The Yale Assure Lock 2 Is Now $50 Off at Best Buy - CNET

This smart lock can help protect your home, office or business, and now you can save a little money, too, thanks to this deal at Best Buy.

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We Tested the Saatva Classic Mattress (and Our Marriage) for 30 Nights - CNET

My husband and I have very different sleep preferences. Will we succeed in our hunt for the perfect mattress?

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Latest Tech News

A couple of months ago, the YouTube TV app on iOS gained Multiview, a feature giving subscribers a way to watch up to four different sports games at once. A company spokesperson at the time told us Android users wouldn’t get the update until later this summer. Well, it seems the platform sped up development because Multiview on YouTube TV for Android devices has recently been spotted rolling out.

All you need to do to receive the feature is run the latest version of the app on your smartphone or tablet. After installing the patch, scroll down while on the Home tab until you see the section “Watch in Multiview”. Then select a group you want to watch. Audio will initially play from the livestream in the upper left corner. You can change the audio source by tapping another stream twice. The first time brings up the Play/Pause button in the middle, and the second makes the switch. 

(Image credit: Future)

You’ll know you’ve done it correctly if the live stream has a white highlighted border around it. It’s important to mention that double tapping a source while the Play/Pause button is showing lets you expand it to full screen. Similarly, you can hit the Go To option while in a portrait view to jump to a specific game or show.

You can’t create your own Multiview setup. Users have to pick one of four pre-selected livestreams provided by the platform. The customization tool remains exclusive to the smart TVs. 

Not just sports

According to 9To5Google, the update “can work on any device” and doesn’t require powerful hardware to run. All of the heavy lifting is done by YouTube. The publication states that Multiview is, “for the most part, limited to sports content”. However, in our experience, this wasn’t the case. We were able to watch four different news sources at once including Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and BBC News. Alongside those were two economic programs as well as a pair of weather channels. To see the others, scroll the content carousel to the left.

(Image credit: Future)

There is a chance you may not see Multiview at first. A Google representative told TheVerge the patch is in the process of rolling out to Android owners and will continue to do so over the coming weeks. Be sure to keep an eye out for the update once it arrives. If you still don’t see it, try closing YouTube TV and then opening it up again. We did that when we didn’t see the new section.

In addition to this upgrade, a handful of users have reported seeing the 1080p Enhanced option reappearing on their Apple TV. This setting lets people enjoy content in 1080p resolution at a high bitrate enabling a better quality stream. The validity of said feature is shaky since YouTube has yet to make an official announcement. So, we reached out for clarification.

While we have you, check out TechRadar's list of the best Android phones for 2024.

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Best Dog Food Delivery Services for 2024 - CNET

Upgrade your dog's diet from stale kibble to healthy, human-grade chow with these excellent online pet food services.

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Latest Tech News

A prominent hardware leaker has uncovered new patch notes revealing that the now-allegedly canceled AMD Navi 4X / 4C graphics cards would have been significantly more powerful than the current AMD flagship RX 7900 XTX. 

Uncovered by Kepler_L2 (via Tweaktown), new patch notes for AMD GFX12 supposedly showcase Navi 4X die models, the newer equivalent of the Radeon RX 7900 XTX, which would feature up to 50% more shader engines, however, it's not looking likely that anything from RDNA 4 will be as quick as has been touted here.

Specifically, the patch notes reveal that Navi 4X / 4C die GPUs would have featured nine shading engines which is a significant upgrade over the six available from Navi 31 for a significant boost. RNDA 4 appears to be targeting the value crowd, so while the tech could have technically rivaled leading models from Intel, it's likely the top-end was cut due to wanting to keep the prices competitive. 

It calls back to an earlier leak at the end of last year as the supposed RX 8900 XTX design had reportedly leaked. Documentation from Moore's Law is Dead showcased the Navi 4C config overview with an alleged patent for complex GPU architecture revealing up to 12 dies in parallel without a central or master die. 

According to Videocardz, AMD decided to cancel the highest-end RDNA 4 GPU but no reason was offered. To speculate, this could have all come down to pricing. We've seen Nvidia's mid-range and top-end cards explode in MSRP in the generational gap between Ampere and Ada, so it's possible that Team Red wanted to avoid this from happening. 

