Tech

Why it feels like right-wing ICE narratives are dominating social media

Published

3 months ago

31 January 2026

In the hours and days after news and videos spread of the ICE shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis last week, a small army of right-wing, pro-Trump creators, journalists, and influencers descended on the city and flooded social media.

They filmed protests; rode along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection; documented — and at times seemingly instigated — confrontations with protesters; and worked a competing, ICE- and Trump-friendly narrative out of what was happening in Minneapolis. From the ground, they churned out content painting protesters as lawless, demonstrations as riots, and anti-ICE activists as extremists or criminals. Outside of the state, right-wing influencers and large social media accounts amplified these videos, posts, and descriptions to reach much wider audiences.

Right-wing content creators, influencers, and journalists have descended on Minneapolis in the wake of the death of Renee Good by an ICE officer.
Social media tracking shows that the right has rapidly tried to flood internet platforms with pro-ICE, Trump-friendly coverage. Their content has largely received more views than left-leaning content.
These trends show how effective right-leaning content creators have been in muddying online discourse.
Left-leaning creators and critics are at a disadvantage online in competing with this flood of content.

So far, this effort appears to have muddied the conversation around Good’s killing and Minneapolis residents’ response to President Donald Trump’s ICE surge — at least among right-leaning audiences. (Polling this week shows the videos and shooting have broken through to an overwhelming share of Americans, and majorities of Americans do not believe the shooting was justified, or think the ICE agent who shot Good should be criminally charged.)

But social media analytics show that these right-wing influencers have been effective in flooding the zone — producing large volumes of content and drawing viewers.

To log onto social media platforms now is to not only see the videos and outrage, but also constant counter-narratives, attempts to justify Good’s killing, and arguments that ICE’s presence in Minneapolis is warranted.

And that reveals a deeper imbalance in American politics and media in 2026: While witness video, mainstream and traditional news, and liberal commentators have shaped part of the debate over ICE and Trump’s domestic immigration agenda, these critical voices and activists lack the same kind of distribution machine to push their narrative that those on the right have used to some effect.

In that sense, the Minneapolis shooting’s disjointed online realities fit into a familiar problem for liberals, the American left, and the broader anti-Trump coalition since 2020 — just as they lacked their own version of a Joe Rogan or Charlie Kirk to reach the masses or compete for hearts and minds, they also lack the influencer and social media infrastructure that has been churning out ICE-friendly content since at least the summer of 2025.

There are several reasons why.

What right-wing content creators have been able to do

To understand what’s happening online and measure how effective right-wing creators have been since January 7, the day of Good’s shooting, I turned to data researchers at Magnitude Media, a communications and digital media firm that tracks the spread of right, neutral, and left-leaning posts and videos online. Their findings complicate what many users may be seeing in their own feeds.

Over the last week, left-leaning, ICE-critical posts have made up the largest share of all posts on immigration or ICE as a topic. They’ve received more engagement from social media users (about 110 million interactions compared to 76 million for right-leaning posts) and have dominated on TikTok, Instagram, and Bluesky.

“Left-leaning pages have received 29 million more engagements than right-leaning pages on posts related to immigration or ICE according to our tracking, and 37 million more engagements on posts that directly mention Renee Good, Jonathan Ross, or Minneapolis,” Carly Evans, the director of analytics at Magnitude Media, told me. “Right-leaning pages began to close this gap over the weekend and even led on Friday and Saturday, but as of Monday, left-leaning pages were still generating 37 percent more engagement on immigration-related posts than right-leaning pages.”

In other words, the narrative promoted by the Trump administration and its allies— and reinforced by some algorithms — does not fully match reality.

If you look at trends, you begin to understand why that’s so. This left-leaning domination online only lasted for roughly a day and a half before right-wing content creation began to ramp up. Magnitude’s tracking shows that by January 9, engagements by right-leaning content began to close the gap, while views of right-leaning content began to surge past left-leaning content (Magnitude defines “engagement” as total clicks, likes, or shares, while “views” are the number of times a piece of content was seen, and are not “unique views”).

Before Good’s death, some right-wing creators were already active in Minnesota, for example, by “investigating” cases of alleged fraud in the state that had already attracted media attention before the killing of Good. But many more have arrived over the last week, interviewing ICE agents, boosting the Trump administration’s defense of ICE’s tactics, and documenting intense moments as the city grapples with the federal government’s presence in the region.

