Category: Uncategorized

Best smart plugs for 2025 — Quick guide & top picks Smart plugs aren’t complicated, but they make life more convenient — and a bit more fun. Say “Goodnight” to your voice assistant and watch lamps and holiday lights click off. After testing many smart plugs, our top pick for most people is the TP‑Link Kasa EP25. Below is a short guide to picks, uses, setup tips and compatibility. Top pick TP‑Link Kasa EP25 — great balance of reliability, features and price. Find options: Amazon search: TP-Link Kasa EP25 Outdoor & specialty picks Outdoor (patio, holiday lights): TP‑Link Kasa Outdoor EP40A — weatherproof and long-range. Amazon search: TP-Link Kasa Outdoor EP40A Energy-monitoring: Emporia Smart Outlet — monitor usage (note: older units were recalled; current models updated). Amazon search: Emporia Smart…

Microsoft refreshes Office icons with "Fluid forms, vibrant colors" Microsoft has redesigned the icons for its core Office apps—Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams—introducing softer, fluid shapes, reduced graphic details and richer, more vibrant colors. The change aims to improve recognizability on small screens and reflect a more approachable, AI-era design language. Key points Softer, curved forms replacing sharp edges Richer gradients and more saturated colors Simplified iconography to improve clarity at small sizes Part of Microsoft’s broader "fluid forms, vibrant colors" design direction "We've moved away from bold, static solidity to embrace softer, more fluid forms. Sharp edges and crisp lines are replaced by smooth folds and curves, giving the icons a sense of playful motion and approachability." — Jon Friedman, Corporate VP of Design and Research (Microsoft) The redesign…

Govee TV Backlight 3 Pro — triple HDR camera, Matter support Govee has launched the TV Backlight 3 Pro, a new ambient lighting kit for TVs that promises more accurate and immersive bias lighting using a new triple HDR camera array. The kit is available in sizes for 55–65" and 75–85" TVs and adds Matter support, app and voice control, and denser, brighter LEDs. Key features Triple HDR camera: Three wide-angle HDR-tuned cameras capture on-screen colors more accurately for real-time LED sync (1080p/30fps). High-density LEDs: Around 75 LEDs per meter with 16-bit color control for smoother gradients and improved brightness. Smart home: Works with the Govee app, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and supports the Matter protocol. DreamView: Sync multiple Govee lights throughout your home for expanded ambience. Easy setup: Camera-based…

AI Search Podcast — Top AI Highlights This Week Welcome to the AI Search Podcast. Each week we curate the top AI news, product updates, and tool releases so you get fast, useful highlights without the noise. What’s in this episode Curated AI headlines and short summaries Relevant product links and further reading (we remove RSS-only links) Quick takes and discussion prompts How we handle links We remove links that only point to RSS sources. Important news links are kept. If a product is available on Amazon, we include an Amazon search link with our affiliate tag. We won’t post promotional reviews of a site as the news item on X. Want us to cover something? Reply to the tweet or leave a comment below suggesting an AI topic, tool,…

From Jan 2026: Gmail drops Gmailify and POP support Google has announced that, starting January 2026, Gmail will stop supporting both Gmailify and the POP mail protocol. This affects users who relied on Gmail to fetch messages from third-party accounts via POP or to apply Gmail features (spam filtering, inbox categories, advanced search) to external accounts using Gmailify. What changes POP: Gmail will no longer fetch mail from external accounts using the POP protocol via the Gmail web interface. Users should switch to IMAP or use their email provider's native client if they want continued syncing and retrieval. Gmailify: The feature that applied Gmail’s spam protection, categories, and other Gmail tools to third-party accounts (e.g., Yahoo, Outlook) will be discontinued. Who is affected Anyone using Gmail to access external mailboxes…

Audible: 3 audiobooks for €0.99/month for 3 months — Prime Deal Days (until Dec 16, 2025) Audible (an Amazon company) is running a special Prime Deal Days promotion for new members in Germany and Austria: you can get three audiobooks for €0.99 per month for 3 months. The offer is valid until 16 December 2025 and includes access to a wide selection of audiobooks, Audible Originals and podcasts. Quick facts Who: New Audible members in Germany & Austria What: 3 audiobooks for €0.99/month for 3 months (Audible Premium Plus promotional offer) Until: 16 December 2025 How to get it Sign up via Audible's local landing page: https://www.audible.de/ For broader context on Prime Deal Days and related Amazon promotions, see: About Amazon — Prime Big Deal Days Notes Offers and eligibility…

Affinity iPad apps: trial exists but no confirmed free permanent unlock Multiple users reported a workaround to permanently unlock Affinity Photo 2, Affinity Designer 2 and Affinity Publisher 2 on iPad by installing the app, starting the 7‑day free trial and creating an account. After checking official sources, there is no verified or legitimate method to get a permanent free license that bypasses purchasing. What’s official Affinity offers a 7‑day free trial for its iPad apps. To keep using the apps after the trial you must purchase a one‑time (lifetime/perpetual) in‑app license. Affinity’s official pages describe in‑app licence activation and pricing; no official documentation supports a free permanent unlock via account creation. Why this matters Messages claiming free permanent unlocks may be based on misunderstandings, forum posts, or attempts to…

Spotify expands control over personalized music recommendationsSpotify has added a way for users to exclude playlists from their "taste profile," which is used to generate personalized recommendations such as Discover Weekly, Home suggestions and Wrapped summaries. This helps prevent shared or background listening from skewing your recommendations.Key pointsThe option excludes whole playlists from affecting your taste profile — it does not currently support excluding individual tracks.Excluding a playlist affects both past and future listening data from that playlist.The feature is intended for cases like functional listening (work, sleep, or listening on someone else’s account) so your recommendations stay relevant.How to use itOpen the playlist you don’t want to influence your recommendations.Open the playlist menu (three dots) and choose "Exclude from your taste profile".For more details, see Spotify’s support page: https://support.spotify.com/us/article/your-taste-profile/…

Apple pauses lighter Vision Pro successor to focus on smart glasses According to Bloomberg, Apple has temporarily halted development of a lighter, more consumer-friendly successor to its Vision Pro headset. Internal resources have reportedly been reallocated to accelerate work on a project for smart glasses — a sleeker, more everyday wearable compared with the premium Vision Pro. Key points Apple paused work on a lighter Vision Pro variant. Teams and resources are being shifted toward a smart-glasses effort. Bloomberg is the primary outlet reporting this development. Why this matters Moving focus to smart glasses could indicate Apple wants a more practical, mainstream wearable that consumers would wear daily, instead of a high-end mixed-reality headset targeted at pros and early adopters. Source and further reading Primary report: Bloomberg (search results) What…

Apple pauses lighter Vision Pro successor to focus on smart glasses According to a Bloomberg report, Apple has temporarily halted development of a lighter, consumer-friendly successor to its Vision Pro headset. The company is reallocating internal resources to pursue a project focused on smart glasses — a sleeker, more wearable product than the bulkier Vision Pro. What we know: Apple paused work on a lighter Vision Pro variant. Resources have been shifted toward developing smart glasses. Bloomberg is the primary source reporting this shift. Why it matters: A move toward smart glasses reflects Apple exploring more practical, everyday wearable devices that could appeal to a broader audience than the premium Vision Pro. Source: Bloomberg (search results) What do you think? Would you prefer lightweight smart glasses for daily use, or…