Brian Fagioli

Google Fi is the search giant's affordable MVNO cellular service, where it piggybacks off of the T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular networks. Despite being a Google service, it is actually compatible with Apple iPhone devices too. In other words, it is not an Android-only affair. While Google Fi is not wildly popular, many of its users speak favorably of the service -- it is apparently quite good.

And now, Google Fi is getting even better. You see, the search giant has introduced end-to-end encryption for phone calls -- a huge benefit for privacy. Unfortunately, there are some caveats here. For the calls to be encrypted, the speakers on the call must both be using Google Fi service -- that should be fairly obvious. However, there is one very big catch that might surprise you -- this feature is only compatible with Android devices. In other words, iPhone users with Google Fi are being left out of the encryption party.

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Samsung hasn't just announced one new Windows 11 laptop, but three of them. A trio of notebooks running Microsoft's latest desktop operating system? How exciting!

Two of these computers are traditional 15.6-inch LED 1080p laptops; one of that pair (Galaxy Book) has a touch-screen display, while the other (Galaxy Book Odyssey) does not. The third model (Galaxy Book Pro 360 5G), is a convertible with a 13.3-inch FHD AMOLED touch-screen that features 5G wireless connectivity.

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When you are a computer-builder, there are peaks and valleys when it comes to excitement about PC components. What do I mean by this? Well, sometimes you are building machines with cutting edge parts as an early adopter, while other times you are using ho-hum components that have been around a while. For instance, we have been using DDR4 memory for about seven years now... yawn!

Thankfully, the age of DDR5 is finally here. After dealing with DDR4 for so many years now, we will soon see PCs with DDR5 memory inside. One of the companies leading this industry shift is Kingston, and today that company unveils its FURY Beast DDR5 RAM. This memory is designed for use in computers powered by Intel's cutting-edge 12th generation Core processors and Z690 chipset. They should be easy to configure or overclock thanks to Intel XMP 3.0 support.

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Earlier this month, Yubico released the long-awaited biometric variant of its popular authentication dongle. Called "Yubikey Bio," it is offered with either USB-A or USB-C connectivity and features a fingerprint reader for enhanced security. Very cool.

While the Yubikey Bio looks like a great product, there is one big problem -- the price. You see, it starts at $80, making it too expensive for many consumers and businesses. Thankfully, today, Yubico launches a much more affordable product, albeit without the fancy biometrics.

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Solid state drives are obviously the future of computing, while hard disk drives are the past, right? Sort of. Despite being destined for the history books, HDDs are still a major part of the present. Why? Even though they are slower and have moving parts, HDDs still remain the better value from a cost per gigabyte perspective. SSDs will get there eventually, but for now, hard drives continue to live on.

If you are in the market for a portable hard disk drive (a 2.5-inch HDD in a USB enclosure), Silicon Power has new model that may interest you. Called "Armor A66," it is notable for being very rugged. Not only does it offer both drop and water protection, but it has a rubber USB-A cap to protect the connector. The removable USB-A to USB-A cable even conveniently attaches to the drive body when not in use to keep it from getting lost.

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The transition to PCIe Gen4 is in full effect, with more and more computers and motherboards having the new standard. Whether or not a user truly needs the benefits of PCIe 4.0 is debatable, but it is still cool regardless. After all, it is important to continually push boundaries.

One of the best aspects of PCIe 4.0 is faster solid state drives. For instance, today, Kingston launches its latest such SSD. Called "KC3000," this PCIe 4.0 NVMe is insanely fast -- it will surely delight both gamers and computer enthusiasts alike.

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Ubuntu 22.04 won't be released in stable form until 2022. To be more precise, it will be officially available in April of that year. After all, that is what the 22.04 indicates -- a two digit year followed by a two digit month.

Of course, before the official release, there will be a Beta and other pre-release versions. If you like living on the edge, however, you can actually download and install Ubuntu Linux 22.04 immediately. Yes, folks, daily builds (very early versions) of the upcoming operating system are available starting today.

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So, you bought a laptop that only has USB-C ports and now you are regretting it, eh? Yeah, I totally get it -- it's no fun having to buy dongles and adapters to connect your favorite accessories and devices. Even Apple learned its lesson and brought "legacy" ports back to the newest MacBook Pro. Thankfully, there are multiport adapters on the market that can transform a single USB-C port into several useful ports.

Today, Satechi launches its latest such product. Called "USB-C Hybrid Multiport Adapter," the portable dock offers HDMI, dual USB-A, and USB-C pass-through power delivery. But wait, what makes it a hybrid device as the name implies? Ah, that is the coolest aspect -- the adapter also serves as an M.2 solid state enclosure! Unfortunately, only SATA SSDs (such as this one) are compatible -- NVMe drives will not work. Other potential downsides? The adapter does not offer an Ethernet port or an SD card reader.

