Latest Gadgets News

A Russian court fined Alphabet's Google RUB 3 million (nearly Rs. 31 lakh) on Thursday for failing to delete YouTube videos it said promoted "LGBT propaganda" and "false information" about Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported. Over the last year Moscow has levied dozens of fines against Western tech companies as part of a drive to ramp...

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Latest Gadgets News

The NDMC is planning to increase the number of EV charging stations in Lutyens' Delhi and even provide battery swapping facilities at some of these points, a senior official said on Wednesday. With Delhi being among the most polluted capitals in the world, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has been making a push for electric vehicles to nudge residents to opt for...

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How to Combat 6 Common Sleep Disorders - CNET

Sleep disorders come in many forms and can disrupt your daily life. Learn how to identify and treat six of the most common ones.

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Best DSL Internet Providers of 2023 - CNET

Phone line-based DSL internet boasts high availability and low pricing, but speeds and overall value can vary.

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Throw Out That Leftover Rice. Here's Why - CNET

Consuming leftover rice that's been in the fridge for too long could give you food poisoning.

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Your Google Maps Experience Is About to Get More Immersive - CNET

Exclusive: Google's new creative AR tools promise real-world games, concerts and shopping with Maps-like features add. But Maps itself is transforming, too.

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Latest Tech News

The new ATSC 3.0 digital TV standard (aka, NextGen TV) has been slowly making its way to TV stations across the US, with 69 markets serving 60% of US viewers having already made the transition to the next-gen broadcasting standard.

But even with the majority of US households in reach of an upgraded TV station, broadcast industry insiders consider the ATSC 3.0 transition to be stalled, with supported features like 4K video with high dynamic range and Dolby Atmos audio yet to be utilized – a delay NextGen broadcasters attribute to the FCC’s current requirement that they simulcast signals in the older ATSC 1.0 format.

Another reason for the sluggish transition is that only a limited number of the best 4K TVs support ATSC 3.0, while older TVs can’t receive broadcasts in the new format at all. Cheap NextGen TV receivers that connect to an older, non-compatible ATSC 3.0 set using an indoor TV antenna were promoted as part of a Fast Track initiative by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) as far back as last October, but so far have yet to appear.

While the situation has been frustrating for both broadcasters and for viewers eager to reap the 4K video and Dolby Atmos audio benefits of ATSC 3.0, there’s now good news on the cheap NextGen TV receiver front. ADTH has announced that its new NextGen TV box is available to pre-order for $80. That’s a significantly lower price than other receivers that have appeared so far on sites like Amazon, and it should allow for many more cost-conscious TV viewers who depend on free over-the-air broadcast TV to make the leap to ATSC 3.0.

The ADTH NextGen TV box is the first external ATSC 3.0 receiver to be certified by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). It has a compact, puck-like design, and features HDMI and standard A/V outputs, along with an optical digital audio output. An Ethernet port lets you connect it to an internet router, which will allow networked devices in your home to stream TV broadcasts received by the NextGen TV box over Wi-Fi.

ADTH’s NextGen TV box is officially priced at $120, but can be pre-ordered now for $80 from the ADTH website, with units scheduled to ship in July.

The ADTH NextGen TV receiver has an HDMI output for a direct connection to a TV, but can also route signals over your home's Wi-Fi to networked devices. (Image credit: ADTH)

Analysis: Cheap receivers are a welcome development, but they’re just one piece of the ATSC 3.0 transition puzzle 

With subscription costs for the best streaming services seeing regular hikes, viewers are seeking more cost-effective ways to get their TV fix. Lower-price ad-supported tiers for Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max, and other services are one way that’s happening, and another is the FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) options found on streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Roku, and various smart TVs, along with standalone apps like Pluto and Tubi.

Broadcast TV is a means by which viewers in the US have traditionally accessed free TV channels, and it's one that will continue even as streaming becomes the norm. There’s no reason why the two technologies can’t co-exist, and some platforms like Roku TVs make it easy to integrate broadcast channels within its Live TV Channel Guide, so you can access them alongside streaming options.

The Future of TV, an initiative announced at the recent NAB show that creates working groups dedicated to hardware, technical, and regulatory issues surrounding the ATSC 3.0 transition, could help to accelerate progress so more TV viewers will be able to access and benefit from the new broadcast standard. But the rollout of TVs with built-in NextGen tuners continues to be an issue, with some set makers neglecting to include them in any new models, and others reserving the feature for only their high-end and high-priced offerings.

ADTH’s new NextGen tuner helps to solve the TV problem by giving viewers an affordable option to upgrade their set to support ATSC 3.0 broadcasting. As more such devices come online, prices should become even cheaper, and there will then be a wider installed base of ATSC 3.0 TVs to receive broadcasts – presumably ones in 4K with HDR and Dolby Atmos sound.

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Google Will Use AI to Rewrite Your Texts and Generate Android Wallpapers - CNET

At Google I/O, the company is showing how generative AI will arrive on our phones.

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Latest Tech News

Seamlessly integrating AI capabilities from PaLM 2 across the Google ecosystem, including Bard, has been a major theme at the Google I/O 2023 event. Although Google believes there are some features that shouldn’t be released instantly. 

