In brief: AMD came out swinging at CES 2025 in Las Vegas with its new 'Strix Halo' Ryzen AI Max+ mobile processors. Boasting impressive specifications, these chips seem primed to dominate the competition in the thin-and-light gaming laptop and AI workstation markets. The lineup includes four models: Ryzen AI Max+ 395/Pro, Ryzen AI Max 390/Pro, Ryzen AI Max 385/Pro, and Ryzen AI Max 380 Pro. At the top of the lineup is the Ryzen AI Max+ 395, featuring 16 CPU cores, 40 GPU cores, and support for up to 128GB of shared RAM. One step below is the Ryzen AI Max+ 390, equipped with 12 CPU cores and 32 GPU cores. Following that is the Ryzen AI Max+ 385, offering eight CPU cores and 32 GPU cores. Lastly, the Ryzen AI Max Pro 380, designed with professional users in mind, includes six CPU cores, 16 GPU cores, and enhanced security and manageability features.All models feature a 55W base TDP, configurable between 45W and 120W to accommodate more robust cooling solutions. Built on a cutting-edge 3nm process, the chips utilize a design where the CPU cores are distributed across two smaller chiplets, while the GPU and AI engines reside on a larger central I/O die. They also support up to 128GB of unified memory, with up to 96GB available for graphics a feature AMD emphasizes as crucial for seamless multitasking and handling "incredibly large AI models."The Ryzen AI Max+ 395 stands out thanks to its impressive graphics specs, boasting a 40-core RDNA 3.5 integrated GPU known as the Radeon 8060S. According to AMD, this is the fastest integrated GPU available in any Windows laptop.AMD claims the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is up to 1.4x faster than Intel's top Lunar Lake Core Ultra 9 288V chip in gaming performance. For AI workloads, AMD asserts it can deliver up to 2.2x higher performance than Nvidia's desktop RTX 4090 GPU, while consuming just 87 percent of the power.While gaming remains a focal point, AMD is positioning the Ryzen AI Max+ APUs as versatile powerhouses for demanding workloads like video rendering, 3D modeling, data analytics, and more. According to AMD's content creation benchmarks, these chips show substantial performance gains over Apple's latest M4 Pro processors in popular render engines like V-Ray, Blender, and Corona. However, Cinebench scores reveal slightly less impressive, though still competitive, results.Naturally, vendor-provided benchmarks should always be taken with a grain of salt. However, if these processors can achieve performance levels even approaching AMD's claims, they have the potential to be game-changing releases. // Related StoriesThe new Ryzen AI Max+ chips are expected to debut in laptops from AMD's OEM partners starting in Q1 and Q2 of 2025.

Facepalm: Do you know what 2025 is? It's the "Year of the Windows 11 PC refresh," at least according to Microsoft. With Windows 10's end-of-support date around nine months away, the Redmond firm is going all out to try and convince people to move to Windows 11, preferably by purchasing a Copilot+ PC. Now that Microsoft's "year of the AI PC," or 2024, as it's better known is over, the company has declared that 2025 really should be the year that you upgrade your Windows 10 PC to a Windows 11-supporting computer.Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's Executive Vice President and consumer chief marketing officer, writes that one of the most important pieces of technology consumers will look to refresh in 2025 isn't the refrigerator, the television, or their mobile phone; it will be their Windows 10 PC. It's hard to imagine many people with 20-year-old refrigerators agreeing with him on that one.Mehdi makes some other bold statements, including "Windows 11 is available at a time when the world needs it most" and that "the forefront of AI innovation will be realized on Windows."Mehdi heavily pushes Microsoft's AI offerings in the lengthy post, mentioning Copilot no less than 14 times. Copilot has made several headlines at CES after it was revealed the AI assistant has been integrated into upcoming TVs from LG and Samsung. We'll have to wait and see just how useful this feature proves to be.Microsoft would obviously prefer those upgrading their PCs to opt for a Copilot+ one. Mehdi writes that these are up to five times faster than the most popular 5-year-old Windows PCs still in use today and top models are up to 58% faster than a MacBook Air with M3. // Related StoriesMicrosoft's campaign to push people onto Windows 11 hasn't been a rousing success. Most Windows 10 users hate the intrusive, full-screen pop-up nags, made worse by the most recent version that sometimes crashes when it opens.Not what Satya Nadella wants to seeWindows 10 reaches its end-of-support date on October 14, meaning no more security updates after this point unless you pay for them. Nevertheless, Windows 10's global user share increased to 62.7% over the last two months as Windows 11's fell to 34.1% though more Steam survey participants seem to prefer the newer OS.Citing IDC data, Mehdi writes that nearly 80% of businesses are planning to refresh their PC portfolio by the end of 2025, and 70% of consumers will refresh their PCs in the next two years.In related news, security experts warn that the end of support for Windows 10 could put most Windows devices at risk, not to mention the software and hardware compatibility issues.

