TSMC is the world’s biggest chipmaker and its products are found in everything from phones to game consoles and computers. But devices using TSMC chips could become more expensive if manufacturers opt to buy ones that the company makes outside of its home base of Taiwan. “If a customer requests to be in a certain geographical area, the customer needs to share the incremental cost,” TSMC CEO CC Wei said on an earnings call. “In today’s fragmented globalization environment, cost will be higher for everyone, including TSMC, our customers and our competitors.” Talks with customers over price incre ..read more

There’s a new invite-only app going semi-viral among VCs, tech execs and other Silicon Valley personalities. It’s called Airchat and it’s trying to revive the concept of an audio-first social media app. The premise is similar to Clubhouse, the audio app that had a viral moment at the height of the pandemic in 2021 and inspired copycat features in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Reddit before gradually fading into obscurity. But unlike the original version of Clubhouse, Airchat isn’t built around live audio streams that require users to all tune it at once. It’s more like Twitter or Threads, ex ..read more

As learning language models (LLMs) continue to advance, so do questions about how they can benefit society in areas such as the medical field. A recent study from the University of Cambridge's School of Clinical Medicine found that OpenAI's GPT-4 performed nearly as well in an ophthalmology assessment as experts in the field, the Financial Times first reported. In the study, published in PLOS Digital Health, researchers tested the LLM, its predecessor GPT-3.5, Google's PaLM 2 and Meta's LLaMA with 87 multiple choice questions. Five expert ophthalmologists, three trainee ophthalmologists and tw ..read more

There are a frankly ridiculous number of Chromebooks on sale to choose from, but Google's Chromebook Plus initiative that launched last fall has gone a long way towards standardizing some key specs for ChromeOS devices. That in turn has made it a little easier to pick ones that'll provide a consistent quality experience without breaking the bank. Acer's latest Chromebook Plus 514, which the company just announced today, is a good example — at first glance, it looks like it checks most of the boxes I'm looking for when recommending a basic Chromebook that'll work for most people.  To make ..read more

DJI is entering the portable power station market in the US and Europe with the launch of the Power 1000 and Power 500 aimed at home users or road warriors. The devices (released in China at the end of last year) can be used to power small appliances or charge devices like laptops or drones, and work in concert with solar panels to provide power on the road.  The Power 1000 (13kg or 29 pounds) has a 1,024 Wh capacity and can output up to 2,200W — enough to run a home microwave oven for about 1.3 hours and a car refrigerator for 19 hours, or charge a drone up to 12 times. The Power 500 (7 ..read more

The Samsung Galaxy A35 smartphone is officially available for US customers. We knew it was coming to the US, but we didn't know when. The phone starts at $400 and is available in two colors. It’s already been available in the UK since March. The Galaxy A35 is squarely a midrange device, so don’t go expecting flagship features. However, this is still a capable smartphone with plenty of bang for your buck. Samsung’s A-series devices tend to be among our favorite low-cost smartphones. This model boasts a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display with a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz, just like its cousin ..read more

A keyboard is one of the few pieces of technology you may use for hours every day. Why not make it something that brings you joy? Sure, the people who gush over these things can be intense, but the upgraded comfort, durability and customizability that comes with a good mechanical keyboard is a real thing. If you’re looking to make the switch (ahem), we tested a couple dozen mechanical keyboards over the past few months and rounded up our favorites below. We’ve also broken down what to look for when shopping for one. What to look for in a mechanical keyboard Layout The first thing to decide wit ..read more

Slack just rolled out its AI tools to all paying users, after releasing them to a select subset of customers earlier this year. The company’s been teasing these features since last year and, well, now they’re here. The AI auto-generates channel recaps to give people key highlights of stuff they missed while away from the keyboard or smartphone, for keeping track of important work stuff and office in-jokes. Slack says the algorithm that generates these recaps is smart enough to pull content from the various topics discussed in the channel. This means that you’ll get a paragraph on how plans are ..read more

Carl Pei's Nothing has revealed two new wireless earbuds at an event in Tokyo. It calls the Ear, the more expensive model of the two with prices starting at $149 and £129, a refinement of its older model the Ear (2). The Ear retains the brand's transparent design and looks very similar to the previous model. But it's powered by a new custom 11 mm dynamic driver and comes with a dual chamber design that allows it to deliver clearer sounds compared to its predecessor.  It also features a new smart active noise cancellation (ANC) algorithm that can check for noise leakage between the earbuds ..read more

The European Union doesn't think you should have to choose between giving Meta and other major players your data or your money. In a statement, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) stated that "consent or pay" models often don't "comply with the requirements for valid consent" when a person must choose between providing their data for behavioral advertising purposes or pay for privacy. The EDPB argues that only offering a paid alternative to data collection shouldn't be the default for large online platforms. It doesn't issue a mandate but stresses that these platforms should "give signif ..read more