Eliana Willis

Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNETWant to keep on top of Tuesday’s ongoing election results without constantly checking news and social media sites? Apple has one solution — at least for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch users.Starting late Tuesday, Apple News will display the election results with real-time updates on the Home Screen and Lock Screen of your device. iPhone owners will be able to view the results through the Live Activity feature in which information appears in the Dynamic Island area at the top.Also: Perplexity AI offers election results tracker and voter resource – try it hereTo activate this, just open Apple News on your device. Look for a heading under Top Stories or Special Coverage that says: “Follow the election live.” Tap the small clock icon next to that, and a message pops up telling you that you’ve scheduled Live Activity. When the event starts, you’ll then get real-time updates on your Home Screen and Lock Screen.The message doesn’t reveal the specific time that the results will start other than saying tonight. But when TV networks, news sites, and other sources begin to reveal the preliminary results, that’s likely when Apple’s coverage will kick in as well. More

Jason Hiner/ZDNETThe big ticket item for MacOS 15.1 is Apple Intelligence but I’m not interested in using AI. Even so, I did want to see what the fuss was all about but quickly discovered that, even with the 15.1 update on my MacBook Pro M1, I had to get on the Apple Intelligence waiting list before it would become available. The wait wasn’t long (maybe 24 hours), and I had Apple’s version of AI enabled.Also: How to track US election results on your iPhone, iPad or Apple WatchWith a shrug, I moved on from that to see what else MacOS 15.1 had to offer. If you’re an Android user like me, you’ll also miss out on the new iPhone mirroring drag-and-drop support (which would be really cool to have for Android as well, but I’m not holding my breath).So, what’s left to warrant the update if AI’s not your thing and you don’t use an iPhone? Here are my three favorite upgrades.1. Apple Mail summariesOkay, I’m not a big fan of taking shortcuts. Some might even say of me that if there’s a more challenging way of doing things, that’s how I’m going to do them. That being said, I am a fan of efficiency, and sometimes, I simply don’t have time to read those emails that tend to be long enough for short story consideration.Also: The 4 best MacOS text editors (and why you should be using one)For that, Apple Intelligence added a handy feature to Apple Mail: email summaries. When you open one of those lengthier emails and want a quick summary, click the Summarize button at the top right corner of the Mail window, and Apple Intelligence will work its magic. Depending on how the email was created (and if its content is more than just text), you might get a warning that Apple Intelligence wasn’t designed to summarize such content, and the results could be inaccurate. That’s an important warning to keep in mind. More

Moor Studio/Getty Images Microsoft is getting ready to expand the reach of its Copilot feature set, bringing its AI capabilities to Office apps for anyone currently subscribed to Microsoft 365 Personal or Family. Today, those features are only available with an extremely pricey Copilot Pro subscription. For Personal and Family subscribers, the upgrade costs an […] More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Dreame L40 Ultra is a high-end robot vacuum and mop available on Amazon for $1,500, though you can get it for $1,300 with a $200 on-page coupon This Dreame robot vacuum doesn’t disappoint in performance It has strong suction power, thorough cleaning capabilities, extendable side brush and mop pad to […] More

The holiday shopping season will be here before you know it. And if you have a gamer on your gift list whose main platform is the PlayStation 5 More

The Nintendo Switch is one of the most popular modern gaming consoles, and one of the most popular consoles, period. And coupled with Nintendo’s reluctance to run regular discounts and sales, even on digital games, that means the holiday shopping season is your best bet for upgrading your Switch setup with a new OLED console or snagging a few new games for your library or replacement Joy-Con controllers.Also: The best Black Friday deals live nowRetailers like Amazon More

Don’t miss this Sam’s Club membership to save big on everything from groceries to electronics. Sam’s Club/ZDNETA Sam’s Club membership will get you discounts on groceries, clothing, electronics, and just about everything else you might need. And right now, StackSocial is offering a deal that will get you a Sam’s Club membership for $25 for the year with auto-renew — down from the usual price of $50. That’s 50% off. Your Sam’s Club membership will work at nearly 600 US Sam’s Club locations. This deal is only open to new Sam’s Club members in the US, or those whose membership lapsed more than six months ago. The membership will expire one year from the activation date, and will automatically renew at the full price of $50 per year after that unless you cancel it. To cancel, you can visit SamsClub.com or a club or call 1-888-746-7726. To take advantage of this deal, you’ll redeem your unique code through the link above, and then sign up for the membership. Once you purchase your code, you must redeem it within 30 days. The limit is one membership per person, but you can buy an additional membership as a gift.I signed up for a similar deal for a Costco membership through StackSocial, and can confirm the process was easy, and I’d vouch for the deal. Don’t miss out on 50% off a Sam’s Club membership right now.  More