Tech

A collection of 4186 posts

Tech

Stop Pretending You ‘Need’ Your Phone ‘for Work’

The reader begins by saying they hate their phone: its size, the energy it demands and how much time it sucks up. At the same time, their job — like many — requires being contactable at specific times, and personal circumstances make near-constant accessibility necessary. The simplest, if slightly awkward, fix is

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Start Building Your 4K UHD Movie Collection

Streaming makes movies easy to access, but it also introduces problems: titles can vanish overnight, poor-quality versions can replace better ones, and managing multiple paid services gets expensive. To avoid that churn and regain control of your library, consider canceling some services and investing in a physical collection—specifically 4K

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Best antivirus software for Windows 11 in 2026

The internet can be a dangerous place, and choosing the right antivirus is harder than it looks. Windows Security comes free with every Windows PC and is solid, while Bitdefender offers a fully loaded suite — a subscription costs $60 for a full year. After expert testing of multiple Windows antivirus

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Honkai: Star Rail 4.0 livestream codes

Hoyoverse closed out the Honkai: Star Rail version 4.0 livestream and previewed the next update, which launches the evening of Feb. 12. After quite a delay, version 4.0 takes players to Planarcadia, a world tied to the Elation and Aha, and begins a new story arc. The stream

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Analogue 3D Reveals Prototype N64 Color Editions

Analogue has introduced a limited line of translucent "Prototype Editions" for the Analogue 3D, recreating five colors that were prototyped for the original Nintendo 64 but never released. The launch follows last December’s Funtastic line, which replicated the N64’s colorful translucent shells and sold out in

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Amazon Prime free games for February 2026 announced

Amazon Prime members can snag another batch of 10 PC games for free this month, and an additional 11 titles will be newly available to stream via Luna cloud delivery. The downloadable games arrive as redeemable codes from various PC gaming storefronts, like the Epic Games Store and GOG, meaning

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A $16 alarm clock stopped my morning doomscrolling

I grew up using my smartphone as an alarm and watched both my mornings and evenings devolve into doomscrolling. In September 2024 I bought a $16 analog alarm clock and was surprised by how quickly some habits broke. The hardest hurdle was the fear that the clock would fail; once

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Rust Naval Update adds buildable boats and a walk-the-plank option

The Naval Update for Rust introduces buildable seafaring boats and an option that can be used to make other players walk the plank. It also adds the Deep Sea, a hazardous zone reached from the map's ends where rare pirate loot waits. The area is risky, not always

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RayNeo Air 3s Pro delivers a 201-inch virtual screen

As a train commuter and regular business traveler, I’ve found XR glasses essential for work and entertainment on the go. High prices put many models out of reach, but RayNeo’s Air 3s Pro offers advanced micro-OLED screens, 20 brightness levels and a 201-inch visual experience for $299. Compared

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85-inch Sony Bravia 3 drops below $1,000 at Amazon

Amazon is offering the 85-inch Sony Bravia 3 with a $600 discount, bringing the price to just under $1,000. Positioned as Sony's entry-level LED smart TV compared with its OLED models, the Bravia 3 still promises the brand's picture and audio quality and a suite

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Insignia 55-inch F50 4K Fire TV drops to $180, 49% off

The 55-inch Insignia Class F50 Series 4K LED smart TV is available on Amazon for $180, down 49% from its $350 retail price. This is the lowest it has been in a long while, and the listing shows no delivery charges; such discounts tend to end quickly. For well under

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All Honkai: Star Rail 4.0 livestream codes

Honkai: Star Rail 4.0 livestream codes have arrived, offering extra Stellar Jade ahead of the Planarcadia update. Planarcadia is linked to Aha and the Path of Elation, making it a party destination for the Astral Express crew. Available livestream codes: AHAHAHAHAHAHA — 100 Stellar Jade and 50,000 credits; QWQXDDLOLOMO

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Four games free on Steam for a few days

