In June, Firefox made its Total Cookie Protection (TCP) mechanism enabled by default for everyone. The feature had been in development for a long time and was introduced in a staggered manner. TCP is designed specifically to defang online advertisers by giving them siloed access to the browser cookies, severely compromising their ability to track people across websites. “[TCP], also known as comprehensive state partitioning, is a major improvement in anti-tracking protections because it prevents all cookies, and other things similar to cookies, from being used to track users between websites,” Arthur Edelstein, creator of PrivacyTests....

The Sense also conveniently offers onboard GPS, voice assistance support, and access to popular app integrations such as Spotify and Starbucks. Everything hinges on the Fitbit companion app that serves up detailed metrics and device customization for a smartwatch experience that is undeniably a health and wellness-centric device that mostly delivers on user-friendliness. Design: Polished and sophisticated The Fitbit Sense is a stylish smartwatch with a sporty yet upscale feel that the manufacturer says is “inspired by the human body” for a more intuitive fit....

As a deprecated program, Windows Media Player is not without its share of bugs. Errors can range from minor issues like missing album art to more serious problems like crashes and corrupted media libraries. This guide includes tutorials and step-by-step instructions for solving some of the most common issues with Windows Media Player. Luckily, this is not usually as bad as it sounds. It can be re-built in seconds following the steps in this tutorial....

Take a look around you the next time you’re on public transport, and you’ll see most people glued to their phones or listening to podcasts or music—also from their phones. The odd person will use a tablet, e-reader, or paper book to read, but how many folding phones do you see? Almost certainly none. They seem cool on paper, but they’re a great big flop in real life. “There are a number of factors that suggest foldable phones could be popular with consumers,” Oberon Copeland, tech writer, owner, and CEO of the Very Informed website told Lifewire via email....

Flatbed scanners and even mobile scanning apps have their purpose. But if you need a consistent, reliable source for digitizing documents, business cards, receipts, and more, you might want to invest in a document scanner. These devices can scan both sides of a page at once and can automatically scan a stack of documents at once to ensure no document gets left behind. Some can even scan and save or send on-demand, so you can go from paper to PDF to email in a matter of seconds....

What’s the Best Placement for Wireless Routers? To position wireless equipment for optimal network performance, follow these guidelines. Choose the Best Location for the Wireless Access Point or Router Place the device in several locations to determine the location with the best signal. While trial-and-error may not be the most scientific way to find a good spot for the equipment, it is often the only practical way to assure the best possible Wi-Fi performance....

The upcoming loyalty program, called PlayStation Stars, will give members various “challenges” to complete relating to various games they might be playing. These tasks can be as simple as playing a game at some point during the month or something more complex like winning a specific tournament. It’s unclear if the reward amount will vary based on the challenge, but presumably, being the first in a timezone to platinum a game would earn more points than earning a single trophy....

Overall Findings Deciding whether HomePod or Google Home is the best device for you depends on how you plan to use it. Both speakers can do the same kinds of things—answer questions, set timers, control smart-home devices, stream music—but the ways they do them, and the tools they use, can be different. The Best Intelligent Assistant: Google Is Hard to Beat The thing that makes a smart speaker smart is the intelligent assistant that listens for your voice and responds to your commands....

Live View gives us a peek at the future of augmented reality (AR). You hold your phone up, and the app scans the surroundings through your camera and overlays map data on the live view. The idea is that you can find out more about your surroundings. But does this add useful data to the world or turn the street into one more Google Maps layer? “We’re already so connected to our phones and tablets that we risk accidents on the daily because we’re too busy scrolling to pay attention when walking or driving....

Google announced the new updates to the iOS Google Maps app on Tuesday. Dark mode will be available to iOS users in the coming weeks, almost two years after Apple initially rolled out dark mode in iOS 13. Android users have had Dark Mode on Google Maps since February 2021. iOS users will now have the ability to share their live location using Google Maps through iMessage contacts. Your location will be shared with whomever you choose for one hour by default, with the option to extend sharing your location for up to three days, bringing Google Maps up to parity with Apple’s own Maps app....

