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Acer accidentally listed RTX 5050 GPUs in some gaming laptopsThe spilled details showed power usage and clock speedsWe didn’t get any other specs shared, though, and chatter about the desktop variant of the RTX 5050 has gone quiet, tooAcer has leaked the Nvidia RTX 5050 mobile GPU, giving us a glimpse of some of the key specs of this laptop graphics card.Not so long ago, Nvidia introduced RTX 5060 models (the 5060 Ti spin came first), and before those arrived, there were rumors flying around about them and the RTX 5050, too.While the RTX 5050 hasn’t been officially announced, we’ve been seeing numerous leaks about it recently. VideoCardz reports that the latest leak comes from Acer, courtesy of a list of GPU specs for Predator and Nitro gaming laptops.This mentioned an RTX 5050 in quite a few of the Nitro notebooks, and I use the past tense there because Acer has caught the error and deleted the offending listings – but not before VideoCardz took a screenshot as evidence. Other sources have also taken note, so this is likely genuine – although still take it with a grain of salt, as with all rumors.We can see from this screengrab that Acer is set to offer the RTX 5050 in five different power options, ranging from 50W up to 100W, with correspondingly faster clock speeds for each, from 1500MHz up to 2550MHz. Note that there’ll also be an ‘Acer OC’ (overclocked) boost of 15W with these models, meaning the most powerful model will be able to provide 115W in a pinch.Sadly, we don’t see any specifications other than power usage and clocks, which are tied together in a direct relationship – the faster the clocks are pushed, the more wattage the GPU will consume.Analysis: A laptop RTX 5050 feels imminent – but what about the desktop model?(Image credit: Peter Hoffmann)The specs we see here don’t give us much of a clue as to how powerful the RTX 5050 will theoretically be. That said, the maximum power envelope advertised is quite substantial at 115W, but we don’t know enough about this mobile GPU to draw any definitive conclusions. Key factors will include the core count, which isn’t disclosed, and the type of video memory (VRAM) used.I should note that on the latter front, there were rumors that Nvidia could opt for slower GDDR6 VRAM, rather than the GDDR7 employed elsewhere with the Blackwell generation. However, more recent rumors have suggested Nvidia will stick with GDDR7 (8GB of this VRAM, which is an expected configuration for an entry-level GPU).At any rate, what this apparent mistake from Acer does indicate is that the RTX 5050 laptop graphics card could be close to arriving, otherwise it wouldn’t be popping up on spec sheets – and this is backed up by the fact that we’ve had a lot of leaks around this GPU recently. Indeed, one of those mentioned a planned launch date of Q2 for the RTX 5050, and so a June release appears to be a distinct possibility at this point.In other words, we might be seeing the revelation of the Nvidia RTX 5050 for laptops in the next week or two. What about the desktop RTX 5050? Yes, it’s rumored Nvidia is going to produce a desktop flavor of this bottom-tier Blackwell GPU, which runs counter to what happened with the previous Lovelace generation (there was no desktop RTX 4050, only a laptop variant).However, any gossip around the desktop RTX 5050 seems to have dried up, giving me pause for thought on whether Nvidia might have abandoned that idea, at least for the time being. Or maybe it was never happening in the first place; we never know with rumors.I’m really hoping Nvidia can provide a more affordable desktop GPU for budget gaming PCs this time around, though, but whether that’ll actually happen is something I’ve always been doubtful about. Simply because of how Nvidia has neglected the budget end of the graphics card spectrum in more recent times.You might also likeNvidia confirms another black screen bug, and it’s a nasty one hitting RTX 5060 GPUs this time – but a fix has been rushed outRumored Nvidia RTX 5080 Super specs disappoint some gamers, but I don’t think there’s anything to worry about with this GPUAMD could be working on a faster RX 9070 Extreme graphics card

Life360, a family locator app, said today that it has fully integrated the object-tracking features of Tile into its own platform. The Life360 app can now set up and manage Tile trackers, deliver notifications when an item gets left behind and provide real-time location updates for the trackers in addition to its usual features for managing family members' safety.

