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14 May 2025

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Acer’s AI-ready OLED productivity laptop is a stunning $400 off today
We have a soft spot for OLED laptops, and it’s easy to see why the second you lay eyes on one—they’re gorgeous! The Acer Swift 16 AI falls into this category, and you can get it for just $850 right now. That’s a massive $400 discount on its original $1,250 price at Best Buy, and that’s a real bargain price for a cutting-edge Copilot+ laptop like this. This is a 16-inch laptop, which is just about perfect for productivity fiends as it’s neither too big nor too small, with plenty of screen real estate in its 2880×1800 resolution for apps, tabs, and content. The OLED panel delivers vibrant colors, excellent contrast, and a fast response time, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s thinner than other screen types. The OLED screen isn’t the only reason to get this laptop, of course. There’s quite a bit of power under the hood, equipped with an AI-ready Intel Core Ultra 7 256V processor that qualifies it as a Copilot+ PC and unlocks access to Microsoft’s AI features in Windows 11. You also get 16GB of RAM and a spacious 1TB SSD, which is enough for a smoothly productive experience without hiccups or sluggishness. When we reviewed the Acer Swift 16 AI, we scored it with 4 stars for its sleek design, sharp OLED display, and long-lasting battery life. The keyboard is pleasantly tactile, the chassis is robust, and the overall machine is capable for day-to-day needs, making it an excellent option for working on the go and trying out the latest AI features. Get the Acer Swift 16 AI for just $850 at Best Buy while you can because we don’t know how long this deal will last. If you end up missing out, consider checking out some of our other favorite laptops to get. Save $400 on the Acer Swift 16 AI productivity laptopBuy now from Best Buy

5 unusual PC gaming accessories you need to know about
1. USB audio controllers Beacn Fumbling around for the volume key or audio settings on a PC can be a killjoy at times. But what if you could just reach out and turn a knob to control your game volume and game audio settings or to mute or mix your sound wherever it may be coming from — your PC speakers, headset, or your apps? Wouldn’t that be a luxury? USB audio controllers let you do just that without you having to touch your PC keyboard. They’re ideal if you have multiple audio sources on the go for gaming, streaming, chats, or music and you want to manage them. These devices come in a variety of forms, from simple ones with just knobs like the ones from PCPanel, to more sophisticated ones (like the Beacn Mix Create) with color displays and buttons — so there’s a level of functionality to fit all needs. Buy the PC Panel Pro for $99.99 Buy the Beacn Mix Create for $219 2. Customizable keyboard touch bars Corsair The more information you have about your PC’s hardware or the game you’re playing, the more control you ultimately have. A second display or mini touchscreen can be used to display facts and figures or extra screens, but for a more curated experience some gamers have turned to using customizable keyboard touch bars. Corsair’s iCue Nexus is the only product that really fits that description. It’s a 5-inch touchscreen bar that works with Corsair’s iCue software app, on which you can load your own personalized screens, system monitoring stats, and custom commands. You can even control your devices from the screen’s tiny interface, without having to disturb whatever it is you’re doing on your main display. Buy the Corsair icue nexus for $91.97 3. AI Noise Cancelling Mic Adaptors (or digital-to-analog converters) Asus If you’ve got a wired headset that doesn’t have noise cancellation, then you can give it noise cancellation just by fitting one of these adapters to the end. Asus’ ROG Clavis gaming DAC works with any 3.5mm headset and also microphones and mobile devices too. The noise cancellation is performed at the level of the adapter itself, so you don’t have to worry about loading up drivers. Users say the noise cancellation is very good, in that it blocks out most ambient noise in your environment, so that you can enjoy your gaming audio the way it was meant to be listened to. Buy the Asus ROG Clavis gaming DAC for $106.37 4. Macro pads Keebmonkey Some gamers might be familiar with macro pads. These handy devices not only expand the key load at a player’s fingertips, but they also allow players to trigger off macros and other commands faster than they otherwise could on a keyboard. Macro pads come in a variety of sizes and shapes and with different key configurations. One that’s quite popular is the Megalodon Triple Knob Macropad, which has just about everything you’d need for gaming. It sports 16 programmable hot swappable keys and three knobs, as well as RGB backlighting and a tiny LCD screen which shows you which layers you’re in. It’s also made from anodized aluminum, so it has a very solid build that won’t easily break. buy the Megalodon Triple Knob Macropad for $79 4. Swiftpoint gaming mice Swiftpoint Among PC gaming mice, the mice from Swiftpoint stand out in the pack because of their huge array of features. The company’s latest mouse, the Swiftpoint Z2, for example, is the only mouse I’ve reviewed that has different depths of button actuation with haptic feedback, as well as a gyroscope and that also converts into a joystick — yep that’s right, it’s also a joystick! On top of those features, it also has a mini-OLED display. The Z2 is also the most customizable mouse I’ve ever used, with 13 programmable buttons and 20 profiles. They sell out very quickly, so picking one up isn’t always easy. Buy the Swiftpoint Z2 for $199.99

GIS Cloud appoints Andrew Loveless to lead global revenue push
GIS Cloud appoints Andrew Loveless as Chief Revenue Officer to spearhead international growth and expand in sectors like infrastructure and government.

