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2024-03-20 10:00:46| Engadget

Intel is getting a huge boost from the US government under the CHIPS and Science Act. The company could get up to $8.5 billion in direct funding from the government, according to the preliminary agreement it has reached with the Department of Commerce. That money will go towards the chipmaker's efforts to expand its manufacturing facilities in the United States, particularly plants designed to make leading-edge semiconductor chips meant for use in AI and other advanced applications. The government's investment is expected to support Intel projects across four states, including the construction of two new leading-edge logic fabrication facilities and the modernization of another one in Chandler, Arizona, as well as the construction of two more fabs in New Albany, Ohio. It will also help Intel modernize two existing fabs in Rio Rancho, New Mexico and expand its facilities in Hillsboro, Oregon. The government's $8.5 billion funding will augment the company's $100 billion investment in US manufacturing over the next five years. And in case the company needs more money, it can borrow up to $11 billion from the US under the agreement.  The Biden administration signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law back in 2022 in hopes of fostering domestic semiconductor research and manufacturing and of lessening American companies' reliance in Chinese suppliers. This is the administration's fourth CHIPS investment, and it's largest yet. If you combine Intel's own money with the government's funding, this is one of the biggest investments announced in US semiconductor manufacturing overall. In February, the government also announced that it was granting GlobalFoundries with $1.5 billion in funding under the CHIPS Act to help the AMD spinoff build new fab facilities.  Intel's projects in those aforementioned regions are expected to create 20,000 construction and 10,000 manufacturing jobs. To help ensure that the local population can benefit from those projects, the government will also earmark $50 million in dedicated funding to train and develop the local workforce. The parties have agreed to these terms under a preliminary agreement only, though, and the Department of Commerce might change them, depending on the results of a comprehensive due diligence process on the proposed projects and any future renegotiations. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/intel-will-get-85-billion-in-chips-act-funding-to-support-its-us-manufacturing-efforts-090046810.html?src=rss

Category: Marketing and Advertising
 

2024-03-20 01:16:32| Engadget

Meta is continuing its slow march toward compatibility with the fediverse. The company has been experimenting with making posts from a handful of accounts available on Mastodon since the end of last year. Now, its offered a brief preview of how the integration works and what it might look like once more people have the ability to share from Threads directly to the fediverse. Instagram engineer Peter Cottle gave a short presentation on Threads in the Fediverse at FediForum, a virtual event for decentralized social media enthusiasts. In the demo, Cottle explains how Threads users will be able to opt-in to fediverse sharing and offered some insight into how Meta is thinking about its role in the fediverse. In a short video demo, first spotted by The Verge, Cottle shows off a new account setting called fediverse sharing. As the name suggests, the menu will enable users to make their posts viewable from Mastodon and other platforms that use ActivityPub. Notably, it appears to also come with lengthy disclaimers explaining exactly what that will mean for their content. I think it's actually kind of tricky for Threads because we have like 130 million people using it monthly, but a lot of people haven't heard of the fediverse, Cottle said. But we want to give them the ability to enter that kind of experience. So we have to both explain the fediverse and explain all the disclaimers and then make sure they feel good about the outcome. Visually, the fediverse will be represented on Threads by an icon that looks a bit like a planet (the symbol has previously been spotted in code in the app). Cottle explained that users who have enabled fediverse sharing will have the symbol viewable on their profiles and that theyll see an indication in the apps composer if a post will be visible in the fediverse. Cottle also confirmed that only public-facing accounts will have the ability to share to the fediverse. He also noted that users will have a 5-minute window before posts go live in order to make any changes or edits as Threads cant guarantee a deleted Threads post is also deleted from the fediverse. The demo comes as Meta has started to add a few more accounts to its fediverse sharing experiment. Right now, Mastodon users can follow Instagram chief Adam Mosseri and a handful of other Threads users, but the company hasnt provided an update on when the functionality will be more widely available. Cottles demo also didnt delve into how sharing from Mastoodn and other ActivityPub-enabled services intoThreads might work. (Right now, if a Mastodon user replies to a Threads post, the reply is only visible on Mastodon, not on Threads.) But Cottles demo is another sign that Meta is taking the growing momentum for decentralized social media seriously. I know there's a ton of skepticism about threads entering the fediverse, it's completely understandable, Cottle said. But I do want to make a plea that I think everyone on the team has really good intentions. We really want to be a really good member of the community and give people the ability to experience what the fediverse is and the power of a protocol.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-previews-fediverse-sharing-for-threads-001632698.html?src=rss

