Tangle Tech

Well, surprise, surprise. Google seemingly has more to tell us after an hours-long I/O opening keynote and maybe wants to beat out Apple, which typically hosts a September Special Event to show off new hardware, as the technology giant just sent out invites for a “Made by Google” event. When? Well, it’s not announcing an October event ultra-early but instead has a few things to show us on August 13, 2024, at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST. (Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol) The invite promises an event showcasing “the best of Google AI, Android software, and the Pixel portfolio of devices.” That’s widespread, but it could mean a sizeable Pixel feature drop, some new AI tricks to combat Apple Intelligence or ChatGPT , and new hardware. Google typically releases new Pixel hardware in October. In 2023, the company unveiled the Pixel 8 , Pixel 8 Pro , and Pixel Watch 2 . Most recently, Google announced the mid-range Pixel 8a , which was decidedly separate from I/O 2024. As for w

A botnet, strikingly similar to the dreaded Mirai, is targeting Zyxel NAS instances that have passed their end-of-life date, new research has claimed.  A report from the Shadowserver Foundation, a security organization that keeps track of cyber-threats, says the threat actors recently started scanning for one of the three flaws - CVE-2024-29973 - which is a command injection vulnerability.  The goal, apparently, is to assimilate the endpoints into a botnet.   Botnets In March 2024, cybersecurity researchers Outpost24 discovered three vulnerabilities in Zyxel’s network attached storage endpoints - CVE-2024-29973, CVE-2024-29972 and CVE-2024-29974. All three have a severity score of 9.8 (critical), and were found affecting NAS326 (running version V5.21(AAZF.16)C0 and earlier) and NAS542 (running versions V5.21(ABAG.13)C0 and earlier).  Fast-forward a few months, and now threat actors have started targeting the vulnerable endpoints. A botnet is essentially a “network of bots” - co

ASMedia recently demonstrated its USB4 v2 physical layer (PHY) chips at Computex 2024, which will allow external SSDs to reach speeds of up to 15GBps, potentially matching the performance of internal drives. The USB4 Version 2.0 specification, released by the USB Implementers Forum in October 2022, introduces several advancements over the previous version.  It incorporates the new PAM3 signal encoding format, which extends the USB4 bandwidth from 40Gbps to 80Gbps for peer-to-peer connections and allows for asymmetric speeds of 120Gbps/40Gbps. FPGA-based USB4 Dock ASMedia's presentation at Computex, titled "Incredible Speed, Exceeding the Limit," covered both USB4 and PCIe Gen5 technologies. The USB4 v2 presentation showed 80Gbps and 120Gbps physical layers, which are capable of dramatically improving the speed at which large data files and high-resolution videos can be transferred. USB4's backward compatibility also ensures seamless integration with existing USB

While everyone anxiously awaits the official Amazon Prime Day date (although it might have just been accidentally leaked ), Walmart is getting in on the action by announcing it's launching a huge rival sale, "Walmart Deals." The Walmart Deals sale will begin on Monday, July 8, at 5 PM ET and last until Thursday, July 11, at Midnight, and Walmart Plus members will get early access starting at Noon ET. Walmart's press release claims it will be the retailer's largest savings event ever, with deals on best-selling items, including tech gadgets, home items, toys, travel gear, and back-to-school must-haves. While Amazon isn't mentioned, based on years past, we know that Walmart always launches a July summer sale to try and take a piece of the Prime Day pie. Walmart is trying to compete with the retail giant by offering similar or even better deals and exclusive offers. Unlike Amazon, Walmart has given us a preview of the bargains at its July sale, and I'

The wait is finally over for Sweet Home fans, as Netflix has dropped a teaser trailer for the final season of the beloved K-drama. Thankfully, it’s a much shorter wait for the next season this time around, following on from the torturous three-year wait between the first two seasons. Sweet Home fans have followed the show’s survivors from the apartment complex Green Home since 2020. This post-apocalyptic environment where horrific monsters started appearing, presenting a strange otherworldly threat, sets the stage for protagonist Hyun-su, who soon realises he can transform into a monster at will, changing the course of his life.  Now though, it’s the ultimate showdown between man and monster, and if the teaser trailer (see below) is anything to go by, we’ll start to see a lot more social politics coming into play as well as a bombshell about the monsters themselves. Sweet Home season three lands on Netflix on July 19 but if you’re itching for more K-drama in the meantime, then

