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Dell revealed details for new models in its Inspiron and Latitude laptop lines at IFA 2024. The company announced in May that it would be powering several of its new devices with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Plus, and now we have more information about how those processors will work in Dell's collection of Copilot+ PCs.

Dell brings Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Plus to Inspiron and Latitude laptops

Intel’s been trying to recapture its glory days and establish itself, once again, as a leading chipmaker. However, this dream has run into a major snag. The company’s next-gen manufacturing process, currently referred to as 18A, has reportedly failed crucial tests, . Semiconductor developer Broadcom helped conduct these...

Intel’s next-gen chip manufacturing process reportedly hits snag after failing crucial tests

ASUS is now outfitting its NUC 14 Pro mini PC with a neural processing unit (NPU) capable of reaching 48 trillion operations per second (TOPS). The new model, the ASUS NUC Pro AI, will have up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 288V processor. With a height of only 1.3 inches, this mini PC can be carried anywhere and won’t get in your way. Most of the features like ports and internals should be similar compared to its predecessor.

ASUS equips its NUC 14 Pro mini PC with AI capabilities

IFA is upon us, which means that along with offering us some truly ridiculous new concepts, a whole bunch of manufacturers are giving their gaming laptops iterative upgrades and introducing some fresh variants. Acer is one of the companies doing just that (though in fairness, it has some more exciting announcements elsewhere, such as its first gaming handheld). The company is refreshing the Nitro V 16 system and introducing the Nitro V 14, though which one you opt for will be determined by more than just screen size.

The Acer Nitro V 16 gaming laptop now comes in an Intel flavor

If you need another sign that it's a very strange year for PC hardware, consider Dell's latest XPS 13 revision with Intel's just-announced Core Ultra 200V processors. It's the third time Dell has revamped its popular ultraportable over the past year. First, it got the original Core Ultra chip in April, and then in July Dell released a Snapdragon-equipped Copilot+ variant. And, as is usually the case with PC hardware, it pays to wait.

Dell's XPS 13 gets its third update in a year with Intel's Core Ultra 200V

Instagram is rolling out comments for Stories. Previously, the short-lived Stories could only be replied to in direct messages. This new feature offers a more visible way for users to interact with their friends' posts. The original poster will not receive the comments in a DM; a rep from Meta said that "comments live only on your Story."

Instagram Stories are getting comments

Lyft is rolling out a new price lock feature that caps the cost of rides, in an attempt to solve the problem of cost unpredictability for those who rely on the platform for daily commutes. The company says this tool will even work during peak hours, when rides are usually at their most expensive. There are, however, some caveats.

Lyft’s new price lock feature caps the cost of rides, even during peak hours

If you’re in the market for a new phone, it’s probably the exact wrong moment to buy an iPhone. Unless you’re in desperate need of a replacement, wait just a few days because Apple's new iPhones will be revealed on Monday. That means you’ll be able to either opt for the company’s latest and greatest, or pickup the iPhone 15 at a reduced price really soon. The Apple event will be held September 9 at 1PM ET (10AM PT) at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park in Cupertino. You can livestream Apple's It's Glowtime event on YouTube (which we’ve embedded above for your convenience), as well as on Apple’s site.

How to watch the It's Glowtime Apple event and the iPhone 16 reveal

North Carolina State

A North Carolina man is facing fraud charges after allegedly uploading hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs to streaming services and using bots to play them billions of times. Michael Smith is said to have over $10 million in royalties since 2017 via the scheme. Smith, 52, was arrested on...

Alleged fraudster got $10 million in royalties using robots to stream AI-made music

In a post on its own social network, Bluesky has revealed that it has added two million new people over the last week, which is a lot of growth in such a short time for a platform that only has around 8.4 million users overall. The same post has a Portuguese translation of the announcement, most likely because a huge chunk of those new users are from Brazil. If you'll recall, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes recently ordered the country's internet service providers to block X after the website formerly known as Twitter refused to ban specific accounts accused of spreading disinformation.