Category: Marketing and Advertising
 

2024-03-20 00:55:12| Engadget

Like many premium electric rides, Cowboy's e-bikes make short commutes easier, especially those involving hills or a lot of stop-start traffic. Its latest bike is an attempt to address another challenge: comfort. The Cowboy Cross is the companys first all-road model, with thicker, bigger tires, seat suspension, inverted fork suspension and a substantially bigger battery for more extended tripsor simply fewer trips to the charger. Its a substantially different offering from Cowboy, which previously aimed its products at European cities with established cycling communities and infrastructure. With the Cross, the addition of a rear rack fused to the frame and an expanded range of 120km (in ideal conditions) both mean its designed for more involved trips beyond a simple jaunt around your neighborhood. With that larger battery and suspension, the Cross ST weighs 26.5kg over 58 pounds more than the companys Cruiser and C4 models, while the standard Cross is even heavier at 27.9kg. Its a substantial e-bike. Once again, you can choose between step-over and step-through frames, and the Cross will launch in three colors: dark green, dark brown and black. All of them have an almost-satin finish, and the company has changed up the paint it uses to make it more resistant to scratches and grazes. Image by Mat Smith / Engadget Compared to its predecessor, the Cross is far better equipped for curbs and random road bumps, resulting in a much smoother ride that I immediately felt during a brief test ride in central London. The e-bike launched up curbs, instead of the bounce and shudder I usually get on other e-bikes. Its a single-gear bike, again, with a carbon belt drive system and the suspension is split between inverted fork suspension on the front wheel and seat suspension, both with 40mm of travel. Its easy to forget, due to the assistance you get pedaling, but e-bikes can be heavy almost always heavier than their manual counterparts. So suspension makes a lot of sense when youre riding something that weighs in at well above 20 kilograms. The ride, otherwise, was very similar to the Cowboy C4 Id ridden before. Adaptive power is also on-board, ensuring the bike controls are simple and comparable to a standard bike. You just squeeze the brakes, and the bike will handle acceleration and thrust. Cowboy couldnt help tinkering with its companion app, and these bikes will launch with new social aspects for your rides, adding league tables between groups of riders and incentives to pump those pedals using your legs. (Excuse me, Cowboy, but I ride e-bikes in order to do that less). Fortunately, the onboard phone holder doubles as a wireless charger too. While I love the Cross, Im unsure about the in-app mini-games. Madly pedaling to reach your app goals in a place like London, where you might miss a junction, cyclist or runaway baby stroller if you blink, simply doesnt seem wise. Cowboy says its still working on ways to gamify your trips in a way thats fun and not, well, so dangerous. Image by Mat Smith / Engadget Adding suspension and a bigger battery cell, however, also contribute to the price. The Cross will be available at an early-bird price of 3,099 (just shy of $4,000) for a limited time, and will eventually go up to 3,499 (almost $4,500). In mainland Europe, itll cost at 3,500 Euros at launch and will increase to 4,000 Euros. You can order one now and the bikes will start shipping near the end of May or in early June 2024. There are no US prices though, because the Cross wont be headed to the US for now. The company says its continuing to focus on the European market, as it getting all TechCrunch on you here chases profitability. For some business context, rival premium e-bike maker VanMoof declared bankruptcy in 2023. However, the company still plans to roll out its rides to the US. But only when its ready.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cowboys-new-all-road-e-bike-adds-suspension-and-a-much-bigger-battery-235512290.html?src=rss