In a nutshell: Ugreen has taken the wraps off the new Nexode Desktop Charger 500W. With a maximum 500-watt output, this thing can simultaneously juice up not just your typical mobile devices, but multiple power-hungry laptops at the same time and even e-bikes. The previous generation of this particular charger topped out at 300 watts the company's highest but the new Nexode bumps that up significantly to 500 watts.The brick packs a total of six ports: 5 USB-C and 1 USB-A. And get this the main USB-C port can deliver an insane 240 watts all by itself. The other USB ports will share the remaining 260W load however you need, though they cannot exceed 100W.The sheer power of this power bank means it can juice up up to five laptops charged up at the same time. You could use it to charge a power-hungry gaming laptop at 240 watts, two more at 100 watts each, and another couple of lower-wattage laptops at 60 watts, for example.The brick measures 5.75 inches wide, 4.51 inches tall, and 2.39 inches deep. It tips the scales at a whopping 1.8 kilograms, or about 4 pounds. With that in mind, it seems geared toward users with a desktop workspace, whether that's at home or office. While rewarding, traveling with another couple of kilos in your backpack certainly won't be easy.Beyond these highlights, the Nexode supports USB Power Delivery 3.1 and Qualcomm's Quick Charge 3.0 standards for fast-charging compatible devices. The fastest ports can quick-charge laptops, while the rest split the remaining wattage for phones, accessories, and more. // Related StoriesUgreen calls the Nexode Desktop Charger the "world's first" 500-watt GaN charger for office settings and multi-device users. The only missing bit, we'd say, is a screen to help you get your head around all that wattage and keep track of the right port to use.There's no final pricing yet, but the Nexode Desktop Charger 500W is slated to go on sale sometime in March 2025, for now it's available to pre-order from the Ugreen website.

There's plenty more CES news today as the show officially kicks off. We'll have live updates from the show right here!

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Lenovo has just unveiled a new lineup of tablets at CES 2025. The Android-based Yoga Tab Plus, Lenovo Idea Tab Pro, and Lenovo Tab are aimed at competing with Apples iPad lineup. To that end, all of these tablets will be offered at competitive prices.The Yoga Tab Plus is the most interesting of the bunch and, at least on paper, looks like a really strong iPad Air 2024 competitor.Recommended VideosThe premium Yoga Tab Plus is Lenovos first tablet featuring on-device AI powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. It has a 10,200mAh battery that supports fast charging and can connect via Wi-Fi 7.Please enable Javascript to view this contentThis new tablet boasts a large 12.7-inch 3K anti-reflection PureSight Pro display. It offers a brightness of 900 nits in high brightness mode, a 144Hz refresh rate, and 100% DCI-P3 color coverage.RelatedIt also has four Harman Kardon woofers and two tweeters for sound quality. It can be paired with an ergonomic 2-in-1 keyboard and the Lenovo Tab Pen Pro, which are sold separately.Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus LenovoThe Lenovo Idea Tab Pro, meanwhile, is marketed as the ideal learning tablet. It features a MediaTek Dimensity 8300 processor and a 12.7-inch 3K display with a 144Hz refresh rate and up to 400 nits of brightness, similar to the Yoga Tab Plus. The tablet has a 10,200 mAh battery that supports 45-watt fast charging, allowing for quick power-ups. It also boasts quad JBL speakers tuned with Dolby Atmos technology for an enhanced audio experience.The tablet is expected to be available in two colors: Luna Gray and Seaform Green.Lastly, we have the budget-friendly Lenovo Tab, a lightweight 10.1-inch tablet powered by the MediaTek Helio G85 chip. It features dual speakers with Dolby Atmos, making it an excellent choice for anyone purchasing a tablet for entertainment or web browsing. The tablet is expected to be available in Luna Gray and Polar Blue.In the U.S., the Yoga Tab Plus is set to debut later this month, starting at $700 $100 less than the 13-inch version of the current iPad Air. The Idea Tab Pro will arrive in April, starting at $350, potentially making it a worthwhile iPad (9th generation) competitor. Finally, the Lenovo Tab is expected to launch in June, with a starting price of just $159. At this price, the Lenovo Tab sounds perfect for anyone looking for a first tablet or an extra one in a home environment.Editors Recommendations

bonds begin to fray We have a new teaser for The Last of Us S2 Abby: "It doesn't matter if you have a code like me. There are just some things everyone agrees are just wrong." Jennifer Ouellette Jan 7, 2025 11:23 am | 0 Kaitlyn Dever joins the cast as Abby, a vengeful soldier. Credit: YouTube/HBO Kaitlyn Dever joins the cast as Abby, a vengeful soldier. Credit: YouTube/HBO Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn more The second season of The Last of Uswill hit HBO and Max in April. HBO released a new one-minute teaser for the second season of its post-apocalyptic drama The Last of Us during CES last night, along with a release date of April 2025. Based on developer Naughty Dog's hugely popular video game franchise, S2 is set five years after the events of the first season and finds the bond beginning to fray between plucky survivors Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) while introducing several new characters.