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Costco is cracking down on membership sharing. Don’t miss this deal to buy your own with a free gift card, effectively cutting the price to $40. (I bought one and highly recommend it.)

It’s almost Labor Day, which means big deals on laptops. Here are some of the best laptop deals we’ve encountered at all price points.

Here’s everything to know about Gemini’s upgraded Imagen 3 image generation and new custom AI assistants called Gems, and how to get started with them today.

Amazon’s Blink family is receiving a boatload of discounts! Save 40% or more on select items, but it’s only a limited time before these markdowns disappear.

If you own a computer with AMD’s Ryzen 9000 Zen 5 or Ryzen 7000 Zen 4 series of CPUs, you can now improve their performance. AMD also just announced that it has clarified why these processors’ performance was lacking in the first place. Before we get into that, let’s talk about the update.

This Windows optional update is labeled KB5041587, and you can immediately download and install it by opening your Windows Update menu. This development means you don’t have to update your Windows to version 24H2. The performance boosts KB5041587 and version 24H2 offer will be identical. Therefore, you don’t have to wait for the increased frames while gaming.

Jeremy Gan/Engadget

The primary reason for the initial slower speeds was that AMD conducted tests in Super Admin mode. This mode isn’t recommended for those who use computers casually or for gaming. Therefore, the new update mentioned above will let you play games at the speeds AMD intended to deliver with their CPUs.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/amd-ryzen-9000-zen-5-and-ryzen-7000-zen-4-cpus-just-received-a-performance-boost-163014261.html?src=rss

Google’s generative AI tools are getting some of the boosts the company previewed at Google I/O. Starting this week, the company is rolling out the next-gen version of its Imagen image generator, which reintroduces the ability to generate AI people (after an embarrassing controversy earlier this year). Google’s Gemini chatbot also adds Gems, the company’s take on bots with custom instructions, similar to ChatGPT’s custom GPTs.

Google’s Imagen 3 is the upgraded version of its image generator, coming to Gemini. The company says the next-gen AI model “sets a new standard for image quality” and is built with guardrails to avoid overcorrecting for diversity, like the bizarre historical AI images that went viral early this year.

“Across a wide range of benchmarks, Imagen 3 performs favorably compared to other image generation models available,” Gemini Product Manager Dave Citron wrote in a press release. The tool allows you to guide the image generation with additional prompts if you don’t like what it spits out the first time.

Citron says Imagen 3 performs “favorably” compared to the competition. It also includes Google’s SynthID tool to watermark images, making it clear that they’re AI-made and not the genuine article.

Google

Citron says the ability to generate people will return in the coming days for paid users, months after Google yanked the feature. He says new guardrails will prevent the generation of “photorealistic, identifiable individuals” — a far cry from the problematic deepfakes generated by Elon Musk’s Grok. Also off-limits are children and (as with other image generators) any gory, violent or sexual scenes. The product manager grounds expectations by saying Gemini’s images won’t be perfect, but he promises the company will continue to listen to user feedback and refine accordingly.

Starting this week, the Imagen 3 model will be available for all users, but reintroducing images featuring people will begin with paid users. English-speaking Gemini Advanced, Business and Enterprise users can expect human image generation to return “over the coming days.”

Google

Initially previewed at Google I/O 2024, Gems are Google’s custom chatbots with user-created instructions. It’s essentially Gemini’s answer to OpenAI’s GPTs, which Google’s competitor rolled out late last year. Gems begin rolling out in the next few days.

“With Gems, you can create a team of experts to help you think through a challenging project, brainstorm ideas for an upcoming event, or write the perfect caption for a social media post,” Citron wrote. “Your Gem can also remember a detailed set of instructions to help you save time on tedious, repetitive or difficult tasks.”

In addition to the blank slate of custom Gems, Gemini will include premade ones “to help you get started” and inspire new ideas. Prebuilt Gems include:

• Learning coach – to help you understand complex topics

• Brainstormer – to inspire new ideas

• Career guide – walk you through skill upgrades, decisions and goals

• Writing editor – provide constructive feedback on grammar, tone and structure

• Coding partner – upgrade coding skills for developers and inspire new projects

Gems begin rolling out today on desktop and mobile. However, they’re only available for Gemini Advanced, Business and Enterprise subscribers, so you’ll need a paid plan to check them out.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/gemini-will-soon-generate-ai-images-of-people-again-with-the-upgraded-imagen-3-161429310.html?src=rss

I’m not gonna sugarcoat it. Standalone AI devices have crashed and burned harder than the Hindenburg. They are, as one might say, not ready for prime time. Heck, the jury’s still out on AI for smartphones. However, the show must go on, so here’s another AI pin that will likely cause Marques Brownlee’s hair to fall out when it officially launches.

The Plaud NotePin could solve some of the issues that plagued rival products by limiting the scope. This thing isn’t a purported digital assistant that will streamline every aspect of modern life. It’s a note-taking device, albeit one with some AI bells and whistles.

The NotePin automatically records and transcribes conversations, and that’s pretty much it. I could see this being useful for students, stopping the cruel punishment known as “jotting down notes.” The same goes for people stuck in an endless kaleidoscope of meetings.

The AI comes into play in a number of ways. First of all, this thing isn’t stuck on English. The pin can transcribe and translate 59 languages, with more on the way. It also, allegedly, will pay attention to context to correctly name each speaker and organize the talk into something resembling a script.

Finally, there’s an AI analysis component that summarizes everything. This data can be accessed via a chat window, so you can ask specific questions about any of the dozens of conversations you’ve had while wearing the pin.

Plaud

The NotePin is small and light, with the company saying it weighs about the same as a AA battery. This form factor will let users pin it just about anywhere, so it won’t be quite as obvious as the scalding-hot (and heavy) Humane AI pin. Pre-orders are available now, and it’s fairly reasonable at $170. However, an $80 annual subscription is required if you want to record more than 300 minutes of audio per month.

But I’m not done. Here’s where things get weird. This is just the first step in the company’s plans toward something grandiose. Plaud hopes to one day use the trove of recordings to create a “digital twin” of each user, according to an interview with Wired.

“Someday, you’re going to be able to utilize AI to reproduce yourself—create this real digital twin. That’s kind of this grand mission, where we think if we’re able to help users connect to so many memories, it’s going to be grand,” said Plaud CEO Nathan Hsu.

However, Hsu says this dream may take “decades” to achieve, so at least he’s being realistic, unlike every other AI company out there. Also, I don’t want a digital twin. One of me is enough, thank you very much.

For now, though, there’s the NotePin. I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t work (mostly) as advertised. I also don’t see why anyone would need it when they already carry around a computer with a microphone that could very easily house software to do everything the NotePin can do. Shrug.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/watch-out-theres-a-new-ai-pin-in-town-that-can-transcribe-all-your-conversations-153131281.html?src=rss

Google Gemini debuts personalized versions of its AI chatbot called Gems.