Jitter is a lesser-known networking issue that I can guarantee that most of you have experienced, probably recently. It's most apparent in any type of real-time communications, like video calls, VoIP systems, livestreaming, and in-game comms, but can also affect video and audio streaming from services like Spotify or YouTube.

The Cricut Maker 4 and Explore 4 crafting machines in their new seashell and sage color options. | Image: CricutCricut has announced new versions of its crafting machines designed to print, cut, and emboss various materials using a collection of swappable tools. The new Cricut Maker 4 and Cricut Explore 4 are the first updates to both machines in nearly four years and offer faster cutting speeds for some materials, improved accuracy, and cheaper price tags. The machines will be available starting on February 28th, 2025. They’ll still start at $249.99 for the Cricut Explore 4, and at $399.99 for the Cricut Maker 4, and both will be available in sage and seashell color options. The four-year-old Cricut Explore 3 sells for $319, while the Maker 3 is $439, so the cheaper price tags for the 4-series line could help make the new machines more accessible to new users. Both models come with a bundle of crafting materials to complete 10 initial projects.The Cricut Maker 4 and Explore 4 look nearly identical to their predecessors but are up to twice as fast when cutting through materials like cardstock and vinyl, Cricut says. The speed improvements won’t be quite as dramatic when using thicker materials, but the upgrade will still appeal to crafters who sell their creations on sites like Etsy and are looking to upgrade their output.Cricut has also introduced a new optical sensor on both models that works alongside a light that better illuminates materials, according to CNET. The upgrade should help improve cutting accuracy, no matter what the lighting conditions are in your crafting room.Although there are differences between both machines’ capabilities, they’re mostly dependent on the types of projects you’re looking to create. The pricier Cricut Maker 4 is designed to work with over 300 different types of materials, including thicker options like leather and balsa wood, and a wider variety of cutting and embossing tools. The cheaper Cricut Explore 4 is limited to around 100 different materials, including thinner stock like vinyl, card stock, and iron-ons.In 2021, the company frustrated existing users with plans to limit monthly uploads to its Design Space software used to prep projects before sending them to the machines. Subscription fees were announced for users wanting to expand the number of designs they could upload, but after much backlash, Cricut scrapped those plans entirely.While the new machines don’t require subscriptions, the company still offers a Cricut Access subscription for users who heavily rely on pre-made designs and projects available through its Design Space app. Cricut Access also expands the number of fonts and images available through the app and includes discounts on materials.

Excel may be the dominant spreadsheet-editing software, but there are plenty of alternatives that can fulfill your data analysis and number-crunching needs. Whether you’re paranoid about storing your precious files on Microsoft’s servers or want a neat app that doesn’t force you to pay subscription fees, you’ll find plenty of decent Excel alternatives. Grist is one such option that you can self-host on your local hardware, and here’s a byte-sized guide to help you integrate this neat utility into your workflows.

Engwe’s Mapfour N1 Pro looking fine in Amsterdam.Europe has an electric bike problem. Direct-to-consumer e-bikes from inexpensive Chinese brands like Engwe and countless others can be easily purchased online despite openly flouting EU restrictions. They feature throttles and powerful motors that can be easily unlocked to far exceed the 25km/h (16mph) legal speed limit — no pedaling required.Here in Amsterdam, cheap Super73-knockoffs ridden at almost twice the legal speed have made the city’s renowned bicycle lanes increasingly chaotic and dangerous. Across the Netherlands, over 10,000 of these electric “fat bikes” were seized in 2024. Engwe’s new Mapfour lineup is the company’s attempt at going legit by expanding from souped-up electric fat bikes and foldables into “premium commuter” e-bikes. And because they’re the first e-bikes that Engwe has designed exclusively for European roads, the company swears they can’t be unlocked for more speed.I’ve been riding the new Mapfour N1 Pro model for the last few weeks. It lists for €1,899 (almost $2,000), or €1,799 during the initial launch — a price that brings heightened expectations. The N1 Pro is slathered in premium capabilities like GPS/GSM tracki …Read the full story at The Verge.

I highly doubt you'd need to guess which app I'm referring to when I say "most useless Windows app"—it's Copilot. With Copilot now integrated into all the Microsoft 365 desktop apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, it's obvious Microsoft has made it its life mission to shove Copilot into every corner possible, even if no one asked for it. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you're somehow a Copilot fan), Microsoft is now pushing the AI assistant even further into macOS with a dedicated app.