(Spoilers for S1 below.)The series takes placein the 20-year aftermath of a deadly outbreak of mutant fungus (Cordyceps) that turns humans into monstrous zombie-like creatures (the Infected, or Clickers). The world has become a series of separate totalitarian quarantine zones and independent settlements, with a thriving black market and a rebel militia known as the Fireflies making life complicated for the survivors. Joel is a hardened smuggler tasked with escorting the teenaged Ellie across the devastated US, battling hostile forces and hordes of zombies, to a Fireflies unit outside the quarantine zone. Ellie is special: She is immune to the deadly fungus, and the hope is that her immunity holds the key to beating the disease.Over the course of the first season, we watched a reluctant Joel gradually come to love Ellie as his own daughter. That caused a problem in the shocking finale, when they finally arrived at their destination, only to discover the secret to her immunity to the Cordyceps fungus meant Ellie would have to die to find a cure. Ellie was willing to sacrifice herself, but once she was under anesthesia, Joel basically went berserk and killed all the hospital staff to save her lifeand lied to Ellie about it, claiming the staff were killed by raiders. So you know there are going to some repercussions in the second season.The official premise is succinct: "After five years of peace following the events of the first season, Joel and Ellies collective past catches up to them, drawing them into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind." The source material is The Last of Us Part II, although it's not clear from the teasers thus far just how closely the showrunners will hew to that game. But we should expect some grim happenings, as Ars Senior Editor Sam Axon observed last year: "Those of us who have played the game (or followed its controversies in gaming communities) know that non-gaming TV fans are probably not prepared for what's coming."Gabriel Luna and Rutina Wesley reprise their S1 roles as Joel's younger brother Tommy and his pregnant wife Maria, respectively. Joining the cast this year are Kaitlyn Dever as a vengeance-seeking solider named Abby; Young Mazino as Jesse; Isabela Merced as Dina, Jesse's ex and a romantic interest for Ellie; Danny Ramirez as a loyal soldier named Manny; Ariela Barer as a doctor named Mel; Tati Gabrielle as a military medic named Nora; Spencer Lord as Owen; and Jeffrey Wright as Isaac, who leads a militia (Wright played the same role in the video game).Catherine O-Hara will also appear in an as-yet-undisclosed role, although we saw her briefly in the teaser released last September acting as a therapist of sorts to Joel. That teaser largely focused on Joel's guilt over his murderous actions as his past begins to catch up with him. This latest teaser is more general in scope, revealing few plot points but giving us glimpses of our new characters: Abby weeping over a grave, Ellie and Dina slow-dancing (and then outrunning a horde of infected), and a brief glimpse of Isaac by a campfire.The Last of Us S2 will premiere on HBO and Max in April 2025. We're looking forward to this one.Jennifer OuelletteSenior WriterJennifer OuelletteSenior Writer Jennifer is a senior reporter at Ars Technica with a particular focus on where science meets culture, covering everything from physics and related interdisciplinary topics to her favorite films and TV series. Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban. 0 Comments

failure to detect Teslas remote parking under federal scrutiny after multiple crashes This is the fourth NHTSA safety investigation currently looking at Tesla. Jonathan M. Gitlin Jan 7, 2025 10:40 am | 41 Has Tesla been playing fast and loose with safety systems? NHTSA believes it may be. Credit: YouTube Has Tesla been playing fast and loose with safety systems? NHTSA believes it may be. Credit: YouTube Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreTesla is the target of yet another federal safety probe, the fourth currently open by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defects Investigation. Today's trouble concerns the automaker's "Smart Summon" and "Actually Smart Summon" features, which allow Tesla drivers to remotely control their vehicles via a smartphone app.At least in theory, that is. In practice, NHTSA says it's aware of multiple crash allegations "where the user had too little reaction time to avoid a crash, either with the available line of sight or releasing the phone app button, which stops the vehicles movement."Worse yet, Tesla has failed to report any of these incidents to the safety regulator, which has a standing general order that requires any automaker or operator of autonomous or partially automated vehicles to report crashes involving such systems that occur on publicly accessible roads.NHTSA's ODI says it has received one complaint of a crash using "Actually Smart Summon" and has reviewed reports of at least three more cases. In all four incidents, the Teslas being remotely operated failed to detect the parked cars or bollards they crashed into.Another 12 complaints concern "Smart Summon," a less-advanced version of the same system. In these cases, as with the others, there was not enough time for whoever was operating the Tesla smartphone app to react in time to prevent the crashes.NHTSA ODI says its preliminary investigation will evaluate the system's capabilities, including the top speed allowed when being remotely operated, as well as other design restrictions. More than 2.5 million Teslas are equipped with this feature.Jonathan M. GitlinAutomotive EditorJonathan M. GitlinAutomotive Editor Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica's automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC. 41 Comments

