​I think, after a weekend using the latest iPad Air, that this is the best iPad right now for its price. But it might not be by the end of the year.. I’ve always recommended cheaper iPads. As I said in a recent story, I expected the base iPad would get an upgrade this spring. So did others. It didn’t happen. Meanwhile, the iPad Air got a chip bump to an M4 processor and updated wireless specs. I’ve been living with the 11-inch model as my everyday home-casual computer for the past week, and it’s a wonderful little powerhouse. I don’t miss the more expensive iPad Pro at all.. The iPad Air doesn’t come with a keyboard case and Pencil Pro in the box, but that’s almost entirely how I’ve been using it. Scott Stein/CNET. I could say I want the iPad to be even more like a Mac, but I’ve come to accept that moment just isn’t happening now. Judged as an iPad, and by what it does, it’s still great. It’s just that now you have to make a bit of a lifestyle choice.. The funny thing is that, while this iPad Air starts at $599, which is $250 more than the entry iPad, it’s also exactly the same price as the MacBook Neo, Apple’s new entry-level MacBook. Apples and oranges, so to speak, but which should you get?. Oceanhorn 3 is one of the newest games on Apple Arcade. The iPad Air’s M4 has no lack of graphics power for its size. Scott Stein/CNET. The iPad Air’s processor is a powerhouse. The M4, in a $600 device, is a fantastic value. But you’ll have to get the keyboard case, or any other case, and the Pencil Pro that works with this iPad separately. That could realistically bump the total to nearly $1,000. If you care about getting those things.. What I love about the iPad, and always have, is how instant and casual it feels. I love the focus of full-screen apps, I love how it handles media and games. I also love the Magic Keyboard case, even though it’s expensive and doesn’t fold back easily. iPadOS 26 has also flexed the iPad out enough to give it a Mac-esque sense of versatility. Not a Mac, but approaching one.. And I also love its size. The MacBook Neo is a bigger laptop, a standard sort of 13-incher. The 11-inch iPads feel compact and cozy and perfect for a quick commute or a little work while traveling. I love the intimacy. The 13-inch models have a lot more screen room, but cost more and have a taller aspect ratio than laptops that I’m not wild about personally.. The 11-inch iPad Air is my preferred size. Scott Stein/CNET. Compared with the iPad Pro, the Air is a much better buy. If you’re comparing it with the iPad Pro, this Air’s M4 for $599 is a much better deal than the Pro’s M5 for $999, in my opinion. And now that the entry iPad still hasn’t been updated, and still doesn’t support Apple Intelligence, the Air makes more sense to me as a future-proof upgrade.. That could change in the fall, if Apple does release a chip-bumped entry iPad that runs Apple Intelligence. Which is why I say this is the best “for now.” But that “for now” could be for half a yea  

​Microsoft Copilot probably isn’t something you think about a lot, unless your company pays for you to use it at work. Microsoft has been fighting for consumers whose hearts and minds were quickly captured by other AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. The company’s latest wave of agentic updates, announced Monday, is its sharpest weapon yet.. The biggest new feature is Copilot Cowork, built in collaboration with Anthropic. If you’ve heard of or used Anthropic’s Claude Cowork, Microsoft’s version will feel similar. Copilot Cowork can use information in your files, email and calendar to independently complete assignments, no human supervision needed. It can create spreadsheets, run reports and do research for you.. “Cowork is the new chat. It’s the new way of interacting with AI,” said Charles Lamanna, Microsoft president of business apps and agents. Instead of overseeing AI and chatting with it, we can now entirely delegate tasks to it like a fellow team member. “With chat, you’re babysitting every step — this is much more like ‘fire and forget’ with Cowork to get the job done.”. Cowork is an agent in Microsoft Cowork. Here, it’s running a few tasks where you can monitor its progress. Microsoft. For example, Lamanna said he used Cowork to analyze his meeting calendar for the next three months. The AI used his email and calendar history to understand what upcoming meetings may not be necessary for him to attend, and it pulled together its recommendations in an easy-to-view chart. After Lamanna reviewed it, Cowork declined some meetings, with AI-written meeting notes attached if needed. The AI’s 40-minute “delightful and practical” process saved him and his executive assistant hours worth of time so they could focus on more important duties.. Cowork is rolling out now on a limited basis as it’s a research preview concept. Microsoft also announced it will be making its AI agent platform, Agent 365, generally available on May 1. Agent 365 is a way for companies to oversee and manage all of the agents, or bots, that employees are using for their work. Microsoft itself has created more than a half-million AI agents using Agent 365, the company shared in a statement. New AI models from Anthropic and OpenAI will also be made available in Copilot. Smartly, the company isn’t picking a side in the growing feud between the AI startups.. Read More: AI Isn’t Human and We Need to Stop Treating It That Way, Says Microsoft AI CEO. Agentic AI tools like the ones Microsoft is building are extremely popular for workers. Despite only being a research preview, Claude Cowork has garnered a lot of fans — and sparked a lot of worry on Wall Street. Major tech stocks fell at the end of January as Anthropic’s AI developments cast doubts on the future of work.. New AI tools like Cowork, Claude Code and even OpenAI’s Codex are becoming increasingly capable of replacing traditional software products, like the kind Microsoft is known for. So it makes sense that Microsoft would wan  

