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4 ways Google Lens on Chrome magnifies my productivity - and how to use it

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET You may have noticed an odd little button that sometimes appears in your Chrome browser bar labeled "Google Lens." It's actually been there for a number of years now, although it doesn't always show up. But have you ever used it? Have you even given it a second thought? Or has it just become one more piece of digital clutter your brain edits out? We've covered Google Lens before on ZDNET. We've done so a number of times, in fact. But we've always covered it as a fe

I gave up my iPhone for dumbphone with no apps. A month later, here's my take

ZDNET's key takeaways The Light Phone 3 is on pre-order with support from many major carriers for $699. It's setting a new standard for simplified phones by combining a sleek, minimal product with a focused purpose. I wish the battery lasted longer, there are still some features in development, and it's not exactly cheap. View now at The Light Phone Much attention has been paid to the idea of a "dumbphone." We've all had the thought: how liberating it would be to ditch the smartphone forever,

Phoenix.new – The Remote AI Runtime for Phoenix

I’m Chris McCord, the creator of Elixir’s Phoenix framework. For the past several months, I’ve been working on a skunkworks project at Fly.io, and it’s time to show it off. I wanted LLM agents to work just as well with Elixir as they do with Python and JavaScript. Last December, in order to figure out what that was going to take, I started a little weekend project to find out how difficult it would be to build a coding agent in Elixir. A few weeks later, I had it spitting out working Phoenix a

This Ring Doorbell Drops to 50% Off, Now $10 Below Its Black Friday Price for a Limited Time

Grant yourself peace of mind in your own home. The Ring Doorbell is comprehensive home security solution. With its enhanced video quality, precise motion detection, and seamless integration with Alexa, the Ring Doorbell offers unmatched convenience and security. Upgrade your home security today and allow yourself top-tier home monitoring with the Ring Doorbell, which happens to be part of a limited time deal at Amazon. That’s right, for a the time being, you can save an even 50% on the battery-p

Crisol is a BioShock-Like Cult Horror Shooter Using Your Blood For Bullets

One of the best things about Summer Game Fest is discovering games that blend some of your favorite classics into something wholly new. Crisol: Theater of Idols is a game with clear BioShock influence in its first-person shooter exploration, but melds some cult horror from games like Resident Evil 4 into the mix. On top of it all, to reload your gun, you've gotta sacrifice your own blood -- and take a chunk from your own health bar. It's a novel mechanic that combines with the gothic, nautical

Max’s longer commercial breaks bring ad load to 6 minutes per hour

Amazon Prime Video subscribers aren’t the only streaming customers being subjected to longer commercial breaks lately. Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) Max has increased the amount of commercials it shows to US subscribers from approximately four minutes per hour to about six minutes per hour. A US support page for Max currently says that subscribers to Max with ads “can expect about 6 minutes of ads per hour.” But PCWorld noticed this week that this differs from what Max used to claim, which as

Topics: ads hbo hour max minutes

Boston Side Events lineup at TechCrunch All Stage with Fidelity Private Shares, Women Tech Meetup, Prepare 4 VC, and more

Get ready to amplify your TechCrunch All Stage 2025 experience with the electrifying lineup of Side Events taking Boston by storm during the week of July 13–19. As the countdown to TC All Stage begins, we’re thrilled to share our Side Events lineup, where you can foster meaningful connections within the vibrant Boston tech community. Whether you’re a seasoned industry pro or a budding entrepreneur, our Side Events promise an unforgettable week filled with networking opportunities, innovation sh

Max now packs 50% more ads into its streams

A hot potato: A week after a report showed that Amazon Prime has doubled the amount of ads it shows on the platform, it's been discovered that Max is doing the same thing. However, unlike Amazon, Max isn't trying to hide this increase. The streamer's support page confirms that its Max Basic with Ads plan now shows six minutes of ads per hour. According to an archive of the same page (via PCWorld), the plan showed four minutes of ads per hour as recently as February 2025. That means Max's ad loa

Topics: ad ads hour max minutes

Transparent specs at last: Why the new smartphone energy labels are a big deal

Aamir Siddiqui / Android Authority TL;DR The European Union has introduced mandatory energy efficiency labels for all smartphones and tablets sold within its region starting today, June 20, 2025. These labels provide detailed information on energy use, battery longevity, drop resistance, IP rating for dust and water resistance, and repairability scores. Complementing this rollout are ecodesign requirements mandating durable batteries, extended software support, readily available spare parts,

I turned my Apple Watch into a dumbphone with this quick fix

Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET It is a universal truth that we are spending far too much time on our phones. Dumbphones are becoming the solution du jour to the nationwide screen addiction issue. Search interest in the device -- whose primary capability is calling and texting (and not much else) -- has skyrocketed in the past year, according to data from Google Trends. Clearly, there's a heightened interest among tech enthusiasts and haters alike in an alternative to the endless pings, distractions, and

