For some, Patch Tuesday is an exciting time to check out new features, absorb the new UI changes, and see what Microsoft has planned for the future of Windows. For others, it's a nightmare. After all, when you're part of the tech team for a large company and Microsoft pushes out an update that could very well send PCs into BSODs, boot loops, and other annoying issues, Patch Tuesday is more like wearing a potentially disastrous storm. And it's usually disastrous.

When you're into laser engraving, it's easy to get carried away with expensive specialty materials. However, I’ve found that some of the most dependable results come from low-cost, easily sourced options. These materials enable me to experiment freely, test new designs, and produce high-quality finished pieces without breaking the bank. Whether I’m prototyping or working on small-scale projects, these five are always part of my regular rotation.

Samsung’s latest smart fridges now support multi-voice recognition powered by the company’s Bixby assistant, which can be used to bring up personalized information on the built-in smart displays based upon which member of a household is speaking.Voice identification in smart home tech is nothing new, but with no successful Samsung-branded smart speaker line of its own, connected appliances are Samsung’s only real route to apply that kind of personalization.The main perk is that the fridge will be able to display your calendar or personal photo gallery using only voice commands. You’ll also be able to ask the fridge to trigger an alarm on your phone, useful if you can’t find it. The update may be more helpful for those who are hard of vision, as it will automatically change the fridge screen’s display mode to match settings like color inversion or grayscale that have been applied on your phone.Samsung is also adding a new way to activate Bixby on its fridges. In addition to tapping the Bixby icon or using voice commands, you’ll now be able to double tap on the fridge’s display while it’s off to bring the beleaguered voice assistant —no longer the default even on Samsung’s own phones — to life.The Voice ID feature and double-tap gesture are arriving now in an update for Samsung’s Bespoke AI fridges with Family Hub (the company’s term for its larger smart home screens), starting with the 2025 models, and will later roll out to appliances with the smaller AI Home displays.

In March, Apple delayed its upgraded Siri, saying that “it’s going to take us longer than we thought to deliver” the promised features. At WWDC this week, Apple’s SVP of software Craig Federighi and SVP of worldwide marketing Greg Joswiak shared more details about the decision to delay in an interview with The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern.As part of its initial Apple Intelligence announcements at WWDC 2024, Apple said that the improved Siri would have awareness of your personal context and the ability to take actions for you in apps. While Apple was showing real software at that show, Siri “didn’t converge in the way, quality-wise, that we needed it to,” Federighi said. Apple wanted it to be “really, really reliable. And we weren’t able to achieve the reliability in the time we thought.”“Look, we don’t want to disappoint customers,” Joswiak said. “We never do. But it would’ve been more disappointing to ship something that didn’t hit our quality standard, that had an error rate that we felt was unacceptable. So we made what we thought was the best decision. I’d make it again.”Stern asked why Apple, with all of its resources, couldn’t make it work. “When it comes to automating capabilities on devices in a reliable way, no one’s doing it really well right now,” Federighi said. “We wanted to be the first. We wanted to do it best.” While the company had “very promising early results and working initial versions,” the team came to feel that “this just doesn’t work reliably enough to be an Apple product,” he said.At WWDC, Federighi also spoke to YouTuber iJustine, and both Federighi and Joswiak were interviewed by Tom’s Guide’s Mark Spoonauer and TechRadar’s Lance Ulanoff. In Apple’s March statement, it said that anticipated rolling out the Siri upgrades “in the coming year,” which, to Spoonauer, Joswiak clarified to mean 2026.

Some games practically demand that you study a wiki before hitting 'New Game'. And hey, that’s fine — I love a juicy lore rabbit hole as much as the next nerd. In fact, there are games that are even better than that, which, while being lore-intensive, allow you to ignore all of that and still have the time of your life.

GPUs have gotten really chunky over time, haven't they? Not only have they slowly grown over the years, but they've gotten a lot more expensive, to the point where you could purchase a PC that runs off of integrated graphics for less than a single GPU.

