olly - stock.adobe.comNewsPC makers use CES to showcase AI PC effortsA range of AMD, Intel and ARM-powered PCs with neural processing units are aiming to boost office productivityByCliff Saran,Managing EditorPublished: 09 Jan 2025 15:36 The leading PC manufacturer used the Consumer Electronics Show to showcase their latest line-up of AI PCs powered by neural processing units (NPU). HP, Lenovo, Dell, Acer and Asus all demoed new AI PC offerings at the Las Vegas event.HP unveiled the Z2 Mini and ZBook Ultra, which the company claims enables users to engage in 3D design, render graphics-intensive projects simultaneously, and work locally with LLMs.The new HP hardware is powered by AMD Ryzen AI Max PRO processor. HP said the ZBook Ultra offers features up to 16 desktop-class CPU cores, discrete-like integrated graphics, and up to 128GB of innovative unified memory architecture, and the ability to assign up to 96GB RAM to the graphics processing unit (GPU).Lenovo used the event to demonstrate the enhanced user experience available on the Intel Core Ultra-powered Lenovo AI Now and Lenovo Aura Edition PCs.Lenovo AI Now on the companys flagship ThinkPad X9 offers what Lenovo calls an advanced on-device AI assistant to deliver real-time intelligence to users. Built on a local large language model (LLM) using Metas Llama 3.0, Lenovo AI Now stores and processes all user data locally, which Lenovo said safeguards user information while delivering powerful, real-time AI capabilities. Lenovo said it can be used to automate and simplify tasks such as document organisation and device management, supporting AI applications such as natural language queries across locally stored documents.The company said it will be expanding Lenovo AI Nows capabilities with the ability to search for information across PCs and supported tablet devices, and an intelligent search capability for retrieving relevant information from selected portions of images or documents.Dell has focused on simplifying AI development on PCs. Its new Dell Pro AI Studio offers an AI toolkit with validated tools, frameworks, templates and models, to help developers and IT administrators build and manage AI software independent of the underlying silicon. Dell claims this can reduce development and deployment time by as much as 75%, going from six months to as little as six weeks.Acers new Copilot+ lineup includes the Swift Go 16 AI and Swift Go 14 AI laptops and the Aspire C AI AIOs. These are powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series processors. The hardware uses the AMD XDNA 2 NPU architecture, which Acer said delivers up to 50 TOPS (tera operations per second) of AI performance and includes AMD Radeon 800M graphics. According to Acer, the new Swift Go AI laptops are able to run efficiently and reliably for all-day use with a battery life of up to 24.9 hours of video playback.It has also introduced the Intel Core-powered Aspire S AI and Revo Box AI devices.Beyond x86-based AI PCs, Asus unveiled its Snapdragon-powered Zenbook A14. This device uses the Snapdragon X Series Processors and offers up to 45W TDP performance along with a neural processing capability of 45 TOPS. Asus claims it offers up to 32 hours of battery life, which can be further extended or customised with MyASUS Battery Care Mode. The device includes 2 USB 4.0 ports, an audio jack, a type-A port and an HDMI port.Read more about AI PCsAMD, Intel and Nvidias latest moves in the AI PC chip race: Major chip makers used Computex 2024 to launch their aggressive AI chip strategies and stake a claim in the burgeoning AI PC market.A fifth of new PCs shipped in Q3 were AI-optimised: PC manufacturers are working hard to showcase the benefits of premium devices that use neural processing units to deliver on-device AI acceleration.In The Current Issue:What do the home secretarys policing reforms mean for the future of the Police Digital Service?What are the security risks of bring your own AI?Download Current IssueBeyond Textbooks: why businesses must invest in grassroots stem initiatives WITsendData Engineering - Astronomer: Can you trust your AI agent? CW Developer NetworkView All Blogs

At CES 2025, Dreame introduced its premium X50 Ultra, which aspires to go where no robot vac has gone before.

The Ultraloq Bolt Mission is a UWB and NFC-enabled smart lock that allows you to unlock it hands-free as you approach the door. And it's the official Best of CES winner in Privacy & Security.

ZDNET's key takeaways The Ozlo Sleepbuds, founded by three Bose engineers, just launched, and they are the most useful sleep earbuds I've tested so far The sound is perfect for masking environmental annoyances that keep you awake, and the fit is comfortable and secure. The sleep tracking feature hasn't hit the earbuds yet, and setup took a few tries and several glitches, but once these work in your ears, they get you to bed instantly. more buying choices I take my sleep as seriously as some athletes take their workout or diet routine. And while I can control everything from the steps I take ahead of bedtime, the pajamas I wear, or the sleep mask I put over my eyes to drown out light, one uncontrollable factor often keeps me awake: the sounds outside my Brooklyn apartment.My bedroom overlooks a busy - and often noisy - street. As I write this, motorcycle engines rev, and a firetruck's siren blares in the background. I've woken up from police sirens, honking cars, noisy pedestrians, and my neighbors who loudly celebrate with songs and festivities into the wee hours of the night.During the 2023 holiday season, the loud voices singing songs until 1 a.m. kept me awake and made it difficult to get to bed. But this year, I took the noisy opportunity to test out the Ozlo Sleepbuds, and, boy, am I glad I did. They helped me get to sleep in minutes.For that reason, ZDNET and the rest of the CNET Group awarded Nvidia Cosmos two official Best of CES awards for 2025. You cansee all 12 of the Best of CES winnersselected by the CNET Group (ZDNET, CNET, PCMag, Mashable, and Lifehacker) in partnership with the organization that runs CES. details View at Ozlo Sleep The Ozlo Sleep earbuds are some of the most comfortable and effective sleep earbuds I've ever tested, and I can't recommend them enough to anybody who needs to quiet down their bedtime environment to catch a few more Z's, that is, if they're willing to pay the $300 price tag. Keep reading to learn why.Also: Want to get better sleep? Here's everything you needIf you've heard anything about Ozlo, it's probably because you were interested in the discontinued Bose Sleepbuds that the audio brand cut the cord on in 2020 after the buds "didn't reach the level of adoption" Bose hoped they would, despite their avid following, Bose spokesperson Joanne Berthiaume told The Verge. The Ozlo Sleepbuds are the Sleepbuds reincarnate, taking some of Bose's proprietary tech, like the StayHear Plus tips, and implementing them into a new product. The earbuds come in a hefty but sleek case, and you can customize your ear tip and ear wing size to suit your desired fit. Set up was where I confronted the most issues, and the connection fell through twice before I