YouTube has implemented an important update to its eraser tool, helping creators to easily remove copyrighted music without affecting any other audio within a video.

On Wednesday, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan shared the new tool on X, formerly Twitter, writing, “Good news, creators: our updated Erase Song tool helps you easily remove copyright-claimed music from your video (while leaving the rest of your audio intact).”

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Tweet may have been deleted

Mohan posted a video which revealed the company has been testing this tool for a while, and the updated version of the eraser now uses an AI-powered algorithm to detect the copyrighted song without impacting other audio in a clip or having to upload a new video.

YouTube’s support page includes a full how-to for creators looking to use the eraser. There are options for replacing, editing, muting, and removing said audio.

The very name, Universal Serial Bus (or USB) is an ambitious promise: One port to rule them all. The reality is unfortunately messier than that. While your phone, tablet, and laptop might all use the same USB-C port for charging and transferring data these days, they can all work differently.

What’s USB4? What’s Thunderbolt? Is it the same as USB-C? I’m here to help answer all of those questions, so you can get the best performance out of your devices.

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Glossary of USB Terms

First, it’s important to define a few terms upfront.

USB 2.X/USB 3.X/USB4

Every USB device is built to some version of the USB specification, managed by the USB Implementer’s Forum (USB-IF). These versions are mainly characterized by how much data they can transfer and how much power they can deliver (at least, those are the main things you need to care about). While most of these devices are interoperable as long as they use the same type of port, the entire chain will conform to the slowest part of the chain. Say you plug a USB 3.2 solid-state drive into a USB 3.2 port on your computer, but use a USB 3.0 cable—data will only transfer at USB 3.0 speeds. Make sure every link in your chain is rated for the speed you need.

USB Power Delivery (or USB-PD)

Instead of carrying a charger for every single device you own, you might opt for a charging adapter that can juice up multiple devices via several USB-C Power Delivery (USB-C PD) ports. Power Delivery is a fast-charging method that supports up to 240 watts of power and allows gadgets to safely talk to chargers to sort out the correct power needs. You’ll find these kinds of ports on USB hubs as well, sometimes referred to as “pass-through charging,” though it’s not an official term.

Make sure the wattage of a USB-C port on a charging adapter or hub can handle what your device needs. A MacBook Pro typically needs 96 watts during intense workloads (though you can still charge them at lower wattage), so you’d probably need a 100-watt USB-C port on the charging adapter or USB hub for the best charging experience.

USB-C and USB-A

These terms refer to the physical shape of the connectors and ports on devices. USB-C is common and looks like a small, elongated oval. It’s also reversible, so you can’t plug it in the wrong way. USB-A is the older, rectangular port you’ve seen for years. There are a lot more types of USB connectors, but these are the two you’re most likely to see in charging adapters, hubs, and docking stations today.

SuperSpeed

You might also see some USB devices marketed with terms like “SuperSpeed,” “SuperSpeedPlus,” and “SuperSpeed USB 5/10/20 Gbps.” These terms were initially meant to be more helpful, marketable labels to denote what generation or speed a USB port was, but unfortunately, it only made things more confusing. In most cases, you can ignore these labels and look at the actual speed ratings.

What Is Going on With USB Generations?

It would be nice if you could plug a USB 3.2 device into a USB 3.2 port using a USB 3.2 cable and trust that it all works. Unfortunately, it’s way more complicated than that.

When USB 3.0 came out in 2008 it had a max speed of around 5 gigabits per second (Gbps). However, when USB 3.1 came out in 2013 with a max speed of 10 Gbps, the 5-Gbps version was renamed to USB 3.1 Gen 1, while the new, faster spec was USB 3.1 Gen 2. Confused yet? Well, it gets worse.

After USB 3.2 came out in 2019, the 5-Gbps USB was rebranded again to “USB 3.2 Gen 1,” the 10-Gbps version became “USB 3.2 Gen 2,” and the new 20-Gbps specification became—you guessed it—USB 3.2 Gen 2×2. Wait, what? The “2×2” refers to running two 10 Gbps lanes of data simultaneously. You don’t need to know all of this. Many USB hub and docking station manufacturers have given up on names, labels, and symbols. They’ve started printing the maximum speed next to ports directly.

