Google has published a new promo video on YouTube, and in it, the company focuses on the Pixel 8 Pro design. The company is likely trying to remind users it launched one of the best smartphones this year ahead of the holidays.
A new Google Pixel 8 Pro promo video focuses on the phone’s design
The Google Pixel 8 Pro arrived at the beginning of last month, so it’s still fairly new. The holidays are right ahead of us, and we’ll likely get some nice discounts from Google. Not to mention that Black Friday is looming as well.
In any case, this promo video has a duration of 48 seconds, and it’s all about the phone’s design. You’ll see a number of really nice takes of the Pixel 8 Pro’s design in such a short video, ranging from renders to actual live shots.
All three colors are shown here, Bay, Obsidian, and Porcelain. The emphasis is obviously on the Bay and Porcelain models, though, while the Obsidian color option is barely shown here.
The Bay color is in focus here, and it received a lot of praise since launch
The Bay color in particular received a lot of praise and interest, as it does stand out from the rest. Still, as is the case every time, most people probably go for the black variant. We don’t have the data, but that’s the case with the vast majority of smartphone lineups.
We can attest that all three colors look really great, though. We did review the Bay Pixel 8 Pro, but we’ve handled all three models at launch. That Obsidian black is actually the black color every OEM should make. That matte black color not only looks great, but it hides fingerprints too.
The Pixel 8 Pro has a ton of AI features that are actually useful, and a truly compelling camera performance. It does feel like the most premium Pixel smartphone yet as well.
Alongside the Galaxy A25 5G, Samsung is working on a few more budget and mid-range smartphones for 2024. The Galaxy A15 is part of this lineup. The company plans to release two models of this budget handset, one with 5G connectivity. It recently popped up on a benchmarking platform, revealing some specs. The 4G/LTE model of the Galaxy A15 has now received the FCC certification, hinting at a nearing launch.
The FCC certifies Samsung’s Galaxy A15 LTE
The US regulatory agency has certified the Galaxy A15 LTE with the model number SM-A155M, with SM-A155N confirmed to be a variant of the phone. Based on Samsung‘s convention, the latter should be the South Korean version. The device may also come in other variants such as SM-A155F. There won’t be any major differences between them, except for some region-specific software features or changes.
The listing doesn’t give us any notable information about the upcoming budget phone from Samsung. Well, it confirms dual-SIM support, which was already expected. The FCC documents don’t contain anything else. Thankfully, earlier leaks and benchmark runs have revealed some details. The Galaxy A15 LTE is powered by MediaTek’s Helio G99 chipset. The 6nm octa-core SoC has two Cortex-A76 performance CPU cores clocked at 2.2GHz.
The chipset features the Mali-G57 MC2 GPU and MediaTek’s HyperEngine 2.0 Lite gaming technologies. Samsung will pair the SoC with at least 4GB of RAM, potentially going up to 6GB. Storage options may include 64GB and 128GB, with support for up to 1TB microSD cards. The device has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and will run Android 14 out of the box, with Samsung’s One UI 6.0 on top. The rest of the specs are still under wraps.
For a quick recap, the Galaxy A14 LTE features a 6.6-inch LCD screen with a 1080 x 2408 pixels resolution, a 50MP primary rear camera along with a 50MP ultrawide lens and a 2MP macro camera, a 13MP selfie shooter, a 5,000mAh battery with 15W wired charging, and USB Type-C 2.0. The 2024 model may keep most things unchanged, with the cameras potentially getting an upgrade.
The 5G model should arrive in the US
As of this writing, there’s no evidence about the US versions of the Galaxy A15 LTE and Galaxy A15 5G (the global version recently appeared on Geekbench with the model number SM-A156B). However, if history is any indication, the latter should arrive in the US, bearing the model number SM-A146U. It should go official in the first quarter of 2024. Stay tuned for more information.
At the time of the Galaxy S10 launch in February 2019, Samsung announced a partnership with Instagram to bring Instagram Mode to the phone’s stock camera app. It gives you access to Instagram editing tools and effects and lets you post photos and videos directly to Instagram Stories. The two firms appear to be expanding this partnership with the Galaxy S24 series next year. The upcoming flagships may let you access Instagram Camera from the lockscreen.