Steam is offering four games free to play for a limited time: Arabian Gulf, XCOM 2, Glassbreakers: Champions of Moss and Hellcard. Arabian Gulf is a survival game set in a desert where players scavenge levels for treasure and face "intense combat" against zombie-like enemies. A few Steam

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Nintendo Direct partner showcase arrives Feb. 5 for Switch and Switch 2 games

Nintendo will hold a Direct livestream tomorrow, Feb. 5, to discuss upcoming Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 games. The roughly 30-minute partner showcase starts at 6 a.m. Pacific / 9 a.m. Eastern and will emphasize third-party titles rather than Nintendo’s own first-party releases. With more power than the

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Amazon Clears Out Original Nintendo Switch With Joy-Con Controllers

Amazon has reduced the price of the original Nintendo Switch with Joy-Con controllers, cutting $42 off the current retail rate. Nintendo raised the price of its previous-generation Switch after new U.S. tariffs on hardware, so the base model that originally launched at $300 now sells for $340 new. Diving

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Pixel Buds Pro 2 Drop to $179 at Amazon

Google’s Pixel Buds Pro 2 are back down to $179 on Amazon, matching the low price seen during an earlier post‑holiday sale and representing a $50 reduction from the original $230 price. These AI-enhanced earbuds were a standout audio release in the second half of 2024, notable as

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Why many Bluetooth devices lack new features — and what matters now

Bluetooth 6.2 introduced features such as Shorter Connection Intervals for ultra-low latency and Channel Sounding Resilience to improve security. Yet many peripherals — headphones, earbuds, smartwatches, gaming mice and keyboards — do not deliver the expected performance because manufacturers choose which new features to include. A device's Bluetooth version

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Steam beta fixes bug that hid Proton games for large libraries

Linux can be cool and surprisingly easy. I've been running Fedora 43 on my main machine for a few months now and, to be honest, it's almost boringly easy: aside from minor tinkering to get proprietary Nvidia drivers and codecs installed, it's been smooth

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Your Android phone feeling slow? A 4-step refresh routine

I cover consumer tech and use dozens of smartphones each year, and many people ask how to make their current phone faster. The short answer is to clear storage and apply a few simple tweaks. If your Android has started feeling slow, try this four-step routine. First, remove unused apps

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Ryzen 7 Mini PC with 24GB RAM Drops to $459 as Mac Mini Alternative

The Beelink SER5 MAX packs full desktop functionality into a very small case that can hide behind a TV or monitor. It runs an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor with eight cores and 16 threads, boosting up to 4.75 GHz, and uses integrated AMD Radeon 680M graphics for 4K

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Expedition quest resets are blocking access to new Arc Raiders quests

The Arc Raiders Expedition system has improved recently — skill points that once cost $1 million were cut to $600k, and missed points can be reclaimed for $300k — but the quest reset mechanic remains frustrating. Sending your Raider on an Expedition wipes all quest progress, and new update quests are increasingly

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How to clear your iPhone cache and improve performance

Cache is a collection of temporary files that apps and websites store locally on your device to speed up loading, browsing, and your overall session. For example, Safari saves images or scripts from sites so they don't have to download again. While helpful, too much cache can slow

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Counter-drone tech dominates Singapore airshow

Singapore hosted its biennial airshow in early February, one of Asia's biggest defense events, where fighter jets and commercial airliners shared space with a flood of uncrewed-aerial-system displays. Roughly 550 organisations were listed as exhibitors, and about a third worked in the UAS business; inside the main hall

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I didn't realize how important headbob was until I played an RPG without it

I watched two short walking clips back to back—one from The Outer Worlds 2 and the other from Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2—and the difference, while small, felt huge. In The Outer Worlds 2 I didn't feel like a person moving through the world; I felt like

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Amazon Echo Show 11 Now $180, Down From $220

The Amazon Echo Show 11 is on sale for $180, down from its usual price of $220 — a $40 discount (18% off). The device pairs an eleven-inch Full HD display with Alexa-powered smart home features. Its 11-inch 1920×1200 screen offers about 60% more viewing area than the Echo Show