PCWorld tested Intel's new Panther Lake Core Ultra X9 388H processor, which delivers gaming laptop performance through integrated graphics comparable to Nvidia GeForce 4050 chips. The chip achieves impressive battery life up to 27 hours while maintaining strong performance, with AI frame generation boosting gaming from 52 to 92 fps in titles like Cyberpunk. Panther Lake faces competition from AMD's Ryzen AI Max and Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2, but Intel's early 2025 release provides significant market advantage.

PCWorld reveals five overlooked Spotify settings that can dramatically enhance your listening experience, from audio quality to playlist management. Key improvements include enabling lossless audio for Premium subscribers, activating crossfade transitions, and using Smart Shuffle with Less Repeats to reduce song repetition. These hidden features help create seamless playback, better music recommendations, and higher sound quality without requiring expensive upgrades. Spotify remains by far the largest music streaming service, with nearly 700 million users worldwide. However, most are probably unaware of the many tricks that can make the experience more enjoyable. We present the most important tips and explain how to use them effectively.

In the digital age, sound is proving to be the greatest connector of all, says Erik Vaveris, vice president of product management and CMO at Shure, and Brian Scholl, director of the Perception and Cognition Laboratory at Yale University. In an era where business, education, and even casual conversations occur via screens, sound has become a differentiating factor. We obsess over lighting, camera angles, and virtual backgrounds, but how we sound can be just as critical to credibility, trust, and connection. Both see audio as more than a technical layer: It's a human factor shaping how people perceive intelligence, trustworthiness, and authority in virtual settings. If you're willing to take a little bit of time with your audio set up, you can really get across the full power of your message and the full power of who you are to your peers, to your employees, your boss, your suppliers, and of course, your customers, says Vaveris. Scholl's research shows that poor audio quality can make a speaker seem less persuasive, less hireable, and even less credible. We know that [poor] sound doesn't reflect the people themselves, but we really just can't stop ourselves from having those impressions, says Scholl. We all understand intuitively that if we're having difficulty being understood while we're talking, then that's bad. But we sort of think that as long as you can make out the words I'm saying, then that's probably all fine. And this research showed in a somewhat surprising way, to a surprising degree, that this is not so. For organizations navigating hybrid work, training, and marketing, the stakes have become high. Vaveris points out that the pandemic was a watershed moment for audio technology. As classrooms, boardrooms, and conferences shifted online almost overnight, demand accelerated for advanced noise suppression, echo cancellation, and AI-driven processing tools that make meetings more seamless. Today, machine learning algorithms can strip away keyboard clicks or reverberation and isolate a speaker's voice in noisy environments. That clarity underpins the accuracy of AI meeting assistants that can step in to transcribe, summarize, and analyze discussions. The implications across industries are rippling. It empowers executives and creators alike to produce broadcast-quality content from the comfort of their home office. And it offers companies new ways to build credibility with customers and employees without the costly overhead of traditional production.

Grandparents who play with, read to, and look after their grandkids score better on cognitive tests. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. From physical fitness to doing puzzles to going out with friends, there's a laundry list of advice out there to help protect our brains from cognitive decline as we age . Taking care of grandchildren may also help brain health, according to new research from the American Psychological Association published today in the journal . "Many grandparents provide regular care for their grandchildren--care that supports families and society more broadly," Flavia Chereches, a study co-author and Ph.D. candidate at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, said in a statement.

Apple could unveil Gemini-powered Siri in Feb. X's lack of controls potentially'expos[ed] citizens in the EU to serious harm,' regulators said. The EU is investigating Grok and X over'illegal' CSAM content Europe is probing Elon Musk's X for failing to take action to prevent the spread of AI-generated sexually explicit images including child sexual abuse material (CSAM), regulators said in a press release . The European Commission's investigation could result in "further enforcement steps" against X, not long after it levied a $140 million fine against the platform. "Sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent, unacceptable form of degradation. With this investigation, we will determine whether X has met its legal obligations under the DSA [Digital Services Act], or whether it treated rights of European citizens -- including those of women and children -- as collateral damage of its service," said the Commission's executive VP, Henna Virkkunen in a statement.

How large is a large language model? We now coexist with machines so vast and so complicated that nobody quite understands what they are, how they work, or what they can really do--not even the people who build them. Even though nobody fully understands how it works--and thus exactly what its limitations might be--hundreds of millions of people now use this technology every day. To help overcome our ignorance, researchers are studying LLMs as if they were doing biology or neuroscience on vast living creatures--city-size xenomorphs that have appeared in our midst. And they're discovering that large language models are even weirder than they thought. The Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero has been preparing for a surgery that might never happen.

