. “There’s a 12-core version, actually, that does have the off-chip memory,” Kondap said, referring to the Snapdragon X2 Elite. “There’s an 18-core version that has an off-chip memory. There’s an 18-core version that can have the integrated memory [the Elite Extreme]. You have the option.” But why 48 gigabytes of memory, exactly? Regarding the memory size of the Elite Extreme, Kondap said that the 48GB inside the Elite Extreme was an arbitrary amount. “It’s not limited,” he said. “48 gigabytes is what was available in this particular device, but it’s not restricted to be 40. Somebody could say I just want to put 24 inside, and I’m good with it and that’s 100-percent perfectly okay.” That memory will be configurable, as it normally is, between ordinary system RAM and VRAM, Kondap added. Aside from the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme, it looks like PC makers will have a more ordinary array of memory options than I first thought. And they’ll be able to run them on battery without losing performance, too. Disclosure: Qualcomm held its press briefings in Hawaii, and would not pre-brief reporters in other locations or over video meetings. They paid for my room, boarding, and travel expenses, but did not ask for or exert any editorial control over this story or other PCWorld content. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Eye-catching exterior design Enjoyable keyboard, large touchpad Tons of leading-edge connectivity Strong GPU performance in games Cons Modest display quality with questionable 1200p/440Hz mode CPU performance doesn’t measure up Short battery life Our Verdict The Lenovo Legion 9i packs great game performance in a stylish design, but it comes with a few caveats. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Lenovo Legion 9i Retailer Price Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Gamers who want a stylish laptop are likely to love Lenovo’s new Legion 9i. It has an eye-catching “forged carbon” look that’s unique yet not overdone. The laptop also packs great game performance and a wide range of physical connectivity. However, the laptop’s display and CPU performance don’t match up to peers, which narrows its appeal. Lenovo Legion 9i: Specs and features as-tested The Lenovo Legion 9i that I received for review was equipped with impressive hardware. It has not only an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and Nvidia RTX 5080, but also 64GB of RAM and a 2TB PCIe 5.0 solid-state drive, not to mention Thunderbolt 5 and USB-C 4. The only specification that isn’t impressive is the display, which, though it provides a sharp 3840×2400 resolution, relies on a mediocre IPS-LCD panel. Model number: 18IAX10 CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX Memory: 64GB SO-DIMM DDR5-5200 Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 5080 16GB (175W TGP) NPU: Intel AI Boost up to 13 TOPS Display: 18-inch 3840×2400 glossy IPS with 240Hz refresh rate, G-Sync Storage: 2TB PCIe 5.0 M.2 SSD Webcam: 5MP with electronic privacy shutter Connectivity: 1x HDMI 2.1 (8K/60Hz), 2x USB-C with Thunderbolt 5 and USB-4 80Gbps, DisplayPort, 100-watt Power Delivery, 1x USB-C 10Gbps / USB 3.2 Gen 2, 3x USB-A 10Gbps / USB 3.2 Gen 2, 1x 3.5mm combo audio, 1x 2.5GbE Ethernet, 1x SD card reader, 1x power connector Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: Facial recognition Battery capacity: 99 watt-hours Dimensions: 15.87 x 11.69 x 1.1 inches Weight: 7.72 pounds Operating System: Windows 11 Home Price: $3,695.49 MSRP The Lenovo Legion 9i starts at $3,476.99 with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of solid state storage. Lenovo’s upgrade pricing is incredibly affordable. Moving up to 64GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD adds only $220 to the MSRP. Lenovo provides a “Naked-Eye 3D” display option in some Legion 9i laptops. This is a glasses-free 3D technology similar to Acer’s SpatialLabs. My review unit didn’t have this display, however, and instead came with a dual-mode display that supports 240Hz at 3840×2400 resolution or 440Hz at 1920×1200 resolution. Lenovo Legion 9i: Design and build quality Foundry / Matthew Smith Look, I’m about to tell you what I think about the Lenovo Legion 9i’s design. But before I do, take a moment to look at the photos. I’ll wait. It looks glorious, right? There’s nothing unusual about how the Legion 9i’s design functions, as I’ll discuss shortly. But Lenovo’s unique lid design, which the company calls “forged carbon,” is a winner. It’s attractive and fashionable, but not in-your-face or garish. It’s a design statement, and I like what it says. Overall, the laptop both looks and feels premium, and most of Lenovo’s competitors are a full step behind. That aside, the Legion 9i delivers what I expect from a high-end performance gaming laptop. It’s a beefy machine that measures over 15 inches wide, over an inch thick, and tips the scales at nearly eight pounds. The recycled aluminum chassis is extremely rigid. Flex can be found in the display lid and keyboard deck, but you’ll have to pay attention to spot it. Overall, the laptop both looks and feels premium, and most of Lenovo’s competitors are a full step behind. Even attractive competitors like the Alienware Area-51 strike me as old-fashioned compared to the Legion 9i. Lenovo Legion 9i: Keyboard, trackpad, mouse Foundry / Matthew Smith Typing on the Lenovo Legion 9i is a great experience. The keyboard provides good key travel and each key activates with a light yet satisfying tactile snap. Lenovo provides a good layout, too. Most keys are large, with only the backspace key and the numpad