A new week means a new opportunity to solve Strands. But then again, every day brings that opportunity, so I'm just talking nonsense. My hints are more useful than this intro, honest! 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 #113) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands? • Today's NYT Strands theme is… Fine print NYT Strands today (game #113) - hint #2 - clue words Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system. THING STRIP GEARS LETTER GREAT HANG NYT Strands today (game #113) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram? • Repeating design NYT Strands today (game #113) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the boa

Gigabyte has launched its AI TOP 100E series of SSDs specifically designed for high-endurance tasks such as AI training.  The new SSDs are available in 1TB and 2TB capacities and come housed in a standard M.2 2280 form factor. What makes them stand out from the competition is their extraordinary endurance ratings. Gigabyte says the 2TB model offers up to 219,000 TBW (Terabytes Written), a figure that is significantly higher than you’d expect from typical consumer SSDs. The mean time between failure (MTBF) is rated as 1.6 million hours. AI TOP utility AI TOP 100E uses the PCIe 4.0x4, NVMe 1.4  interface, so it won’t win any performance races, especially not when compared to newer PCIe 5.0 drives, but it’s fast enough. The 1TB SSD offers sequential read speeds up to 7,200MB/s and write speeds up to 6,500MB/s, slightly outperforming the 2TB model (7000MB/s reads, 5900MB/s writes). So essentially, based on the figures it's provided, Gigabyte is saying the 2TB model can write 219,

Sunday is always a good day to play Strands, because in my house at least there's more of a lazy, do-nothing feel to things. If only all days could be like that, eh? Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy today's instalment very much. Hopefully your experience is different. 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 #112) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands? • Today's NYT Strands theme is… Fine diners NYT Strands today (game #112) - hint #2 - clue words Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system. CHEEK LINK SOCK BATON CHAIR TOUCH NYT Strands today (game #112) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram? • Fast franchise NYT S

Building on the pioneering work done at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Swedish startup Sinonus is looking to commercialize a new multifunctional carbon fiber composite that can function as a battery, with the hope its technology could potentially eliminate traditional battery packs in devices like laptops, electric vehicles, and aircraft. The carbon fiber creation provides structural strength while reducing weight and improving system performance by using the existing mass to store energy. This trick is achieved by using carbon fibers as electrodes in a battery cell, combined with a specially developed electrolyte, to create lightweight, strong constructions with integrated electrical storage. As reported in New Atlas , this journey first began over a decade ago when Volvo's research in collaboration with Chalmers University identified carbon fibers with optimal electrical conductivity and structural stiffness. In 2022, Chalmers Ventures spun off the project i

The Apple Watch is a great way to track activity, but the Workout app also has a fun feature where you can earn colorful badges by completing special challenges. And as it happens, the tech giant has recently released a new limited-edition badge to commemorate the International Day of Yoga, which is on June 21.  The badge looks based on the lotus flower, complete with a pink center, orange petals, and the year “2024,” all adorned in gold. All you have to do to earn it is to record a 10-minute yoga workout on the wearable. According to Tom’s Guide , there aren’t any limitations on how you can earn it. For example, you could begin a hot yoga session where you perform the exercise in a heated room. If that isn’t your style, you can always go for a more relaxed and mindful yoga session or follow one of the many classes on Apple Fitness Plus .  It does not matter if you're a beginner, a seasoned veteran of yoga, or even what practice you choose. What matters most is you record the

