Peter Snowden-trained Raging Force and Grand Prairie took out the group 3 features on a day of drama on and off the track at Rosehill on Saturday. Read...

Microsoft’s controversial Windows Recall has now been generally released, and it poses as much of a risk to your privacy as it could be a boon to your productivity. Recall is just one of several new features that either have or will be arriving on Copilot+ PC, Microsoft said Friday. Recall, Windows’ improved semantic search, Live Captions, Cocreator, and Restyle Image and Image Creator within Photos are now all available for Copilot+ PCs that include Qualcomm Snapdragon CPUs as well as PCs with qualifying processors from AMD and Intel. A few features — Click to Do, Live Captions, and Voice Access — are available for Copilot+ PCs running on Snapdragon, but support for AMD and Intel chips isn’t quite available. For Microsoft, the release of these AI-powered features are cause for celebration, finally delivering on promises of an AI-powered world that the company first made a year ago. But in the weeks and months since Microsoft first announced Recall, a darker side of its potential has emerged. Now, Recall and its saved snapshots provide a record of information that could be used against you. Fortunately, Microsoft hasn’t shied away from allowing you to remove Recall altogether, deleting these saved records entirely. It’s also important to put Recall in perspective. Now, by default, Recall is opt-in, which means that you’ll have to explicitly enable it. But even if you want to use Recall, it’s only available to Copilot+ PCs, which are a tiny subset of the available PCs on the market. Just because Recall is available doesn’t mean that your PC will necessarily receive it. Even the most “modern” PCs, such as Intel’s Core Ultra 200 series (Arrow Lake) don’t have the necessary NPU power to run Recall. What is Windows Recall? Microsoft first announced Recall at a May 2024 event at its headquarters in Redmond, Wash., where the company debuted several upcoming Windows features to complement its newly announced Copilot+ PCs. Recall was designed as a sort of search assistant: As you went about your day-to-day business, Recall would periodically take and store “snapshots” of your PC, which its optical-character recognition AI could “read.” (At the time, Recall wasn’t designed to be opt-in.) Essentially, Recall could search your PC for a piece of information without knowing the app in which it was captured, or when it was stored. In concept, Recall’s premise appealed to me. Windows Recall’s taskbar icon.Mark Hachman / IDG Privacy experts disagreed, big time. Instead of serving as a useful tool, Recall could store snapshots of information that weren’t necessarily secure, opening them up to hackers and whoever else gained access to your PC. Meanwhile, others were concerned with the vast amounts of storage needed to store all of that information. Cowed, Microsoft pulled Recall from the original Copilot+ launch and promised to perform more testing. Recall would debut in October, Microsoft said then. In September, Microsoft began making the changes that users had asked for: making Recall opt-in, and even uninstallable after a user had decided to enable it. But it was delayed yet again. I went hands-on with Recall in early December, but by then my stance had changed — I found Recall to be a useful tool, but by then government attitudes toward privacy and free speech had begun changing. Also at that time, Microsoft opened up Recall to Copilot+ PCs using AMD and Intel processors, paving the way for a final test run before releasing it. Windows Recall allows you to search for a keyword or specific data, and it returns a list of snapshots or screenshots.Mark Hachman / IDG Recall’s risks outweigh its benefits Recall will be shipped as a feature of new Copilot+ PCs, though you should be able to opt in during the original setup process. When I tested Recall, I had to manually download a new Windows build and then manually launch the Recall app, which then stepped me through its setup process. Finally, I had to specifically choose to enable Recall and store snapshots. Even after doing so, the Windows 11 Settings menu included a toggle switch that allowed me to turn off the ability to save Recall snapshots entirely, or exclude specific applications. (It still does.) (After this story was published, a Microsoft representative also emphasized that you’ll need to log in via Windows Hello to access any screenshots as well. That’s true, but I’m not sure it solves the convenience issue outlined below.) Windows uses optical character recognition to search out the relevant snapshot, but also to extract text stored within it.Mark Hachman / IDG Related: What are Copilot+ PCs? Explained Even with all of these safeguards, I don’t trust Recall. That’s not to say I distrust Microsoft’s implementation of