Get a great night’s sleep with a new mattress, just in time for the 4th of July. Check out some of our picks below and level up your bedroom game:

The best 4th of July mattress deals at a glance

The 4th of July celebration is here, and retailers are primed and ready with plenty of deals to showcase across a variety of categories. There’s a discount for just about everything, and if you’ve been waiting to grab a new mattress, you’ll be pleased to know they’re included.

If you’re ready to get some quality sleep without spending an arm and a leg, you should absolutely check out what’s on offer in the way of mattresses that you can scoop up right now for some serious savings in time for the upcoming holiday.

Whether you want to go all out with an adjustable Tempur-Pedic mattress or you just need a solid mattress and foundation pair, there’s a little something for all sleepers to be found during the sale.

Mashable Top Stories

These deals won’t last long beyond the 4th of July, so scoop up the savings while you can and get ready for some serious shut-eye.

Best mattress deal
Why we like it

The Tempur-Breeze Collection queen mattress is a luxurious option that’s $500 off right now, which brings it down to a more affordable price than it typically goes for. It’s a cooling wonder that’s meant to help hot sleepers better regulate their temperature and keep up to five degrees cooler throughout the night. Since the summer nights aren’t much cooler than their daytime counterparts, you’re going to want all the cooling power you can get when dealing with the higher temps that persist even when the sun goes down. No one wants to wake up a sweaty, uncomfortable mess, after all.

Best mattress deal for couples
Why we like it

The Purple Hybrid queen premier mattress is our favorite pick for couples thanks to its top “Purple Grid” layer. Not only does it keep you cool while conforming to your body, but it supports you and your partner all night long. Choose between multiple options in terms of thickness for support, and pair it with support coils that help make your sleep an even dreamier one. Plus, get a 10-year limited warranty to make sure this is the right mattress for the long haul for both you and whoever you’re sharing a bed with.

Best eco-friendly mattress deal
Why we like it

Birch mattresses are all-natural options thanks to their 25-year warranty and handmade construction. Crafted from six layers of organic materials including cotton, rayon, and wool, it’s all about comfort created by way of ethically-sourced cotton. It also utilizes coils to give you an additional layer of comfort. You can rest easy knowing this particular mattress was made keeping the environment in mind. The Birch Natural mattress is a particularly great choice given its excellent sale price right now.

More 4th of July mattress deals

Avocado — Save $500 on select mattresses

Tempur-Pedic — Save $500 on Tempur-breeze mattresses, plus get $300 in free accessories with Adapt and Breeze mattresses using code 300FREE

Stearns & Foster — Save $400 on select mattresses + $300 Visa gift card with all mattresses excluding the Studio

Sealy — Save up to $200 Posturepedic Plus collection plus a $200 Visa gift card, save 25% on Posturepedic Spring Mattress, buy one, get one free Sealy Adjustable Pillows

Purple — Save up to $800 on a mattress + base

DreamCloud — New customers can get up to 50% off mattresses

Bear — Save up to 35% off sitewide, plus 40% off mattresses with promo code 4DJULY

Amerisleep — Save $500 on any mattress with code JULY500 and 30% off adjustable bed bundles

Big Fig — Save $500 on any mattress

WinkBeds — Save $300 on any mattress

Tuft & Needle — Save 20% on all mattresses and 15% on select bedding

One of the most promising Chinese space startups, Space Pioneer, experienced a serious anomaly last weekend while testing the first stage of its Tianlong-3 rocket near the city of Gongyi.

The rocket was undergoing a static fire test of the stage, in which a vehicle is clamped to a test stand while its engines are ignited, when the booster broke free. According to a statement from the company, the rocket was not sufficiently clamped down and blasted off from the test stand “due to a structural failure.”

Video of the accidental ascent showed the rocket rising several hundred meters into the sky before it crashed explosively into a mountain 1.5 kilometers from the test site. (See various angles of the accident here, on the social media site X, or on Weibo.) The statement from Space Pioneer sought to downplay the incident, saying it had implemented safety measures before the test, and there were no casualties as a result of the accident. “The test site is far away from the urban area of ​​Gongyi,” the company said.

This is not entirely true. Located in the Henan province in eastern China, alongside the Yellow River, Gongyi has a population of about 800,000 people. The test stand is only about 5 kilometers from the city’s downtown and less than a kilometer from a smaller village.

Such accidents are rare in the launch industry but not unprecedented. Typically, during a static fire test, the mass of propellant onboard a vehicle combined with strong clamps hold a rocket down. However, in 1952, a US Viking rocket broke loose of its moorings at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. It crashed 6 kilometers downrange of the launch site without casualties.

