We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.If youve been holding out for a deal on a big-screen OLED TV, the Samsung 77-inch S84D might be worth a look. Its currently marked down to $1,599.99 at Best Buythats less than half its usual $3,299 price tag. The S84D benefits from OLEDs self-lit pixel technology, meaning its contrast is virtually unbeatable. Bright highlights pop against pitch-black backgrounds, perfect for dimly lit rooms or late-night movie marathons. And thanks to its lack of local dimming, theres no annoying blooming effect where bright spots bleed into dark areas. That said, while its HDR brightness is decent, its not the most dazzling OLED out there. Large bright scenes can look dimmer due to its aggressive Automatic Brightness Limiter (ABL), and HDR gaming takes a hit in Game Mode because of this.Still, for gamers, theres a lot to like. With support for 4K at 120Hz, VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), and super-low input lag, its great for the PS5, Xbox Series, or a high-end gaming PC. The lack of Dolby Vision support might disappoint some, but its performance with other HDR formats holds up. If youre into fast-paced games, its near-instantaneous response time promises clear motion with almost no blur. For everyday use, the TV excels in upscaling lower-resolution content like older DVDs or streams and its excellent viewing angles make it great for group watch parties. Additionally, the S84Ds reflection handling is said to really minimize glare (even in well-lit rooms).This smart TV features the 2024 version of Tizen OS, known for being quick and user-friendly. It offers a wide range of apps, making it simple to find your go-to streaming services. You can also cast content directly from your phone or play videos via a USB stick. The TV supports Bixby and Alexa voice assistants, with a remote that includes a built-in microphone for easy voice commandswhether youre launching apps, switching inputs, checking the weather, or adjusting brightness. However, when it comes to sound, the S84D reportedly falls short. While dialogue is clear at moderate volumes, the audio quality diminishes as you turn it up, and the lack of meaningful bass leaves action scenes or music sounding a bit flat.

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.Most people buying TVs focus on the visuals, looking for words like 4K and OLED, meaning the audio aspect often takes a back seat. If you want to understand dialogue and not rely on subtitles, getting a soundbar is a must and will take your TV-watching experience to the next level. The best deal of the year so far on a quality soundbar is upon us: The Samsung Q990D 11.1.4ch Soundbar is on sale for $997.99 (originally $1,997.99) on Woot, a 50% discount. This is the lowest price this soundbar has been, according to price tracking tools. Samsung HW-Q990D Q-series 11.1.4ch Soundbar Wireless Subwoofer (2), Wireless Surround Speaker (Left/Right), HDMI Cable, Wall Mountable. $997.99 at Woot $1,997.99 Save $1,000.00 Get Deal Get Deal $997.99 at Woot $1,997.99 Save $1,000.00 The Samsung HW-Q990D Q-series 11.1.4ch soundbar is considered one of the best premium soundbars, even a year after its release. You get a wall-mountable soundbar with the wall-mount kit included, a wireless subwoofer, two wireless surround rear speakers (one left and one right), a remote control, and an HDMI 2.1 cable. The HDMI 2.1 is great for gamers since it allows 4K at 120Hz passthrough. There is also an eARC input, which is separate from the two HDMI 2.1 inputs, making it ideal to have two gaming consoles connected at the same time while able to switch to watch movies on your TV seamlessly. Of course, there's also wifi and Bluetooth connectivity, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, Dolby 5.1, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby TrueHD for an immersive and dimensional audio experience. If you want to quickly connect to your sound system, you can connect your iPhone with AirPlay 2 or your Android with Chromecast or Alexa. Another cool feature is the Adaptive Sound, which auto-adjusts audio levels to optimize it depending on what you're watching (an action movie will have a different sound EQ to a drama). The SpaceFit Sound Pro tunes the audio depending on your room layout to also optimize the sound. There's also a Game Mode Pro feature for gamers that enhances directional sound, making full use of the surround sound. At 50% off, this soundbar system is the best value you can get for those looking for a premium audio experience.