The result is a disproportionate volume of content produced and shared across social media by the biggest right-leaning content creators, even if engagement with their content isn’t necessarily keeping pace with that volume.

Vox analyzed the top 20 brands or usernames driving this dynamic. A handful of right-leaning users dominate the top of this chart, and their content performs well: The most effective of these are Nick Sortor, one of the right-wing influencers on the ground in Minneapolis; and Eric Daugherty, a Trump-friendly journalist whose accounts regularly boost Republican or conservative media clips, social media posts, or raw video from Minneapolis from influencers like Sortor.

More recently, the gap between right and left has narrowed for both engagement and views of immigration- and ICE-related content. But the right-wing apparatus is still fully operational, and more advanced than how it was working during ICE operations in other American cities last year.

Why liberals and the left are at such a disadvantage

What the last few months of viral ICE videos and content production reinforces is the uphill battle critics of the administration still face when trying to match the right’s social media presence. You can broadly explain this in two ways: individual incentives and structural advantages.

Individually, right-wing content creators have more experience showing up wherever action is taking place or is about to take place. They may have financial incentives or ideological motivations, and they have a willingness to take risks and put themselves in high intensity situations — as Sortor, right-wing journalist Cam Higby, and influencer Nick Shirley have done and broadcast. With allies in the administration, they may not be as open to physical injury or legal risk as ICE critics, traditional or independent journalists, or protesters themselves. Instead of being vilified by the vice president, the secretary of Homeland Security and her spokespeople, or by other right-wing influencers, these content creators get moral support and boosts online.

But the structural disadvantages are also severe, experts told me. These right-wing influencers, creators, and journalists benefit from not just being partners with the administration, but from the administration itself encouraging ICE agents to function as content producers, or dedicating money to be spent on partnerships with pro-ICE creators.

Then there’s access. In Minneapolis, DHS agents have offered the same kind of ride-along privileges to friendly or allied creators that they’ve offered at the border or in other American cities last year. The same kind of access has not been extended to other reporters in Minneapolis, so independent or left-leaning journalists have instead countered with ride-along style reporting with community activists, as Zeteo News’ Prem Thakker did this week.

Beyond this, there’s also a bigger, financial and network asymmetry at work here: funding for this kind of coverage and reach on social media and independent outlets isn’t comparable on the left to what exists on the right.

“The right is just way better funded,” Ryan Broderick, the founder of Garbage Media, an independent new media company that specializes in covering politics and the internet, told me. He was on the ground last week after the ICE killing of Good, covering ICE agents, protests, and the right-wing journalists and influencers who descended on the city. “They’re making money either on their own or they’re making money from powerful donors,” Broderick said. “The far-right groyper kind of live streamers that I was following around, they were there for at least a week and they’re still there. They have a lot more resources in that way.”

Sure enough, a look at X, YouTube, Threads, or TikTok still shows fresh, newly updated content from the Higbys, Sortors, or Shirleys of the internet.

“There’s also not really a great place for ‘leftist’ or ‘anti-ICE’ content creators to actually share their footage and make money,” Broderick told me.

He mentioned a few outlets that are doing on-the-ground coverage in a style similar to what right-wing content creators are doing, like Minnesota-based Mercado Media or independent journalist Amanda Moore. But these kinds of creators and journalists are limited in their scope or reach on social media platforms, he said.

“If you’re going to film anything, you are putting it on YouTube, you’re putting it on TikTok, you’re putting on X, and those platforms are just not hospitable to that kind of content,” Broderick said. “We were able to go, because we are in a partnership for our podcast with Courier News and they have more resources than we do, but I don’t think I could have bankrolled this myself. It’s not like we’re going to make money off of it the way that a right-wing YouTuber can immediately monetize it.”

Broderick also noted that one other disadvantage is the brazenness and willingness of right-wing social media accounts to take neutral or raw video footage from street scenes and edit or reshare it in a way that “makes people look crazy. So even if you are just a journalist and you’re sharing what’s happening on the ground, your stuff is going to go the most viral when it’s weaponized by the right.”

More broadly, this phenomenon fits into a broader challenge for the left. As was shown by the influence of podcasters in 2024 and Charlie Kirk and conservative youth organizations over the last few years, the left and liberals in America lack a lot of the same resources and reach that the American right has. In moments like this, in the aftermath of Good’s killing, the lack of this kind of social media apparatus makes it harder to contest the narratives that Trump and his allies are trying to force on the nation.

