Author: Press Room

The 2025 Roku Streaming Stick Plus gives you an HDMI plug on one end and a USB-C port on the side. That is the whole list. Streaming sticks skip the Ethernet jack to stay small and cheap, and most buyers never miss it, though the omission stings if you spent a weekend pulling Cat6A through your own walls. Roku does support wired networking on its 2025 sticks, using that same USB-C port and an adapter that runs about $15. Nothing on the box mentions it. My office is the room where I stopped treating that as a curiosity, because wiring…

HDMI 2.1 brought a ton of improvements and additions, most importantly support for VRR (Variable Refresh Rate). Unfortunately for us mere mortals, HDMI 2.1 is gated behind modern tech. Its licensing is also a headache to deal with, and is reduced to a gimped version on Linux. It’s also a pain to get certified hardware for, and the HDMI Forum has always been notoriously restrictive about what it can and cannot support. And so we return to the age-old DisplayPort, an existing standard that has incorporated an alternative to VRR for years, is an open standard, and is compatible with…

Apple’s CarPlay Ultra infotainment system is finally starting to make it into luxury vehicles, giving everyone else a glimpse at the technology that is likely to succeed CarPlay as time goes on. The future of in-car connectivity is finally making its way into vehicles in the US, UK and Canada with a host of other manufacturers committed to adopting the tech, which unites all of the car’s systems under one neat and tidy Apple aesthetic that spans all of the vehicles screens. Let’s take a deeper look at the upgrades… What is CarPlay? Traditional CarPlay is an iPhone-based experience that…

I was one of the first in the queue for the original Apple Watch. I bought the smaller 38mm aluminium model with a lime green sport strap, and I wore it every single day. I loved it. I still do, in a way, the design is iconic, and I still own it. It just sits in the box now, taking up space, permanently switched off and compatible with precisely… zilch. That smartwatch was actually my gateway into wristwatches. Before it, I hadn’t worn anything on my wrist in years, but once I got used to having something there, I started…

Prime Video is the second-biggest streaming service on the planet, second only to Netflix. Since it started making original content in 2013, it’s amassed a deep library of quality content. Some, like The Boys, became big hits. But there are a lot of other underrated or largely forgotten series that are just sitting there, waiting for you to discover and binge them to completion. Related Don’t Skip These Hidden Gems on Amazon Prime Video This Weekend [August 22-24] The weekend is almost here, and these shows and movies deserve a spot on your watchlist. Goliath Before he was Landman Credit: Prime…

Got Sky Q, Sky Glass or Sky Stream 4K TV? Ultra HD comes as standard with your Sky Multiscreen Sky Q subscription, and costs just £5-a-month extra with Sky Glass or Sky Stream, and while it doesn’t extend to everything available, the catalogue is steadily growing all the time. Here’s Stuff’s pick of the best that Sky 4K has to offer… One Battle After Another Paul Thomas Anderson’s Oscar-winning tenth film pretty much does exactly what it says on the tin. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Pat Calhoun, a member of a militant political group that liberates an immigrant internment camp…

Summary Oasis update adds stricter DRM; Calibre/DeDRM can no longer remove encryption from downloaded KFX. This locks your purchases behind DRM—local backups and offline ownership are now at risk. Switch to DRM-free stores and e-readers (Smashwords, Baen, Kobo, Boox) for true ownership and backups. The Kindle Oasis 3 just got its first update in over a year, bumping it to version 5.18.2.1.1. This update quietly adds tougher DRM, like what’s already on newer Kindles. You probably won’t notice anything different when reading or downloading books, but according to a user on Mobile Read, this update means DRM-removal tools will no…

While browsing my TV’s settings, I realized its microphone was always listening even when I wasn’t talking to it. That didn’t sit right with me, so I switched it off and didn’t look back. Related The biggest privacy leak in my living room was the TV itself Time to stop trusting your smart TV blindly. Why smart TVs have always-listening mics They have legit uses, in fairness Pankil Shah / MakeUseOfCredit: Pankil Shah / MakeUseOf Most smart TVs have microphones that are always listening for voice commands. That makes it convenient. You can say what you want and, voilà, the TV…

I love my dog. He enhances my life in so many ways but his hair shedding isn’t one of them, and he doesn’t even do it excessively. To keep on top of this tan coloured fur falling on to my floors, carpets and rugs, I send my robot vac round twice a day when everyone is out (really couldn’t live without a vac plus mop model now) and I usually manually steam my floors and vacuum with a great cordless model once a week too. Carpet and rug washing was reserved for when it looked dirty or there had been…

There was a time when holiday dreams meant scoring an upgrade at the gate or securing an exit-row seat on your 12-hour flight to palm trees and sunshine. Well, forget that. In 2026, the truly loaded aren’t queuing for lounge access; they’re queuing to leave the planet altogether.  Space tourism has evolved from a billionaire vanity project into a bookable (if bank-breaking) reality, complete with waiting lists and astronaut training camps. So, how much does it cost to swap your car park view for a view of the entire planet? And what impact does that have on the planet you’re…