key feeling a bit narrow—though they’re still large enough. The keyboard is RGB-LED backlit and provides per-key lighting customization, although you might not know that at first. The per-key customization is only visible when the “custom” mode is selected from a list of presets in Lenovo’s Legion Space software. The LED backlight is bright, uniform, and offers a wide range of brightness suitable for both dim and bright rooms. Lenovo also packs an RGB-LED light bar on the front underside of the chassis, and RGB-LED lights across the Legion logo for the lid, which can coordinate with the keyboard. I like the lightbar, which provides a subtle gradient between LED light zones that creates the illusion of a single uniform light rather than multiple, individual LEDs. The Legion 9i supports Windows Adaptive Lighting as well, though support must be turned on in the laptop’s BIOS. The included numpad means the keyboard is shifted towards the left, and the touchpad follows. The touchpad itself is sizable at about six inches wide and four inches deep. You can find larger touchpads on some competitive laptops, like the Razer Blade 18, but the Legion 9i has no shortage of room for executing Windows’ multi-touch gestures. I also found the touchpad responsive and didn’t have problems with unintended inputs. A physical mouse button action is available by pressing on the lower half of the touchpad. It does the job, but it’s rather subtle and activates with a dull thud instead of a snappy click. While the Legion 9i’s keyboard and touchpad aren’t perfect, they’re a strong point when compared to alternatives. The Razer Blade 18 has a good keyboard and bigger touchpad, but its RGB-LED lighting options are not as impressive. Alienware’s Area-51 also has a good keyboard, and some decent RGB-LED lighting, but the touchpad is modest. The Legion 9i delivers more than competitors overall and avoids downsides. Lenovo Legion 9i: Display, audio Foundry / Matthew Smith The display is the Lenovo Legion 9i’s only obvious weakness, but it’s a big one. It falls short in display quality and makes a half-hearted attempt to deliver ultra-high refresh rates. Let’s talk refresh rate first. The Legion 9i’s 18-inch display supports a refresh rate up to 240Hz at a resolution of 3840×2400. Alternatively, it can reach 440Hz at a resolution of 1920×1200. However, the details of Lenovo’s implementation aren’t great. Users must access BIOS to flip to 1200p/440Hz or back to 2400p/240Hz. That’s an annoying problem, and Lenovo doesn’t do anything to help users mitigate it. The boot screen doesn’t even state the button a user needs to press to access the BIOS. I suspect most people who buy this laptop will use it for years without realizing the 1200p/440Hz mode exists. Personally, I would never use the feature, anyway. I’d rather stick to 2400p/240Hz, which is already plenty quick, instead of rebooting my laptop to access 440Hz at a lower resolution. The real problem is not just that the 1200p/440Hz is of questionable use, but also that it means the Legion 9i can’t offer an OLED or Mini-LED display. The Legion 9i’s IPS-LCD display is a great example of the breed with superb color accuracy, a color gamut that spans 100 percent of sRGB and 99 percent of DCI-P3, and a maximum brightness of 520 nits (I measured up to 519, but what’s a nit between friends?) However, like most IPS-LCD displays, it has a limited contrast ratio (I measured a maximum of 1340:1). An OLED will deliver far better contrast which leads to a richer and more immersive look. I also noticed the Legion 9i’s display is cool in color tone, with a measured white point of 7,600K at 50 percent brightness. And while the display is bright, it’s also glossy, which means glare is an issue in bright rooms. Ultimately, the Legion 9i’s display is a miss, but the audio system provides some redemption. Lenovo packs the laptop with two speakers, two tweeters, and two woofers, which together deliver a clear, crisp sound stage and reasonable bass. Quality speakers or a good headset will of course be superior, but the Legion 9i’s sound is enjoyable for a wide range of content, from podcasts to music and games. Lenovo Legion 9i: Webcam, microphone, biometrics The Lenovo Legion 9i has a 5MP webcam with an electronic privacy shutter. It’s good, though not exceptional. It provides a sharp and colorful image and handles mixed lighting well, though it’s still obvious that the camera is a webcam. Its quality is comparable to most modern gaming laptops. The microphone is similarly competent, providing good voice capture without the need to raise your voice. An IR camera is included and provides support for Windows Hello facial recognition. This is a fast, easy way to log in to a Windows machine. But, once again, this is a common feature for a modern gaming laptop. A fingerprint reader is not included. Lenovo Legion 9i: Connectivity Foundry / Matthew Smith Lenovo swings for the fences with the Legion 9i’s connectivity, and there’s a lot to dig into. The star of the show is the laptop’s pair of USB-C ports. They deliver Thunderbolt 5, USB 4 with up to 80Gbps of data, up to 100 watts of Power Delivery, and DisplayPort 2.1. It’s the whole enchilada, or very close to it. Most modern gaming laptops support Thunderbolt and USB-C, but the Legion 9i offers great support for the latest versions of these standards. That translates to better data rates. If you need high-speed connectivity, or want to connect to a dock or a Thunderbolt / USB-C monitor with numerous downstream ports, these ports are up for the task. However, the Legion 9i isn’t focused exclusively on Thunderbolt and USB-C. It