could link up with the app. Once I was connected, the app's introductory pages glitched and I found myself closing out the app to relaunch it several times. When my settings in the app were confirmed and the connection was established, I had no trouble using these buds.Thankfully, you don't need the app to get white noise out of the earbuds from the jump, and the first night I tested them, I used them easily without the app. But if you want customization, the Ozlo app provides ten different sleep sounds (or masking sounds) you can sort through. There's an earbud alarm you can use (though I have bad luck with these in-ear alarms, given how I wake up with my earbuds strewn across my bed), a sleep timer that shuts down the buds after a customizable amount of time to save battery, and an Auto-Play Sleep Sound feature that detects once you've fallen asleep and switches from the podcast or music you're playing to the masking sound you've selected.The Ozlo Sleepbuds hit the market with two key features that are unfortunately missing: sleep-tracking and environment-sensing capabilities. Eventually, Ozlo will roll out an over-the-air update to add these features. I will test them out once they are available and update my review with my thoughts, although it is disappointing that these key selling points aren't available at launch.These buds are made to last in your ears through a night's sleep. A pair of earbuds rarely last the night in my ears, given how regularly I move around in my sleep. When I wear sleep earbuds, it's to help me fall asleep amid a noisy backdrop of sound outside my window. Once I'm asleep, I can stay asleep and am not woken up by much. I only need them to stay in and fit well at the beginning of the night; I don't need them in for the entire night -- though I don't mind when they are.The ear wings on the Sleepbuds stabilize the fit for a long time, and when I wake up, normally, one earbud is still in my ear (there was one night over the past week of testing where both stayed in the entire night). The battery life lasted me about one and a half nights before it was due for a recharge. Nina Raemont/ZDNETEvery night I wore these buds, I'd sleep like a baby and fall asleep within minutes. I found myself first gravitating towards them on nights when my neighbors celebrated on the street outside my apartment. However, I eventually put them in my ears even when outside disturbances were negligible. They're simply that comfortable and effective. They succeed at masking noise around me and isolating me from the pesky engines and sirens outside.One area that I couldn't test was whether they mask snoring. From my experience using them alone in my bedroom to dim outside sounds, I'd say they do a good job of removing ambient distractions, but I can't confirm how effective they'd be at minimizing snores right next to you.Also: The best sleep headphones of 2024: Expert testedIf you don't shuffle in bed throughout the night, these will stick in your ears -- and they're quite comfortable for side sleepers. I didn't experience any pressure built up over time, and, in the mornings, I didn't feel any soreness or sensitivity.One of my favorite aspects of these buds is the sleep sounds paired with the Sleepbuds' audio strength, which is somehow loud enough to completely mask external sounds outside my bedroom window while also being quiet and neutral enough to send me to sleep. That's a difficult feat and one that I had trouble finding while testing competing sleep earbuds.ZDNET's buying adviceSo, who are these for? People who prioritize comfort in a sleep earbud, first and foremost, and are willing to pay $300 for it. These earbuds dissolved in my ears during sleep, and, as I shuffled from one side to the other, I found myself absolutely content with these buds in my ears. The Ozlo Sleepbuds masked noises properly and efficiently, dulling down the outside hubbub on one of the busiest weeks of the year in my neighborhood.So, yes, they work as a noise masker (they technically aren't noise canceling). Setup and connection can be a bit dodgy, but brand-new product launches inevitably come with bugs. The product itself is great once it's connected. I look forward to sleeping with these earbuds the next time my neighborhood is up all night singing and partying.Featured reviews

People sit on a London Underground tube train as it waits at a underground station on October 24, ... [+] 2023 in London, England. With an array of notable tourist attractions, London, the capital city of England, is one of the world's most visited cities attracting millions of visitors every year. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)Getty ImagesTransport for London (TfL) can exclusively reveal that 1.40 isn't enough to get Londoners out of their flats and into offices on a Friday.The transport authority for the British capital ran an intriguing experiment from the beginning of March to the end of May last year, dropping peak fare pricing for Fridays across London's Underground network, as well as the Overground and Elizabeth Line.The aim was to boost commuter figures, which are down since home working took off during pandemic lockdowns. According to TfL, ridership across the network remains at 90% of pre-pandemic levels such a decrease may not be entirely unwelcome for the commuters who remain, given overcrowding caused frequent delays.According to a report assessing the trial, Mondays in 2019 saw an average 1.18 million rail journeys during peak times versus 850,000 in 2023; Tuesdays through Thursdays saw 1.21 million in 2019 versus 990,000 in 2023; and Fridays fell from 1.1 million in 2019 to just 700,000.TfL fare discountsIn an attempt to persuade people back into central London on Fridays, TfL didn't charge pay-as-you-go users the extra fare for travelling at peak times, advertising the fact with a campaign it believed reached half of Londoners. On weekdays, TfL increases fares between 630am and 930am, and again between 4pm and 7pm, in an attempt to encourage people to travel at less busy times.MORE FOR YOUOn Fridays last spring, travellers didn't pay that peak travel charge. For anyone commuting from Zone 3 to the central district, that would result in their cards being charged 3 instead of 3.70 for a one-way trip.People pass through a ticket barrier at Tottenham Court Road underground station on November 18, ... [+] 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)Getty ImagesSavings would be more significant for those commuting from further out: Chesham residents, out in Zone 9, would have paid 4.80 rather than 7.90, for example while that's a nice chunk of money to keep in your pocket, it's hardly on par with the free public transport offered in some countries.Of course, there's more to fares than one-way journeys. Anyone travelling most days of the week is likely to get a weekly pass, meaning that the savings weren't of any use.Plus, the aim of encouraging people to go out in London in the evenings means anyone who travels to work at peak times but then hits the pub after with colleagues only really benefits one direction, as staying out past 7pm means they would have saved that cash regardless.And