Many people avoid the number 13. But will this really impact the sales of the next iPhone? And what about other parts of the world? Is 13 considered unlucky everywhere? And how has Apple handled odd product numbering in the past? “There are a few instances where people have to avoid using the number 13 for superstitious reasons,” Katherine Brown, founder of remote monitoring company Spyic, told Lifewire via email....

When Was the Xbox Series X Released? The Xbox Series X became available worldwide on November 10, 2020. Its sister console, the Xbox Series S, was released the same day. The Series X is fast-loading with truly stellar graphics. We tested it out and were impressed with it over the PS5. Xbox Series X Pricing The Xbox Series X is priced at $499. While that’s how much it will cost to buy the system outright, it isn’t your only option....

The Japanese tech giant is looking to change that perception as they finally wade into the wide world of gaming. The company just announced a gaming headset and a mixer, along with some nifty software to go along with each device. First up, the ZG01 gaming mixer, which is Yamaha’s first-ever audio mixer designed with gamers in mind. This USB-accessible mixer provides full controls over game sounds, voice chat, and personal voice levels, in addition to offering various vocal effects, 3D surround sound, and modes dedicated to competitive gaming....

A new study finds that home internet speeds routinely fail to match the advertised “up to” speeds of several ISPs. Experts say that numerous issues on the ISP side could be the culprit for slower than advertised speeds. “Most ISPs oversubscribe their connections,” Ritesh Mukherjee, the senior vice president for enterprise networking at Inseego, a 5G networking company, told Lifewire in an email interview. “As a result, every customer in the area does not get the advertised rates during peak usage periods....

A survey by consumer electronics and appliances extended warranty service provider Allstate Protection Plans about people’s attitudes to appliance breakdowns, shared with Lifewire, found that only half of the respondents admit to picking up the manual when they need to learn how to use a certain function in an appliance or troubleshoot an issue. Interestingly, just as many people choose to head to YouTube or Google instead of referring to the user manual....

Take the recent case of a Cleveland man who was on the verge of divorcing his wife but says that his virtual bot girlfriend powered by artificial intelligence saved his marriage. It’s an example of how virtual conversations can lead to real feelings. “Using AI, chatbots are able to detect user sentiment and adjust their responses, accordingly displaying cheerfulness, empathy, or sensitivity as required,” Beerud Sheth, the CEO of Gupshup, a company that makes AI-powered chatbots, told Lifewire in an email interview....

A security researcher, Felix Krause, has shown that Meta’s Instagram and Facebook apps on iOS add some JavaScript code to third-party websites when you visit them using the app’s custom in-app browser. In-app browsers allow people to visit websites without leaving their apps. The inserted code allows the apps to potentially track all your interactions with external websites, bypassing iOS’ App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature. Apple added ATT specifically to force app developers to get people’s consent before tracking data generated by third parties....

A new study shows that social media sites have a huge carbon footprint. Few of us think about the hidden costs of “free” internet services, but their data centers require vast amounts of energy to run and to cool. Electricity is such a significant cost that server farm locations are often chosen based on its local cost, near relatively cheap hydroelectric plants, for example. “From an engineering standpoint, a data center can switch to renewable power even if it did not figure in the center’s original design,” Ari Bernstein, founder of a carbon capture company, told Lifewire via email....

A team of Australian researchers has created semi-transparent solar cells which they fathom could one day allow skyscrapers to generate their own power. The transparent solar cells are made from perovskite cells, which are often hailed as the future of solar cells. “This work provides a major step forward towards realizing high efficiency and stable perovskite devices that can be deployed as solar windows to fulfill what is a largely untapped market opportunity,” Professor Jacek Jasieniak from the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at Monash University, said in a university press release....

A new system called MCUNet allows the design of tiny neural networks on IoT devices, even with limited memory and processing power. According to a paper by MIT scientists published on the preprint server Arxiv, the technology could bring new capabilities to smart devices while saving energy and improving data security. The research “is one of those brilliant ideas that seems obvious when you hear it,” John Suit, advising CTO at robotics company KODA, said in an email interview....

Lines in the Sand One of the key mechanics that makes New World stand out is its use of Factions to create a constantly warring world for players to explore. Of course, you can choose whether or not you want to partake in player versus player (PVP) combat, but you’ll still need to choose a Faction and start working towards helping your particular group establish its power in this, ahem, new world....

It’s an experimental Japanese RPG that originally debuted in 1998, back on the first PlayStation. Despite being glitchy and distinctly unfinished in its original edition, Frontier became a hit in Japan and a cult classic everywhere else. It’s traditionally been divisive; you either love it or hate it. For its 2021 remaster, Square Enix has fixed much of what was broken about the original game, aside from a few fan-favorite bugs, and added a new playable character who was edited out of the original release....

Here are 10 culture-defining trends on the internet right now that we’ll probably look back on in the future and think, “Man, those were the simpler days!” Social media has changed the way we consume news and stay updated on what’s happening in real-time. Of course, the problem with such quick breaking news is there’s no guarantee everything that shows up in your Twitter stream is true and credible. Yes, fake news can be a problem, but there really are no other platforms that quite compare for getting your news fix....

How to Fix iPhone Camera Not Working Due to Software When your iPhone camera is not working, take these steps to test it and solve the problem. Ideally, one of these steps has helped. If not, it’s time to take a look at the hardware. If you haven’t updated your phone’s iOS software recently, your camera issues may be the result of outdated software. Check to see if your phone has the most current version of iOS that is appropriate for your iPhone....

There are other great uses for these tools, too, like providing data on the type of RAM you have so you buy the right upgrade or replacement, creating a list of hardware when selling a computer, keeping tabs on the temperature of your important components, and lots more. A summary page gives you brief, but very helpful information on things like the operating system, memory, graphics, and storage devices. A more detailed look at each category is organized in their respective sections....

In testing 360 Total Security, we found that it also includes a computer maintenance suite that does an excellent job of helping your computer run more efficiently. However, the antivirus application itself doesn’t perform as well as the free versions of those applications. What it does do well, however, is work with other antivirus applications. And the paid version of 360 Total Security includes some premium features you might not find, even with other paid antivirus subscriptions....

You don’t draw on the television, of course, so you need to use a compatible iPad or iPad Pro with AirPlay Mirroring enabled. As the player draws on the iOS device, the image appears on the TV screen. The object of the game is for your team to guess the word you are trying to draw (so, no peeking). The team with the most points wins. It’s a fun, participative, and competitive game everyone can enjoy, and it encourages your party guests to show their creative sides....

Select Create a new playlist, name the playlist and select a privacy setting. The privacy settings are: Public – anyone can search for and view your playlistsUnlisted – only people you send a link to can view the playlist Private – only you can see the playlist The Library section includes your Watch Later list and any playlist that you’ve created. Select a playlist name to see information about the playlist including a list of each video you’ve added to it....

Those platforms are great if you want to easily discover music from artists who work with major record labels, but you’ll likely have better luck looking elsewhere for new music released by less popular signed artists or independent artists known for their super obscure pop, rock, folk, hip-hop or electronic sound (dubbed the modern-day “indie” genre). To help solve this problem of indie artists needing to share their music and indie music fans needing to discover new music, a number of sites have popped up seeking to bring artists and listeners together....

Love it or hate it, online dating is here to stay. In this article, we focus on online dating red flags you shouldn’t ignore in your quest for the perfect date. Not Everyone is Really Looking For Love Be aware, there are scammers out there. They take advantage of folks who are looking for love and will try to lure them away from dating sites and over to phishing sites and other nefarious enterprises....