So, newsrooms, independent creators, and activists have the deck stacked against them in trying to stay on this story, keep up attention, and push for accountability. But until the anti-Trump coalition is able to muster the resources and agents to compete with the right’s own apparatus, political debates and discussions will continue to be clouded by mess, right-wing slop, and propaganda.

“Nothing on the left that is the same in size online as the right,” Broderick said. “There’s just not a way right now anymore to create the same amount of content that the right wing can create at the same level and get the same eyeballs because this has been a years in the making process. There are obviously leftist streamers, but even Hasan Piker is not that big compared to anyone of his size or notoriety on the right. You can’t really compare.”

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Tech

LEGO-Inspired Sim Racing Dash Box Looks Like Something from a Real Rally Car

Published

1 minute ago

17 April 2026

NewsAdmin

LEGO Sim Racing Dash Box Modular
Xshift created a modular racing dash box for simulators that simply clicks together like a set of puzzle pieces, each held in place by a magnet. Each element has its own set of controls and readouts, and they all connect to a central unit for stability and data collection. The end result is a fully equipped control panel that is just as detailed as a real rally vehicle cockpit.

To finalize the design, Xshift began with some initial Photoshop sketches to ensure that the look, feel, and details were just correct. They then used 3DS Max to make accurate replicas of every button, dial, and screen, taking real-world measurements with their trusty calipers to ensure that every last detail was spot on. The printed parts were then sent to the 3D printer, where they were reinforced to withstand the subsequent sanding and painting. Meanwhile, the acrylic sheets were laser cut and then glued with a sophisticated carbon fiber wrap for a truly polished look.

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LEGO Sim Racing Dash Box Modular
The ESP32-S3 circuit board is at the heart of the system, handling all of the inputs and outputs without the need for any additional components. To keep things orderly, the buttons and switches are placed in a grid, allowing you to get twelve controllers from only seven pins, while the rotary encoders have their own dedicated wires for clean signals. There are also optocouplers to keep the 12-volt LED buttons isolated from the rest of the board and prevent electrical noise from entering. Xshift even created a unique PCB from scratch, using Fusion 360 to ensure it has a firm ground plane and all of the necessary manual traces to keep everything functioning properly.

LEGO Sim Racing Dash Box Modular
The beauty of it is that you can simply remove a module and replace it with another when necessary. One module features a large LCD screen that displays your current gear selection and lap times in real time from the simulator program. If you want more information, you may add some supplementary LCD screens or even a strip of LEDs to display your RPM gauge (or leave it off completely if you’re driving an electric vehicle). The dials and switches control everything from radio settings to pit stops, with a single button press providing fast reaction.

LEGO Sim Racing Dash Box Modular
On the software side, Xshift connected all of this hardware to multiple sim racing titles using SimHub, and they even went to the bother of designing a bespoke dashboard interface in Photoshop that refreshes in real time with all of the game’s statistics. They employed some complex JavaScript expressions to connect each static graphic element to the live data feeds, ensuring that your screens always reflect exactly what’s happening on the track. He designed the circuitry on the microcontroller to handle button presses, encoder spins, and LED patterns with no lag, all before they finished the matrix scanning as well as input tests.

LEGO Sim Racing Dash Box Modular
When you put it all together, you have a really neat item that fits nicely on your sim rig. The magnets hold everything in place, but you can still remove a portion when you need to change it out for something else. If you’re feeling daring, you can even download all of the files from the Xshift Patreon page and build your own at home, replete with every 3D model, laser-cut template, PCB layout, and code snippet you’ll require. The end result is a cockpit that seems like it just came out of the factory, yet with plenty of room for you to customize and future-proof your setup.
[Source]

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Tech

How to watch American Gladiators reboot online from anywhere

Published

14 minutes ago

17 April 2026

NewsAdmin

The UK Gladiators series 3 wrapped up recently on March 28, with George McDonald and Emily Bell emerging as winners. But if you’re already missing the thrill of everyday people taking on highly trained athletes, American Gladiators (2026) reboot is here with a fresh 10-episode series.

The format is as gladiator-esque as ever, with everyday contestants going head-to-head against 16 elite athletes – both men and women – in a series of intense physical challenges, all for not just bragging rights but also a whopping $100,000 prize.

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Fire TV gets a new look, plus new lifestyle TVs, Fire TV Stick HD and Alexa+ updates

Published

27 minutes ago

17 April 2026

NewsAdmin

There’s a big Fire TV update coming and it’s going to affect a boatload of products, so take a deep breath as there’s plenty to get through here.

