Author: Press Room

Apple’s AI-infused version of Siri is late. Two years late to be exact. It was first trailed alongside broader Apple Intelligence features at Apple’s developer conference in June 2024. But it never appeared, thanks to it just not being good enough. Now, a delay of that magnitude is understandable, provided that it actually works well now. So as soon as the iOS 27 Developer Beta was available, I installed it on a spare iPhone and started using Siri AI. This is what I found and why it actually surprised me quite a bit. Siri AI is in Beta and there…

Your nose twinges. Oh no! It’s unmistakable: you have THE PLAGUE! And dislocated eyebrows! And terrifying condition Amblystic Florpo Flargle-Wargle! (That you definitely didn’t just make up.) Fortunately, help is on hand. No, not at your local medical centre. I’m talking about ChatGPT! Because this is the future, right? So surely you can ask ChatGPT – or another AI chatbot – for health advice? That depends. Mostly on whether your real or imaginary condition has affected your ability to think rationally, or is in fact nanobots taking over the circuitry of your brain, convincing you that asking a probability machine…

Apple has finally revealed a beta version of its generative AI-infused version of Siri, known as Siri AI. Based on my early use of the assistant on a test iPhone, it’s a very positive step for Apple devices and is much needed (and was much delayed). But as well as Apple’s own technology, it uses a custom Google Gemini model for more complex reasoning – for which it is reported to be paying Google around $1bn a year. Firstly, I’ll outline the questions asked, and then I’ve pasted in the responses from Google Gemini and Apple Siri before reaching some…

Achieving consistent frame rates is quite difficult, even on the highest-end PCs, because performance tuning goes beyond just hardware alone. Software optimization is an integral part of getting the most out of your build. I have a decent gaming setup, and even though it meets the system requirements for most games, I couldn’t get rid of the occasional stuttering that ruined my gameplay experience. Everything checked out — system performance, temperatures, and drivers, that is, until I came across this one Steam feature that helped me get rid of the hiccups even before I started the game. Related I ditched…

Summary Scheduled Tasks gives ChatGPT automated reminders, recurring updates, and background actions. New Scheduled Tasks page shows all tasks in one place and you can set them on your phone or online. Scheduled Tasks boosts ChatGPT into a background Android assistant for Plus users, but Gemini still has its strengths. If you’ve been paying for ChatGPT Plus but still relying on Gemini as your Android assistant, OpenAI’s latest update might change that. Scheduled Tasks already gave ChatGPT the ability to handle reminders, recurring updates, and other automated actions, making it much more useful even when you’re not actively chatting with…

No matter what your preferred streaming service or genre, there are tons of great TV series coming at you this weekend, June 19-21. Here are a few of the biggest new releases available to binge, either right now or in a couple of days. Related These classic shows have 100+ episodes each — and they’re all free on Roku right now There’s so much available to watch on The Roku Channel you may never need to even think about Netflix again. The Season All six episodes now on Hulu This English-language show is set in Hong Kong, and initially follows…

Here is a fact cable companies would rather you not think about: a surprising number of live sports are still completely free to watch. Not a trial, not a temporary promo, and not a subscription you need to remember to cancel. It’s easy to see why people assume otherwise. Sports rights are one of the biggest battlegrounds in streaming, with companies spending billions to lock up NFL games, NBA playoffs, and MLB rights. All that noise makes it feel like access to live sports costs money by default. But broadcast TV never went away, free streaming apps have picked up…

VLC and the stock Windows players were built for a different era, and they show that the moment you throw something genuinely heavy at them. Instead, there are plenty of alternatives that don’t get enough attention. The most popular choices only sound good in theory, but you may like MPV more than VLC because it works better than you’d think. Related I ditched VLC and finally got high-quality HDR playback without any lag HDR finally works — no thanks to VLC. Get MPV, not VLC There’s no installer wizard and no media library Jorge Aguilar / MakeUseOf VLC was built…

I spent a long time thinking my TV was mediocre. Movies looked flat and cheap, as if I were watching behind-the-scenes footage. Action scenes looked off. The picture and colors were fine, but the motion always felt wrong. A friend finally identified the issue: motion smoothing. My Roku, which I use to access all sorts of programming, had it enabled by default, making everything look like amateur video. Turning it off took 30 seconds. I wish I had known sooner. Related Roku’s new home screen promises less clutter, but I’m not convinced Promotional content is still everywhere What motion smoothing…

I live in a household split between the Apple and Google ecosystems, and that should make casting and screen mirroring difficult. The reality is much different, as AirPlay and Google Cast are robust and widely supported by streaming apps, streaming boxes, and TVs. Chances are, a streamer or TV you already have in your home supports AirPlay, Google Cast, or both. Android users can mirror their screen on a TV or display using only Google Cast. The feature is built right into the Android 16 operating system, and no third-party apps are required. Instead of paying for a USB-C to…