​I never thought MagSafe’s haptic feedback could be so satisfying.. I’ve been using Apple’s $599 iPhone 17E, which brings MagSafe’s magnetic technology to its lowest-priced handset. Beyond the added convenience of easily attaching chargers and accessories, this signals Apple’s efforts to expand once-premium features across its full iPhone lineup, no matter how much you’re willing to pay. Plus, the addition of a fresh color warms my pink-loving heart.. The iPhone 17E borrows other features from the $829 baseline iPhone 17. The budget option packs the same A19 chip (albeit with a four-core GPU instead of five), an action button and a 48-megapixel main camera. It starts with 256GB of storage, making that $599 price more enticing — even if it’s arguably pushing the limits of what’s considered a “budget” phone. But the fact that I have to double-check whether I’m reaching for the iPhone 17E or the 17 is surely a good sign that the gap between the two is narrowing — and in the right direction.. The iPhone 17E comes in soft pink, black and white. Abrar Al-Heeti/CNET. Other aspects of the 17E serve as a reminder that you get what you pay for. The bezels are noticeably thicker than on Apple’s more premium options. There’s no Dynamic Island for system notifications and Live Activities, but rather an old-school notch at the top. A fixed 60 Hz display also means there’s no always-on display, so I can’t quickly glance at the time or my notifications — something that’s been hard to get used to.. There’s a lot that makes the iPhone 17E feel like a worthy lower-priced option. And for most people, the compromises shouldn’t feel too glaring, especially when you’re saving a couple hundred dollars.. Watch this: iPhone 17E Packs More Features for the Same $599 Price. The iPhone 17E is available to preorder now, and hits store shelves on March 11.. Preorder the $599 iPhone 17E at Apple. The iPhone 17E has a 6.1-inch display, with a pretty prominent notch and bezels. Abrar Al-Heeti/CNET. iPhone 17E look, feel and display. One of my favorite things about the iPhone 17E is that it doesn’t sacrifice the premium look and feel of its pricier counterparts. Like the other iPhone 17 models, the iPhone 17E’s back glass has a satisfying matte finish that’s resistant to fingerprints. An aluminum frame keeps it feeling nice and light at 169 grams, compared to 177 grams on the iPhone 17.. The iPhone 17E’s 6.1-inch display is just slightly smaller than the 6.3-inch display on the iPhone 17, a difference that’s hardly noticeable. The lower-priced option shares the same Ceramic Shield 2 cover glass, which Apple says has three times better scratch resistance than the iPhone 16E’s display, and 33% less reflection.. The 60Hz refresh rate is a step down from the 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate you’ll get on Apple’s other phones, but it’s a nearly imperceptible difference unless you’re gaming. Personally, the biggest downside to this limitation is not having an always-on display, which I r  

​Here’s a case for buying older cars if we’ve ever seen one. Do you drive a vehicle newer than 2008? Your car’s tire pressure system could be used to track your location.. A group of researchers at IMDEA Networks Institute — an English-speaking data networks research organization based in Madrid — discovered this privacy risk after a 10-week study in which they collected roughly 6 million wireless signals from more than 20,000 cars. Their findings point to a serious hacking threat hidden in the tire sensors of most modern vehicles.. The TREAD Act of 2000 mandated that modern cars come equipped with TPMS for road safety. The system works by releasing wireless signals through tiny sensors attached to each tire, which communicate each tire’s pressure information to the car’s electronic control unit. A warning light on the vehicle’s dashboard indicates low tire pressure.. Instead of using a camera with a clear line of sight to the car, hackers can hypothetically track it using the wireless signals emitted by the car’s tire sensors. That signal is continuously sent out as an unencrypted unique ID number.. Basically, anyone nearby with a cheap radio receiver can pick up the signal and later recognize the same vehicle without ever seeing the license plate.. “Our results show that these tire sensor signals can be used to follow vehicles and learn their movement patterns,” Domenico Giustiniano, research professor at IMDEA Networks Institute, said in the peer-reviewed report. “This means a network of inexpensive wireless receivers could quietly monitor the patterns of cars in real-world environments. Such information could reveal daily routines, such as work arrival times or travel habits.”. The researchers were able to capture signals from more than 50 meters away from moving cars, through walls and from inside buildings. The tire pressure readings helped reveal the vehicle type, its weight and the driving pattern of the driver. It’s a cheap, tough-to-detect, potentially covert tracking method.. While this may be a startling discovery, Cooper Quintin, a senior staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told CNET it’s not the only privacy threat in your car’s computer system.. “Any method that can be misused to surreptitiously track people’s movements without their knowledge is concerning,” he said. “But so are all of the technologies in modern cars that intentionally violate drivers’ privacy by collecting and sharing data for purposes of advertising, insurance risk assessment, and more. It’s sad that drivers have to worry about this, and everyone should learn how to protect themselves whenever possible while manufacturers are pressured to do better.”. This isn’t the first time a group of researchers has raised the red flag about this sensor system in cars. A 2010 study by researchers at Rutgers University and the University of South Carolina warned of the potential privacy threat hiding in a vehicle’s tire pressure system. Sixteen years la  

​Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.. Today’s Connections: Sports Edition features a mix of topics. As a Minnesota Vikings fan, the green group came quickly to me. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.. Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.. Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta. Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups. Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.. Yellow group hint: Rocky Mountain High.. Green group hint: Upper Midwest division.. Blue group hint: Speed demons.. Purple group hint: Leading the team.. Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups. Yellow group: A Colorado athlete.. Green group: NFC North cities.. Blue group: Types of racing.. Purple group: Coach ____.. Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words. What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?. The completed NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for March 9, 2026. NYT/Screenshot by CNET. The yellow words in today’s Connections. The theme is a Colorado athlete. The four answers are Bronco, Buffalo, Nugget and Rockie.. The green words in today’s Connections. The theme is NFC North cities. The four answers are Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay and Minneapolis.. The blue words in today’s Connections. The theme is types of racing. The four answers are BMX, drag, horse and stock car.. The purple words in today’s Connections. The theme is Coach ____. The four answers are Carter, K, Prime and speak.