Google has finally begun adding support for its own internal services to Google Gemini, just a month after Microsoft began offering the same capabilities to Windows testers. Google said Wednesday that Gemini Deep Research can now connect to Gmail, Google Drive, and Chat, along with Docs, Slides, Sheets, and PDF files stored within those services. “This powerful new capability is now available for all Gemini users,” Google said in a blog post on Wednesday. “To get started, just select ‘Deep Research’ from the Tools menu in Gemini on desktop and select your sources. This will begin rolling out to mobile users in the coming days.” On October 10, Microsoft announced that its own Copilot AI could begin reading Gmail and your Google Calendar via a technology called Connectors, which allows you to manually give access to Copilot so that it can ingest and analyze that data. (At the time, this was limited to members of the Windows Insiders testing program.) A week later, Microsoft more formally announced that those same connectors would allow Copilot to access OneDrive files and Outlook contacts, emails, and calendar events, as well as connect to Google services like Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Contacts. Microsoft hasn’t formally said when these additional capabilities would be released to users, however, giving Google a first-to-market advantage. Google In an August livestream, OpenAI and ChatGPT also briefly showed off Gmail integration, though ChatGPT’s connections don’t appear to be as deep or significant right now. However, OpenAI’s DevDay 2025 livestream did reveal that ChatGPT can work with apps like Zillow and Canva and query them for more information. For now, the only point in which the two services don’t seem to overlap is in Google Chats, though that may be a capability Microsoft specifically neglected to call out. In any event, both Microsoft and Google now appear to offer similar capabilities to allow its AI services to deeply search and understand what you can your colleagues are talking about. Read...

Have you noticed how modern laptops seem more approachable than ever? Gone are the sharp, angular edges and industrial plastic of the past. Today’s machines feel sleek, tactile, and… almost inviting! As a very tactile person myself, this shift in design really changes my emotional connection with the tech I use on a day-to-day basis. I bet it’s the same for you, too. The olden days Back in the day (specifically the 80s and 90s), laptops were boxy plastic things with sharp edges and itty bitty screens. Function was at the forefront here and design was more of an afterthought. I’m a millennial and the family computer I grew up playing Myst and Baldur’s Gate on was an IBM, and it was nothing fancy–just a boxy, beige-colored thing. Still, my love persisted because it was my gateway to other worlds. I just never connected with the bland design.  Wikipedia These modern laptops are sleek and elegant. They’re also way smaller than their ancestors. You needed a good amount of arm strength to tote around those older laptops! But now you’ve got the elegant curves of a MacBook Air and the rubberized lids on some Lenovo ThinkPads. This shift is a welcome departure from the unfeeling machines of the past. Laptops are nicer and, well, friendlier somehow!  It’s not just about how laptops look. How they feel in your hands can really change the experience. I’ve felt it firsthand. Connecting with your laptop isn’t as weird as it initially sounds Like I said earlier, I’m a tactile person, it’s just the way I do life. And, as someone who reviews Chromebooks and thinks about laptops a great deal, first impressions can really make or break the experience. That’s extremely important. It was a clunky Dell I picked up for college, nothing to write home about, but unboxing it felt special to me. I don’t remember the exact model or specs anymore, but I do remember picking it up and feeling its weight. It felt comforting in a way as well as substantial and important. Honestly, it kind of felt pretty sleek back then! I’m sure it was considered lightweight for the time (2006 feels like a lifetime ago), but it left a lasting impression on me.  