Connect with us

Technologies

Galaxy Book 3 Series Proves Samsung’s Pro Laptops Are Leveling Up

The Ultra redefines premium laptops for Samsung with a 16-inch AMOLED display, lots of ports and seamless connectivity with other Galaxy devices.

This story is part of Samsung Event, CNET’s collection of news, tips and advice around Samsung’s most popular products.

At Samsung’s Unpacked event last week, the electronics giant announced the new Galaxy Book 3 Ultra laptop alongside its latest flagship Galaxy S23 phones.

Like Samsung’s top Galaxy Ultra phones and Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra tablet, the Ultra laptop will have powerful performance, a ton of features and a killer display. But like the other Ultra devices, the Ultra laptop might be more computer than you need. Samsung also has the Galaxy Book 3 Pro and Pro 360, which are a notch below the Ultra in performance, but have a lot of features in common, along with their own added extras.

The Galaxy Book 3 Ultra is undeniably the star, though, and thankfully it fixes two things I didn’t like about the otherwise excellent Galaxy Book 2 Pro models. One issue was their displays. While they had great-looking AMOLED panels, they were 16:9, 1080p widescreens; most premium laptops use higher-resolution 16:10 panels that give you more vertical space. The 16-inch Galaxy Book 3 Ultra makes the jump to 16:10. It’s still an AMOLED panel, too, so you’re going to get amazing color and contrast. Plus it has a 120Hz refresh rate for smoother-looking video; its resolution is 2,880×1,800 pixels.

The second issue I had with the Book 2 Pro was that Samsung didn’t offer any options for discrete graphics and frankly, if you’re going to call something «Pro» you should offer something stronger than integrated graphics. That doesn’t change with the Book 3 Pro models, but the Ultra will have either an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 or 4070 graphics chip and they’ll be paired with a 13th-gen Intel Core i7 or i9 processor, respectively, giving the Ultra some pro-level laptop performance.

Those components drive the price up considerably, with the Core i7 and RTX 4050 configuration starting at $2,400 and the Core i9 and RTX 4070 pairing going for $3,000. (Pricing and availability weren’t announced for the UK or Australia, but the entry price converts to 1,950 and AU$3,400.) You get a lot of other great features for those prices like a 1080p webcam, a quad-speaker audio system, a fingerprint reader on the power button and a larger 76-watt-hour battery. The Ultra also has more ports than the Galaxy Book 2 Pro, with a USB-A port and HDMI 2.0 output joining its two Thunderbolt USB-C ports, microSD card slot and headphone jack.

The good news is almost all of these things trickle down to the Pro models, with the big exceptions being the Core i9 processor and the discrete graphics. The nice thing about that is the 16-inch Galaxy Book 3 Pro laptop is 4 millimeters thinner and it’s about a half pound lighter than the 16.5-mm thick, 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) Ultra. The Galaxy Book 3 Pro will also be available in a 14-inch size that’s just 2.6 pounds (1.2 kilograms).

There’s also a 16-inch Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360 two-in-one, which is large for a two-in-one, but since it comes with one of Samsung’s excellent S Pens, you’ll have a lot of room to draw or take notes, plus it’ll make a nice digital whiteboard for meetings. And again, all of the features like the high-res webcam, port assortment and quad speakers on the Ultra are here, too. It’s also the only model to come with optional 5G wireless.

Also, just like earlier Galaxy Books, the new Ultra and Pro laptops are made to work with other Galaxy devices. Things like sending files back and forth between your phone and laptop are easy. You can, for instance, start working on a file on your Galaxy phone and finish up on the Galaxy Book. Or you can use a Galaxy Tab S8 as a wireless external display to extend the laptop’s screen. Your Galaxy Buds can automatically switch between devices as well. This extra layer of interoperability is something Apple does well with its iPhones, iPads and MacBooks, and Samsung is quickly catching up with help from Intel and Microsoft. These laptops have enterprise-level security, too, since they meet Microsoft’s secured-core PC requirements.

There is one thing that Samsung kept the same as the previous generations and that’s the overall look. They’re nice and clean, if a bit unexciting, especially compared to Samsung’s phones, which come in several colors — these come in graphite or beige. Build quality is improved, though. They’re sturdier, stiffer and stronger, which is certainly a plus even if they’re a bit heavier because of it.