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MX is one of the most popular Linux-based desktop operating systems these days. In fact, according to DistroWatch, it has been consistently achieving the top daily hits, surpassing better-known distributions, such as Ubuntu, Debian, and more.

Today, MX Linux 21 finally becomes available as a stable release. Code-named "Wildflower," the operating system is based on Debian 11 "Bullseye" and uses Linux kernel 5.10. MX 21 is offered with the Fluxbox window manager (1.3.7) or your choice of two popular desktop environments -- KDE Plasma (5.20) and Xfce (4.16). Not sure which environment to choose? The MX-Tour will highlight them so you can make an informed decision.

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When a device or accessory is certified as "Works With Chromebook," it means that it will, well... work with Chromebooks. In other words, it is a promise or guarantee that the product is compatible with a computer running Google's Linux-based Chrome OS. With that said, many devices that aren't officially certified will work fine with Chromebooks as well. In fact, you may pay a premium for the "Works With Chromebook" certification when you really don't need to -- it is often nothing more than marketing nonsense.

Today, Acer unveils a Works-With-Chromebook-certified USB-C Dock, and the certification might actually be more than marketing-speak. Called "D501," it looks like your typical USB-C dock, and that is because it pretty much is. What makes it interesting -- other than its compatibility guarantee -- is upgradeable firmware. Yes, you can update the dock itself from within Chrome OS, and that is pretty darn cool. The dock can actually improve over time as Acer puts out updates for it.

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Solid state drives make wonderful internal boot drives for computers, but they are also great options for external storage too. Not only are they smaller than mechanical hard disk drives, but they use less power and are much quicker as well. Quite frankly, if you are someone that needs to transport data on a portable drive, you'd be crazy to still use HDD in 2021.

Today, KLEVV announces a pair of external solid state drives. Called "R1" and "S1," both drives connect using USB-C, but they can interface with USB-A ports too. While both SSDs are very fast, the S1 is faster than the R1. The former uses USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, while the latter relies on the slower USB 3.2 Gen 2.

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Is Ubuntu the best Linux-based operating system? That is a matter of opinion, but I would say no. While it is a great OS, there are other distributions that are arguably better. Is Ubuntu the most popular Linux distro? Not likely. These days, it isn't even in top five on DistroWatch.

With all of that said, new Ubuntu releases still seem to generate the most excitement in the Linux community. This is partly due to Ubuntu's name recognition, but also, there are many great distributions based on Ubuntu, such as Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, and elementary OS to name a few. Let us not forget the excellent official flavors of Ubuntu, such as the KDE Plasma-focused Kubuntu.

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Regular Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) is great, but Wi-Fi 6E is even better -- that's why many consumers wisely skipped Wi-Fi 6 and stuck with Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) a bit longer. But wait, what exactly is the difference? Does that letter "E" really matter? Actually, yes, because it indicates the use of a 6GHz band -- a much-less crowded frequency compared to 2.4GHz or 5GHz. This extra bandwidth, lower latency, and reduced congestion is why Wi-Fi 6E is so exciting. 

To truly take advantage of this new standard, you will need both a router and clients with the capability. Today, NETGEAR announces the most exciting Wi-Fi 6E system yet. Called "AXE11000 Orbi WiFi Mesh System (RBKE963)," it is a quad-band system consisting of a Wi-Fi 6E router and two 6E satellite access points. It is designed to blanket even excessively large homes with cutting-edge wireless networking. Sadly, it carries a shockingly high price tag -- this mesh system is expensive AF!

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If your stereo receiver or speaker system lacks Bluetooth connectivity, what should you do? Throw your existing stereo gear in the trash and buy something new with the wireless standard? I mean, I suppose you could, but that would be idiotic. Instead, you can simply add Bluetooth with a dongle.

Yes, such adapters exist, allowing you to add Bluetooth connectivity to wired speakers and stereos. Best of all, they are typically very simple to use. Today, StarTech.com launches a new such dongle, and it looks to be rather premium. Called "Bluetooth 5.0 Audio Receiver with NFC," not only does it offer analog connectivity, but optical output too. It even features 48KHz/24 bit sample rate support.

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All Linux distributions are not created equally. In other words, it is absolutely not correct to say "Linux is Linux." Not only are there differences under the hood with things like package managers and kernel versions, but more user-focused variations too, such as the actual desktop environment. Unlike Windows that only offers one interface, there are several for Linux-based operating systems. Ultimately, a user's Linux experience can vary wildly based on distro.

But what Linux distribution is best for a beginner? This is an impossible question to answer definitively, but to attempt to do so, it is important to first define what a "beginner" actually is. Are they a first-time computer user or more likely, a longtime Windows user looking to switch to Linux? While the former is a blank canvas, the latter has many existing computing habits and expectations. And so, looking for something that doesn't deviate far from the traditional Windows user interface.

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