NETWORKING

ZDNET’s key takeaways The TCL Tab 10 Nxtpaper 5G is a full-color, color paper, and ink paper tablet available at Verizon for $239. It’s a great entertainment tablet for daily use that also functions very well as an e-reader. Although the screen is versatile, don’t expect the graphics to compare to those on an iPad or other high-end tablets. Reading has always been my favorite way to unwind before bed, and for 13 years, Kindles…

ZDNET Generative AI is super popular right now. Since OpenAI released ChatGPT in 2022, countless tools and chatbots have popped up. For example, Microsoft launched an AI image generator within Bing, powered by DALL-E 3, one of OpenAI’s visual projects. It was originally called Bing Image Creator but is now called Image Creator under the Microsoft Designer umbrella. Image Creator lets you generate AI images from text prompts. It’s easy to use, whether you’re accessing…

Remote and hybrid working has become the new normal — at least, for now — but productivity can take a hit unless you have the right setup. You might, for example, want to access resources and content on a PC or network when you’re away from the office. Perhaps your employer stipulates that you must use remote desktop software and a VPN if you are working remotely. Or, you simply need a way to provide…

ZDNET Hate calling a business to ask about pricing? A new Google feature can handle that for you. A feature called “Ask for Me” has popped up under the AI experiments category in Google Labs. Instead of calling a company yourself, you can let Google’s AI do it for you, handling tasks like finding the best price and checking product availability. Experimental phase When you use Ask for Me, a realistic-sounding AI will contact businesses, compile…

Kerry Wan/ZDNET I grew up watching The X-Files. In the late 1990s, cell phone reception was nothing like it is today. So back then, I couldn’t help but question how Scully and Mulder could call their boss, Skinner, back in Quantico even when they were investigating the most remote, bizarre locations across the continental US.  Also: Just installed iOS 18.3? I’d change these 3 settings first for the best experience Suspending disbelief aside, maybe FBI agents…

Flip phones have resurrected in the past few years but in new form. Before phones became “phablets” and ditched physical front buttons for touch-capacitive screens, there was the humble flip phone with a T9 keyboard. Most people liked them because the idea of packing so much gadgetry into a compact unit invoked playfulness and wonder in equal parts. The new variants of flip phones keep the playfulness intact despite a missing T9 keyboard.  Also: We tested…

The top mainstream smartphones, such as the iPhone, Pixel, and Galaxy, offer best-in-class displays, cameras, and performance. While phones now include extra protection with an IP69 rating alongside IP68-rated protection, they might not be the best bet for outdoor activities. If you drop one of these phones while hiking or camping, it can break despite the added protection of cases. That’s where rugged phones come in. The best rugged phones are meant to withstand rough elements. They…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The Hatch Restore 3 retails for $170 and comes in three neutral colors. It has a new design with bigger buttons and an upgraded app with more bedtime routines. The device is rather large, and you’ll have to pay for a monthly subscription to utilize the app’s whole experience. As a tech reporter, I’ve tested numerous products over the years, but one of my all-time favorites is the Hatch Restore sunrise alarm…

A similar bug (CVE-2025-22222), in the sense that it requires low privilege for exploitation, is affecting VMware Aria Operations, responsible for infrastructure monitoring, performance optimization, capacity planning, automation, and cost management, and has been assigned a CVSS 7.7/10 rating. “A malicious user with non-administrative privileges may exploit this vulnerability to retrieve credentials for an outbound plugin if a valid service credential ID is known,” Broadcom added in the advisory. The flaws reportedly impact VMware Aria…

PETER CATTERALL/Contributor/Getty Images Barely a week into its new-found fame, DeepSeek — and the story about its development — is evolving at breakneck speed. The Chinese AI startup made waves last week when it released the full version of R1, the company’s open-source reasoning model that can outperform OpenAI’s o1. On Monday, App Store downloads of DeepSeek’s AI assistant, which runs V3, a model DeepSeek released in December, topped ChatGPT, which had previously been the most downloaded…