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Jason Hiner/ZDNET Apple is officially rolling out iOS 18.3 to eligible iPhone models after a briefing testing period. The patch is a modest one. It doesn’t introduce new features or make sweeping changes, but it does make adjustments that will impact how users interact with the system. Apple Intelligence is now enabled by default, the company is restricting notification summaries for news apps, an d improving iPhone cameras. Also: The best iPhones you can buy today…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The Govee Neon Rope Light 2 is available in white or black and in two lengths: 10 feet for $70 and 16.4 feet for $100. More pliable than other neon light strips on the market, the Govee Neon Rope Light 2 is easy to install and comes with bend clips to facilitate getting closed angles. The light strip doesn’t have a template guide for setup It’s also too bright to use as…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The Lenovo Tab Plus retails for $330. Contrary to its small size, the model houses a booming eight-speaker system and a long-lasting battery. The MediaTek Helio chipset and dim display won’t be winning any awards. more buying choices If you’re in the market for a new tablet that won’t break the bank, may I recommend the Lenovo Tab Plus? This is Lenovo’s latest lightweight tablet, capable of doubling as a mini-home theater….

Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET OpenAI is constantly adding new features to ChatGPT to make it more functional for everyday needs. The Canvas feature was unveiled last October and has transformed my ChatGPT workflow — and the best part is that it keeps getting better.  Canvas is a separate interface that makes collaborating on your writing and coding projects easier with ChatGPT.  Also: Are ChatGPT Plus or Pro worth it? Here’s how they compare to the free version Canvas is available to…

ZDNET There are many lightweight Linux distributions on the market, many of which are outstanding options for bringing aging hardware back to life with speed, flexibility, and security that those old computers might never have known. That’s part of the beauty of Linux — it’s not only flexible, reliable, and secure, but it’s also perfectly capable of performing like a champ on machines that modern Windows iterations would cripple. Also: If you’re ready to break up…

Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET I never found a helpful use case for the Action Button on my iPhone 16 Pro, so when I saw the option to map ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice, the chatbot’s voice assistant, to the Action Button, I figured it was worth a try. A month after programming the Action Button to summon ChatGPT, I reach for it daily.  As someone who never used ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice before, I didn’t expect to use the tool…

Perplexity makes it easy to research just about anything. Jack Wallen/ZDNET Perplexity is an AI answer engine that provides real-time answers to the questions you ask. It’s very much like Copilot, Aria, or any other AI tool; it’s geared specifically toward learning and less toward generative content. In other words, Perplexity is like having a set of dictionaries on your desktop with an unlimited amount of information to be found.  According to the Perplexity website,…

Network outages continued to plague organizations of all sizes in 2024, with major incidents exposing vulnerabilities in digital infrastructure and the growing complexity of IT environments, according to ThousandEyes’ recent Internet outage report. ThousandEyes’ recap of the most impactful and memorable outages highlighted key trends, including the frequency of major outages that stemmed from backend configuration changes and automated system failures. The report also notes that the ratio of cloud service provider (CSP) outages to…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The LG S95TR soundbar with wireless subwoofer is optimized for the company’s OLED TVs with immersive audio features. The LGS95TR may be expensive, but the high-quality audio is easily worth the price. The soundbar has many features, but some of the best ones require a newer LG TV model. more buying choices LG released the S95TR soundbar earlier this year, following much hype, as a high-end complement to its newest OLED TVs. The…