Kerry Wan/ZDNET Did you know that whenever you turn on your smart TV, you invite an unseen guest to watch it with you? These days, most popular TV models utilize automatic content recognition (ACR), a form of ad surveillance technology that gathers information about everything you watch and transmits it to a centralized database. Manufacturers then use your data to identify your viewing preferences, enabling them to deliver highly targeted ads. Also: 5 Chromecast tricks to…

ZDNET’s key takeaways A well-designed multitool with a range of quality tools that can handle a variety of tasks. At under $20, this is in a class of its own in terms of price, and it makes it a great tool for occasional use, or a tool that you don[t mind if it gets trashed or lost. It’s missing a pair of scissors, which is a shame. Multitools can be quite a serious dollar investment….

Just_Super/Getty Images An app that generates a custom to-do list is entirely different from an app for playing a first-person shooter. An app that lets you order a personal taxi or book a hotel room is vastly different from an app that lets you design 3D objects. Many apps are much more than just a pretty interface. Take, for example, Instacart. Sure, the app has a database of products to choose from, an e-commerce component…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The Canon EOS R100 mirrorless camera is a great starter for aspiring photographers. It features a 24-megapixel sensor for great image quality and color and can capture 4K (UHD) video at 24 frames per second. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a flip-out preview screen. more buying choices It’s a great time to be a photographer these days, as it’s easier than ever to access great cameras. Specifically, mirrorless cameras like Canon’s EOS R100….

ZDNET’s key takeaways The 2025 LG Gram Pro 16 2-in-1 is on sale now for $1,399. This new generation performs better than last year’s model, while keeping its record-breaking thin design. However, the laptop has some of the same issues, namely a tendency to run hot. The LG gram Pro 2-in-1 made a big splash when it came out last year. ZDNET Editor Kyle Kucharski praised the 2024 laptop for its sleek design, “respectable performance”,…

ZDNET’s key takeaways HP’s 14-inch EliteBook X G1a features AMD’s latest Ryzen AI Pro chip, starting at $2,184. It’s a powerful enterprise laptop with lots of I/O, a sleek form factor, and comfortable keyboard. It’s expensive, and can run warm under a heavy workload. more buying choices HP reorganized its laptop lineup last year, renaming its high-performance business devices to the EliteBook X series. The first laptop from this series I’ve tested is the 14-inch…

I’m old enough to remember when PCs were huge, looming units. They had to be big to hold all the components that made up a PC. As gaming PCs became a thing, these were even bigger because the high-end components generated a lot of heat. In turn, the heat had to be dissipated with copious amounts of airflow. Thanks to Moore’s law, components have become smaller and more efficient, to the point where even a…