The Pixel 6a has the same two-tone look, camera bar, and 6.1-inch display housed in a recycled aluminum frame as its predecessor, the Pixel 6. This new device also features Google’s mobile chip, Tensor, Real Tone to have the camera accurately display skin tones, and the Magic Eraser editing tool. Google’s mobile chip, Tensor, has advanced machine learning capabilities to provide fast language translation, accurate speech recognition, and enhanced photo quality....

The $129 Nest is a hockey-puck shaped device that aims to save users money by knowing when to raise the temperature inside homes. It uses Google’s Home software and a radar system-on-a-chip to detect if people are physically present, but the extra data scooped up by the thermostat could be a problem, some experts say. “At a minimum, consumers are giving up another layer of personal behavior data that can be cross-pollinated with other data,” Frederick Lane, a cybersecurity consultant, said in an email interview....

How Does Google Home Hub’s Home View Work? Having a display on a smart assistant allows devices to be controlled by touch, in addition to voice. You can access Home View at any time by swiping down from the top of the display. The universal placement of Home View is intentional. This placement makes the Home Hub a smart home controller for all people in a house. Plus, it’s more convenient than controlling smart home devices from one person’s phone....

Tablet Screen Sizes The screen dimensions determine the overall size of a tablet. The advertised size of a tablet is a diagonal measurement of the screen, so two 10-inch tablets may have slightly different dimensions. Some screens are as small as 5-inches, while some tablet-based all-in-one systems have 20-inch and larger screens. Larger tablets are less portable and typically offer longer battery life and easier-to-read screens. Smaller tablets offer better portability and can be more difficult to use when reading, playing games, and watching movies....

It contains configuration information for Windows and software specific to the currently logged-in user. For example, various registry values in various registry keys located under this hive control user-level settings like the installed printers, desktop wallpaper, display settings, environment variables, keyboard layout, mapped network drives, and more. Many of the settings you configure within various applets in the Control Panel are actually stored in this hive. How to Get to HKEY_CURRENT_USER Registry hives are one of the easier types of things to find in Registry Editor:...

Otter transcribes Zoom and Google Meet meetings in real time, so you can just zone out and read it all later. Or, if you’re the pants-wearing type, then you can follow along and grab those transcribed notes as they happen. Otter isn’t the only tool making it easier to work with audio and video calls, but its advantage is that it works with the video-conferencing apps we’re all using from home....

The new Polaroid Now+ is an analog camera with Bluetooth connectivity and five physical lens filters. The filters can be clipped onto the camera’s lens to change your photos’ contrast or add new effects. The rise of these hybrid cameras is fueling the debate over whether digital or film cameras are superior. “Film gives the photographer a ‘classic’ look,” Paul J. Joseph, a professor of mass communications at Methodist University in North Carolina, told Lifewire in an email interview....

The company HighSpeedInternet.com recently released a study of internet speeds around the country. New Mexico clocks in with the slowest downloads in the country, with an average rate of 72.2 megabytes per second. Experts say that internet speed often depends on the infrastructure in the area where you live, but there are ways to make the best of bad situations. “To make the internet faster in many states requires ISPs to make the necessary upgrades and investments,” Neset Yalcinkaya, a vice president at wireless company Quectel, said in an email interview....

Then I thought about all the recent emails, texts, DMs, and phone calls about buying an EV. A surge in queries based on the absurd gas prices we’ve been encountering. Those people will eventually want to visit us. Summer is coming, and that means BBQs, dinner parties, karaoke jams, movie nights, and just regular visits. You know, how we used to do before 2020? So, what’s the protocol when a friend shows up in an EV with less than 20 percent state of charge?...

Explanation of Performance Terms Modern networks support enormous numbers of bits per second. Instead of quoting speeds of 10,000 or 100,000 bps, networks normally express per second performance in terms of kilobits (Kbps), megabits (Mbps), and gigabits (Gbps), where: 1 Kbps = 1,000 bits per second1 Mbps = 1,000 Kbps1 Gbps = 1,000 Mbps A network with a performance rate of units in Gbps is much faster than one rated in units of Mbps or Kbps....