Perhaps one of the most frustrating aspects of using Windows 11 is it's perpetually confused native search feature. It is truly one of the features that makes one consider a full OS swap, and many UI designers are of the opinion that it's a masterclass in bad user experience.

If you're still using an AM4 CPU, upgrading to AM5 feels like the next logical step, especially now that the platform has matured and offers some of the best CPUs available, particularly for gaming. AMD's long-term socket support makes the move seem even more sensible if you're thinking ahead. I've been on AM4 since 2020, and even though the Ryzen 5000-series CPUs were the last major upgrade for the socket, my PC has aged very well over the years, thanks to my 5800X3D.

We’re huge fans here at XDA of repurposing older hardware for new tasks and keeping components in service for as long as possible. There’s something deeply satisfying about squeezing extra life out of a system that many people would write off as obsolete. I often find myself looking around my home lab and wider home ecosystem, asking a simple question: what’s the quickest and cheapest upgrade? More often than not, the answer is storage.

It's been eight years since I last reviewed a robot vacuum. Having spent the last two months with a new flagship, I'm shocked by how much they've advanced from early bump-and-run models.In October, DJI launched its very first robovacs in Europe. I've been testing the top-of-the-line Romo P model, which doesn't yet have a US release date. It includes a self-cleaning base station, a mopping function, and enough high-end specs and charm that my colleague Jen Tuohy took notice.Jen is a true robovac expert. I, let's be clear, am not. But I can share what it's like to make the jump from an entry-level model to one of these multifunctional comb …Read the full story at The Verge.

The most striking thing about Ring's statement that it had parted ways with Flock Safety is what the home security company didn't say. There was no mention of the public backlash around ties to ICE, or any promise to address users' concerns about the company's relationships with law enforcement.In an increasingly authoritarian political climate, the threat of mass surveillance fueled by AI-powered cameras is what many people fear. Yet Ring's statement made no attempt to address this. Instead, the company claims it canceled Flock's integration with its Community Requests tool because it would "require significantly more time and resources t …Read the full story at The Verge.

While subscription-based AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude offer undeniable convenience, they come with invisible strings attached – rigid censorship, mandatory internet connectivity, and the reality that your data is fueling someone else’s machine.

If you ask me what my biggest complaint with Windows 11 is, it's that it doesn't give you a lot of options to customize the Taskbar. Now, I have never coded a programming language before, nor will I probably ever, but I don't feel likecoding up a feature that allows people to move the Taskbar to whatever side of the screen they like isn't particularly resource-intensive for Microsoft.

The DJI Romo robot vacuum in its translucent dock. | Image: DJI Sammy Azdoufal claims he wasn't trying to hack every robot vacuum in the world. He just wanted to remote control his brand-new DJI Romo vacuum with a PS5 gamepad, he tells The Verge, because it sounded fun.But when his homegrown remote control app started talking to DJI's servers, it wasn't just one vacuum cleaner that replied. Roughly 7,000 of them, all around the world, began treating Azdoufal like their boss. He could remotely control them, and look and listen through their live camera feeds, he tells me, saying he tested that out with a friend. He could watch them map out each room of a house, generating a complete 2D floor plan. He …Read the full story at The Verge.

In case you haven't heard, KDE Plasma 6.6.0 is now on the horizon. It's scheduled to release on February 17th, and while it may take a little while to arrive on your distro of choice, you do have the option to manually upgrade if you want to. Regardless of whether you wait for it to arrive on your distro or if you just can't wait, it's an exciting time for KDE Plasma fans for sure.

Browser-based image editors are typically considered compromises, and often they are. Many of them are slow and incapable of handling anything beyond the basics. I’ve tried a ton of browser-based graphics apps in my life, but I usually end up going back to my trusted desktop stack, which used to include Photoshop.

Steam reviews are a great way to get a general idea of how well a game will run. If people are complaining a lot about performance issues, that's a potential warning sign that your own PC may not be up to the task. Similarly, if people claim that it can run "on a potato," that can be encouraging if you're worried your PC may not be up to the task.

As a long-time Windows user, I always dreaded the CHKDSK screen when I signed back in. I remember back in the late-90s to early-2000s, when it'd start up if you didn't shut down properly, and it usually took an age to complete. These days, it's not so intrusive, but you still need to reboot to actually repair your filesystem.