also provides HDMI 2.1, three USB-A ports, Ethernet, an SD card reader, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack. I have no notes: this is an excellent array of connectivity options. Wireless connectivity is strong, too, as the laptop supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. These are the latest versions of each standard. It’s standard equipment for a modern gaming laptop, but still good to see. Lenovo Legion 9i: Performance The Lenovo Legion 9i has an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU paired with an Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU. The GPU has a maximum thermal graphics power of 175 watts, which is the most available to the RTX 5080 mobile—though, most other gaming laptops also hit that mark. The Legion 9i has healthy specifications in RAM and storage with 64GB and 2TB, the SSD connects over PCIe 5.0. Foundry / Matthew Smith Our first test is PCMark, a holistic system benchmark. It turned in a respectable score of 8,417. Though this is technically a bit behind some alternative laptops, the margins are thin. I’d say this is more or less a tie between the four top-scoring machines, which includes the Legion 9i. Foundry / Matthew Smith Next up is Cinebench 2024, a heavily multi-threaded rendering benchmark. Here the Lenovo Legion 9i came up short with a score of 1,511. That’s quick but, as the graph shows, it’s behind a range of laptops that are similar in size and have similar hardware. Foundry / Matthew Smith Handbrake, a heavily multi-threaded video transcoding and encoding tool, also puts the Legion 9i in an unfavorable light. Lenovo’s laptop completed the transcode of a 1080p feature-length film from a .mp4 to .mkv format in eight minutes and 12 seconds. That’s a speedy result, and closer to the competition than in Cinebench 2024. Still, the Legion 9i lags the field. Foundry / Matthew Smith While the Lenovo Legion 9i struggles a bit in heavily multi-threaded CPU tests, it delivers better results in GPU tests. 3DMark’s Fire Strike and Port Royale tests show the Legion 9i can deliver results that are towards the high end for an RTX 5080 mobile. It’s also not too far off the RTX 5090 mobile. Foundry / Matthew Smith The performance spread widens a bit in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, an older game that’s not too demanding on newer hardware. The Legion 9i achieved an average of 191 frames per second at 1080p resolution and the Highest detail setting, without use of DLSS or other frame reconstruction. Ray-tracing wasn’t used, either. As the graph shows, this hits the mark for an RTX 5080 laptop, and can leave some RTX 4090 laptops in the dust. However, the RTX 5090 laptops take a sizeable lead here, as the game’s average FPS is roughly 35 to 40 FPS higher on those machines. Foundry / Matthew Smith Metro: Exodus narrows the field again. While this is an older game, and we do not run this benchmark with ray-tracing enabled, it remains a formidable title when the Extreme preset is used. The Legion 9i does well here, scoring between the Maingear Ultima 18 with RTX 5080 and the pair of RTX 5090 laptops. Foundry / Matthew Smith Cyberpunk 2077 also speaks favorably of the Legion 9i. Here, Lenovo’s laptop can average 148 frames per second at 1080p and the Ultra preset, or 43 at the insanely demanding Overdrive ray-traced preset. Both figures, remember, are without any form of DLSS or frame reconstruction, so in practice better performance is possible. Still, these numbers stack up favorably. They’re good for an RTX 5080 mobile and not all that far off the RTX 5090 laptops. On the whole, the Lenovo Legion 9i’s performance seems to favor GPU performance over CPU performance. That leads to solid results in games and somewhat disappointing numbers in heavily multi-threaded CPU tests. On balance the Legion 9i is a fine performer, but it’s definitely tilted towards gaming rather than productivity. Lenovo Legion 9i: Battery life and portability The Lenovo Legion 9i has a 99 watt-hour battery. This is the maximum available in a consumer laptop due to limitations on the size of lithium-ion batteries allowed on a passenger airliner. It’s a very large battery. And the Legion 9i goes to the trouble of supporting Nvidia Optimus, a switchable graphics solution that can turn off the Nvidia GPU (and switch to the Intel IGP) when the GPU isn’t needed. Still, it’s not enough to deliver great battery life. You can expect anywhere between two and six hours of real-world battery life, depending on how much effort you put into avoiding demanding tasks. Foundry / Matthew Smith However, as the graph shows, this is not unusual for a high-end gaming laptop. The fastest laptops tend to land around two to three hours of battery life. Those that do manage to surge ahead, like the Razer Blade, do so with the use of less powerful CPUs and more miserly GPU power configurations. There’s a clear trade-off here. A modern gaming laptop can deliver maximum performance, or decent battery life, but it can’t provide both. The Legion 9i leans more towards performance. Lenovo Legion 9i: Conclusion The Lenovo Legion 9i is a design statement that looks great and proves enjoyable to use day-to-day. It also delivers strong game performance and an incredible array of leading-edge ports. These benefits are countered by a mediocre display with a 1200p/440Hz (or, alternatively, glasses-free 3D) mode that’s of questionable use. CPU performance also fell short of expectations. Still, the Legion 9i is a reasonable choice if you care mostly about GPU performance and will often connect the laptop to an external display. Read...