Friday, August 14

Life Style

The Samsung S85F OLED TV Just Got Even Cheaper
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The Samsung S85F OLED TV Just Got Even Cheaper

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Credit: Illustration by Rene Ramos. As is usually the case after Consumer Electronics Show (CES), older flagship tech products drop in price—including TVs like OLED models, QLEDs, and budget-friendly options. In other words, the coming weeks are a great time to upgrade if you're looking for bargains on older flagship models. One of the best deals I've found so far is on the Samsung S85F, an entry-level OLED TV that was already on the low end of the price spectrum before this latest discount. Right now, you can get the 65-inch series for $1,197.99 (origin...
‘Pipit’ Is a Great Voice-to-Text App for Mac, and It’s Free
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‘Pipit’ Is a Great Voice-to-Text App for Mac, and It’s Free

Say what you will about AI (and I've said plenty) but the progress in transcription and speech-to-text software is genuinely impressive. Whereas before such software was either clumsy or expensive, there are now all kinds of great open source tools that work well.Which brings me to Pipit, a free Mac dictation app that works offline, meaning it's totally private. Even more interesting, it can be used to do more than just transcribe speech—it can launch apps, toggle settings, and even launch a web search or query an AI service.The first time you open the application, it will ask for permission to use your microphone before downloading the Parakeet model for offline transcription. Once everything is set up you can use the application by pressing and holding the Option key, then talking—the ap...
What I Learned After Trying Out Every Exoskeleton at CES
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What I Learned After Trying Out Every Exoskeleton at CES

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Left to right, top row: WiRobotics, Sumbu, Dephy. Bottom row: Ascentiz, Skip, Hypershell. Credit: Beth Skwarecki While I was covering CES, the big consumer electronics show in Las Vegas, I gave myself a side quest: try on every exoskeleton I could find. I kept seeing them at booths and events, promising to help me walk farther without fatigue, or reach my athletic potential as I'm (judging from their marketing videos) sprinting up a mountain. I ended up testing six of them—four assisted me at the hip, one at the knee, and one at the ankle.Exoskeletons first landed on my radar as I was considering product...
Google Is Changing Its Account Policy About Minors Who Turn 13
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Google Is Changing Its Account Policy About Minors Who Turn 13

If you have a Family Account through Google, you might assume you can control what your child can see or do on their device. You can, but, as it happens, only up to a certain point. When your kid turns 13, Google will send them an email, letting them know they can choose to disable your supervision over their account. You get an email too, but they don't need your permission to lock you out of their device. Once they decide they're ready for a relatively complete Google Account experience, it's their choice to make. Despite being Google's official policy, this situation was not common knowledge. Following a relatively viral LinkedIn post about the subject, parents were peeved at the notion of Google deciding that their 13 year old was ready to be unsupervised on the internet. Google's Fami...
Check This iPhone Setting to Make Texting Better for Everyone
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Check This iPhone Setting to Make Texting Better for Everyone

Hey, would you mind doing me a favor real quick? If you're on an iPhone, can you double check that you've got RCS chat enabled for me? Thanks, I appreciate it. See, as an Android user, I don't get to use all the fun iMessage features, but RCS lets us share some of them. The only problem is, iPhones seem to sometimes disable RCS for some chats after an update. Or for no reason at all.RCS has been around for a while, but since it needs to be supported on both the carrier and device level, it's taken some time to reach ubiquity. Understandably, you might have seen some chat conversations between iOS and Android users that still default to the older SMS-style texting, and just gone about your day. However, these days, if you're chatting with your Android friends and you don't see read receipts...
Microsoft Is Finally Retiring Its Free Scanner App (but There Are Alternatives)
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Microsoft Is Finally Retiring Its Free Scanner App (but There Are Alternatives)

Nothing lasts forever. Devices lose support, standards are replaced, and software becomes obsolete. So it is with Microsoft Lens, whose days are numbered. Keen observers have known about this since August, when Microsoft first announced that Lens would be retired in September and removed from app stores in November. That obviously didn't happen, as the company adjusted the deadline to Dec. 15, which also came and went. Microsoft kicked the retirement can down the road—that is, until now. Microsoft Lens was Microsoft's solution for anyone in the mid-2010s who didn't own a scanner. Rather than buy an expensive piece of hardware to digitize documents, Lens allowed people to use their smartphone camera to turn those hard copies into digital files. It was hardly the only document scanner availa...
10 Hacks Every Apple TV User Should Know
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10 Hacks Every Apple TV User Should Know

Like many Apple devices, your Apple TV works pretty well right out of the box. You plug it in, download your favorite streaming services, and you're off—while much of your data stays put. But while this is a perfectly fine way to watch shows and movies, there are things you can (and should) change to make your Apple TV work even better. Here are 10 such hacks every Apple TV owner should consider using:Disable the fullscreen profile selector Credit: Apple The first time I booted up my Apple TV after updating to tvOS 26, I was greeted with a full-screen profile selector. I soon found out I have to deal with this screen every time I turn on my Appl...
Lifehacker Deals Live Blog: The Best Tech Sales, All in One Place
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Lifehacker Deals Live Blog: The Best Tech Sales, All in One Place

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.With this live blog, you can keep up with the best deals the Lifehacker team finds every day—all in one place. Bookmark this page to keep an eye on what we're finding. As always, we use price-tracking tools to suss out the deals that are actually worth paying attention to, not just hype designed to instill a false sense of urgency. Source link
The Biggest Fitness Trends at CES 2026 (and What I Think About Them)
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The Biggest Fitness Trends at CES 2026 (and What I Think About Them)

We may earn a commission from links on this page. I just got back from CES 2026, and you can see my real-time reports on some of the best and weirdest things I saw in our CES 2026 live blog. I tried on six(!) different exoskeletons, perked up my ears whenever I heard about a new smart strap, and looked in vain for new models of familiar fitness tech like watches. Here are the biggest trends I noticed and some notes on what was conspicuously missing. I've included prices where possible; anything without a price is likely too far from market to have one yet.The number of non-Whoop smart bands just doubled Luna band (underside) Credit: Beth Skwarecki ...
The Five Weirdest AI Inventions I Saw at CES 2026
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The Five Weirdest AI Inventions I Saw at CES 2026

We may earn a commission from links on this page. AI is still the big thing in the tech world, but it's no longer the big new thing. It's been around long enough that simply integrating it into your product isn't enough to make it stand out anymore, especially at the biggest tech show in the world. While I attended this year's CES, the trend I noticed over and over again on the show floor was that AI is getting weird now. From personal hologram sidekicks to a gaming monitor that basically cheats for you, here are the five weirdest AI inventions I saw at CES 2026.Razer is giving you your own personal anime girl Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt ...