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Nina Raemont/ZDNET In a year brimming with technological advancements, from Apple’s first-ever mixed reality headset to the modern-day space race that is artificial intelligence, one particular niche of products saw its mainstream aspirations realized: smart rings. According to IDC, global ring sales were estimated at 880,000 units in 2023. This year, the market research firm is forecasting a rise to 1.7 million units, with an even larger spike of 3.2 million units in 2025. As…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The LG XBoom 360 XO2 is a great Bluetooth speaker for professional chillers, loungers, and relaxers, and it’s available for $197. Highlights include a focus on calming mood lighting and an elegant design. A below-average battery life and lack of advanced features may make this speaker too simple for some. more buying choices There’s nothing like having a trusty Bluetooth speaker that offers a portable listening style. These days, many Bluetooth speaker manufacturers focus…

Amazon The holiday season is quickly approaching and the sweet deals will be wide-ranging and abundant.  Also: I test wearable tech for a living. These are my favorite products of 2024 Amazon released a new shopping tool that uses generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) to help customers research products and provide recommendations when they’re browsing the e-commerce site. Amazon’s AI-powered “Shopping Guides” are being rolled out in the US on Amazon’s mobile website and apps…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The Roku Ultra is a streaming device available for $100. The Roku Ultra is the perfect streaming device for anyone who doesn’t want to commit to team iOS with an Apple TV 4K or team Android with a Google TV Streamer. There are a few drawbacks to getting a Roku Ultra, like the lack of a headphone jack on the remote. Although I’m an iPhone user with an Apple TV 4K, I…

Nina Raemont/ZDNET In a year brimming with technological advancements, from Apple’s first-ever mixed reality headset to the modern-day space race that is artificial intelligence, one particular niche of products saw its mainstream aspirations realized: smart rings. According to IDC, global ring sales were estimated at 880,000 units in 2023. This year, the market research firm is forecasting a rise to 1.7 million units, with an even larger spike of 3.2 million units in 2025. As…

NurPhoto/Getty Images With the holiday season upon us, many companies are finding ways to take advantage through deals, promotions, or other campaigns. OpenAI has found a way to participate with its “12 days of OpenAI” event series. OpenAI announced via an X post that starting on Dec. 5, the company would host 12 days of live streams and release “a bunch of new things, big and small,” according to the post. The company saved the…

The moment home internet rolled out, the way we communicate, work, study, and entertain ourselves changed forever. The lines separating our physical and digital identities blurred. We use the web daily, and our mobile devices hold the keys to everything from our social media profiles to our bank accounts. You can’t often control the flow of information that leads to your personal data being exposed online. Although you can and should lock down your individual accounts,…

Encryption is the default for online communication, with nearly all web traffic protected by secure protocols like TLS/SSL. Yet, as encryption becomes more ubiquitous by the day, so do the opportunities for threat actors to exploit encrypted channels. The same encryption that safeguards legitimate activities also acts as a conduit for malicious ones. Attackers are using encrypted channels to bypass traditional defenses, concealing malware, phishing campaigns, cryptomining/cryptojacking, and data theft within encrypted traffic. The Zscaler…

Home Assistant/ZDNET Home Assistant, a smart home automation system, is getting one of the biggest upgrades in years. The platform is getting voice control for the first time with the launch of the Home Assistant Voice Preview Edition, a new privacy-focused device manufactured by Nabu Casa. The new independent voice assistant runs locally and privately, independent of cloud services or internet connections. The open-source voice assistant hardware is available now at $59 and has dual…

ZDNET I’m going to preface this piece by saying the choice of widgets is personal, and what might be useful to me might not be useful to you. Even so, there’s a widget for everyone, and depending on the apps you have installed on your Android device, you’ll more than likely find one or two in this article that help make your day a bit more efficient. So, what are widgets? Simply put, they are additions…