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I tested Google’s fancy image generator and quickly found its limits

Imagen 3 is Google’s AI image generator, which was announced back in May at the company’s I/O developer conference . It launched in a limited capacity in the US in August but became available to free Gemini users last month. I’ve been using it ever since to create all sorts of images, and while it’s an impressive tool overall, it does have several limitations that hinder the overall experience. Here’s where Imagen 3 struggles The first limit to be aware of is that you can’t generate images of people, at least with a free Gemini account. This doesn’t just apply to creating images of famous people, which not many image-generating tools allow for anyway, but people in general. So a prompt like, “create an image of two random people dancing” will not return any results. For reference, ChatGPT also has this limit in place for its free tier. You can create images of people if you upgrade to Gemini Advanced. However, you can create images of people — excluding famous ones — if you opt

DeskThing turns Spotify’s discontinued Car Thing into a PC controller and display

DeskThing is a free and open source application that breathes new life into Spotify's discontinued Car Thing accessory by transforming it from a Spotify controller for cars into a desktop device that controls a wide variety of applications running on your PC. It's one of a number of tools that have come out of the Car Thing hacking community in the wake of Spotify's announcement that it will end support for the accessory in December. A series of recent updates to DeskThing make it an even more useful desktop PC companion. Dammit Jeff (YouTube) In a nutshell, DeskThing consists of two parts: a desktop app that runs on your computer, and a Chromium-based website that loads up on your CarThing, allowing you to interact with PC apps using the little accessory. There's even an app store that allows you to install Weather, Discord, or even Spotify apps so that you can view data on the little display and use the included dials and on-screen buttons to control those ap

Veterans Day Apple Watch Activity Challenge Set for November 11

Apple is planning an Apple Watch Activity Challenge to honor Veterans Day, which takes place next Monday in the United States. Apple Watch owners are tasked with doing any workout for 11 minutes or more on November 11. Apple Watch owners who complete the challenge will win an Apple Watch activity a ward in the Fitness app. Earn this award on November 11 by doing any workout for 11 minutes or more. Record your time with the Workout app or any app that adds workouts to Health. Like all of Apple's Activity Challenges, the Veterans Day event will come with animated stickers that can be found in the Messages app. Apple's Veterans Day Activity Challenge is offered on an annual basis, and the company often includes other Veterans Day-themed content in the App Store, Apple TV app, Books app, and more. Apple News is providing Live Activities support for the 2024 U.S. presidential election, allowing iPhone and iPad users to

Best Motherboards 2024 for Gaming, by Socket and Chipset

The motherboard is in some ways like the backbone or nervous system of every PC build. Nearly everything in your PC either plugs into your motherboard or plugs into something that plugs into your motherboard. The motherboard's form factor (typically E-ATX, ATX, Micro ATX, or Mini-ITX) also dictates the size of the PC case you'll need to use. And, at least just as importantly, the socket and chipset determine which processors you can install in your CPU socket. Our picks below start with gaming motherboards for AMD Ryzen 9000, 7000, (socket AM5) and 5000 (socket AM4) CPUs. If you're after an older AMD AM4 board, you can check out our dedicated pages for the best X570 motherboards and best B550 motherboards for more specific tested recommendations and picks. Just note that stock of those boards is becoming harder to find, and we won't be updating those pages because companies aren't launching new boards for what is a legacy (though lingering) platform. Ryzen 9000 mo

Deal: Blink Outdoor 4 security camera drops to just $40 (or less)!

It’s said safety has no price, but I would personally prefer to pay as little as possible for my security cameras if I can. Some of these can get pricey, but we’re always on the lookout for the best deals around, and today, we have a really nice one on the Blink Outdoor 4. You can take it home for just $39.99, which is a whopping 60% discount on its $99.99 retail price. Additionally, the price per unit will get lower if you bundle more cameras into your purchase. Buy the Blink Outdoor 4 for just $39.99 or less This offer is available directly from Amazon, and it’s labeled as a “limited time deal.” As the intro mentions, the price per unit reduces as you bundle more cameras into your purchase. For example, you can get the “4 Camera System” for $132.99, which effectively brings the price of each unit to $33.25. The Blink Outdoor 4 security camera is simple and straightforward, making it very user-friendly. It’s easy to set up, and its design is small and very discrete. No wiring is r

