Intel has signed up Taiwanese smartphone chip designer MediaTek as a major ally in its effort to reclaim its chipmaking leadership and ultimately restore the United States' processor manufacturing prowess.

The partnership, revealed Monday, is important for the establishment of Intel Foundry Services, an effort to dramatically expand and transform Intel's chipmaking business by making chips for other companies. Intel lost its lead with years of manufacturing problems that stalled it during the ascent of two Asian foundries, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and Samsung.

"MediaTek has been a close partner with TSMC, so it is a pretty big deal," Tirias Research analyst Kevin Krewell said of Intel's MediaTek partnership.

The deal comes at an opportune time for Intel. It could help draw attention to the importance of US semiconductor manufacturing, the issue at the heart of the $52 billion in CHIPS Act spending that Intel is trying to persuade Congress to pass. Intel has been lobbying for the subsidies, postponing a groundbreaking ceremony for a new Ohio manufacturing site where Intel is investing at least $20 billion.

If Intel Foundry Services succeeds, new customers will significantly expand Intel manufacturing volume, helping it catch up to TSMC's enormous scale and justify the gargantuan price tags of new chip fabrication facilities, called fabs.

"Scale matters in our business," division President Randhir Thakur said. "One key benefit of us having other products running into our factories is it gives us scale."

The geopolitical calculus of chipmaking is changing, too. TSMC is in Taiwan and Samsung is in South Korea, two countries with good trade relations with US companies. But last week, analyst firm TechInsights dismantled a processor made by the top Chinese foundry SMIC and concluded it's made with the company's new 7nm manufacturing process. That's major progress for Chinese chipmaking, which despite massive government investment has trailed technologically.

"China's SMIC is shipping a foundry process with commercially available chips in the open market which are more advanced than any American or European company," industry watcher Dylan Patel concluded from TechInsights' analysis.

President Joe Biden is a strong CHIPS Act proponent, but congressional wrangling has held up any actual funding for months despite some bipartisan support and intense chip industry lobbying. Last week, a pared down CHIPS Act funding bill progressed in the Senate, making it more likely that a federal subsidy could knock about $3 billion off the $10 billion price tag for each new fab Intel wants to build.

Biden touted the new CHIPS Act at a meeting with leaders from defense, transportation and medical industries. "The CHIPS Act, in my view, is going to advance the nation's competitiveness and our technological edge," he said. Rising auto prices accounted for a third of 2021 inflation, Biden said, and that happened because the semiconductors shortage meant automakers couldn't actually build the vehicles.

About 12% of chips are made in the US today, down from 37% in 1990, according to a 2021 Semiconductor Industry Association report.

One big Intel foundry ally is the US military, which doesn't like the idea of being beholden to foreign countries for the electronic brains in every fighter jet, loitering missile and set of night-vision goggles. In November, the US Defense Department announced a partnership with Intel and other US semiconductor companies to foster a chip ecosystem based on Intel's upcoming 18A manufacturing process, due to arrive in late 2023 thanks to an accelerated timeline.

Qualcomm also declared its Intel 18A enthusiasm in 2021, but that partnership remains at a more evaluative phase as that technology develops.

Intel has a lot of catching up to do. TSMC is by far the largest foundry and has been investing aggressively, including a new plant near the Intel stronghold of Phoenix. And Samsung beat Intel and TSMC in the race to advance chips with a redesign to transistors, the core electronic data processing element on a chip. In June, it said it's begun producing transistors with a design called gate all around that stands to lower power consumption and improve performance.

MediaTek competes against companies like Qualcomm and Samsung that make smartphone processors and modem chips for wireless networking. It picked Intel in part to have more chip sourcing options.

Intel manufacturing will help "create a more diversified supply chain," said N.S. Tsai, a corporate senior vice president at MediaTek. "We look forward to building a long-term partnership."