it — Recall is protected by Windows Hello, which is both a secure and convenient way of locking down information on your PC. It’s the convenience of Hello that worries me. I can imagine a scenario in which I’m directed to unlock my PC via Windows Hello, which would give someone access to my documents and email — even as a journalist, whose legal protections should safeguard that correspondence. I have major concerns about Hello also unlocking a searchable database of everything I’ve done on that PC for the last few months using Windows Hello. No, I don’t have anything to hide, but I also don’t want anyone poring through anything I consider private. You shouldn’t, either. It’s my recommendation, then, that you don’t let Recall on to your system. How to remove Recall If your PC is managed by a corporation or school, Microsoft says that Recall won’t be on it. Otherwise, Recall “is available by default,” Microsoft says on its Recall support page. (“An IT admin can’t, on their own, enable saving snapshots on devices that are managed by an organization or school,” Microsoft says. “IT admins can only give you the option to enable snapshots.”) Recall can be turned on and off via the optional Windows features. To access them, type “Turn Windows features on or off” within the Windows search bar. That will bring up a list of optional features that can be turned off or on depending on whether the appropriate box is checked. To remove Recall, you’ll need to search for “Turn Windows features on and off,” then uncheck the Recall box.Mark Hachman / IDG Microsoft shouldn’t enable Recall without telling you, as per my earlier test. But if you’re simply not sure, you can double check by running down the list of optional features and seeing if Recall is installed. (If it is, the box marked “Recall” will be checked.) To uninstall Recall, you can simply uncheck the “Recall” box. Recall will be uninstalled and your PC will be rebooted, so be careful to save your work. As Microsoft removes Recall, it will delete your stored snapshots, too. You can re-enable Recall by checking the box at a future time, though doing so won’t restore the deleted snapshots. Recall is an optional feature; the other new AI features arriving on your Copilot PC are not. On the other hand, something like Photos’ new Restyle Image doesn’t offer anywhere near the privacy concerns that the other applications do. If you’ve followed our coverage, you’ll know that I was in favor of Recall from the beginning. But upon further reflection and changing world events I’ve become uncomfortable with the threat that Recall poses to our privacy. Remove it immediately. Editor’s note: Snapshots must be unlocked via Windows Hello as well, which the original story didn’t specify. This article originally ran on April 25 but was updated to include our video on the topic. Read...

Microsoft is sending the next annual feature update for Windows 11, version 25H2, out to the Release Preview channel for testing beginning today. It’s a signal that Windows 11 25H2 will arrive on your PC soon, as September quickly approaches. Actually, chances are that you have most of the bits associated with Windows 11 H2 on your PC right now. Microsoft is servicing both Windows 11 24H2 as well as Windows 11 25H2 on the same servicing branch, and the 25H2 update will be pushed to your PC as an “enablement package.” In simpler terms, this means that Microsoft has simply sent most of the code in Windows 11 25H2 to your PC already, and the only thing left to do will be to turn the new, updated features on. The enablement package will basically be a standard patch, delivered to your PC by Windows Update. How big the patch is and how long it will take to install is basically determined by your habits: if you’ve previously kept your PC up to date, there won’t be that much code to install and the process should go far more quickly than the sizeable Windows 11 24H2 update that took place late last year. In June, Microsoft pitched the Windows 11 25H2 update as “as easy as a restart.” It will be rolled out in the “second half of 2025,” Microsoft said then. Naturally, there will be bugs — though with a smaller update hopefully they will be minimal. You can always postpone the Windows 11 25H2 Update by using the “Pause updates” control in Windows Update. That will buy you seven weeks until Microsoft forces you to apply new patches, including Windows 11 25H2. Usually, there’s a small cadre of what Microsoft calls “seekers” that flip on the “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” toggle in Windows Update, and those users will receive Windows 11 25H2 first. When should you get Windows 11 25H2? Typically, Microsoft’s fall release happens in September or October. I’d expect it to roll out in September, since it’s on the smaller side. What new features are expected in Windows 11 25H2? Typically, Microsoft tests