How Big of a Setback?

It is unclear how big of a setback this will be for Space Pioneer, a quasi-private company founded in 2019. A little more than a year ago, Space Pioneer became the first Chinese company to reach orbit with a liquid-fueled rocket. It did so, impressively, on the first attempt of its small Tianlong-2 rocket. This was a notable achievement, but the rocket’s engines were provided by a Chinese state-operated firm, the Academy of Aerospace Liquid Propulsion Technology, rather than the private company.

For the larger Tianlong-3 rocket, Space Pioneer says it is manufacturing its own kerosene-fueled engines, known as TH-12. (They appear to have performed as expected this weekend.) Nine of these engines will power the Tianlong-3 rocket, which is intended to have a thrust of 17 tons, to low-Earth orbit. The rocket’s design and the planned reuse of its first stage mimic the Falcon 9 rocket developed by US-based SpaceX.

Space Pioneer had been prepping the vehicle for its debut launch later this summer or fall—and first-stage static-fire tests are indicative of a rocket’s final testing phase before liftoff. The company’s statement did not set a new timeline for a launch attempt but said it would complete the fault analysis “as soon as possible.”

China has the most vibrant commercial space industry in the world after the United States. Nearly a decade ago, the country’s leadership committed to sharing state-owned technology with companies that raised private funding, seeking to emulate the commercial success of SpaceX and other US companies.

Today, there are dozens of Chinese firms developing rockets, satellites, and other spaceflight products. Space Pioneer has been among the most promising, having raised more than $400 million since its inception five years ago.

This story originally appeared on Ars Technica.

SAVE UP TO $300: Score discounts on iPads, laptops, TVs, and other must-have tech during Best Buy’s 4th of July sale.

Best Buy is a top destination for all things tech. It’s one of the best places to get gaming consoles, laptops, iPads, and so much more (including the fancy coffee pot I bought my mom this past Christmas).

While Best Buy does a pretty good job of keeping its prices semi-affordable throughout the year, the retailer pulls out all the stops for its major holiday sales, including the 4th of July.

This year, Best Buy’s 4th of July sale features deals on everything from major appliances (up to $960 off select refrigerators) to small kitchen gadgets to high-end electronics. And, if you’re a My Best Buy member, you’ll save even more. But you’d better hurry: This sale ends Sunday (which means you still have time to hit the beach or have a backyard BBQ and shop in between).

Here are some of the best deals you can find during Best Buy’s 4th of July sale:

Best iPad deal
Why we like it

If you’ve had your eye on an iPad but couldn’t justify the cost, now’s the time to pull out your wallet. As of July 3, you can get a 64GB iPad Air (5th gen) for just $399.99 — that’s $200 off the listing price, and the best deal we’ve seen on this model since May 14. If you need more storage space, the 256GB model is on sale for $499.99 ($250 off the listing price).

This iPad features a 10.9-inch liquid retina display, an M1 chip, and an all-day battery life. It’s ideal for browsing the web during your pre-bedtime routine, catching up on the latest shows, or even getting some work done on the go.

More tablet deals: Best laptop deal
Why we like it

iPads are great for browsing the web, playing mindless games like Candy Crush, and watching Netflix. But if you need to get some real work done, you’ll want a laptop — and during Best Buy’s 4th of July sale, you can snag a 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro (M3 Pro, 18GB RAM, 512GB SSD) for $1,699, down from $1,999. So, $300 off the original price.

Mashable Deals

This MacBook Pro is a powerhouse with an M3 Pro chip, up to 18 hours of battery life, and up to 36GB of unified memory. It has a 14.2-inch liquid retina XDR display and a Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, and it can sync with your other Apple devices.

More laptop deals:

Lenovo Ideapad 1i (Intel Core i3-1215U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $329.99 $499.99 (save $170)

Samsung Galaxy Book4 (Intel Core 7, 16GB, 512GB) — $649.99 $999.99 (save $250)

Apple MacBook Air (M2, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $849.99 $899.99 (save $150)

Asus Vivobook Pro 15 (Intel Core Ultra 7, 16GB, 1TB SSD) — $899.99 $1,299.99 (save $400)

HP Envy 2-in-1 Wide Ultra XGA Touchscreen Laptop (Core Ultra 7, 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD) — $999.99 $1,34999.99 (save $350)

Best TV deal
Why we like it

Right now, you can get the Insignia 50-inch Class F30 Series 4K UHD Smart Fire TV for just $189.99, down from $299.99. That’s $110 off the listing price and a damn good deal if you ask us.