A persistent, global chip shortage triggered in 2020 by the COVID pandemic has focused acute attention on supply chain issues. Scarce processors hobbled delivery of everything from Ford F-150 pickup trucks to Sony PlayStation 5 gaming consoles.

MediaTek will use a spruced-up version of Intel's decade-old 16-nanometer manufacturing process to make chips for home electronics and other devices for the internet of things. In contrast, TSMC builds MediaTek's premium product, the new Dimensity 9000 smartphone chip, with a much more modern 4nm manufacturing process.

But IFS faces many challenges. Intel has historically had its own chip design tools and manufacturing processes tailored to its own chip products. Accommodating outside chip designs requires a profound business and operational transformation. And the chip foundry's biggest customers are direct Intel competitors like AMD, Nvidia, Apple and Qualcomm that might well be leery of relying on Intel.

MediaTek, an "anchor" for IFS, is helping Intel learn now to set up the business to compete with Samsung and TSMC, Thakur said.

For example, instead of relying on Intel's own chip design tools, the company has wholeheartedly embraced the software the rest of the industry long ago embraced. It's physically partitioned fab floor space for foundry customers and has a similarly separated computer system. Intel also has begun simplifying its own processes so outsiders can understand them better and hired more than 70 people from rival foundries, he said.

"Our ability to sit across from our customers and talk in foundry language has increased tremendously," Thakur said. "The folks we brought from outside are helping us to work as a foundry, not as an Intel."

Ubuntu just went 1080p on Dell's sleekest laptop.

The 2.99-pound XPS 13 Developer Edition -- started as a project to create an open source developer laptop -- is now available on Dell's site for $1,549.

Those specifications, with the critical exception of the Ubuntu Linux, are identical to the 1080p XPS 13 for Windows 8.

Here are the specs:

• Operating system: Ubuntu Linux 12.04 LTS
  
• Display: 13.3-inch 1,920x1,080 panel
  
• Processor: 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3537U
  
• Memory: 8GB2 DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz
  
• Storage: 256GB solid-state drive
  
• Graphics: Intel HD 4000
  
• Price: $1,549
  

In addition to the U.S., Dell will also start to roll it out in select countries in Europe, including the UK, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, and Finland.

The XPS 13 is one of the better ultrabook designs to emerge from a top-tier PC vendor. It squeezes a 13.3-inch screen into a footprint more typical of 12-inch laptops, boasts Gorilla Glass, and is constructed from aluminum and carbon fiber, allowing Dell to keep the weight to just under three pounds.

The upgraded display is also brighter and has wider viewing angles than the original 1,366x768 XPS 13 model.

This story is part of Amazon Prime Day, CNET's guide to everything you need to know and how to find the best deals.

Best Buy has several headphones and earbuds on sale as part of its Black Friday in July Sale, including the AirPods Pro for $180 and the AirPods Max for $450. Those are pretty good prices, but the deals that stood out to me were for a trio of Geek Squad Certified refurbished Apple earbud models. You can pick up the black version of the Beats Fit Pro for $90 ($110 off their list price) or the black Beats Studio Buds for only $50 ($100 off their list price). And fina lly the AirPods Pro are $130 ($40 off what they would cost new at Amazon, where they are currently $170). Those only come in white, of course.

Read more: Best Prime Day 2022 Headphones Deals

Not everybody is comfortable buying refurbished products, especially earbuds, but I've bought several refurbished items from Best Buy and haven't been disappointed. You have 15 days to return the earbuds if you don't like them, and you get a 90-day warranty. They may or may not arrive in their original box and most don't show any signs of being a "used" product. 

We have full reviews of the Beats Studio Buds, Beats Fit Pro and Apple AirPods Pro, all of which feature active noise cancellation. As with all in-ear noise-isolating earbuds, I can't tell you which, if any of these, will fit your ears perfectly, but I'd say the best value of the three is the Beats Fit Pro, which earned a CNET Editors' Choice Award last year.  