Category: Marketing and Advertising
 

2024-03-19 22:06:10| Engadget

Like most other corners of the tech world, Google sees AI powering the next innovations in health technology. The companys annual The Check Up event expanded on its plans to add a personal health chatbot to the Fitbit app, expand Google Lens for better skin condition searches and use a version of its Gemini chatbot in the medical field. One of the more intriguing of Googles announcements on Tuesday was more detail about an experimental AI feature for Fitbit users, briefly teased last year. Fitbit Labs will let owners draw correlations and connect the dots from health data tracked using their wearable devices. A chatbot in the mobile app will let you ask questions in natural language and create personalized charts to learn about your health. The company hasnt yet gone into great depth about the Fitbit chatbot, but an example it published Tuesday shows a user asking about potential connections between activity and sleep. The Fitbit assistant answered that the users days with higher activity scores correlated with better sleep (while cautioning not to assume thats the only reason). The Fitbit generative AI tool will arrive later this year. Google says it will (at least initially) only be available to Fitbit Premium subscribers with Android devices enrolled in the Fitbit Labs program. Google / Fitbit The company sees Google Lens as filling some healthcare gaps where text-based searches fall short. It says a feature (introduced last year) that uses Lens to identify visually similar matches from the web for skin conditions is now available in over 150 countries. It can work even when you dont know where to begin when describing a dermatological disorder. In a similar light, Google has added new images and diagrams to its web results from reputable online sources to help you understand conditions like neck pain. Up next: The company sees the visual results powering its searches for more health conditions, including migraines, kidney stones and pneumonia. The visual search engine updates are expected to roll out over the next few months. The company also mentioned that Fitbit and Google Research are partnering with health and wellness experts and other medical professionals to create a new AI model for health and wellness. The long-term goal is for the Gemini-powered large language model (LLM) to power its future AI features across Googles various health offerings.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fitbits-health-chatbot-will-arrive-later-this-year-210609008.html?src=rss

Category: Marketing and Advertising
 

2024-03-19 20:48:02| TRENDWATCHING.COM

Related: In honor of Ramadan, meals don't appear on Tesco billboards until after sunset Browser plug-in Pkari Ma replaces UK's coronation gossip with indigenous news

Category: Marketing and Advertising
 

2024-03-19 20:02:58| Engadget

Microsoft now has a lone leader overseeing consumer AI for the first time. DeepMind cofounder Mustafa Suleyman is joining the company from rival Inflection AI. Suleyman will try to push the consumer-facing Copilot assistant into the future, preparing for what may be a long battle with Google for artificial intelligence supremacy among Silicon Valleys Big Five companies. Suleymans official title will be executive vice president and CEO of a new division called Microsoft AI, reporting directly to CEO Satya Nadella. Joining him will be fellow Inflection AI cofounder Karén Simonyan, who takes the title of chief scientist. Messy could be one way to describe Microsofts Copilot rollout. Despite its quick jump out of the starting blocks to take the lead over Google, Bloomberg reported in January that Bings market share hardly moved the needle against its search rival. In addition, a Microsoft engineer raised flags earlier this year about the safety of OpenAIs DALL-E 3 and Copilot, even taking his case to the FTC. Further complicating matters, Googles AI efforts may be in for an enormous boost as its reportedly in talks with Apple to power the iPhone makers generative AI tools. Im excited to announce that today Im joining @Microsoft as CEO of Microsoft AI. Ill be leading all consumer AI products and research, including Copilot, Bing and Edge. My friend and longtime collaborator Karén Simonyan will be Chief Scientist, and several of our amazing Mustafa Suleyman (@mustafasuleyman) March 19, 2024 In announcing his move to Microsoft, Suleyman posted on X (Twitter) that several of our amazing teammates from Inflection AI will join him and Simonyan in Microsoft AI. But that may be an understatement. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Microsoft is instead hiring most of the staff from his Inflection AI startup. In a blog post announcing the changes, Inflection said it plans to lean into our AI studio business in an apparent pivot into the enterprise and away from its consumer-facing Pi chatbot. Suleyman cofounded DeepMind in 2010, four years before Google bought the British-American AI startup for a sum reported to be between $400 million and $650 million. Suleyman left DeepMind in 2019 to join Google, and three years later, he left to cofound Inflection AI. Ive known Mustafa for several years and have greatly admired him as a founder of both DeepMind and Inflection, and as a visionary, product maker, and builder of pioneering teams that go after bold missions, Nadella wrote in a Microsoft blog post. The CEO described the incoming Inflection expats as some of the most accomplished AI engineers, researchers, and builders in the world. Nadella stressed that Microsofts partnership with OpenAI is still a top priority. The ChatGPT maker provides the underlying generative AI models for Copilot. Our AI innovation continues to build on our most strategic and important partnership with OpenAI, he wrote. We will continue to build AI infrastructure inclusive of custom systems and silicon work in support of OpenAIs foundation model roadmap, and also innovate and build products on top of their foundation models.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-hires-deepmind-cofounder-to-lead-its-new-consumer-ai-division-190255898.html?src=rss

