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Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET I’m not much of an artist. When I try to draw an image on my iPhone or iPad, the result often looks like something created by a two-year-old. That’s why I like Apple’s new Image Wand. Part of the AI-powered Apple Intelligence, Image Wand will transform your rough sketches into high-quality images Supporting only the Apple Notes app for now, Image Wand also can use AI to modify existing images, conjure…

Image: Apple Even though an Apple Watch Ultra 2, sometimes the Watch Series 10, is always mounted on one of my wrists, I haven’t spent much time with Apple Fitness Plus. After attending a briefing with Apple a couple of weeks ago, I started using Fitness Plus for cycling, walking, running, and strength training and I’m really enjoying the experience so far. There is a ton of value, variety, and fun packed in a service…

Jason Hiner/ZDNET I’ve been waiting to test the promised wide and ultra-wide screen monitor features of Apple’s VisionOS 2.2 since the Vision Pro first shipped back in February 2024. When the Release Candidate became available, I rushed to install it on my head-mounted headache generator. In this article, I’ll be exploring VisionOS’s Mac virtual display capabilities, testing the standard display, wide display, and ultrawide display variants, and comparing them to my current physical widescreen setup. This…

CNET/ZDNET Live TV streaming services were designed to disrupt the cable monopoly. And for a while, it looked like the plan was working. Cable companies, no longer blessed with monopoly power, are losing millions of customers every year. But the cord-cutting alternatives that were supposed to save us have been raising prices steadily, and today the price of a live TV streaming service is nearly as high as one of those old cable bills. Also: Bye…

June Wan/ZDNET How often does a simple tweak of your phone settings deliver a glimpse of the future? OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft all are launching AI-powered voice assistants; OpenAI’s iteration — Advanced Voice — boasts one major advantage: understanding your surroundings.   Also: The best AI chatbots: ChatGPT, Copilot, and notable alternatives Early last year, ChatGPT’s Voice Mode was upgraded with video, screen share, and image uploads; last month, OpenAI brought that enhanced experience to Plus…

Samsung If you’re seeking smart tech for someone who’s not tech savvy, buying your kid their first smartphone, or simply trying to save some money with a no-frills device, you’ll want to pay attention to two new Samsung offerings.  Samsung is bringing two popular budget devices – a smartphone and a fitness tracker – to the US for the first time on Jan. 9.  Also: The best fitness trackers: Expert tested and reviewed The Galaxy…

CNET The world’s largest consumer tech conference, Consumer Electronics Shows (CES), is just a few days away. At the show, you can expect to see the most innovative technology from leading companies and startups worldwide, and this year, ZDNET will help the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) identify and award the most breakthrough tech.  Also: CES 2025: What is it, what to expect, and how to tune in The CTA recognizes the best technology at the…

Maria Diaz/ZDNET Apple has settled a class action lawsuit in which tens of millions of users can expect a slice of the payout. On Tuesday, the iPhone maker agreed to pay $95 million to settle a 2019 lawsuit claiming that Siri violated the privacy of Apple users by recording their conversations, as reported by Reuters. Also: The first open-source, privacy-focused voice assistant for the home is here Known as Lopez v. Apple, Inc., the class…

Graviton’s success could impact Ampere, which makes Arm-based processors for both the enterprise and the cloud. Ampere is challenged in that all the hyperscale cloud providers – AWS, Microsoft, Google, and Meta – are making their own custom chips rather than using a third-party processor. But the challenge of getting Arm into enterprise data centers lies in all the legacy code. There are a lot of homegrown and packaged applications written for x86 processors that…

ZDNET The OnlyOffice Desktop Editors make for an outstanding MS Office alternative. With this application, you can either work locally or connect it to a cloud instance (self-hosted or hosted by a third party) and work with documents, spreadsheets, presentations, or PDF forms. OnlyOffice Document Editors is also compatible with MS Office documents and Open Document Format files (such as those from LibreOffice). Also: How to edit a PDF file: 3 ways With the latest release…