The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra and Pro and Pro 360 laptops are available to preorder now through Samsung’s site and the Pro models are expected to start shipping on Feb. 17.

Technologies

McDonald’s KPop Demon Hunter Meals Include Bright Purple Nugget Sauce

The Derpy McFlurry mixes popping boba pearls and berry sauce into a soft-serve dessert.

McDonald’s has seen success with themed combo meals, including its holiday Grinch Meal. Now, the fast-food chain is capitalizing on Netflix’s Oscar-winning animated film, KPop Demon Hunters, with new upcoming menu items and both a breakfast meal and a lunch/dinner offering. Let’s hope you like the color purple.

The HUNTR/X Meal, named for the K-pop girl group in the movie, is a 10-piece chicken McNuggets meal that includes a medium drink and three special menu items. 

Ramyeon McShaker fries come with a small bag of soy, garlic, sesame and spice seasoning, along with regular McDonald’s french fries. You sprinkle the seasoning into the provided bag, dump in the fries, shake it all up and eat.

The meal includes two new sauces for the fries and nuggets. Hunter sauce is a sweet chili sauce mixing notes of chili, garlic and pepper. But my favorite item on this new menu is Demon sauce, a bold mustard sauce with some heat and a bold purple color. There’s just not enough dark purple food out there.

There’s also a new dessert, the Derpy McFlurry, which blends creamy vanilla soft serve with berry-flavored popping boba pearls, served with a swirl of wild berry sauce. McDonald’s named it for the supernatural feline, Derpy Tiger, from the movie.

If breakfast is your bag, the new morning meal is the Saja Boys Breakfast Meal, named for the movie’s boy band.

It includes a Spicy Saja McMuffin sandwich, which is a sausage McMuffin with egg and a spicy Saja sauce, hash browns and a small drink.

Both meals come with a photocard for one of the bands and a Derpy card. The Derpy card includes a QR code you can scan to unlock online content about the film.

The full KPop Demon Hunters menu should be available at participating McDonald’s beginning March 31.

The McDonald’s Grinch meal (and its accompanying patterned socks) sold out quickly, so KPop Demon Hunters fans may want to mark their calendars and nab a meal when they are released.

Continue Reading

Technologies

Melania Trump Escorted by Talking Humanoid Robot at White House Tech Summit

The first lady shared the spotlight with the robot to promote the use of artificial intelligence in education.

An unexpected guest escorted Melania Trump at the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit on Wednesday: a Figure 03 humanoid robot. 

During the event, the first lady pitched a future where AI-powered humanoid robots — presented as an idealized educator named «Plato» — provide students with personalized and instant access to human knowledge, including philosophy and art. 

The Figure 03 robot is made by Silicon Valley-based robotics company Figure AI, which introduced its third-generation humanoid robot in October last year. The Figure 03 robot costs around $25,000, according to Forbes. 

Figure 03 was designed for people to use in their homes, with demo videos showing it folding laundry, lifting eggs from a carton, using a washing machine and delivering drinks to its owners lounging by the pool. It was also shown in corporate use cases as a receptionist and a package deliverer. Using a proprietary AI engine called Helix, it can autonomously perform these tasks and respond to your voice commands. 

The humanoid was seen walking slowly down the red carpet at the tech summit and then delivering opening remarks. 

«I’m grateful to be part of this historic movement to empower children with technology and education,» the Figure 03 humanoid robot said. It then said «welcome» in various languages. 

The first lady later said that AI-powered humanoid robots could exist in children’s homes as an aid to their education to «boost analytic skills and problem solving and adopt in real time to a student’s pace, prior knowledge and even emotional state.»

The two-day summit is hosting leaders from 45 nations and 28 technology organizations, and is intended to «empower children through education and technology,» according to a White House statement. Guests included representatives from tech giants such as Google, OpenAI, Microsoft and AI data analytics company Palantir.

The summit is part of the first lady’s Be Best: Fostering the Future initiative, which aims to help children learn using advanced technology. It was introduced in 2018 as an awareness campaign aimed at combating cyberbullying and helping children affected by the opioid crisis.

US Education Secretary Linda McMahon spoke about AI being one of the Department of Education’s main priorities on the first day of the summit.

«If we’re able to scale these resources effectively by investing in AI infrastructure and training, we can offer expert instructions across countless fields, to hire volumes of people at a fraction of the cost,» McMahon said Tuesday at a round table meeting.