During the Google I/O keynote, the company’s senior vice president of technology and society, James Manyika, raised concerns about the potential tensions between misinformation and some AI capabilities, namely the technology that’s behind deep fakes.

What he’s referring to are the language models that deepfakes use to dub voices in videos – you know the ones, where a famous actor’s monologue from one of the best TV shows or best films is suddenly swapped for lip syncing.  

As a result, Google is taking some steps to set up what it referred to as “guardrails” in order to prevent the misuse of some of these new features by leaving artefacts in photos and videos, such as watermarks and metadata. One new tool that will be massively useful and beneficial, but could easily be misused, is a prototype that Google is rolling out to a set number of partners, called "universal translator".    

(Image credit: Google)

Google’s universal translator is an experimental AI video dubbing service that translates speech in real-time, allowing you to instantly read what someone is saying in another language while watching a video. The prototype was showcased during the event, revealing videos from a test that was part of an online college course created in partnership with Arizona State University. 

The model works in four stages. In the first stage, the model matches lip movements in a video to words it recognises. The second step triggers an algorithm that provides instant speech generation. 

The third stage of the model uses intonation, which measures the rise and fall in the natural pace of someone speaking, to aid the translation. Finally, once it has replicated the style and matched the tone from a speakers’ lip movements, it brings it all together to generate the translation. 

Google says that early results have been promising. With university students from the study showing a higher number of completions in course rates. 

Where will the universal translator feature?  

While the universal translator feature isn't yet available outside of a small beta testing group, it might be that once Google has tested numerous safeguards it will roll it out to services such as YouTube and its video conferencing service Google Meet, for example.  

After all, being able to translate live videos in real-time into multiple languages could be an incredibly useful tool. Not only could a universal translator expand a YouTube channel's global viewership but it could allow for more collaborative projects across countries. 

We'll certainly be watching and waiting to hear more about this feature and where it could be used in the Google ecosystem.    

Looking for more about the biggest news from Google I/O? Check our Google I/O 2023 live blog to get a play-by-play run down of what was announced at the event.  

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Google has finally taken the wraps off its Pixel 7a smartphone at a product announcement that kicked off Google I/O 2023 developer event as well. Google’s newest A-series Pixel phone comes with several improvements over its previous model, the Pixel 6a. The product was announced alongside two other new products, which includes the new Pixel Fold foldable and the Pix...

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Watch Google Introduce PaLM 2 video - CNET

During Google I/O 2023, the company introduced PaLM 2, a major update to its most powerful language-processing system.

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Google has officially lifted the lid on its next mid-range powerhouse – the Google Pixel 7a – at Google I/O 2023, confirming many of the impressive specs that had already been leaked about the device in the weeks leading up to the event itself. 

Designed to occupy the space between the already-released Google Pixel 7 and Google Pixel 7 Pro – and arriving as the successor to the excellent Google Pixel 6a – the Google Pixel 7a has the makings of being one of the best cheap phones of 2023. 

We were able to get our hands on the new device ahead of time, so head over to our full Google Pixel 7a review for our thoughts on whether Google's latest Pixel handset lives up to the billing. We're also tracking the rest of Google's product launches over on our Google I/O 2023 live blog. 

On the design front, the Google Pixel 7a shares obvious DNA with the other two Pixel 7 phones – it’s got a smooth back, a metal frame and a camera bar – and this latest addition to the Pixel family is supposedly Google's most durable A-Series phone yet. See the device in action below:

Its display features Corning Gorilla Glass, and the phone has been designed using a host of recycled materials. It’ll also ship in four colors – Charcoal, Snow, Sea and Coral (though the latter is limited to select regions) – and just one storage option: 128GB. 

The Google Pixel 7a packs a 6.1-inch OLED screen with a refresh rate of up to 90Hz – which, incidentally, is a superior refresh rate to the vanilla iPhone 14 – and the device uses Google's Tensor G2 chip under the hood. 

Coupled with 8GB of RAM, that processor should allow the Google Pixel 7a to meet the demands of streaming, swiping, snapping and mobile gaming with ease – perhaps even as well as the standard Google Pixel 7, which uses the same chipset. 

(Image credit: Google)

When it comes to cameras, the Google Pixel 7a features a dual rear camera set-up that comprises a 64MP main lens – the largest ever included on an A-Series device – and a 13MP ultra-wide lens. Super Res Zoom will allow for clearer close-up portraits from far away, and the Pixel 7a also features Long Exposure (another first for the A-Series). On the front is a 13MP camera that’s capable of Face Unlock – an upgrade over the Pixel 6a’s 8MP selfie snapper. 

Google says the phone’s 4,385mAh battery will yield more than 24 hours of use (or 72 hours if you turn on Extreme Battery Saver mode), and the Pixel 7a supposedly learns your favorite apps so it doesn't waste power on ones that you rarely use. The device supports 18W fast charging and 7.5W wireless charging on any Qi-certified accessoriest, too. 