Nothing obliterates the buzz of inspiration more than a bad design. This portable thing, this portal that’ll lead me to people I met role-playing on Second Life and am still friends with today, was something of a comfort to me. I used to cover its lid with decals and kind of see it as part of who I was. Back then, laptops were heavy and boxy, but I still felt a weird little connection to mine. Honestly, my laptop has to feel right for me to get anything done. If the keys are stiff or the palm rest creaks, it’s hard for me to focus. It’s a tiny thing, I know, but it totally changes how long I can actually sit and write. Nothing obliterates the buzz of inspiration more than a bad design. So, what’s pushing this design forward? Our relationship with the tech we use every day didn’t just happen overnight. Design has slowly adapted to fit our changing lifestyles. A few things are pushing this design to the forefront. First, materials have advanced since the 80s and 90s. Now you’ve got polymer coatings and lighter metal alloy frames, the latter of which allows manufacturers to round out (or “soften”) those pointy edges. As for the internal components, they’ve gotten a lot smaller and more powerful. Thermal solutions have improved, too. But people aren’t just using laptops for work now, they’re using them for creation and connection. They’ve become an almost intimate part of our everyday lives. Thomas Armbrüster Many folks (including me) work from home, so having a mobile laptop that can be taken anywhere just makes sense. We want devices that fit into our lives comfortably, not just functionally and that includes cafes and couches. Would you rather curl up in bed with a pointy slab of plastic or something with round edges? Exactly. Feel and aesthetics are just as important as a snappy processor or marathon battery life. In fact, some modern designs are downright weird… and we love it! There’s actually a term for this kind of thing and it’s called human-centered design. It’s all about making technology feel intuitive and approachable as well as functional. There’s some psychology going on behind all that softness, too. As humans, we’re wired to respond to touch–it’s how we explored the world as children. The smoother or softer something feels, the more likely we are to see it as friendly and familiar. Laptops aren’t the only devices getting softer, either. Phones used to be rigid things with all sorts of angles, but now they almost curve into your hand like river stones. Thanks to the rounded design of my husband’s smartwatch, it just gently presses against his wrist instead of digging into it–small, comfortable, and unobtrusive. As technology keeps changing, I can’t help but wonder… How much softer can it get? What does the future look like? I can’t see into the future (not yet at least!), but if I had to guess where this trend is going, I’d say the line between technology and lifestyle will continue to blur. Maybe someday our laptops will respond to our temperature and change color as a result–sort of like a mood ring. Maybe the haptic feedback will generate a unique pattern, letting us know when a loved one has sent a message. That would be cool, sure, but that’s my imagination getting away from me. Softness is here to stay Maybe that’s why I’m so fond of my laptop. It slides right into my routines, I don’t have to bend around it. And the softness? It’s not just in the rounded edges, it’s in the way it makes me want to pick it up and interact with it. Laptops no longer feel cold and intimidating. I hope tech just keeps on getting softer because it transforms something functional into something I actually enjoy holding and using. Read...

There are lots of rivalries in the PC space. You’ve got AMD versus Nvidia, air versus liquid cooling, even PC versus Mac. But if there’s one thing everyone can agree on? Printers suck. That iconic Office Space scene still hits hard all these decades later because it’s so true. We all hate printers and for good reason. They don’t work as well as they should, the software feels ancient and lacking, the ink runs dry too quickly, the cartridges are too expensive, the papers jam, the business models are predatory and anti-competitive… But hold up! I have some genuinely good news. I actually found a printer that isn’t so bad: the HP LaserJet M110w Wireless Black & White Printer, which surprised me given HP’s reputation in printers. See this printer on Amazon My biggest printer gripes I think we all have a story about a printer becoming our nemesis. Maybe you needed to get something printed off for school or work and the printer decided that now is the time to jam up, or run dry on ink, or fail to connect to the Wi-Fi network. Just setting up a printer can be a real pain, not to mention the Windows XP-style interfaces, the drivers that need to be installed, the clunky on-device controls, or the other number of hoops that need to be jumped. Setting up printers has historically left me clawing at my eyes in frustration at least once during each process. Mark Pickavance Speaking of clunky on-device controls, don’t get me started on the anything-but-intuitive