This TV has a 2160p resolution, Alexa voice control, and thousands of movies and episodes available through Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Netflix. It also supports Apple AirPlay, so you can mirror content from your iPhone or iPad.

More TV deals:

Yet Google and its hardware partners argue privacy and security are a major focus of the Android AI approach. VP Justin Choi, head of the security team, mobile eXperience business at Samsung Electronics, says its hybrid AI offers users “control over their data and uncompromising privacy.”

Choi describes how features processed in the cloud are protected by servers governed by strict policies. “Our on-device AI features provide another element of security by performing tasks locally on the device with no reliance on cloud servers, neither storing data on the device nor uploading it to the cloud,” Choi says.

Google says its data centers are designed with robust security measures, including physical security, access controls, and data encryption. When processing AI requests in the cloud, the company says, data stays within secure Google data center architecture and the firm is not sending your information to third parties.

Meanwhile, Galaxy’s AI engines are not trained with user data from on-device features, says Choi. Samsung “clearly indicates” which AI functions run on the device with its Galaxy AI symbol, and the smartphone maker adds a watermark to show when content has used generative AI.

The firm has also introduced a new security and privacy option called Advanced Intelligence settings to give users the choice to disable cloud-based AI capabilities.

Google says it “has a long history of protecting user data privacy,” adding that this applies to its AI features powered on-device and in the cloud. “We utilize on-device models, where data never leaves the phone, for sensitive cases such as screening phone calls,” Suzanne Frey, vice president of product trust at Google, tells WIRED.

Frey describes how Google products rely on its cloud-based models, which she says ensures “consumer’s information, like sensitive information that you want to summarize, is never sent to a third party for processing.”

“We’ve remained committed to building AI-powered features that people can trust because they are secure by default and private by design, and most importantly, follow Google’s responsible AI principles that were first to be championed in the industry,” Frey says.

Apple Changes the Conversation

Rather than simply matching the “hybrid” approach to data processing, experts say Apple’s AI strategy has changed the nature of the conversation. “Everyone expected this on-device, privacy-first push, but what Apple actually did was say, it doesn’t matter what you do in AI—or where—it’s how you do it,” Doffman says. He thinks this “will likely define best practice across the smartphone AI space.”

Even so, Apple hasn’t won the AI privacy battle just yet: The deal with OpenAI—which sees Apple uncharacteristically opening up its iOS ecosystem to an outside vendor—could put a dent in its privacy claims.

Apple refutes Musk’s claims that the OpenAI partnership compromises iPhone security, with “privacy protections built in for users who access ChatGPT.” The company says you will be asked permission before your query is shared with ChatGPT, while IP addresses are obscured and OpenAI will not store requests—but ChatGPT’s data use policies still apply.

Partnering with another company is a “strange move” for Apple, but the decision “would not have been taken lightly,” says Jake Moore, global cybersecurity adviser at security firm ESET. While the exact privacy implications are not yet clear, he concedes that “some personal data may be collected on both sides and potentially analyzed by OpenAI.”

Admittedly, our testing artists did push Jen beyond the boundaries of what a “normal” person might ask in a query, veering more toward a “record store clerk” level of familiarity with recorded sound. Cleveland, for instance, failed to get anything good out of a query for “mid-tempo California garage rock influenced by ’70s Indonesian pop,” while Heywood expressed dismay that Jen didn’t seem to recognize his request for “city pop,” a type of Japanese music that came to prominence in the mid-’70s and has seen a minor resurgence in popularity in recent years. But to Heywood, that kind of breadth of music is necessary, especially as a musician.

Wye Oak and Flock of Dimes singer and multi-instrumentalist Jenn Wasner

“A lot of musicians or producers, when they ask something of each other, they’ll use bands and other artists as a reference point, like, ‘We’re going to go for a Prince type of sound,’ or, ‘Let’s add some Clavinet like Stevie Wonder,’” Heywood explains. With Jen’s lack of understanding of both existing recording artists and even some fairly common genres and instruments, it makes it hard to really land on something specific.

