Microsoft is currently testing even deeper integration of its Copilot AI within its Edge browser on Windows 11, reports Windows Latest. This agentic integration is apparently so next-level that it’s been called a “Perplexity Comet killer.” (Don’t know what Comet is? Check out our recent hands-on experience of the AI browser and where it falls short.) The latest test version of Copilot in Edge includes a “Browser Actions” toggle, which gives Copilot access to your Edge profile—that includes logins, saved passwords, browsing history, and cookies. This allows the AI assistant to effectively act as you on your behalf to launch pages, click on links, and fill out forms without annoying login prompts. Another new feature is called “Journeys,” which allows Copilot to analyze the last seven days of your browsing history to create summaries and “cards” on the new tab page. Microsoft emphasizes that all your data is kept local and isn’t used for AI training or advertising purposes. However, the feature does require a Microsoft account. Microsoft also emphasizes that Copilot can’t control Windows outside the Edge browser or bypass passwords and two-factor authentication. You must authorize access and manually send tabs to Copilot. It isn’t yet clear when this deeper integration will be released in full. Read...

The US government said approximately 2.9 million cars could be impacted by the investigation. Read...

In a new support document that offers “tips to improve PC performance in Windows,” Microsoft warns that two features in Windows 10 and Windows 11 can impair system performance. Older and/or weaker PCs in particular will suffer from this. In addition to well-known tips—such as staying on top of system updates, keeping storage space free, and regularly scanning for malware—Microsoft highlights OneDrive and visual effects as performance killers. We show you how to get around these issues. Pause OneDrive synchronization Joel Lee / Foundry OneDrive’s automatic cloud synchronization feature is practical and convenient, but it consumes computing power and bandwidth. “Syncing can slow down your PC,” confirms Microsoft on the support page, and user will experience delays, especially during intensive use. The solution? Click on the OneDrive icon in the system tray, click on the Settings cog, then click on “Pause syncing.” Select a pause duration (either 2, 8, or 24 hours). Your PC should feel faster now. Turn off Windows visual effects Joel Lee / Foundry The animations, transparency effects, and shadows in Windows 11’s user interface are stylish, but they’re also demanding on RAM and GPU. “These [effects] look great, but they can also use additional system resources and can slow down your PC,” warns Microsoft. It’s particularly noticeable on devices with less RAM (under 8 GB). To disable visual effects, navigate to the Start menu, search for “performance,” and select the result titled “Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows.” There, under the Visual Effects tab, click the option labeled “Adjust for best performance,” then click Apply and OK. This will disable resource-intensive visual features. More tips for speeding up Windows Microsoft’s warning shows that even useful features can slow down overall system performance. Pausing OneDrive synchronization and disabling unnecessary visual effects can be a quick and easy way to immediately boost your PC’s responsiveness for free. This can be a game-changer for older PCs! If your system is still struggling, learn more about tweaks to make a Windows PC leaner, tweaks to make Windows 11 faster, tips for speeding up Windows boot time, and free ways to speed up a slow laptop. Read...

Intel is showing off its new Panther Lake laptop CPUs, set to start appearing in devices in early 2026. They’re pretty darn exciting for a lot of reasons, but gamers in particular will be eyeing up those Xe3 integrated graphics that come in 4-core and supercharged 12-core variants. Intel fellow Tom Peterson had a chat with Adam all about it in PCWorld’s latest YouTube video. The 12-core version of the Panther Lake iGPU is obviously the one to watch, jumping core count over Lunar Lake by 50 percent and giving a huge graphics boost to thin-and-light laptops (and possibly even PC gaming handhelds, currently dominated by AMD’s Ryzen Z series). In addition to the usual power boost that newer chips get, the Xe3 series is getting new intelligent bias control powers for more game-specific resource management, x3 and x4 frame generation for all games that support XeSS 2, and a handful of other optimizations. Tom’s a great guest—whom you might recognize from The Full Nerd podcast—but unfortunately he couldn’t get specific on that new Intel-Nvidia partnership. And there’s no news on when, or even if, all those NPUs popping up in “AI” PCs will actually add something to gaming powers. Intel’s also not making dedicated chips for handhelds like AMD is, though at least one family from a major manufacturer (the MSI Claw) is offered in Intel flavor. For more info on Panther Lake, be sure to check out Mark Hachman’s deep dive on the new chips. And subscribe to PCWorld’s YouTube channel if you want to see more videos like this one. Read...