Category: Marketing and Advertising
 

2024-03-19 19:43:11| Engadget

Meta is finally providing a bit of visibility into what kinds of conversations are happening on its Twitter competitor, Threads. The service is rolling out its trending now feature to all US users, Mark Zuckerberg said in a post. The feature, which the company began testing in February, uses AI to surface a handful of topics based on what people are engaging with right now. Trends will appear in Threads search page and will also appear in between posts in users For You feeds. For now, the feature is still fairly limited. Threads only shows five trending topics at any one time, which is likely an attempt to keep the list relatively curated and avoid some of the issues that have plagued the feature on Twitter and now X. Meta has said it employs human content specialists to review topics and ensure that trends comply with the companys safety rules. Still, the official arrival of trends brings a much-requested feature to the app. Up until now, users had very few ways to get insight into what others are talking about outside of what they can see in their own feeds. Trends also gives users a way to keep up with some news and current events on the platform, despite Metas reluctance to encourage news content on Threads.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-is-finally-rolling-out-trending-topics-on-threads-184311138.html?src=rss

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2024-03-19 19:37:30| Engadget

Blizzard is finally making it easier to unlock new heroes in Overwatch 2. This is big news, as players regularly complain about how difficult it is to obtain new characters in the live-service shooter. Currently, people get new heroes by paying for and grinding through a battle pass, buying them outright or waiting until they become available as a reward for winning a certain number of games. That changes with the forthcoming season 10, as the company will make new and old heroes available for free to all players. This not only pertains to Venture, a new hero created for season 10, but all of the games previously released heroes, like Mauga, Illari, Sojourn and Lifeweaver, among many others. New players will still have to complete the intro, but once the heroes from the original Overwatch roster have been unlocked, all Overwatch 2 heroes will also become available. This will even extend to future heroes. The entire roster of Overwatch 2 characters will be playable in all game modes when season 10 officially begins this April. This is just one change coming to how the game handles its battle pass, as suggested by director Aaron Keller in a video. Blizzard is also going to start selling mythic skins that were previously available only through a paid battle pass, though pricing and availability is still up in the air. In addition, Overwatch Coins, the games dominant currency, will soon be easier to earn. Right now, people accrue coins by accessing a premium battle pass, completing weekly challenges or buying them outright. In season 10, theyll become available in the free tracks of the games battle pass system. Fans will be able to earn up to 600 coins per season for free, up from 540. Finally, theres a new in-game competition called Clash, which was first announced at last years Blizzcon. This team-based PvP mode features five points lined up in a row, and the first team that captures all five points or reaches a maximum score wins. It looks like the full Clash mode wont launch alongside season 10, but will come later this year and will include two dedicated maps. Blizzard also previewed season 11 today, which is due later this year and will include a new Push map set in Peru, as well as a reworked version of the Rome-based Colosseo map.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/overwatch-2-players-wont-have-to-pay-or-grind-through-a-battle-pass-to-unlock-new-heroes-183729811.html?src=rss