Cost is king in the new GPU market

While we're champions of bleeding-edge hardware, it's important to remember that the top-end will always be a luxury few can afford. There's no question that the RTX 4090 is the best graphics card from a raw technical perspective, but it outprices the RX 7900 XTX by nearly $600 at MSRP. 

For AMD to compete at the top-end, as it sounds like the 4C GPU could have, we would likely have seen prices creeping up past the $1,000 mark, which its RX 7900 XTX avoided. Until the release of the RTX 4080 Super, AMD had cornered the mid-range market with its line of 1440p and 4K graphics cards for gamers, and losing that edge to compete on a power front likely would have done more harm than good. 

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Italian hi-fi maker Volumio has just launched a new audio device called the Motivo Streamer, Transport & Headphone Amplifier, which is best described as a high-res music streamer and iPad rolled into one compact and stylish package. 

To control the device, Volumio has combined a sleek-looking 8-inch touchscreen with a retro-styled haptic control dial to make the whole entertainment experience feel more immersive. It boasts a range of software and hardware connectivity options, which means you can use it with any of the best music streaming services. It’ll also play nicely with your current home entertainment set up and a pair of the best noise-cancelling headphones, thanks to wide connectivity options.

Under the hood, you’ll find a Sabre ES9038 DAC (that’s a digital to analogue converter), which supports all of the best-quality high-resolution music files. It also boasts dual-output analogue XLR balanced and RCA unbalanced outputs.

With Volumio’s Premium software, which is included as part of the device, you’ll be able to access any of your favorite streaming services, including Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz and more. In short, the Volumio Motivo is built for audiophiles and with wireless streaming compatibility to the best Sonos speakers and Google Cast speakers, it can fit seamlessly into wired or wireless setups.

(Image credit: Volumio)

Slick styling and Smart suggestions

We’ve covered Volumio’s products before, and we always fall for its blend of state-of-the-art audio that’s housed in modern designs with artisanal touches. But new technology from Volumio makes its latest products even more appealing because they bring AI smarts to your listening experience.

We first covered the company's ChatGPT-powered Supersearch tool in 2023 when it was added into the Volumio Integro super-compact all-in-one hi-fi box. But Supersearch will also be available in the Volumio Motivo, too. What makes it interesting is that it claims to bring you smarter recommendations via ChatGPT, and then play them from your streaming service of choice. 

When we first wrote about Supersearch we did say that, of course, you can just use the ChatGPT app and ask it for music recommendations, but this experience is much slicker and more straightforward. The Motivo also comes with Volumio’s 'Infinity Playback' tool, which continues to bring you music you’ll like once you reach the end of the recommendations. Sure this all sounds similar to the experience you’ll already get from the likes of Spotify and Tidal, but again, having all of these features built directly into one product makes it infinitely easier. 

We don’t have pricing or availability details about the Volumio Motivo just yet, but it’s not going to be cheap. The Volumio Integro launched for around $1,400 / £1,025 / AU$2,499 and although it’s a different sort of device, it should give you a rough idea about what to expect.

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Best Vitamins for Energy in 2024 - CNET

If you're in need of a boost of energy, these essential B vitamins could help you find what you're looking for.

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Latest Tech News

HighPoint has unveiled the industry’s first 8-Channel PCIe Gen5 x16 NVMe Switch and NVMe RAID product lines. 

Powered by Broadcom’s PEX89048 IC, these are designed to cater to high-demand, data-intensive applications and integrate Broadcom’s Gen5 PCIe switching technology to utilize x16 lanes of Gen5 host bandwidth, direct from the CPU, across Intel and AMD platforms.

HighPoint says this unique architecture enables each AIC/Adapter to maximize transfer performance for up to 8 independent device channels, and support as many as 32 NVMe devices via backplane connectivity.

Synthetic Hierarchy

The Rocket 1600 series NVMe Switch uses native inbox drivers, meaning that a 2PB solution is possible using Solidigm 61.44TB SSDs, providing they already work with the system in question. 