a variety of new features throughout the year, in the Canary, Dev, Beta, and Release Preview Channels. Microsoft pushes some of these features out via app updates; with others, it enables them as part of the feature update. Here’s some of what we expect. Start’s mobile sidebar By Windows 11 25H2, Microsoft should be making its Start mobile sidebar available to all PCs that connect the PC to either an iPhone or preferably an Android phone. While that doesn’t do away with the Your Phone application, it’s an easy way to see if you have messages that need replying to, for example. Microsoft Supposedly, you should be able to resume an app that you’ve begun on your Android phone and launch it on your PC via the Your Phone app, too. New category views within Start Similarly, Microsoft is tweaking the Start menu to show off different views, such as a new “category” layout. That should appear in Windows 11 25H2, though it’s not guaranteed. Both the mobile sidebar and the new category views should be adjustable via the Personalization > Start menu within Windows Settings. Improved Settings Page Microsoft has shown off an improved Settings page with “cards” that show off the highlights of your system at the very top. Microsoft added this to via the 25H2 release schedule earlier this year, so it should be available this fall as well. Likewise, the “smarter” Settings should respond to queries using AI. Microsoft Semantic search Microsoft unveiled semantic search in the 25H2 Canary Channel earlier in August. Essentially, it allows you to search for a file using its characteristics (“the presentation I made to the town council”)without knowing the exact file name. Quick Machine Recovery An under-the-hood change, Quick Machine Recovery should facilitate issues when your computer crashes. Instead of putting the onus on you to solve your own problems, what QMR claims to do is search out the solution on Microsoft’s servers and apply it itself. Click-to-Do improvements Microsoft also is adding new contextual features to Click-to-Do, such as describing an image or converting a table to Excel, with just a right-click of the mouse. Microsoft Read...

As they suffered through yet another service outage that left them unable to access their locally stored TV recordings, many Tablo over-the-air DVR users were asking themselves—and Tablo—one question: When will we finally get an offline mode?  The answer, it turns out, is today. On the official Tablo blog, Tablo manufacturer Nuvyyo announced that it’s rolling out a long-promised feature that allows users of the fourth-generation Table DVRs to watch live TV with an antenna and stream previously recorded over-the-air TV shows even when their internet goes out or Tablo servers go down.  Tablo’s new offline mode comes a few weeks after Tablo DVR users endured a pair of server outages that briefly locked them out of live and recorded over-the-air TV streams and temporarily blanked out their electronic programming guides.  There have been plenty of other Tablo outages in the past too, enough so that Tablo owners have long been asking for an offline mode that would allow them to access live TV via an antenna, as well as their recorded OTA shows when Tablo’s servers are inaccessible.  The new offline mode (first reported by Cord Cutters News) has some quirks, including the fact that it can’t be activated manually. Instead, your Tablo DVR will prompt you to enable offline mode if it detects your internet is offline or the Tablo service is down or spotty.   Also, your Tablo must be online and able to retrieve the current time from your ISP prior to going into offline mode. If, say, your Tablo reboots during an internet outage, the offline mode won’t work. (Tablo says it’s “working on a solution” to this limitation.)  Finally, your home router must be powered on and working to connect the Tablo DVR to client devices, including TVs and streaming players.  For now, Tablo’s offline mode is working only for Amazon Fire TV and Android TV versions of the Tablo app; it will be available “later this week” (it’s Friday as of this writing) for Apple TV, iOS, and Roku. Users of the Samsung, LG, and Android versions of the Tablo app will get offline mode in the “coming months.”  Tablo DVRs in offline mode will only have limited features. Live streaming channels from the internet won’t be available (of course), nor will you be able to browse the Home or Guide screens for upcoming shows. And while you’ll have access to up to 14 days of “basic” programming guide information, you won’t be able to schedule new recordings.  Even with those limitations, it’s good to hear Tablo users won’t be blocked from watching over-the-air TV, live or otherwise, when their internet conks out or if Tablo’s own servers gives up the ghost. This news story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best over-the-air DVRs. Read...