Read more: Best Wireless Earbuds for 2022

Qualcomm's upcoming new next-gen wearable chip platform, called the Snapdragon W5, promises battery gains for upcoming Google Wear OS watches. On paper, the chips promise more powerful processing speed and better battery life, and they could allow smart watches to do more things in a low-power, always-on mode. 

The 4nm system chipset, which is smaller than before, could also lead to smaller watch designs. But, it could also be hinting at where a new wave of smart glasses and other wearables are evolving. The new chips look to have better battery life, higher performance, global LTE support and can work with multiple cameras for more advanced image recognition processing and video chat support. This might be a clear arrow to where future follow-ups to devices such as Meta's Ray-Ban Stories glasses aim for next.

Watches: Longer battery life at last?

Qualcomm's made these promises before: the Snapdragon 3100 chip seemed like it would solve battery life issues, but Google Wear OS-compatible watches still tended to average a day or two of battery at best. 

This time, however, the chip could mean watches that last 43 hours instead of 28 on a 300-mAh battery, or up to 72 hours on a 600-mAh battery. These numbers suggest two to three days of use, which may not sound like a big change. But if it's a real two to three days of wear, that could mean skipping a day of charging without any worries at all, something the most popular smartwatches don't do well. 

A day without charging would mean a night where the watch could be worn to track sleep. Sleep tracking features have become more prominent on watches such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and the Apple Watch, and Fitbit's sleep tracking-focused metrics could play a big role on the upcoming Google Pixel Watch. We still don't know what chips Samsung's next watch, or the Pixel Watch, will have. Qualcomm's new chipset has already been confirmed on a few upcoming watches: one from Oppo, and Mobvoi's next TicWatch. It certainly sounds like Qualcomm's new chips are worth waiting for on an Android watch if the battery gains are as good as advertised.

Apple could be following a similar path. The company's expected to have a step-up watch model this fall, which could be ruggedized and have a better battery life. WatchOS 9 adds deeper sleep-tracking features, perhaps indicating that the next watches could skip a night's charging more easily. 

The longer battery life means the watches can do more in a lower-power "ambient" state, which could be used to limit certain watch functions. W5-powered watches could get notifications, use Bluetooth, stream audio and track health metrics including heart rate while in a low-power mode. The audio and health features in particular could end up being used by products that aren't even watches at all.

Watches with cameras: For video calls, or QR code and ticket scanning

Qualcomm's new chips will improve camera-enabled features, supporting 16MP camera ISPs as well as video calling. Previous Qualcomm watch chips have also had a version of this feature. Qualcomm's first reference design models of its W5-chip watches, and models coming this year, aren't yet expected to have cameras onboard, but cameras would make sense for a variety of reasons. Beyond taking photos or having video chats on-wrist (which, as I've experienced, isn't all that useful), the cameras could possibly be used to help scan tickets or QR codes, adding to NFC and mobile payments to push how watches could check into events or interact with the world. 

Qualcomm's pushing the idea of more advanced machine learning for image recognition on these watches, possibly in similar ways to how phones are increasingly recognizing text or objects with cameras. Could there be future assistive use for features like this? Very possibly. For example, where delivery workers could use watches to scan packages or take photos of delivered items in ways that tablets and phones are currently used.

Could this mean smaller kid's watches, too?

Battery life isn't the only advantage of these new chips: Qualcomm sees the smaller chip design as a doorway towards smaller-sized thinner watches, especially ones in the 38mm size and maybe even smaller. That could mean a wave of new watch designs, but it could also mean watches that choose a slimmer design over battery life gains, with smaller batteries onboard. 

Qualcomm's head of wearables, Pankaj Kedia, told CNET that interest in phone-enabled, camera-connected watches for kids is a trend. These new chips might also be aiming to fold more of these connected features into designs that could fit kids (or anyone else).

Smart glasses: A hint at a new wave?