Galaxy S24 lockscreen may let you keep an Instagram Camera shortcut
App developer and researcher Alessandro Paluzzi, who is known for uncovering unreleased features in apps through reverse engineering, recently shared a piece of interesting news. He posted a screenshot from Instagram on X (embedded below), showing a new feature that is still in development. The feature is specific to Samsung’s next-gen flagships, the Galaxy S24 series, which are about two months away now.
The screenshot reveals that Galaxy S24 users will be able to access Instagram Camera directly from their phone’s lockscreen. The shortcut can be added via Settings, though it’s unclear whether Samsung will bake it into the phone settings or you have to do that through Instagram settings. From what it appears, users may be introduced to this feature with a pop-up when they first open the app. A “Try it” button will take them to the setup menu.
No other information about this “shortcut” feature is available at the moment. However, we expect it to be available out of the box on the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 Ultra. Samsung will probably talk about it at the launch event in January, as it did for Instagram Mode during the Galaxy S10 launch. Instagram head Adam Moserri came to the stage to introduce it.
Samsung is trying to up the social media game of its phones
Samsung has always worked closely with Google, Microsoft, and Meta to make its Galaxy phones play better with their products. Simultaneously, it is trying to up the social media game of its phones. The company has teamed up with Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and others to improve the quality of photos and videos captured using the in-app cameras.
An Instagram Camera shortcut for the Galaxy S24 may be part of this effort. Since iPhones usually work better with social media apps, Samsung appears to be working on giving Apple some competition there. Time will tell if the Korean firm has more such tricks up its sleeves. The new flagships will go official in mid-January, reportedly on January 17. We will let you know as soon as we have more information.
A survey reveals that an overwhelming 87% of American teens own an iPhone, and an even more staggering 88% plan to purchase an iPhone as their next smartphone. These findings paint a grim picture for Google and Android phone manufacturers.
This survey was conducted between September 4th and September 27th by investment firm Piper Sandler. It also found out where these teens live. 36% live in the South, 29% live in the Midwest, 21% live in the West, and the other 14% live in the North.
FaceTime and iMessage are the key reasons behind iPhone obsession
The blue bubble versus green bubble debate is a real phenomenon, not a mere fantasy. While Android is the most popular mobile OS worldwide, iOS tops all charts in the U.S.
The reason why teens prefer an iPhone over Android could also be FaceTime and iMessage. American teens want to be part of the blue bubble ride on iMessage(s). Because when a non-iOS user joins a group chat consisting of iOS users, all those cool features of iMessage go away.
For example, features like end-to-end encryption, read receipts, typing indicators, high-quality image and video sharing, and the ability to send large messages are exclusive to iMessage. That’s why American teens want to be part of the blue bubble ride on iMessage(s). Notably, while Android users have some features like RCS, teens still prefer iPhones.
The ecosystem has an equal role in attracting teens
Another factor that plays a role in the choice between Android and iOS is Apple’s ecosystem. Samsung and others have done the job brilliantly, too. But, still, it’s that Apple people can’t praise enough. The Apple ecosystem promises seamless integration between AirPods, iPads, MacBooks, Apple Watch, and more.
Eventually, many teens end up with an iPhone, whether it’s a refurbished model, an iPhone SE, or part of a carrier deal. Regardless of how they acquire it, the teen iPhone ownership rate remains high. It contributes to the 87% of teens who prefer iOS over Android.
When it comes to gaming laptops there’s a lot to choose from that can give you what you need to enjoy gaming to its fullest. And really that’s what it all comes down to when you’re considering a gaming laptop. Will you enjoy playing games on a portable PC? Do you want something powerful enough to play games at the highest settings? These are great questions and whatever you decide the answer is, we’ve got you covered on some excellent gaming laptops that will deliver on the experience.
With the holidays coming up, gaming laptops can make really great gifts and if you’re getting ready to shop for that special person in your life, or maybe just some family or friends (or even yourself!) then this list will help you narrow down your choices. We’ve put together a comprehensive guide on the best gaming laptops out there. While trying to ensure that gamers of every budget have something they can consider. With all of that said, you can find our picks below along with some honorable mentions.
Best Budget Gaming Laptop: Acer Nitro 5 AN515
A price that showcases no gamer should be left behind
Just hearing the words “budget gaming laptop” can make some people’s hairs stand up on end. But I can assure you that a budget gaming laptop is nothing to scoff at. In fact they can be quite nice. It’s really all just about managing expectations and thinking about what you really want out of a gaming laptop experience. Or maybe you just don’t have the means to pick up something pricey and extravagant, filled to the brim with powerful components and extra features.