But in short, we have a new TV, a revised and streamlined interface, a new Fire TV streaming stick and wider availability for (the still in Early Access) Alexa+.

The All New Fire TV Experience (again)

All New Fire TV Experience 2026 — Image Credit (Amazon)

First off, there’s a new, redesigned Fire TV experience, launching six years after the first big redesign. Amazon says the new Fire TV interface will be “cleaner, faster, and better organised for customers”.

Categories have been added so viewers can “more easily” see their movies, TV shows, news, live content and sports. Amazon says it’s also 30% faster to use than the previous version.

In the next few weeks Amazon will also roll out its Fire TV Channels section that will allow customers to dive into latest content about stuff they’re interested in, whether that be sports, music videos, comedy, lifestyle and more. Its free to view and supported by ads. Simply turn on a Fire TV device, head to Fire TV Channels and you’ll find what’s trending across your favourite topics.

And with the World Cup 2026 on the horizon, Amazon is introducing a new football hub with the new Fire TV Experience that’ll allow viewers to keep up to speed with their teams as well as take them directly to watch live games through their local providers. Expect the hub to come back in different forms based on major global sporting events.

Alexa+ is here to help

A quick note on Alexa+. While it’s still in Early Access stage, Alexa+ on Fire TV will be officially available in the UK on compatible devices.

So if you have the new Fire TV Stick HD or Ember Artline lifestye TV, she’ll be there to answer any question or start a conversation about what you want to watch.

The slimmest and fastest Fire TV Stick HD

Amazon Fire TV Stick HD 2026 — Image Credit (Amazon)

Amazon’s enty-level Fire TV Stick is getting an upgrade. After the Select joined the Fire TV Stick roster in 2025, the HD model is getting a revised version.

It’s smaller in volume and width than the previous models, and can run on your TV’s USB port without the need for a separate power adapter. Not only does it mean it can fit more neatly behind a TV, but it should make it more accessible for taking on your travels as well.

This new version is also 30% faster than the previous models, which in layman’s terms should make for a faster powering up process and apps opening up quicker too.

In the coming months Amazon will be adding a new Adaptive Display setting to the Fire TV Stick HD, an accessibility feature that makes text, menus, and content easier to see and navigate.

It can increase the size of smaller items like text and menus while “scaling up” larger items such as content artwork to create a more balanced browsing experience. Users can also choose from multiple size options to create an experience that works best for them.

You can pre-order the Fire TV Stick HD now, priced at £39.99, with shipping starting on April 29th.

Amazon saunters into the lifestyle market with Ember Artline

Amazon Ember Artline light — Image Credit (Amazon)

Finally, there’s a new lifestyle TV joining Amazon’s TV range. The Ember Artline works in similar fashion to the Samsung Frame and Hisense Canvas, offering a “global” collection of over 2000 curated art pieces at no extra cost beyond what you pay for the TV.

The selection includes Impressionist classics to more contemporary photography, and there’s an AI function called “Match the Room” that aims to make it easier to find artwork that matches your TV’s surroundings. Also, the Ember Artline comes with one of 10 frame colours to choose from at checkout, so you’re not stuck with a boring black frame.

The introduction of the Ember Artline, along with the “All New Fire TV Experience”, will also be part of the Amazon’s rebrand of its TVs. No longer will they be called Amazon Fire TVs. The latest generation will now be known as the Amazon Ember TVs.

The Ember Artline TV comes in 55- and 65-inch sizes, priced at £949 and £1199 respectively. You can pre-order today with the TVs expected to ship on May 7th.

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IEEE Connects Hardware Startups With Investors

Published

45 minutes ago

16 April 2026

NewsAdmin

Roughly 90 percent of hard tech startups fail due to funding constraints, longer R&D timelines for developing hardware, and the complexity of manufacturing their products, according to a number of studies.

Generally, these startups require up to 50 percent more investor financing than software ones, according to a Medium article. Typically, they need at least US $30 million, according to a Lucid article. That’s double the funding needed by software companies on average.

To help them connect with investors, IEEE Entrepreneurship in 2024 launched its Hard Tech Venture Summits. The two-day events connect founders with potential investors and other entrepreneurs. Attendees include manufacturers, design engineers, and intellectual property lawyers.

“Even though there are a lot of startup investor conferences, it’s hard to find those focused on hard tech,” says Joanne Wong, who helped initiate the program and is now the chair. She is a general partner at Redds Capital, a California-based venture capital firm that invests in global early-stage IT startups.