Meta's first-gen Ray-Ban Stories glasses use Qualcomm's 4100 line of watch chips, Qualcomm's Kedia confirmed to CNET. For smaller wearables on eyes or anywhere on the body, these W5-series chips could end up being a better fit than Qualcomm's older and larger XR1 and XR2 AR-VR chips.

This is the part that intrigues me most: Could the W5 be a harbinger of a wave of wearables that live between wrist and head, or in combinations of those two? Meta's already talked about wristbands being the next wave of VR/AR headset interaction. Could chips like the W5 enable watches and headsets, and more advanced glasses, to start interacting and dovetailing? And could Meta's next pair of glasses use these chips, too?

Kedia confirms there are plenty of possibilities, saying of Meta's Ray-Ban glasses, "the reason they use that is because size and battery life are important." Kedia hints at the trend continuing. "Now with this platform, we have significantly improved the camera experience, the modem experience, reduced power, reduced size. Expect more customers, different types of customers, different form factors, to leverage this platform."

The loss of a parent, guardian or caregiver is a weighty thing to ponder, and it's likely an especially painful experience for those who had a strained or broken relationship with whoever raised them. But that didn't stop game developer Joel McDonald (Prune) and his team from diving headfirst into topics like grief, resentment, acceptance and forgiveness in Hindsight, a powerful narrative exploration game. Hindsight is an emotional, unflinching examination of our perception of memories.

Hindsight begins with Mary, an accomplished chef, who's about to open her first restaurant when she gets a call that her mother has died. Mary returns to sort out her childhood home, and she recounts her life from birth to the present day. 

Hindsight gives the player a window into the past to explore memories. As Mary cleans out cabinets and drawers, she comes across objects the player can click to visit a moment in Mary's past. The development team created incredibly unique in-game transitions to capture these memories. Though the game is mostly point-and-click, there are a few puzzle elements. For instance, you may need to push papers or other clutter aside to unlock a memory. Some of these puzzle moments were a bit tedious, which was one of the only downsides to an otherwise deeply engaging game. 

Hindsight also features elements of choice. For example, you can choose between examining house slippers or a piano, though choosing one over the other doesn't mean the other option is lost to you. At the end of each game chapter, Mary must choose to keep one of the items featured in her memories, as she ponders the question, "How do you choose what's most important?" 

Hindsight is a relatively short game, but it isn't one you can rush through. Mary narrates the game in a soothing voice, accompanied by an atmospheric, gentle soundtrack. Hindsight mirrors the simple, slow pace of childhood, juxtaposed with the desire to be "grown up." 

The game doesn't offer black-and-white answers to the questions Mary asks. It doesn't pretend there's a resolution for grief. Instead, it merely asks the player to join Mary as she processes her past, confronts resentment she held toward her mother, seeks to understand her mother as a person and how they might not have been so different. 

Hindsight will strike an unforgettable chord with players. In today's fast-paced, instantaneous world, the game provides a moment to reflect on your own life, relationships and memories, and challenges you to try to view them in a different way. 

You can play Hindsight today on Nintendo Switch, Steam and iOS. 

Check out the trailer here:

And for more, check out indie games coming soon from Annapurna Interactive and magical-realism puzzle game A Memoir Blue. 

Netflix turned into a Stranger Things streaming service last week. 

In the week ended Sunday, the top four most-watched titles on Netflix were all seasons of Stranger Things. The new, fourth season was No. 1 with 335 million hours watched, and it was followed by the first season with 75.1 million hours, the second season with 58.3 million and the third season with 47.4 million. This week's rankings reflect the first full week that Stranger Things 4 was available to watch, the return of the retro sci-fi franchise after a three-year hiatus. 

By comparison, Bridgerton's second season, which was released March 25, generated 251.7 million hours of viewing in its first full week of release; it went on to become Netflix's most watched English-language TV show yet. 