According to McMahon, the Department of Education has already dedicated millions of dollars in grants to support the use of AI in schools. 

The event follows criticism of the Trump administration’s 2025 executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. While the Department of Education hasn’t been officially abolished, it has undergone significant policy changes, funding cuts and workforce reductions. 

The introduction of a humanoid robot at the summit sparked significant backlash among many who are wary of the technology’s role in the classroom. Critics took to social media to voice concerns that these machines could eventually replace teachers, stripping the education system of essential human connection, and leading to increased layoffs and cost-cutting. 

On one Huffington Post Instagram post featuring the robot, commenters expressed deep skepticism, with one user sarcastically noting, «Nice, getting rid of educators in favor of a robot,» while another flatly rejected the concept, stating, «No, I don’t want to imagine a world with emotionless robots educating our children.»

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Continue Reading

Technologies

Nintendo Dropped a Switch 2 Update With a New Mode You’ll Want to Turn On Immediately

This new feature is one of the best yet.

A new firmware update hit the Nintendo Switch 2 last week. Among the multitude of small changes is a new feature that will give Switch 1 games a notable upgrade.

Version 22.0.0 for the Switch 2 went live on March 16 and is available for download to the console. The big new feature in the update was Handheld Mode Boost, which will give Switch 1 games a visual upgrade when played on the Switch 2 in handheld mode.

What does Handheld Mode Boost do? 

Even though the Switch 2 supports backward compatibility with almost all Switch 1 games, there was an issue. The Switch 2 has a higher resolution screen: 1080p versus the older hardware’s 720p. When playing a Switch 1 game on a Switch 2 in handheld mode, the graphics looked blurry and jagged. 

When enabled, Handheld Mode Boost makes a Switch 1 game act as if it’s docked, so it displays 1080p at 60 frames per second. This will give the visuals an immediate upgrade. 

How do you enable Handheld Mode Boost? 

Handheld Mode Boost has to be turned on to see the effect, and it takes a few steps: 

  • Select Systems Settings from the Home menu
  • Select System
  • Select Nintendo Switch Software Handling
  • Enable Handheld Mode Boost

Is there a downside to enabling Handheld Mode Boost? 

A user on Reddit tested the mode to see how it affects the Switch 2’s battery life. The test used Doom Eternal for the Switch 1 with and without Handheld Mode Boost. The test showed that the battery life decreased from 5 hours, 5 minutes to 3 hours, 43 minutes. That’s a 27% drop and should be taken into account when using Handheld Mode Boost. 

How do I upgrade my Nintendo Switch 2? 

If you have Software Auto-Updates enabled on your Switch 2, a pop-up window should come up whenever you start a game. If not, head to System Settings and choose to update the console from the menu. 

What other features were added in version 22.0.0?

Handheld Mode Boost was the main star of the new firmware update, but there were a slew of other changes.

  • Changed the on-screen text and animations when you load a virtual game card in the HOME Menu.
  • Added the ability to save notes about friends on your Friend List. The note content is not displayed to friends.
  • Added the ability to invite friends to GameChat rooms you’re participating in. Some friends may not be able to be invited, such as supervised accounts.
  • Friends who haven’t finished GameChat’s initial setup can now be invited to GameChat. Some friends may not be able to be invited, such as supervised accounts or those who haven’t used a Nintendo Switch 2.
  • Added the ability to rewind 10 seconds/advance 10 seconds with the ZL and ZR Buttons when watching a full-screen video in News or Nintendo eShop.
  • Added the option to add the following data to «Automatic Uploads» from Album.
  • Text-to-Speech, under Accessibility, can now read the text in Album and during first-time setup.
  • Added the ability to see the breakdown of storage capacity by data type for the system memory and microSD Express card.
  • Added the ability to perform an audio test when «Linear PCM 5.1 Surround» is selected for TV Sound in Audio.
  • When Airplane Mode is activated, the previously set preferences for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or NFC while in airplane mode will be saved and applied.
  • Added the ability to individually enable or disable Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or NFC during Airplane Mode from the Quick Settings.
  • Added the ability to see a notification in the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls smart device application when the Parental Controls PIN is input successfully on the console. This can also be set up to be a push notification to your smart device.
  • General system stability improvements to enhance the user’s experience.
Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © Verum World Media