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Google will bring Gemini, the company's new large language model, to Pixel 8 smartphones after all. The phone will incorporate Gemini Nano, a version of the model built to run locally on personal devices. This follows a successful rollout to the Pixel 8 Pro late last year and the Samsung Galaxy S24 in January.
The Pixel 8 features the same proprietary Tensor G3 chip as the Pro, which was designed to speed up AI performance. So the overall experience should be similar with both gadgets. It'll be coming in the next Pixel Feature Drop, but only as a developer preview for now. Google wants to collect feedback and make sure everything is running smoothly on the slightly lower-specced phone.
This is a fairly sudden change for Google. The company originally said that the Pixel 8 couldn't handle on-device Gemini because of "hardware limitations", despite having the same chip as the Pro model. The main difference between the two phones is the RAM allotment, which doesn't seem like a deal-breaker when it comes to running an on-device AI. It looks like Google also came around to that line of thinking.
So what can you do with this thing? The company's expanding two features that make use of the LLM, and both of these tools have been available for Pro users. The Reco
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iOS 17.4 brings support for 15W wireless charging with Qi2 to the iPhone 12, according to Macworld.
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Microsoft's Copilot AI service is set to run locally on PCs, Intel told Tom's Hardware. The company also said that next-gen AI PCs would require built-in neural processing units (NPUs) with over 40 TOPS (trillion operations per second) of power — beyond the capabilities of any consumer processor on the market.
Intel said that the AI PCs would be able to run "more elements of Copilot" locally. Currently, Copilot runs nearly everything in the cloud, even small requests. That creates a fair amount of lag that's fine for larger jobs, but not ideal for smaller jobs. Adding local compute capability would decrease that lag, while potentially improving performance and privacy as well.
Microsoft was previously rumored to require 40 TOPS on next-gen AI PCs (along with a modest 16GB of RAM). Right now, Windows doesn't make much use of NPUs, apart from running video effects like background blurring for Surface Studio webcams. ChromeOS and macOS both use NPU power for more video and audio processing features, though, along with OCR, translation, live transcription and more, Ars Technica noted.
So far, the processor with the fastest NPU speed is Apple M3, which offers 18 TOPS across the lineup (M3, M3 Pro and M3 Ultra). AMD's Ryzen 8040 and 7040 laptop
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How to make a PC run faster
get windows 11 pro for cheap
Windows 11 Pro
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Memory (or RAM) is the perfect example of this. Your PC uses RAM to hold data temporarily: When you're opening applications, working on large files in Photoshop, or even juggling dozens and dozens of browser tabs, that data is being stored in the system memory, not on your SSD or HDD. The more memory-intensive tasks you do, the more RAM you should have. It'll keep your computer feeling fast and responsive.
Many laptop shoppers know this, but not exactly how much to get. So we've broken down what to expect from common RAM configurations, plus some tips at the end for purchase strategies.
Is 2GB of RAM good for a laptop?
For modern Windows computers, 2GB of RAM will feel slow. You won't be able to run many programs simultaneously, much less have more than a few browser tabs open at one time. These days, most Windows laptops come with 4GB as the baseline configuration, and for good reason.
(As for Apple laptops, they've long left even 4GB RAM behind as a baseline.)
If for some reason you encounter a laptop with only 2GB RAM—perhaps an older budget model being sold secondhand—it's only worthwhile if you can immediately upgrade it to 4GB RAM or more. That means the laptop should have user-accessibl
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Apple's M3 Ultra chip may be designed as its own, standalone chip, rather than be made up of two M3 Max dies, according to a plausible new theory.
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Apple's AirTag 4-Pack has dropped to $74.99 today on Amazon, down from $99.00. This deal brings the AirTag 4-Pack back down to its all-time low price, which is a price that we haven't tracked since the holiday season.
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Google today announced several changes that it is making to the Google Maps platform, including an AI update. Google Maps now provides better at-a-glance information on locations, with the details powered by Google AI.
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Samsung makes some of the best Android phones you can get right now and the latest models have dropped to all-time-low prices. If you've been waiting for a good deal on the high-end Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, you're in luck — the handset with 256GB of storage is $150 off and down to $1,150. The
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Portable speakers can come in handy in all kinds of situations, from camping trips to simply keeping one with you as you move throughout your home (just don't use one on public transit unless you like being hated with the fire of a thousand suns). JBL makes some of our top picks for portable Bluetooth speakers, and several models are currently on sale for up to 34 percent off. The JBL Charge 5 has dropped by $50 (or 28 percent) to $130, just $10 more than the lowest price we've seen for it to date.
This is one of our favorite portable Bluetooth speakers. It has a battery life of up to 20 hours and, handily, you can use it to charge other devices via USB-C. The Charge 5 is IP67-rated for water and dust resistance too.
There are less expensive and still-capable options out there, but the Charge 5 delivers bigger audio than many rivals. The sound quality is good too, thanks to i
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NEW RESOURCES Government Technology: New Washington, D.C., Tool Uses Generative AI to Make Data Accessible. "DC Compass, a new GenAI-based tool launched by the district in partnership with Esri, offers users answers […]
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