The Windows operating system has existed for over 40 years, and in that time, it's obviously evolved a lot, and it looks radically different from what debuted in 1983. But not every part of Windows can be abandoned or replaced when a new version releases, and sometimes, old code can be left lingering around for years or even decades.

Apple introduced the iPad Pro (2024) model with its new in-house M4 chipset earlier this week. The tablet succeeds the iPad Pro (2022) model which is powered by the M2 chips. The newly launched iPad Pro from the Cupertino-based tech giant is available in two display sizes and four storage options. The iPad Pro with an M4 chip has now been spotted on a benchmarking website and the scores suggest that it is considerably faster than the older iPad Pro model and some existing MacBook models. The iPad Pro (2024) with an M4 chipset and 16GB of RAM has been spotted on Geekbench. It is seen with a single-core score of 3,810 points and a multi-core score of 14,541 points. The 10-core M4 chip clocked at 4.4GHz is 25 percent faster than the preceding M3 processor, a MySmartPrice report notes.The report adds that the preceding iPad Pro (2022) model, which came with an M2 chipset, scored 2,444 and 9,256 points on single-core and multi-core tests, respectively. This suggests that the iPad Pro (2024) model powered by an M4 chip shows a 55.89 percent and 57.10 percent increase in single-core and multi-core tests, respectively, suggesting a significant performance boost of the new tablet over the older model.Another Geekbench test of the 16GB M4 iPad Pro (2024) model shows single and multi-core scores of 3,767 and 14,677 points, respectively. A Gizmochina report suggests that this is significantly improved over the scores of the 14-inch MacBook Pro model, which is powered by an 11-core M3 Pro chipset. The MacBook model can be found on Geekbench with scores of 3,023 and 12,641 points on single and multi-core tests, respectively. Notably, the iPad Pro (2024) starts in India at Rs. 99,900 for the base 11-inch, Wi-Fi only 256GB option. The tablet is also available in 512GB, 1TB and 2TB variants and 13-inch display size option. It is offered in Silver and Space Black colourways.Apple unveiled its first mixed reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro, at its annual developer conference, along with new Mac models and upcoming software updates. We discuss all the most important announcements made by the company at WWDC 2023 on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

OnePlus 12 and OnePlus Open are the top-of-the-line handsets from the Chinese smartphone maker. Now, users of these smartphones have claimed that their smartphones offered to install 'bloatware' apps. A user took to X (formerly Twitter) to claim that OnePlus is installing up to four additional third-party apps on the OnePlus 12 in India during the device setup process. These unwanted apps appear under the “From OnePlus” header in the “Review additional apps” screen during the setup. The issue has since been addressed by the company.X user Gauraang Arora spotted a new “Review additional apps” screen presented during the setup process on his OnePlus 12. This screen shows four Google Play apps pre-selected by default — LinkedIn, Policybazaar, Block Blast And Candy Crush Saga. These apps were located under a header that reads “From OnePlus”.Android Authority recently tested the setup process in three regions and found that four apps are pre-selected during setup on Indian variants of the OnePlus 12 running the latest Oxygen OS 14.0.0.610 build. The US reportedly offers one third-party app, while there are no pre-selected apps presented in the EU. Users can opt out of installing the listed apps, which are selected by default. However, there are chances that they might skip through the setup process pushing the bloatware on their handsets.Additionally, the publication found three more pre-installed Meta apps — Meta App Installer, Meta App Manager, and Meta Services on the OnePlus Open. All these Meta apps were reportedly spotted on the OnePlus 8 series earlier and the brand had been criticised for this inclusion as they cannot be easily uninstalled from the handsets.OnePlus has reportedly addressed the issue saying it was in error. "The soft-preloads on OnePlus 12 was an error made during testing and has been rectified as of May 6. The OnePlus 12 does not come pre-loaded with any of these apps and will continue to remain light, fast and smooth" OnePlus told Android Authority.The company added that it keeps OxygenOS bloatware free, but the company admits that there were two pre-installed apps (Instagram and Agoda) on the OnePlus Nord CE 4. It also said the apps are as simple to remove or uninstall and the company is working closely with app developers to ensure better performance on OnePlus devices.Prominent tipster 1NormalUsername on X suggests that more bloatware will head to the OnePlus 12 in the latest OxygenOS version. Third-party apps like Fitbit, Bubble Pop, Facebook, Amazon, Amazon Music, Amazon Prime Video, Zomato, Agoda and Swiggy could either be pre-installed or will be shown as APK shortcuts..embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } 

From midsized and midrange stars to big, beefy monsters, these are the best technically portable gaming rigs you can get. Continue reading…

With all the hype surrounding the best graphics cards from Nvidia and AMD, you might think that a discrete or dedicated graphics card is a given for any PC. However, while most graphically demanding applications need a dedicated GPU for decent performance, there are many use cases where you can get by perfectly well without one.

OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite is likely to be unveiled soon — while the handset is yet to be announced by the Chinese smartphone maker, its purported details have surfaced online. A new OnePlus handset recently spotted on the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) website was tipped to be the purported Nord CE 4 Lite. Now a listing on a different certification site appears to confirm the moniker of the phone. It is expected to succeed the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite which was launched in April 2023. A listing on Singapore's IMDA regulatory website shows that a OnePlus model with the model number CPH2621 bears the OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite 5G name, according to a MySmartPrice report. The listing does not reveal any other details about the handset. However, a OnePlus phone with the same model number as on the IMDA listing was recently spotted on Geekbench.The Geekbench listing for the handset suggests that it will be powered by a Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chipset and 12GB of RAM. The legitimacy of these details seems doubtful, given the model number is now confirmed to be linked with the OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite model. The company recently launched the OnePlus Nord CE 4 with a Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC, and it is unlikely that a Lite model will launch with a more powerful processor.Previously a tipster claimed that the OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite would be priced in India under Rs. 20,000 and is likely to be a rebranded version of the yet-unreleased Oppo A3. The tipster added that the upcoming Nord model could be powered by a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 SoC, run on Android 14, and sport a 6.67-inch 120Hz full-HD+ AMOLED screen, a 50-megapixel dual rear camera unit and a 16-megapixel selfie camera. The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G launched in India at Rs. 19,999 for the base 8GB + 128GB configuration, while the 8GB + 256GB variant was priced at Rs. 21,999. It comes with an octa-core Snapdragon 695 chip, a 5,000mAh battery with 67W SuperVOOC charging support, a 6.72-inch 120Hz full-HD+ LCD screen, a 108-megapixel triple rear camera unit and a 16-megapixel front camera. OnePlus Nord 3 brings some serious upgrades over its predecessor, including some flagship-grade specifications. We discuss this and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

OpenAI has been teasing that it has some new technology cooking for quite a while, and GPT-5 has been long-teased with that. In a surprising twist, though, OpenAI is poised to announce a new AI-powered search product on Monday, Reuters has reported. This announcement is said to be scheduled a day before Google's I/O conference, maybe even as a calculated preemptive strike against the search behemoth's expected assortment of AI innovations.

That’s a skinny XPS. | Image: Windows Report Want a look at Dell’s new notebook lineup that’s apparently powered by Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon X Elite processors? Courtesy of Windows Report, these leaked images come ahead of Microsoft’s May 20th event where new Surfaces (and other laptops) are expected to sport the same chips.They unsurprisingly look like laptops — albeit with overall slimmer profiles.The most interesting model is Dell’s new XPS 13 9345, which seems to be a sleeker rebirth of the XPS 13 Plus from 2022. It’s got the same touchy touch-bar on the top row and comes with only two USB-C ports for I/O. Image: Windows Report Dell XPS 9345 Image: Windows Report Dell Inspiron 14 7441 Plus There’s also a leaked... Continue reading…