Category: Marketing and Advertising
 

2024-03-19 19:26:15| Engadget

A man has been jailed for 66 weeks in England after pleading guilty to cyberflashing. Nicholas Hawkes is the first person to be convicted of the crime in the country under the Online Safety Act. Cyberflashing (sending unsolicited photos of genitalia) was outlawed in England and Wales under the law on January 31. Cyberflashing is a serious crime which leaves a lasting impact on victims, but all too often it can be dismissed as thoughtless banter or a harmless joke," prosecutor Hannah von Dadelzsen said in a statement. Just as those who commit indecent exposure in the physical world can expect to face the consequences, so too should offenders who commit their crimes online; hiding behind a screen does not hide you from the law." Registered sex offender Hawkes, of Basildon, Essex, admitted to sending a photo of his genitals to a 15-year-old girl and a woman in early February. The woman took screenshots of the image and reported it to police. Cyberflashing victims receive lifelong anonymity under the Sexual Offences Act after reporting such crimes. Hawkes pleaded guilty on February 12 to two counts of sending a photograph or film of genitals to cause alarm, distress or humiliation. He was held in custody until his sentencing on Tuesday. Hawkes was jailed for one year for the cyberflashing counts, and 14 weeks for breaching a previous order. He was convicted last year of exposure and sexual activity with a child under 16 and was sentenced to a community order. Some other jurisdictions have similar laws against cyberflashing. Scotland banned it in 2010 and Northern Ireland followed suit last year. Singapore made it a crime in 2019, while the practice is illegal in some circumstances in Australia. Some states have moved to tackle cyberflashing too, including California, Virginia and Texas.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/first-cyberflasher-convicted-in-england-is-sentenced-to-66-weeks-in-jail-182615668.html?src=rss