screens and displays. Their crushingly poor refresh rates make every animated menu transition take an eternity, and sub-menu after sub-menu makes navigation as much a chore as whatever work I was trying so desperately to complete. And even when everything seems to be working OK, I go to print and the printer says it’s printing… but it doesn’t. So I cancel the print job…. and it just sits there, stuck in the output queue. What a nightmare. There isn’t a single other piece of technology I own that forces an entire PC reboot just to get it doing what it’s supposed to do. I’m getting so riled up just from reliving all this as I type this up! Mark Pickavance Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for how infrequently I actually need to use a printer. As e-signing and PDF editing have gotten easier, printing has sort of drifted off to the side… which makes it that much more annoying when I do need to print and the ink is dry, the printing head needs cleaning, the tray jams, or whatever. Enter my new favorite HP printer After decades of lackluster performance, obfuscating errors, excruciating setup processes, and spiraling ink costs, I’ve finally found a printer I don’t hate. It hasn’t bothered me once in the months I’ve had it. It connects quickly, doesn’t take long to start up, and so far I’m quite indifferent about its presence in my home and office. Jon Martindale / Foundry The printer in question is the HP LaserJet M110w Wireless Black & White Printer. It’s simple, it’s straightforward, and it just works. In 2025, that shouldn’t be much of an achievement… but it is! And for that I blame myself just as much as every printer that came before it. Keep it simple, stupid In the past, the printers I bought needed to be all-in-one jacks. I wanted a scanner for work contracts, color printing and gloss paper support for family photos, and fast black-and-white printing for work and school documents. Although past printer designs were undoubtedly awful, one reason this new HP design is so great is that it keeps it simple. The M110w is a monochrome printer—no color printing, no fancy paper support. It only has one paper feed, it doesn’t scan, it doesn’t fax (lol), it doesn’t copy. I use it for D&D character sheets and the odd professional document that still requires a hand signature. Jon Martindale / Foundry And the M110w is a LaserJet, meaning it uses toner instead of ink. Unlike ink, toner doesn’t dry out or clog up printing heads, and toner isn’t super expensive. Plus, it prints fast with higher precision and doesn’t smudge. It’s also the first printer I’ve ever owned that finally feels like it has embraced some modern design philosophies around user interaction and experience. That alone is ungodly refreshing. HP LaserJet M110w Wireless Black-and-White Printer Best Prices Today: $169 at Amazon For example, HP’s app-based setup wasn’t awful. It was already a step up over inputting my Wi-Fi pasword into my previous printer, which only had three buttons to interact with an on-screen keyboard. (That was one of the worst digital experiences I’ve ever had with anything!) So, credit where it’s due: HP’s printing app isn’t bad. I had it set up in less than 15 minutes and printing in under 20. Ultimately, this is all I really need from a printer: work when I need you to, otherwise get out of my way. Don’t frustrate me or cause unnecessary delays that make me late to hand in a report. Please. I can’t believe I don’t hate this printer One reason why I can enjoy a printer like this in 2025 is because of how obsolete so many other printer functions are now. I no longer need to print color glossy photos of my family because there are a million photo printing services that are quality, fast, and affordable. I don’t need a scanner anymore because my phone can double as a scanner easily enough. PDF editing software is so much better in 2025 that I can e-sign just about anything, too. A printer that only prints is perfect now that everything else is handled elsewhere. Jon Martindale / Foundry It’s been a few months now and the HP LaserJet M110w Wireless Black & White Printer been error-free for the most part, plus I’ve printed over 50 pages without running out of toner. When I eventually need to replace it, the cartridge will only be $50. (I’ve spent more than that on a single set of ink cartridges that were already dry by the next time I used them.) Yeah, I don’t hate it. I might even like it. Dear printer, please stay the way you are. If you can provide hassle-free printing for a few more years, maybe I’ll give you a graceful retirement instead of going medieval on you with a baseball bat. Get this printer on Amazon Read...

