Life Style

Nintendo did it. Sony did it. Even Sega did it. And now, Microsoft finally has launched its own dedicated handheld gaming device…kind of.Revealed yesterday during the summer Xbox Games Showcase, the Asus ROG Xbox Ally is closer to a Steam Deck than a PSP or Nintendo Switch. Essentially, it’s a spin on Asus’ existing handheld gaming PC, the ROG Ally, but with Xbox style grips, an Xbox button, and a sleeker approach to Windows that skips most of the guff and takes you right to a game launcher (where you'll find all your various game stores, including Steam and Epic) that you can navigate entirely with your controller. In other words, it isn’t a portable Xbox, it's a handheld gaming PC with Xbox branding. A better Windows-based gaming experience, for a priceEven if that might be disappointi...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Garmin’s Forerunner 265 was the first modern running watch I spent a lot of time with—you can read my review here about how it drew me back into tracking all my run data, for better or for worse. But there are some things that, in hindsight, I wish I had understood better at the start of the journey. Here are the biggest ones that you might like to know about.Why it has so many dang buttonsThe 265 (and other recent Forerunners) seem to have too many buttons. What do we need five of them for, when we’re doing most things from the touchscreen anyway? Garmin’s Vivoactive line gets away with having just two, as do the Coros Pace 3 and Pace Pro, which have all the same main functions as the 265. But as soon as I saw the previous...

Your smartphone has ruined your life. You’re hopelessly addicted to the empty dopamine drip doled out by apps and algorithms that know you better than you know yourself. You recognize this. But also, you’re no hermit: You need to be able to keep in touch with friends and family with phone calls and text messages, just minus the baggage that comes with a modern iPhone or Android. A dumbphone might seem to be the answer to all your problems, but it's probably not. I am often inundated with articles and videos trying to convince me that switching to a dumbphone is the key to living a balance, fruitful life—so much so that I really considered getting one. I still might, someday, but the more I've thought about the matter, I've come to the conclusion that a dumbphone solves a few problems while...

Garmin's Forerunner line contains some of my favorite watches—the 265, which is arguably still the best of the bunch; the 570, which newly replaced it and has some snazzy new features, and the 955, which is a heck of a deal for something so feature-rich despite its age. If these numbers mean nothing to you, read on—they're actually pretty easy to understand once you know the two rules Garmin uses to pick what number goes with which watch. The last two numbers describe its generationBoth of the watches released this year end in -70. The watches that came out in 2023-2024 all end in -65. They were preceded by a generation that ended in -55, and before that was -45, and so on. Could Garmin have just made the last two numbers reference a year, like 23 or 24? Sure, but at least there seems to b...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you’re looking for a last-minute Father’s Day gift, this bespoke Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is currently 38% off and priced right at $200. Available in multiple colors, it combines a sleek aesthetic with high-tech AI-enabled features, including comprehensive trackers that monitor various health metrics, such as heart rate, sleep, and blood oxygen levels. It has over 100 workout modes and can detect sleep apnea via tracking breathing disruptions. The Wellness Tips and AI-powered Energy Score features collect data, translating it into customized, personalized recommendations to help you optimize your daily activities, making this device a helpful access...

So, you’ve braved the pre-order sites, or maybe you’ve just gotten lucky while waiting in line—either way, you’ve got yourself a Nintendo Switch 2. Congratulations! But before you start gaming, there are a few things you’ll need to keep in mind while setting up your console. Nintendo is known for being user friendly, but also a bit particular. Case in point: You can only do a full transfer of your Switch 1 data to your Switch 2 during setup, and if you miss this opportunity, you’ll have to reset your device to try again, or manually copy over your games and save data piece-by-piece later on.Luckily, I’ve got your back. Read on for a quick guide on how to set up your Nintendo Switch 2, and the three other features you should set up before you start playing.How to start setting up a Nintendo...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Let's be clear: smart TVs are a privacy nightmare. Almost all of them keep track of everything you watch, even when you're using an HDMI cable, and send it off to analytics firms, advertisers, and who knows who else. In capitalist America, TV watches you.A common piece of privacy advice, given this, is to disconnect your smart TV from the internet and use an Apple TV to do your streaming instead. And there is merit to this advice: Apple's streaming box collects far less private information than a standard smart TV while still providing a straightforward, remote-based user interface with support for all the major streaming services.Having said that, it's not as though Apple collects no data. And using an Apple TV means buyin...

iOS 19—or is it iOS 26, as rumors suggest?—is nearly here. Apple will almost assuredly announce the latest version of the iPhone's OS next week at WWDC 2025. As such, rumors about iOS 26's features have been coming in fast, and only more so as we approach the big event. Although none of these rumors can be confirmed at the moment, they still give us a good idea about what Apple might be considering behind the scenes.Is Apple changing iOS' name?Seems that way. While we (logically) thought the next version of iOS would be called iOS 19, Apple reportedly has other plans in place. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, iOS 19 will be iOS 26, taking the name of the following year. Apple is reportedly doing this with all of its OS titles, including iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, and visionOS 26...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. In 2023, I decided to update my Apple Watch after consistently failing to wear my Series 4 for a number of years. I sold that one on Poshmark and began looking at newer models to find one with enough features to convince me to actually wear it. I opted to get a Series 8, although the Series 9 had just been released, as I was buying two: one for my mom and one for myself. As it turns out, that was a great decision.If you're searching for a new wearable or considering upgrading yours, you might also be wondering which of the older Apple Watch models is still useful today. My Series 8 is holding up beautifully three years after it was introduced, so I'm a big proponent of using older devices as long as possible. But not all Ap...

AI video generation is a rapidly developing field, with the likes of Google's Veo and OpenAI’s Sora constantly out-doing each other. We are approaching the time when it might be difficult to discern some AI generated video content from reality. But all those gains are limited to the top-tier paid services. To get access to Google’s flagship Veo 3 model (which can now generate dialogue), you need to fork over $250 a month. Until now, no one has really tried to make free AI video generation a thing, given just how resource intensive it is. But now, Microsoft's stepping up to the plate.Of all things, the Bing app is integrating a free video creator, that while limited, generates short videos for free using OpenAI’s Sora model. But is it worth your time? And how does it compare to Gemini’s Veo...