Author: Press Room
Are you thinking of turning the thermostat up? The cooler months are most definitely here and maybe, if you haven’t already, it’s time to finally upgrade to a smart thermostat. But in a crowded field, which is the best smart thermostat out there right now? There are lots of reasons to upgrade your heating tech. Firstly, many of them let you talk to your heating via voice assistants like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri, but the main benefit is saving you cash and cutting down on wasted energy. Thanks to tech like geofencing and smart radiator valves, they can help your…
Old games consoles never die – they just get emulated. These days, even budget (about $60–200 range for this feature) retro handhelds are powerful enough to let you carry around decades of gaming history in your trousers. That means everything from ancient Ataris to comparatively modern Dreamcasts – and beyond. So which retro handheld should you buy? This guide looks at five different takes. The common theme: they’re all pretty great in their own way, and none of them require you to remortgage your house for the privilege of replaying Bubble Bobble. Why you can trust Stuff: Our team of experts rigorously test each product and provide…
For years, my TV’s USB port was almost invisible to me. It just sat there on the side panel doing nothing, just collecting dust. I used my TV for things that mattered most to me: watching shows and movies. Sometimes, I would wonder why the USB port is even there on a TV. I assumed it was outdated, useless, or meant only for technical stuff a casual user doesn’t need. Turns out, I was completely wrong. One day, I plugged something into it just out of curiosity. It was then that I realized the USB port is one of the…
There’s nothing quite like turning on your smart TV and being inundated with advertisements. It’s obnoxious, it slows down your expensive piece of technology, and likely, it doesn’t show you anything worth seeing. Any time I turn on the TV in my office, I’m bombarded with ads about upcoming sports games that I need to see, even though I’m not a big football, soccer, or basketball fan. It was time to do something about it. After tweaking a setting in my TV, my smart TV experience is cleaner, smoother, and most importantly, much faster. This setting can be directly activated…
Things are looking glum for gadget fans, with one high-profile name announcing it’s getting out of the smartphone business and another rumoured to be heading for the door. But what’s the reason for pulling the ripcord, and will there be further exits to come in 2026 and beyond? In mid-January, Asus announced there were no plans for new Zenfone or ROG Phone handsets going forward. Then not even a week later, OnePlus was forced to deny it was being wound up by parent company Oppo, reportedly due to dwindling market shares in India and Asia – territories that account for…
Summary OpenAI now predicts user age from behavior and account signals, auto-restricting suspected under-18 accounts. Suspect accounts get prompted to verify via Persona; failing verification keeps features locked. Many users worry about privacy handing ID to Persona, though it encrypts data and limits retention. If you’ve suddenly noticed ChatGPT refusing to cooperate, you’re not alone. OpenAI is paying much closer attention to certain signals coming from your account to predict the age of the user; it could see some accounts accidentally caught up in the mix. Of course, any account OpenAI suspects is operated by someone younger than its ToC…
You probably don’t realize it yet, but the sleek smart TV sitting in your living room has become a surveillance device masquerading as entertainment. And the worst part? Most of us unknowingly enabled it during setup. However, just like there are default settings you can turn off to improve your TV, there are settings you can disable to stop your TV from spying on you. Disable Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) This setting tracks what you watch, not what you search Credit: Shimul Sood / MakeUseOf The biggest privacy invasion on your TV isn’t some mysterious backdoor; it’s a technology called Automatic…
Every day we move seamlessly between smartphones, laptops, smartwatches, and smart TVs, often without giving a second thought to what happens in the background. With so many connected devices in constant use, our personal data is shared more than we realize. And that’s something I’m certainly not okay with. For me, privacy and control over my personal data matter just as much as the features these devices offer. Not too long ago, I went through my iPhone settings and changed five settings that significantly reduced the amount of tracking I was being subjected to. It was a simple exercise, but…
The new generation of Samsung Galaxy is guaranteed to be near the top of every Android fan’s upcoming phones list. An Unpacked event in the coming weeks will see the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26 Plus and Galaxy S26 Ultra all make their debut, but with plenty of leaks having appeared online ahead of the reveal, we’ve got a clear picture of what to expect. Samsung will face off against one of Apple’s strongest showings in years with the iPhone 17. The firm has also been beaten to the punch by several big names, with OnePlus and Honor introducing top-tier models…
I’ll be honest. I’ve never got on with electric blankets. You lie on them, they heat up, and before you know it you’re being slow-roasted like a sausage on a disposable barbecue. Too hot. Too intense. And there’s no escape. An electric duvet, though? That’s a different beast entirely – and Dreamland’s Love Mornings All-Season Heated Duvet has quietly converted me over the past few months. I’ve been using the King-size version with dual controls since late autumn, right through some properly grim UK winter nights. You see, I live in a 1970s house, with a draughty bedroom, single-digit indoor…