If you’ve been tracking AMD’s market share in the PC CPU market, you know that it’s continually climbed over the past year or so. Chief executive Dr. Lisa Su told Wall Street that she expects that trend to continue, even after the company’s desktop CPU business reached record highs during the third quarter of 2025. AMD’s Client and Gaming segment of the business sold $4 billion worth of processors, CPUs, and semi-custom chips for the console business during the third quarter, but was slightly surpassed by a record $4.3 billion from the data center. Given the ravenous appetite for AI, its efforts in the data center dominated the company’s third-quarter 2025 earnings call — analysts didn’t ask a single question specifically about its PC business. That’s somewhat surprising, given AMD’s continued success in the PC market. The company’s client business, made up of its CPU sales, recorded a record $2.8 billion. “Our PC processor business is performing exceptionally well, with record quarterly sales as the strong demand environment and breadth of our leadership Ryzen portfolio accelerates growth,” Su told analysts in a transcript provided by Investing.com. “Desktop CPU sales reached an all-time high, with record channel sell-in and sell-out led by robust demand for our Ryzen 9000 processors, which deliver unmatched performance across gaming, productivity, and content creation applications.” AMD’s desktop CPU share has gained almost 10 percentage points since last year, and Su said she expects that trend to continue. “Looking ahead, we see significant opportunity to continue growing our client business faster than the overall PC market, based on the strength of our Ryzen portfolio, broader platform coverage, and expanded go-to-market investments,” she said. Interestingly, Ryzen notebooks even “increased sharply” during the quarter, Su said. That’s surprising, given that Intel has maintained the typical 80-20 split between AMD and Intel, especially in the notebook business. If the chipmaker is cutting into that, Intel will face a significant attack on multiple fronts. AMD said less about its efforts in the GPU business, though it noted that revenue and channel sell-out grew significantly, driven by the Radeon 9000. The company’s FSR4 technology, which uses upscaling and AI frame generation within the RX 9000 generation to improve frame rates, now supports more than 85 games. AMD also saw a boost from its semi-custom business as Microsoft and Sony ramp up console production for the holiday sales season. That’s a double-edged sword, as the company’s outlook includes a decline in “strong double digits” in gaming revenue, presumably reflecting a lull after the holiday console sales boom. AMD’s second-quarter revenue increased 36 percent year over year to $9.2 billion, with net income up 31 percent to $1.243 billion. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Powerful Intel processor with AI functions Good equipment with many USB ports Good expansion options for SSDs Up to four 4K monitors can be connected Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 Low power Consumption Cons No DisplayPort Revs up abruptly and gets loud No Thunderbolt 4, only USB 4 Our Verdict The Geekom IT15 is a compact, future-proof mini PC with strong computing power, AI support, and capable performance from its Core Ultra 9 285H and Arc 140T GPU. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Geekom IT15 Retailer Price $999 View Deal $1,199 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices The compact housing of the Geekom IT15 conceals the 2nd-generation Intel Core Ultra 9 285H. According to the manufacturer, it offers enough power for everyday tasks and it supports the AI functions of Windows 11. With its multitude of connections and the ability to operate up to four monitors simultaneously, the IT15 presents itself as an interesting alternative to classic desktop PCs, which are becoming less and less relevant outside the gaming world. We’re particularly interested to see how the Geekom IT15 with Intel CPU compares to the Geekom A9 Max with AMD hardware, which we’ve tested before. Geekom IT15: Specifications Dimensions: 117 × 112 × 45.5 mm without rubber feet, 117 × 112 × 49.2 mm with rubber feet (each W × D × H) Weight: 1.32 lbs CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 processor 285H, maximum operating power 45 watts Graphics processor (GPU): Intel Arc 140T GPU for 9 285H Memory: Dual-channel DDR5-5600 SODIMM, up to 128 GB Internal storage: 1 × M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 SSD, pre-installed Crucial P3 Plus CT2000P3PSSD8 2 TB Expandable: 1 × M.2 2242 SATA III SSD slot, 1 × 2.5? SATA HDD slot (up to 2 TB each) Ports: 1 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 × USB 2.0 Type-A (rear), 1 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A with S5 power supply, 1 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (front), 2 × USB 4.0, one with PD input (rear), 1 × 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack (front), 2 × HDMI 2.0, SD card reader 4.0 Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 7, 1 × 2.5G RJ45 Extras: Kensington lock, VESA mount Operating system: Microsoft Windows 11 24H2 (64-bit), pre-installed Warranty: 3 years Overall, the Geekom IT15 is a