That’s totally fine! And let me tell you, gaming on a budget gaming laptop is not a bad experience. With that in mind, our pick for the best budget gaming laptop is the Acer Nitro 5 (specifically the AN515-58-57Y8 model). I was lucky enough to test this for a bit to see how things shape up and it reminds me of a much more pleasant experience of my early gaming days.
Back when I was just a wee lad dipping a toe in the waters of PC gaming, I had a pretty inexpensive HP laptop. It was capable of playing games like World of Warcraft and the occasional random title I might pick up on Steam. But by no means could I max out the graphics. And yet, I enjoyed gaming on it all the same. Because at the end of the day I was doing what I enjoyed. With a laptop like the Nitro 5 things are so much better. While admittedly it costs a little bit more than I paid for my laptop in those days, it’s still within that realm of not costing a lot compared to some of the other options on this list.
It’s also much more well equipped to handle today’s demanding games. With an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU inside, plus an Intel Core i5-12500H CPU for most computing processes, the Nitro 5 has been more than capable for gaming at 1080P with decent frame rates. Now let’s be realistic. No, some of today’s modern games won’t look as pretty and glamorous as they would if there were some more powerful components in here. But don’t get hung up on that. Games will still look good and more importantly they’ll run smoothly.
During my testing I quite often noticed that the laptop never really ended up getting too warm to the touch. Which is partly due to Acer’s implementation of thermals here. And partly due to the fact that it isn’t housing a monster of a graphics card and processor that output a ton more heat. And with decent thermal management the Nitro 5 seemed to continuously perform well for longer periods. Granted I still would recommend giving it a break now and then. But that’s the case with any gaming laptop. And even desktops.
Don’t leave it running 24/7. That being said, thermals don’t seem to be an issue here at all. At least they weren’t for me. Thermals aside the Nitro 5 also delivers on having a suitable amount of ports. This includes ethernet should you want to jack into your home internet with a wired connection. As well as multiple USB-A ports, USB Type-C, and even HDMI 2.1 for those sweet gaming moments on a bigger screen. All-in-all this is just a really solid pick for a more affordable gaming laptop. As it’s not going to compromise on quality at this price. And for around $800 (currently $780.99), there’s little to complain about.
For about $200 more you can get a step up to a slightly more premium budget gaming laptop. Gigabyte has been around in the game of gaming laptops for years and they make some excellent machines. And this particular model fits neatly into the budget category at $999. While not as affordable as our main pick for a budget option, it has some really solid components and a quality build. Not to mention an aesthetically pleasing design.
That extra money gets you a bump to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 GPU (which also gets you access to DLSS 3 features), and a newer 13th Gen Intel CPU. You get the same amount of storage at 512GB and a 144Hz display which the Nitro 5 also has. However you do get only 8GB of RAM whereas the Nitro 5 has 16GB. When it comes down to it, both are good choices if you’re looking to get a gaming laptop but spend less money at the same time. But you will spend a significant amount less on the Nitro 5 which could leave you room to throw in a few games for whoever the laptop is a gift for.
Small but mighty, the ROG Zephyrus G14 is a gamer on the go’s dream
You might think of a smaller gaming laptop as something you should avoid. Perhaps because the fact they’re smaller means there’s less room for powerful components. And thus you will get lower performance in your games, and overall enjoy them less. If that was ever a worry for you it’s time to put that worry to rest. Small gaming laptops can be equally as powerful as those with bigger screens. And the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is our pick for the best small form factor gaming laptop.
It’s 14-inch screen makes it incredibly portable as it can fit in almost any backpack and many other types of bags. And because it only weighs around 3.6 pounds it won’t feel too heavy if you cart it around all day. It’s by no means the lightest gaming laptop in its size category. But it’s not too far off and is arguably going to offer better options for components that will result in better performance.
In the time I had to briefly check out ASUS’s ROG Zephyrus G14 it was considerably powerful for its size. I surprisingly had less issues with heat dissipation than I had expected. Another testament to ASUS’s mastery of cooling engineering when it comes to gaming laptops. You might also be hard-pressed to find many gaming laptops in the 14-inch display category that are as thin as the ROG Zephyrus G14.