Why I recommend this power bank to most iPhone users - especially if you travel often

ZDNET's key takeaways The Nitecore NW5000 has an ultralight and ultrathin design that blends into the iPhone. It has a 5,000mAh capacity that's just enough to fully charge any iPhone model (and some more). You'll have to pay a premium for this accessory, but its build quality justifies it. $69.95 at Amazon I find that rather than complaining about the iPhone's poor battery life, I prefer to do something about it. This is why my iPhone is almost always rocking with a magnetic power bank attach

How AI Is Helping Students Find the Right College

After Julia Dixon graduated from the University of Michigan in 2014, her family and friends asked for her help with the college application process. Dixon was happy to share her recently earned expertise about the world of higher education but soon realized how many parents and students in her community needed help and how hard it was for them to access that support. The ratio of college counselors to students in the US, according to the American School Counselor Association, is one for every 3

One UI 8 could give screenshots an HDR glow-up that was missing from betas

Joe Maring / Android Authority TL;DR Samsung is testing HDR screenshot support for One UI 8 with its latest closed beta (ZYF7) release. The feature likely relies on Android 16’s embedded gain maps to show true HDR imagery when viewed correctly. HDR screenshots aren’t yet available in the One UI 8 Beta 2 release, but may arrive with future open betas or the stable release. Samsung will be bringing Android 16 to its devices with the release of One UI 8. The beta program is live for the Galaxy

Show HN: Ts-SSH – SSH over Tailscale without running the daemon

ts-ssh: Powerful Tailscale SSH/SCP CLI Tool A streamlined command-line SSH client and SCP utility that connects to your Tailscale network using tsnet . Features powerful multi-host operations, batch command execution, and real tmux integration - all without requiring the full Tailscale daemon. Perfect for DevOps teams who need fast, reliable SSH access across their Tailscale infrastructure. Features 🚀 Core SSH/SCP Functionality Userspace Tailscale connection using tsnet - no daemon required

Meta's Oakley Smart Glasses Have 3K Video—Watch Out, Ray-Ban

When Meta launched the second generation of its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses in late 2023, few predicted the success that lay ahead for the collaboration—perhaps not even Meta itself. But now, with more than two million sales under its belt, Meta has been looking for a way to widen its partnership with eyewear giant and Ray-Ban owner EssilorLuxottica and keep up the momentum. The answer it seems was staring them in the face: a collaboration with the company’s second largest brand, Oakley. “We la

Topics: ban hours meta oakley ray

Circle shares extend their rally after Senate passes landmark stablecoin bill

Circle Internet Group Initial Public Offering at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, U.S., June 5, 2025. Shares of Circle continued to climb on Friday as investors cheered the Senate approval of its proposed stablecoin legislation, the GENIUS Act. The stock was up nearly 17% in premarket trading as excitement continued to build. The bill passed the Senate Tuesday and now heads to the House of Representatives. Shares rose 33% on Wednesday on the news. The market was closed Thursday fo

Thought Z Fold 7 renders were hot? Here’s a look at the actual thinnest foldable in the world

TL;DR HONOR has officially revealed the Magic V5 foldable phone in a series of pictures posted online. The pictures show a super-thin foldable phone, albeit with a large camera bump. HONOR claims that this will be the thinnest foldable phone in the world. HONOR made headlines when it launched the Magic V2 in 2023, as it was the thinnest foldable phone in the world by quite a margin. The company then launched the even thinner Magic V3 last year, and it’s now gearing up to launch the Magic V5.

I changed 12 settings on my Android phone to significantly improve the battery life

Kerry Wan/ZDNET I've spent large portions of my life looking for ways to extend the battery life on my Android phones. Admittedly, that sounds rather dramatic, but growing up with only budget models meant I was constantly tweaking device settings to squeeze every bit of juice out of their batteries. Thanks to this micromanaging, I successfully pushed the batteries on all my past smartphones to their absolute limit. I don't want to hoard this knowledge to myself, so I've decided to share it wit

iPhone 16E Specs vs. Google Pixel 8A: How Apple and Google's Lower-Cost Phones Match Up

Google's A-series Pixel handsets are typically budget-friendly, but currently the cheapest Google goes is $499 for the Pixel 9A. If you do want all of Google's flagship features and are comfortable with getting a used or refurbished device, you could check out last year's Pixel 8A which is going for under $300 in the secondary market. Strangely, Google is currently selling the Pixel 8A for the same price as the Pixel 9A, so it doesn't make sense to buy a new version of the Pixel 8A. A sub-$300

Nothing Headphone 1 images leak, showing a retro-futuristic cassette-inspired look