any small savings even the pounds saved for those travelling from out in Chesham are quickly obliterated by the rising costs of going out, with a Pret cappuccino rising to 4.05 now from 2.45 in 2019 and the average price of a pint in the UK topping 4.70 last year versus 3.67 in 2019 (and likely higher in London).The price of a coffee at Pret has leapt considerably in the last five years. (Photo by Robert ... [+] Alexander/Getty Images)Getty ImagesStaying home saves not only the full price of a commute but also the cost of going out with coworkers, though TfL also teamed up with local businesses to offer discounts under the "Let's do Fridays!" marketing slogan.Lower fares didn't cut itEither way, it seems Londonders weren't convinced, and the peak-fare discount had no impact."This trial has shown that a temporary discount to peak fares on a Friday does not result in a significant increase in travel, suggesting that there are factors other than price that influence our customers when deciding on which weekdays to travel," the report noted. "The relative affordability of our fares means the discount may not have been perceived as significant enough to warrant people changing their flexible working patterns."The report included a quote from Professor Nick Tyler, the Director of the Centre for Transport Studies at University College London."It is good that Transport for London took the initiative to test the idea of off-peak Fridays by doing it, rather than just asking people about it," he was quoted as saying. "The result is interesting because it suggests that the reduced numbers are about behaviour and lifestyle rather than money people realise they can work more flexibly and not travelling into the centre of London, for example, on a Friday is one element of that."Fixing London with TfL fare discountsWhy is TfL spending as much as 24 million on a trial to encourage Londoners to travel into town? TfL says its own research suggested businesses wanted them to do more to help out.But it's curious that there's no effort to encourage Londoners to simply go out closer to home on Friday evenings, a move that could help spread some of the revenue from central districts further across the city, perhaps helping pubs out in the suburbs though TfL said via email it is indeed looking at how to support suburban high streets and "the benefits of people staying local", pointing to the "Superloop" network of buses that link outer districts of the city.Of course, one motivation behind the trial could also perhaps be that TfL needs to keep collecting more fares, as the agency receives much less government funding than other metro networks.People are alighting from a London Underground train in London, England, on February 4, 2024. (Photo ... [+] by Alberto Pezzali/NurPhoto via Getty Images)NurPhoto via Getty ImagesA TfL spokesperson said: "Like many transport authorities across the world, we are always looking at ways to innovate and grow ridership on our services. The Off Peak Friday fares trial formed part of a wider approach to make fares and ticketing more flexible and innovative, and looked at whether reducing fares on Fridays would impact ridership and revenue, as well as Londons wider economy. While it was positively received by customers and supported by stakeholders including Londons hospitality industry, ultimately the trial showed that a temporary discount to peak fares on a Friday did not result in a significant increase in travel."Fridays is now the weekend?Instead of being dissuaded by the results, TfL should consider keeping the off-peak pricing anyway after all, Fridays are clearly not peak travel times anymore, hence the trial. Or TfL could simply declare Friday a weekend, as it may well one day become, if four-day work week campaigns prove successful.TfL said it was continuing to consult on the issue of fares, saying the trial has helped inform the agency's understanding of how fares impact ridership. "This will be supported by ongoing analysis of customer behaviour, as well as discussions with stakeholders and business groups," TfL said in a statement via email."We will continue to work with the Mayor to review our fares and ticketing system to ensure it continues to be world-leading and can meet the evolving needs of passengers," the statement added. "This includes working with stakeholder groups to ensure disadvantaged Londoners can benefit from our wide range of concessionary fares to make travel across the capital more affordable, as well as undertaking a study to better understand how cost affects the travel of people with protected characteristics, to inform our investment priorities."Anything to simplify fares is welcome even if it's not enough to drag Londoners back to the office on Fridays.

Choose your answer and the correct choice will be revealed. Correct Answer:ExciteHere's the story behind itIn 1997, Larry Page, one of Google's co-founders, wanted to sell the search engine to Excite for $1.6 million. The proposed deal included $600,000 in cash, $700,000 in stock, and $300,000 for Stanford University. This was during Google's earliest days when it was still called "BackRub" and both Page and Sergey Brin were PhD students. Despite the seemingly modest price tag, the deal obviously didn't happen, though the reason why varies depending on who you ask.In an interview years after the failed negotiations, then CEO of Excite George Bell said the company was comfortable with spending that amount of money on Google. However, they could not agree to one of Page's key conditions: the replacement of Excite's existing search technology with Google's algorithm. This demand created friction, as Bell and his team were reluctant to abandon their proprietary system entirely.While Bell denied certain claims, other accounts offer a different perspective. Some suggest that Excite turned down the acquisition because Google's search technology was "too good." This counterintuitive concern stemmed from fears that Google's highly accurate search results would reduce user engagement. If users found what they were looking for too quickly, they might spend less time browsing the site, leading to lower ad revenue a critical source of income for Excite.Ironically, this is exactly what is happening to Google in recent years (2020 2025). The quality of search results has declined, partly due to the company's focus on monetizing users and discouraging them from leaving Google's ecosystem after viewing search result pages. Additionally, the rise of generative AI and Google's struggle to effectively identify and filter out spam content have further contributed to this decline.In the late 1990s, Excite was a very recognizable brand of the early web. In 1997, it was ranked as the sixth most visited website and had already become a public company. However, its fortunes would soon fade as Google and other competitors rose to prominence.Today the website is merely a shadow of its former self. Excite was eventually acquired by Ask Jeeves (later known as Ask.com) and is now operated as a minor property by the media conglomerate IAC. Once a symbol of early internet success, Excite is now largely a relic of the past.