And that will ultimately play well with anyone who needs a laptop that is easy to carry around. Whether it be for school, work, or both. Personally I used it when traveling back home to visit family and it was a godsend. Taking up almost no space in my travel backpack and being relatively light when moving around with it.
This particular model runs on an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU. Though it is possible to get it with other GPUs in the 40-series. This enables the access to DLSS 3 for much better performance boosts in terms of frame rates without degrading the graphics too much. Allowing you to run games at higher settings and still getting decent frame rates and overall performance. It’s also worth mentioning that the display comes with a 165Hz display so it’s well equipped to handle high frame rates where available. Now the model with the RTX 4060 inside will run you about $1,599.99. So this is by no means a budget laptop. But it is packed with powerful specs.
For the money you also get a QHD screen with 512GB of PCIe Gen4 SSD storage and 16GB of DDR5 RAM. Compare that to the Razer Blade Blade 14 with the RTX 4060 in it and you’re spending considerably more. So ASUS is really offering a bargain here. At the end of the day if you’re looking to spend this much money you want something that will perform well and that is something the ROG Zephyrus G14 definitely does.
This would honestly be our pick for best small gaming laptop but when you compare the price of this laptop with what ASUS offers, it’s a no-brainer. The ROG Zephyrus G14 is just too good and offers too much for less money. Ultimately it’s the better laptop. But that doesn’t mean the Razer Blade 14 is bad. On the contrary it’s quite good and when I used one for testing it was just as good as I remember a Blade laptop being.
You’ll spend a little more money with the Blade 14 as it’s set at a price of $2,399.99 for the same GPU but with the same RAM and more SSD storage capacity. You do also get that sleek matte black chassis that generally only Razer can give you. And if you’re a Razer fan already you might as well spend the extra money. It’ll still be a good gaming laptop.
Best high-end gaming laptop: Acer Predator Triton 17 X
What a gaming laptop looks like when it has the power of a god
When you think about a high-end gaming PC you probably aren’t necessarily thinking about a gaming laptop. But let me assure you if you want a high-end gaming PC that’s also a laptop, the Predator Triton 17 X from Acer is that laptop. This thing is so packed to the gills with performance specs you’ll start to wonder if there’s a game out there that will ever live up to its prowess. That is to say Acer built a gaming laptop that has absolutely zero trouble playing any game you can throw its way. Even Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. With max settings, and with 4K resolution on a large external monitor. While getting frame rates of 60 frames per second pretty consistently.
I’ve been spending some time testing this laptop out for some of today’s most demanding games including Starfield, Diablo IV, and the Cyberpunk 2077 expansion. The short takeaway is that I was able to crank the graphics on each of these games and turning on everything imaginable. Leaving no stone unturned when it comes to visual enhancement features. And I experienced nothing more than the slightest hitch in any of those titles. Really the only time I ever noticed any sort of issue at all was after those games had been running on the laptop for most of the day.
Even then, several hours of high-activity and high-heat barely made a difference to the Triton 17 X. The one side effect of this is the laptop subsequently turns into a mini jet engine from the fans whirring at full blast. They’re so loud you’d be forgiven for thinking the laptop might just take off and break the sound barrier. I’m not kidding either. The fans are so loud you’ll need to wear headphones if you want to hear the game audio to the point where you can really enjoy it. That’s the trade-off. Those fans need to run at that capacity to ensure the system can stay cool enough to prevent performance dips.
Acer also makes it really easy to manage the cooling system. You can open up a piece of software that lets you set the fans to different modes. I would typically set it to be managed by the system automatically for general work, browsing, and gaming purposes. But if I knew I was going to go straight to gaming in a title like Cyberpunk 2077 I could swap the mode directly over to turbo and the fans would kick into high gear immediately. It’s actually a very intuitive app. And it’s the first thing I would launch every time I would boot up the laptop.
What’s really great though are the speakers and the collection of ports. While I would almost always plug the laptop into a monitor using the HDMI out, the times I did play using the laptop screen and the fans weren’t going full blast the speakers sound quite good. And honestly they need to in order to compete with the fan noise. As for ports, there’s more than enough to plug in a few devices. When using the laptop with an external monitor I could easily plug in a keyboard, mouse, and a headset if I wanted and still have another USB or USB-C port to spare.