The battle of AMD vs Intel has been going on for as long as I can remember. Over the years, they've both had their fair share of time at the top. These days, it will come down to what you want to do and which will be the best choice for you as they both have a great lineup of CPUs. It's always worth remembering that not all CPUs are made for every task, so it's best to decide what you want to achieve before you go out and purchase a new CPU.

Amazon is gearing up to launch new hardware to go along with its AI-upgraded Alexa. During an interview with Bloomberg, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company has a “brand new lineup of devices that are coming in the fall that are beautiful.”On Wednesday, Amazon revealed Alexa Plus, a more conversational version of the smart assistant that’s capable of performing a wider range of tasks, such as ordering an Uber or finding concert tickets. Amazon says “almost every” Alexa device will support Alexa Plus, save for older Echo generations. Alexa Plus will cost $19.99 per month but will be included with a subscription to Prime.Though Jassy didn’t share any other details about the new devices, it seems like the company plans to put an even bigger focus on displays. When asked about Amazon’s next-generation hardware, Panos Panay, Amazon’s head of devices and services, told my colleague Jennifer Tuohy that, “I believe in screens. I think they matter in a massive way.”We’ve already seen this outlook impact Amazon’s lineup of products, as the company launched a new Echo Show with a larger 21-inch display after Panay joined in 2023.

When you pile up hundreds and thousands of files on your PC, finding the one you need at any given time can become a challenge. Even though File Explorer in Windows offers a built-in search option, it can still take a while to get to the files you want if you don't make full use of the tools available to you.

Despite all these years using Chrome, I never thought about how handy it would be to put the browser in a split-screen mode. I don't mean opening a new window and placing it beside my current one; I mean splitting one window into two separate tabs. It would make research for work a lot easier, especially for those who are on one monitor. Well, it turns out that Google is working on such a feature, and it's shaping up to be a staple in my workflow.

Apple announced in a whitepaper that it plans to introduce a bunch of new child safety features, including letting parents share their kids’ age ranges with apps, refreshing the App Store’s age ratings system, and making it easier for parents to set up Child Accounts for their kids. The company says it will introduce the features “this year.”Companies like Meta, Snap, and X have called for platforms to be responsible for verifying the ages of users at the OS or app store level. Apple also reportedly lobbied against a proposed bill in Louisiana that would have required the company to enforce age restrictions.In the whitepaper, Apple argues that age verification “at the app marketplace level” wouldn’t be ideal, as it would require users to hand over “sensitive personally identifying information” to the company. “That’s not in the interest of user safety or privacy,” Apple says. The age sharing system gestures in that direction without going so far as to fully verify each user’s age. With the age range feature, “parents can allow their kids to share the age range associated with their Child Accounts with app developers,” Apple says.The age range will “be shared with developers if and only if parents decide to allow this information to be shared,” and parents will be able to disable sharing. The feature also won’t “provide kids’ actual birthdates.” Developers will be able to request the age ranges with a new API that Apple says is a “narrowly tailored, data-minimizing, privacy-protecting tool to assist app developers who can benefit from it.”“Today’s announcement is a positive first step, however, developers can only apply these age-appropriate protections with a teen’s approval,” Meta spokesperson Jamie Radice says in a statement to The Verge. “Parents tell us they want to have the final say over the apps their teens use, and that’s why we support legislation that requires app stores to verify a child’s age and get a parent’s approval before their child downloads an app.”As for App Store ratings will expand from four thresholds to five; the new categories will be Age 4 plus, 9 plus, 13 plus, 16 plus, and 18 plus. In their app listings, developers will be asked to highlight “whether apps contain user-generated content or advertising capabilities that can impact the presence of age-inappropriate content” and if apps have their own content controls.Apple says that the App Store won’t show kids apps with age ratings “in the places where we feature apps on our storefront” that are higher than what their parents set on their accounts.As for Child Accounts, Apple says that it will introduce a new setup process and let parents fix the age associated with the account if it wasn’t set up correctly.Update, February 27th: Added Meta statement.

People often misunderstand the term "bottlenecks," but that's mainly due to the misinformation they tend to find on the internet. This leads to them overcomplicating things and spending money on the wrong hardware. If you browse some Reddit threads, you'll see people constantly arguing about CPU and GPU bottlenecks, and while some of them are right, you'll also notice many pointing out that it's the worst thing that can happen to a PC.

"How high can it go" is often the question that fascinates PC gamers. Whether it's FPS, clock speeds, transfer rate, or Cinebench scores, PC users can't stop themselves from obsessing over numbers. In a way, that's the only way to quantify performance and benchmark your PC against others, but in this race, you might be hurting the most important thing at the center of it all — enjoying your PC.