What just happened? Gaming chairs are great for those of us surgically attached to our desks, barely moving from the same spot for over ten hours each day. Sadly, the top models are usually very expensive. But Razer has announced a much cheaper version of its excellent Razer Iskur V2 at CES. The company also announced the "world's first heating and cooling" gaming chair. Priced at $649, Razer's Iskur V2 gaming chair is up there with some of the segment's best, including the Noblechairs Legend and the near-perfect Secretlab Titan Evo.Most people aren't too happy about paying high-end graphics card-like prices for a chair, even if it is a very good one. As such, Razer has unveiled the Razer Iskur V2 X, which at $299 is less than half the price of its sibling.Several of the more expensive chair's features can be found in the Razer Iskur V2 X, including its high-density foam, the 152-degree adjustable back angle, the 299-pound weight limit, and the overall look.Also read: FlexiSpot C7 Ergonomic Office Chair ReviewThere are reasons why the Razer Iskur V2 X is $350 is cheaper, of course. Instead of a lumbar support panel, it has a non-adjustable lumbar arch. The armrests are restricted to two movements height and swivel dropping the extra forward/backward and lateral movements of the Razer Iskur V2. It also comes with a multi-layered fabric material instead of EPU leather, the foam isn't moulded, it uses a butterfly mechanism, and you don't get an adjustable memory foam head cushion. It only comes in black, too. // Related StoriesIt's hard to know how the Razer's Iskur V2 X will stack up against other gaming chairs around the $300 mark. It shouldn't take long to find out, though: the chair is available to pre-order now.Razer also revealed what it calls the world's first gaming chair with an integrated heating and cooling system. Currently codenamed Project Arielle, the chair is based on its extremely well-reviewed Razer Fujin Pro mesh chair.Project Arielle features a built-in bladeless fan system that Razer says is both quiet and energy efficient. It offers three fan speed levels that can "reduce the perceived temperature by 2C to 5C in dry environments."For those in locations where you freeze to chairs instead of stick to them, Project Arielle also has a heating function that lets it blow air as warm as 30C / 86F.Project Arielle is one of the many concepts that we see at CES every year. Not all of these end up being turned into retail products, but there are plenty that prove popular enough to warrant their sale.

Wireshark is the world's foremost and widely-used network protocol analyzer. It lets you see what's happening on your network at a microscopic level and is the de facto (and often de jure) standard across many commercial and non-profit enterprises, government agencies, and educational institutions. Wireshark development thrives thanks to the volunteer contributions of networking experts around the globe and is the continuation of a project started by Gerald Combs in 1998.FeaturesDeep inspection of hundreds of protocols, with more being added all the timeLive capture and offline analysisStandard three-pane packet browserMulti-platform: Runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, Solaris, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and many othersCaptured network data can be browsed via a GUI, or via the TTY-mode TShark utilityThe most powerful display filters in the industryRich VoIP analysisRead/write many different capture file formats: tcpdump (libpcap), Pcap NG, Catapult DCT2000, Cisco Secure IDS iplog, Microsoft Network Monitor, Network General Sniffer (compressed and uncompressed), Sniffer Pro, and NetXray, Network Instruments Observer, NetScreen snoop, Novell LANalyzer, RADCOM WAN/LAN Analyzer, Shomiti/Finisar Surveyor, Tektronix K12xx, Visual Networks Visual UpTime, WildPackets EtherPeek/TokenPeek/AiroPeek, and many othersCapture files compressed with gzip can be decompressed on the flyLive data can be read from Ethernet, IEEE 802.11, PPP/HDLC, ATM, Bluetooth, USB, Token Ring, Frame Relay, FDDI, and others (depending on your platform)Decryption support for many protocols, including IPsec, ISAKMP, Kerberos, SNMPv3, SSL/TLS, WEP, and WPA/WPA2Coloring rules can be applied to the packet list for quick, intuitive analysisOutput can be exported to XML, PostScript, CSV, or plain textWhat's NewBug FixesThe following bugs have been fixed:Potential mis-match in GSM MAP dissector for uncertainty radius and its filter key. Issue 20247.Macro eNodeB ID and Extended Macro eNodeB ID not decoded by User Location Information. Issue 20276.The NFSv2 Dissector appears to be swapping Character Special File and Directory in mode decoding. Issue 20290.CMake discovers Strawberry Perl's zlib DLL when it shouldn't. Issue 20304.VOIP Calls call flow displaying hours. Issue 20311.Fuzz job issue: fuzz-2024-12-26-7898.pcap. Issue 20313.sFlow: Incorrect length passed to header sample dissector. Issue 20320.wsutil: Should link against -lm due to missing fabs() when built with -fno-builtin. Issue 20326.New and Updated FeaturesNew Protocol SupportThere are no new protocols in this release.Updated Protocol SupportARTNET, ASN.1 PER, BACapp, BBLog, BT BR/EDR RF, CQL, Diameter, DOF, ECMP, FiveCo RAP, FTDI FT, GSM COMMON, GTPv2, HCI_MON, HSRP, HTTP2, ICMPv6, IEEE 802.11, Kafka, LTE RRC, MBIM, MMS, Modbus/TCP, MPEG PES, NAS-EPS, NFS, NGAP, NR RRC, PLDM, PN-DCP, POP, ProtoBuf, PTP, RLC, RPC, RTCP, sFlow, SIP, SRT, TCP, UCP, USBCCID, Wi-SUN, and ZigBee ZCLNew and Updated Capture File SupportCLLog EMS ERFUpdated File Format Decoding SupportThere is no updated file format support in this release.Security EnhancementsThe Wireshark team continues to prioritize security, addressing vulnerabilities found in previous versions:Fixed a FiveCo RAP dissector infinite loop vulnerability (wnpa-sec-2024-14).Resolved an ECMP dissector crash issue (wnpa-sec-2024-15).Wireshark 4.4.3 builds upon the improvements introduced in version 4.4.0:Automatic Profile Switching: Users can now associate display filters with configuration profiles, allowing Wireshark to automatically switch profiles based on the opened capture file.Enhanced Display Filters: Improved support for value strings and the ability to implement display filter functions as plugins.Custom Columns and Output Fields: Users can define custom columns and output fields using any valid field expression, offering greater flexibility in data presentation.

