Snap Groups is basically Snap Layouts for Chromebooks. | Illustration: The Verge Google is rolling out a new ChromeOS update that makes it easier to keep your on-screen apps organized, copy text from images, and adjust camera and microphone settings on Chromebook devices. One of the more notable features introduced in ChromeOS 128 is Snap Groups — a feature similar to Windows 11’s Snap layouts that allows you to easily group apps together in a variety of fullscreen layouts. The feature is even triggered the same way as Microsoft does it, by hovering over the maximize app button.The ChromeOS camera app now supports Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to extract text from captured images of letters or other documents. It allows users to copy or search the text in images, more easily convert images into searchable... Continue reading…

When shopping for a new PC, it's essential to balance all the components to create harmony. This is even more critical when choosing from the best gaming laptops, as you can't change most of the components. While you might be tempted to go the whole hog and buy a laptop with an RTX 4090 graphics chip, you don't need to. Tempering your expectations and looking for something better suited to on-the-go gaming is better. Let's talk about why and what you should do instead.

As great as Windows 11 can be, it's also flawed and lacking in many ways, and the experience is far from perfect out of the box. Over the years, I've tried my fair share of software that helps tweak the Windows experience in one way or another to make it work better for me, and there are a few that have stuck with me in such a way that I really wish they would just be built into Windows itself.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Telegram has quietly removed language from its FAQ page that said private chats were protected from moderation requests. The change comes nearly two weeks after its CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France for allegedly allowing “criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app.”Earlier today, Durov issued his first public statement since his arrest, promising to moderate content more on the platform — a noticeable change in tone after the company initially said he had “nothing to hide”.“Telegram’s abrupt increase in user count to 950M caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform,” he wrote in the statement shared on Thursday. “That’s why I made it my personal goal to ensure we significantly... Continue reading…

If you have a Hisense TV, you’ll be able to easily link up Yeelight’s lighting — like these smart cubes. | Image: Yeelight Yeelight’s array of smart lighting products will now automatically sync with Hisense VIDAA TVs. During the IFA tech conference in Berlin, Yeelight revealed that its app now integrates directly with Hisense TVs, allowing it to capture the audio and video on your screen while relaying matching effects across Yeelight’s devices.That means you can quickly link up Yeelight’s light strip and its stackable cube-shaped lights to your TV (given that you have a Hisense, of course). That makes it even simpler to set up when compared to some other ambient lighting options from brands like Philips, which requires you to either purchase a Hue Play HDMI sync box to sync your lighting or the Hue Sync TV app, that’s only available on some Samsung TVs... Continue reading…

A capacious battery allows the Reolink Altas PT Ultra to be easily installed anywhere without the need for access to power. | Image: Reolink Reolink’s new Altas PT Ultra is the company’s first battery-powered security camera that is capable of all-day continuous recording. It doesn’t need power access, so it can be installed almost anywhere, and since it captures 4K video to a microSD card instead of the cloud, there are fewer security risks and no subscription fees.There are already many battery-powered security cameras that streamline installation, but they’re limited by small batteries that can’t record for more than a day before needing a charge. Reolink’s Altas PT Ultra’s solution to that problem is a built-in 20,000mAh battery the company says has enough power to record for 12 hours per day for up to eight days or four days when recording nonstop around the clock.H... Continue reading…

There are tons of great TVs out there, but if you want a 4K model for cheap, then this is going to be the deal for you. Right now, you can score this 43-inch Pioneer Xumo smart TV for an incredible price, with a discount that knocks $120 off, dropping it down to its lowest price to date, coming in at just $149.99.

The most welcome upgrade on the Xgimi Aura 2 is a retractable lens protector. | Image: Xgimi Xgimi has announced an upgraded version of its ultra-short throw projector. The new Aura 2 is smaller and lighter than its predecessor while delivering more brightness, but the most welcome improvement is an automatic sliding cover on top that protects the projector’s lens and helps minimize dust buildup. Image: Xgimi The Aura 2 can project an image up to 150 inches in size while sitting close to a wall. Xgimi says the Aura 2 produces 2,300 ISO lumens of brightness from its “Dual Light 2.0” light source that uses a combination of lasers and LEDs. That’s up from 1,800 ISO lumens for the original Xgimi Aura, which should improve the Aura 2’s performance when used in rooms where ambient light can’t be completely... Continue reading…

Network-attached storage (NAS) are home servers at this point but the same question remains: which drives should you use inside one? Consumer-grade drives and those designed for server use come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from 3.5-inch mechanical hard disk drives (HDDs) to ultra-fast M.2 NVMe solid-state drives (SSDs). Every one of them can store data, so they should all be compatible with a NAS, right? So long as the interface of the drive matches that of the NAS slot you wish to use, you're good to go, but should you spend more on NAS-grade storage drives?

Proxmox is an easy-to-setup virtualization platform that offers a rich set of features to help you in building your ideal home lab. If you have multiple devices running Proxmox in your computing environment, you can use the clustering facility to access all the nodes from a single interface. Its also quite simple to set up, though there are a couple of issues you need to be aware of before you attempt this process.

Pavel Durov. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Twelve days after he was arrested in France, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has broken his silence with a 600-word statement on his Telegram account that blames “growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform.”French authorities had charged Durov with enabling various forms of criminal activity on Telegram, including an unnamed person’s distribution of child sexual abuse material on the platform. An unnamed statement from Telegram at the time of his arrest said Durov had “nothing to hide.”While the vast majority of his statement today paints his arrest as surprising and unfair, he also admits that policing Telegram has become harder. Durov says it’s now his “personal goal” to “significantly improve things in this... Continue reading…

The Pixel Fold’s successor features an updated format that makes it a joy to use. Continue reading…