Netflix launched a website in mid-November posting weekly charts of its most popular shows and movies, as well as a global ranking of all-time most watched titles. The charts are updated every week and ranked by the total number of hours that subscribers spent watching them. 

The rankings represent an unprecedented trove of data about what's popular on Netflix, detailing the most popular titles in the last week not only globally but also for more than 90 individual countries. It is, by far, the most transparency that Netflix has ever adopted for its viewership. It will also help subscribers like you have a better grip on what's most popular on the world's biggest subscription streaming service. 

For years, Netflix was notoriously tight-lipped about its viewership. Beau Willimon -- creator of House of Cards, which put Netflix's original programming on the map -- once said the company wouldn't even share viewership metrics with him. 

But within the last two years, Netflix has become much more open about the popularity of its shows and movies to help it recruit talent and stoke buzz. First, Netflix added a top-trending ranking to its service, so people can see the most popular titles streaming on Netflix in their country on any given day. Then it also started publicly sharing popularity stats for certain titles, publicizing the number of accounts that watched two minutes of a particular title in its first month of release.

Facebook just made its biggest move in its war against Snapchat.

The social network on Tuesday widely released Facebook Stories, a near-identical clone of rival Snapchat's popular feature, also called Stories. The feature lets people post a string of videos and photos that disappear after 24 hours.

If it sounds like you've heard this before, you have. Facebook has already brought Stories to many of its other apps: Instagram has Instagram Stories. WhatsApp has something called Status. Messenger's version is called Messenger Day. But this is the first time Facebook is bringing Stories globally to its marquee app, which gets more than 1.7 billion mobile visitors a month. (Facebook had previously been testing the feature in a handful of countries outside the US, including Ireland and Chile.)

"Yes, this is something that was pioneered by Snapchat," Connor Hayes, a product manager at Facebook, said during a press briefing in San Francisco on Monday. "We think they did a great job of uncovering that Stories as a format is the way that people really want to share photos and videos in social apps."

With Facebook Stories, you can add filters or masks -- what Snapchat calls "lenses" -- to your pictures or videos. For example, you can give someone a unibrow, mustache, sunglasses or glitter beard. (Yes, that's a beard made of digital glitter.) Or you can filter a video so it looks like it was created in the style of a famous artist, like Picasso.

To get to the new camera features, open up the app and swipe right. After you've decided what you want to share, you can post it as a Story, post it on your News Feed, or send it to groups or individuals with another new feature called Direct. Those photos and videos you send with Direct will self-detonate too, just like on Snapchat. The features are available on iPhones and Android phones.

The updates amount to the biggest change to how people can post to Facebook since the social network introduced the News Feed in 2006 or Timelines in 2011. Hayes said that now people take a lot more photos and videos, so these products are meant to keep up with that behavior.

"We think it's our responsibility to update the Facebook app and really upgrade it so [pictures and videos] are more a part of their experience," he said.

But for anyone who uses Snapchat, those products are anything but new. Facebook has a long history of trying to edge out its younger competitor, which is beloved by teens and young adults. Nearly 70 percent of all 18- to 24-year-olds in the US use the app, according to ComScore.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg famously tried to buy Snapchat for $3 billion in 2013, only to have Snapchat cofounder Evan Spiegel balk at the offer. Facebook also built two Snapchat ripoffs, called Poke and Slingshot, that never caught on. They've both been killed. Meanwhile, Snap, Snapchat's parent company, grew to become a formidable Facebook opponent. Earlier this month, Snap went public in a $3.4 billion IPO.

But while Facebook's early attempts floundered, the company has found some success in trying to clone Snapchat Stories. Instagram Stories, which debuted in August, now has 150 million users a day, and the company said earlier this year that ads are coming in the feature.

