Author: News Room
Search online for the best Bluetooth speaker and you’ll find plenty of cheap Bluetooth speakers in the list. But how can you tell the bonafide bargains from the low-fi letdowns? We’ve rounded up a range of options that won’t hurt your ears – or your wallet. Decent beats are no longer reserved for premium speakers. Sure, the speakers below are unlikely to satisfy serious audiophiles. And a few favour portability over outright performance. But for the 99% of listeners who don’t have a soundproofed music room, the best cheap Bluetooth speakers make takeaway tunes enjoyable and affordable. From compact music-makers…
Mere moments before I started hammering out this week’s column, I received an alert on my iPhone. From Photoshop. You might think that’s an odd app to send an alert, and you’d be right. It’s not like I have chats with Photoshop and had a reply waiting. Nor was it warning me about an open window or informing me that the UK had committed another crime against music at Eurovision. Instead, it suggested I “Get rid of distractions”. By distracting me. It helpfully added that I should “Select what you want gone” while advertising its features. So I decided what…
The best bit of travel tech I’ve used in years is this MagSafe iPhone accessory. It’s a translator puck that sits on the back of your iPhone to help you communicate like a local. I know what you’re thinking: “It’s 2025, why is a tech magazine praising a translator?” Trust me, I also had my doubts when this thing first turned up. But trust me when I say it got my out of a fair few jams. This year, I’ve spent some time in China, among other places. Having struggled to learn much Mandarin, communicating can be quite hard. But…
Introduction Zwift has long been a go-to for cyclists wanting to bring a bit of the outdoors to their indoor training sessions. The app’s virtual worlds and community of Lycra-clad avatars make long rides a lot more enjoyable than just staring at a power meter – but repurposing your road bike for each static session was a faff. The Zwift Ride smart bike is far simpler, and riding one gets impressively close to the real thing. To call it ‘simply’ a steel stationary bike frame fitted with Zwift’s Play controllers and bolted to a Wahoo Kickr smart trainer would be…
Meta’s building a new AI data center so massive in Louisiana that the local utility company has plans to construct three new gas-fired power plants to provide it with enough electricity. Now, advocates and lawmakers are pressing Meta for answers about how it’ll clean up pollution stemming from the data center’s energy consumption.Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, shot off a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday demanding answers about how much energy the data center would use and the greenhouse gas emissions that would be generated. Powering the…
Succession creator Jesse Armstrong has never been subtle with his commentary on the rich and powerful, but the new trailer for his HBO feature Mountainhead spells out exactly what makes its central characters people you shouldn’t be rooting for.Set in a remote cabin at the top of a mountain, Mountainhead revolves around a quartet of tech bros whose companies have turned them into obscenely wealthy people. Though Randall (Steve Carell), Hugo Van Yalk (Jason Schwartzman), Venis (Cory Michael Smith), and Jeff (Ramy Youssef) all have different net worths, they share the same type of worldview that comes with having billions…
Verizon expects to bring fiber to 1 million homes each year following the acquisition. The deal went through after Verizon “committed to ending DEI-related practices,” according to a statement by FCC Chair Brendan Carr.The Intercept reports that in a May 15th letter to Carr, Verizon’s chief legal officer, Vandana Venkatesh, outlined what it’s walking away from. Because “Verizon recognizes that some DEI policies and practices could be associated with discrimination,” it will no longer have any HR roles or teams focused on DEI, remove references to the term from employee training materials, as well as goals for diversity in its…
Microsoft has quietly launched an updated Spotlight-like launcher app for Windows that provides quick access to commands, apps, and development tools. The software maker originally launched its PowerToys Run launcher for Windows 10 nearly five years ago, and the updated version — Command Palette — now includes search for apps, folders, and files, calculations, system commands, and much more.Command Palette is available for any Windows user from the PowerToys app, but it looks like Microsoft is now targeting this particular utility at power users and developers. You use Command Palette to access Windows commands or launch command prompts and shell…
Below, we’ve rounded up some of the best deals to help you gear up for your summer adventures. In some instances, other retailers like Amazon are matching REI’s pricing, giving you additional ways to save. Also, keep in mind that REI members can save an additional 20 percent on one REI Outlet item or get 20 percent off on one qualifying full-price item when they use coupon ANNIV2025 at checkout. Read the full article here
It’s a great time to catch up on some big games you might’ve missed out on recently. Epic Games is holding a Mega Sale that includes big discounts on a ton of PC games, including Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced, which is on sale for $14.99 instead of $29.99, and The Last of Us Part 1, which costs $29.99 instead of $59.99. Read the full article here
Microsoft is going to allow Xbox owners to pin apps and games directly to the Home UI. The latest change to homescreen section of the Xbox dashboard will be available to Xbox Insiders this week, alongside options to hide system apps, choose the number of apps and games listed, and modify the size of the tiled UI.You’ll soon be able to pin up to three of your recently played games or apps to the homescreen. “These pins will stay near the front of the list as you launch other things, giving you quick access to your go-to titles,” explains Eden…
After The Washington Post earlier this month revealed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had instructed the State Department to help Starlink expand in order to fend off Chinese technological influence, an extensive ProPublica article published Thursday dove deeper into what those campaigns looked like at the ground level. According to cables sent between the State Department and US embassies in four developing countries in Africa – Gambia, Djibouti, Cameroon and Lesotho – diplomats have been arranging meetings with Starlink executives and foreign regulators and pushing them to fast-track licensing agreements for the satellite internet company, as a sign of…