The Windows Snipping Tool is best known for its screenshot-taking capabilitiesafter all, when you launch it from the Start menu, that's what it invites you to do. But Microsoft has packed a number of other unexpected, useful functions into this program.These extra features aren't particularly well-advertised nor easy to access, so you'll be forgiven if you've never come across them before. Open it via the Win+Shift+S keyboard shortcut or through the Start menu, and check out what it can do.Run an image searchIf you want to know more about an image you've capturedor any image on your system that you open up in the Snipping Toolyou can use it to run an image search on the internet. It's helpful for everything from shopping for products to looking up info about landmarks.To try it, open an image in Snipping Tool, click the three dots in the top right corner, then choose Visual Search with Bing. You'll be directed to Microsoft's search engine in your default browser, and from there you can click through on any result to see more.Extract text from images Extracting text from an image. Credit: Lifehacker The Snipping Tool also works well as an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) program. With a picture loaded up on screen, click the Text actions button at the top (the horizontal lines inside a frame) to identify text in an image and make it available to highlight.From there you can copy some or all of the text to the Windows clipboard and other programsvery handy if you need to pull text out of receipts or documents, for example. Click Quick redact to ignore any text containing email addresses and phone numbers.Scan QR codesLifehacker has written before about how the Snipping Tool can turn itself into a QR code reader, though this is limited to QR codes embedded in images; you can't scan a QR code that you've pointing your laptop's webcam at (which is probably for the best anyway).The process is the same as it is for text extraction: Open the image in the Snipping Tool, then click Text actions (the button with horizontal lines in a frame), and as long as the image you're dealing with has a QR code inside it, you'll see a clickable link appear on top.Record video and audio Switch to movie mode to record clips. Credit: Lifehacker This perhaps counts as a screenshot feature, but it's still worth mentioning: The Snipping Tool is a capable video and audio recorder, so you can use it to record whatever's going on your screen. Just click the movie camera button then the + New button (both top right).You have the option of recording the entirety of the screen, or just a particular section of it (by dragging the edges of the selection window). When the recording is in progress, a control bar appears at the top with options for including system and microphone audio.Editing images to add annotations or emojiThe Snipping Tool can also be a handy way to add highlights and annotations to your picturesremember, you can open any image in the app, not just screenshots. Maybe you want to highlight the key message in a text conversation, for example.With an image open inside the Snipping Tool, you'll see four buttons on the top toolbar: the pen, the highlighter, the eraser, and the shapes tool (which also lets you drop in emojis). Click once to select a tool, then click the button again to bring up its options.

Meta isn't stopping at moderation changes. According to both Axiosand The New York Times, the company is also pulling the plug on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. That includes removing diversity hiring goals, eliminating the chief diversity officer position and no longer prioritizing minority-owned businesses as vendors, per The Times' reporting.When asked to comment on ending DEI initiatives, Meta confirmed the reporting was accurate.Internally, the company is apparently pinning the decision on a shifting "legal and policy landscape," according to a memo to employees Axios acquired."The Supreme Court of the United States has recently made decisions signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI," Janelle Gale, Meta's VP of Human Resources says in the memo. "The term 'DEI' has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others."The current Supreme Court is not exactly friendly towards systemic attempts to address issues of race, gender and sexuality, but in the context of Meta's other recent changes, it seems like there's more going on than the company being afraid of a possible lawsuit.At the same time that Mark Zuckerberg was announcing that Meta was abandoning third-party fact checking and changing what kind of speech it allows on its platform, 404 Media reports that the company removed the Trans and Non-binary themes from Messenger, and posts it made announcing them. The company also added Trump supporter and UFC CEO Dana White to its board this week, a confirmation of Zuckerberg's continuing UFC fandom but also a signal that it's eager to listen to conservative voices. It all seems to add up to less of a reaction to the current climate and more like the way people in charge want to be doing business going forward.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/metas-right-wing-reinvention-also-includes-an-end-to-dei-programs-and-trans-messenger-themes-204031848.html?src=rss

