Eliana Willis

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETThe Pixel Watch 3 is getting a first-of-its-kind, potentially life-saving feature. Also: My new favorite Android smartwatch outperforms Google and Samsung in a crucial wayIn a blog post, Google announced that it had received FDA clearance for its Loss of Pulse Detection feature. Tracking your heartbeatThe feature works by tracking your heartbeat. If your heart stops beating — due to cardiac arrest, respiratory or circulatory failure, overdose, or poisoning — your watch will automatically turn on more accurate infrared LEDs and look for motion data. If the watch determines you’re not responsive, it will start a countdown and audio alarm. If you still don’t respond, the watch will place a call to emergency services using your LTE or phone connection, inform them that you don’t have a pulse, and share your location. Also: The best Android smartwatchesGoogle says the watch will be able to tell the difference between an actual cardiac event and the user simply removing the watch. Safety features like fall detection and crash detection aren’t new, but they aren’t at the level of this one (which is why it needed FDA clearance first). Other watches have heartbeat tracking, but they track much less frequently than the Pixel 3. The Apple Watch, for example, tracks heart rate every 3 to 7 minutes by default. More

Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNETAlexa+, Amazon’s freshly unveiled generative AI update, promises to take the Alexa virtual assistant to the next level. You can expect Alexa+ to do things that your traditional Alexa can’t, such as generate richer answers to questions that previously would have received canned responses. Alexa+ will also be capable of engaging in more natural conversations, eliminating the need to use your “Alexa voice” and enunciate each syllable of your request to the voice assistant. Instead, it will understand you when you speak naturally. It will also maintain the context of a conversation throughout; for example, you can give it a file to peruse and ask multiple follow-up questions about it. Also: Not all Echo devices will get Alexa+ – see if yours made the listThese are all very useful ways to leverage the generative AI power of Alexa+. Still, one of the things I’m most looking forward to is giving Amazon’s virtual assistant multiple prompts at once. Instead of asking, “Alexa, who was the first black woman in space?” and getting a predetermined response from an Alexa Answers contributor and being done with the subject, the voice assistant will generate the response and let you ask follow-up questions, like “What does she do today?” or ” How many others have reached space since her?” More

NurPhoto/Getty Images Earlier this month, TikTok returned to the App and Google Play stores in the US after being temporarily banned. While it’s no secret that Instagram has been vying for the top social media stratum, Meta’s TikTok dethroning plans are entering a new phase. Also: How new Facebook policies incentivize spreading misinformation According to an […] More

ZDNETDid you know that you can print from your Android phone? Although it’s not perfect (nothing related to printing is), it’s not difficult once you figure out where everything is. Also: 4 Pixel phone tricks every user should know – including my favoriteLet me show you how it’s done. I’m using a Pixel device, but where necessary, we’ve added Samsung Galaxy-specific notes.  How to add a printer service to Android What you’ll need: To do this, you’ll need an Android phone and a printer connected to your network. That’s right — you must have a networkable printer for this to work. That printer can be connected to your network wirelessly or wired; as long as it’s connected to the same network your phone is on, it should work. More

ZDNETIn October, after months of beta testing, Microsoft officially released its major 2024 update for Windows 11. Known as Windows 11 24H2, the latest version enhances the Copilot AI, improves File Explorer, promises faster performance and greater stability, and introduces other improvements.Also: How to upgrade from Windows 11 Home to Pro — without overpayingThe update, which is rolling out to eligible Windows 11 23H2 and 22H2 users, may appear on your PC’s Windows Update screen. If so, you can certainly install it from there. Otherwise, the new version is accessible on Microsoft’s Download Windows 11 page, where you can grab it through the Installation Assistant, installation media, or as an ISO file. Several sets of patches so far Before you dive into the 2024 update, know that you may run into some problems and conflicts. The new version has been plagued by bugs that could prevent you from using Windows reliably and effectively. Microsoft has documented many of the glitches, and Windows users have reported a lot more. In response, Microsoft has put the update on hold for problematic PCs that could encounter blue screens and other issues. To address the barrage of bugs, the company has rolled out several sets of patches so far — one in late October, another in mid-November, a third on December 10 as part of the monthly Patch Tuesday, a fourth in early January, a fifth on January 14 for the month’s Patch Tuesday, a sixth to resolve some of the bugs introduced by the Patch Tuesday update, and a seventh for February’s Patch Tuesday.Also: Microsoft battles more bugs in Windows 11 24H2 with new round of patchesThe October update fixed a few bugs but also created a couple of new ones. The November update resolved some, but certainly not all, of the outstanding glitches. The December update addressed one specific glitch with certain USB-connected scanners and other devices. An early January patch finally fixed conflicts with the Ubisoft games Star Wars Outlaws, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Assassin’s Creed Origins, and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. But then came the January 14 Patch Tuesday update. Instead of resolving some of the persistent issues, this one actually introduced a host of new bugs, creating conflicts with audio devices, Bluetooth connections, webcams, and more. However, there’s been some light toward the end of the tunnel. On January 28, Microsoft released an optional preview update for Windows 24H2 that squashed a number of bugs. Several of the glitches were new ones added by the messy January 14 update. Others had been around since last year, some as old as October. February’s Patch Tuesday further addressed some of the persistent glitches. All the bugs still causing trouble Even after the latest update, several bugs remain. Here are ones that may still cause trouble for anyone running the 2024 flavor of Windows 11. 1. AutoCAD 2022 might not open On some PCs running Windows 11 24H2, Autodesk AutoCAD 2022 might not open. Users have reported error messages when trying to launch the application. In response, Microsoft has blocked the update for affected PCs and is currently working on a fix. Also: How to do a clean install of Windows 11: See which option is best for you and why More

Maria Diaz/ZDNETIf you’ve heard about Alexa+, a revamped version of Amazon’s virtual assistant powered by generative AI, you may be interested in diving into the Amazon Alexa ecosystem. Amazon Echo speakers are the best way to bring Alexa into your smart home. The Echo Pop More

Nomad always has an overstock sale option to help offload various products and models, however the addition of some of their flagship products into the mix is only for a limited time. Select flagship products will be included in the overstock sale starting at Feb. 27 at 9 a.m. PST through March 3 at 9 a.m. PST. However, deals are subject to sell out or expire at any time, although ZDNET remains committed to finding, sharing, and updating the best product deals for you to score the best savings. Our team of experts regularly checks in on the deals we share to ensure they are still live and obtainable. We’re sorry if you’ve missed out on this deal, but don’t fret — we’re constantly finding new chances to save and sharing them with you at ZDNET.com. More