Eliana Willis

ZDNETNearly everything you do on your desktop, laptop, phone, and tablet begins with a Domain Name System (DNS) query. Essentially, DNS turns domain names (such as ZDNET.com) into an IP address so web browsers and apps know where to get the information you want. Without DNS, you’d have to type 34.149.132.124 every time you wanted to go to ZDNET.com. Even by simply running a Google search, DNS is at work.The problem is that standard DNS isn’t encrypted, meaning all your queries are sent over the network as plain text. Why is non-encrypted DNS a problem?Let’s say you’re on a public network  — like a coffee shop — and you start searching for things on your Android device. Or maybe you have to access a CMS or another work tool, and you don’t want the public to know the address you’re typing. If someone else is on the same network and has the skills, they could intercept your non-encrypted search queries (or the URLs you visit) and know exactly what you’re looking for.That’s where Private DNS Mode comes into play. Once you enable this feature, all of your DNS queries are encrypted, so any bad actors won’t be able to view them (even if they capture those packets). In other words, Private DNS Mode should be an absolute must for anyone who values their privacy and security.Also: How to easily use Cloudflare’s secure DNS on your Mac and why it even mattersBut how do you enable Private DNS Mode on Android? It’s actually pretty simple. Let me show you how.How to enable Private DNS mode on AndroidWhat you’ll need: The only thing you need to enable Private DNS Mode is an Android device running at least Version 9 of the operating system (which released in 2018). I’m using a Pixel 9 Pro but have used the feature going way back in the Android release cycle. Pretty much every modern Android phone is capable of enabling Private DNS. More

SOPA Images / Contributor / Getty Images Although you may be tuning into the Super Bowl for the football, you’ll also be exposed to the latest in tech. (Remember last year’s Temu and Copilot ads?) This year, Perplexity is getting in on the action, running a campaign that could win you $1 million.  Also: How to watch […] More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways Pre-orders for the Galaxy Book5 Pro start at $1,349. It sports a brilliant 3K touchscreen and large touchpad, plus Intel’s Lunar Lake chip delivers next-gen performance. Despite the better hardware, this laptop shares some of the design flaws as its predecessor. –> Whenever a new laptop comes out, consumers expect it […] More

Adam Breeden/ZDNETApple sells some very fancy iPads these days. In fact, several of them now cost over $1,000. But for the things most people do with their iPads — watching streaming content, making video calls, reading books and documents, answering messages, and surfing the web, the best iPad to buy is the standard 10th-generation iPad More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The NUU N30 is available now on Amazon for $129. This $129 phone would make an amazing first phone for a child or a backup device. The fingerprint scanner on the N30 is in the power button, so there’s no under-screen biometrics and the phone doesn’t support wireless charging. –> Let’s […] More

Alex Wong/Staff/Getty Images LONDON — Fitting artificial intelligence into open source isn’t easy. Yes, AI foundations rest firmly on open source. And yes, a handful of important programs, such as IBM’s Granite Large Language Models (LLM) and RHEL AI, really are open source. But most of the AI models you’re always hearing about — such […] More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The NUU N30 is available now on Amazon for $129. This $129 phone would make an amazing first phone for a child or a backup device. The fingerprint scanner on the N30 is in the power button, so there’s no under-screen biometrics and the phone doesn’t support wireless charging. –> Let’s […] More

Maria Diaz/ZDNETWhat’s the deal?The Ecovacs Winbot W2 Omni window cleaning robot is on sale for $500, a $100 discount. ZDNET’s key takeawaysThe Winbot W2 Omni More