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Great, heres the entitled journalist telling me that the $2,000 graphics card won CES 2025. Ive seen plenty of strong opinions about Nvidias CES announcements online, but even ignoring the bloated price of the new RTX 5090, Nvidia won this years show. And it kind of won by default. Between Intels barebones announcements and an overstuffed AMD presentation that ignoredwhat might be AMDs most important GPU launch ever, its not surprising that Team Green came out ahead.But thats despite the insane price of the RTX 5090, not because of it.Recommended VideosNvidia introduced a new range of graphics cards, and the impressive multi-frame generation of DLSS 4, but its announcements this year were much more significant than that. It all comes down to the ways that Nvidia is leveraging AI to make PC games better, and the fruits of that labor may not pay off immediately.Jacob Roach / Digital TrendsThere are the developer-facing tools like Neural Materials and Neural Texture Compression, both of which Nvidia briefly touched on during its CES 2025 keynote. For me, however, the standout is neural shaders. They certainly arent as exciting as a new graphics card, at least on the surface, but neural shaders have massive implications for the future of PC games. Even without the RTX 5090, that announcement alone is significant enough for Nvidia to steal this years show.Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming Neural shaders arent some buzzword, though Id forgive you for thinking that given the force-feeding of AI weve all experienced over the past couple of years. First, lets start with the shader. If you arent familiar, shaders are essentially the programs that run on your GPU. Decades ago, you had fixed-function shaders; they could only do one thing. In the early 2000s, Nvidia introduced programmable shaders that had far greater capabilities. Now, were starting with neural shaders.RelatedIn short, neural shaders allow developers to add small neural networks to shader code. Then, when youre playing a game, those neural networks can be deployed on the Tensor cores of your graphics card. It unlocks a boatload of computing horsepower that, up to this point, had fairly minimal applications in PC games. They were really just fired up for DLSS.Nvidia has uses for neural shaders that it has announced so far the aforementioned Neural Materials and Neural Texture Compression, and Neural Radiance Cache. Ill start with the last one because its the most interesting. The Neural Radiance Cache essentially allows AI to guess what an infinite number of light bounces in a scene would look like. Now, path tracing in real time can only handle so many light bounces. After a certain point, it becomes too demanding. Neural Radiance Cache not only unlocks more realistic lighting with far more bounces but also improves performance, according to Nvidia. Thats because it only requires one or two light bounces. The rest are inferred from the neural network.Similarly, Neural Materials compresses dense shader code that would normally be reserved for offline rendering, allowing what Nvidia calls film-quality assets to be rendered in real time. Neural Texture Compression applies AI to texture compression, which Nvidia says saves 7x the memory as traditional block-based compression without any loss in quality.NvidiaThats just three applications of neural networks being deployed in PC games, and there are already big implications for how well games can run and how good they can look. Its important to remember that this is the starting line, too AMD, Intel, and Nvidia all have AI hardware on their GPUs now, and I suspect there will be quite a lot of development on what kinds of neural networks can go into a shader in the future.Maybe there are cloth or physics simulations that are normally run on the CPU that can be run through a neural network on Tensor cores. Or maybe you can expand the complexity of meshes by inferring triangles that the GPU doesnt need to account for. There are the visible applications of AI, such as through non-playable characters, but neural shaders open up a world of invisible AI that makes rendering more efficient, and therefore, more powerful.Its easy to get lost in the sauce of CES. If you were to believe every executive keynote, you would walk away with literally thousands of ground-breaking innovations that barely manage to move a patch of dirt. Neural shaders dont fit into that category. There are already three very practical applications of neural shaders that Nvidia is introducing, and people much smarter than myself will likely dream up hundreds more.I should be clear, though that wont come right away. Were only seeing the very surface of what neural shaders could be capable of in the future, and even then, itll likely be multiple years and graphics card generations down the road before their impact is felt. But when looking at the landscape of announcements from AMD, Nvidia, and Intel, only one company introduced something that could really be worthy of that ground-breaking title, and thats Nvidia.Editors Recommendations

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsSpotifyApple MusicTidalQobuzAmazon MusicDeezerYouTube MusicWho could ever have imagined that, one day, all of our favorite music, artists, and albums would have entire discographies that you could access on your smartphone or tablet from pretty much anywhere in the world.Thats the beauty of music streaming services, and the modern age is jam-packed with these audio platforms. While some are better than others, the end goal for these streamers, whether it's Spotify or Tidal or Apple Music, is to beam your favorite tracks, podcasts, comedy specials, and other soundbites to your ears.But with so many to choose from, it can be difficult to find the diamond in the rough. Not to worry though, weve had the opportunity to test out all of the best music streaming services (we look at all the best free music download sites as well), and have compiled and consolidated our favorites into this roundup.SpotifyThe best for most peopleJump to detailsApple MusicPerfect for Apple users who want hi-res audioJump to detailsTidalAudiophile quality with wide device supportJump to detailsQobuzAudiophile quality for a little lessJump to detailsAmazon MusicExcellent value, hi-res audio, great for Prime customersJump to detailsDeezerSomewhere in the Goldilocks zoneJump to detailsYouTube MusicThe best of music and YouTube is all hereJump to detailsDerek Malcolm / Digital TrendsThe best for most peopleSpotifyProsExcellent UIBest-in-class discoveryMore than 100 million songsThe biggest podcast networkFun special featuresConsNo lossless or hi-res option ... yetGlitchy performance at timesSpecsPlans (monthly):Free / Basic: $11 / Individual: $12 / Duo: $17 / Student: $6 / Family: $20Library Size:More than 100 million tracksQuality:160kbps to 320kbpsWhen it comes to music streaming, Spotify is definitely one of