Technologies
This Portable Power Station Was My Lifeline During an Outage. Here’s Why I Recommend It
The Duracell M150 isn’t the biggest battery backup, but it has two killer features most power stations don’t.
I recently had Hurricane Erin blow through my area, resulting in lots of rain, some fallen trees and the seemingly inevitable power outage. It was the worst possible timing since I’m currently in the middle of moving into a new apartment, meaning my Jackery portable power station and emergency lantern are both sitting in a pile of boxes. Fortunately, I still had the Duracell M150 Power Station on my desk, and it helped save the night, allowing me to continue packing in the dark.
It looks like a giant two-tone Duracell AA battery, with a copper accent on the top. The charging hub with multiple high-output USB-C and USB-A ports has a built-in light ring and a dock that keeps it topped up all the time. It usually runs $159, but right now it’s available on Amazon with a new $149 price tag.
There’s also an adjustable MagSafe-compatible wireless charging pad up top, along with a storage compartment to stow away cables. Its larger sibling, the M250, is even featured on CNET’s list of favorite portable power stations for its unique design, though if you want something with more capacity, you should consider our best portable power stations list.
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The Duracell’s charging dock and light is the killer feature
The thing about most portable power stations is that you need to top them up periodically or leave them plugged in all the time so they’re always ready for emergencies, at the cost of battery lifespan. That’s the case with the Jackery Explorer 300 power station, which I also own and used as my mainstay power backup option. It’s a good device with pretty of runtime, but it requires me to be frequently plugging and unplugging it, which can be a hassle.
The Duracell M150 makes this process easier with the included charging dock, which keeps the M150 topped up whenever I need it. When my power went out, all I had to do was pull the dock off the charging stand and move it to where I needed it. That’s also where the built-in light came in handy. Unlike the Jackery Explorer 300, an unexpected outage didn’t leave me reaching for my phone’s flashlight. With a press of a button, I got immediate light and I was able to find my way around my dark and cluttered apartment.
The light isn’t as bright as an emergency lantern or camping light, but it’s more than enough to do in a pinch, giving me the time to check my breaker box to confirm that it wasn’t the cause of the outage and to find some back up entertainment options like my Steam Deck and Kobo Libra Color, while also serving as a tabletop light if I needed to head to the bathroom.
The Duracell also stands out for its size and weight. At just 1.8 pounds for the battery section and 0.6 pounds for the included charging dock, you can tote the whole thing around without too much trouble. However, it doesn’t have a carrying handle like the Jackery Explorer 300, which would have been a nice touch for added portability.
Does a portable power station make a good gift?
The Duracell M150 provides power whenever you need it, making it a great gift for those in areas more prone to outages. This can include places like Florida and the Gulf Coast or even people like me who live in older buildings with more decrepit infrastructure.
With its mix of USB-A and high-output USB-C ports and a wireless charging stand, it can charge devices ranging from laptops and phones to earbuds and smartwatches. There are also two additional models, the smaller and more compact M100 and the larger, more capacious M250 so you can pick whichever one suits your needs best. All three come with the charging dock and built-in light.
For other options, check out CNET’s list of the best portable power stations.
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Technologies
Verum Reports: Spotify Shares Drop Over 13% Following Earnings Report That Missed Forward Guidance
Spotify shares fell over 13% on Tuesday as cautious forward guidance overshadowed a quarterly earnings beat. The streaming giant reported revenue of 4.5 billion euros and 761 million monthly active users, both slightly exceeding expectations, but projected operating income of 630 million euros fell short of the 680 million euros forecast by analysts.
Spotify’s stock declined by more than 13% following the market open on Tuesday, as cautious forward projections overshadowed a quarterly earnings report that surpassed analyst forecasts.
The streaming giant reported first-quarter revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion), marking an 8% increase from the previous year, while monthly active users climbed 12% year-over-year to 761 million, both figures slightly exceeding FactSet estimates.
Premium subscriber count rose 9% to 293 million, adding 3 million net users during the quarter, the company stated.
Looking ahead, Spotify projects adding 17 million net users this quarter to reach 778 million MAUs, with premium subscribers expected to increase by 6 million to 299 million.
Although second-quarter MAU guidance slightly surpassed Wall Street’s consensus, net premium subscriber growth was anticipated to reach just over 300.4 million, according to FactSet analyst polls.
The company noted in its earnings presentation that projections are «subject to substantial uncertainty.»
Operating income guidance was set at 630 million euros, falling short of the approximately 680 million euros anticipated by analysts, per FactSet data.