Meta's content moderation changes aim to appease Donald Trump and conservative allies.Mark Zuckerberg's moves follow efforts to align with Trump, including meetings and policy shifts.Meta's new approach includes ending third-party fact-checking and demoting its Trust and Safety team.Sometimes the obvious thing is the obvious thing.Which is to say: You can make pro and con arguments for many of the massive changes Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced about the way his company is going to moderate or not moderate content. It's a complicated topic.But the most important takeaway is that all of Tuesday's news has been rolled out specifically for Donald Trump, and the new political regime that officially kicks into gear on January 20.That includes the language Zuckerberg and his company are using to describe the changes like when Zuckerberg criticizes "legacy media" and declares that "the recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point" in a video posted Tuesday morning.It includes the venue Meta used to announce the changes Fox News, Trump's favorite TV channel. And, of course, the changes themselves. We'll get to those in a second.But first, some crucial context: Tuesday's news follows a series of moves Zuckerberg and Meta have made to make nice with Trump and Republicans, which began before November's election.A reminder of that timeline:In July, Zuckerberg praised Trump as a "badass" after surviving an assassination attempt.In August, Zuckerberg sent Republican Congresssman Jim Jordan a letter where he acknowledged moderation mistakes in the past.In November, Zuckerberg traveled to Mar-a-Lago for a postelection audience with Trump, then pledged $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee.Last week Zuckerberg announced that he was replacing his head of policy: Nick Clegg, the former British politician, was out, replaced by Joel Kaplan, a longtime Republican.On Monday, Zuckerberg announced that he was adding Dana White, the head of the CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship and a prominent Trump backer, to his board of directors.Add it all up and there's no way to see Zuckerberg's moves as anything other than a straightforward attempt to please Trump and the incoming president's conservative allies, who have often complained that Zuckerberg's properties were biased against them. It's crystal clear.As far as the changes themselves: It's entirely possible that some of the stuff Zuckerberg and his team announced Tuesday reflects what Zuckerberg actually believes. (I've asked Meta PR if Zuckerberg wants to expand on his comments.)Figuring out the best way to moderate or not moderate giant platforms that depend on free contributions from their users has bedeviled all of the Big Tech companies for years. And Zuckerberg has never seemed comfortable with the various moderation layers and rules his company has added over time.*He has also been signaling that he's particularly unhappy about the way the company responded to criticism and regulation following the 2016 election and subsequent revelations like the Cambridge Analytica data breach.So getting rid of third-party fact-checking of controversial posts in favor of the "Community Notes" system Elon Musk's Twitter/X uses, might very well be what Zuckerberg thinks makes sense. It certainly fits a Silicon Valley ethos that's much more comfortable using a combination of users and software to make decisions about what people see on those platforms, rather than asking executives to take responsibility for those calls.The same goes for the demotion of Meta's Trust and Safety team which is most definitely what Zuckerberg intends by moving those operations from California to Texas, which, at a minimum, is an attrition play. Zuckerberg has long talked about wanting those roles to eventually become automated, and in the meantime, hiring humans to do that work has been difficult, messy, or worse. Simply doing less of it is one way to get at the problem. (Worth noting: In 2023, Meta investor and board member Marc Andreessen described Trust and Safety operations as part of "The Enemy" he wanted tech to fight back against.)And figuring out how to run a platform that's based in America but subject to regulation around the world is a problem that all US tech companies struggle with. You can imagine the appeal of Zuckerberg's new approach simply announcing that the rest of the world is anti-growth. There will be a lot of devil in the details here. For instance, Zuckerberg certainly can't fully adopt Elon Musk's next-to-anything-goes approach for his companies. Unlike Musk, he isn't in a position to scare off users and advertisers who want a clean, well-lit space.But those are all details to hash out in the future. Tuesday's news is simple: It's Donald Trump's world, and Mark Zuckerberg is living in it.*Criticisms of Meta/Facebook's moderation attempts don't only come from the right. I always remember the prime minister of Norway, among others, complaining when Facebook took down posts that used a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo from the Vietnam War a move Facebook first defended, then reversed.

