Brian Fagioli

With the Linux community being rather fragmented, it’s nice to know there are some organizations that aim to unify it. The Linux Foundation is one such group that has done a lot of good for the overall community. It does a great job of bringing companies -- such as Microsoft, Samsung, and AMD, to name a few -- into the Linux fold as official foundation members.

When a company becomes a Linux Foundation member, there are different tiers that can be chosen, such as Platinum, Gold, and Silver. These levels carry different annual fees. Today, The Linux Foundation announces the newest Gold member -- Oath. If you aren’t familiar with Oath, please know it is a Verizon subsidiary that is comprised of assets such as AOL, Yahoo, and more.

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When it comes to keyboards, it can be hard for manufacturers to truly create something revolutionary. For the most part, new keyboards just get silly things like RGB lighting, because, well, everything must have lights these days, right? This lack of innovation is sort of OK, because let's be honest, folks -- existing keyboards are already rather wonderful. With that said, my colleague Mark Wycislik-Wilson recently reviewed a rather unique keyboard from AZIO that looks pretty cool.

Last year, Logitech decided to take a stab at creating an innovative new keyboard, and not surprisingly, it succeeded. I was not surprised, because that company is known for well-executed products. The innovative keyboard to which I refer is simply called "Craft" and its revolutionary aspect has nothing to do with typing. Actually, it is the useful rotating "crown" that adds additional control over compatible apps. Unfortunately, that was the rub -- only a small number of apps (albeit great ones such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop) were supported. Today, however, Logitech announces support for even more apps like Adobe Lightroom Classic CC and Quicktime. Arguably more significant, there is now an official SDK on GitHub.

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As the maker of Windows, Office, and Xbox, Microsoft is undoubtedly against software piracy. When people pirate its games and other software, it arguably takes money out of the company’s pockets.

Believe it or not though, Microsoft is actually promoting piracy! No, not software piracy, but traditional piracy, like with actual pirates. Well, the historical/make-believe type at least. You know, peg legs, eye patches, parrots and such. You see, today it announces the Xbox One S Sea Of Thieves Bundle.

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Back in the day, external storage capacity was quite minuscule compared to what is on the market now. Believe it or not, there was once a time where a 1.44 MB floppy was seen as huge. Zip disks eventually brought 100MB, while optical media delivered even more. USB flash drives and memory cards started out low on capacity, but these days, they offer hundreds of gigabytes in tiny form factors. Modern flash media doesn't just offer a ton of capacity, but super speed too.

Today, SanDisk -- a Western Digital company -- announces the 400GB Extreme UHS-I microSDXC card. What really makes this card special, however, is not its capacity, but its speed. The company claims it is the world's fastest UHS-I card. How fast is it? It offers 160MB/s read speed. Write performance is less impressive at "just" 90MB/s.

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Sadly, YouTube has a problem with cancerous content and fake news these days, but it is still a great platform for family-friendly creators too. Ultimately, Google’s video platform remains a staple on the web despite recent controversies. Thankfully, the company is working hard to fight against this deluge of negative content.

One of the best aspects of YouTube is the live streaming functionality. This allows content creators to better interact with fans by providing a live environment -- not just pre-recorded and edited videos. Today, Google announces that it is making live streaming even better, with things like IFTTT (If This, Then That) support for Super Chats and the ability to add location tags to streams.

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The days when smartphone announcements were exciting are long gone. While there used to be new features about which to get excited, the market has transitioned to an evolutionary one. Once a year, we are treated to better processors, cameras, and other specifications. I hate to say this, but it is much like the PC market and its ho-hum yearly reveals. A new Intel Core generation? Yawn! When you upgrade your smartphone these days, you really aren't getting a new experience.

While that all sounds depressing, it is arguably a good thing. Look, smartphones are great, and maybe now consumers can be satisfied with what they already have rather than constantly looking to upgrade. As an example, today, Samsung announces its latest and greatest Android flagships -- the Galaxy S9 and S9+. They look great, but that is probably because aesthetically, they are almost identical to their predecessors. In fact, no one with an S8 or S8+ should even bother considering an upgrade.

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Nowadays, many manufacturers seem to think all speakers should contain a virtual assistant. Yeah, having Siri, Cortana, Google, or Alexa can be convenient, but not everyone wants one of them integrated into their speakers. From a privacy perspective, these always-listening assistants can be a nightmare. Not to mention, these virtual "beings" can complicate something that should be very straightforward and relaxing -- listening to music. The largely panned (non-portable) $350 HomePod, for instance, doesn't currently support Bluetooth and only works with Apple Music.

That's one of the reasons I was intrigued by the JBL Boombox -- no gosh darn integrated assistant or lock-in. As the name implies, it is a throwback to boomboxes of yesteryear, but it is on a much higher level. Rather than play cassettes, CD, or FM radio, it connects with Bluetooth so you can play tunes from your smartphone, tablet, or other device. Because it has a handle, you can walk down the street while blasting your favorite music or just easily transport it between locations. Be warned -- it is quite heavy.

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When it comes to art, some people paint. Other people write music. PC builders express themselves artistically too, by creating beautiful computers. If you don’t think PC building can be art, you are quite mistaken.

