Eliana Willis

Power stations are the latest trend in portable energy solutions! If you haven’t come across one yet, imagine a power bank, but on a grander scale-much grander! These incredible devices are equipped with not only USB ports and 12V outlets, but also AC power outlets! Yes, AC power on the move without long extension cables or gasoline generators!Whether you’re heading out for a camping adventure, need to power tools without a nearby outlet, or want to keep your devices running during a blackout, a power station ensures you’ll always have reliable energy at your fingertips. It’s the ultimate companion for your outdoor escapades and emergency situations alike!While power stations are fantastic, many setups are eye-wateringly expensive — sometimes several thousand dollars. If your budget doesn’t extend to four digits, fear not — there are fantastic power stations that you can pick up for a lot less. Also: The best portable power stations you can buy: Expert testedWhat’s the best cheap portable power station right now? I’ve tested more than 100 different portable power stations to find out which are the best of the best. My favorite cheap power station is the EcoFlow River 2 More

Thinkhubstudio/Getty Images If 2024 was a busy 12 months for IT professionals, 2025 will present similar challenges — and then some.  The IT department just wrapped its collective head around generative AI use cases, and now agentic AI is threatening another digital revolution. Add in continuing demands for other emerging technologies — such as automation, machine […] More

Maria Diaz/ZDNETiOS 18.2 rolled out earlier this month, introducing new features like Visual Intelligence and Image Playground. The AI updates may have taken center stage, but the patch also added several quality-of-life improvements to iPhones that you may not be aware of. They range from changing the layout of the Lock Screen to additional controls on the Photos app. The patch is quite large, so instead of going through every single update, we will highlight the most impactful changes. Also: The best iPhones you can buy right now (and if you should upgrade to iPhone 16)After you’re done reading, you can install iOS 18.2 on your iPhone by opening the Settings menu and then going to General. Tap Software Update to find the patch. Be aware that you will need a phone capable of supporting iOS 18, like the iPhone 13 Pro. Note that the Apple Intelligence features are exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 16 series. Unfortunately, older models don’t support them.1. New layout controls More

The Yamaha True X Bar 50A is a low-profile, elegant soundbar that’ll look good under any TV. Jack Wallen/ZDNETZDNET’s key takeawaysThe Yamaha True X Bar 50A More

Screenshot by David Grober/ZDNETInstagram’s Adam Mosseri took to the app today to tease the upcoming launch of a generative AI editing feature that will enable users to “change nearly any aspect of your videos.” Expected to roll out next year, the tool will be powered by Meta’s Movie Gen AI model, which was unveiled in early October.     Meta’s Movie Gen AI model can generate HD videos (1080p resolution) from a text prompt, which — the company claims — is more “realistic” than videos generated by rival technology such as OpenAI’s Sora text-to-video model. By bringing the Movie Gen technology to Instagram, the company aims to equip creators with more tools for “realizing” their ideas more easily. Also: I’m a long-time YouTube video producer – these 3 AI tools help me do it better and fasterAccording to Mosseri, the new editing feature will enable creators to change nearly any aspect of users’ videos with a simple text prompt. Moreover, the announcement video previews “early research AI models” that showcase examples of outfit and background transformations. One especially impressive snippet showed Mosseri transformed into a puppet, which speaks to the expansive capabilities of Movie Gen.   Similarly, Gen AI models such as Open AI’s Sora, Adobe’s Firefly, and Google’s Veo — all released in 2024 — emphasize a shift away from AI image generation and toward AI video generation, especially text-to-video tools. However, just like AI image generation, video generation raises concerns about harmful use cases such as digital blackface, AI-generated deepfakes, and disinformation. Also: This new Google AI tool lets you easily generate images from other photos – no prompt requiredMany creative professionals — artists, writers, filmmakers, actors, and photographers — have voiced frustrations with the impact of AI generators on their respective fields due to AI companies scraping the web to train their models. Because of such concerns, YouTube announced earlier this week that it will allow creators to opt into third-party AI training and recently partnered with the Creative Artists Agency to develop tools that give creators and artists more “control over how AI-generated content features their likeness, including their face, on YouTube at scale.”  More

oxygen/Getty Images Have you ever told someone what they wanted to hear in order to win them over, land a job, or just be left alone? Claude 3 Opus does that, too — which brings up major safety concerns for artificial intelligence (AI) systems.  On Wednesday, Anthropic released new research showing its model engaging in “alignment […] More

Jack Wallen/ZDNETI often need to cast video content from my Android device to a larger screen. Sometimes, that’s for my own purposes (to make sure a video I’ve edited looks good on larger screens,) and sometimes, it’s to entertain or educate an audience. Either way, it’s good to know that Android has my back. But how can you cast a single app to a device? If you were to cast your entire screen, you could wind up sharing something an audience shouldn’t see (like passwords from your password manager). How do you get around this?Also: The best Samsung TVs: Expert testedWell, it’s quite easy and built right into Android.Before I get into the how-to, it’s important to know that you’ll need a device to cast to. I tend to cast to a Samsung TV or a Google Home speaker, both of which make it easy to receive streams cast from Android. Make sure you have either a smart TV or a smart speaker to cast to; otherwise, this could be futile.Let me show you how it’s done.  How to cast a single app for better privacyWhat you’ll need: As noted above, you’ll need a device to receive your cast, so make sure you have that available before you start. You’ll also need an updated version of Android on either your phone or tablet. I’ll be demonstrating with Android 15 on a Pixel 9 Pro More

NurPhoto/Getty Images With the holiday season upon us, many companies are finding ways to take advantage through deals, promotions, or other campaigns. OpenAI has found a way to participate with its “12 days of OpenAI” event series. On Wednesday, OpenAI announced via an X post that starting on Dec. 5, the company would host 12 […] More