TechHive Editors Choice At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Camera delivers sharp 4K video Starlight night vision renders onboard spotlights optional Reliable AI detection with customizable alerts Onboard sirens and flashing lights for active deterrence Required NVR stores camera recordings locally, eliminating the need for a subscription Cons Installation involves running ethernet cables through your walls There’s no support for Apple Home Can’t operate without Eufy’s NVR (this isn’t really a con, it’s by design) Our Verdict The Eufy PoE Bullet Security Camera E40, along with Eufy’s Network Video Recorder S4, is a strong choice for homeowners and small business owners who want the enhanced security and reliability of hardwired cameras; plus, local AI and local storage that eliminates the need for a subscription. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Eufy PoE Bullet Security Camera E40 Retailer Price $129.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices The Eufy PoE Bullet Security Camera E40 is aimed at homeowners and small business owners who want the reliability of wired infrastructure, along with local storage of security camera recordings to eliminate the cost of a cloud subscription. It’s built for people who take their security seriously and are willing to pull cables through their walls to get it. The camera must be paired with Eufy’s PoE NVR, which you’ll likewise need to hardwire to your home network. For those unfamiliar with the terms, PoE stands for Power-over-Ethernet (both power and data travel over a single ethernet cable, eliminating the need for an outdoor power outlet), and NVR stands for Network Video Recorder (it’s a similar concept to the DVR–digital video recorder–you might connected to your TV). I evaluated the camera with the Eufy Network Video Recorder S4 I reviewed in July 2025. The Eufy PoE Bullet Security Camera’s video quality in daylight is excellent, with 4K resolution delivering sharp detail and accurate color. Specifications The E40 is a classic bullet-style security cameras built for the outdoors. It has a metal housing and a weatherization rating of IP67, meaning it’s dustproof and can withstand immersion in up to one meter (about 3.3 feet) of water for up to 30 minutes. Want to know more about IP codes? Our IP code guide will tell you everything you need to know. Inside that housing is a 4K single-lens camera with a wide 122-degree field of view. It supports up to 5x digital zoom, letting you focus in on details while reviewing footage. The E40 offers three modes for nighttime coverage: starlight color night vision for low-light scenes, a spotlight-enhanced mode for complete darkness, and a traditional black-and-white infrared mode when you prefer to keep things discreet. The Eufy PoE Cam E40 comes with an ethernet cable, a grommet, and mounting hardware.Michael Ansaldo/Foundry The camera’s on-device AI can distinguish between people, pets, and vehicles, reducing false alarms from passing cars or wandering wildlife. You can further minimize unwanted notifications by setting activity zones and schedules, so it only alerts you when and where you want. For active deterrence, the E40 is equipped with a built-in siren and flashing red and blue lights that mimic police strobes. Two-way audio with noise reduction can also be used to can warn off intruders or speak with visitors. The camera system can be integrated with Amazon Alexa or Google Home, but there’s currently no support for Apple Home. The Eufy Network Video Recorder S4 includes 2TB of local storage (expandable to 16TB) and built-in AI that handles detection and tracking without relying on the cloud. Michael Ansaldo/Foundry Setup and performance Installing the PoE Cam E40 is straightforward, provided you’re comfortable pulling ethernet cable from the camera back to Eufy’s NVR. The included mounting hardware gives you flexibility in positioning the camera, whether you’re attaching it to a wall, under an eave, or on a pole. The Eufy Network Video Recorder S4 comes with 2TB of storage via a mechanical hard drive, and it can be expanded up to 16TB by replacing the factory-installed drive in its single 3.5-inch bay. You’ll likely need more capacity if you elect for 24/7 recording. Setting up the NVR is more involved than a wireless camera install. You’ll need to hardwire it to your router, plug in the included mouse for system control, and hook up a monitor to its HDMI port. It’s then it’s a matter of choosing your camera locations, mounting the brackets, attaching the cameras, and drilling holes in your walls to feed ethernet cables through the provided weatherproof grommets. Once everything’s connected to the NVR, the hard part is over; the system automatically detects the cameras and you can access the system via the monitor, the Eufy app, or Eufy’s web portal. Video quality in daylight is excellent, with 4K resolution delivering sharp detail and accurate color. At night, the starlight sensor produces a clear, colorful image in low-light conditions. When the scene is completely dark, the spotlight mode kicks in to illuminate and capture maximum detail. Infrared mode provides