And there’s a port for ethernet and wired headphones too if I wanted it. You could even forgo plugging in a wireless headset adapter if you have a pair that supports Bluetooth. Now the display on the laptop isn’t 4K but that’s perfectly fine. Because without 4K when playing games with higher graphics settings you’ll end up with better frame rates than I did in most cases. Overall this is a beast of a gaming laptop that oozes high-end. It has a price tag to match at $3,799.99. But if you’re looking for something high-end and had planned to spend this amount of money, I’d argue this is the laptop to go for.
The ROG Strix Scar 18 is another high-end gaming laptop that will deliver a similar experience to the Predator Triton 17 X. There are some notable differences though. The most obvious is that it comes with an 18-inch display. So you get more screen real estate to work with when playing games. But it’s also going to be heavier which will make it less portable. It comes with 32GB of RAM instead of 64GB too so there’s less memory.
But even then 32GB is still plenty for any gaming. On this particular model SSD storage capacity and the GPU are the same. Even the CPU is fairly similar as it’s a 13th Gen Core i9 chip from Intel. It features ROG’s intelligent cooling system which is quite good at maintaining lower temperatures for optimal performance. Again, you’ll spend a lot here but it’ll deliver a high-end gaming experience. Keep in mind you will spend about $100 more for this than the Acer laptop though.
The dual-mode display sets this apart from other gaming laptops
Lots of laptops can do what the Razer Blade 16 can do with regard to gaming performance as a whole, but what they can’t do is deliver a two-for-one special kind of gaming experience that you get with the Blade 16’s dual-mode display. This unique feature lets you have your cake and eat it too. You want glorious, vibrant 4K games with smooth performance? The Razer Blade 16 can do that. If you want rapid-fire frame rates that are well-suited to first-person and third-person shooters, well… the Razer Blade 16 can do that too.
The beauty, so to speak, is the laptop’s dual-mode display that lets you flip between both a 1080p mode and a 4K mode. Though you can certainly leave it in one or the other all the time if you prefer it. That being said Razer baked this in for a reason. It’s intended to allow for optimal gaming sessions that are more of a fit for one resolution or the other. And it works great if you want to get the most out of your games. The one downside is that you have to reboot the PC in between swaps.
So if you start in 4K mode playing something like, let’s say Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and want to swap to 1080p to play a shooter at a frame rate of 240 frames per second, the PC requires you to restart. It’s minor but will definitely bother some gamers. Though admittedly it’s not as annoying as you might think. And the payoff is certainly worth the time it takes to make this swap.
Aside from the dual-mode display the Razer Blade 16 has that familiar sleek design that you can only get with Razer. The thin, boxy shape of the Blade line’s frame because the chassis is machined from a single piece of aluminum. It help’s Razer’s laptops keep their minimal design that just works so well. And this is only helped by the fact that the Blade 16 only weighs around 5.5 lbs. An impressive accomplishment considering you can get one with a GeForce RTX 4090 GPU inside of it.
This is also a full pound less than something like the Predator Triton 17 X. Which has the same GPU and a slightly larger 17.6-inch display. So all things considered it’s a design that you’ll be fine with carrying around when you have to. You also have a decent amount of ports with three USB-A ports and two USB Type-C ports. As well as a port for wired headphones and an HDMI out port as well. The only thing it’s really missing is a port for ethernet. But you won’t get that until you bump up to the Blade 17 that’s noticeably larger and heftier.
When it comes to performance the Blade 16 unsurprisingly shines. And you would expect it to with the kind of specs it offers. Which include the above-mentioned RTX 4090 GPU, a 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13950HX CPU, and 32GB of RAM alongside a 2TB SSD for storage. You can of course get it with different configs there. Performance will vary slightly of course from game to game. Overall it’s a solid laptop that is definitely a great pickup if you can stomach Razer’s high prices. But if you want the best for 4K gaming in a laptop, you really won’t find better than the Blade 16.
If you don’t care about the dual-mode display or the 40-series GPU, you can save quite a lot of money by going with something like last year’s Blade 17. It comes with a larger 17-inch display and it’s still 4K resolution. You’ll get bumped down to the RTX 3070 Ti GPU but this is still an excellent graphics card for gaming. You also bump down to a 1TB SSD from 2TB and you get a 12th Gen Intel Core i9 CPU. But like we said, you save a lot. As the price goes down to $2,299.99 whereas the Blade 16 above is $4,299.99. We’d say saving $2,000 is well worth having the slightly lower performance specs.