For the Facebook Stories launch, the company partnered with two artists, Vancouver-based Douglas Coupland and London-based Hattie Stewart, to create art for some of the filters and effects. Facebook also partnered with movie studios to create masks for movies including "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," "Wonder Woman" and "Despicable Me 3." That last filter turns your image into a Minion. But Facebook declined to discuss the terms of those partnerships, or its ad strategy going forward.

Zuckerberg seems convinced products like Stories are the way to go. "In most social apps today, a text box is still the default way we share," Zuckerberg told financial analysts in November. "Soon, we believe, a camera will be the main way that we share."

Now, he's taking that bet to hallowed ground for the company: Facebook itself, the social network he created in his dorm room 13 years ago. So get ready, here come the glitter beards.

CNET Magazine: Check out a sampling of the stories you'll find in CNET's newsstand edition.

Batteries Not Included: The CNET team shares experiences that remind us why tech is cool.

The rumored Pixel 6A could be here as soon as today, the first day of Google I/O 2022 (follow our live coverage of the conference here). Rumors point to a potential phone reveal at the big event. If the phone becomes official, it would likely keep some of the best parts of its higher-end sibling, the Pixel 6, but with a cheaper price tag. Google has released a budget "A" version of each Pixel since the 2018 Pixel 3. Historically these cheaper "A" phones have maintained the Pixel phone's best camera features, and the Pixel 6A could possibly also get the new Tensor chip that Google designed in-house.

As we wait on an announcement, we're keeping an eye on all the rumors and leaks surrounding the Pixel 6A. Here's everything we've heard about Google's next budget phone.

What is the Pixel 6A and is it real?

The Pixel 6A is not yet official, but believe it or not, the company might have let the secret slip in a Google coloring book. The book's index reportedly included a Pixel 6A in a list of products. In a new filing with the Federal Communications Commission, Google might also have listed early specs on Pixel 6A phones intended for different carriers.

The Pixel 6A appears likely to include the best parts of the Pixel 6, such as the new Tensor chip, and bring them to a lower-priced, midrange phone. An FCCfilingby Google, spotted by Droid Life, appears to reflect multiple models of a phone with at least one including compatibility with the faster but hard to find millimeter-wave version of 5G. 

The various filings may pertain to different versions of the phone for carrier compatibility. This would line up with how last fall's Pixel 6 release included a $599 model that did not include millimeter-wave and a $700 Verizon model that did include it.

Release date: When can you get a Pixel 6A?

Rumors suggest two likely time frames for the Pixel 6A's release: May and August.

The Pixel 4A came out in August 2020 due to several delays during the pandemic's early days, and the Pixel 5A launched one year later in August 2021. The Pixel 6A could follow the pattern with a release date this August.

But before the pandemic, Google launched its original Pixel A device, the Pixel 3A, in May 2019 during that year's Google I/O conference. And although the delays ultimately moved the 4A's release date back, the 4A was initially expected in May 2020. It's possible the 6A could hop back onto the original May release cadence, meaning we could see the Pixel 6A as soon as May 11, the first day of Google I/O 2022. 

This theory is supported by leaker Max Jambor, who tweeted in January that the 6A is scheduled for May this year. Later in March, tech YouTuber Jon Prosser tweeted that Google will announce the 6A during I/O 2022, but that it won't launch until July 28 in most markets. 

Processor: How speedy will the 6A be?

A widely cited leak from 9to5Google suggests that Google will likely power the 6A with its new Tensor chip, which it used for the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. That means the budget 6A will get all the benefits of this processor's heightened speed, AI features, boosted battery life and special features.

Purported benchmarks for the Pixel 6A appear to lend credence to this, according to a Geekbench listing spotted by Android Headlines. The benchmark page also references the Pixel 6A having 6GB of RAM. If this does become true, the Pixel 6A would have just as much power as the Pixel 6 even with the lower price. This would also somewhat mimic what Apple has done with the latest iPhone SE -- take its latest and greatest chip but put it in a cheaper phone.

Design: What will the Pixel 6A look like?

