Author: Press Room

When I canceled my subscriptions to big streaming services, I braced for boredom. Instead, I ended up with a more streamlined setup and found myself actually enjoying what I watched. Letting go of the streaming giants made me realize what platforms and services I truly value. Why I Opted Out of Netflix, Prime Video, & Disney+ Subscription-based streaming services were one of the best developments to make entertainment more affordable and convenient. Before Netflix, we had to pay for every single movie or TV show we wanted to watch. Renting DVDs, buying box sets, and signing up for expensive cable…

That expensive smart TV in your living room is an investment that should serve you well for at least a decade. A handful of easy maintenance practices can mean the difference between shopping for a new TV in just a few years or kicking back with gorgeous picture quality for a solid ten years (or more!). Clean It the Right Way (No, Not With a Window Cleaner) Christian Cawley / MakeUseOf Don’t grab whatever cleaning spray is handy and start scrubbing away at your TV screen like it’s a bathroom mirror. Samsung specifically warns against using “any type of window…

Privacy is always a consideration whenever I connect my devices to the internet, including my Fire TV Stick! It isn’t always immediately clear how to protect your privacy while using a Fire TV Stick, but there are a few tweaks you can make to ensure your personal information is securely locked up, without interfering with streaming your favorite shows. 3 Managing My Fire TV Stick’s Privacy Settings The Fire TV Stick’s onboard privacy settings were my first port of call. Many of Amazon’s tracking features are activated by default. However, these can often be adjusted or turned off altogether. Disable…

Behind the sleek frame and beautiful screen, your OLED smart TV is quietly performing vital housekeeping. That’s right; while you may not see it or interact with it, this behind-the-scenes work keeps your OLED screen looking tip-top and is vital to your panel’s long-term health—which is why you shouldn’t mess with it! It’s Called a Compensation Cycle Every OLED TV has to deal with one unavoidable reality: pixel aging. Because each pixel emits its own light, it wears down at different rates depending on how often and how brightly it’s used. Over time, that uneven aging can cause image retention—or…

Tucked away on the back or side of your smart TV sits a small but mighty HDMI port (possibly more than one). You probably aren’t using it to its full potential, especially when it comes to connecting devices you already have lying around the house. 10 Game Consoles Lisa Schulz/Shutterstock Let’s start with an obvious one: game consoles and smart TVs are a match made in HDMI heaven. With HDMI 2.1, modern TVs can unlock the full visual potential of the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, enabling 4K gaming at refresh rates of up to 120Hz for buttery-smooth performance…

I watch a lot of YouTube, some could say too much. After years of using it, I’ve found a handful of browser extensions that completely transform the experience, and I can’t use the platform without them. YouTube is full of clickbait content as creators scramble to get more views. From misleading titles to thumbnails, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to determine whether the video you’re watching will deliver on its promise. But how can you know if a video is worth watching before clicking play? That’s where the TLDR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) extension comes in handy. It’s a Chrome extension…

Thanks to being an ‘in front of the TV’ gaming console as well as one of the best handheld consoles, the Nintendo Switch already has fairly comprehensive controls in the form of the Joy-Cons. Joy-cons are built-in on the Switch Lite or detachable with the standard console or its newer OLED counterpart. However, while such controllers are great for many games and any casual multiplayer sessions, you’ll soon find yourself longing for a more traditional controller experience. That’s why we’ve picked out the best Nintendo Switch controllers. Many of these will feel as comfortable as other gaming controllers, with some…

Even the best smartphone is useless without power. A dead device won’t get you very far. Facing the dreaded red bar? Whether you’re camping away from the mains or commuting on 1-percent, put an end to your power struggle with the back-up batteries below. From compact packs to high-capacity hubs, we’ve rounded up the best portable chargers to keep your gear going wherever you do. We’ve also included a few rugged power banks for adventurous energy, plus our favourite solar panel for proper off-grid refills. Not sure what’s watt? We’ve also included a few buying tips to help you decipher…

Sometimes, it can feel like ChatGPT is trying to be your biggest cheerleader rather than offering balanced opinions. While sometimes nice, this can cause problems when trying to plan something or trying to get an unbiased response. To combat this, I made ChatGPT as brutally honest as possible. 6 Speaking to ChatGPT Like I Would to a Friend When I first started using ChatGPT, I talked to the tool like it was a robot. And while it technically is, I unsurprisingly got robotic responses. Unfortunately, this all too often meant the replies were either not honest enough or what I…

If you have a Fire TV Stick plugged in and you’re just streaming Netflix or the occasional YouTube video, you’re barely scratching the surface of what it can do. It’s time to unlock some of your Fire TV Stick’s hidden features. 8 Personalize the Screensaver When your Fire TV Stick is sitting idle, it usually shows a slideshow of generic stock images. Yes, they look good, but you can make things even more personal by using your own photos as the screensaver on your Fire TV Stick. First, you’ll need to upload your photos to Amazon Photos using your phone.…