Robotics

What is the best VPN for your smart TV right now?ZDNET’s favorite VPN for smart TVs is NordVPN More

Kerry Wan/ZDNETFor the past few years, Nothing has been synonymous with mid-range Android phones that offer an aesthetic no other phone manufacturer can match. The Nothing phones are unique devices, beloved by fans.The company recently announced that the Nothing Phone 3 will be its first true flagship phone, and that should have fans champing at the bit to get their hands on the next iteration.Also: These are still one of my favorite earbuds I’ve ever testedThe Nothing Phone 3 was originally set to be released in 2024, but Nothing CEO Carl Pei pushed the release to Q1 2025. On X, @evleaks shared a leaked internal email from Pei confirming the Nothing Phone 3 release. According to the leaked email, the device will introduce “breakthrough innovations in user interface, taking our first step toward our AI-powered platform.” Although the leak does not confirm the phone’s specs, according to Phone Arena, some of the rumored specs include:Camera – Sony’s latest LYTIA sensor with a 2X zoomStorage – 128 GB, 256GB, and 512GB.Design – transparent back with Glyph lightsDisplay – 6.7-inch LTPO AMOLED with a 120 Hz refresh rate, a peak brightness of 1600 nits, and HDR10+ supportBattery – 5,000 mAh or 4,880 mAhCPU – Snapdragon 8 Gen 3The above are only rumored specs, but if Pei plans to release this as a flagship device, the official specs better come close. More

Whether you’re looking for some new earbuds to dial in your focus at work or get you through that early morning workout, the best earbuds have a few things in common. They offer clear and balanced sound, noise-canceling for silent listening, long battery life, functional features for exercising and moving around, and some impressive high-tech special touches, like spatial audio and responsive commands. Also: The best workout headphones you can buyI test earbuds for a living and have worn plenty of mediocre and amazing pairs of earbuds to discover which are worth your money and which you should avoid. I’ve done most of the heavy lifting by extensively researching the best earbuds, trying them out for myself as I take the subway to work, hop on conference calls, and even sweat in them on my morning runs. What are the best earbuds right now? At ZDNET, we’ve tested all the latest and greatest earbuds to help you find the best ones for your budget and needs. Our pick for best overall earbuds are the Sony LinkBuds Fit More

Using Visual Intelligence, you can also dig up details on public places, such as businesses, stores, restaurants, supermarkets, and museums. Depending on the business, you should be able to find the hours of operation, services offered, and contact information. With restaurants, supermarkets, and other places, you can also make reservations, order items, and request deliveries. This option works only in the US and only if you’re in front of the actual place.To try this, press down on the Camera Control and aim your phone at the building. Any text seen in the image should appear at the top of the screen. Tap that text or tap the white circle. A card pops up with the name, hours, and other information. For a restaurant or supermarket, you’ll also see Order and Delivery icons to order items or have them delivered. Tap the ellipsis icon for more options, such as contacting the business or launching its website. More

Nina Raemont/ZDNETZDNET’s key takeaways For $99, the new Nothing Ear (a) earbuds More

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNETIf you need to be connected to the internet but there’s no Wi-Fi or cellular signal nearby, and not even an Ethernet port in sight, then you have to look up to the skies — to the satellites whooshing 340 miles above your head at dizzying speeds.Also: Do wind power generators actually work at home? My firsthand experience says it allI’ve tried a number of systems, from basic messenger units like the Garmin inReach Messenger Plus More

Kerry Wan/ZDNETMSI’s Claw 8 AI+ More

ZDNETAffiliate links have become hugely popular among internet content creators. In many ways, they’ve replaced or strongly augmented advertising and sponsorships as a way to support publications and productions.I recently added affiliate links to my newsletter and YouTube channel but made an undocumented mistake that cost me the holiday boost I was hoping for. In this article, I’ll show you what that mistake was and how to avoid it. But first, let’s quickly define what affiliate links are and how they work. Understanding affiliate links You may have seen a small disclosure statement at the top or bottom of many of our articles saying, “When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission.” Those links are affiliate links. Most successful content-oriented websites these days are at least partially supported through those commissions.Also: The 25 most popular products ZDNET readers bought during the holidaysThey’re actually a creative and fairly ethical way for sellers and creators to support each other.An affiliate link is a link to a product that contains a special code identifying the affiliate (the site where the link is displayed). When a reader clicks on one of those links and makes a purchase, a small commission is credited to the sending site.Clicking an affiliate link doesn’t change the price you pay for a product, so visiting a site through an affiliate link doesn’t cost consumers extra. The seller (in my case, Amazon) shares a small amount of the overall sale price if a sale occurs. It has the potential to be fairly profitable for content creators because Amazon will send a payment for almost any purchase within 24 hours by that reader, not just purchases of the item linked to.There are, of course, terms and conditions and products that have higher or lower commissions or none at all. But the general approach is fairly sound.Also: Three CES 2025 products I’d buy as soon as they’re available for purchaseYes, content creators make some money if someone buys a product that’s been linked to, but creators need to support all the time and cost of infrastructure. Affiliate links are certainly less in-your-face than ads, which we as an industry have relied on for about a hundred years. My decision to add affiliate links For years, I’ve avoided putting affiliate links into my personal content. But my newsletter and YouTube channel grew quite nicely in 2024, and I’ve been spending fairly heavily building out infrastructure to produce high-quality videos. I have an entire army of video robots that do some of what a camera person would do, and those robots are not cheap.People subscribe to my newsletter to see what articles I’ve written here on ZDNET, to see some of my projects while they’re in progress, to get tool recommendations, to watch some very cool YouTube videos, and to read interesting articles I spotlight — usually including one or more ZDNET articles by my colleagues.Also: Why the TikTok ban could collapse the creator economyMy videos are generally build videos of some of my outlandish projects. That’s why they often spotlight tools I use or gear I’ve invested in.The videos point viewers to my newsletter and the newsletter points readers to my content here on ZDNET, so it all becomes a virtuous cycle that provides my “fans” and me with a more comprehensive way to connect on a variety of levels.But, like I said, it seemed time to help cover the costs for some of the gear that goes into producing the content I do, so I decided to add Amazon affiliate links to my holiday recommendation newsletter and then continue into 2025.That’s where things went wrong. Amazon has strict rules As you might imagine with any program that involves vendors making payouts, there are strict rules designed to protect the vendors’ interests and prevent payout fraud. Amazon has many rules for its Amazon Associates program More