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Maria Diaz/ZDNET The Mammotion Luba 2 is my favorite robot mower, bar none. I’ve been running it weekly across my front and back yards, and it has succeeded in leaving my push mower out of the job. At CES 2025, Mammotion announced the launch of two “mini” robot mowers: the Luba mini and the Yuka mini. The Luba mini is a smaller version of the Luba 2 series. It features the same AWD platform, although…

There are a lot of mini PCs on the market from a variety of different vendors, and I’ve tested and used mini gaming PCs from all the vendors listed here, I’ve based my selections on my experience using these brands, as well as current model user reviews.  Product specs and price also come into play, but being able to draw on dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of other people’s views allows me to get a broad…

Kerry Wan/ZDNET It’s impossible not to notice how bad my iPhone’s battery life has become since upgrading to iOS 18; it only got progressively worse with iOS 18.1 and 18.2. It’s the rare day that my battery is still above 40% by lunchtime, and power banks have become constant companions in my life.  The situation was bad (night or day), battery consumption was much higher than anything I remember, and even Low Power Mode didn’t…

Linux supports quite a few filesystem types. Your choice of which filesystem to use can play an important role in optimizing performance, reliability and data integrity. Among the more popular filesystems are Ext4, Btrfs, XFS and ZFS. Each is widely used and offers some unique features and benefits. Metadata handling, journaling, and data integrity mechanisms are central factors in determining their suitability for various workloads.  Ext4 Ext4, the default filesystem for many Linux distributions, balances…

Maria Diaz/ZDNET ZDNET’s key takeaways The Google Nest Learning Thermostat is available for $280 and comes with a Nest Temperature Sensor, though you can get a $33 discount, making the price $247. The fourth-generation smart thermostat learns behaviors, trends, and patterns and can adjust settings accordingly. The Nest Temperature Sensor can go in a different room in your home to balance your indoor climate. The only drawback is that many users will likely need a third…

The right laptop for video editing needs to handle software like Adobe Premiere Pro without slowdowns. A performance machine is indispensable for these kinds of demanding tasks. As we say goodbye to 2024 and welcome 2025, our experts continue to rigorously test the best laptops for video editing to help you find the perfect tool for your creations.  Also: The best laptops for graphic designers What is the best laptop for video editing right now?…

LG’s Gram Pro 16 2-in-1 from earlier this year. Kerry Wan/ZDNET LG just announced that it’s expanding its lineup of Gram laptops in 2025, which includes launching the company’s first-ever Copilot+ PC and its first devices powered by Gram AI, its proprietary hybrid AI that utilizes both on-device and cloud-based AI models.  Expected to be unveiled at CES 2025, the Gram, Gram Pro, Gram Pro 2-in-1, and Gram Book are just as slim and lightweight…

Maria Diaz/ZDNET If you’re a subscriber to the Nextdoor app, you’ve seen ample footage of prowling ne’er-do-wells caught in the eye of a video doorbell or home security camera. Hopefully, you don’t have your own first-hand experience with suspicious characters milling around your front porch, or far worse. For good reason, security cameras continue to grow in popularity, and we can expect them to become even more reliable and affordable in 2025.  Also: Siri’s secret…

Whether you’re connecting your TV or setting up a gaming console, there is no shortage of HDMI cables to buy. Cords and cables are a dime a dozen, but not all of them provide the support and performance you need.  Also: Check out these best gaming consoles for your new HDMI cable We scoured the market to find the best HDMI cables for your home and work devices, ensuring that the price matches performance. Before…

The appeals court based its argument, in part, on the ending of the so-called Chevron deference principle. This principle, which once required courts to defer to agency interpretations of ambiguous laws, was ended by a US Supreme Court ruling in June 2024, and has widespread regulatory consequences for IT departments. With Rosenworcel’s term of office drawing to a close, it seems unlikely that the FCC will continue to pursue the reinstatement of net neutrality rules…