Gerry Adams claim 'thoroughly investigated' - BBC
Hearings continue in Gerry Adams' libel case against the BBC over a 2016 story alleging he gave final approval for the murder of Denis Donaldson.

Generative AI 2.0: How It Will Redefine Business Intelligence in 2025
Generative AI 2.0 is transforming business intelligence with real-time insights, conversational analytics, and self-healing systems by 2025.

Infinz Awards: Miles Hurrell, Mark Tume recognised for finance leadership
Infinz Awards celebrate big winners in the finance industry.

How to drive safely in icy, wintry conditions
Explainer - With the country marking Road Safety Week, road users are advised to take extra care when driving on icy roads in wintry conditions.

New Suunto Run Available in Australia and New Zealand
From your first training run to marathon day, Suunto Run combines smart training zone guidance, a lightweight feel and long battery life to support every stride.

Why can’t my $3000 gaming PC run Copilot+ features? Come on, Microsoft!
I just spent $3,000 on a new gaming PC with a high-end AMD CPU and a screaming-fast Nvidia GeForce 5080 GPU. You’d think I’d be able to run the latest AI features in Windows with that, right? And yeah, I’d love AI-powered file search! But my PC can’t have it—no desktop PC can. Right now, there’s no way to put together a desktop PC that meets Microsoft’s requirements for accessing Copilot+ AI features. You need a qualified NPU for Copilot+, period. (What’s an NPU?) It’s been this way ever since Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs launched in 2024, and there still aren’t any qualified NPUs for desktops. Intel’s newer desktop NPUs aren’t fast enough and AMD’s desktop CPUs don’t have NPUs yet. Long story short, if you want a proper desktop PC, then no Copilot+ AI features for you! This is one of the biggest problems with Microsoft’s Copilot+ movement, and there’s no good reason for it. The dual meaning of “AI PC” in 2025 The term “AI PC” has gotten pretty confusing. In recent months, I’ve reviewed multiple laptops classified as “AI PCs” or “AI laptops,” but that has meant different things from different people: Some so-called AI PCs are lightweight laptops with NPUs but no GPUs. These are proper Copilot+ laptops with access to Copilot+ features and perhaps even preinstalled AI applications that connect to OpenAI’s GPT models or other cloud-based AI solutions. Other so-called AI PCs are heavier, pricier, performance-based gaming laptops without NPUs but with powerful GPUs. These are high-end laptops that can use their graphics processor for local AI applications, yet can’t run Copilot+ AI features. These two terms are basically the opposites of each other—completely different hardware and completely different features. But manufacturers tend to call both “AI laptops,” which muddies the waters. The PC industry dubbed 2024 “the year of the AI PC,” and yet those first-wave AI PCs were left behind by Copilot+ PCs. What’s worse, many new PCs being sold today in 2025 are still being left behind. The solution here is simple: Microsoft should let PCs run Copilot+ AI features on GPUs. Then all the so-called AI PCs would be able to run AI features, not just the ones equipped with cutting-edge NPUs. GPUs can handle it, so let ’em rip Here’s the question you have to ask yourself if you’re interested in a desktop PC right now: Do you want to wait an unspecified amount of time for desktop NPUs to be announced and released some time in the future, or do you want to get a desktop PC right now? As of mid-2025, Copilot+ AI features only run on laptops with qualified NPUs. That means Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite/Plus laptops, Intel Lunar Lake laptops, and AMD Ryzen AI 300 series laptops. Technically, there are also a few lightweight mini PCs with mobile CPUs, like the Asus ROG NUC series, that also fit the bill. No desktop PCs. For me, I decided that Copilot+ features didn’t matter enough to wait. I have a Surface Laptop 7 with Insider builds of Windows 11 and I never use the Copilot+ features on it. I have Recall activated, but I haven’t touched it in months. (Privacy concerns aside, the worst thing about Recall is that it’s just not very interesting or useful.) Other AI features—like generating images directly in the Photos app—feel like tech demos at best. Windows Studio Effects is just one of the many growing number of Windows AI features that are only for Copilot+ PCs.Chris Hoffman / Foundry Still, looking at Microsoft’s feature announcements in the past few days, it’s clear that Microsoft is going full steam ahead with Copilot+, and some of those newer features are getting more interesting. Why yes, I would like AI to change PC settings more quickly! And guess what? My PC’s GeForce 5080 GPU could