<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The M4 MacBook Pro starts at $1,599 and features improvements in the most subtle places. Upgrades to graphical performance, battery life, and transfer speeds are the most notable. Be prepared to overpay for almost every spec bump. more buying choices I’ve been using the M4 MacBook Pro–> for a little less […] More
<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Onyx Boox Page has a seven-inch E Ink display and sells for a discounted $219 across major retailers. It runs on a simplified version of Android 11, so you can download any app you want, including Kindle, TikTok, Google Docs, and more. Don’t expect the tablet to receive the latest […] More
Screenshot by ZDNETIf you’ve ever left a store empty-handed because you weren’t sure if a product was reliable or if you’re getting a good deal, a new feature from Google Lens will help your in-store shopping experience. Also: The 55+ best Black Friday deals 2024: Early sales live nowGoogle says people use Lens for nearly 20 billion visual searches every month, and 20% of those searches are related to shopping. Now, Google is updating Lens to be more useful for real-world shopping. Here’s how the new feature works. When you snap a photo of a product with Lens in the Google app for iOS or Android, you’ll see more information about it, prices from other stores to see how competitive your store is, and shopper reviews to help with your buying decision. More
Charlie Osborne/ZDNETHere at ZDNET, we extensively cover the virtual private network (VPN) market and keep an eye out for any worthwhile deals. Over at Stack Social, we’ve spotted an interesting promotion for anyone who wants to use VPN software to mask their online activity from prying eyes, including ISPs, marketers, and other groups that may track what websites you visit and what online services you use. Also: The best VPN servicesThe VPN in question is from AdGuard, a company well-known for its ad and tracker-blocking technologies. Now, you also have the option to try out their standalone VPN, which could provide an additional layer of privacy to protect your browsing. What I like about this deal is the price. For $50 (86% off), you can sign up for a five-year plan, which gives you access to a VPN for the equivalent of around $0.83 per month. The subscription includes 10 simultaneous device connections, and AdGuard operates a no-logging policy. One- and three-year subscription AdGuard VPN deals are also available for $30 and $40, respectively, and while inexpensive, they are more in line with typical promotions offered by other VPN providers. Also: The best VPN for streamingThe mobile iOS and Android versions of this VPN are easy to set up, with a clean layout and a simple menu bar. You can opt for the default “smart” location just by clicking a button, or you can wander through the server and country list (over 60 locations) to find your preferred location. Its speeds are fine, and I didn’t notice any real difference in my browsing or app usage. There is a caveat, though: I can’t recommend this VPN for purely MacOS usage. During my testing, I found it a challenge to even sign in, and it is extremely slow. In short, the mobile user experience is what you would expect from a decent VPN, but the MacOS app needs a lot of work. (We do have a list of VPNs that are great for Mac, if you need one.) A free option is available, but keep in mind that VPN traffic, connection speed, and server locations are very limited. More
Screenshot by ZDNETBluesky saw its user count hit and surpass 20 million on Tuesday, a major milestone for a social network that officially launched in February of 2023 on an invite-only basis.More people have been flocking to Bluesky lately, with many likely joining as an alternative to Elon Musk’s X. In the week following the US presidential election, Bluesky snagged more than 1 million new members for a total of almost 15 million users, a company spokesperson told The New York Times last Tuesday. Also: How to get started using Bluesky Social: Everything you need to knowFrom 9 million in early September and 12 million around mid-October, Bluesky showed a surge in growth in November, adding more than a million in one week and then a million more in just 24 hours. You can watch the numbers continue to climb in real time here.Bluesky’s explosive growthOn the mobile front, Bluesky’s iOS app is currently at the top of the charts among all free apps in Apple’s App Store. As Number 1, it’s ahead of other popular free apps like Threads, ChatGPT, Google, TikTok, and Instagram. It’s also topping the Android charts. At the same time, X has watched its numbers dwindle. This past April, the Musk-owned platform had around 611 million users, according to stats from Statista and other sources. At last count in September, that number had dropped to 586 million. The decline has been especially felt in the US and UK, according to The Financial Times, as spotted by Social Media Today. But even in the EU, the number of X users fell by 5% over the first half of 2024.Also: 7 things to know about Bluesky before you join – and why you shouldIn contrast, Bluesky has enjoyed steady and sometimes sudden growth in its audience since its launch around two years ago. This past February, the user count surged by more than 800,000 after the network removed its invite-only requirement. Last month, the audience jumped by half a million in just one day. But that was just after X activated a new feature to let blocked accounts still see posts from the person who had blocked them.Why are people ditching X?That brings us to the present day. Why another sudden exodus of users from X to Bluesky? There are a few likely reasons.Also: How to migrate from X to Bluesky without losing your followersThere are the usual complaints about X’s increased toxicity and polarization, probably more keenly felt during the run-up to this year’s US presidential election. As people with different political and social beliefs have duked it out on X, others caught in the crossfire have likely left for safer ground.Bluesky has “become a refuge for people who want to have the kind of social media experience that Twitter used to provide, but without all the far-right activism, the misinformation, the hate speech, the bots and everything else,” media scholar Axel Bruns said, according to The Guardian. “The more liberal kind of Twitter community has really now escaped from there and seems to have moved en masse to Bluesky.” More
Westend61/Getty Images Microsoft has many Copilot offerings that cater to businesses’ specific everyday needs. To give organizations more control over their AI assistants, Microsoft’s Copilot Studio allows users to build and customize Copilots — and the tech giant is bringing major upgrades to the experience. On Tuesday, at Microsoft Ignite, the company’s annual developer conference, Microsoft […] More
Microsoft Microsoft kicked off the first day of its Ignite conference today, showcasing various new technologies in AI innovation, cloud computing, and productivity. One of the most interesting announcements was a preview of Microsoft’s Windows 365 Link, a new class of devices resembling mini PCs designed to connect to Windows 365 apps — and that’s […] More
Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images Last summer’s CrowdStrike meltdown caused billions of dollars in damage and exposed some fundamental architectural flaws in the Windows platform. A single flawed update from one vendor was enough to crash millions of PCs and servers worldwide, and getting those machines back online required direct human intervention on every one […] More