Category: Marketing and Advertising
 

2024-03-19 17:30:57| Engadget

It sounds too good to be true. The ability to smoke meats, seafood and more inside your kitchen without risking your security deposit doesnt seem like something that should be possible. GE Appliances begs to differ. The company debuted the final version of its GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker just before CES, quickly nabbing the attention of this wood-fired-grill reviewer. Thanks to a unique filtration system, the unit captures smoke while cooking and only expels warm air (out of the front). After getting a small taste (literally one bite) in Vegas of what the smoker could do, Ive spent the last few weeks cooking a variety of proteins to see if the $999 device is as compelling as it seems. Design The GE indoor smoker has the stature of a small mini fridge. Its not far off from the quick-cooking ovens behind the counter at Starbucks either. Its glossy front is two-thirds door, complete with viewing window, while the remaining space is dedicated to the control panel and pellet waste bin. Up top is a small sliding door at the front left for adding food-grade wood pellets. The sides and back look plain and boring, like a countertop oven or microwave, but thats just fine. The contraption is short enough to fit under cabinets, but youll want to leave space on the sides and back for radiant heat. At the bottom of the front, theres a vent where the GE indoor smoker expels warm air while its cooking. The company also provides a small drip tray that slides under the front edge to help keep your counter clean. Over to the right, a display sits up top to show you status, probe temperature, smoker temperature, cook time and smoke level. You turn a knob to navigate settings and menus and then press to confirm your choices. Back and Start buttons flank that dial on the left and right sides respectively. Theres progress and status lights that encircle the knob too, adding a visual cue during preheating, cooking and more. Under the knob is a smattering of buttons to get to certain functions quickly. These include settings, cancel, the interior light, activating the Clear Smoke feature and toggling between probe temperature and cooking time on the display. Theres also a power switch in this group and theyre all touch-based rather than clicky physical buttons. Inside, supports snap onto the sides to hold the three moveable racks in place. A drip pan slides into the bottom to catch grease and other debris. To keep tabs on food temps, a probe snaps into a jack at the top right of the cooking chamber and can be stored on the outside of the smoker via a magnetic holder when not in use. Lastly, the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smokers prime piece of tech, the Active Smoke Filtration system, is on the back interior wall. Setup and use Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget Another benefit of the GE indoor smoker is that its ready to go out of the box. Theres no seasoning or burn-off required to get rid of oils or other manufacturing leftovers. Simply snap the rack supports in place, slide in the racks, put the drip pan in the bottom and thats it for the cooking chamber. Once you add pellets in the slot up top and fill the water tank to the indicated level, the smoker is almost ready to start cooking. One more step youll need to do the first time you cook, or anytime you empty the pellet chute, is to prime the auger. This ensures that the device will start producing smoke quickly and efficiently, giving your food as much time as possible to bathe in it. Afterwards, you can choose a preset or opt to go full manual mode (called Customize) and youre off and running. GE has dialed-in selections for brisket, pork ribs, pork butt, wings, chicken and salmon. These offer the necessary time and temperature settings for proper cooking, including a recommended smoke level. Additionally, you can determine the duration of the cook based on time or internal food temperature. Once either of those are achieved, the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker can automatically go into Keep Warm mode until youre ready to eat. Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget A word on larger cuts: youll need to portion them out in order to make them fit. For things like ribs and brisket, you can easily slice them in half and make use of the rack system. I did chuckle when reading the recipe book as GE says you can fit a 18-pound brisket in this smoker. That single cut of beef would take up most of the cooking area on some pellet grills, so you definitely have to cut it to fit here. And even then, the pieces will be quite large. Pork butts fit with ease, as do whole chickens. If you prefer to spatchcock your birds to cook them, that wont work here. However, you could easily do two chicken halves. I was also able to accommodate nearly four pounds of wings (flats and drums) across the three racks. Basically, any meat youd smoke on an outdoor grill can be done on this unit, but some of them will take a bit of extra planning, and maybe a few cuts, to get them to fit. How does the GE Indoor Smoker work? After youve selected your preset or manually entered your cooking parameters and pressed start, the GE indoor smoker will ask you to confirm that youve added both pellets to the chute and water to the waste bin. From there, the device will preheat to the appropriate temperature before it begins producing any smoke. This will allow you to put your food inside without having to clear the smoke immediately. The last step is to push the start dial once more to begin the smoking process. Before you open the door while things are cooking, youll need to activate the Clear Smoke function to avoid setting off any alarms in your kitchen. This takes 10 minutes, so youll have to plan ahead a bit unless you dont mind smoking up the room. I mntion this because you will have to flip and rotate nearly everything you prepare in this thing to make sure it cooks evenly. I learned this lesson the hard way with a pork butt that burned on top but was undercooked near the bone. A simple flip and front-to-back rotation for everything about half-way through the process remedied the issue for everything I cooked after that, but it is an extra step that outdoor grills dont require. You can leave a pork butt on a pellet grill unbothered until its done, but those have fans pushing heat around the cooking chamber. GE says it didnt opt for a convection fan in this unit because of how it wouldve affected the flow of smoke. Can you taste the smoke? One of the biggest questions I had about the GE indoor smoker is if youd actually be able to taste the smoke. The unit burns just enough wood pellets to fill the cooking chamber with smoke, which is enough to give proteins a kiss of flavor. Its certainly not as intense as what you get on an outdoor grill, but its definitely there. Since the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker does an excellent job of regulating temperature, the texture of all of those meats, and even seafood, is consistently moist and tender. Smoke flavor was most prominent in wings, chicken and salmon, but I could