Author: Press Room

Every idea that’s born from our brains feels like a precious baby. We don’t want to give them up. So, most ideas feel stronger than they actually are especially when we are flush with it in the beginning. When something clicks, we are just too lazy to fully question it. ChatGPT doesn’t always help here either, since AI models tend to agree or stay neutral instead of challenging you directly. This AI echo-chamber is useful for searching or summarizing, but risky for decision-making. So I started getting into the habit of using a Socratic-style master prompt to tease and pull…

Dolby Atmos is a spatial audio format that works virtually on supported TVs or speakers and physically on surround sound speaker systems. For the best experience, you need a Dolby Atmos receiver and a 5.1.2 surround sound speaker layout to provide full spatial coverage. Dolby Atmos includes object-based sound imaging and uses down-firing speakers mounted above you to create a three-dimensional listening effect. This is how the audio format works when you have at least a 5.1.2 layout, but there’s one thing that could throw a wrinkle in your spatial listening experience. Regardless of whether your inbuilt TV speakers support…

Horror movies are having a moment lately, what with films like Weapons and Sinners taking home Academy Awards. But if you’re looking for something more bite-sized, there are also a number of solid horror TV shows out there. Big ones like IT: Welcome to Derry and Interview With The Vampire have made waves, but one of the best horror series on TV has flown almost completely under the radar. That show is From, which airs on MGM+. From is about to return for its fourth season, and now is the perfect time to get on board this spooky train. From…

TVs are great for entertainment, but they’re ultimately screens — which means the software running them is always a secondary concern to the manufacturer. Streaming adds its own layer of complexity on top of that. There are region and geo blocks. There’s DRM. There’s whether your TV can actually decode a given codec. And then there’s the operating system — and whether it lets you take advantage of the advertised CPU and RAM, or limits you to the bare basics. We have a big curved Samsung QLED TV. It’s curved, so you know it’s not new — about 10 years…

One of the points of science fiction is to give us an idea of what our future could look like. Sci-fi movies and TV shows don’t always get things right, but there’s fun to be had in the attempt, and there are rare cases where they predict things with an almost eerie degree of accuracy. Sometimes, a sci-fi TV show is so far ahead of its time that it confuses or puts off audiences, and it gets canceled too soon. That’s always disappointing, but at least shows like that are still available to stream. Related 5 sci‑fi thrillers that unravel…

Generally speaking, if you don’t like a TV show from the first episode, watching further on faith that it might improve doesn’t make much sense. There are other shows to watch and other things to do. And yet, you’ll sometimes hear some TV snob insist that this or that show only gets good half a season in, or two seasons in, or whatever, and that it’s worth it to soldier on. This is one of those times. While I’m usually loathe to recommend someone sit through a few episodes of a show that isn’t entertaining them, there can be more…

You’ve probably noticed this at some point. A display looks incredibly bright and vibrant at a store, but once you bring it home, it somehow feels a bit dull and less impressive. It’s quite easy to assume that something’s wrong with your brand-new screen. In reality, it usually isn’t a hardware issue at all. Many monitors ship with certain settings enabled by default that affect how screen brightness and colors are handled. In a controlled store environment, these settings can make the screen look more eye-catching, but at home, they can have the opposite effect. The fix is often simple.…

Just because your TV has smart features built in, doesn’t mean you should use them. Smart TVs typically come with bloatware, advertisements, and unwanted tracking. They might feature slow Ethernet ports or outdated processors, too. All of these concerns are valid reasons to buy a dedicated streaming stick or box, like a Roku, Apple TV, or Google TV streamer, instead of sticking with your smart TV’s default operating system. On the flip side, if your smart TV’s interface is actually good, using it can save you the added cost and complexity of buying separate hardware. I’ve tried smart TVs running…

I spent quite a bit of time trying to make Google Maps work better on Android Auto. I experimented with different settings, adjusted navigation preferences, and hoped something would finally improve the experience. For context, I’m very much a self-aware passenger princess. That means I’m usually the one sitting beside the driver, casually watching the route, missing out on directions (sometimes), and occasionally pointing out when something looks odd on the map. In reality, it also means I notice every wrong turn, confusing lane suggestion, or oddly timed instruction. So, even from the passenger seat, it became pretty clear that…

There’s no shortage of fantastic sci-fi TV series out there, but not all of them are easily accessible. The Expanse is one of the best space epics ever made, but it’s cordoned off behind the Prime Video paywall. Andor is the boldest thing to come out of the Star Wars universe in decades, but you need a Disney+ subscription to see it. And then there’s Apple TV+, an underrated streaming service which specializes in great sci-fi shows. Basically, if you want to get people’s attention, it helps to be on a broadly popular platform like Netflix. Back in September of…