“I kept trying to coax some warmth out of it, like vinyl hiss or saturation or something lo-fi or vintage sounding, but everything it made had the same kind of hi-fi, video-game-menu-screen-type sound to it,” Heywood says. “They even give you ‘lo-fi’ as a prompt suggestion, but that didn’t seem to make much of an impact. If you’re trying to get a certain sound, like ’80s funk, the closest you’re able to get is something that sounds more like Daft Punk.”

Every electric guitar sound that WIRED and the testers generated sounded almost too clean, and it was virtually impossible to get it to produce a track that wasn’t in a 4/4 time signature unless you used the word “waltz” in the prompt.

Some of this, says Jen cofounder Shara Senderoff, is to be expected. The tool is in its alpha phase, and the 10-second and 45-second tracks it generates are “meant to inspire and provide a starting point for creativity, not necessarily a final product,” she says. New capabilities are coming, and because Jen was trained using a limited data set, it has room to grow and “will expand significantly in the beta phase,” Senderoff adds.

Everything Jen made under the guise of rock music, Heywood says, was akin to “the clip art version” of the genre. Cleveland was able to coax out some songs that sounded “like they could be used in a car commercial” or that were “getting into Black Keys territory,” but says more than anything, she felt like all Jen’s musical suggestions were just plain hokey.

“It felt like the kind of music I’d make if I were messing around with my friends, joking about the cliches of other genres,” she says. “I could see some of the songs on a super bad Netflix dating show, but nothing I made felt like a threat to me personally.”

But what about everyone who makes the tracks you might hear on a Netflix dating show? Could Jen be a threat to their jobs? According to Blickle, almost certainly.

“If you’re a producer with a small budget and you’re just trying to get your content out, now you can say, ‘I’m not even going to pay a designer or an animator. I can just use an image generator,’” he says. “The same thing is true for a music budget. If they can pay nothing for something that was going to cost them $2,000, then great, someone will think that’s $2,000 in their pockets.”

Your Samsung Galaxy phone doesn’t just work as a phone: Thanks to a feature called Samsung DeX, which has been around since 2017, you can plug your handset into a monitor or computer and use your phone in a similar way to a desktop PC. DeX is short for “desktop experience,” and that’s what the feature promises.

There are some caveats here. You need a fairly recent, fairly premium Samsung phone or tablet to use DeX: There’s a full list here, but any Galaxy S phone, Galaxy Fold phone, or Galaxy Flip phone launched since DeX made its debut in 2017 will do.

You’re also going to need a cable to hook up your phone (or tablet) to a monitor, and a spare mouse and keyboard if you want to get a proper desktop experience. (You can use DeX on your phone’s display, but you don’t really get the full benefit).

While you’ll still be running the same mobile apps that are on your phone, the extra screen real estate gives you much more room to operate in, whether you’re browsing the web or working on a spreadsheet. DeX can be really useful for getting some work done on the go, but it’s also perfect for watching movies or scrolling social media feeds too.

Getting Connected

There are several ways to get Samsung DeX up and running, but the two primary methods are to connect your device to a monitor via HDMI, or to a Windows PC via USB. (Support for macOS has been discontinued, sadly.) While the hardware setup varies slightly, you’ll be met with the same software experience on the monitor.

If you’re doing everything on your phone without a PC, you need a cable (or a cable and an adapter) that converts the USB-C output from your Samsung phone to the HDMI input on your monitor. Any USB-C-to-HDMI cable listing should tell you whether or not it’s suitable for this job. For the full experience, you’ll also need a monitor with spare USB ports for plugging in your keyboard and mouse.

Connections is the latest New York Times word game that’s captured the public’s attention. The game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for July 1’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections?

The NYT’s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer. If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories

Want a hit about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

Mashable Top Stories

Yellow: Powerful want

Green: Dead tree publications

Blue: Spies and spy helpers

Purple: Words before a bursting onomatopoeia, when seen in musical genres

Here are today’s Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:

Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to Connections #388 is…

What is the answer to Connections today

YEARN – DESIRE, LONG, PINE, YEN

MAGAZINES – FORTUNE, MAD, NATURE, O

CHARACTERS IN BOND MOVIES – BOND, M, MONEYPENNY, Q

WORDS THAT PRECEDE “POP” IN MUSIC GENRES – BUBBLEGUM, EURO, K, POWER

Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Is this not the Connections game you were looking for? Here are the hints and answers to yesterday’s Connections.