Research by SquareX reveals vulnerabilities in AI-powered browsers like Comet, exposing enterprises to severe cyber threats including data breaches and malware attacks. Read...

We’re always happy to see 4K monitors go on sale, especially when they’re from a brand as reputable as LG. Right now, you can score this 27-inch LG 4K monitor for just $179 on Amazon (was $249.99) thanks to this 28% discount that’s lingering after Prime Big Deal Days. The 27-inch screen is about the perfect size for any home office that only has a modestly sized desk, and it’s still big enough to enjoy the crisp 3840×2160 resolution in 16:9 aspect ratio. The IPS panel delivers beautiful, color-accurate images that’ll serve you well whether you’re churning through spreadsheets or streaming Netflix, and it’s made all the better with HDR10 that brings those colors fully to life. Other great bits about the LG UltraFine 27US500-W display include its “virtually borderless” bezels (excellent for multi-monitor setups), the on-screen controls that let you split the display or adjust settings via mouse clicks, and connectivity via double HDMI and a DisplayPort. The included stand isn’t that great—it can only tilt a bit—but it does have a VESA 100×100 mount so you can put it on a monitor arm instead. It’s rare that you’ll be able to grab a stunning 4K monitor from a top-tier brand at a price like this, so if you’re looking to upgrade your display setup on the cheap, take advantage of this. Get the LG UltraFine 27US500-W for $179 before this deal expires! Or read our roundup of the best monitors for a home office to explore more options. A 27-inch 4K IPS monitor from LG for just $179? Yes, please!Get this 27-inch LG 4K monitor on Amazon Read...

Outpost24 appoints Martin Roth as CTO to spearhead global tech strategy, focusing on AI-driven cybersecurity and cloud-native advancements. Read...

New safety plugs were supposed to finally solve the heat problems with Nvidia’s RTX 5090 graphics card, but recent user experiences show the opposite, reports VideoCardz.com. On Reddit, several users are once again reporting scorched power connections, even though they used the yellow-colored 12V 2×6 connectors from MSI. These are actually supposed to be colored to help ensure that the plug is fully inserted. In January, Nvidia assured everyone that its new 50-series cards wouldn’t melt power plugs. In February, one Reddit user’s RTX 5090 power connector had melted, prompting YouTube Roman “der8auer” Hartung to investigate and discover clear traces of overheating on two 12VHPWR pins under a microscope. His investigation revealed temperatures of up to 150 degrees Celsius, despite correct installation. Two more recent cases have emerged According to recent Reddit threads, MSI security plugs are affected. One user reports that the power connector on his second RTX 5090 within a few weeks has burned again. After the first damage in July, he received a replacement card in August—and the same problem occurred again. According to the user, the GPU was even undervolted. Another Reddit user describes a similar problem: initially, his system crashed and black screens appeared until it became apparent that the yellow safety plug on his MSI RTX 5090 Gaming Trio was burned. Both cases show that even correctly plugged-in power adapters are no guarantee against overheating and melting. Color marking doesn’t address the deeper design problem According to MSI, the yellow plug tips are intended to enable a simple visual check as to whether the plug is fully seated. However, as the latest reports show, the labeling doesn’t actually address the root cause, which apparently lies in the 12V 2×6 connector’s uneven power distribution. While previous RTX generations—such as the RTX 30 series—distributed the power supply across multiple lines, the new 12VHPWR and 12V 2×6 adapters route the power through a single source. This can lead to an overload on individual pins, which can overheat and cause melting even if the connector is correctly seated. These new cases make it clear that colored safety markings alone aren’t an adequate solution. The fundamental issue continues even when everything is done properly. So far, Nvidia hasn’t announced any measures to get this problem under control. For now, users should check their connections regularly for signs of heat or discoloration. Read...