The IEEE member is also an entrepreneur. She founded SciosHub in 2020. The company’s software-as-a-service and informatics platform automates the data-management process for biomedical research labs.

“Many investors are focused on AI software—which is good,” she says. “But for hard tech companies, it is still hard to find support.”

The summit also includes a workshop to help founders navigate manufacturing processes and regulatory compliance. The event is open to IEEE members and others.

IEEE is a natural fit for the program, Wong says, because hard tech is synonymous with electrical engineering.

“Some of the domains we’re covering are robotics, semiconductors, and aerospace technology. IEEE has societies for all these fields,” she says. “Because of that, there are many resources within the organizations for startups, whether it be mentors or guides on how to commercialize products.”

There are several venture summits planned for this year. Two are scheduled in collaboration with the IEEE Systems Council: this month in Menlo Park, Calif., and in October in Toronto.

On 10 and 11 June, a third summit is scheduled to take place in Boston at the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society’s International Microwave Symposium.

More events are being planned for next year in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America.

Networking and a pitch competition

Each summit includes keynote speakers, followed by networking roundtables. Each table is composed of people from three to five startups, one or two investors, and a service provider.

That arrangement helps founders build relationships, which is the summit organizers’ priority, Wong says. Investors at past events have included i3 Ventures, Monozukuri Ventures, and TSV Capital.

“The connection with the community was fantastic, especially investors and founders in robotics.” —Mark Boysen, founder of Naware

Startups present their pitch, which a number of investors evaluate before ranking the business plan and product. The top 10 startups pitch their business to all the investors.

On the second day, the startup founders participate in a half-day engineering design–to–manufacturing workshop, at which manufacturing engineers teach them how to navigate the process and meet regulations.

In an exhibition area, participants can see demonstrations from the startups and connect with service providers.

A woman standing next to a presentation screen while speaking to small seated groups during a professional workshop. The 2025 event’s half-day engineering design–to–manufacturing workshop was led by Liz Taylor, president of DOER Marine. The company manufactures marine equipment.Larissa Abi Nakhle/IEEE

Positive feedback from attendees

In a survey of past summit attendees, startup founders said the event connected them not only with investors but also with other entrepreneurs having similar struggles.

“The connection with the community was fantastic, especially investors and founders in robotics,” said Mark Boysen, who founded Naware. The company, based in Edina, Minn., developed a robot that uses AI to detect and remove weeds from golf courses, parks, and lawns.

“I loved getting the investors’ perspectives and understanding what they’re looking for,” Boysen said.

Jeffrey Cook, who attended a summit in 2024, said he met “a lot of great contacts and saw what the hard tech venture climate is like.”

Attendees of the Hard Tech Venture Summit spend the first day networking and presenting their pitch to investors. IEEE Entrepreneurship

“Those in the community would benefit from coming to the summit,” said Cook, who founded Gigantor Technologies in Melbourne Beach, Fla. It develops hardware systems for AI-powered devices.

More than 90 percent of attendees at the 2025 event in San Francisco said they would highly recommend the summit to others, according to a survey.

Investors and service providers also have found the events successful.

Ji Ke, a partner and the chief technology officer of deep tech VC firm SOSV, attended the 2025 summit.

“I met a lot of young entrepreneurs tackling some big challenges,” he said. “This is one of the best events to meet some very-early-stage companies.”

Making important connections in hard tech

Startup founders who want to attend a summit must apply. Applications for this year’s events are open. Participants must be founders of preseed, seed, or Series A startups.

Preseed founders are seeking small investments to get their businesses off the ground. Those in the seed stage have already secured funding from their first investor. Series A startups have obtained funding and are developing their product.

Applicants are reviewed by a committee of investors to ensure the startups would be a good fit. Those who are approved are matched with investors and service providers based on their specialty.

“The journey for a hard tech startup is very long and arduous,” Wong says. “Founders need to meet as many investors as possible and other people who support hard tech systems so that they’re able to reach out to them for advice or help.”

Those interested in learning more about an upcoming event can send a request to entrepreneurship@ieee.org.

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Japan's bullet train to debut high-tech private cabins, for an added fee

Published

1 hour ago

16 April 2026

NewsAdmin

A recently introduced Shinkansen high-speed train is set to add several exclusive private cabins over the next few months. According to a local report, these “private rooms” will include high-tech services designed to improve remote working conditions and internet performance. Travelers visiting Japan may also find the option appealing, although…
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Ember Artline vs Samsung Frame: Comparing the arty TVs

Published

1 hour ago

16 April 2026

NewsAdmin

Although Amazon first revealed its Samsung Frame competitor TV back at CES, it’s now finally available to pre-order.