A leak from a US carrier's inventory system shows a 128GB Pixel 6A in three color options: black, white and green. 

Renders published by 91Mobiles courtesy of leaker Steve Hemmerstoffer show a 6.2-inch OLED display with hardware measuring 152 by 72 by 8.7mm. That's a bit pocket-friendlier than the Pixel 6, which has a 6.4-inch OLED display and measures 159 by 75 by 8.9mm. Unlike previous Pixel A devices, there's no headphone jack depicted in these 6A renders. 

The website Techxine -- an obscure blog whose accuracy is unclear at this point -- also posted a purported box image of the 6A. The design is very similar to that of the Pixel 6, Techxine says, but with a smaller back camera module.

Camera: How will the Pixel 6A's cameras compare to the Pixel 6?

The renders from Hemmerstoffer show the two 6A back cameras in a similar position to those on the Pixel 6: They're lined up on a horizontal bar next to the flash. The aforementioned Techxine image shows the same arrangement. Like the Pixel 6, Hemmerstoffer's 6A renders also depict a punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera, allowing the display to take up more of the phone's surface.

An analysis from 9to5Google suggests that instead of getting the Pixel 6's 50-megapixel main camera, the 6A will be outfitted with the same 12.2-megapixel sensor as all Pixels since the Pixel 2. However, it says the 12-megapixel ultrawide camera and 8-megapixel selfie camera will stay the same as the Pixel 6. The Techxine rumor supports these camera specs.

If the Pixel 6A is powered by the Pixel 6's Tensor chip as rumored, the phone's computational photography abilities would expand as well, bringing cool photo features like Magic Eraser to Google's budget phone line.

Price: How much will the Pixel 6A cost?

Considering the pricing for previous Pixel phones, the Pixel 6A's cost will probably land somewhere in the $400 range. Historically, we've seen significant price differences between the A devices and their flagship counterparts: The Pixel 5A cost $250 less than the Pixel 5, and previous Pixel A versions got even greater markdowns. 

Since the Pixel 6A could have the same new processor as the $599 Pixel 6, and since it's possible the only major quality compromise on the 6A could be the main camera, don't expect a dramatic price drop here. 

If you're looking for more rumors about Google's upcoming Pixel devices, check out our roundup of Pixel 7 buzz. Here's everything we've heard about Android 13, which will hit Google phones first. And be sure to take a look at our list of the best Android phones you can buy in 2022.

This story is part of So Money (subscribe here), an online community dedicated to financial empowerment and advice, led by CNET Editor at Large and So Money podcast host Farnoosh Torabi.

Friends and fellow musicians Stephen Georgilis, 29, and Anthony Mirabella, 36, started collaborating three years ago as bandmates. Now, they've taken their relationship to the next level -- by cosigning a mortgage and closing on a three-bedroom home in Massapequa, New York.  

Frustrated with rising real estate prices in New York City, where they roomed together in a small rental apartment, the first-time buyers pooled their finances to improve their chances of buying a desirable home in the city's surrounding suburbs. The purchase would not only provide them with more space, they said, but hopefully a return on investment and a place they could live and work. "With the high rent prices in New York City … it felt like we were throwing our money away," said Georgilis. "We decided to buy a house on Long Island and build a joint studio to work out of." 

This trend is becoming more common today, as friends, relatives and unmarried couples are opting to co-buy homes in response to an extremely challenging market where inventory is low (or close to barren in some regions), where prices are significantly higher than just a few years ago and where bidding wars are sometimes par for the course.

A 2022 survey by Realtor.com of over 1,000 adults in the US found that nearly one in three Americans have bought a primary home with someone other than their spouse. And more than half of Americans would consider co-buying with a loved one, friend or family member.

"Housing costs are definitely a big reason for folks to turn to co-buying, either as unmarried couples or singles who want to pool their resources," said Rachel Stults, managing editor at Realtor.com.

