Eliana Willis

Adam Breeden/ZDNETDid you know that a modern TV uses significantly less energy than a TV that’s a decade old? Maybe that shouldn’t be a surprise, considering how much more power-efficient today’s display panels are. According to Perch Energy, the average power consumption of an old TV runs around $54 per year in energy costs. Because LED-backlit TVs and OLEDs consume less power than traditional LCD screens, newer models cost about $32 annually. Also: How to clear your TV cache (and why you shouldn’t wait to do it)In large part, the bigger your screen size, the more power your TV requires. But there are ways to attenuate your TV’s power consumption every time you turn it on. Here are some settings you can change to save more money on your next electricity bill. Even if it’s just tens of dollars that you’re ultimately saving, it’s still a little less money coming out of your pocket, and that’s the goal. More

Maybe your touchpad is working but something is off. You may be triggering unwanted taps or clicks with your wrist or one of your fingers. The touchpad might feel too sensitive or not sensitive enough. The speed of the cursor could be too fast or too slow. To resolve these issues, you’ll want to review and tweak your touchpad settings.In Windows 10, go to Settings, click Devices, and select Touchpad. In Windows 11, head to Settings, click Bluetooth & devices, and then select Touchpad. The look and layout for the touchpad settings screen in Windows 10 and 11 differ, but most of the settings are the same.If the touchpad cursor is moving too fast or too slow, move the slider at the top to adjust it. If the touchpad is responding to your taps and clicks too easily or not easily enough, go to Taps and click the drop-down menu for Touchpad sensitivity. You can then experiment among the four different options — Most sensitive, High sensitivity, Medium sensitivity, and Low sensitivity. In my case, I have a heavy touch and found that the sensitivity was too high, so I had to change it to low.Also: The best Windows laptops: Expert tested and reviewedNext, you’ll see four options that control different actions based on your taps. You’ll certainly want to keep the first option to tap with a single finger to single click. You’ll probably want to keep the next one for tapping with two fingers to right-click, as well as the third option for tapping twice and dragging to multi-select. The fourth option is more of a judgment call. On my laptop, I kept accidentally pressing the lower right corner of the touchpad with my wrist or pinkie, resulting in a right-click menu popping up. For that reason, I disabled this one and now use only two fingers when I want to right-click. More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The UAG Metropolis Wallet is a MagSafe wallet and stand made of vegan leather for $45. It holds up to five cards and cash, has a kickstand, is RFID blocking, and features pockets. It’s only available in Black. more buying choices As ZDNET’s MagSafe expert, I’ve tried many magnetic accessories, from […] More

Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNETA variety of AI sites and services let you create videos based on your text descriptions. But Google’s Flow takes the process a few steps further. With Flow, you can describe not only the scene but also the camera shots and angles. You can add sound effects and even dialogue. I played virtual filmmaker by trying all the cool features in Flow to create videos. Here’s what happened.Also: How to try Veo 3, Google’s AI video generator that’s going viral on the internetTo use Flow, you need a Google AI subscription, either the $20-per-month Google AI Pro More

Bloomberg/Contributor/Getty Images Executives at Apple are weighing the possibility of buying buzzy AI start-up Perplexity, Bloomberg reported on Friday.  Citing anonymous sources close to the matter, the report said that talks within Apple to bid for an acquisition of Perplexity were still in early stages. A spokesperson for Perplexity told Reuters that the company had […] More

Jada Jones/ZDNETBack-to-school season is approaching, whether you want to admit it or not. For those starting college this fall, a good computer and noise-canceling headphones are the most excellent tools. Luckily, Apple has a convenient sale where you can get the best of both worlds, but without paying full price.Also: Get 50% off an Amazon Prime membership if you’re age 18-24 – here’s howNow through September 30, Apple is offering a deal just in time: you can get a free pair of AirPods or any eligible accessory More

Jack Wallen / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETI depend on virtual machines. With them, I can easily use and review any Linux distribution on the market. I can also deploy various services on my network. For example, I have an instance of InvoicePlane that runs as a virtual machine (and I use daily to bill clients). I’ve used virtual machines for all sorts of things, and they have made my life considerably better.One of the tools I use to run virtual machines is VirtualBox. This application makes it possible to run guest operating systems, such as Linux, MacOS, and Windows, which gives me endless flexibility. Also: Your old MacBook’s days are numbered, as Apple confirms end of supportVirtualBox is one of the easiest virtual machine managers I’ve ever used, and it’s also free. For a long time on MacOS, VirtualBox was limited to Intel-only devices. However, it’s now possible to use VirtualBox on your M1/M2/M3/M4 Macs. Initial support for Apple Silicon was introduced in late 2024, and it’s now usable and stable. This is a big change because running VirtualBox on MacOS devices has always been a tricky proposition. Some attempted to run VirtualBox with Rosetta 2, but that was a failed experiment. Now you don’t have to worry about such things, as there’s an installer available specific to M-series MacBooks and iMacs. Because of that, anyone with an Apple Silicon-powered Mac can enjoy virtual machine technology without the headache of complex software. Once you start using virtual machines, you’ll wonder how you managed without them. But how do you pull off this feat? It’s much easier than you think.How to download the right installerWhat you’ll need: The only things you’ll need are an Apple Silicon Mac device and an Internet connection. It’s also important that your Mac have plenty of available storage space for the virtual machines. Because MacBooks can contain limited space, chances are good that you’ll be able to run and save only a single virtual machine at a time. For instance, on my System76 Thelio desktop, I currently have 20 virtual machines at my disposal. Every so often, I have to delete some to make room for more. Because of this, you’ll want to pay close attention to storage space on your Mac. More