Waveshare ESP32-P4-Nano is a tiny RISC-V dev board with Ethernet, WiFi, and Bluetooth

Disclosure: Some links on this page are monetized by the Skimlinks, Amazon, Rakuten Advertising, and eBay, affiliate programs, and Liliputing may earn a commission if you make a purchase after clicking on those links. All prices are subject to change, and this article only reflects the prices available at time of publication. The Waveshare ESP32-P4-Nano is a tiny, inexpensive, low-power development board powered by a dual-core RISC-V processor. Available now from Waveshare or AliExpress for around $19 and up, the little board packs a lot of connectivity into a compact design. Waveshare's board measures just 50 x 50mm (about 2″ x 2″) but it has a 10/100 Ethernet port, USB Type-C and Type-A ports, and support for WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5. At the heart of the device is an ESP32-P4 microcontroller that features a two 32-bit RISC-V CPU cores running at up to 400 MHz with a single low-power RISC-V MCU core that tops out at 40 MHz. It also features 32MB of PSRAM, 16MB of onboa

GM Again Attempts to Explain Its Decision to Drop CarPlay in New EVs

American automaker General Motors (GM) last year announced it would be phasing out support for CarPlay and Android Auto in its new electric vehicles, in favor of its own software platform called Ultifi. The decision has been very controversial, as many drivers consider CarPlay to be a must-have feature in a new vehicle. In 2022, for example, Apple said 79% of U.S. buyers would only consider a vehicle that works with CarPlay. To make matters worse, GM's rollout of Ultifi went rather poorly, with some early reviewers of the Chevrolet Blazer EV last year experiencing technical issues with the p latform. Some of those problems have since been resolved, but it is clear that the automaker might not be as effective at developing software as a tech company like Apple. In a statement shared with MacRumors last year, GM said its software strategy is "driven by the benefits of having a system that allows for greater integration with the larger GM ecosystem and vehicles." In

SMART Modular Technologies readies the T6EN series of hardware-level Self-Encryption SSDs with a conformal coating — SSDs made for aerospace, defense, and other industrial applications

California-based integrated memory and storage maker Smart Modular Technologies is introducing its T6EN SSDs for aerospace, defense, and industrial purposes. These drives use 3D TLC NAND and are advertised as high-speed, high-capacity, and high-security for U.2 up to 15TB and up to 8TB for E1.S and M.2 2280 interfaces. The 'ruggedness' claims are made because SMART uses a set of hardware and software implementations. SMART uses a thicker PCB and a higher margin for routing signals within the drive inside a durable enclosure. To add another level of deterrence against specific environments, the T6EN drives have a conformal coating that gives protection against moisture, thermal shock, static, vibration, and contamination, according to SMART's press release. Moreover, it cherry-picks components with the highest reliability during eight hours of burn-in testing with a variable temperature range. This is needed as this series of SSDs is intended to work under higher operat

Find My Gains Option to Share Lost Item Location With an 'Airline or Trusted Person' in iOS 18.2

Apple in iOS 18.2 beta 2 added a new feature to the Find My app, which is designed to allow you to share a lost item's location with a trusted person. Apple says that the feature is meant to help you locate an item through a third-party, like an airline employee. In the ‌Find My‌ app, there's now an option to "Share Item Location" and "Show Contact Info." Choosing the Share Item Location option creates a link that allows som eone to see the location of a lost item when they open the link. The link can be opened on a non-Apple device, so people without an iPhone or Mac can help you find something that's lost. ‌Find My‌ links that you share expire after a week and you can see how many people visited the link. Shared links stop working when an item is returned to you or when the link sharing date expires. Choosing Show Contact Info lets any phone or tablet connect to a lost item to open a website with more information about it, including the phone n

Asus launches triple-fan RX 6750 GRE Megalodon GPU – midrange RDNA 2 GPU still plentiful even in late 2024