Best Overall Gaming Laptop: ASUS ROG Strix Scar 16
The most well-rounded experience currently available
Across the board, ASUS has delivered the best overall gaming laptop that you can currently buy with the ROG Strix Scar 16. Whether it’s the NVIDIA Advanced Optimus-enabled display or the excellent keyboard that feels great to type on, this laptop gets high marks for its many wonderful features. What’s most impressive about it is the fact that you can get it with either an RTX 4080 GPU or an RTX 4090 GPU for less than other similar laptops with the same specs.
It’s using Intel’s blazing fast Core i9-13980HX CPU which is the same CPU we’ve been using in Acer’s Predator Triton 17 X. You also get 1TB of SSD storage and 32GB of RAM which could be higher, but then you’d be looking at a higher price tag as well. The bottom line is you can now pick this thing up for around $2,599.99 for the RTX 4080 model. Don’t get me wrong this is by no means inexpensive. But the price is reasonable for what you’re getting. Especially when factoring in other laptops with these specs can cost considerably more.
Ok so it has powerful components. What else makes this the best gaming laptop overall? Well for one the fans are surprisingly quiet when working at full power to keep the laptop cool. Which by the way is another standout trait. You won’t have to worry about this laptop getting uncomfortably warm in certain areas where your hands might accidentally drift over too. Speaking of the fans, the ROG Strix Scar 16 is quieter than most of the competition with a dB of 49.
We’re not saying you won’t hear it. But it’ll be less obtrusive and should make it easier to enjoy the game audio. Without having to wear a pair of headphones mind you. And for some that’s going to make a big difference. Headphones are great. And they can amplify the immersion in a game with stellar audio design. But you don’t always want to wear a pair of headphones.
The display is top notch as well. Featuring support for NVIDIA G-Sync and Dolby Vision. What’s likely going to make the most difference for you though is that the display is made of a Mini-LED panel for really, really, deep contrast and vivid colors. This is going to make your games look amazing and with a peak brightness of 1,100 nits glare should rarely be an issue. If it’s ever an issue at all. Remember how we talked about the 1TB SSD and the 32GB of RAM? Well if that’s not enough you can always swap out those components.
And that’s another reason the ROG Strix Scar 16 pushes ahead of the competition. It has fully upgradeable RAM and Storage. Now you’ll still need to know how to replace those components if you want more storage and more RAM. But not all laptops allow you to swap this stuff out. So this makes the ROG Strix Scar extremely consumer-friendly. That being said ASUS is certainly not the only manufacturer that lets you upgrade these parts. But in conjunction with all the other great features, this is the laptop to beat and for the current sale price of $2,599.99, beating it won’t be easy.
Alienware has come a long way in delivering powerhouse gaming laptops that look just as good as they perform. And the x16 R1 is among the newest offerings from the company. This model has comparable specs to the ROG Strix Scar and offers a good mix of desirable features and great aesthetics. That being said it’s also noticeably more expensive. At $3,099.99 for the x16 R1, the Strix Scar 16 is just the better bang for your buck. But if you prefer Alienware’s design you won’t be disappointed with either the features or performance on this laptop.
Google has rolled out an experimental feature through Search Labs for Android and IOS users in the US and India. This innovative addition introduces a “Notes” section beneath webpage search results, enabling users to provide comments on the presented content. Highlighted by 9to5Google, Google envisions the “Notes” feature as a platform offering “helpful tips about an article or topic from both experts and everyday people.”
In the latest round of Google updates, search results now prioritize content from Reddit. This was in response to Google’s analysis showing a growing trend among users to include “reddit” in their search queries. The data underscores a preference for concise, human-written answers. While the new Notes feature doesn’t replicate Reddit’s dialogue, it serves a similar purpose by allowing users to quickly gauge others’ opinions on an article.
Google’s new Notes feature lets users share quick tips and insights directly on webpage search results
The introduction of the Notes feature effectively establishes a comment section beneath web pages. Users can now utilize this as a reference point to assess the usefulness of a webpage’s content. Google adds, “Notes might help you uncover tips about which neighborhoods might be best for you in an article about a new city, or how to tone down the spice level on a recipe. Or maybe a baking guide helped you create the perfect color frosting — you can leave a note to help other people avoid first-timer mistakes.”