Natalia Grace Mans speaks about her boyfriend Neil in "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter."Natalia and Neil met online, and he helped her leave her home with the Mans family.Neil is from the United Kingdom, and his identity is concealed in the docuseries."The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter" recounts how Natalia Grace Mans ultimately left the Mans family to live with Nicole and Vince DePaul, a couple with dwarfism who previously tried to adopt her when she was a child.She does so with the assistance of her boyfriend Neil, who lives in the UK and is not shown onscreen or fully identified in "The Final Chapter." In the docuseries, Nicole DePaul says Neil contacted her via social media and told her that Natalia needed help leaving the Mans family, who adopted her in 2023. As a result, Nicole and her daughter Mackenzie traveled to Nashville, where the Mans family had relocated, to pick her up and bring her to their home in New York.Natalia's saga was first publicized in 2019, when it was reported that her first set of adoptive parents, Kristine and Michael Barnett, had moved away to Canada and left Natalia on her own in an apartment after coming to believe that the Ukrainian orphan was really an adult woman posing as a child. They alleged that Natalia was disturbed and had threatened their family, which Natalia has repeatedly denied.Neil is a relatively new addition to the story that's been unfolding on the Investigation Discovery docuseries since the first of its three seasons premiered in 2023. He's an off-screen presence in "The Final Chapter," which premiered Monday, but Natalia, Nicole, and Natalia's adoptive parents, Cynthia and Antwon Mans, all speak about him. Here's everything we know about Neil.Neil and Natalia met over social media, and their relationship prompted conflict with her adoptive parentsNeil and Natalia first came into contact via social media while she was living with Antwon and Cynthia Mans, she recalls in "The Final Chapter.""At first it was just like a small message, and then I grew feelings," Natalia says in the series. "He claimed he grew feelings, and I just opened my heart. It felt really good."In December 2023, Antwon and Cynthia called producers to say that they were "done" with Natalia and that she wanted to live alone. Producers traveled to Tennessee, but when they arrived, Antwon and Cynthia told them that they had "come to an understanding" with Natalia and she had decided to stay at home. Antwon Mans, Natalia Grace Mans, and Cynthia Mans. Investigation Discovery/Max During an interview with producers at that time, Antwon and Cynthia said that Natalia had "trashed" them in messages and that Neil had framed them as an "enemy" who sought to "control" her."I think it's definitely important to put parameters in place with the internet so these things won't happen again," Antwon said during the interview. "Look, we gotta cut the internet off. We can't allow this to happen. It's just got to be cut."Natalia said during the interview that she believed she was in love with Neil, "but it wasn't right" and she wasn't "thinking clearly." However, she eventually did decide to leave her adoptive family to live with the DePauls in New York.Antwon and Cynthia Mans did not immediately respond to BI's requests for comment sent to their personal Facebook profiles, their family Facebook page, and an email listed on the Facebook page.Neil contacted Nicole so she could help Natalia leave the MansNeil reached out to Nicole DePaul over social media to request that she help Natalia leave the Mans family. "The Final Chapter" executive producer Eric Evangelista says in a confessional that Neil also contacted producers to say that she needed to leave."It was like, out of the blue," Nicole said. "At first, I didn't even believe him. I didn't even know if he was legit, or if I should trust him."Natalia was still able to stay in contact with Neil, who in turn relayed information to Nicole. Eventually, he put Natalia and Nicole into contact, and they coordinated a pick-up.After Nicole and her daughter Mackenzie retrieved Natalia in Tennessee, Natalia was able to speak on the phone with Neil."I am so, so thankful you found me. I love you so much," Natalia told Neil.Neil and Natalia finally met in person while she was living with the DePaulsNatalia continued her long-distance relationship with Neil while living with Nicole and Vince DePaul. Natalia told People she was in love, and that she and Neil had met in person.Now, Natalia tells the publication that she hopes to have a family of her own one day."I'm a girl who loves kids and wants to get married and have children," she said. "But one of my biggest things is not making promises I can't keep. I've had too many promises that have been broken. I'm just ready to move on.""The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter" premieres on Investigation Discovery and Max on January 6.