Coined Ember Artline, how does Amazon’s new lifestyle TV compare to the Samsung Frame? Ahead of our review, we’ve compared the initial specs of the Ember Artline to the four-star Samsung Frame and noted the key differences between the two below.

Once you’re done here, make sure you visit our round-up of the best TVs, best cheap TVs and best 4K TVs too, to find your next investment.

Price and Availability

At the time of writing, Amazon’s Ember Artline is available for pre-order and will launch officially on April 22nd in the US and Canada, and May 7th in the UK. Germany is slated to see the TV later in May, although an exact date hasn’t been announced just yet.

The Ember Artline has a starting RRP of $899.99/£949.99 for the 55-inch model.

SQUIRREL_PLAYLIST_10208400

In comparison, the Samsung Frame is available to buy now and has a starting price of £799/$899 for the smallest 43-inch model. While the Ember Artline is only available in two sizes (55- and 65-inches), the Samsung Frame comes as a 43-, 50-, 55- or 65-inch screen.

SQUIRREL_PLAYLIST_10208402

Ember Artline supports Alexa+

Naturally as it’s an Amazon TV, the Ember Artline is fitted with Alexa – specifically the recently launched Alexa+. However, we should disclaim that Alexa+ is only free for Prime members, no non-Prime subscribers will have to spend £19.99 to access the voice assistant.

Alexa+ is essentially a smarter, more conversational and personalised upgrade over the original Alexa. While we’re yet to provide our full review on the voice assistant, our Home Technology Editor Dave Ludlow has given his early thoughts on Alexa+ and noted where it excels and still struggles.

Enable Alexa Plus early access — Alexa+ on Echo Show. Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Otherwise, Alexa+ provides hands-free control on the TV, and allows you to search for shows, receive personalised recommendations and have natural conversations too.

Fire TV vs Tizen

One of the key differences between the Ember Artline and Samsung Frame is with their respective operating systems. While the Ember Artline runs on Amazon’s Fire TV, the Samsung Frame is powered by, unsurprisingly, Samsung’s Tizen OS instead.

Both are smart TV systems that offer access to streaming apps such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Disney Plus and more, and have their respective pros and cons. For example, while Tizen isn’t the easiest to navigate, it does offer recommendations and there’s now the option to create multiple profiles for your household. In comparison, although Fire TV is intuitive, we found that it has a tendency to promote Amazon Prime content – which is somewhat understandable.

Ember Artline includes artwork at no additional cost

The key selling point of the two TVs here is that they can display artwork on their screens when not in use. The Samsung Frame has a dedicated Art Mode that presents a gallery of artwork and even your own photos on screen. Plus, with Pantone-validated colour and the promise of no screen burn, images don’t only look vibrant and authentic but you can keep the screen on without worry.

Samsung Frame 2025 — Image Credit (Samsung)

However, although the Samsung Frame does offer a selection of complimentary pieces to display, you will need to pay in order to access the complete library of over 3500 works of art.

In comparison, at least at the time of writing, the Ember Artline offers its collection of 2000 art pieces without any additional cost. Much like the Samsung Frame, you can also choose to display your own photos on the Ember Artline, via the Amazon Photos app.

Samsung Frame has more ports

You can never have too many ports, and the Samsung Frame offers a pretty generous selection overall. Alongside its four HDMIs, there’s three USBs (two A and one C), an Ethernet port and an optical port too.

In comparison, the Ember Artline has slightly less, with three HDMI 2.0s, one HDMI with eARC, one USB type-3 and an optical audio port.

However, the Ember Artline does benefit from Wi-Fi 6 support whereas the Samsung Frame sports the older Wi-Fi 5.

Amazon Ember Artline dark — Ember Artline. Image Credit (Amazon)

Both are 4K QLED displays

Both the Ember Artline and Samsung Frame are 4K, QLED displays, and are packed with plenty of premium screen technologies too, including HDR. In addition, both displays have an anti-glare finish that reduces reflections. In our review of the 2022 Samsung Frame, we found the screen did an excellent job at keeping reflections at bay, so we expect the latest model to do the same.

Otherwise, both the Ember Artline and Samsung Frame have a motion sensor that can either wake or turn off the screen accordingly.