Skate City was an Apple Arcade launch title way back in 2019, developed by Agens and published by Snowman, a company well-known for its mobile-first games like Alto's Adventure, the "sequel" Alto's Odyssey, When Cards Fall and a handful of other intriguing titles. It's been over five years since Skate City first arrived, but the Snowman / Agens team is back with Skate City: New York, which is out on Apple Arcade today.There have been a number of content updates to the original game over the years, but this is a full-fledged new title that feels quite familiar but also has a number of improvements and updates. I had a chance to try Skate City: New York a few days before its launch, and I also spoke with Snowman's Ryan Cash and Andrew Schimmel about the new game, which they said has been in the works for a good three years now.As with the first Skate City, you're rolling left-to-right in classic side-scrolling format here. To make things accessible, you can pull off tricks by swiping in one of eight directions on the lower half of the screen; the left side is for ollie-based tricks while the right shifts you to nollie. You don't have to do anything precise to land, just launch the trick and the game will make sure you hit the ground rolling (unless you land on stairs or an obstacle, of course). That's the basic starting point, but you can also do spins, manuals, grinds and more. It's simpler than a game like the classic Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series or the recent OlliOlli World, but there's still a lot of timing and dexterity involved in really nailing your runs.As you'd expect, the visuals are more dynamic and the backgrounds are much-improved over the original (which was still a lovely game). But what sets this one apart the most, according to Schimmel, is the fact the "Pro Skate" mode, which is the most involved part of the game, uses procedurally-generated levels."We didn't want to limit ourselves to the original [game's] loops through the city, but instead make something that was more adaptive and dynamic," Schimmel said. "Procedural generation was the answer and the biggest technical challenge." It's not something that I was able to pick up on immediately, since I've only played the game for a couple hours, but Schimmel's confident it'll make Skate City: New York have even more replay-ability than the original.Snowman / AgensPro Skate reminds me a lot of Snowman's Alto's Adventure, but translated to skating the goal is to go as far as you can and rack up as many points as possible while completing three objectives to level your progress up. Objectives are things like "land three 180-degree spins" or "grind for 100 meters." But with levels more unpredictable than in the prior game, you'll need to be better at reacting on-the-fly to new obstacles, which can end your run but also give you an opportunity for a good grind or trick.As with all of Snowman's games, there are no in-app purchases here; instead, you'll get points for completing challenges and leveling up in Pro Skate. You can then use those to customize your character with the much more flexible and expanded Skate Shop. You can tweak your character's body, hair, facial characteristics, clothes, skateboard and so forth. I haven't played around with it a ton yet but it's obviously right off the bat that there's a lot more personalization here.As with Skate City, Snowman promises that there will be a steady stream of fresh challenges and more parts of the city to explore over the next year and beyond. Schimmel referred to it as a "live services" game even though there's no monetization aspect to it. I also asked how the team decided to release Skate City: New York through Apple Arcade versus having it be a one-time payment or even including paid updates in the game Cash called it an "easy choice.""We havent done a paid up-front game since Alto's Odyssey in 2018," Cash said. "Apple Arcade and Netflix Games are where we're at right now. And it was an easy choice when talking about Skate City: New York, because the first game was a launch title and found a lot of success there. It just made sense to bring it back to Apple Arcade." The first Skate City eventually came to consoles and PC, as well, and Cash said that was definitely under consideration for the future, but the goal is to make a mobile-first title as good as it can be.While the game doesn't feel wildly different than its predecessor, Skate City: New York still feels like a premium mobile game at a time when those can be hard to find. And Snowman and Agens have done a great job of balancing the pick-up-and-play aspects of a good mobile game with a deeper experience, at least from what I've seen so far. "We want a seven-year-old who's excited about skateboarding to have fun," Cash said, "as well as people like us who grew up loving skateboarding and really want a challenge."Skate City: New York is out today exclusively on Apple Arcade.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/skate-city-new-york-is-a-mobile-game-that-manuals-the-line-between-casual-and-deep-play-191526652.html?src=rss

The long-awaited streaming service Venu Sports is no longer happening, according to The Hollywood Reporter and others. The sports-focused streaming service was to be a joint offering by Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox. There was no concrete reason given, other than corporate-speak.In an ever-changing marketplace, we determined that it was best to meet the evolving demands of sports fans by focusing on existing products and distribution channels, the companies wrote in a statement.We assume this move will also involve some serious layoffs, as Venu has been percolating for a while. To that end, the companies said they are proud of the work that has been done on Venu to date and grateful to the Venu staff, whom we will support through this transition period. There are no details as to what this support will entail.Venu Sports, the proposed virtual MVPD service from ESPN, FOX & Warner Bros. Discovery, will be discontinuedThe collective decision by the three companies not to move forward with the contemplated joint venture is effective immediatelyMore: https://t.co/Cvwv2h601G pic.twitter.com/lylDeHDy9p ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) January 10, 2025 The real reason for the shutdown is likely due to ongoing legal woes. Just as one threat disappeared this week, with Fubo dropping an antitrust lawsuit and joining forces with Disney, another popped up in its place. Days after Disney announced a deal to merge Hulu + Live TV with Fubo, a pair of satellite TV companies argued against lifting a pre-existing injunction that delayed the launch of Venu.DirecTV and EchoStar suggested that Fubo and Disneys newfound friendship doesnt resolve alleged antitrust issues surrounding Venu Sports. DirecTV wrote to a judge, saying that the joint venture restores an anticompetitive runway for the companies to control the future of the live pay TV market. EchoStar wrote a similar letter.An unnamed source familiar with Venu Sports told The Hollywood Reporter that the move to cancel the streaming service was made in the past few days and that the aforementioned legal snafu played a role.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/rip-to-the-entirely-hypothetical-streaming-service-venu-sports-180532990.html?src=rss

TCL announces three very different smart specs at CES to suit every type of smart glasses wearer.

ORICO's docking stations boost Mac Mini's versatility, offering connectivity, storage upgrades, and sleek integration.

An interview with an AMD exec tells us that a full RX 9070 launch event is coming, and that pricing will be in line with the excellent RX 7900 GRE.

The company is in the process of "winding down outdated programs and materials" as part of a broader review of hundreds of initiatives.