A Tale of Too Many TVs? With so many improvements happening in quick succession, there’s a good chance you’ve been tempted to upgrade your early-generation 4K TV to one of the new models sporting features like local dimming, Dolby Vision, QLED technology, or even an OLED panel. These new TVs are far better for movies, games, and TV shows. They show better black levels, color, and motion. So no one can blame you for pulling the trigger on something more modern....

A Brief History of Screen Resolution Along with the actual screen size and panel type, screen resolution is one of the factors that determines a screen’s quality. So, it’s crucial that you understand what it is all about when shopping for a new monitor. Screen resolution defines the dimension of a display in terms of pixels. It’s generally measured in width and height. As an example, a screen resolution of 720p has a dimension of 1280×720 pixels, giving you a total of 921,600 pixels spread across the screen....

What Is AirPlay 2? Apple’s AirPlay 2 standard lets you use Apple devices to control media playback, stream audio, mirror your screen, or do other similar things. It’s built into Apple devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Think of it a bit like Apple’s version of Chromecast. Previously, you could use AirPlay with your TV—but only if you purchased an Apple TV and connected it to your TV. There are unofficial AirPlay receiver software programs you can run on a PC or Mac connected to your TV, but nothing official....

Microsoft starts killing Skype Classic today, but two versions of Skype remain. Windows 10 includes a “Store App” version of Skype, which has fewer features than Skype for desktop, available for download from Microsoft’s website. Yes, There Are Two Skype Apps There are two versions of Skype for Windows: “Skype for Windows 10” is included with Windows 10. It comes from the Windows Store. It’s a UWP app, which means it has various limitations, unlike old desktop apps....

When it comes to saving money on your electricity and other utility costs, getting something like a smart thermostat or smart outlet to monitor and optimize energy usage can be helpful. But there are a ton of things you can do that require little to no money or effort, too. Here are eight really easy tasks to do around the house that will instantly save you money on your bills....

While dual SIM technology has been around for several years now, the new iPhone X series (XS, XS Max, and XR) marks the first time it’s been available in an iPhone. But what does that mean? What Does “Dual SIM” Mean? If you’re a lifelong iPhone user, this might be the first time you’ve encountered the term “dual SIM,” so a bit of explanation is in order. For starters, it’s exactly what it sounds like: you have two SIM slots in your phone instead of just one....

On basically every mouse, the scroll wheel can be clicked to perform what’s called a “middle click”, and it’s incredibly useful while browsing the web. You can middle-click any link to open it in the background, or middle-click any tab to close it. It’s one of those things that are hard to live without once you discover them. Apple, however, doesn’t offer this feature on their trackpad. The only alternative offered is holding the Command key while clicking....

Gmail is one of the most popular email services on Earth, and the iPhone is the most popular phone. If you have all your email, contacts, and calendars stored in your Gmail account, you can easily add it to iOS and get the best of both worlds. There are two main ways to do this: Add Your Gmail, Contacts, and Calendars to iOS: When you add your Google account in iOS’ settings, it shows up in the iOS Mail, Contacts, and Calendar apps....

SSH does not have an easy way to send passwords over standard input, making it hard to automate. While it’s not ideal for security, you can automate SSH password authentication in bash scripts using the sshpass utility. Before we begin—using automated passwords for SSH is considered bad practice for a reason. In almost all cases, it’s better to use an SSH key, which we will show below. However, passwords do have the benefit of being easier to manage, remember, and distribute to team members....

Android allows apps you to subscribe to apps and services, including Google’s own Google Play Music, through Google Play. If you subscribe to an app, Google will automatically bill your saved payment method until you cancel the subscription. You can cancel subscriptions either through the Google Play Android app or through the Google Play website. Uninstalling the app alone won’t cancel the subscription, even if you never use it again....

Apple Watch has supported the list view feature for a couple of years. Until watchOS 7, all you had to do was press and hold (Force Touch) the screen to find the option to switch to the list view. But starting in watchOS 7, Apple has removed the Force Touch feature in the entire operating system (this also changes the process for clearing all notifications). So now, you’ll have to head to the Settings app to switch to the list view....

By default, Word uses Arabic numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.) when you create numbered lists. However, you can change the numbers to a different type or to letters. The character after the number or letter can also be changed. NOTE: We used Word 2016 to illustrate this feature, but this procedure works in 2013 as well. Highlight the text you want to convert to a numbered list. Click the down arrow on the “Numbering” button in the “Paragraph” section of the “Home” tab....

If you’re using the charger that came with your iPhone or iPad, you’re getting “slow” charging speeds. You can buy a much faster charger. And, with iOS 11.2, there are now even several different speeds of wireless charging as well. Slow: Use the Bundled Charger Let’s start with the slow option: the included iPhone charger. You know, the little cube (pictured above) that came with your phone. It delivers 5 Watts of power, which will certainly charge your iPhone, but it’s one of the slowest ways you can do it....

Controlling your lights, switches, and other smarthome products from your phone is really cool, but it can be inconvenient to open up an app just to turn something on or off. Here’s how to make things a bit quicker and easier and control your Belkin WeMo Switch right from the home screen on your Android device, or from the Notification Center on your iPhone or iPad. A handful of mobile apps have native widgets that you can add to your home screen or Notification Center to make it quicker and easier to do what you need to do....

Linux allows you to create symbolic links, or symlinks, that point to another file or folder on your machine. The best way to do this is with the ln terminal command—though there are some graphical file managers that can create symbolic links too. What Are Symbolic Links? Symbolic links are basically advanced shortcuts. A symbolic link you create will appear to be the same as the original file or folder it’s pointing at, even though it’s just a link....

Have you ever wanted to create a time-lapse video of a drive through a scenic area, or a jaunt down a speedy highway at night? It’s actually pretty easy. With a smartphone and about $25, you can create your own time-lapse driving videos. The first thing you’re going to need is a smartphone, obviously. For our purposes, we used an iPhone, which already has time-lapse capabilities built into it. Those of you using Android, you may or may not have such powers by default....

One of the more fun parts of getting a new version of Android is discovering the hidden Easter Egg that’s tucked way within the “About” menu. Over the years, we’ve seen them get more and more whimsical, with Nougat’s Easter Egg possibly being the most bizarre (and interesting!) one yet: collecting cats. Basically, Nougat introduces a new, secret Quick Settings tile (since those are now user-customizable) that allows users to put food on a plate, which will lure cartoon cats to your phone....

A while ago we had the realization that we don’t use our tablets as much as we used to; that led us to ask how we could extend battery life on our Android tablets when we weren’t using them. Today, we pose that same question to our iPads. In reality, iPads tend to get really good battery life with little adjustment, but that’s not to say it couldn’t be better....

There comes a time in every user’s life when they have to reset something back to its factory default. Perhaps the device is acting wonky and needs a fresh start, you’re getting rid of it, or you want a clean slate for some other reason. The good news is that it’s incredibly easy to factory reset your Android TV box, regardless of the manufacturer. The first thing you’ll want to do is jump into the Settings menu by heading to the bottom of the home screen and selecting the cog icon....

You can use Excel to calculate the percentage of change between two values quickly. In our simple example, we show you what you need to know to be able to calculate things like how much the price of gas changed overnight or the percentage of a stock price’s rise or fall. How Percentage of Change Works The percentage of change between an original and a new value is defined as the difference between the original value and the new value, divided by the original value....