Crucially, Google clarifies that the Notes feature is not intended to replace existing content or compete with native comment systems. It is designed as a value-adding feature rather than a type of social media platform. Certain restrictions, such as disallowing links and direct replies in the Notes section, aim to maintain the feature’s simplicity.
The Notes feature aims to enhance web pages’ usefulness through human interaction. Users can engage with notes by liking, sharing, and saving them. The engagement data from Notes will be utilized to rank them based on their relevance to search terms.
The Notes feature is part of a Google Labs experimental trial and not a permanent addition. Google will analyze user feedback and assess the feature’s contribution to the platform before deciding on its future. In related news, Google plans to launch a feature in the coming weeks that allows users to follow specific searches and receive updates through app notifications.
Amazon’s Prime Gaming division is undergoing a significant overhaul, marking the second major shift in strategy within a year. Following the initial restructuring in April, which resulted in the elimination of 100 jobs, the latest move involves cutting around 180 positions. This time, the focus is on reshaping the gaming landscape by shutting down its Twitch channel and game creator marketplace. Prime Gaming is redirecting its efforts toward the development of new and free games.
In an email obtained by The Verge, Christoph Hartmann, the vice president of Amazon Games, emphasized the need to concentrate resources on areas with the highest potential for business growth. Hartmann stated, “After our initial restructuring in April, it became clear that we needed to focus our resources even more on the areas that are growing with the highest potential to drive our business forward.”
Prime Gaming, which provides various gaming services, is undergoing significant transformations. As part of Prime Gaming, Amazon offered a platform that assisted game creators in global marketing efforts called Game Growth platform. Amazon’s Crown channel, a source of gaming content on Twitch, and the Game Growth platform are shutting down, as reiterated by Hartmann.
Prime Gaming is actively recruiting to fill essential positions for the development of new games on the platform
Despite these closures, he expressed pride in the team’s work, acknowledging their efforts to explore new avenues with weekly content on the Crown Channel and supporting publishers in reaching broader audiences with Game Growth. Hartmann clarified, “it became clear that we need focus our resources and efforts to deliver great games to players now and in the future.”
As part of the restructuring, Amazon is refining its Prime Gaming benefit. The $139 annual Prime membership, known for free shipping and streaming video services, will now place a heightened focus on delivering free games monthly, aligning with customer preferences. Hartmann stated, “we’ve listened to our customers and we know delivering free games every month is what they want most, so we are refining our Prime benefit to increase our focus there.”
Looking ahead, Hartmann shared exciting news about upcoming releases. He writes, “We are focused on our upcoming publishing launches for Throne and Liberty and Blue Protocol, as well as future projects like our TombRaider and The Lord of the Rings games, and our projects with Glowmade and Disruptive Games. Our internal studios are actively recruiting and hiring to fill critical roles as they develop new IP, while Prime Gaming continues to secure deals and deliver compelling content for members every month.”
Another important update round for this month’s Patch Tuesday. Microsoft has patched a total of 63 vulnerabilities in its operating systems. Five of these vulnerabilities qualify as zero-days, with three listed as being actively exploited. Microsoft considers a vulnerability to be a zero-day if it is publicly disclosed or actively exploited with no official fix available.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) database lists publicly disclosed computer security flaws. The zero-days patched in these updates are listed as:
CVE-2023-36025: a Windows SmartScreen security feature bypass vulnerability that would allow an attacker to bypass Windows Defender SmartScreen checks and their associated prompts. SmartScreen is a built-in Windows component designed to detect and block known malicious websites and files.
It requires user interaction since the user would have to click on a specially crafted Internet Shortcut (.URL) or a hyperlink pointing to an Internet Shortcut file to be compromised by the attacker. Microsoft listed this vulnerability with the remark “Exploitation Detected.”
CVE-2023-36033: a Windows Desktop Window Manager (DWM) Core Library elevation of privilege (EoP) vulnerability. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain SYSTEM privileges. This vulnerability is also listed with the remark “Exploitation Detected.”
CVE-2023-36036: a Windows Cloud Files Mini Filter Driver EoP vulnerability. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain SYSTEM privileges. This vulnerability is also listed with the remark “Exploitation Detected.”
EoP type of vulnerabilities are typically used in attack chains. Once the attacker has gained entrance, the vulnerabilities allow them to increase their permission level.