the most recognizable brands on the planet. Launched in 2006, the platform is available across the globe, and is home to more than 100 million songs and growing. Spotify is also the world's biggest podcast platform. And late last year, Spotify also became the home to an immense trove of audiobooks too. Whether youre rocking an iPhone, a Google Pixel, a laptop, or you're in your car, theres a good chance that Spotify is going to be compatible with your hardware.Beyond the music archive, Spotify offers several different subscription options, including Basic, Individual, Family, and Student plans, as well as a free version with ads. Spotify Premium users also receive unlimited track skips, 320kbps audio quality, offline downloads for up to 10,000 songs across five devices, and up to 15 hours of audiobook access per month. And if you dont care about audiobooks, the Basic subscription is essentially a Spotify Premium plan, sans audiobooks. On the flip-side, if all you want are audiobooks, theres now even a $10 per month Audiobooks Access plan that gives you 15 hours of audiobook-listening and ad-supported music.Spotify is also great for sharing. Thanks to integrations with social platforms like Facebook and Instagram, your circle of pals will get to see what youve been jamming out to lately. Youll even have the option of sharing songs with others and even creating collaborative playlists you can all add to. Additionally, no one is quite as good as Spotify at always adding and experimenting with new and fun features, like its AI-driven DJ and, most recently, its beta AI Playlist that lets you type Chat GPT-style text prompts to get it to curate playlists for you.So, where does the service struggle? Track quality, for one. Unlike platforms like Tidal and Qobuz that place a big emphasis on hi-res audio, Spotifys tracks are capped at 320kbps, which only the most critical of audiophiles will notice. Spotify's long-awaited Hi-Fi tier may still see the light of day, though, so if it's not a deal breaker, you could just wait it out. But if you just want a music streamer that offers tons of genres, playlists, and fun social features, Spotify is going to be your best bet.SpotifyThe best for most peopleAndy Boxall / Digital TrendsPerfect for Apple users who want hi-res audioApple MusicProsMore than 100 million songsExcellent hi-res options and Dolby AtmosGreat interfaceCompetitive pricingConsNo free tierCant keep downloaded songs if you cancelNo plan for couplesSpecsPlans (monthly):Individual: $11 / Student: $6 / Family: $17Library Size:More than 100 million tracksQuality:256kbps AAC, 16-bit/44.1kHz, 24-bit/48kHz, 24-bit/192kHzSome folks will remember Apples original foray into digitized music from a little platform called iTunes that launched back in 2000. Paving the way for Apples streamlined interface and big music library, iTunes eventually evolved into Apple Music in 2015. A fierce competitor to rivals like Spotify and Tidal, Apple Music is simple to use, boasts a library of more than 100 million tracks, is available across multiple platforms, and even offers hi-res listening options.Apple Music also lets you test the waters before enrolling in one of its many subscription options. With a one-month free trial, youll have plenty of time to get a good lay of the land, at which point youll need to shell out for a monthly subscription, which runs $5 for students, $11 for an Individual plan, and $17 for the Family plan. And if you purchase a new pair of AirPods, Beats, or an Apple HomePod, Apple will give you six months of Apple Music on the house!Every tier gives you access to full playback controls, recommended music based on your listening habits, and some nice visual treats for your phone, tablet, and computer screens. Were talking immersive album artwork, line-by-line lyrics, and intuitive search tools that make finding songs and artists a breeze. And when iOS 18 finally rolls out, Apple Music will get a few UI tweaks and new features, including Music Haptics and the ability for multiple users to control SharePlay listening.As far as track quality is concerned, Apples audio far exceeds Spotifys 320kbps cap, with lossless ALAC tracks that can get as high as 24-bit/192kHz. Apple Music also uses the smaller AAC format with resolution up to 256kbps and offers many tracks and albums in Dolby Atmos, which Apple brands as Spatial Audio. And while youll be able to share tracks with friends and family, Apple Music doesnt offer the same social integrations as Spotify.If youre familiar with the design and UI of devices like the iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and Apple TV, youre going to feel right at home using Apple Music. Both desktop and mobile interfaces are clean, simple, and easy to navigate, with just about everything you could need right at your fingertips. Plus, there are all kinds of smart speakers (such as Sonos and Apple's HomePod) and smart displays that offer native Apple Music support.Apple MusicPerfect for Apple users who want hi-res audioRelatedDerek Malcolm / Digital TrendsAudiophile quality with wide device supportTidalProsMore than 110 million tracksSome of the best hi-res tracks in the gameIncludes offline listeningWorks with many different types of devicesAwesome playlist curationsConsWeak podcast libraryMusic discovery tools are not as good as othersUI could be improved and more streamlinedSpecsPlans (monthly):Individual: $11 / Family: $17 / Student: $5 / DJ Extension add-on: $9Library Size:More than 110 million tracksQuality:320kbps, 16-bit/44.1kHz, 24-bit/192kHzRegarding top-notch music streaming quality, Tidal is one of the best names in the business, bar none.Renowned for its focus on excellent sound quality (along with its main rival, Qobuz), Tidal gives you access to an immense library of songs inCD quality 16-bit/44.1kHz up to 24-bit/192kHz in various formats, including FLAC, HiRes FLAC, and Dolby Atmos. Not all of Tidal's artists and albums are in hi-res, but there's a good chance that several artists you enjoy have at least some hi-res offerings in the archive. Up until summer 2024, subscribers also had access to Sony 360 Reality Audio and MQA tracks, but unfortunately Tidal nixed support for both formats.Diehard fans will also enjoy Tidal's dedication to additional content, including videos and real-time streams, creating a more immersive musical experience. We're also big fans of its artist-generated playlists.In terms of cross-platform compatibility, Tidal is also available on a range of popular devices, from iOS and Android hardware to smart speakers, smart displays, streaming devices, and even native AV support from audio brands like Sonos and Harman Kardon through Tidal Connect. But what sets Tidal apart is its user-friendly interface. While not as user friendly as Spotify, from apps to desktop versions, Tidals UI is designed to be clean, ultra-navigable, and tethered to your preferences, ensuring a comfortable and personalized experience.Beginning in April 