ample light to capture clear black-and-white footage. Eufy’s onboard AI does a solid job of recognizing people, vehicles, and pets, and custom activity zones help reduce false alarms triggered by irrelevant movement. Alerts arrive promptly, and the classification accuracy keeps notifications useful rather than overwhelming. If you’re running multiple cameras, as you most likely will be, you can choose to default to the NVR’s global AI settings, which will override individual camera settings. This makes it easier to apply consistent detection rules across your system without having to configure each camera separately. When deterrence is needed, the flashing red and blue lights demand attention, and the two-way audio is loud and clear enough to startle someone who shouldn’t be there. The Eufy Security app provides full control over the PoE Cam E40, letting you view live feeds, review recordings, adjust video and audio settings, and fine-tune features such as motion detection and lighting.Michael Ansaldo/Foundry The Eufy Security app ties it all together. You’ll use it to view live feeds, scrub through recordings, and manage your video, audio, and notification settings. Streaming over a local network is smooth, and the app gives you direct control over how the camera behaves day to day. Should you buy the Eufy PoE Cam E40? At $130, the Eufy PoE Cam E40 delivers a lot for its price. You get sharp 4K video, reliable AI detection, and built-in deterrence features—all without the ongoing cost of a cloud subscription. Be sure to factor in the cost of the 8-channel (expandable to 16 channels) Eufy Network Video Recorder S4 ($400), because the camera can’t operate without it. If you’re starting from scratch, Eufy also offers the NVR bundled with four E40 cameras for $800, a $119 discount if you’re planning full-home coverage. Eufy offers bundles with combinations of cameras (e.g., you can buy the Eufy NVR with two bullet cameras and two pan/tilt cams for $1,000). You will need to accept some trade-offs. The PoE requirements mean you might need to do a fair amount of drilling and routing if your home isn’t already set up for it. And if you’re in the Apple Home ecosystem, this camera won’t slot into your setup. If you can work within those limits, the Eufy PoE Cam E40 and Eufy Network Video Recorder S4 are a smart buy. The system is built for long-term use, and it provides the kind of always-on security that’s hard to get from battery-powered, wireless alternatives. Read...

In case of emergency, you will now be able to designate certain trusted people who can gain access to your Proton account. According to yesterday’s announcement post, Proton’s new Emergency Access feature supports up to five trusted contacts… with some caveats. Proton For one, you can only designate people who have Proton accounts of their own, as they’ll need to use their Proton account to access yours. With access granted, a trusted contact can then log into your Proton account whenever you’re unavailable or incapacitated, whether due to travel, illness, or (in the worst case) death. Emergency Access will send you a notification whenever a trusted contact tries to access your account, and if you don’t explicitly respond with a denial, access will be granted. You can choose whether contacts can gain access immediately or whether they need to wait a certain number of days, weeks, or months before access is granted. Proton The other big catch is that Emergency Access is only available to paying Proton customers. Any paid plan qualifies for this feature, so if you want it, go ahead and upgrade your Proton Pass, Mail, VPN, or Drive plans. Alternatively, check out Proton Unlimited for full premium features across all Proton apps and services for just $9.99/month. Read...

Throughout the month of August, Microsoft has rolled out a number of new features in the popular collaboration tool Teams. Microsoft Among other things, it’s now possible to find messages with attached files via a simple search, which should be useful for users who don’t want to waste precious time scrolling back through long threads. Microsoft Microsoft has also made it possible to customize your own keyboard shortcuts for various actions, which should come in handy whether you just want to replicate the shortcuts from other apps (like Slack or Zoom) or you prefer to come up with your own. Microsoft Another fun addition is that it’s now possible to react to a particular message multiple times with different emojis, something that’s long been possible in apps like Slack. For example, if you want to show that you understand an instruction but also want to acknowledge the humor in it, you can react with both a “thumbs up” and a “laughing face.” Some other useful features worth noting: you can now save messages to a “Saved” quick view, you can now edit your display name in a Teams meeting, and several other premium-only features for business-oriented use cases (such as personal meeting templates and immersive 3D environments for large-scale virtual gatherings). For a full rundown of all the new changes that came about in August, check out the official Microsoft Teams blog post. Read...