Though married couples aren't immune to pitfalls when co-owning a property, many state laws ensure that a home's equity be divided equally between the spouses in the event of a divorce. In other words, the rules are more or less prewritten regarding what happens to the home and the sale proceeds. 

However, when two buyers are outside of a formal marriage, the rules aren't as clear or enforceable, and the homeowners will have to take some legal matters into their own hands. If you're considering sharing a mortgage, here are a few key questions to review ahead of time to be prepared and protected.

Partnering with a friend or a relative to buy a home may make a purchase more feasible, but it's best to go in with eyes wide open. This money move is far more complex and financially binding than cosigning a lease on an apartment. You'll want to have an open and honest conversation about your finances. Walk through hypothetical scenarios to decide ahead of time how you'll handle one person moving out or not being able to make the mortgage, and how you'll go about renting or selling the property. Finally, invest in an experienced real estate lawyer to help you draft agreements to keep both parties protected.

Dell announced the latest version of its popular, premium XPS 13 laptop on Thursday. The PC-maker reengineered the 13.4-inch laptop, taking inspiration from mobile components, and miniaturized the motherboard -- the smallest ever made for a Dell. This made it possible to get the laptop down to only 14 millimeters thick with a starting weight of only 2.6 pounds (1.2 kilograms).

The new XPS 13 follows the release of Dell's XPS 13 Plus with an even more premium, future-looking design featuring a seamless glass haptic touchpad and a backlit capacitive-touch function row. The XPS 13 is the standard version of the laptop and year after year has been one of CNET's top picks, especially for those looking for a Windows equivalent to Apple's MacBook Air. 

Along with cutting down on size and weight, the smaller motherboard gave Dell room to improve the laptop's speaker design for louder sound and deeper bass. However, miniaturization also means components including memory and storage, as well as the battery, are not user-replaceable. Display options will vary by region, but the main display offered in the US is a 13.4-inch, 1,920x1,200-pixel touchscreen, with 500-nit brightness and 100% sRGB color gamut. 

Configuration options include:

• 12th-gen Intel Core i5-1230U or Core i7-1250U processors
• 8GB, 16GB or 32GB 8GB, LPDDR5, 5,200MHz, POP dual-channel memory
• 256GB, 512GB or 1TB PCIe 4x2 solid-state storage

Other features include a 720p webcam, an IR camera and a fingerprint reader in the power button for Windows Hello sign-in, two Thunderbolt 4 ports and Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6E with Bluetooth 5.2. 

It's been a good week for fans of ultraportable laptops. On Monday, Apple announced its latest MacBook Air with a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display and the company's new M2 chip. Microsoft followed on Tuesday by shipping its Surface Laptop Go 2, a lightweight 12.4-inch clamshell starting at $600. While the new Air comes with a new, higher price of $1,200, Dell'sXPS 13 stays at its customary $999 price. All three arrive just in time for prime back-to-school shopping. Pricing wasn't immediately available for the UK and Australia, but the US price converts to roughly £800 or AU$1,400. 

Along with the updated Dell XPS 13, the company also announced the upcoming XPS 13 2-in-1. The Windows 11 tablet will have a 13-inch, 3:2 touchscreen with a 3K resolution (2,880x1,920 pixels), 500-nit brightness and 100% sRGB color gamut. It will run on the same choice of Core i5 or i7 processors in the XPS 13 laptop backed by up to 16GB of 4,266MHz LPDDR4x memory and up to a 1TB PCIe 4x4 SSD for storage. 

The two-in-one has a front-facing 1080p webcam as well as a 4K rear camera. Also, the XPS 13 2-in-1 will have two wireless options, standard Wi-Fi 6E or 5G with Wi-Fi 6E. The optional 5G is a first for the XPS line. 

Like Microsoft's Surface Pro models, the XPS keyboard folio and XPS active pen will be sold separately. The XPS 13 2-in-1 is expected to be available this summer. No pricing was announced.