compact, efficient, and powerful mini PC ideal for productive and professional users. Geekom IT15: Design Geekom packs the hardware in a black case that’s less stylish than the A9 Max’s gray metal case. The IT15’s metal base and lid are built to withstand up to 200 kilograms, providing solid protection for the components inside. Measuring 117×112×45.5 millimeters (A9 Max: 132 × 46.9 mm), the mini PC fits easily on any desk and can also be mounted to the back of a monitor or a wall using a VESA bracket. Christoph Hoffmann As is typical for mini PCs, the ports are located on both the front and back. No matter how the computer is positioned on the desk, the side with the power button is considered the front. Geekom hasn’t been stingy with connectivity: there are six USB ports in total, ranging from USB 2.0 and USB 3.2 Gen 2 to USB 4.0 Type-C. This allows external drives and peripherals to connect at high speeds—up to a theoretical 40 Gbps. Christoph Hoffmann There are two USB 4 ports and two HDMI 2.0 ports for up to four 4K monitors. However, there’s no DisplayPort. Other components include 2.5 Gbps Ethernet, Wi-Fi 7 (Intel BE200), Bluetooth 5.4, and a fully-fledged SD card reader. The mini PC can be secured against theft with a Kensington lock. Geekom IT15: Equipment The centerpiece of the Geekom IT15 is the Intel Core 9 285H. Alternatively, the IT15 is available with an Intel Ultra 5-225H processor and 32 GB of RAM, though that model comes with only a 1 TB SSD. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285H is a modern high-performance processor from Intel’s current “Arrow Lake H” series, which was developed for high-performance laptops. It combines six performance cores, eight efficiency cores, and two additional low-power efficiency cores, resulting in a total of 16 cores and 16 threads. With a maximum boost clock of up to 5.4 GHz and a 24 MB smart cache, the chip provides a strong foundation for demanding applications. Geekom Its typical power consumption is around 45 watts, but can rise to up to 115 watts in turbo mode — good cooling is important. Geekom relies on its own “IceBlast 2.0” cooling system with a large heat sink, two heat pipes, and quiet fans. The Intel Arc 140T is the integrated GPU of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285H and is based on the Xe architecture with eight Xe cores and ray tracing support. It offers strong performance for a CPU graphics and is well suited for everyday use, multimedia, content creation, and light gaming. Its strengths lie in its high efficiency, modern technology, and good integration into the CPU system. For complex games or professional 3D workloads, however, it doesn’t match the power as a dedicated graphics card. The processor has 32 GB of DDR5 RAM (5,600 MT/s) at its disposal, divided into two 16 GB modules. This is fine in functional terms, but makes it difficult to upgrade to 64 GB at a later date, as both modules would have to be replaced. With a single 32 GB module, expansion would be much easier and cheaper. However, you wouldn’t benefit from the faster dual-channel mode with one module. The 2 TB NVMe SSD in our IT15 is a Crucial P3 Plus (model CT2000P3PSSD8). It’s possible that other IT15 units may come with SSDs from different manufacturers. Christoph Hoffmann There are two options for additional internal storage: A slot for an M.2 2242 and a slot for a 2.5-inch SSD–each with a capacity of up to 2 TB. This gives users much more flexibility than the A9 Max with its M.2 2230 slot. Geekom IT15: Windows In our test setup, a 27-inch Dell monitor is connected to the IT15, along with a wired Cherry keyboard and a Microsoft mouse using a dongle. The mini PC connects to the network via Ethernet through a 2.5 Gbps BrosTrend 8X switch. The Geekom IT15 comes with a hardware-bound license for Windows 11 24H2. After booting the mini PC for the first time, the Windows installation begins and is completed within a few minutes. Updates install during setup, but Windows offers more updates later. And then a strange problem appears. Christoph Hoffmann The Windows 11 25H2 update offered by Windows fails with an error message. During the alternative in-place upgrade using an ISO file, the Keep personal files and apps option is grayed out. The issue appears to stem from incorrect language settings in the pre-installed Windows. We therefore selected Keep only personal files, which isn’t a problem on a fresh Windows installation. Another solution is the in-place upgrade with an English setup ISO. The installation then runs in German and the new Windows 25H2 starts with a German-language interface. In addition to Windows’ built-in updates and provided drivers, the dedicated Intel drivers should also be installed. The easiest way to do this is with the free Intel Driver and Support Assistant, which installs the latest drivers for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Arc Graphics, and the NPU. Christoph Hoffmann We won’t go any further into Windows itself, but we can see in many places that the AI features of the operating system are supported and activated. Geekom IT15: Performance We used the PCMark 10 benchmark test to measure desktop performance. This software gives us realistic values by running everyday tasks. With a score of 8,341, the Geekom IT15 with its Intel Core 9 