As a writer, I often spend considerable time in my web browser throughout the day. Like most, I have been using whatever bookmarking feature is included in the browser I’m using. I use different browsers, and they virtually all handle bookmarks the same way. I create folders and add bookmarked sites to them.

There are plenty of laptops to choose from, but if you're on a budget, the choices become a bit more narrow, especially if you're looking to pick up something that's sleek, thin, and light. With that said, we think the Asus Zenbook A14 is going to be a great choice, delivering everything you need at a price that you can now afford. For a limited time, you can score a steep $250 discount on this model, bringing it down to its best price yet at $750.

There's a fight for control going on inside the cockpits of many modern cars. Enable all the active safety systems in a Tesla, and it'll do most of the steering for you. But if it makes an errant turn or meanders a little too far this way or that in the lane (and trust me, it will), you're left wrestling the wheel out of Autopilot's virtual hands.Assistance systems from other manufacturers do better at ceding control whenever you feel like taking over, but BMW is about to take that to a new level with the first car built on its upcoming Neue Klasse platform. It includes an advanced driver assist system that the company says is a proper symbiosis, where the car's sensors and systems don't fight with or yell at you but instead work with you to make driving safer and less stressful.I sampled this suite in a prototype of BMW's iX3, the first electric SUV on the Neue Klasse platform, designed from the ground up to offer more range, better handling, and way more smarts. BMW is promising 400 miles of range from a new battery architecture that can charge at up to 400 kW. That means adding something like 200 miles of range in 10 minutes, but there's a lot more to it than that.Better …Read the full story at The Verge.

What's better than a game with your friends? A completely free game, that's what. That way, nobody is left behind during game night; everyone can grab the game, get it downloaded, and hop in for absolutely nothing. I mean, if it worked for Content Warning, it can work for anyone.

Ever thought that you wanted to set up your own cloud, complete with a desktop environment? The issue is that many operating systems designed for server use aren't specifically intended for use as a desktop computer, and even if they were, setting them up and ensuring they are secure enough for internet use can be a chore.

The Flip Folio is compatible with 11- and 13-inch iPad Air and Pro models. | Image: LogitechLogitech has announced a new keyboard case for iPad Pro and iPad Air models that lets you remove and position its keyboard exactly where you need it. It’s not an entirely new idea for the company — its Combo Touch case also lets you detach the keyboard — but the new Flip Folio’s keyboard has a much smaller footprint, giving you more flexibility when it comes to where you can use it.The Flip Folio is priced at $179.99 for a version compatible with 13-inch iPad Air and iPad Pro models, or $159.99 for a slightly smaller case that’s compatible with the 11-inch versions of those tablets. Availability gets a little more complicated depending on what color you want. A graphite version will launch globally in June 2025, as will a black option, but only in North America. A pale grey and lilac version will debut later this year in September 2025 “in select regions,” alongside a sand option that will also be limited to North America.Both the larger and smaller versions of the wireless keyboard are just over a quarter of an inch thick and weigh less than 207 grams. Each is designed to magnetically attach to the back of the Flip Folio case without adding too much thickness. It includes dedicated iPadOS shortcut keys and multi-device Bluetooth pairing so you can easily switch between using it with your tablet, smartphone, or even a computer.Battery life is estimated to be up to two years, but that will depend on how frequently you’re using the keyboard. When it dies, you’ll need to replace its coin cell battery, because the keyboard doesn’t feature a rechargeable battery or even a USB port for connecting it to a device with a cable. It’s wireless all the way.The Flip Folio case itself offers front and back protection for your iPad. Since it connects to the tablet magnetically, you can position the iPad in either landscape or portrait orientations when using it as a multi-angle support stand. With the iPad supported vertically, the Flip Folio has a bit of extra room for supporting a smartphone, too, letting you position them side by side and expand your multitasking.