One of the most important components of a PC build is the case. True, it doesn’t make much of an impact on performance, but a well designed chassis can technically improve cooling. Ultimately, having an aesthetically pleasing case does matter, as it can make the PC user happy. Today, CORSAIR launches a drool-worthy full ATX case called "Obsidian Series 500D."

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The best smartphone experience that one can have is the iPhone. Not only are Apple's devices well made, but iOS is a spectacular operating system that gets consistent updates. The top model is the iPhone X, and its starting price is a sky-high $999. If you can afford spending that much, more power to you. Let's be honest though -- despite being a great product, a thousand dollars for a phone is just insane.

How crazy is the iPhone X price? Well, for comparison, today, BLU announces a flagship Android flagship called "VIVO X" that costs just $299.99 (currently $249 at Amazon). Yes, you can pretty much buy four of these devices for the same price as the base model iPhone X. Blu's phone is no slouch either -- it has a 6-inch display, an Octa-Core processor, and 4GB of RAM. Unlike the iPhone X, it has a fingerprint reader. Photographers will appreciate that it has a total of four cameras -- two on the rear, and two in the front for selfies. Even the battery is impressive -- a monstrous 4,010mAh with fast-charging technology!

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You don’t truly appreciate a Logitech mouse until you try a bad model from another brand. While some other companies make quality mice too, many models on the market are terrible. I will sometimes buy a cheap mouse from a lesser-known company on, say, Amazon.com, and I'll almost always be disappointed. Why do I bother? I’m a sucker for a "sale". These poor quality mice often have lousy tracking, and even worse, problematic clicks -- nothing frustrates me more than having a click go unregistered. Grrr!

Logitech’s M235C portable mouse is a classic -- a no nonsense product that will last a long time. It is reliable, affordable, and comfortable. This wireless mouse can be a lot of fun too, as Logitech often releases it in specialty colors and designs. Today, the company unveils the 2018 Art Collection for that mouse. These designs aren’t new, however -- it is a "best of" collection of artistic designs from years past, such as Purple Peace and Black Taboo.

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Solid state drives are much faster than mechanical hard drives. From a capacity perspective, however, the old-school hard drives typically offer more storage space. It is for this reason that many individuals and businesses still rely on hard disk drives for larger backups.

Today, Samsung throws all logic out of the window by announcing it is mass producing a solid state drive with monstrous capacity. The "PM1643," as it is called, offers an insane 30.72TB of storage space! This is achieved by using 32 x 1TB NAND flash.

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Windows Phone can be chalked up as yet another failure for Microsoft. Consumers hated it, and as a result, developers avoided it. It joins other disastrous Microsoft projects like Windows RT, Kin, and Zune in the graveyard.

If you are still clinging to a device running Windows Phone 7.5 or 8.0, I feel sorry for you. Your phone is already terrible, but on February 20, it will get even worse. You see, Microsoft is killing push notification services.

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If you have a new 4K TV, one of the best complementary devices you can buy is the Xbox One X. Not only can it play UHD streaming content, but it supports 4K Blu-ray too -- something the PlayStation 4 lacks. Best of all, Microsoft's newest console variant can handle 4K gaming -- yet another thing Sony's gaming machine fails to do.

Anyone with $500 can score an Xbox One X -- that's a basic move. If you really want to be the envy of your friends, a limited edition version of the console is what you want. Microsoft is currently running a giveaway for some extremely limited Xbox One Machines. You see, to celebrate the Air Jordan 3 sneaker (for whatever reason) the Windows-maker is giving away three unique consoles. There are three styles, but only one of each is being produced. In other words, these Air Jordan Xbox One X consoles are about as rare as they come.

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In 2016, I bought my very first Mac -- a beautiful MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. Since then, the laptop and I have been inseparable. The computer comes with me when I go to, say, a coffee shop, but it also serves as my desktop when I am home by connecting to a large monitor, keyboard, and mouse. In other words, I love the computer, but also, I really admire macOS.

When I first began using the Mac, I downloaded a bunch of software I thought I would enjoy. As a big Twitter user, I obviously installed the official app for that social network. You know what? It sucked. I tried to make it work, but ultimately, using a web browser was just a much better experience. On any desktop operating system, users are wise to use a browser. Let's be honest -- Twitter apps are best saved for smartphones and tablets. Twitter the company apparently agrees, as today, it officially kills the Mac app.

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Samsung makes excellent products -- it cannot be denied. While the company is probably best known for its wildly popular Android smartphones, the Galaxy-maker is much more than that. You can pretty much outfit your entire home with Samsung appliances and electronics -- televisions, Blu-ray players, refrigerators, washing machines, and more.

Where Samsung doesn't shine as brightly is with computers. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying the company makes bad Windows 10 laptops and Chromebooks -- quite the contrary -- but consumers are probably more likely to think of companies like Dell, Lenovo, and Acer for this market. Samsung has seemingly been trying to change this, however, as it has been pumping out some beautiful machines. Today, the company announces that its anticipated trio of Windows 10 laptops -- the Notebook 9 Pen, the Notebook 9 (2018), and Notebook 7 Spin (2018) -- will finally hit stores on February 18.

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