285H ranks in the top third. The Geekom A9 Max we tested with the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 scored 7,976 points–that’s only four percent less. Christoph Hoffmann This shows how the Intel Core 9 285H performs in comparison to Qualcomm and AMD CPUs. The gaming graphics performance of the Geekom IT15 was measured by 3DMark Steel Nomad Light, where it scored 3,393 points (Geekom A9 Max: 3,279 points) — a good result that’s slightly above average. The Time Spy benchmark delivered 4,244 points. That’s significantly higher than the A9 Max with its AMD processor, which scored 3,701 points. Christoph Hoffmann With a TimeSpy score of 4,244, the IT15 achieved strong CPU performance for a mini PC as well as decent iGPU performance for light gaming applications. Christoph Hoffmann The M.2 NVMe SSD installed in the IT15 comes from Crucial. The P3 Plus CT2000P3PSSD8 model, with 2 TB capacity, delivers read speeds of 5,029 MB/s and write speeds of 4,658 MB/s in the CrystalDiskMark. These are decent values, though the A9 Max with its Lexar SSD performs even better, reaching 6,242 MB/s read and 5,423 MB/s write. Christoph Hoffmann And what about the AI performance of the system? We ran the Geekbench AI test to find out: Single Precision Score: 4,350 Half Precision Score: 1,790 Quantized score: 8.005 These are typical results for a mid-range system or a system that’s not primarily designed for heavy AI workloads. Compared to the A9 Max (2837/1342/6,496), the IT15 scores with better AI performance and is therefore pretty much on par with an Intel Core Ultra or similar laptop SoCs with an integrated NPU. In combination with its GPU, the processor is suitable for games that benefit from its high single-core performance. At the same time, the large number of cores enables strong multi-core performance. This is perfect for video editing, 3D rendering, photo editing, or music production. Thanks to its efficient hybrid architecture, the Intel processor handles multitasking, office apps, and browsing smoothly. Geekom IT15: Conclusion The Geekom IT15 impresses in the test with strong performance from Intel, modern AI support, and extensive features. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285H offers plenty of power for work, multimedia, and light creative applications, while the integrated Arc 140T GPU delivers solid graphics performance. With Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, USB 4, and support for up to four 4K monitors, the mini PC is versatile and future-proof. Criticisms include the lack of Thunderbolt 4, the loud fan under load, and limited RAM upgrade options. Overall, the IT15 is a compact, efficient, and powerful mini PC ideal for productive and professional users. Read...

B2B technology CMOs face greater pressure to prove ROI amid wider roles, budget cuts, and rising AI use, reveals the CMO Survey 2025. Read...

If you’ve been watching the non-technology news for the last couple of weeks… well first of all, I’m sorry. But you might have noticed that one of the most brazen robberies in recent memory happened at the legendary Louvre museum in Paris, where thieves made off with centuries-old crown jewels that have yet to be recovered. According to a security investigation, the password for video surveillance system was “Louvre,” which is basically one step above “password.” Maybe this was less a jewel heist for the ages and more of a Hackers cosplay attempt. Safe, non-guessable passwords are kind of a big deal, as our own security expert will tell you. French newspaper Libération (via PCGamer) reports that various audits of the museum’s security systems have revealed glaring and obvious issues. One such audit carried out in 2014 by France’s national cybersecurity agency showed that, indeed, the Louvre’s video surveillance system password was “Louvre.” Subsequent audits found “serious shortcomings” in the museum’s systems, notably including easy access to rooftops during periods of construction and security software that was more than two decades old, and now unsupported by its developer. Anyone who’s had to work in an office that still has one Windows 98 machine running the ancient inventory system might be able to sympathize. Currently it’s not known what factors contributed to the security failures of the robbery, though dozens of people are investigating. It occurred at 9:30 AM local time, during operating hours on a Sunday. A small truck with a mechanical ladder parked next to the museum, with four suspects using power tools to break into the gallery from the second floor. Though guards and visitors were threatened, no one was hurt, and the thieves were out of the museum in just four minutes before escaping into Paris. The entire episode took only eight minutes in total. Much will be said about the museum’s security in the aftermath — indeed, much has already been said — but I haven’t seen any indication that the video system was actually compromised or malfunctioning in 2025. Arrests have been made, and at the time of writing four people have been charged. The jewels and jewelry, valued at tens of millions of dollars, have not been recovered. The Louvre has been the site of many famous robberies and burglaries, including the Mona Lisa in 1911, but the most recent before now was in 1998. Read...