Life360 announced its acquisition of Tile for $205 million way back in 2021. At the time of the purchase, Life360 said Tile would continue to operate independently, but it has still been a long time coming for the two businesses to fully integrate with each other's offerings. In that time, Tile has faced challenges from competitors that have more resources at their back, such as Apple and AirTags. It was also subject to a cyberattack last year where hackers obtained customers' names, addresses, email addresses and other personal information.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/years-after-acquiring-tile-life360-has-integrated-the-trackers-into-its-app-205111206.html?src=rss

Microsoft has a grand vision of Windows Update delivering updates for all software installed on the PCThis is mainly aimed at the business world to begin with, but there’s no reason why consumers won’t eventually benefit as wellDevelopers will need to be persuaded to hook up their apps to Microsoft’s new unified delivery platform, thoughMicrosoft plans to have Windows 11 itself handle all software updates via the Windows Update system, or that appears to be the idea for the future.The Verge spotted a Microsoft blog post that outlined a vision of the “unified future for app updates on Windows,” as penned by product manager Angie Chen.While this is a post on the IT Pro blog, and as such it’s targeted at IT admins and organizations, as Microsoft pushes forward in this direction, there’s no reason why consumers won’t benefit from this too.This is surely the plan, even if it isn’t mentioned explicitly, as the post announces that a private preview of the new system is now kicking off, which any app developer can join to start getting their software ready for Microsoft’s brave new world of updates.As it stands now, Windows Update provides relevant updates for the operating system itself (of course) and related frameworks, as well as drivers sometimes. When it comes to individual apps – or suites of software – you are reliant on the developer to deliver these through their own mechanisms.Microsoft wants to change this by introducing a “Windows-native update orchestration platform” that allows any app developer to make use of Windows Update to deliver patches for their software alongside regular Windows 11 updates.As Microsoft explains, there are several benefits to working in this way, not the least of which is that it keeps things simple and streamlined to get all your updates from one source.Additionally, you’ll be able to view a history of all updates across your entire PC via the update history in the Windows 11 Settings app. Furthermore, developers will be able to use the operating system’s powers in terms of deciding when to apply updates, such as obeying the user's or admin’s time windows for updating, for example.Analysis: A sensible path forward(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)All this makes some sense, and the convenience of combining all updates under one hub managed by Windows itself is surely taking a step forward.After all, with updates reliant on the delivery methods of individual software developers, it can be easy to fall behind, especially if the update mechanism is tucked away somewhere and doesn’t happen automatically. Or indeed, if you don’t run a piece of software for ages, it could be hanging around in the background in a miserably unpatched state.With Windows Update handling all this, you’d be on top of your software updates consistently, at least in theory. That said, cynics might be quick to pounce on the reliability of Windows Update.Failed installations of updates are not exactly uncommon and are reported with some regularity. However, remember that these are updates for Windows 11 itself – more complex, knotty OS upgrades – and small app updates are unlikely to suffer any such wrinkles. And whether they do, or not, will presumably be down to the devs anyway, to a large extent.It’s worth noting that you do get updates piped through to Windows apps automatically with software installed via the Microsoft Store, but of course, far from every developer wants to use that store.Worried about app support, and some software being left out? Every base should be covered, with support for all common app types (not just Microsoft’s own creations, such as MSIX apps), as outlined in the blog post.However, there could still be a catch here, namely that it’s up to software developers to use Microsoft’s new platform. And nothing is forcing them to hook up to the system, so will they bother?That’s the multi-million-dollar question, but from my perspective, it all seems a sensible enough idea. While this may be a plan targeting the business world initially, I can envision a broader move towards this model of Windows updates for all kinds of app developers eventually. And as more make the leap, others could be persuaded to follow…You might also like...Hate Copilot? You might change your mind if this hint that it’ll extend your laptop’s battery life is trueCan’t upgrade to Windows 11? This Linux project wants to save your old PC from the scrapheap when Windows 10 support endsBeen hiding from Windows 11 24H2 due to the fuss about all the bugs? There’s nowhere to run now as Microsoft’s made the update compulsory