MariaDB has acquired SkySQL, enhancing its cloud database services with AI-powered, serverless features to better support flexible and hybrid data management. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Portable design with 27-inch display USB-C with 70 watts of Power Delivery Includes C-clamp desk stand and cubicle mount Decent audio quality from 2.1-channel sound system Cons Limited connectivity Low contrast ratio Modest color performance Expensive for a 27-inch 1440p display panel Our Verdict The Asus ZenScreen MB27ACF combines a 27-inch 1440p display with the versatility of a portable monitor. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Asus ZenScreen MB27ACF Retailer Price Asus $449 View Deal $465.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Have you ever wanted to buy a portable monitor that’s big? Really big? Like, 27 inches big? I’d guess that, for most people, the answer is “nah.” But I also know from experience that demand exists for a big portable display that can be used in meetings or moved easily between workspaces in an office. If that’s you, the Asus ZenScreen MB27ACF might be the monitor you’ve always wanted. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best portable monitors for comparison. Asus ZenScreen MB27ACF specs and features The Asus ZenScreen MB27ACF might look like a typical 27-inch monitor at a glance. It has an IPS display panel and a resolution of 2560×1440, which is typical for a mid-tier LCD monitor. Display size: 27-inch 16:9 aspect ratio Native resolution: 2560×1440 Panel type: IPS-LED Refresh rate: 100Hz Adaptive sync: Yes HDR: Yes, HDR10, VESA DisplayHDR 400 True Black Ports: 1x USB-C with DisplayPort and 70 watts of USB Power Delivery, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x 3.5mm combo audio jack Audio: 2x speakers, 1.5 watt woofer Additional features: C-clamp style ergonomic stand, built-in kickstand Price: $449 MSRP However, the MB27ACF is anything but normal. It’s actually a 27-inch portable monitor with a built-in kickstand. That means it can be used anywhere there’s room to sit it (and an AC outlet, because while the monitor is portable, it still requires power). That’s not to say you can’t use it like a normal monitor. On the contrary, the versatility to treat it like both a portable monitor and a desktop monitor is the entire point. It even ships with an ergonomic stand that uses a C-clamp to attach to a desk. Pricing starts at $449, and it appears to retail at (or slightly above) that price right now. That’s a lot for a 27-inch 1440p monitor, though the lack of competitors with identical features helps the MB27ACF carve its own niche. Asus ZenScreen MB27ACF design Unboxing the Asus ZenScreen MB27ACF immediately shows it’s not like most monitors. It has an extremely slim profile, made slightly thicker only by the built-in kickstand on the back. The kickstand can fold flat when using the monitor with the included ergonomic stand, or fold out to let the monitor stand on its own. In this way, it functions much like smaller portable monitors, with one key exception: The MB27ACF requires an external AC power brick, so you’ll need a nearby wall outlet. The monitor also comes with an ergonomic desktop stand designed for quick attachment and removal. Unlike most stands that sit on top of your desk, this one connects via an included C-clamp, which saves desk space. The stand’s wedge-shaped mount makes it simple to slip the MB27ACF on or off in just a second, and at only 6.5 pounds, the monitor is light and easy to handle. Matthew Smith / Foundry That’s not to say the stand is perfect. Adjusting the height requires pressing a lever, which isn’t a major inconvenience but feels slightly less refined than what you’d expect from a premium ergonomic stand. The stand also has a loose feel compared to the sturdier mounts found on other office monitors in this price range. It wasn’t an issue on my desk, but on a less stable surface it could allow the monitor to wobble more than you’d like. And the options don’t end there. The monitor also includes two metal brackets designed to screw into the back of the display and hang over the top of a cubicle wall. It’s a very specific mounting option, but one that could be useful in certain office setups. These brackets attach to a 75x75mm VESA mount, so you can also use the MB27ACF with any compatible stand or monitor arm of your choice. Matthew Smith / Foundry Taken together, these mounting options make the MB27ACF a versatile monitor. They also help justify its high MSRP for a 1440p IPS display. The monitor is ready to handle multiple use cases without buying additional accessories. The lack of competitors with identical features helps the MB27ACF carve its own niche. Asus ZenScreen MB27ACF connectivity While design is a strength of the Asus ZenScreen MB27ACF, connectivity is a clear weakness. The monitor offers just two video input options: a USB-C port with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and an HDMI 2.0 port. That’s not much for a desktop monitor, though it’s about average for a portable display. The USB-C port does provide up to 70 watts of power delivery, enough to charge most midrange Windows laptops and nearly all MacBooks. I had no trouble running a single-cable connection with both an HP Omnibook 5 and a MacBook Air 15, with plenty of power to keep them charged. Interestingly, it’s possible to power the MB27ACF with only a USB-C connection, but Asus states that doing so limits that maximum brightness to 85 nits. That’s dim, so I doubt it will be useful in most situations. Port placement may also be an issue. All the connections are on the left side of the monitor, rather than the rear, which means the cables will always be visible. This design is convenient for portable use, where you’re frequently plugging and unplugging, but less ideal if you plan to keep the monitor on a desk full time. A 3.5mm audio-out jack and the barrel-style power input are also located on the left, meaning you could end up with as many as