HighPoint's PCIe Gen5 NVMe AICs high-performance switching architecture integrates Broadcom’s 48-Channel PEX89048 switch IC to provide x16 lanes of dedicated PCIe Gen5 upstream bandwidth, ensuring x4 lanes of downstream bandwidth are available for each NVMe device channel. HighPoint says “The innovative hardware architecture enables our Gen5 NVMe product series to deliver up to 64GB/s of transfer bandwidth, minimize latency, facilitate consistent, robust I/O throughput.”

The PCIe Gen5 and Gen4 Switching Architecture employs a technique known as a “Synthetic Hierarchy” to isolate the host system’s operating system from any PCIe physical changes. It enables the AIC/Adapter to directly manage resource allocation to the downstream PCIe channels and provide true hot-swap /hot-plug capability.

The NVMe Switch Series consists of the Rocket 1628A, which is a PCIe Gen5 x16 to 4-MCIOx8 NVMe switch adapter, the Rocket 1608A, a PCIe Gen5 x16 to 8-M.2x4 NVMe switch AIC, and the Rocket 1528D, a PCIe Gen4 x16 to 4-SlimSASx8 NVMe switch adapter.

HighPoint’s RocketRAID 7600 PCIe Gen5 NVMe RAID AICs and Adapters are built on the foundation of the Rocket 1600 Switch series, and provide RAID capabilities using HighPoint’s drivers, which are compatible with qualified NVMe drives from the company’s ecosystem partners. The Rocket 7600 Series AICs/Adapters can directly support up to eight M.2 or U.2/U.3/E3.S NVMe SSDs.

The NVMe RAID Series includes the Rocket 7628A, a PCIe Gen5 x16 to 4-MCIOx8 NVMe RAID adapter, the Rocket 7608A which is a PCIe Gen5 x16 to 8-M.2x4 NVMe RAID AIC, and the Rocket 7528D, a PCIe Gen4 x16 to 4-SlimSASx8 NVMe RAID adapter.

HighPoint says its PCIe Gen5 NVMe AICs will begin shipping globally in Q3 2024.

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Best Samsung Galaxy S24, S24 Plus and S24 Ultra Cases for 2024 - CNET

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It's a pretty good bet that the Google Pixel 8a is going to break cover at Google I/O 2024 on May 14, and as the day approaches, we've seen a pile of new leaks turn up that give us a better idea of what we can expect from this mid-ranger.

First up is well-known tipster Evan Blass, who has posted an extensive set of pictures of the Pixel 8a. You can see the phone from the front and the back, and at an angle, and in its  four rumored colors: Obsidian (black), Porcelain (white-ish), Bay (blue), and Mint (green).

P8a pic.twitter.com/tqn9FvDGlwApril 25, 2024

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These designs have previously been leaked, so there's not a whole lot that's new here, but it's more evidence that this is indeed what the Pixel 8a is going to look like. The images are sharp and clear too, giving us a good look at the design.

It appears this phone will look a lot like the Pixel 8 and the Pixel 7a, with the recognizable camera bar around the back. It does seem as though this year's mid-range Pixel is going to sport a more curved frame than its immediate predecessors, however.

Promo materials

To no one's surprise, the Pixel 8a will feature AI (Image credit: @OnLeaks / MySmartPrice)

Onward to the next leak, and MySmartPrice has managed to get hold of a promotional video for the Pixel 8a. It was briefly available to view on YouTube before being pulled – and as YouTube is owned by Google, we're assuming someone higher up had a word.

If you want to see some stills taken from the video before it disappeared, you can find some over at Phandroid. There's actually not too much that's new in this video, besides seeing the Pixel 8a itself – a lot of the AI features the clip shows off, like instant photo edits and live text translations, are already available in newer Pixel phones.

Our final leak for now is over at Android Headlines, where there are some promotional images showing off some of the capabilities of the Pixel 8a: capabilities including tools like Circle to Search. The images suggest all-day battery life, the Tensor G3 chipset, IP67 protection, and seven years of security updates.