taste it in larger cuts of meat, too. GE allows you to adjust the smoke level from 0 to 5, so you can crank it all the way up to maximize the flavor if thats your culinary preference. I almost always set it to level 5. Lets talk about smoke rings One thing you wont see on meat cooked low-and-slow in the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker is a smoke ring. This is the pink area along the outside of sliced meats that most people think indicates how well smoke has penetrated the food. Thats actually a misconception. A smoke ring is caused by a chemical reaction with nitric oxide gas produced by burning wood or charcoal. It isnt by any means an indication of the level of smoke flavor, or even good barbecue. Outdoor pellet grills, offset smokers and even a Weber kettle with charcoal will create a noticeable smoke ring on things like ribs, pork butts and briskets. The GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker will not. Thats because the appliance isnt burning wood pellets as the heat source its only using them to flavor the food. That takes very little fuel, and it also requires barely any heat to smolder them. You can actually fake a smoke ring if you really want one for the gram, but overdoing it can ruin your food, so tread carefully. For that, youll need a small amount of something that contains sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite, like Mortons Tender Quick. Its the stuff thats used to cure pastrami, where the pink color is essential. Cleanup and maintenance Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget Unlike most outdoor grills, all of the racks and rack supports inside the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker are dishwasher safe simply by virtue of being small enough to fit. Since youll have to wipe down the interior of the cooking chamber with a solution of either mild soap and water or vinegar and water, not having to hand-wash whats sure to be the dirtiest part of the machine is a plus. The drip pan is made out of a similar material to roasting pans youd use in an oven, so you can probably stick it in the dishwasher too. I have been doing this with no issues so far, but you can always wrap it in foil before you start smoking for easy cleaning. Youll also need to empty the water tank that collects and extinguishes the spent pellets after each use, though the smoker may ask you to do so midway through longer sessions. Youll need to strain out the remaining wood particles from the water before discarding the cooled solids in the trash. Since the water container doesnt touch any food, a quick wipe and rinse is all thats needed here. GE says youll occasionally need to clean the pellet ramp to ensure proper smoke production. The company includes a small brush thats used to keep unwanted debris out of the cooking chamber. Simply lift the smoke inlet cover on the right side of the cooking area and use the brush to remove anything thats accumulated there. The company also recommends that you wipe the interior light after each use. I assume thats so youll be able to see well during the cooking process, but GE doesnt elaborate on why you need to do it. GE Profile SmartHQ app The Smart Indoor Smoker works with GEs SmartHQ app to allow you to monitor the small appliance over Wi-Fi. With this software, you can monitor smoker and food temperatures from anywhere, as well as activate the 10-minute Clear Smoke process from the sofa. The app also lets you turn the internal light on and off, but thats really about it. You cant actually adjust the smoker temperature without walking over to it. The smoker comes with a recipe book, but it wouldve been great if those (and many more) were available inside the app. Those instructions, paired with the ability to send the appropriate cooking info to the device, would give new users a lot of ways to get started beyond the simple protein-specific presets. I would also love it if there was a way to trigger the Keep Warm function or shut down the smoker remotely. You know, for the times when I get too excited about putting pulled pork in my mouth and forget to turn the machine off before sitting down at the table. Is it better than an outdoor grill? Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget While its tempting to compare the results from the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker to those of a pellet, charcoal or wood-burning grill, it would be like discussing apples and oranges. Since all of the other options have an open flame and use significantly more fuel as the primary heat source, the smoke flavor is much more intense. They also require a lot more planning. First, youd need dedicated outdoor space where those grills and smokers will be safe to use. Youll also need to consider the added cleaning and maintenance needed to keep them running well. All of these outdoor grills have a wider temperature range, so they can be used for more than just smoking. You could use a pellet grill, for example, to do everything from brisket to searing steaks. Ditto for charcoal or wood-burning units. And if you factor in Wi-Fi-enabled features, outdoor grills typically allow you to adjust temperature in addition to just monitoring it. Some of them even offer advanced tools like the Super Smoke mode from Traeger or the ability to send recipes to the grill as part of step-by-step guidance. All this considered, the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker is still a good option for people who cant have an outdoor smoker due to rental agreements or a lack of space.Youll certainly need to plan ahead on how to store the appliance when youre not using it. But, the fact that you can put it in your kitchen opens up the ability to cook barbecue, smoked wings, tasty seafood and more that you otherwise wouldnt be able to. Its not entirely a set it and forget it type of device, and there are some hoops to jump through in terms of rotating things during the cook. However, you won't have to spend hours babying the meats the cooking starts. Wrap-up The GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker works just like the company describes. The only real nuisance is having to flip and rotate foods to make sure theyre cooked properly. I really wish the company was more up-front about this somewhere other than the troubleshooting table and recipe book. Its a key action that shouldnt be left to trial and error. Even with that caveat, the device produces noticeably smoky flavor in a range of foods, albeit in a more-subdued way than what an outdoor grill. Presets make it easy to get started and the manual mode will provide an open playground once you gain some experience. This wont replace your pellet or charcoal grill, but thats not really the point. It lets people who cant own one of those make some tasty barbecue inside their kitchens. You just have to find a place to store it, or give up previously allocated countertop space, between smoke sessions. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ge-profile-smart-indoor-smoker-review-turning-your-kitchen-into-a-bbq-joint-163057181.html?src=rss

Category: Marketing and Advertising
 

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