Plenty of older RX 6000 series graphics chips need to be sold, as Asus has launched another variant of the RX 6750 GRE 10GB (via @momomo_us on X). Launched under Asus's Atlas Shark or Megalodon brand, this new model of an old GPU features three fans and a dual BIOS switch that can toggle the card from performance to quiet mode. These are, of course, standard features for a card launched in 2024. What's more interesting is that this is an RX 6750 GRE 10GB, which AMD launched just over a year ago. The 6750 GRE, which comes in 10GB and 12GB variants that differ in memory capacity and core count, frequency, and power, is a China-exclusive model that exists primarily to sell off the old stock of RX 6000 GPUs. These cards are based on the Navi 22 chip, also used in the RX 6700 XT, the RX 6650 XT, and the RX 6600. Asus launching a new model featuring the Navi 22 chip implies efforts to clear out old inventory haven't succeeded. That's even though the RX 6750 GRE 12GB beat

Bose QuietComfort Ultra deal: Save $100 on the best ANC headphones

I happen to live in Los Angeles, where noise pollution is no joke. When I asked our audio experts which were the best noise canceling headphones , all of them automatically named the Bose QuietComfort Ultra. Like all outstanding tech, though, these are quite pricey, and I don’t like paying full price for anything. If you’re in the same boat, here’s an excellent deal for you. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones are $100 off right now, bringing the total cost down to $329. Get the Bose QuietComfort Ultra for $329 This offer comes directly from Amazon, and it’s labeled as a “limited time offer.” The discounted price is available for all color versions except Sandstone. This means you can get maximum savings on the Black, White Smoke, Lunar Blue, and Diamond 60th Anniversary Edition models. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Quality and comfort noise canceling headphones Going ultra with their ANC headphone experience, the Bose QuietComfort Ult

Lilbits: Pixel 9a and Android 16 are coming in early 2025, ChatGPT is now a search engine, and Thunderbird comes to Android

Google is shifting its Android release schedule, with the next major update coming in the first half of 2025 rather than the second half. That means net-gen flagship phones from companies like Samsung are more likely to ship with an operating system that isn't nearly a year old. In other recent tech news from around the web, more details about the upcoming Google Pixel 9a have leaked, OpenAI is turning ChatGPT into a search engine (among other things), one of the only battle royale games available on the Steam Deck is… no longer available on the Steam Deck, and Mozilla has launched the first version of its Thunderbird email app for Android. Here's a roundup. Google Pixel 9a Complete Specs Leak [Android Headlines] According to the latest leak, the Pixel 9a will launch early next year with a 6.3 inch, 120 Hz display, a Google Tensor G4 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB or 256GB of storage. It's said to have a 5,000 mAh battery, 18W wired charging, 7.5W wireless, and a

iOS 18.2 Beta 2 Shows Siri ChatGPT Limit, Offers 'Plus' Upgrade Option

With the second beta of iOS 18.2 that's available for developers today, Apple has further fleshed out the ChatGPT integration that's available with Siri. In the Settings app, there's now a section that shows the ChatGPT daily limit, and offers an option to upgrade to the paid ChatGPT Plus plan. The beta includes an Advanced Capabilities section with a "Daily Limit" reading that shows up as "Under Limit" without a paid ChatGPT plan. Users have access to a small number of requests that use the most adva nced ChatGPT capabilities, and requests are downgraded to a basic version of ChatGPT after that. OpenAI has long restricted access to ChatGPT's most advanced feature set to a paid Plus plan, so accessing ChatGPT through ‌Siri‌ is subject to the same limitations. There is an option to upgrade to ChatGPT Plus, which is priced at $19.99 per month. ChatGPT Plus provides 5x more messages on the newest version of ChatGPT, GPT-4o. It also allows for

The 2024 Apple iPad Mini is nearly $100 off, less than two weeks after launch

We waited several years for a new Apple iPad Mini, but the 2024 model launched less than two weeks ago, on October 23rd. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait that long for the first deals to start showing up. Today, the Apple iPad Mini with an A17 Pro chip has hit a new record-low price of just $399.99. That is a really lovely $99.01 discount! Get the 2024 Apple iPad Mini for just $399.99 This deal is available from Amazon, and maximum savings are only reached after manually clipping a coupon on the purchase page . Another critical factor to keep in mind is that this offer is not available for the Space Gray model. The coupon only appears for the Blue, Purple, and Starlight models. This deal changes things up a bit. We usually recommend the 2021 Apple iPad Mini to most people because it’s still great, and the latest discounts have brought it down to $349.99. Now that the 2024 iPad Mini is only $399.99, though, the $50 upgrade is definitely much more enticing. The new Apple iPad Mini c