iQoo Neo 9s Pro series — comprising the iQoo Neo 9s Pro+ and Neo 9s Pro models — could be launched soon. While the Neo 9s series has been in a rumour mill for a while, recent reports revealed that there will be not one but two models turning the Neo 9s into a series, which is expected to arrive following the launch of the iQoo Neo 9 Pro (which was recently launched in India). The same report also sheds light on the purported iQoo Neo 9 Pro specifications, which may end up being one of the first phones to ship with a MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ chipset. Now, more details about the more expensive model — the iQoo Neo 9s Pro+ — have been revealed by a tipster on a Chinese microblogging website.The news comes from tipster Digital Chat Station via a Weibo post which has revealed several details about the upcoming smartphone. A previous report saw the same tipster reveal that the unreleased smartphone would launch with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. In his latest post, the tipster mentions that iQoo Neo 9s Pro+ will be sold as a mid-range device (or a premium device in India) and that it will be released at a later date this year. This also means that the two phones may not be launched at the same time.The source goes on to add that the iQoo Neo 9s Pro+ will be equipped with a 6.78-inch display with a 1.5K resolution (2800 x 1260 pixels) and a 144Hz refresh rate. The device will also feature 2160Hz pulse width modulation (PWM) and DC dimming as well.This device is said to feature a 50-megapixel primary camera and will be available in two variants. The first one is a 16GB + 512GB RAM and storage configuration, and the second is a 16GB + 1TB variant. The tipster also adds that the phone will be equipped with a separate graphics co-processor like with the iQoo 12 which has a special Q1 supercomputing chip working alongside Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip.The phone is expected to be priced very competitively according to the source, given that it will offer a top-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC at the higher end of the mid-range globally or at the lower end of the premium segment (if it comes to India).Earlier this year, iQoo launched its Neo 9 Pro smartphone in India, which offered a two-tone, vegan leather rear panel. The which currently retails at Rs. 34,999 has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, along with iQoo's Q1 co-processor. It has a 6.78-inch AMOLED panel and is equipped with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. The phone packs a 5,160mAh battery and offers 120W wired charging using a proprietary charger..embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }Is the iQoo Neo 7 Pro the best smartphone you can buy under Rs. 40,000 in India? We discuss the company's recently launched handset and what it has to offer on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Google Chrome could introduce new features powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to users that could help them perform certain tasks easily on the browser. One of these new features is likely to be related to performing visual lookups while browsing the web. New information that has recently surfaced online suggests that Chrome is likely to bring a version of Google's Circle to Search feature that arrived earlier this year with the Samsung Galaxy S24 series and is available on some Android smartphones.X (formerly Twitter) user @Leopeva64 shared in a series of posts that Google Chrome is testing a new Lens UI element which is an animation, similar to the Circle to Search feature on Android phones. As per to videos shared in a series of posts, with this feature, there will be a dedicated Google Lens button in the toolbar on Chrome.(1/3) The new Lens UI in Chrome now has an animation that is similar to what you see when you activate Android's "Circle to Search" (in case there was any doubt that this feature will be Chrome's version of "Circle to Search"):https://t.co/XQGSzmicpt pic.twitter.com/NSXoILdoRT— Leopeva64 (@Leopeva64) May 7, 2024When the new Google Lens button is selected, a search icon appears next to the cursor and users can drag and select the portion of the screen they want to look up. The results related to the image or text in the selected area appear in a tab on the right side of the screen. This is similar to the Google Lens feature existing in Chrome, but it is expected to be presented as an improved version, allowing users to conduct searches by selecting elements on the screen.Google is yet to officially confirm that such a feature is in development for the desktop version of its Chrome browser. However, Google Chrome Director of Engineering Adriana Porter Felt recently hinted that newer AI-backed features are likely to come to Chrome. Reading webpages, similar to summarisation tools that we see in Microsoft's Copilot and Samsung's Galaxy AI, could be a feature that Google Chrome's AI-integrated upcoming features could include alongside the aforementioned Search-related feature, that could arrive on a future version of Chrome.Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company's new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

The Riffgat offshore wind farm, around 15 kilometers north of the island of Borkum. | Photo: Getty Images Data centers and offshore wind farms could prove to be a perfect pair as AI grows increasingly energy-hungry. Many of the companies racing to roll out new generative AI tools have also made big commitments to rein in their greenhouse gas emissions. A rush of new AI data centers could throw those climate goals off — unless they find a clean source of energy.Conveniently, some of the quirks with AI data centers make them a good match for wind farms at sea. And the offshore wind industry, which has already cozied up with Big Tech, could certainly use a boost as it looks ahead to more uncertain economic waters.“Data centers and AI ... We are excited about that opportunity,” Mads Nipper, CEO of leading offshore wind developer Ørsted, said... Continue reading…

Microsoft places a lot of emphasis on Teams as its premier app for online communication and collaboration, both in personal and enterprise environments. However, it still updates Skype on a regular basis too, which is a bit confusing considering that the two services directly compete with each other in core areas. If you think that two competing services offered by the same company are too many, gear up to be reminded of a third one, as Microsoft has now updated its GroupMe messaging app, offering a Windows 11 flavor with Copilot integration too.