Finally, it’s worth noting that both TVs here also have customisable frames, or bezels, which are sold separately.

Early Verdict

Both the Amazon Ember Artline and Samsung Frame are impressive lifestyle TVs. As we’re yet to review the Ember Artline, we’ll hold off from giving a conclusive review for now. However, if you already own some of the best Amazon Echo devices, enjoy using Alexa for hands-free controls and don’t want to pay extra for artwork, then the Ember Artline seems like a great choice.

On the other hand, if you require more ports, don’t mind TizenOS and want a wider choice of screen sizes, then the Samsung Frame will likely suit you better.

We’ll update this versus once we review the Ember Artline.

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Is Linux Mint In Trouble?

Published

2 hours ago

16 April 2026

NewsAdmin

BrianFagioli writes: The developers behind Linux Mint say the project is rethinking its release strategy and moving toward a longer development cycle, with the next version now expected around Christmas 2026. In a monthly update, project lead Clement Lefebvre said the team reached a “crossroads” and needs more flexibility to fix bugs, improve the desktop, and adapt to rapid changes across the Linux ecosystem. The upcoming development build, temporarily called Mint 23 “Alfa,” is currently based on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and includes Linux kernel 7.0, an unstable build of Cinnamon 6.7, and early Wayland related work.

Mint is also replacing the long used Ubiquity installer with “live-installer,” the same tool used by Linux Mint Debian Edition, allowing the project to unify installation infrastructure across its Ubuntu based and Debian based variants. While the team frames the changes as an opportunity to improve quality and reduce maintenance overhead, the shift has raised questions about the project’s long term direction and whether Linux Mint may eventually lean more heavily on its Debian roots rather than its traditional Ubuntu base.

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Last chance to vote! Help pick the 2026 GeekWire Awards winners across 10 categories

Published

2 hours ago

16 April 2026

NewsAdmin

Who will take home the coveted robot trophies at the 2026 GeekWire Awards? (GeekWire Photo)

Voting closes today for the 2026 GeekWire Awards, so it’s your final chance to help us select the top innovators and entrepreneurs in Pacific Northwest tech.

Cast your ballot here or in the embedded form at the bottom.

Now in its 18th year, the GeekWire Awards is the premier event recognizing the top leaders, companies and breakthroughs in Pacific Northwest tech, bringing together hundreds of people to celebrate innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit. It takes place May 7 at the Showbox SoDo in Seattle.

With 50 finalists across 10 categories, we’ve previewed every potential winner — from Startup of the Year to Next Tech Titan — in stories over the past several weeks. Catch up here:

Astound Business Solutions is the presenting sponsor of the 2026 GeekWire Awards. Thanks also to gold sponsors Amazon Sustainability, Baird, BECU, JLL, First Tech and Wilson Sonsini, and silver sponsors Prime Team Partners.

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No, Anthropic’s New Claude Opus 4.7 Model Is Not Mythos Preview

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2 hours ago

16 April 2026

NewsAdmin

Anthropic on Thursday released a new AI model, and no, it’s not Claude Mythos Preview. Claude Opus 4.7 is now generally available, meant to help developers and vibe coders with their hardest coding tasks.

Opus 4.7, like a well-trained dog, is supposedly better at following instructions. Anthropic wrote in its blog post that Opus 4.7 takes instructions “literally,” where previous models skipped or loosely interpreted prompts. It has improvements to its file-based memory system, so it should be able to recall information from previous sessions and documents. And it can handle larger image files and analyze data from charts more easily.

Anthropic also said the model is more “tasteful and creative” when creating interfaces, documents and slide decks. There are no details on exactly what Anthropic considers bad versus good taste.

Anthropic made waves earlier this month when it revealed it had created Claude Mythos Preview, its next-generation model, but the model was so good at finding security gaps that the company would be sharing it with tech and internet infrastructure companies — like Cisco, CrowdStrike and Amazon Web Services — so they could address the issues Mythos found.

The idea is that if tech companies can improve their systems with the help of AI, they will be more resilient to cyberattacks by bad actors who can use publicly available AI models like everyone else.

While Opus 4.7 isn’t the same as Mythos, Anthropic is testing some of its new cybersecurity protections in Opus 4.7. These safeguards, which “automatically detect and block requests that indicate prohibited or high-risk cybersecurity uses,” are the watered-down version of what will be in “Mythos-class” models, the company’s blog post said. But they’re still important as cybersecurity becomes increasingly saturated with AI, both for defense and for attack.

