Technologies

Asus Gaming Laptops Overwhelm with 2023 Updates

Even the most basic refreshes announced at CES have some useful enhancements.

Asus’ CES gaming laptop announcements seem to touch every single model in its portfolio, and include 2023’s biggest gaming hardware trend (so far), an 18-inch gaming laptop.

Yes, there are also the usual everything-is-updated-to-2023-generation components, like Intel 13th-gen H and HX-series processors and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 40-series GPUs (as well as «next-gen» AMD CPUs and GPUs, which we’re expecting to hear about during the keynote on Wednesday night, Jan. 4). The company has announced a couple of interesting gaming monitors as well.

Screen updates abound — there are lots of 240Hz 1440p displays with smaller bezels and 16:10 aspect ratios, which you’ll see everywhere in gaming laptops — and you’ll see 15- and 17-inch models swapped out for 16- and 18-inch ones, which is another big trend at the show.

The actual physical redesigns are modest, so don’t look for an all-ver new look, just new components and features.

Optimized for Optimus

My fave new feature is the rollout of Nvidia Advanced Optimus support across all Asus’ gaming laptops with Nvidia GPUs (or at least most of them). That’s the technology that enables the laptop screen to switch between operating on the discrete GPU or the integrated GPU without forcing you to reboot, and which finally lets the laptop display use G-Sync. It’s potentially a big energy efficiency and battery life saver.

Asus’ ROG Nebula HDR displays, available on the Zephyrus M16, Zephyrus G14, Strix Scar 16 and Flow X16, have double the mini LED backlight zones: 1,024. They’re DisplayHDR 1000-compliant screens with a peak brightness of 1,100 nits. They have larger heatsinks, too, because that level of brightness can get hot. As mentioned above they’re 1440p 240Hz, plus 100% P3 gamut coverage. One exception is the Nebula HDR screen in the Zephyrus G14, which is a dimmer DisplayHDR 600. The 3ms pixel refresh isn’t stellar, though.

Asus also has an external GPU box called the XG Mobile. It works with systems like the 13-inch Flow X13 and Flow Z13 laptops and the 16-inch Flow X16, adding extra graphics power. That XG Mobile previously contained an Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU, and this year it’ll get bumped up to a newer 40-series RTX GPU. That’ll help this expensive add-on feel like a better long-term investment.

AMD isn’t getting left out. there’s a new model that highlights all the latest and greatest technology on offer from that company, called the TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition. It’s one of the few laptops incorporating an AMD GPU, which is up to generation RDNA 3 this year. Sadly, the MUX switch — a clunky way to toggle between the discrete and integrated GPU — lives on here. It’s not as elegant a solution as Optimus, nor does it have Thunderbolt 4 support (it does have USB 4), because that’s still an Intel thing.

There are a few other AMD CPU-based models as well and several of the new gaming laptops, including the 16-inch Zephyrus models, have newer six-speaker arrays. Perhaps more importantly, many of the ROG offerings have been (finally) upgraded to 1080p webcams, which is something we should expect from every laptop now.

We don’t have any pricing yet, but they all seem to be slated for Q2 shipping.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for July 5, #1477

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for July 5, No. 1,477.

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

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a pretty tough one. I grew up on a farm, so I know the word, but I didn’t put it together right away, even though the letters are common ones. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

There is are two vowels in today’s Wordle answer.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with the letter B.

Wordle hint No. 4: Down on the farm

Today’s Wordle answer describes a piece of farm equipment.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer refers to a machine for making paper, hay, or cotton into bales.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is BALER.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, July 4, No. 1476 was CURVE.

Recent Wordle answers

June 30, No. 1472: BLINK

July 1, No. 1473: MOLDY

July 2, No. 1474: INCUR

July 3, No. 1475: POPPY

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for July 5, #489

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for July 5, No. 489.

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

The theme of today’s NYT Strands puzzle isn’t terribly tough, but at least one of the words is unusual and really, really long to unscramble. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Every second counts.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Does anybody really know what time it is?

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

DIAL, SOLE, MOLE, MOLES, SHAKE, CHEEP, ROLE, HOME, LOCK, MEAT, TAME, TAMES, ROLES, ROON, TRON

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

CLOCK, WATCH, SUNDIAL, HOURGLASS, CHRONOMETER

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is TIMEKEEPERS. To find it, look for the T that’s four letters down on the far left, and wind across.

Technologies

Microsoft Is Eliminating Passwords in August: Here’s What You Need to Do to Prepare

Microsoft Authenticator has already stopped autofilling passwords, but the biggest change comes next month.

In June, Microsoft Authenticator stopped letting users create new passwords. In July, it turned off the autofill password function. And in August, the login app will stop supporting passwords entirely, moving to more secure passkeys, such as a PIN, fingerprint or facial recognition.

Attila Tomaschek, CNET’s software senior writer and digital security expert, says that passkeys are a safer alternative to the risky password habits practiced by 49% of US adults, according to a recent survey by CNET.

«Passwords can be cracked, whereas passkeys need both the public and the locally stored private key to authenticate users, which can help mitigate risks like falling victim to phishing and brute-force or credential-stuffing attacks,» Tomaschek said.

Using the same password for several accounts or adding personal hints can be a convenient way to remember your login. But that puts you at a big risk for scammers, identity theft and fraud. Here’s more on Microsoft’s plan for eliminating passwords and how to make the switch to passkeys before August.

When will Microsoft Authenticator stop supporting passwords?

Microsoft Authenticator houses your passwords and lets you sign into all your Microsoft accounts using a PIN, facial recognition like Windows Hello, or other biometric data like a fingerprint. Authenticator can be used in other ways, such as verifying you’re logging in if you forgot your password, or using two-factor authentication as an extra layer of security for your accounts. In June, the company stopped letting users add passwords to Authenticator, but here’s a timeline of other changes you can expect from Microsoft.

July 2025: You won’t be able to use the autofill password function.
August 2025: You’ll no longer be able to use saved passwords.

If you still want to use passwords instead of passkeys, you can store them in Microsoft Edge. However, CNET experts recommend adopting passkeys during this transition. «Passkeys use public key cryptography to authenticate users, rather than relying on users themselves creating their own (often weak or reused) passwords to access their online accounts,» Tomaschek said.

Why are passkeys a better alternative to passwords?

So what exactly is a passkey? It’s a credential created by the Fast Identity Online Alliance that uses biometric data or a PIN to verify your identity and access your account. Think about using your fingerprint or Face ID to log into your account. That’s generally safer than using a password that is easy to guess or susceptible to a phishing attack.

Passkeys aren’t stored on servers like passwords. Instead, they’re stored only on your personal device. More conveniently, this takes the guesswork out of remembering your passwords and the need for a password manager.

How to set up a passkey in Microsoft Authenticator

Microsoft said in a May 1 blog post that it will automatically detect the best passkey to set up and make that your default sign-in option. «If you have a password and ‘one-time code’ set up on your account, we’ll prompt you to sign in with your one-time code instead of your password. After you’re signed in, you’ll be prompted to enroll a passkey. Then the next time you sign in, you’ll be prompted to sign in with your passkey,» according to the blog post.

To set up a new passkey, open your Authenticator app on your phone. Tap on your account and select «Set up a passkey.» You’ll be prompted to log in with your existing credentials. After you’re logged in, you can set up the passkey.