The same source says the on-sale date for the Google Pixel 8a is going to be May 16, and there are some pictures of the official silicone cases that'll come along with it. Expect to hear all the details about this upcoming phone on May 14.

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Generative AI Muddies the Election 2024 Outlook, and Voters Are Worried - CNET

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A new interview with the director behind the viral Sora clip Air Head has revealed that AI played a smaller part in its production than was originally claimed. 

Revealed by Patrick Cederberg (who did the post-production for the viral video) in an interview with Fxguide, it has now been confirmed that OpenAI's text-to-video program was far from the only force involved in its production. The 1-minute and 21-second clip was made with a combination of traditional filmmaking techniques and post-production editing to achieve the look of the final picture.

Air Head was made by ShyKids and tells the short story of a man with a literal balloon for a head. While there's human voiceover utilized, from the way OpenAI was pushing the clip on social channels such as YouTube, it certainly left the impression that the visuals were was purely powered by AI, but that's not entirely true. 

As revealed in the behind-the-scenes clip, a ton of work was done by ShyKids who took the raw output from Sora and helped to clean it up into the finished product. This included manually rotoscoping the backgrounds, removing the faces that would occasionally appear on the balloons, and color correcting. 

Then there's the fact that Sora takes a ton of time to actually get things right. Cederberg explains that there were "hundreds of generations at 10 to 20 seconds a piece" which were then tightly edited in what the team described as a "300:1" ratio of what was generated versus what was primed for further touch-ups. 

Such manual work also included editing out the head which would appear and reappear, and even changing the color of the balloon itself which would appear red instead of yellow. While Sora was used to generate the initial imagery with good results, there was clearly a lot more happening behind the scenes to make the finished product look as good as it does, so we're still a long way out from instantly-generated movie-quality productions. 

Sora remains tightly under wraps save for a handful of carefully curated projects that have been allowed to surface, with Air Head among the most popular. The clip has over 120,000 views at the time of writing, with OpenAI touting as "experimentation" with the program, downplaying the obvious work that went into the final product. 

Sora is impressive but we're not convinced

While OpenAI has done a decent job of showcasing what its text-to-video service can do through the large language model, the lack of transparency is worrying. 

Air Head is an impressive clip by a talented team, but it was subject to a ton of editing to get the final product to where it is in the short. 

It's not quite the one-click-and you-'re-done approach that many of the tech's boosters have represented it as. It turns out that it is merely a tool which could be used to enhance imagery instead of create from scratch, which is something that is already common enough in video production, making Sora seem less revolutionary than it first appeared.

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Latest Tech News

Five years after LPDDR5 was first introduced, and a matter of months before JEDEC finalizes the LPDDR6 standard, Samsung has announced a new, faster version of its LPDDR5X DRAM.

When the South Korean tech giant debuted LPDDR5X back in October 2022, its natural successor to LPDDR5 ran at a nippy 8.5Gbps. This new chip runs at 10.7Gbps, over 11% faster than the 9.6Gbps LPDDR5T variant offered by its archrival, SK Hynix.

Samsung is building its new chips on a 12nm class process, which means the new DRAM isn’t only faster, but much smaller too – the smallest chip size for any LPDDR, in fact - making it ideal for use in on-device AI applications.

Improved power efficiency

“As demand for low-power, high-performance memory increases, LPDDR DRAM is expected to expand its applications from mainly mobile to other areas that traditionally require higher performance and reliability such as PCs, accelerators, servers and automobiles,” said YongCheol Bae, Executive Vice President of Memory Product Planning of the Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will continue to innovate and deliver optimized products for the upcoming on-device AI era through close collaboration with customers.”

Samsung's 10.7Gbps LPDDR5X boosts performance by over 25% and increases capacity by upward of 30%, compared to LPDDR5. Samsung says it also elevates the single package capacity of mobile DRAM to 32GB.

LPDDR5X offers several power-saving technologies, which bolster power efficiency by 25% and allow the chip to enter low-power mode for extended periods.

Samsung intends to begin mass production of the 10.7Gbps LPDDR5X DRAM in the second half of this year upon successful verification with mobile application processor (AP) and mobile device providers.

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