four cables dangling off that side of the display. Asus ZenScreen MB27ACF menus, features, and audio The Asus ZenScreen MB27ACF’s on-screen menus are controlled by buttons on the right side of the monitor, including a menu button and two navigation buttons. I found them a bit finicky and I often hit the wrong button. Fortunately, the monitor supports Asus’ DisplayWidget software utility, which allows many settings to be adjusted directly in Windows or macOS. The menus offer a good range of image quality options. In addition to multiple preset image modes it includes five gamma settings that target specific values, along with color temperature adjustments. However, the temperature settings are labeled only as “warm” or “cool” rather than precise Kelvin values. The monitor also has color calibration options, though in practice the MB27ACF’s image quality doesn’t justify use in demanding professional workflows. Matthew Smith / Foundry The monitor also has a pair of speakers and a tiny 1.5-watt woofer. Together, they provide decent audio with a good range and minimal distortion at higher volumes. The sound won’t impress, but it’s better than typical for an office or productivity monitor, and fine for video calls or showing a video clip in a meeting. Asus ZenScreen MB27ACF SDR image quality The Asus ZenScreen MB27ACF is meant primarily for office productivity. As a result, it provides a fairly basic 27-inch 1440p IPS panel. That puts a ceiling on how good the monitor’s image quality can be, and it arguably doesn’t even reach those limited heights. Matthew Smith / Foundry First up is brightness, where the MB27ACF provides a maximum SDR brightness of about 328 nits. As the graph shows, that’s not bad, but also not great. This level of brightness is fine for most situations and is aided by the monitor’s anti-glare finish, which keeps reflections to a minimum. Still, portable monitors like the MB27ACF are likely to be used in rooms with little or no light control, like a corporate conference room. In these situations the monitor will likely be used near its maximum brightness and in some cases may appear a tad dim. Matthew Smith / Foundry Monitors with an IPS panel tend to have a limited contrast ratio, and the MB27ACF is no exception, though it actually performs a tad better than I expected. Many IPS monitors meant for office productivity hover closer to a 1000:1 contrast ratio.Still, the MB27ACF’s limited contrast comes with consequences. The monitor lacks depth, particularly in dark scenes, where it can appear hazy and gray. Most direct competitors suffer the same problem, however. Matthew Smith / Foundry The MB27ACF’s color performance is modest. It has a wide enough color gamut to look vivid in bright and colorful content, but it otherwise can appear under-saturated and dull. The color performance on tap is certainly adequate for office productivity and similar to many other mid-range IPS-LCD monitors. However, it will rule out content creation for anyone who wants to work in a wider color gamut like DCI-P3 or AdobeRGB. Which, in 2025, covers many creative professionals. Matthew Smith / Foundry Color accuracy is quite good, however, which means the colors that are displayed appear as they should. Most modern displays score well here, but the MB27ACF is above average. It provides a realistic image and I think it could be used for photos, art, or video if you can stick to the humble sRGB color gamut. The MB27ACF delivered moderate results in gamma and color temperature. I measured a default gamma curve of 2.1, which is slightly off the target of 2.2 and means the image appears a bit brighter than it should. The default color temperature was 6700K, which is a tad cooler and more sterile than the target of 6500K. Neither variance is major, but picky viewers are likely to notice it.Sharpness is respectable, but not a perk. The MB27ACF’s 27-inch 1440 panel packs about 110 pixels per inch. That would’ve been great five years ago but today, with 27-inch 4K monitors widely available at lower prices, the MB27ACF’s resolution is adequate at best.On the whole, it’s clear the MB27ACF’s unusual portability requires a compromise in image quality. That’s not to say the monitor looks bad. It’s more than adequate for typical office productivity, and I suspect most shoppers looking at the monitor won’t be too bothered by the fact its image quality is unremarkable for the price. Still, it’s important to understand that you can buy a monitor with much better image quality if you don’t need the M27ACF’s versatility. Asus ZenScreen MB27ACF HDR image quality and motion The Asus ZenScreen MB27ACF does not support HDR. While that might seem like a negative, it’s actually positive. Why? No monitor in this category can provide a good HDR experience, and many that have supposed HDR support are selling a feature that doesn’t work as it should. Keeping HDR off the spec sheet means Asus isn’t trying to fool anyone.While the MB27ACF lacks HDR, it does provide a 100Hz refresh rate and Adaptive Sync for improved motion clarity. Though certainly not a gaming monitor, the MB27ACF does provide noticeable motion clarity and responsiveness gains over a 60Hz display. It’s probably not a major advantage for the monitor’s intended use. Still, I always prefer to see a refresh rate beyond 60Hz. Should you buy the Asus ZenScreen MB27ACF? The Asus ZenScreen MB27ACF is a versatile 27-inch portable monitor with built-in kickstand that also ships with a desk stand. This versatility is unusual and makes the monitor useful if you often want to share your screen with colleagues or give presentations at work. I can also see the monitor used as a kiosk or a dedicated conference room display. Unfortunately, the monitor’s versatility requires compromise in connectivity and image quality. Its MSRP of $449 is also high for a 27-inch 1440p display. However, the MB27ACF has very few competitors, and those that do exist (like the LG StandbyMe) are even more expensive. That makes the MB27ACF the king of its niche. Read...

