More stories

  • in

    This Ring Spotlight camera won me over in the best way (and it just hit its lowest price)

    <!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Ring Spotlight Cam Pro Battery is available for $230 but is currently on sale for $160 This Pro-level Ring camera has a removable rechargeable battery pack, top-of-the-line audio performance, and supports dual-band Wi-Fi, 2.4 and 5.0 GHz Unfortunately, the Ring Spotlight Cam Pro falls short on image quality, topping out […] More

  • in

    This Windows mini PC gives the Mac Mini M4 serious competition – and it’s $200 off

    <!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways Minisforum’s AI X1 Pro retails for $1,129. It’s a powerful mini armed with top-tier hardware for creators, programmers, and coders looking to interface with AI at lightning-fast speeds. Don’t count on relying on the device’s built-in speakers or mic, and it’s one of the chunkier minis. –> All three configurations of […] More

  • in

    I discovered Netflix’s secret genre codes and my watchlist exploded – how they work

    Kerry Wan/ZDNETNetflix wasn’t the first streaming platform, but it was the first to make video-on-demand mainstream. Fourteen years ago, as it phased out its mailing service, it took a massive bite out of the global market.Also: How to disable ACR on your TV (and why doing it makes such a big difference for privacy)Remember that? Physical DVDs showing up in your actual mailbox — the one at the end of your driveway (or your hallway)? To my surprise, that was still actually a thing up until late 2023. Whaaat?Streaming introduced a slew of new entertainment options and, most importantly, unparalleled convenience. These days, Netflix is one of many platforms that offer a staggering amount of titles to choose from — and yet, there is more there than meets the eye.Did you know Netflix has secret cheat codes?As it turns out, Netflix has a plethora of shows and movies available that you don’t normally see when booting up the app. Our personalized, algorithm-based menus confine us to viewing only a fraction of the entire Netflix library.Also: I tried Netflix on Vision Pro again, and now it’s awesome – here’s what changedYou can find special cheat codes to unlock more content on resources like Netflix-Codes and the website What’s On Netflix. Either is a good place to start massively multiplying your viewing options. The categories associated with these codes range everywhere from “Deep Sea Horror Movies” (code 45028) to very specific subgenres like “Feel-good Sports Movies for Ages 8 to 10” (code 855).  More

  • in

    5 easy ways to transfer photos from your Android device to your Windows PC

    Kerry Wan/ZDNETYou may have snapped thousands of photos with your Android phone over the years, and maybe you are preparing to wipe your old phone to trade it in for a new one or just want to look at your photos on a big screen instead of the little black slab in your hand. No problem. You can transfer your photos to your Windows computer via a few different methods.Plug your device into your PC via a USB cable and access the photos from your phone.Use the Windows Photos app to import the photos from your phone.Access your photos from Google Photos and download them to your PC.Tap into OneDrive to automatically upload new photos from your phone to the OneDrive Pictures folder.Use Microsoft’s Phone Link app to transfer your photos.Also: 6 things I always do after setting up Windows 11 – and why you should tooEach method works the same in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Let us go through them all, and you can decide which works best for you. 1. Plug your phone into your PC The simplest way to transfer your photos is to copy them directly from your phone. First, plug your phone into a USB port on your PC.On your phone, swipe down from the top of the screen until you see an option for your USB connection. It may tell you that it is currently charging your device via USB.Tap that setting and change it to File transfer. More