Why is the US Fed chair criminal probe causing alarm? Venezuela's defence minister has accused the United States of using the country as a "weapons laboratory" during the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on January 3. Vladimir Padrino Lopez said last week that the US had used Venezuela as a testing ground for "advanced military technologies" that rely on artificial intelligence and weaponry never used before, according to the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal. On Sunday, US President Donald Trump told the New York Post that US forces had indeed used a weapon he referred to as "the discombobulator". "I'm not allowed to talk about it," he said, adding that the weapon "made equipment not work" during the operation. Details of the US military mission to abduct Maduro have not been made public, but the US has been known to use weapons to disorient soldiers and guards or disable equipment and infrastructure in the past.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Sundance screening sparks online row: 'Sussex Squad' brand claims event failed to sell out as'lies' despite photos showing'rows of empty seats' Mick Jagger's family launch desperate hunt for missing relative: His granddaughter's partner vanishes in Cornwall after wandering streets Forensic video analysis of Alex Pretti's final 30 seconds exposes'John Wayne gun' question that can't be ignored Sinister truth about Celine Dion's song All By Myself: Singer's producer reveals bombshell secrets of her 26-year age gap marriage... that he swore not to tell until her husband René died The nastiest clique in Hollywood have had their dirty secret outed... there's no coming back from this: MAUREEN CALLAHAN Death toll climbs as monster Arctic storm paralyzes 17 states... and US faces brutal freeze warning Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo'creeped a lot of people out' says anonymous Oscar voter amid Wicked snubs John Fetterman's own WIFE turns on him over ICE as Senator comes under fire for his silence on shooting of Alex Pretti Olivia Wilde blasts'inauthentic and unrealistic' sex in modern film and claims it has'been that way for a long time' - despite featuring racy scenes in Don't Worry Darling NFL's beloved grandfather QB Philip Rivers, 44, makes final decision on Buffalo Bills head coach job Lauren Sanchez turns heads in a red skirt suit as she holds hands with billionaire husband Jeff Bezos at Schiaparelli's Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week show Sandra Bullock's Blind Side costar Quinton Aaron is'fighting for his life' in hospital after falling at home Seedy underbelly of America's exclusive golf clubs... as cart girls expose ultra-rich world of sex scandals and drunken debauchery Real estate mogul is sensationally found GUILTY of murdering football coach's son outside mall Kelly Clarkson on verge of QUITTING: Staff are all starting to say same thing backstage... as friends let slip the only way she could be convinced to stay READ MORE: Scientists warn lab-made'mirror bacteria' could wipe out mankind Lab-grown life has taken a major leap forward as scientists use AI to create a new virus that has never been seen before. The virus, dubbed Evo-Φ2147, was created by scientists from scratch using new technologies that could revolutionise the course of evolution. With just 11 genes, compared to the 200,000 in the human genome, this virus is among the simplest forms of life. However, scientists believe that the same tools could one day create entire living organisms or resurrect long-extinct species. This artificial virus was specifically created to kill infectious and potentially deadly E. Coli bacteria.

How many Syrians have returned? A ceasefire between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) appears to be largely holding, even as the two sides have accused each other of violating its terms. The army on Sunday said the SDF launched multiple drone attacks in the Aleppo countryside, while the United States-trained Kurdish forces on Monday accused the army of targeting a Kurdish-majority city near the Turkish border. An initial four-day ceasefire between the Syrian army and the SDF was extended by 15 days soon after it expired on Saturday night. The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that the SDF launched more than 25 explosive drones on the army positions in the Aleppo countryside on Sunday, breaching the newly extended ceasefire.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Sundance screening sparks online row: 'Sussex Squad' brand claims event failed to sell out as'lies' despite photos showing'rows of empty seats' Mick Jagger's family launch desperate hunt for missing relative: His granddaughter's partner vanishes in Cornwall after wandering streets Forensic video analysis of Alex Pretti's final 30 seconds exposes'John Wayne gun' question that can't be ignored Sinister truth about Celine Dion's song All By Myself: Singer's producer reveals bombshell secrets of her 26-year age gap marriage... that he swore not to tell until her husband René died The nastiest clique in Hollywood have had their dirty secret outed... there's no coming back from this: MAUREEN CALLAHAN Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo'creeped a lot of people out' says anonymous Oscar voter amid Wicked snubs John Fetterman's own WIFE turns on him over ICE as Senator comes under fire for his silence on shooting of Alex Pretti Lauren Sanchez turns heads in a red skirt suit as she holds hands with billionaire husband Jeff Bezos at Schiaparelli's Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week show Olivia Wilde blasts'inauthentic and unrealistic' sex in modern film and claims it has'been that way for a long time' - despite featuring racy scenes in Don't Worry Darling Sandra Bullock's Blind Side costar Quinton Aaron is'fighting for his life' in hospital after falling at home Seedy underbelly of America's exclusive golf clubs... as cart girls expose ultra-rich world of sex scandals and drunken debauchery Real estate mogul is sensationally found GUILTY of murdering football coach's son outside mall Kelly Clarkson on verge of QUITTING: Staff are all starting to say same thing backstage... as friends let slip the only way she could be convinced to stay Panicking realtors are drowning in unsold homes in America's'most extreme' market. They blame'the Joe Rogan effect' Doomsday Clock will be updated TOMORROW to determine our fate - here's how scientists think the hands will move READ MORE: What WILL lead to our demise? We're about to find out - as scientists prepare to update the Doomsday Clock tomorrow. The new time for the symbolic timepiece, which ticks closer to midnight as we approach annihilation, will be revealed at 15:00 GMT on 27 January. Since last year, the clock has sat at 89 seconds to midnight - the latest time in its 78-year history.