FASTNETZ

In case you didn't know, Windows 10 has a lot of neat little things built-in that allow you to save your battery life for longer. Sure there is the traditional power options menu that allows you to pick how long your computer should stay awake when you're not using it, but that's boring. What's cool is the new battery saver feature that switches off things like push notifications (Yes we know, your PC operating system has push notifications because Windows 10 was designed with mobile devices in mind too, get over it). So what do you need to know about these new battery settings?

The Power & Sleep menu, which can be accessed by going to Settings > System > Power > Sleep, isn't anything new. From this menu, you can choose how long your computer can be idle before it automatically shuts off the screen or goes into Sleep Mode. In addition to that, you can also customize it to do so when your computer is plugged in or running solely on battery power. There are also Additional Power Settings that you can click on, which opens up the Power Options menu in the Control Panel. From here you can edit your power plans, choose what happens when you close your laptop lid, or decide whether or not you need a password to unlock your computer when it wakes up from Sleep Mode.

A new feature with Windows 10 is Batter Saver. This is a battery-saving power mode that has been specifically optimized for Windows 10. This means that it can do things like limit background app activity and push notifications. This mode is very similar to ones that you would find on mobile devices, like smartphones or tablets. In addition to this, Batter Saver will automatically turn on when your laptop drops below 20% battery life though you can turn that off manually by going to Settings > System > Battery Saver and turning it off.


You can also tinker with Battery Saver mode. By going to the Battery Saver menu, click Battery Saver Settings to bring up the settings menu. From here you can adjust the point at which Batter Saver mode automatically kicks on from a range of 5% to 100% battery life. You can also choose whether or not to allow push notifications or lower screen brightness in Battery Saver mode or add app exceptions. Apps that you want to exclude from Battery Saver mode will be able to run in the background and send push notifications at all times.

The main Battery Saver menu allows you to see how much of your battery life is being used by different apps, simply click Battery Use to see. This will help you determine which apps to disable in Battery Saver mode, which is extremely useful. You can turn off the apps that drain the most battery life and not even worry about the ones that don't use any at all.

If you find yourself always needing to be connected when you're using your laptop and you can't figure out why your Windows 10 device is using so much power, consider going into some of these settings and tinkering around with things. You might be surprised at how much more efficient your battery usage will become and how much longer your laptop will last without having to be plugged in.

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HP has just released its newest all-in-one PC, the beautiful Enfy 34. This computer offers something unique, however, that other all-in-ones do not and that is a 34-inch curved panel. This is definitely a fancy computer to look at and, as a result, isn't cheap.


HP has added Intel's latest 6th-generation Skylake CPU and the screen itself is an IPS display, allowing for wide viewing angles. The screen also comes with a 3440 x 1440 resolution as well as 4.9 million pixels and a 21:9 aspect ratio. According to HP, the Envy 34's display offers 99% of the sRGB color gamut and also has Technicolor certification.

As far as CPU options are concerned, the Envy 34 comes with a Core i5 or Core i7 Skylake dual-core with integrated graphics standard. If this isn't quite good enough for you then you can always opt for the GeFOrce GTX 960A. Nvidia typically special OEM versions of its GPUs, which generally means that this version will be a bit slower than the consumer model.

In terms of RAM storage there is included 8GB or 16GB of DDR4 with storage options ranging from 128GB SSDs to as much as 2TB hard drives and hybrid drives. Naturally, the lower specs come with the base priced model of the Envy 34, which in this case will run you $1,800 USD.


If the Envy 34 seems a bit too big for you liking, the you will be happy to know that HP is also offering 27-inch and 24-inch models, known as the Envy 27 and Envy 24, respectively. Both of these versions mirror the internal hardware of the Envy 34, with the Skylake Core i5 and Core i7 chips as well as similar RAM and storage options. However, on these devices HP is giving consumers the option of AMD Radeon R7 or Radeon R9 graphics.

In addition to that, the panels on the Envy 27 and Envy 24 are flat, instead of curved. Both are Technicolor certified and have resolutions from standard 1080x1920 HD up to Ultra HD 4K. The Envy 24 starts at $1,000 with the Envy 27 starting at $1,200.

As far as all-in-ones are concerned, the Envy 34 from HP is definitely one of the best looking. What it's got underneath the hood is nothing to shake a stick at either. Solid RAM, solid storage space, solid processor, and a solid graphics card(s) are sure to make this all-in-one be at the top of many a computer lover's list.

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Amazon is getting ready to host its annual AWS re:Invent tech conference next week in Las Vegas, with plans of talking to customers about its popular Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing that the online retailer provides. However, there is one product rumored to be announced at the event and that is a new, super-fast "in-memory" database, according to Merrill Lynch's Justin Post. According to Post, "Amazon may announce new database products like in-memory databases or higher performance database services like Aurora (MySQL)."

An in-memory database runs in your computer's memory instead of using computer storage. In addition to that, it is also capable of processing unspeakable amounts of data at nearly instantaneous speeds, according to the description from Oracle chairman Larry Ellison on Oracle's version of this very same product. the in-memory option is one of the key ways that Oracle is convincing its customers to upgrade to its latest database, Oracle 12c.

Another big name in this industry is SAP. SAP is trying to slowly wean its business software customers off of Oracle's database and onto its own in-memory alternative, known as Hana. SAP has wagered its entire company on the Hana database, according to SAP's chairman. In addition to that, Amazon already offers a plethora of ways to run in-memory databases on its cloud as well as a variety of its own databases.


Amazon has stated that it is working on more databases. In a job listing for a database developer the company said, "These are exciting times in our space - we are growing fast, but still at an early stage and working on ambitious new initiatives where an engineer at any level can have significant technical and business impact." Should Amazon introduce a new in-memory database, it won't be good news for either Oracle or SAP.

Databases are what an entire company's operations depend on. As a result, companies don't switch them out very often or very easily. However, database vendors are also known for some pretty wicked measures to get money out of their customers. As more and more businesses jump into cloud computing, a lot of them wouldn't mind finding less-expensive database alternatives. What are these less-expensive alternatives? Amazon.

Amazon is constantly cutting prices and, as of July, it has cut AWS prices 49 times and just announced another price cut for its storage service. Amazon is also due for even more cost cuts as rumors are circulating that the company will announce them at the AWS re:Invent tech conference.

This race to cut costs has generated a pretty catchy name: The Race to Zero. This means that, at some point, some cloud providers will cut prices so low that they will be giving them away for free. Google, earlier this year, actually went ahead and did that with its free Photo app and even threw in free unlimited storage too.

While Amazon delves deeper into database services and continues to cut costs along the way, enterprises may be very happy to give this new database a try.

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