Whenever I speak with security experts (particularly those who work on software designed to protect consumers), I always like to ask what their top advice is to combat the latest threats. So, when I had the opportunity to chat with Steve Grobman, chief technology officer at McAfee, I picked his brain about deepfake audio and video scams. Not only are scammers focusing their efforts on everyday people who never suspect they could be targeted, but the real-time impersonations of voices and whole likenesses during calls keep getting ever-more convincing. No one expects Aunt Susan to be a random dude in a call center across the world, faking an emergency that requires a cash bailout. He gave me one really easy, simple tip for verifying that someone is who they say they are. Ask a low-key question that only they would know. The example he used was if a spouse called: “Hey, what did we have for dinner last night?” The goal is to ask something mundane and not easily guessed. Something casual that only they could answer, but is still open ended. (It might not even involve a real factor in your lives.) Ex: “What was that soap you recommended to me?” or “Where’s the extra cat litter?” Aim for basics so boring that they’d never post about it on social media or talk about it with others. And if that other person is someone who posts on social media about their whole lives? Recalibrate. Perhaps ask about something they’d never tell anybody else. This idea is similar to the notion of having a predetermined phrase (basically, a verbal password)—it helps verify that you’re speaking to the real person, not a deepfake. And if you’re feeling particularly suspicious? You can pose more than one security question to them. And continue to get more esoteric the greater the stakes. Also, another tip from me: For the sake of your relationships, you may want to tell people in your life that you plan to do this. Otherwise if they end up in a bind and you counter with a bunch of suspicion, things could go a bit south. Read...

Aside from its various processor, memory, and device capacity improvements, the new Philips Hue Bridge Pro comes with a killer feature: the ability to turn your existing Hue lights into motion sensors. I’ve been testing this functionality for the past few weeks, and yes, it works. Getting it to work the way I want it to, however, has been a challenge.  First, a little background. Unveiled in September and on sale now, the Philips Hue Bridge Pro packs a faster, quad-core 1.7 GHz Cortex A-35 CPU and a gigabyte of DDR4 SDRAM, which allow the hub to handle more than 150 Hue devices, or roughly three times as many as the standard Hue Bridge.  The new Hue Bridge Pro can also connect to your home network via Wi-Fi, meaning it doesn’t need to be tethered to your router by an ethernet cable. (I’ve been testing the Bridge Pro on Wi-Fi mode and haven’t had any connectivity issues). Those processing and networking improvements make for an impressive upgrade on their own, but the Hue Bridge Pro ($98.99) also boasts another cool feature: MotionAware, which monitors motion-induced disruptions to the Zigbee signals Hue lights use for communication, effectively turning your smart lights into motion sensors. Given that an indoor Hue motion sensor costs $50, the Hue Bridge Pro’s ability to make your Hue lights motion-aware practically pays for itself. MotionAware does have limitations. For starters, there must be at least three MotionAware-capable Hue lights in a given motion zone for the feature to work (you can also add a fourth light if you like). Also, not all Hue lights support MotionAware functionality; Hue says 95 percent of its lights will do the MotionAware trick, but my portable Hue Go table lamps didn’t make the cut, nor did my third-party Zigbee bulbs.  Given that a standard Hue motion sensor costs $50, the Hue Bridge Pro’s ability to make your Hue lights motion-aware practically pays for itself. Aside from the technical limitations, there are some MotionAware features that aren’t free. Namely, if you want your MotionAware motion zones to trigger security alerts, you’ll need to sign up for a Secure MotionAware plan for $1 a month, or $10 a year. (A 30-day free trial is available.) If you simply want MotionAware to turn your lights on and off, that functionality is free, and that’s what I’ve been testing. Setting up a MotionAware motion zone is a simple process. Starting from the Hue app’s Settings menu, you tap on Motion areas, then tap the “+” button; you’ll then see which of your rooms and zones in the Hue app have enough Motion Aware-ready lights for a motion zone.   In my case, I could add motion zones in my kitchen, main bedroom, and office; the dining room wouldn’t work because of the four Hue lights in there, two of them are the non-MotionAware compatible Hue Go portable table lamps, while other areas didn’t have enough Hue lights to create a zone. I elected to create a single motion zone in the kitchen, the most highly trafficked area in our apartment.  