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Are we getting what we paid for? How to turn AI momentum into measurable value

Published

2 hours ago

16 April 2026

NewsAdmin

Enterprise AI is entering a new phase — one where the central question is no longer what can be built, but how to make the most of our AI investment.

At VentureBeat’s latest AI Impact Tour session, Brian Gracely, director of portfolio strategy at Red Hat, described the operational reality inside large organizations: AI sprawl, rising inference costs, and limited visibility into what those investments are actually returning.

It’s the “Day 2” moment — when pilots give way to production, and cost, governance, and sustainability become harder than building the system in the first place.

“We’ve seen customers who say, ‘I have 50,000 licenses of Copilot. I don’t really know what people are getting out of that. But I do know that I’m paying for the most expensive computing in the world, because it’s GPUs,’” Gracely said. “‘How am I going to get that under control?’”

Why enterprise AI costs are now a board-level problem

For much of the past two years, cost was not the primary concern for organizations evaluating generative AI. The experimental phase gave teams cover to spend freely, and the promise of productivity gains justified aggressive investment, but that dynamic is shifting as enterprises enter their second and third budget cycles with AI. The focus has moved from “can we build something?” to “are we getting what we paid for?”

Enterprises that made large, early bets on managed AI services are conducting hard reviews of whether those investments are delivering measurable value. The issue isn’t just that GPU computing is expensive. It is that many organizations lack the instrumentation to connect spending to outcomes, making it nearly impossible to justify renewals or scale responsibly.

The strategic shift from token consumer to token producer

The dominant AI procurement model of the past few years has been straightforward: pay a vendor per token, per seat, or per API call, and let someone else manage the infrastructure. That model made sense as a starting point but is increasingly being questioned by organizations with enough experience to compare alternatives.

Enterprises that have been through one AI cycle are starting to rethink that model.

“Instead of being purely a token consumer, how can I start being a token generator?” Gracely said. “Are there use cases and workloads that make sense for me to own more? It may mean operating GPUs. It may mean renting GPUs. And then asking, ‘Does that workload need the greatest state-of-the-art model? Are there more capable open models or smaller models that fit?’”

The decision is not binary. The right answer depends on the workload, the organization, and the risk tolerance involved, but the math is getting more complicated as the number of capable open models, from DeepSeek to models now available through cloud marketplaces, grows. Now enterprises actually have real alternatives to the handful of providers that dominated the landscape two years ago.

Falling AI costs and rising usage create a paradox for enterprise budgets

Some enterprise leaders argue that locking into infrastructure investments now could mean significantly overpaying in the long run, pointing to the statement from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei that AI inference costs are declining roughly 60% per year.

The emergence of open-source models such as DeepSeek and others has meaningfully expanded the strategic options available to enterprises that are willing to invest in the underlying infrastructure in the last three years.

But while costs per token are falling, usage is accelerating at a pace that more than offsets efficiency gains. It’s a version of Jevons Paradox, the economic principle that improvements in resource efficiency tend to increase total consumption rather than reduce it, as lower cost enables broader adoption.

For enterprise budget planners, this means declining unit costs do not translate into declining total bills. An organization that triples its AI usage while costs fall by half still ends up spending more than it did before. The consideration becomes which workloads genuinely require the most capable and most expensive models, and which can be handled just fine by smaller, cheaper alternatives.

The business case for investing in AI infrastructure flexibility

The prescription isn’t to slow down AI investment, but to build with flexibility being top of mind. The organizations that will win aren’t necessarily the ones that move fastest or spend the most; they’re the ones building infrastructure and operating models capable of absorbing the next unexpected development.

“The more you can build some abstractions and give yourself some flexibility, the more you can experiment without running up costs, but also without jeopardizing your business. Those are as important as asking whether you’re doing everything best practice right now,” Gracely explained.

But despite how entrenched AI discussions have become in enterprise planning cycles, the practical experience most organizations have is still measured in years, not decades.

“It feels like we’ve been doing this forever. We’ve been doing this for three years,” Gracely added. “It’s early and it’s moving really fast. You don’t know what’s coming next. But the characteristics of what’s coming next — you should have some sense of what that looks like.”

For enterprise leaders still calibrating their AI investment strategies, that may be the most actionable takeaway: the goal is not to optimize for today’s cost structure, but to build the organizational and technical flexibility to adapt when, not if, it changes again.

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