CVE-2023-36413: a Microsoft Office security feature bypass vulnerability. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability would allow an attacker to bypass the Office Protected View and open in editing mode rather than protected mode. Full exploitation requires that the attacker sends the target a malicious file and convince them to open it. This is a publicly disclosed vulnerability but there are no known cases of exploitation.
CVE-2023-36038: a vulnerability in ASP.NET that could lead to core denial of service. This vulnerability could be exploited if http requests to .NET 8 RC 1 running on IIS InProcess hosting model are cancelled. Threads counts would increase and an OutOfMemoryException is possible. A successful exploitation might result in a total loss of availability. So, basically an attacker would send requests and then cancel them until the program runs out of memory and crashes. Microsoft notes that this vulnerability was publicly disclosed, however no in-the-wild exploitation has been observed, which is not likely to happen either if the denial of service is the best achievable goal for an attacker.
An extra warning for organizations running Microsoft Exchange Server: Prioritize several new Exchange patches, including CVE-2023-36439, which is a vulnerability that enables attackers to install malicious software on an Exchange server.
Other vendors
Other organizations have synchronized their periodic updates with Microsoft. Here are few major ones that you may find in your environment.
Adobe has released security updates to address vulnerabilities affecting multiple Adobe products:
The At a Glance feature on the Pixel line of devices is one of its smaller staple features, and it will finally have a toggle that will let you disable it. On phones like the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro which Google launched earlier this Fall, At a Glance is a small widget that sits in the top left corner of the display.
It’s used to give you glimpses at helpful information across a wide range of categories. Say you have a package coming in from FedEx and it’s the day the shipment is supposed to arrive. At a Glance would put this information in that top left corner. More commonly though it shows things like persistent weather details. Things like how hot or cold it is and what the conditions are like. It’s certainly a useful feature. But one that can be an annoying hinderance if you prefer to customize the look of your home screen.
As of right now the only way to get rid of this is to install another launcher. Like Nova Launcher for example. But that won’t be the case for very long.
Pixel At a Glance toggle will come with a future update
Details of the new toggle for this feature come from Mishaal Rahman on X. It’s part of a series of changes that were added to Android 14 in the recent Android 14 QPR2 Beta 1 update. Rahman says the toggle isn’t yet visible so it had to be manually activated. But in the screenshot below you can see the toggle clear as day. And the fact that Rahman could manually activate the toggle suggests Google plans to enable this soon. Perhaps in an upcoming feature drop for Pixel owners running on Android 14.
The toggle appears to be located in Home Settings and when disabled it does indeed get rid of the widget. Which thereby allows you room to put different widgets or shortcuts in its place. Or if you like things really simplistic you could finally have a blank home screen save for the app dock at the bottom.
OpenAI launched ChatGPT nearly a year ago. It has ever since been in the headlines. The app once held the record for the fastest time to reach 1 million users, but Threads quickly took over the title. The latest update is that it is not accepting sign-ups for its paid ChatGPT Plus amid a surge in usage.
OpenAI halts new sign-ups for ChatGPT Plus
OpenAI has temporarily suspended new sign-ups for its ChatGPT Plus subscription service, announced CEO Sam Altman. He wrote on X (formerly, Twitter), “We are pausing new ChatGPT Plus sign-ups for a bit.” He added that this is due to the “surge in usage”. However, users can still join a waitlist and will be notified when subscriptions reopen. The ChatGPT Plus subscription costs $20 per month.
Just last week, OpenAI held its first developer conference. The company unveiled major advancements and new features for its widely used chatbot. The new GPT 4 empowers users to create personalized ChatGPT versions tailored to particular tasks. This has reportedly spurred a surge in demand for OpenAI’s ChatGPT Plus.
The demand for chatbots is high, but so is the operating cost
Sam Altman mentioned the same in the post on X amid the surge in users. He wrote that the surge “has exceeded our capacity, and we want to make sure everyone has a great experience.”
The company is facing a dilemma: it needs more funds to operate its popular chatbot ChatGPT. And most importantly, it also needs to upgrade its servers to host more paying subscribers.
Sam Altman has admitted to the Financial Times that the costs of operating and training ChatGPT are “punishingly high.” He hopes that Microsoft, a long-time partner of OpenAI, will continue to invest in the company. Microsoft has already invested $10 billion in OpenAI, and Altman is hoping that the company will provide additional funding to help OpenAI overcome its current challenges.
