Information Technology

The Koala cleaning kit with a pair of glasses.  Kayla Solino/ZDNETI’ve been wearing prescription glasses since I was 18 months old, so trust me when I tell you I know a lot about keeping lenses clean and protected — I’ve had over 20 years of practice. While it may seem like you can clean your sunglasses or glasses with any old “glass cleaner,” or something as simple as soap and water, I am here to tell you that it can be a huge (and costly) mistake. Most glass cleaning products (even dish soap) can be too abrasive and harsh on specialized lenses and damage protective coatings for UV, glare, blue light, and more. Of course, clean at your own risk, but I have damaged my lens coating once before from plain soap and water, and there is no fix for it besides getting brand new lenses. Also: I tested the $15 screen-cleaning solution used in Apple stores and it worked like magicAnd just like glasses, the screens on your tech products should be handled with the utmost care. Lucky for you, I’m sharing one of my best-kept secrets that can clean lenses and screens with ease without damaging either. Meet Koala cleaner More

Do I lose out on HDR by forcing 4K SDR?No — not if you keep Match Content enabled, anyway. The 4K SDR format setting prevents unnecessary switching on menus and SDR content, but genuine HDR streams still display in full HDR when available. Can my TV even handle 4:4:4 Chroma?It’s worth testing. Connect a quality HDMI cable and switch to 4:4:4. Look for clear text and sharp edges when displaying content with fine details or text. If text appears blurry or jagged on the edges, or if you notice any flicker or dropouts, revert to 4:2:0. How often should I recalibrate color balance?Once or twice a year, or after major tvOS updates, is fine. Your color accuracy does change over time, so it’s worth recalibrating. How do I clear the cache on my Apple TV?Your Apple TV doesn’t offer a specific “clear cache” option like some other devices, as TVOS is designed to manage cache automatically. You can still manually delete or offload apps, though, if you want to better manage your available storage space.Get the morning’s top stories in your inbox each day with our Tech Today newsletter. More

Kerry Wan/ZDNETThe OnePlus 12 isn’t the company’s current flagship model, but it remains a solid device boasting top-notch performance from its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform and incredibly fast charging speeds. It’s a more affordable alternative to the OnePlus 13, and now is a great time to buy one because the device is currently on sale.You can save $300 off the 512GB OnePlus 12 More

Maria Diaz/ZDNETIf a TikTok trend has you spooked about your Ring camera’s security, there’s good news — everything is OK and nobody is watching your videos.Over the past 24 hours, videos of a strange problem with Ring cameras have flooded TikTok. The videos make some fairly unsettling claims and urgent warnings. If you check your device history, people say, you may notice a series of logins on May 28, 2025, from devices that aren’t yours. This means that for the past two months, the videos warn, strangers have been accessing your videos. Also: Ring’s new generative AI feature is here to answer your ‘who’s there?’ or ‘what was that?’ questionsThese warnings quickly went viral, amassing thousands of comments from panicked users who also saw strange logins, plus hundreds of thousands of shares. The warnings made their way onto other platforms like Reddit.What caused the Ring May 28 incident?Ring says these claims aren’t true. Neither your account nor Ring itself has been hacked, and no unauthorized person has seen your video clips. The actual explanation is much less dire.When I reached out to Ring’s media team, a representative confirmed that there was no security incident or breach, and Ring or Ring devices weren’t hacked. Instead, Ring made a back-end update that resulted in prior login dates being shown as May 28, 2025 (even if they weren’t) and device names being incorrectly displayed as “Device name not found.”  More

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETNearly a month ago, Google announced a small but highly anticipated addition to Chrome on Android — the ability to relocate the browser’s address bar to the bottom of the screen. “Depending on the size of your hand and your device,” Google explained, “one address bar position may feel more comfortable than the other.” This update gives you the flexibility to choose your preferred location.Also: You can ask Gemini AI anything directly in Google Chrome – here’s how and why you shouldIt’s been a slow rollout, but things are picking up as the feature is now available to a wide number of users.Some users are getting a notification about the new option when they open Chrome, but not all. I never received any notification on my Pixel 9 Pro, so I wasn’t aware of any changes, but I was able to relocate the bar when I tried. More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic starts at $499.99, with the LTE model priced at $549.99. The physical rotating bezel is smooth, One UI contains new health metrics, and the cushion design is elegant. The display shrunk to 1.34 inches, it’s rather expensive, and the bands are tough to secure in […] More

Password managers are essential tools for creating and securely storing login credentials and other sensitive data you want to have at your fingertips. There are plenty of solid password management solutions on the market, so it can be difficult to know which combination of features, cost, and user experience is best for your situation. In our head-to-head comparison of NordPass More

Many email marketing tools promise the world but deliver only headaches. You’re probably here because your current solution isn’t cutting it. Maybe the automation feels clunky, the pricing doesn’t scale, or you’re drowning in features you’ll never use. It’s more common than you’d think!Also: The best email marketing softwareThe good news? I’ve helped startups and businesses set up newsletters, order tracking workflows, calendar invites — the whole nine yards. And with time, I’ve picked up on the tools that are best at each of them. Whatever your email marketing needs in 2025, here are my top picks that offer the best free options to help you test the waters.What is the best free email marketing software right now?My top pick for free email marketing software is Brevo More