It has been around six years since I purchased my first smart assistant device, the Amazon Echo Dot. It was a gimmick and was a purchase I didn't need to make, but we enjoyed being able to use voice controls to manage lighting and other various bits around the home. The Echo Plus was then added to the mix, and things progressed well until we hit a few brick walls. We're now looking at ways to replace Amazon Alexa and Echo with better speakers and more community-friendly software support, mostly powered through Home Assistant.

Valve has been taking the fight to Microsoft on the handheld market recently. The Steam Deck designer has always stated its plans to bring the console's operating system, SteamOS, to third-party devices, and now it's making good on its word. In fact, one could argue that SteamOS has already won the war versus Windows. Now, Valve is aiming to make SteamOS even better with a new update that enhances third-party devices.

Towards the end of Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony in a Washington, DC courthouse, a smile flashed across his face. Meta’s lead attorney, Mark Hansen, had asked the CEO if he was “happy” about paying $19 billion for WhatsApp in 2014.Zuckerberg flashed a grin, took a brief pause, and responded, “I’d do it again.”Over the last decade, the growing scale of Instagram and WhatsApp cemented Meta as one of the most powerful companies on earth. Now, the US government, via a Federal Trade Commission antitrust lawsuit, is trying to unwind those acquisitions through a trial that began on April 14th. Zuckerberg spent roughly 13 hours across three days answering questions from the FTC and Meta lawyers. Much of that time on Wednesday was devoted to attempting to refute one core argument: that he bought both apps to take them out and not to make them better.The FTC contends that WhatsApp was acquired because Zuckerberg and his executives were worried at the time that private messaging apps would grow into fully-fledged social media businesses. From the witness stand, Zuckerberg acknowledged that it was “something I thought about,” but that he thought it would be “extremel …Read the full story at The Verge.

SteelSeries is one of those brands that has been around for a while, offering an exciting line of computing accessories. Of course, that also means that the brand does offer its own line-up of gaming headsets as well. And if you've been looking to upgrade, the SteelSeries Arctis Pro is going to be a pretty solid option, delivering great sound and excellent features.

I know many users in the Windows community who aren’t fans of Copilot, let alone its addition to apps in Windows 11. I firmly support that camp and remove it from all apps it has crept into. While not useful, having it part of Windows might benefit some users depending on their workflow.

Portable storage is an absolute must if you're looking for a local way to keep your data safe. Of course, it can also be quite economical in the long run when compared to cloud storage, which can cost quite a bit if you're paying a brand to store your data.

Running training plans have notably been absent from Strava’s platform… ‘til now. | Image: Strava, RunnaGo to any run club in the world and there’s a good chance that everyone there has two things: a Garmin smartwatch to track their run and a Strava account to brag about it. Given the global running boom, it makes Strava’s lack of any modern, in-app training plans a curious and glaring omission. Or, at least, it was until today as Strava is acquiring Runna.For those who don’t torture themselves with a 6AM daily run, this is big news — even if the companies are keeping mum on the deal’s financial details. Strava is the most well-known fitness social media app on the market. Meanwhile, Runna burst onto the scene in 2021 and has quickly climbed the app charts for folks in need of 5K, 10K, or marathon training plans. Since launch, it’s secured an additional $6.3 million in funding for its AI-powered run coaching, with users spanning 180 countries. In 2024, Runna also tripled the size of its team and is currently hiring roughly 50 roles to expand the product and tech. Peruse running subreddits or RunTok, and you’ll invariably see someone asking about or recommending the app.The deal seems like a win-win for Strava and Runna. Strava gets to shore up one of its biggest we …Read the full story at The Verge.

It could be argued that Xbox Game Pass is the best deal in gaming, with tons of games, new and old, coming to the subscription service all the time. 2025 is looking to keep that trend going, with a number of day one launches and new additions coming, from big Xbox titles to exciting third-party titles. While the tiers in the service have become a bit confusing, every game on this list will be part of Game Pass Ultimate, which is the tier you need to get every day one release. Xbox Game Pass also includes the PC service, which can be accessed on most of PC handhelds like the Steam Deck, even if it takes some extra effort.

Gemini Live’s feature that lets it see and respond to what’s on your camera and your screen will now be free for all Android users via the Gemini app, Google announced today.The AI-powered feature officially launched earlier this month for everyone on Pixel 9 and Samsung Galaxy S25 using the Gemini app. At the time, Google said the feature would launch “soon” for all Android users though would only be available with a Gemini Advanced subscription. But the company has changed its mind and is now making it available for free.“We’ve been hearing great feedback on Gemini Live with camera and screen share, so we decided to bring it to more people,” Google said on X.The feature will roll out to all Android users with the Gemini app starting today, and the rollout will take place “over the coming weeks.” If you want to get an idea of how the feature works, check out this video from Google. In it, a person holds their phone with the camera open at an aquarium so that Gemini can see the animals and share information.Today, Microsoft announced that its similar AI tool, called Copilot Vision, is available now for free in the Edge browser.

While most people are aware of IFTTT applets that allow you to cross-post to social media or create calendar events, the platform's functionality with many services allows for plenty of other ways to use it. While I tried out personal automation using Zapier, I also wanted to try out a few applets on IFTTT.

As nice as Windows 11 looks — and I do think it's pretty — it's frustrating that Microsoft limits customization of the operating system in so many ways. The taskbar, in particular, is a bit of a downgrade compared to previous versions, since it has reduced transparency compared to Windows 10, and you can't really change that.

There's nothing that dashes your professional image like a weird typo in a message or email. Fortunately, there's a whole collection of spell checkers that are there to say, "Are you sure?" when you type something weird. Fortunately, Microsoft has been cooking up a new feature that will help you sound less ridiculous when talking to your boss on Teams, and it's now ready to roll out to everyone's computers.