TL;DR Renders and real-world images of the apparent Nothing Headphone 1 have appeared online. The pictures show a pair of headphones with a transparent design and a curious shape. Nothing is gearing up to launch its first pair of over-ear headphones on July 1, called the Nothing Headphone 1. The company has kept this design firmly under wraps, but it looks like two sources have given us our first look. The Equal Leaks Telegram account posted three apparent Nothing Headphone 1 renders today. T

8 things I want to see on the Pixel 10 series

Joe Maring / Android Authority Given the rumored earlier launch date of August this year, the Pixel 10 series is right around the corner. As is customary with every Google product, the leaks are really starting to ramp up as we get closer to the release. Up to now, all the tidbits of info we’ve seen are pointing to an iterative update with no meaningful changes to the design, except perhaps a slightly bigger camera bar on the back. While they might not look that different from their predecesso

I’ve reviewed phones for 10 years. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 may be the first foldable I actually buy

Lanh Nguyen / Android Authority It’s been just under six years since the first Galaxy Fold launched, and in the time since then, foldable phones have become among the most interesting in the Android world. I’ve personally tested and reviewed many of them, including models from Samsung, Google, OnePlus, and others. But as much as I appreciate what foldables offer, and as someone who’s been reviewing phones for 10 years, I’ve yet to actually purchase one for myself. Why? One of the main things t

Google Messages will help you shame your friends into finally turning on RCS (APK teardown)

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR To take full advantage of RCS messaging features, everyone in the chat needs to have RCS enabled. Google Messages is working on a feature that would prompt you to send friends without RCS a message asking them to turn it on. Messaging on Android is better than it’s ever been, and a big part of that is due to the arrival of Rich Communication Services (RCS) support. While that’s absolutely helped start pulling down some of the walls between Android and

Can we trust Google Maps to get us anywhere anymore?

Andy Walker / Android Authority 🗣️ This is an open thread. We want to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments and vote in the poll below — your take might be featured in a future roundup. This past weekend, I was driving home from a wonderful break in the country. I usually use Google Maps to guide me home on longer drives, even if I have driven that route before. It’s more of a comfort than a necessity. However, it tried its level best to take me on an unwanted adventure. To get h

Topics: 33 best google home maps

Your MacBook is getting a major upgrade for free. 5 features I can't wait to use in MacOS 26

Kerry Wan/ZDNET Apple last week announced its latest update for MacOS 26, codenamed "Tahoe." It's full of new visual design elements like Apple's Liquid Glass design theme, better integration with the iPhone, and a more robust Spotlight feature that's better integrated with Shortcuts. The theme of all of Apple's updates this year is streamlining both the visual UI and feature sets across Apple devices, while making more apps and features available on them, punctuated by Apple Intelligence. Al

Topics: 26 app apple iphone macos

This $500 Motorola has no business being this good for the price

ZDNET's key takeaways The Motorola Edge is on sale right now for $550. As another solid midrange phone, the Edge delivers an impressive pOLED screen and has a long-lasting battery. Don't expect too much from its mid-tier hardware, and the borderless display can cause wrong inputs. View now at Motorola Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in. I've spent a good chunk of the year going through Motorola's 2025 catalog. I assumed the Motorola Razr would be the end, but one more has r

Slow Wi-Fi? How to add a wired network to your home without an Ethernet cable

Rodica Cojocaru/Getty Images Wireless internet connections are convenient, but they're also notoriously unreliable. Nothing proves that point more emphatically than a glitchy video conference call, especially if it's tied to a crucial business meeting. The answer is to run a wired network connection to your home office. Wi-Fi is great for mobility, but a wired connection offers many advantages when it comes to working from home. It's faster and more reliable, with lower latency, all of which m

These apps are quietly draining your phone battery - how to find and shut them down

Lance Whitney / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET Running low on battery power is a common complaint among mobile phone users. Beyond complaining, you want to preserve the juice before it runs out. One way to do that is to determine which apps are draining your battery the most. Here's one expert who can steer you in the right direction. Blame the cloud In an analysis shared with ZDNET, Thomas Davy, CEO and co-founder of cloud optimization firm Cloud ExMachina, blames one particular factor for bat

Learn Makefiles

I built this guide because I could never quite wrap my head around Makefiles. They seemed awash with hidden rules and esoteric symbols, and asking simple questions didn’t yield simple answers. To solve this, I sat down for several weekends and read everything I could about Makefiles. I've condensed the most critical knowledge into this guide. Each topic has a brief description and a self contained example that you can run yourself. If you mostly understand Make, consider checking out the Makefi

Topics: blah echo make run target

Best Internet Providers in Tampa, Florida

What is the best internet provider in Tampa, Florida? Frontier Fiber is CNET's top pick for the best internet provider in Tampa. We recommend it for most households in the area because it offers solid speeds at reasonable prices and has high customer satisfaction scores. If you're outside the coverage area of Frontier Fiber or need alternatives, you can consider wireless internet from Verizon 5G Home Internet or T-Mobile Home Internet. The two wireless providers have solid offerings and bundlin