The European Union might be feeling a bit left out this September when Apple is expected to ship key Apple Intelligence and other updates in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. It's not that Apple doesn't want to bring its own brand of artificial intelligence to the European countries. Features like Math Notes in iPadOS, generative AI Genmojis, inline AI writing assistance, and generative image editing capabilities across multiple platforms wowed developers and excited iOS, iPadOS, and macOS customers when Apple unveiled them earlier this month at WWDC 2024 in California. At the time, it was understood that Apple Intelligence features would work in US English but most thought that was a language capabilities limitation and not one related to third-party entity's restrictions.  However, now we know that Apple probably won't roll out iPhone Mirroring, Share Play, Screen Sharing enhancements, and, most importantly, Apple Intelligence to European users this year. The

Businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to back up and manage the growing volumes of data they produce. The introduction of generative AI has further complicated matters, significantly challenging traditional storage methods. 128TB SSDs have been teased for some time, with a number of companies talking up their future plans. Huawei, for example, announced it was working on a 128TB SSD , but that product will only be available as part of its Exabyte-capable OceanStor A800 range and isn’t expected to be made available until 2025. At CES 2024, Phison showcased a variety of SSDs and portable SSD controllers, including its X2 enterprise SSD platform . Although capacities for this “world’s best-in-class Enterprise SSD” topped out at 61.44TB, the version displayed at CES suggested a future capacity of up to 128TB. 128TB coming "soon" Phison revealed a little more of its plans at the end of May 2024 when it took the wraps off its Pascari X200 PCIe Gen5 Enterprise SSD r

Your final NYT Strands puzzle of the week is here, ready to give your brain another workout. Today's game is not too tricky, but you still might want some hints to get you started.  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 #110) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands? • Today's NYT Strands theme is… We do NYT Strands today (game #110) - hint #2 - clue words Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system. SING SINK FIRE GRIN ROWS SLIDE NYT Strands today (game #110) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram? • Perfect match NYT Strands today (game #110) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today

RealTek unveiled a new range of RTL8126 5Gbps Ethernet PCIe and M.2 adapters back at Computex 2023 (yes, the year before last), promising extremely fast wired internet connections.  Those adapters are finally now going on sale – and at pretty reasonable prices, too. The first module, available on Amazon for $27, is the 5,000Mbps Networking Card B+M Key to PCIe adapters, which works with Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, and Windows 11.  The adapter is ideal for those who are building their own PC and want to make use of the best PC parts to do so. While an Ethernet connection might not be the sexiest part of all, it's definitely important to get the most out of the setup. Build your PC with freedom  (Image credit: Future) An Ethernet adapter is just one component that you will need to build a top-of-the-line PC for gaming, pleasure, or business.  Unfortunately, there is currently only limited information about the adapters online right now, and some users on Reddi

Western Digital (WD) is one of the top makers of SSDs right now, and its range is now expanding with the introduction of the WD Blue SN5000, available in 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB options – at a very reasonable price.  Anyone who has undertaken the task of building a PC will be familiar with WD and the sheer range of SSDs it offers is a little dizzying.  The new WD Blue SN5000 range offers twice as much storage on offer here over the previous-generation SSDs, and the starting price of $79.99 on the Western Digital website for the 500GB model, currently reduced by $10, is very tempting.  WD Blue SN5000 In comparison to the previous SN850X NVMe and SN700 NVMe SSDs (which comes in a striking red), the SN5000 is cheaper but lacks some of the more high-end features of those two, like an optional heatsink.   As you might expect, WD is hyping up the AI applications of the SN5000 SSDs, thanks to NVMe, PCIe Gen 4, and Western Digital's nCache 4.0 tech making things really sing. The

Security researchers recently claimed to have found a flaw that could allow threat actors to spoof Microsoft corporate emails. A cybersecurity researcher with the alias Slonser (full name Vsevolod Kokorin, according to TechCrunch ) recently posted on X with a telling screenshot that appeared to show an email seemingly coming from the security@microsoft.com email address.  In the post, Slonser said that after tipping off Microsoft about the vulnerability, the company came back saying it couldn’t reproduce it. In other words - it didn’t find it relevant. The researcher then shared “a video with the exploitation, a full PoC” to which Microsoft, yet again, responded by saying it was unable to reproduce the flaw. Large attack surface “At this point, I decided to stop the communication with Microsoft,” Slonser said, and just posted his findings on the internet. His post “blew up”, raking in more than 118,000 views at press time. The researcher later suggested to TechCrunch that Micr

