Technologies

Shadow Brings Its Cloud PCs to Creatives

Shadow for Makers will let you subscribe to cloud-based systems for photo, video and 3D editing, and more.

Blade’s reinvention of its Shadow desktop-in-the-cloud service expands it well beyond gaming — previously with Shadow for Enterprise, and now to Shadow for Makers, a new virtual PC subscription targeted at creatives starting at $59 per month.

Shadow‘s technology allows you to stream a full PC to almost any lower-powered device, like a phone or Chromebook, as well as Macs, similar to the way cloud gaming works for just games. Because Shadow for Makers is still a full Windows desktop, you can still play (or develop) games on it. It’s available starting today.

The company hasn’t moved too far from its gaming roots, however, launching two game studio-focused services, too: Virtual Booth, which may eventually be the installation-free way you try out new games; and Echo Session, a streamlined way for studios to test and get feedback on their games. The latter have been developed in conjunction with Bandai Namco.

Of the four plans launching Wednesday, two will be available in North America (the other two are Europe-only): Spark, which gives you an eight-core slice of an Intel Xeon CPU and the equivalent of an 8GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080, along with 12GB RAM and a 256GB solid-state drive for $59 per month; and Zenith, which provides dual eight-core slices of an AMD Epyc CPU with a 20GB Nvidia RTX A4500 (the workstation equivalent of an RTX 3090 Ti) with 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD for $139 per month. Both allow for upgrades to storage, and Zenith will be upgraded to 28GB in the second quarter of this year.

A screenshot showing the four Shadow for Makers plans, Spark, Aurora, Zenith and Lightning, with pricing and configurations. — Blade

The Spark configuration is suitable for tasks like midrange photo editing that don’t require a high-powered graphics card, while the Zenith configuration is better suited for video editing and 3D design. The Xeon and Epyc CPU generations and GTX GPU aren’t great for AI acceleration, which has become more mainstream, especially for automating a lot of photo- and video-editing tasks. On the flip side, though, the data centers hosting these servers have much better internet connections than yours, which can be a boon when working collaboratively on video.

Also of note, Virtual Booth brings the game event platform we could have used during the pandemic. It can host up to roughly 100,000 players gaming from the cloud, and will support social media, gamer feedback and Twitch streaming when it launches in the fall.

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Technologies

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 Might Come in 5G and 4G Cellular Models

If the rumor proves true, the 5G Galaxy Watch Ultra would rival the 5G-enabled $799 Apple Watch Ultra 3 that debuted last fall.

Samsung’s next high-end Galaxy Watch could support faster 5G speeds, but if this leak is true, it will depend on where you live. The rumored Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 might come in 5G and 4G cellular models, with availability for each smartwatch depending on the country.

According to the Dutch website Galaxy Club (and spotted by SamMobile), Samsung’s servers may have revealed a series of model numbers that point to 5G, 4G and Wi-Fi-enabled editions of the next Galaxy Watch Ultra, which would succeed the original model that debuted in 2024.

A representative for Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Galaxy Club website speculates that the 5G edition would be sold in the US and Korean markets, while the 4G edition would sell in the rest of the world. In the US, a 5G version of the Galaxy Watch Ultra would rival the 5G-enabled $799 Apple Watch Ultra 3, which debuted last fall. The 4G edition would have broader compatibility worldwide, since the earlier network is far more established.

It will likely be a few months until we hear anything official about the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2. Samsung typically unveils its new watches in the summer alongside its Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip foldable phones. Last year, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Watch 8 and the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, but otherwise left the prior 2024 Ultra in the lineup for those looking for a larger 47mm smartwatch.

Technologies

2 Cases Show Supreme Court Isn’t Holding ISPs Responsible for Piracy

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 8, #1032

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for April 8, No. 1032.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough. The purple category is a fun one, once you see the connection. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: In the group.

Green group hint: Appearance details.

Blue group hint: Often found in gyms.

Purple group hint: They help you see.