certainly run features like that… if Microsoft would just let it. (My blazing-fast AMD CPU probably could, too.) When it comes to running AI tasks, NPUs sit somewhere between CPUs and GPUs—they’re faster at AI processing than CPUs, but slower than GPUs. NPUs are also way more power efficient than GPUs, and that’s a big deal when you’re handling AI tasks on a laptop. But with a desktop PC that’s always plugged in? Battery life doesn’t matter. And while AI features might hog GPU resources, I don’t necessarily care if my GPU takes a hit for a second when I search the Settings app, for example. There’s so much potential to take advantage of in a GPU that isn’t doing anything else. Might as well use it for AI, right? It’s not just about Windows AI features All of the above aside, this whole problem encompasses so much more than just the Copilot+ AI features built into Windows. Microsoft is encouraging third-party developers to integrate the “Copilot Runtime” in their apps for AI features, and said features will use the NPU in a PC to accelerate AI processing—but, again, only on Copilot+ PCs. For example, the popular DaVinci Resolve video editor can already use the Copilot Runtime to offload some tasks to the NPU. Let’s assume most developers take Microsoft up on this and integrate the Copilot Runtime for demanding AI tasks. And let’s assume that one day every desktop PC will have a capable NPU. Even then, restricting the Copilot Runtime to only NPUs would still be a mistake. These apps won’t be able to take advantage of the powerful GPUs in desktop gaming PCs and laptop workstations. These apps will be much slower than they could otherwise be when processing AI tasks. (Remember, GPUs hog more power but beat NPUs on raw AI performance.) GPUs can handle AI tasks well. They just use more power than NPUs to do so. Is that enough reason to lock them out of Copilot+ features completely?Nvidia Even worse, developers may have to implement multiple AI processing “backends” in their applications—one for NPUs on Copilot+ PCs and one to take advantage of powerful GPUs. That’s more work for developers, which makes Windows less appealing as an app platform. Right now, developers can offload the AI work to cloud servers and ensure it’ll work with their apps on any platform, whether that’s a Chromebook, iPad, Android phone, or Windows PC without an NPU. If Copilot+ features ran on GPUs, they’d “just work” on a much wider variety of machines, and they’d run much faster on any system with a capable GPU. That would give Microsoft a head start, and that’s key when the PC industry has struggled to make a case for local AI. Microsoft, it’s time to change course I understand why Microsoft first launched Copilot+ AI features for NPUs only. It was a great way to push Arm laptops like the Surface Laptop 7 and their Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite/Plus CPUs. The company took many months to get those features working on Intel and AMD systems with the required NPUs. It took time to support more hardware, and Microsoft probably hoped that the PC industry would have lots of PCs with NPUs ready by now. At least Recall was only on Copilot+ PCs, which limited how bad Microsoft’s PR disaster was around its launch.Chris Hoffman / Foundry But nearly a year later, we still have no options for Copilot+ features on desktop PCs, no Copilot+ features on most laptops, and laptop manufacturers pushing some “AI PCs” and “AI laptops” that can’t run built-in Windows AI features at all—but could, if only Microsoft let them. That’s why Microsoft should embrace GPUs and let Copilot+ PCs tap into GPU power, too. It’s not just good for users. It’s good for the future of Windows as an AI application platform. Copilot+ for desktops? One can hope Unfortunately, Microsoft may never extend Copilot+ features to GPUs. After all, the Copilot+ PC branding is all about selling more PC hardware, and it’s a big part of Microsoft’s current push to get people upgrading from Windows 10. If I were Microsoft, I’d be asking why I should freely give away all these AI features to current PCs. That stance is understandable, but it’s a shame that PC hardware manufacturers haven’t caught up to Microsoft. Spending $3,000 on a powerful desktop rig with the latest hardware and feeling like it’s already out of date is not a good experience. If only you had bought a lightweight Arm laptop instead! Is that the future of Windows? Maybe. But I’d prefer a future that doesn’t leave behind desktop PCs with powerful hardware. It doesn’t have to be this way, Microsoft! There’s still time to fix things. Honestly, I hope Microsoft announces Copilot+ features coming to GPUs at Build 2025 in late May. That’d be a win-win, if you ask me. Further reading: I tried local AI chatbots on my laptop. They kinda suck