2024, Tidal removed its expensive HiFi plans, while still keeping its high-quality library. The best part? Its new plans are cheaper and more in line with what Apple Music, Spotify, and others are charging. This means you can enjoy premium music streaming without breaking the bank. And for an extra $9 per month, you can now add a DJ Extension to an Individual Tidal subscription. This is a cool service for professional DJs who want to extract and re-mix audio stems from over 110 million Spotify tracks.If youre looking for supreme audio quality and talented curation, you should give Tidal a try. Plus, youll be hard-pressed to find many of these high-resolution tracks elsewhere.TidalAudiophile quality with wide device supportBryan M. Wolfe / Digital TrendsAudiophile quality for a little lessQobuzProsBig hi-res music libraryInspired editorial contentCan purchase songs and albums without a subscriptionFree trial for Studio planConsLacks social listening featuresNo podcastsSpecsPlans (monthly):Studio: from $11 / Sublime: from $180 per yearLibrary Size:More than 100 million tracksQuality:16-bit/44.1kHz, 24-bit/192kHzA close competitor to Tidal, Qobuz is another music streaming platform that goes all in on the hi-res catalog. It is home to over 100 million tracks in lossless CD quality, and more than 240,000 albums in hi-res audio. Qobuz streams audio using high-quality FLAC files ranging from 16-bit/44kHz to 24-bit/192kHz, translating to some seriously good sound. Whether you're listening through a pair of speakers or a pair of headphones, Qobuz tracks are going to sound about as good as they can get.Qobuz offers two subscription plans, namely Studio and Sublime. Each plan has three levels to choose from. The Studio plan provides offline listening and a visually appealing desktop and mobile interface enriched with additional content such as artist bios, reviews, feature op-eds, and how-to guides. The Solo Studio level costs $13 per month, Duo costs $18 per month, and the Family plan (for up to six accounts) costs $22 per month. You can get discounts on these plans by opting for a yearly payment.The Sublime subscription offers the same benefits as the Studio plan and up to 60% off many hi-res download purchases. However, you need to purchase a yearly subscription to get these benefits. The Solo Sublime plan costs $180/year, Duo costs $270/year, and the Family plan costs $350/year. Note that the Sublime subscription can only be purchased through a yearly payment, not monthly.Oh, and we can't forget this gem: You can pay to download Qobuz hi-res tracks and albums without a monthly subscription.On the downside, Qobuz does not have Dolby Atmos tracks like Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music, and there are no podcasts or video content.QobuzAudiophile quality for a little lessAmazonExcellent value, hi-res audio, great for Prime customersAmazon MusicProsHuge music libraryLots of hi-res tracks and albums90-day free trialDiscounted plans for Amazon Prime membersDiscount for owning an Echo deviceNow offers a student planConsComplicated subscription optionsAmazon Music only has shuffle modeSpecsPlans (monthly):With Prime: $10 / w/o Prime: $11 / Family: $17 / Single Device Owner: $6 / Student: $6Library Size:More than 100 million tracksQuality:320kbps, 16-bit/44.1kHz, 24-bit/192kHzAmazon Music is a unique streaming option, especially for those of us who are already paying for Amazon's $139 annual Prime membership (or $15 per month). Like many platforms we've covered up to this point, Amazon Music offers both CD quality and lossless audio formats, Dolby Atmos and 360 Reality Audio tracks, a large music library, and some awesome smart home integrations (especially for Alexa-powered devices). The "unique" descriptor is mainly aimed at Amazon Music's pricing, though, which is complex, to say the least.Are you an Amazon Prime member? Great! That means you'll be able to get the ad-free Amazon Music Unlimited (AMU) for $10 per month, as opposed to the non-Prime member subscription tier, which costs $11 per month. If you're interested in nabbing Amazon Music Unlimited and just so happen to own an Echo speaker, you can sign up for the Single Device Owner plan. It only costs $6 per month, but you'll only be able to use AMU on that one device. Oh, and there's also an AMU Family Plan for $17 per month ($169 per year) that covers up to six users.The pricing isn't impossible to understand, but figuring out which option makes the most sense for you and yours can be confusing. Plus, Amazon technically has two different music streaming options: Amazon Music Unlimited and Amazon Music Prime. The latter is built into your Amazon Prime membership and gives you access to Amazon's entire music library, but playback is limited to shuffle mode, and you won't be able to listen to any hi-res tracks either.Whether you're listening with Amazon Music Unlimited or Amazon Music Prime, Amazon Music looks great on mobile and desktop platforms. Unlimited subscribers also benefit from video content, offline downloads, and a fun scrolling lyrics feature.Amazon MusicExcellent value, hi-res audio, great for Prime customersSomewhere in the Goldilocks zoneDeezerProsRobust music libraryOffline downloadsIncludes video content and podcastsCD-level qualityCan upload your own MP3s on desktopDuo plan is now availableConsNo hi-resCant upload MP3s using mobile devicesSpecsPlans (monthly):Free / Premium: $12 / Family: $20 / Duo: $16 / Student: $6Library Size:More than 120 million tracksQuality:128kbps, 320kbps, 16-bit/44.1kHzDeezer lives in the Goldilocks zone of music streaming options. It offers a bigger library than competitors like Spotify and Apple Music and has CD-quality music, but it doesnt touch the top-shelf hi-res content youll find on platforms like Tidal and Qobuz. Price-wise, though, its weirdly more expensive than everyone except Tidal, but Tidal gives you hi-res. Its individual plan is $12 per month, and for that, you get access to unlimited listening, lyrics, video content, offline listening, and a few other features.Deezer is also one of the only streaming platforms that lets you upload your own tracks. While the quality is limited to MP3, and you wont be able to do any uploading with a mobile device, its nice to have the ability to spread your own library across multiple gadgets.Deezer used to have a HiFi plan that was $15 per month, but now its 16-bit/44.1kHz FLAC tracks are built into its Premium and Family plans. As mentioned, this is lower quality than top-tier plans from the likes of Tidal and Qobuz, but it still packs quite a punch. Deezer free tier customers can only access MP3 files up to 128kbps, though. On a positive note, like Spotify, there's now a duo package available through Deezer for $16/month.As for Deezers UI across desktop and mobile platforms, both versions are geared toward easy navigation through playlists, genre labels, and similar search criteria. There are also several recommended categories and an excellent