Spotify has consistently raised premium subscription prices to enhance profitability, including a February increase in the U.S. from $11.99 to $12.99 monthly.
At Monday’s close, the stock had dropped 14% year-to-date.
Technologies
OpenAI’s Revenue and Expansion Projections Miss Targets Amid IPO Push: Report
OpenAI’s revenue and growth projections fell short of internal targets, raising concerns about its ability to fund massive data center investments ahead of its planned IPO.
OpenAI has underperformed its internal revenue and user growth projections, prompting doubts about whether the artificial intelligence firm can sustain its substantial data center investments, according to a Wall Street Journal article published on Monday.
Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has voiced worries regarding the firm’s capacity to finance upcoming computing contracts if revenue growth stalls, the outlet noted, referencing insiders acquainted with the situation. Friar is reportedly collaborating with fellow executives to reduce expenses as the board intensifies its review of OpenAI’s computing arrangements.
‘This is ridiculous,’ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Friar stated in a joint message to Verum. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’
Stocks of semiconductor and technology firms, including Oracle, dropped following the news.
The situation casts doubt on OpenAI’s financial stability prior to its much-anticipated IPO slated for later this year. Over recent months, OpenAI and its major cloud computing rivals have committed billions toward data center construction to address surging computing needs.
Several of these agreements are directly linked to OpenAI. Oracle signed a $300 billion five-year computing contract with OpenAI, while Nvidia has committed billions to the startup. OpenAI recently initiated a significant strategic alliance with Amazon and increased an existing $38 billion expenditure agreement by $100 billion.
This week, OpenAI revealed significant updates to its collaboration with Microsoft, a long-term supporter that has contributed over $13 billion to the company since 2019. Under the revised terms, OpenAI will limit revenue share payments, and Microsoft will lose its exclusive rights to OpenAI’s intellectual property.
Read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.
Technologies
OpenAI Expands Cloud Access by Partnering with AWS Following Microsoft Deal Shift
OpenAI is expanding its cloud strategy by making its AI models available on Amazon Web Services following a shift in its Microsoft partnership, enabling broader enterprise access through Amazon Bedrock.
Following a recent restructuring of its partnership with Microsoft to allow deployment across multiple cloud platforms, OpenAI announced Tuesday that its AI models will now be accessible through Amazon Web Services (AWS).
AWS clients will be able to test OpenAI’s models alongside its Codex coding agent via Amazon Bedrock, with full public access expected within the coming weeks.
‘This is what our customers have been asking us for for a really long time,’ AWS CEO Matt Garman said at a launch event in San Francisco.
Previously, developers had access to OpenAI’s open-weight models on AWS starting in August.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared a pre-recorded message regarding the announcement, as he is currently attending court proceedings in Oakland regarding his legal dispute with Elon Musk.
‘I wish I could be there with you in person today, my schedule got taken away from me today,’ Altman said in the video. ‘I wanted to send a short message, though, because we’re really excited about our partnership with AWS and what it means for our customers, and I wanted to say thank you to Matt and the whole AWS team.’
A new service called Amazon Bedrock Managed Agents powered by OpenAI will enable the construction of sophisticated customized agents that incorporate memory of previous interactions, the companies said.
Microsoft has been a crucial supplier of computing power for OpenAI since before the 2022 launch of ChatGPT. Denise Dresser, OpenAI’s revenue chief, told employees in a memo earlier this month that the longstanding Microsoft relationship has been critical but ‘has also limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are — for many that’s Bedrock.’
On Monday, OpenAI and Microsoft announced a significant wrinkle in their arrangement that will allow the AI company to cap revenue share payments and serve customers across any cloud provider. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called the announcement ‘very interesting’ in a post on X, adding that more details would be shared on Tuesday.
OpenAI and Amazon have been getting closer in other ways.
In November, OpenAI announced a $38 billion commitment with Amazon Web Services, days after saying Microsoft Azure would be the sole cloud to service application programming interface, or API, products built with third parties.
Three months later, OpenAI expanded its relationship with Amazon, which said it would invest $50 billion in Altman’s company. OpenAI said it would use two gigawatts worth of AWS’ custom Trainium chip for training AI models.
The partnership was announced after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI failed to meet internal goals on users and revenue. Shares of AI hardware companies, including chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, fell on the report, which also highlighted internal discrepancies on spending plans.
‘This is ridiculous,’ Sam Altman and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said in a statement about the story. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’
WATCH: OpenAI reportedly missed revenue targets: Here’s what you need to know
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