Next, you choose which lights to add to the zone; Hue recommends picking lights that are between three and 23 feet apart, and at varying heights. You’ll also want to choose lights that border the general area where you want motion to be detected. Once you pick the Hue lights to include in the motion zone, the Hue app will ask you to leave the area so it can calibrate the lights in the zone; the process takes roughly 20 seconds.  You’ll need at least three MotionAware-capable Hue lights in a room to create a motion zone.Ben Patterson/Foundry Finally, you pick which lights your MotionAware-enabled motion zone will control (you can pick lights in the same room as the motion zone, or in a different room), and then you decide what happens when your new motion zone detects motion—or, on the flip side, when it doesn’t detect motion. (Again, I only tested MotionAware’s ability to control lights, not its security features.)  The Hue app gives you various time slots that allow you to customize the behavior of a motion zone. You start with three time slots, set roughly to morning, evening, and nighttime; you can add more slots as needed, as well as adjust when the slots begin and end, but you can’t designate a different set of time slots for individual days of the week or for the weekend.  For each time slot, you then choose what happens when motion is detected, and what happens after a set period (anywhere between a minute to 60 minutes) of no motion being detected.   Picking what happens when motion is detected is fairly straightforward; you can choose any light scene (either a preset Hue scene or one you’ve customized), or choose “Last on state” or “Do nothing.” For what happens after no motion is detected, the choices are far more limited: just “Off,” “Do nothing,” or “Return to previous state.”  Aside from those settings, each time slot offers a “Do not disturb” option that will prevent your motion zone from altering the behavior of lights that are already on. There’s also an overall “Daylight settings” option that will keep your motion zones from triggering your lights during daylight hours.  As for the actual performance of Hue’s MotionAware technology, I found it to work more or less as advertised. My kitchen lights reliably detected motion whenever I or my family members walked into the area, and sensed that activity had ceased once we left the room.  There were several occasions when the lights would turn off after we’d been sitting at the kitchen table for too long (a common foible for motion sensors in general), but upping the MotionAware sensitivity setting cut down on those instances. Boosting the sensitivity up too high will put your motion zone on a hair trigger, of course.  The Hue app lets you create different time slots for your motion zones (left) as well as what happens when motion is detected (center) or not detected (right). Ben Patterson/Foundry But while I was satisfied with the basic MotionAware performance, I was less happy with the design of Hue’s motion zone settings, which I found needlessly complicated and nitpicky.   My main complaint is the inability to have a motion zone trigger a light scene when your MotionAware lights stop detecting motion—namely, I like my under-cabinet Hue light strip to stay on during the day even when my overhead Hue lights are off.   Theoretically, this could be achieved with the “Return to previous state” option, but picking that setting led to unpredictable results, depending on what the “previous state” actually was. Maybe it was just my failure to comprehend the “previous state” concept, but I eventually gave up and settled for the “Off” option.  Then there’s the matter of disabling motion detection for certain time slots—for example, I don’t want my kitchen lights automatically turning off while we’re eating breakfast in the morning. Hue’s MotionAware-enabled motion zones do work. How they work could use some tweaking. Again, selecting the “Do nothing” for both the “When motion is detected” and “After” settings should effectively motion control of your lights for a given time slot, but I still ran into instances where the lights would unexpectedly dim or turn off during the breakfast time slot.   I don’t think there’s anything broken on the Hue app or with my MotionAware-enabled motion zone zone; instead, it’s probably a case of user error (mine). But the fact that I’m having trouble getting my motion-controlled Hue lights to do what I want them to do—and I consider myself to be a reasonably savvy Hue user—indicates that Hue’s motion settings interface needs a rethink.  I have two main suggestions: first, allow users to pick lighting scenes to be triggered when motion is no longer detected, and second, let us deactivate a motion zone time slot with a simple tap, rather than having to dip into a time slot and adjust multiple settings. I’d also like separate time slots for the weekend, but let’s start with the first two changes.  To be clear, I think MotionAware is a terrific new feature for the Hue Bridge Pro, and as I’ve said, it could be a big money saver for those who want multiple Hue motion zones in their homes. And yes, the motion sensing does work. But if you ask me, how it works could use some tweaking. This story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart lights. Read...

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