Google’s smart home efforts were in a sorry state as late as May.  Google touted Gemini AI assistant throughout the entire keynote of its annual I/O developers conference, demonstrating how it would come to permeate every aspect of the search giant’s products—everything from phones and AR glasses to watches and TV.  But Google Home wasn’t mentioned at all, while Google’s Nest smart speakers, displays, and cameras were all but ignored. (Google did have a few scattered smart home announcements later in the conference).  Just as troubling, Google had been discontinuing other Nest products and even withdrawing from some smart home categories from a manufacturing standpoint, all while many Google Home owners were complaining that Google Assistant was faltering at even the most basic smart home duties.  Indeed, things got so bad that Anish Kattukaran, the director of product management for Google Home and Nest, felt compelled to speak up on social media, apologizing for Google Assistant’s spotty performance while promising that his team is “actively working on major improvements.”  Now, roughly a month after Kattukaram’s comments on X, those “major improvements” are coming into focus.  First came more details about the “new experience powered by Gemini” that Google had earlier promised for its smart speakers, including the existing Nest Mini and Nest Audio. Gemini for Home is coming as an early access preview in October, offering a smarter voice assistant that will (according to Google) better understand our natural-language queries, respond to more complex smart home commands, manage calendars and shopping lists, and engage in “natural back-and-forth discussion” via Gemini Live.  Of course, Google still has lots to prove when it comes to Gemini in the smart home. Early tests of a Gemini-powered assistant on existing Google smart speakers got a lukewarm reception (it’s not clear whether “Gemini for Home” is an iteration on those efforts or an all-new product), and Google has also said there will be both free and paid versions of the new assistant. Which Gemini for Home features will be behind a paywall? Unknown, for now.  Still, Gemini for Home certainly sounds promising, and we’ve also gotten a glimpse at a new Google smart speaker that will house it. Appearing in a promo video during Google’s big Pixel event last week, the small, spherical, and somewhat squished speaker had a light ring around its base, with early leaks indicating that it will pair with the Google TV Streamer and double as a Matter hub.   And while it hasn’t been confirmed, a new slate of Nest security cameras is also said to be on tap, including (according to the leaks) a wired outdoor camera, an indoor cam, and a new Nest doorbell, all with 2K video resolution (up from 1080p video on Google’s current-gen Nest cams).   Google’s smart home refreshes have been a long time in coming. It’s been roughly four years since we’ve seen a new Nest cam arrive, and nearly five years since the last new Nest speaker.  When will these refreshed smart products finally be officially announced? Google hasn’t said for sure, but in past years, it unwrapped its latest smart home wares during a fall hardware event—think anywhere between late September and early October.  So it seems increasingly likely Google Home will see a major resurgence within a matter of weeks, what with the arrival of not just Gemini for Home, but also a new smart speaker, two new Nest cameras, and a new Nest video doorbell, if not more. The new lineup should put to rest fears that Google might simply walk away from the smart home.   But after the unveiling comes the hard part: making Gemini a truly useful part of the Google Home ecosystem, capable not only of back-and-forth banter but also doing the basics, like turning on the right smart light.   This story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart speakers. Read...