Bluesky added 2 million new users in a week following Brazil's X ban

Update, September 3, 5:15PM ET: Starlink has reversed course on its decision to not comply with Brazil’s block of X. In a statement posted to X, the company said:. “To our customers in Brazil (who may not be able to read this as a result of X being blocked by @alexandre):

Elon Musk's Starlink will comply with the Brazil X ban after all

YouTube has introduced additional safeguards for teens on its website, which includes limiting the content they see that could lead them to form negative beliefs about themselves. As the Google-owned video sharing platform explains, teenagers are more likely to be critical of themselves if they see repeated messages about ideal social standards. In response, YouTube is now limiting repeated recommendations of videos featuring specific fitness levels or body weights, as well as those that display "social aggression in the form of non-contact fights and intimidation" for European users. As The Guardian notes, this rule is already being enforced in the US.

YouTube will limit fitness and weight video recommendations to European teens

Astro Bot is not just for kids. Team Asobi clearly designed it for players of all skill levels, and that includes children and newbies, but at its core Astro Bot feels purpose-built for video game fans. It’s a skill-driven celebration of everything that makes the format so memorable and joyful, and at the same time, it’s an excellent introduction to the language of games. With precise and responsive controls, adorable characters, and an exciting variety of mechanics and environments, Astro Bot is easily one of the best games that Sony has ever produced.

Astro Bot is one of the best games Sony has ever made

Sony's new team shooter Concord is not going to be playable for much longer. Developer Firewalk Studios says it will take the game offline on September 6, just two weeks after its release, to "explore options, including those that will better reach our players." You can no longer buy Concord...

Concord is going offline after just two weeks

X’s advertising woes are about to get a whole lot worse, according to a new report from Kantar, details of which were Advanced Television. The market research firm found that 26 percent of marketers plan to cut their spending on X in the coming year, and that advertisers’ trust in X is “historically low.”

Report: A quarter of X advertisers plan to cut spending next year

Major League Baseball’s virtual ballpark is back. Like a metaverse experience for traditional (non-VR) devices, it lets you watch actual games as they're happening in real time, albeit recreated in a 3D environment. MLB will host interactive watch parties in the environment for select games each Wednesday in September.

MLB’s virtual ballpark returns for four regular-season games in September

More standard streaming services include live sports now — Sunday Night Football on Peacock, CBS NFL games on Paramount+, Thursday Night Football on Prime Video — but if you want a comprehensive suite of sports channels, plus other live programming and local news, Fubo might be the way to go. It came out on top for sports in our guide to the best live TV streaming services and right now you can get your first month of Fubo's Pro-tier subscription for $50 instead of $80. The Elite with Sports Plus plan is down from $100 to $70 for the first month and the top-level Deluxe package is $80 as opposed to the usual $110.

Fubo TV streaming plans are $30 off for the first month right now

The race to build the most compelling AI PC processors continues with the launch of Intel's Core Ultra 200V. At Computex in June, we learned these "Lunar Lake" laptop chips would feature a powerful 48 TOPS (tera operations per second) neural processing unit for AI work, and, surprisingly enough, they'd also sport up to 32GB of built-in memory for faster performance and lower power consumption. Today at Germany's IFA trade show, Intel has given us an even closer look at its next-generation AI PC hardware.

Intel's Core Ultra 200V chips aim for AI PC dominance

We’re used to hearing about new Android versions during Google Pixel smartphone launch events, but Android 15’s source code is finally out at the Android Open Source Project. It was strangely missing from the Google Pixel launch event last month, but it’s better late than never. Check out the go-live link from the developers here.

Android 15 is now here a month later than expected

Acer has just announced its latest Predator and Nitro UltraSpeed gaming monitors while also introducing two new smart monitors. We’ll take a look at the latest Nitro UltraSpeed screens first. Starting off, we have the 24-inch Nitro XV240 F6 monitor rated for 1080p600Hz (FHD) and up to 0.1ms GTG...

Acer announces its latest Predator and Nitro monitors

NewsBreak

Cheaper Copilot+ PCs are coming with Qualcomm's 8-core Snapdragon X Plus chip

Qualcomm is moving to make AI PCs more affordable. Following the company’s 12-core Snapdragon X Elite and 10-core Snapdragon X Plus, it unveiled a toned-down eight-core...

Cheaper Copilot+ PCs are coming with Qualcomm's 8-core Snapdragon X Plus chip

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