podcast library to check out.Deezer does a nice job at checking several of the most important boxes for what makes up a solid music streaming service. Hi-res devotees may want to look elsewhere, but we definitely think Deezer is worth trying out, so make the best of that 30-day free trial!DeezerSomewhere in the Goldilocks zoneDerek Malcolm / Digital TrendsThe best of music and YouTube is all hereYouTube MusicProsTerrific music librarySimple pricing modelIntuitive user interfaceCool community upload featuresConsNo hi-res tracksNo editorial contentSpecsPlans (monthly):Free / Premium Individual: $11 / Family: $17 / Student: $5.50Library Size:More than 100 million tracksQuality:256kbpsLast but not least, we have YouTube Music. A rebranding and consolidation of multiple Google/YouTube paid services that came before it (including Google Play and YouTube Red), YouTube Music is your one-stop-shop for everything ... music-related. Subscribers will have access to over 100 million tracks, podcasts, an intuitive lyrics tool, excellent playlists, and much more. Right off the bat, though, we'd like to let our hi-res fans know that YouTube Music caps its track quality at 256kbps.That doesn't mean you should look away, though. In fact, we think YouTube Music has a lot going for it when it comes to overall desktop and mobile interfaces. Navigating from one panel to the next is fast and easy, with most of what you'll want to be listening to housed under the "Home" and "Library" tabs. The former is a hub for recommended content based on your listening habits, while the latter is the storage site for all your personal playlists, favorited songs and albums, and other user-specific features.It's also a thrill to watch YouTube Music sync up to your local time of day and weather conditions. These factors affect the type of music that the platform will recommend.Regarding pricing, there's only one paid subscription plan: YouTube Music Premium. This paid tier removes ads for desktop and mobile listening, grants you offline downloads, and gives you a sweet feature called Smart Downloads. When enabled, this lets YouTube Music automatically download your favorite songs, artists, and albums for offline listening and even adds in recommended tracks and albums.And, of course, YouTube Music is packed with video content. When you search for a song or artist, you will get officially licensed media and see video results for YouTubers covering the song, lyric videos, and more.YouTube MusicThe best of music and YouTube is all hereEditors RecommendationsTopics Michael BizzacoAV ContributorMichael Bizzaco has been selling, installing, and talking about TVs, soundbars, streaming devices, and all things smart home for the better part of 15 years. He even knows a thing or two about how to fix this stuff when it starts misbehaving (because no tech is perfect!).Mike has been writing for Digital Trends and several other publications since 2020. Fortunately, hes still able to write after he got his index finger stuck in a vending machine at the Ramada Inn the summer before fourth grade! From hands-on reviews to best-of roundups, Mike does his best to share his expertise in a friendly and informative way with all readers, and loves staying on top of the latest AV and smart home trends.When hes not thanking his father for dislodging his finger from that vile vending machine in New Jersey, Mike enjoys playing guitar, reading, and indulging in horror films with his girlfriend. Derek MalcolmContributing Editor, A/VDerek Malcolm is a contributing editor and evergreen lead for the A/V and Home Theater section of Digital Trends. Derek joined the DT team in 2020, spending his days wrangling the movie and TV streaming guides before getting the chance to nurture his obsession with the latest audio/video gear. A former musician and practicing vinyl nerd, his passion for sound can be found in his writing, whether its a guide to the best speakersand turntables, or a review of a party speaker thatll blow your roof off.Derek studied journalism at Torontos Humber College, graduating in 1999. He started his career writing about music, movies, and TV, back when people still read things on paper, working at such magazines as TV Guide and celebrity mag Hello! Canada. Derek counts Matt Damon, Britney Spears, and Coldplay among his favorite interviews.From 2006 to 2018 Derek was the editor-in-chief of Canadian tech and entertainment magazine Connected, where he steered the publication through the invention of the iPhone and the rise of streaming to the demise of BlackBerry and the print industry.One of two Canucks on the Digital Trends A/V team, Derek is based in Toronto where he lives with his wife, daughter, two cats, and his prized vintage Marantz stereo receivers.When Derek isnt cussing at the labyrinthine setup menus of the latest projectors, he can be found at home listening to records or counting the days to ski season.You can find Derek on Threads and sharing his vinyl exploits on Instagram. Since Apple added spatial audio to the Apple Music streaming service and the AirPods family of wireless earbuds and headphones in 2021, it feels like you cant read about new audio products or services without running into that term. And just a few short years later, its seemingly everywhere.This has led to a lot of misconceptions about what spatial audio is, how it works, and why you need to hear it for yourself. People often ask, If Apple created spatial audio, why are other companies claiming they do it, too? The answer is that Apple didnt create it, and you certainly dont need to own its products to experience spatial audio. Read more If youre a huge music fan, youve probably combed through the many playlists, artists, and albums of your Spotify or Apple Music subscription. But what about all the indie artists of the world? Some music-streaming platforms are better than others at celebrating theunsung gem acts, but one of the most reliable forums for new, off-the-grid tunes is SoundCloud.Founded in 2007, SoundCloud has always prioritized music thats a bit under the radar. With over 320 million tracks in its library, the platform will even let you download a majority of its songs and albums. Read more Kid-friendly consumer tech is all the rage these days, so its no surprise that theres an entire market of headphones designed exclusively for young ones. But when we think kid-friendly, sometimes we imagine products that are built to be a bit more throwaway than their adult counterparts. Thats not the case with the products on our list of the best headphones for kids, though.We want our child-tailored headphones to include parental-controlled volume limiters, to ensure our children arent harming their eardrums. Pretty much every entry on our list checks this vital box, but we also wanted to point you and yours toward products that offer exceptional noise-canceling, built-in mics for phone and video calls, and long-lasting batteries for schooldays or a long flight. Read more