Author: Press Room

I Supercharged My Spotify Discover Weekly Playlists With This Free App

Spotify Discover Weekly always drops fresh tunes each Monday, but what if your music picks could get even better? With a simple free app, you can make Spotify’s recommendations a lot smarter, turning your weekly playlist into your own personal music radar. Boost Spotify’s Discover Weekly With Last.fm Scrobbling Discover Weekly already delivers good recommendations, but connecting Last.fm to your Spotify account takes music discovery to another level. Last.fm scrobbles (logs/tracks) everything you play on Spotify and other supported music streaming platforms. When you create a Last.fm account and connect it to Spotify, scrobbling everything you play, you’ll not only…

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Own Your Media With a Physical Collection: Here’s a Budget-Friendly Way

Budgeting for a physical media collection is so much simpler when you know where to find the best deals, because they’re not always the best in stores. Instead, you have to look between the buildings of your community. 5 Stick to Blu-ray and DVDs I love the sharpness and resolution of 4K as much as the next person, but it isn’t life-changing. That’s why when I’m on the hunt for physical media, I target Blu-rays and DVDs. The price gap between DVDs and 4K isn’t worth the investment, but I’d argue Blu-ray has better value. 4K UHD looks great, but…

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The Porsche 911 GTS taught me hybrids can be a riot when they want to be

Introduction Are you one of the small portion of petrolheads that refuse to put the whole “electrification means the death of combustion” argument in the rear view mirror? Have a blast in the latest 911 GTS. Porsche’s new T-Hybrid powerplant will soon change your mind. OK, so one of the world’s most recognisable sports cars isn’t actually ditching petrol for protons entirely just yet. Porsche’s familiar flat-six engine has instead been mated with a single turbocharger – rather than the two seen on the last-gen model – that slots an electric motor between its compressor and turbine. The resulting extra…

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These Streaming Apps and Devices Work Great Without Sharing Any of Your Data

Want to enjoy streaming TV and movies while keeping your personal data to yourself? You do not have to trade privacy for great entertainment. These apps and devices help you keep your habits private every time you stream. Stremio stands out as a privacy-focused streaming app that puts privacy back in your hands. This open-source media center operates differently from traditional streaming services by using add-ons to discover content from various sources across the web. What I particularly find unique about Stremio is its transparent approach. The entire codebase is available on GitHub, meaning security researchers can audit the software…

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7 Ways I Know if a Streaming Service Is Worth My Time and Money

I’m always on the lookout for a new streaming service I can roll into my rotation, but to be on that list, it has to be worth my time and money. So, when I’m judging a streaming platform—and I judge with extreme prejudice—these are my demands. 7 When Navigation isn’t Tedious Starting with one of the most defining factors of a good streaming service: navigation. If the UI makes it frustrating to get around, it isn’t a streaming service worth paying for, plain and simple. Something as nagging as a weird side menu transition can affect my chances of returning.…

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9 Underrated Streaming Services You Aren’t Using (But Should)

With just a couple of platforms dominating the streaming service pie, it’s hard to see the smaller pieces in between. But if you push away well-known names like Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu, you’ll find streaming services that deserve more love, with even better movies and shows just waiting to be uncovered. 9 Plex’s Free Content If it’s been a while since you’ve used Plex, it’s changed in a big way: Plex now has content. It’s completely free, but ad-supported. Free services have to keep the lights on somehow, right? My kneejerk reaction was that it would make it harder to…

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Just Subscribed to Spotify? Change These Settings First

I’ve used Spotify for years and have it configured to deliver the ultimate level of quality and best performance possible—and this is how you can do it, too. Boost Audio Quality to Maximum Spotify can automatically adjust audio quality based on your internet connection, meaning you might not always get the best sound experience possible. To enjoy Spotify at its highest fidelity, especially if you’re using quality headphones or speakers, change your settings to the maximum available quality. It’s a simple tweak, too, on either your desktop or mobile device. On Windows/macOS: Head to Settings > Playback > Audio Quality,…

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Amazon Music Prime Could Be Great—If It Made These 5 Changes

Amazon Prime Music has the chance to be the best music streaming service of all—but it’s held back by a confusing mixture of limitations, design flaws, and other general irritations. But if it could fix these problems, there would be no stopping it from overtaking Spotify, Apple Music, and any other competitors. 5 Skip Limits Should Be Axed Entirely Amazon Music Prime has a frustrating playback limitation, where you are only allowed a limited number of skips per song—even with an Amazon Prime subscription. This doesn’t apply to music you own—and I have something to say on that, too—or All-Access…

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I just proved I’m an adult online – and I’m torn about what that really means

I just received an email confirming I’ve successfully verified I’m an adult. Exciting! Except no, because age verification is now going to be a regular thing for me. Why? Because the UK Online Safety Act went into effect on 25 July. And this isn’t just something affecting the land of tea, crumpets and queues. Governments worldwide are implementing similar measures to prevent minors from accessing high-risk and age-inappropriate content. Mostly, that means porn. But various jurisdictions are merrily lobbing social media and even search engines into the mix. My first verification came from Bluesky, the Twitter cosplay act I mostly lurk on…

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The Skoda Elroq is a super sensible EV – here’s why that’s a good thing

The Skoda Elroq is a mid-size electric SUV that has sensible purchase written all over it, especially for anyone not needing the slightly bulkier Enyaq. I’ve recently been driving the Elroq Edition Lodge 85, which features a sizable 82 kWh battery pack that delivers 286 horsepower via a single speed automatic transmission. Compared to the lower trim options, this model is the cream of the crop.There’s a downside though, as this takes the price up to £45,260. Rather a lot more than the entry-level edition, which starts at around £31,000. However, based on what I’ve experienced from the Skoda Enyaq,…

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