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Your favorite technology products could be about to get more expensive – here's why

I'm no economist and my financial acumen is, as my partner would tell you, suspect. But I fundamentally understand one thing: if you charge companies more to make or ship products, they will not eat those extra costs and will instead serve them to you like so much overcooked gruel. With Former President Donald Trump now officially President-Elect in the US and set to take office on January 20th, he will surely fulfill a key campaign promise: import tariffs of between 12% and 60% . On the bleeding edge is China, which is expected to suffer through the most draconian 60% tariff structure. There are no precise numbers of how much technology is produced in China and other countries, but it is a fact that most of the gadgets you love and use are not made in the United States. Amazon, for instance, reportedly makes most of its Fire and Kindle products in China. Apple produces most of its iPhones in China but has been moving some manufacturing of it and other Apple gear to India and

This could be the date when Google launches Android 16 – and here's what's coming

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An earlier launch for Android 16 was previously confirmed Now we may have an exact date: June 3 The OS will be ready in plenty of time for the Pixel 10 We've recently heard rumors that Android 16 is going to be launching earlier in 2025 than we might have expected – and now a new leak goes further, putting an exact date on when Android 16 is going to launch. This comes from sources speaking to Android Headlines , and the date in question is June 3, 2025 (a Tuesday). That fits in with what was previously rumored about the operating system making its debut in the second quarter of 2025 (April through June). As you may have noticed, the rollout of Android 15 has been a bit disjointed. After being previewed in May, the core codebase was finalized in September , but it didn't start appearing on Pixel phones until the middle of October . That meant the Google Pixel 9 series originally launched in August with Android 14 on board. Bringing Android 16 further forward in th

This Cooler Master shark-shaped gaming PC case is the coolest thing we’ve seen all week, but it’ll cost you

Back during CES 2023, Cooler Master unveiled a gorgeous – and unbelievably expensive – gaming PC that’s shaped like a shark . But now, if you’d rather buy just the case without all the components and innards, the manufacturer is happy to oblige. The original Shark X PC was priced at nearly $7,000 and equipped with an Intel Core i7-14700F processor, an Nvidia Geforce RTX 4070 Ti Super graphics card, 64GB DDR5 RAM, and 2TB of M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe storage. But while the case itself is $2,700 less than the full PC, it’s only available in Japan in the Yodobashi Akiba store right now for an eyewatering 658,000 yen, or around $4,300. While this is certainly an expensive PC or even case to own, it’s definitely eye-catching and makes for a stunning centerpiece in one’s living room. It would be a rare centerpiece as well since most gamers would be rightfully priced out of nabbing one for themselves. And if you only want the case, you still have to import it from Japan since there haven’t been an

Google shows off AI tool for reading handwritten text by rewriting it digitally

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Google Research is showing off a new way to use AI to read handwriting that might radically change how machines convert what you put on paper into digital letters. The InkSight system transforms photos of handwritten words into digital text by leveraging AI without the need for any devices as intermediaries. The idea is to replace the sometimes fallible optical character recognition (OCR) with AI that can emulate how humans actually learn to read, specifically by rewriting existing text to learn what whole words look like and mean. Doing so required the researchers to tutor the AI in both recognizing and mimicking handwriting by humans. "Digital note-taking is gaining popularity, offering a durable, editable, and easily indexable way of storing notes in the vectorized form, known as digital ink. However, a substantial gap remains between this way of note-taking and traditional pen-and-paper note-taking, a practice still favored by a vast majority," the researchers explain

LastPass warns users not to fall for fake customer service scam

One of the most popular password managers out there, LastPass, is warning its customers not to fall for the latest scam campaign aimed directly at them. In a blog post, the company explained scammers are targeting users via the Chrome Web Store. In the reviews section for LastPass’ Chrome add-on, the scammers are adding new content that directs the visitors to fake customer support. Therefore, when victims who are having issues with the add-on visit the page, they might think that other users are helping them reach customer support directly. In reality, dialing the number shared there starts a conversation with the fraudsters, who will try to navigate the victims to a malicious website, and download malware . Fake customer support "Individuals calling this fake support number will be greeted by an individual asking what product they are having issues with and then a series of questions regarding whether they are attempting to access LastPass via a computer or a mobile device

This hardened SSD could one day power space data centers and low-orbit CDNs — Seagate transports 2TB SSD to the ISS with AI workflows on the agenda

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Seagate and BAE Systems have tested the first high-capacity data storage solution designed for use in space. The hardened SSD was evaluated aboard the International Space Station as part of a mission aimed at improving data storage for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, addressing challenges such as heat dissipation, unpressurized environments, and the absence of conventional cooling. This technology could ultimately expand CDNs and support AI-driven applications in space. By adding storage to satellite infrastructures, AI inferencing and real-time analysis could reach previously inaccessible regions, providing last-mile connectivity where fiber or cell networks are absent. Drives in space Seagate’s “Space Drive” was part of a broader payload by BAE Systems which included Linux-based software for real-time data processing. This software enables containerized applications that can be updated in orbit, adapting to the evolving demands of space-based systems. Additionally, the payl

NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Monday, November 4 (game #246)

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Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints. Want more word-based fun? Then check out my Wordle today , NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games. SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers. NYT Strands today (game #246) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands? • Today's NYT Strands theme is… In a(n) ... NYT Strands today (game #246) - hint #2 - clue words Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system. TOES DIAL FAIL TIME STAIN TOLL NYT Strands today (game #246) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram? • It won't take long! NYT Strands today (game #246) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board t