Nvidia has seen another market surge to become the world’s most valuable company, surpassing many of its key rivals once again. The company, which has become synonymous with building components designed to power the data centers behind the AI push, now has a market cap of $3.335 trillion, putting it just a touch ahead of Microsoft, current second-place holder, and Apple, which resides in third place. Nvidia’s latest success of taking prime position comes in the same month that the company became the third in the world to hit a market cap of $3 trillion. Nvidia takes top spot Since hitting the $3 trillion mark almost a year ago, Apple’s growth has stagnated somewhat, with the company interchangeably occupying first and second place with Microsoft, each representing a market cap around $1 trillion more than Google, which was typically a third-place holder. Recent months have seen share prices in Nvidia skyrocket – since the start of the calendar year, they’re up 181%. Nvidia share

Market intelligence firm Liftr Insights spotted a new Amazon Web Services cloud provider instance with a mammoth 896-core count, putting it far above rival offerings from Azure and Tencent. What’s important to note, and as spotted by a Tom’s Hardware reader , these cores are likely derived from 8-CPU, 56-core Intel Sapphire Rapids configurations, effectively utilizing hyperthreading to achieve 2 vCPUs per physical core. The use of vCPUs allows cloud providers like AWS to offer scalable, flexible, and powerful computing resources to handle applications that require significant computational power, such as intensive database operations or data analytics, but the new instance still only offers 448 physical cores, which is the same as AWS has offered since May 2021. Showing demand The cost for renting this server is more affordable than might be expected, with Liftr suggesting prices will range from around $150 to over $400 per hour, averaging at $263.10. These instances are especia

We’re big fans of Framework at TechRadar Pro . The company’s modular laptops make it easy to get the computer you want, at a sensible price, and upgrade the various parts as needed. Running out of space? Just chuck in a bigger drive. Battery no longer holding a charge? Replace it. The company recently unveiled a new version of its Framework Laptop 13 with Intel Core Ultra processors, 9.2-megapixel webcam, and support for 96GB of DDR5 RAM, and will start shipping that in August. Framework has found itself battling unprecedented demand for its larger Laptop 16 recently, but has announced the device is back in stock and “shipping from inventory”. That’s not the only announcement the company had to make though. It’s released open source 3D CAD files of the laptop, so users can start their own community projects, and even potentially 3D print a full laptop. CAD files available now “With open source documentation around the module systems in Framework Laptop 16, we’re seeing some incr

It's Strands time once again, which means it's time to pit your wits against the NYT's premier puzzle setters. Will they come out on top or will you? You'll have to play it to find out. 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 #107) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands? • Today's NYT Strands theme is… It’s right under your nose! NYT Strands today (game #107) - hint #2 - clue words Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system. HORSE BARE BARED MAST ROOT BRUSH NYT Strands today (game #107) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram? • A nose for style NYT Strands today (game #107) - hint #4 - spangram position Wh

Pentax has unveiled its first film camera in over 20 years, the Pentax 17. It's camera number one in the Pentax Film Project , announced at the end of 2022 with one goal: to develop film cameras for today's TikTok generation. Film photography has enjoyed a revival in recent years and Pentax, being an analog veteran, is well-positioned to bring something new to the table for film beginners. Cue the Pentax 17: a new half-frame compact film camera , developed by Pentax engineers past and present. I was one of the lucky few to be sent the Pentax 17 ahead of its launch and have had a decent hands-on time with the retro camera already. It's a wonderfully simple point-and-shoot remedy to the best mirrorless cameras I use daily for photography and video.  In fact, the Pentax 17 marked the first time I've shot on 35mm film in years, so how was the experience, and has the 17 been worth the wait?  Image 1 of 7 (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman) Image 2 of 7