The odds say you won’t actually need your seatbelt today. The odds say that your phone won’t be hacked by a random USB-C wall charger, either. But, like a seatbelt, here’s why it’s worth investing in this cheap, easy protection device. If you go on vacation or a business trip, chances are you’re going to need a data cable for your phone anyway, and an extra can’t hurt. But a power-only cable is a handy way of securing your phone no matter what out-of-the-way, dodgy hotel or airport you end up in. Some people call these “USB condoms,” usually referring to a dongle that you can buy that blocks data from being transferred over the USB connection. In this case, “data” equals malware. Is a foreign government or hacker group building in standalone devices to push malware to your phone? Do credit-card skimmers exist? Okay then. If a malicious cable can be used to conceal malware, the wall port sure can. I recently returned from a pair of trips to Arizona and Hawaii, and had planned to invest in a data-only USB-C cable anyway. As it turned out, Plugable alerted me about its entrance into the market, and asked if I’d like to try one out. The company offers a few cables of different lengths, and I think that Plugable’s $15.95 6-foot-cable works best, if only because it accommodates awkwardly placed outlets in airports, airplanes, and hotels. (There are also cheaper, shorter options.) Buy the Plugable USB-C to USB C-Cable on Amazon The chargers in the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport were underneath the seats in the terminal.Mark Hachman / Foundry Basically, you’re investing in a data cable that you know can be plugged into about anything. And no, you probably don’t need a wired data connection in this case, as Wi-Fi and cellular data can be used for anything that you need to download. Plugable identifies its cables with a special red highlight so that you can distinguish it from other cables in your bag. As far as I can tell, it worked just fine, charging my phone on the road during some downtime and saving me from bringing another wall-wart charger. And since the cable handles power up to 240 watts, I could charge my phone, my tablet, and a laptop depending on which one needed some juice. Admittedly, there was just one hitch. Virtually every phone on the planet uses USB-C for charging, now. But the chargers themselves were built years ago. In the airports in San Francisco (SFO), Kahului (Maui/OGG), and the Hyatt and Sheraton hotels I stayed at, every charger was USB-A, not USB-C. The exception? Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, which included both USB-C and USB-A connections. A USB-A socket might be a more common sight than USB-C. depending on where you visit.Mark Hachman / Foundry So did I bring the wrong cables? Maybe. Fortunately, USB-A to USB-C data-blocking cables exist, and PortaPow is a trusted name in that regard. PortaPow’s 3-foot cable is just $6.99, though the company doesn’t state how much power it can handle. In any event, a small data-blocker cable or “cable condom” is cheap, small, secure, inexpensive, and fits easily into a bag or purse — and that red accent certainly helps it to be found when you’re fumbling with a bag in the overhead bin. It’s just a good thing to have on a trip, just in case. buy the PortaPow USB-A to USB-C cable on Amazon Read...

Getting 1TB of lightning-fast external storage for just $74.99 might seem too good to be true, but there’s a real opportunity for that right now. The Crucial X9 Pro (1TB) portable SSD is still at its Prime Big Deal Days price, one of the best discounts we’ve seen for it so far. If you need a high-performance external drive, you don’t want to miss this one. One of the biggest perks of the Crucial X9 Pro is that you can transfer data to it and from it super quickly, with read and write speeds up to 1,050 MB/s. Copying large files and folders is a breeze with this thing, and you’ll never have to sit there twiddling your thumbs again—even when moving 4K videos and massive photo collections. The 1TB capacity is plenty for all but the most hardcore data hoarders, and I love that the Crucial X9 Pro has a compact form (for portability) and USB-C port (for wide compatibility with various devices). Use it directly with your phone or camera to record 4K or even 8K videos without losing any frames, or plug it into your PC or gaming console for storing your huge games and running them with great performance. Going back to portability, this drive is super small (2.55 x 1.97 inches) and lightweight (only 1.34 ounces). You can slip this into your pocket and forget about it, and you won’t have to worry because it has IP55 water and dust resistance plus drop resistance from up to 7.5 feet. We reviewed the Crucial X9 Pro and loved it so much we gave it a 4.5-star rating. Our only real concern at the time? Its retail price. But now that it’s $74.99, it’s basically a no-brainer—so get this fast portable SSD on sale while you can! If you need to go bigger, consider the 2TB model for $110.99 or the 4TB model for $199.99. This super-fast 1TB portable SSD is a winner for $74.99Get the 1TB Crucial X9 Pro on Amazon Not quite to your tastes or needs? No worries. You have plenty of other options—see our best external drives roundup for more. Read...