Acer just unveiled its latest gaming PC range, the Predator Orion 7000, and along with all the usual internal hardware options you might expect, the company has offered up an extra feature that is a new one to us. This new Acer gaming PC includes a pop-out, hot-swappable SSD. With Acer's Orion 5000 already our top pick for the best gaming PC you can buy - as a pre-made system that it - the Orion 7000 will no doubt deliver the sort of balance of performance and affordability as its brethren. However, it's really the swappable SSD that's the intriguing bit here. Continue reading Acer’s new Orion 7000 gaming PC has a hot-swappable SSD MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best gaming monitor

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge A coalition of consumer protection and anti-waste groups wants the Federal Trade Commission to go after “software tethering,” or the practice of tying hardware’s functionality to external software — which often renders products unusable after software updates stop. The groups, including Consumer Reports, iFixIt, US PIRG, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Economic Justice, and Californians Against Waste, have signed onto a letter asking the FTC to “create clear guidance” on software tethering. “While the FTC has taken some limited actions with regard to this issue, a lack of clarity and enforcement has led to an ecosystem where consumers cannot reliably count on the connected products they buy to last,” the letter reads. T... Continue reading…

The Voice Mate H1 is a small button-like microphone you lift to activate and then can issue smart home commands to. | Image: Aqara Smart home company Aqara has announced the Voice Mate H1 — a home automation voice control system activated by picking up a small puck rather than its microphone always listening for its wake word. The company is also launching its first outdoor camera, the Camera Hub G5 Pro, which, like its other cameras, will work with Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video. These products, along with a new garage door controller, smart valve shut-off device, and new smart switches (for Europe only), were announced at the IFA tech show this week. Aqara hasn’t provided pricing or availability yet. While smart speakers and phones with built-in voice assistants are easy ways to control your smart home, by design, they are always listening for their wake word.... Continue reading…

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Netflix The Verge spoke with Bill Gates about AI, misinformation, and climate change. Continue reading…

On Wednesday night, former President Donald Trump had hoped to be facing off against Kamala Harris during a 2024 presidential debate hosted by Fox News. But Joe Biden's taciturn vice president was a no-show,…

An upcoming hearing convened by the University of Wisconsin’s Board of Regents will make a final decision about whether a professor and former chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse will…

[Craving even more FPM content? Sign up for FPM+ to unlock exclusive series, virtual town-halls with our authors, and more. Click here to sign up.] There are two Kamalas: one real and one fake. Like…

[Craving even more FPM content? Sign up for FPM+ to unlock exclusive series, virtual town-halls with our authors, and more. Click here to sign up.] The new academic year has scarcely begun, and Hamas…

Former President Donald Trump spoke about a wide range of issues Wednesday during a town hall event that was initially scheduled to be a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.  The event was in…

        ERIE, Pennsylvania -- The chaser last Wednesday in Sen. JD Vance's (R-Ohio) trip to this all-important county in the northwestern corner of Pennsylvania came when the Republican…