The Google Pixel 7a is available to buy right now for $499 / £449 / AU$749, which marks a slight increase (in the US and UK, at least) over the $449 / £399 / AU$749 launch cost of the Pixel 6a. If you're thinking of picking one up, head over to our Google Pixel 7a review for our verdict on the device.

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Latest Tech News

Ultra short throw (UST) projectors are a great alternative to a more traditional projector setup, mainly because they sit a mere few inches from the screen and can project a 100-inch or larger picture. This space-saving arrangement saves you from having to dedicate your entire living room to movie viewing, but another upside to UST projectors is that they’re great for watching sports in well-lit environments, one where people are likely to be getting up and walking around. 

But what about gaming? The best 4K projectors can deliver pristine pictures when used for movie viewing, but they are not always the best option for gaming, with few models featuring HDMI 2.1 inputs with 4K 120Hz support or a game-specific picture mode with low input lag. There are some exceptions, such as the Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 and JVC DLA-NZ8, but on the whole most projectors aren’t well-matched for next-gen gaming consoles. 

Ben Q’s new V5000i is looking to address that shortcoming. It can accept 4K 120Hz signals from a PS5 and Xbox Series X (though images are displayed at 4K 60Hz), and it has “low input lag” according to BenQ, though the company’s release for the new projector doesn’t specify an exact number. (We've reached out to BenQ for confirmation and will update this story accordingly.) With its 2,500 ANSI lumens brightness spec, games should also pop nicely on its included 100-inch ambient light rejecting (ALR) screen, even when they’re played with room lights on.

With the lights turned off, the V5000i’s specs indicate that it will also perform well for movie watching. It supports the HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG high dynamic range formats, while an updated HDR-PRO feature with Local Contrast Enhancement independently optimizes gamma in more than 1,000 zones across the screen.

The V5000i uses a three-laser (RGB) light engine, and BenQ’s cites BT.2020 color space coverage at 95% and DCI-P3 coverage at 98%. Having seen UST projectors with similar specs, we can tell you that colors should look vivid on the V5000i, and that both 4K Blu-ray and streaming sources will be well rendered.

For streaming, the V5000i uses an Android TV stick that plugs into one of the projector’s HDMI inputs and is preloaded with popular apps like Netflix. On the audio front, BenQ’s UST has a built-in 40W “Trevolo” sound system with support for both Dolby and DTS formats.

The V5000i features multiple HDMI ports and supports a 4K 120Hz input (Image credit: BenQ)

Opinion: Ultra short throw projectors are the perfect big-screen TV alternative 

Whether you’re using it for console gaming, daytime TV watching, or nighttime movie viewing, UST projectors like the V5000i are an excellent alternative to both standard long throw projectors and ultra-large-screen TVs. And at $3,499 (around £2,775 / AU$5,175) with a bundled 100-inch ALR screen, the V5000i seems very reasonably priced for what you get.

For comparison’s sake, a good 4K long throw projector like the Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 will set you back $5,000, and you’ll still have to pay extra for a screen, while some other UST projectors like the LG Cinebeam HU915QE TechRadar recently reviewed are priced even higher than that. Some of the best 4K TVs come in screen sizes as large as 98 inches, but you’ll pay $8,500 and up (way up, if you want one of the biggest and best OLED TVs) for those.

While it’s not the brightest UST projector option (the LG model mentioned above can hit 3,700 ANSI lumens, for instance), the V5000i is has enough light output to look good in a room with some measure of light control, and its ALR screen should help to enhance picture contrast. But perhaps what’s most interesting about BenQ’s new projector is its HDR10+ and HDR-PRO with Local Contrast Enhancement feature.

HDR10+ is a dynamic high dynamic range format where image contrast is adjusted on a scene-by-scene basis. And while it’s not as widely used as the Dolby Vision format found in a few UST projectors like the Formovie Theater and certain models from Hisense, programs with HDR10+ can be streamed from some of the best streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Paramount Plus.

HDR-PRO with Local Contrast Enhancement is a feature that can also be found on a trio of new long-throw projectors BenQ is introducing alongside the V5000i: the HT4550i, HT3560, and TK860i. Similar to LED local dimming on TVs, this feature divides the image up into multiple zones and an algorithm then analyzes the brightness and makes separate gamma adjustments to each individual zone.

We’ve not yet seen it in action, but BenQ claims that Local Contrast Enhancement, along with Enhanced HDR-PRO tone mapping on the new models, allows for two-times higher peak HDR brightness over the company’s previous generation of projectors – a significant improvement.

BenQ’s new HDR processing features, along with low input lag for a projector, make the V5000i in particular an intriguing all-around prospect for movies, gaming, and more. The V5000i will be available to order starting in July, and at that time we hope to be able to tell you more about the performance of this affordable and feature-rich UST projector.

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Best Solar-Powered Home Security Cameras for 2023 - CNET

Protect your home, save on power and skip manually charging the batteries. Here are the best security cameras with solar-powered options.

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Internet Bill Skyrocketing? How To Spot These Hidden Fees and Save Money - CNET

Don't fall for the bells and whistles of a cheap Internet promotion. Here's what you should also consider.

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