Robotics

ZDNETTexts are an important facet of mobile life. We use texts for myriad purposes, and knowing they are there, waiting for you to respond or simply to fondly review what someone has said or sent, brings comfort.But sometimes, we accidentally (or intentionally) delete a text that we shouldn’t have. We’ve all done it. When that happens, you might not realize you needed to keep that text around, but eventually, you might realize that, yes, a certain text was necessary to have and to hold. Also: 5 hidden Android features that can simplify your lifeWhat do you do? Although it is possible that the text is gone for good, there is also a chance that you can retrieve it. In fact, there are three ways to retrieve a recently deleted text. Let’s explore.How to retrieve your recently deleted texts on Android devicesMethod 1: From ArchivesWhat you’ll need: For this method, you’ll need an Android device connected to your Google account. This method depends on how you removed the message. If a message was deleted, it cannot be retrieved this way. Because of that, I suggest you customize the swipe actions in Messages (Messages > Settings > Swipe Actions) so that swiping right archives and swiping left deletes. Once you’ve done that, make sure to archive messages instead of deleting them. You can then delete the archive after a given period. More

ZDNETT-Mobile customers should be happy to know that the Uncarrier was crowned the mobile speed king based on a new report from Speedtest app provider Ookla. Analyzing and comparing mobile performance among the three top US carriers from July to December 2024, Ookla found that T-Mobile provided the fastest speeds across all types of connections and specifically for 5G.Led the packBased on data from users running Speedtest, T-Mobile delivered a median download speed of 212.77 Mbps, outscoring AT&T at 95.08 Mbps and Verizon Wireless at 86.23 Mbps. The Uncarrier also led the pack for the median upload speed at 11.45 Mbps and the lowest latency at 49 ms.Also: T-Mobile customers can score a new Galaxy S25 series smartphone for free. Here’s howOn the 5G front, T-Mobile was clocked at a median download speed of 281.52 Mbps and a median upload speed of 13.39 Mbps. Those numbers helped it win top grades for the fastest 5G network and the best 5G gaming experience. In second place, Verizon recorded a median download 5G speed of 199.1 Mbps, followed by AT&T at 140.09 Mbps. But Verizon did eke out a win here for the best 5G video experience.Consistent network performanceSpeed doesn’t do much good without consistent performance. And here, T-Mobile also came out on top. The company recorded the best network consistency in the US with more than 85% of its data samples meeting or surpassing a threshold of 5 Mbps for downloads and 1 Mbps for uploads. T-Mobile also led for consistency and availability in 5G performance.Further, the Uncarrier was rated as the top US mobile provider by customers with a score of 3.7 out of 5, ahead of Verizon at 3.29 and AT&T at 3.12. Overall, T-Mobile took home a speed score of 222.63, followed by Verizon with 113.2, and AT&T with 111.07. The speed score is a combination of download and upload performance that takes into account modern chipsets so as not to penalize older and slower devices.Why was T-Mobile able to outperform the other two major US carriers?”T-Mobile has built a sizable lead on 5G performance, thanks mainly to early deployment in mid-band spectrum,” Mark Giles, lead industry analyst at Ookla, told ZDNET. “It continues to advance its performance, with the introduction of 5G Standalone, despite both Verizon and AT&T seeing significant improvements thanks to their deployments in C-band spectrum.” More

ZDNETThe idea of querying a remote LLM makes my spine tingle — and not in a good way. When I need to do a spot of research via AI, I opt for a local LLM, such as Ollama.If you haven’t yet installed Ollama, you can read about it my guide on how to install an LLM on MacOS (and why you should). You can also install Ollama on Linux and Windows, and, given that the Firefox extension works on all three platforms, you can be sure that whatever desktop OS you use will work.Also: My 5 favorite web browsers – and what each is ideal forUsing Ollama from within the terminal window is actually quite easy, but it doesn’t give you such obvious access to other features (such as LLM/Prompt selection, image upload, internet search enable/disable, and Settings).The free extension I will point out works on Firefox, Zen Browser (one of my favorites), and others.Let’s get to that extension.How to install the Page Assist extension in FirefoxWhat you’ll need: To make this work, you’ll need Ollama installed and running, as well as the Firefox browser. That’s it. Let’s make some magic. More

DJI Mic Mini (left), DJI Mic 2 (right) David Gewirtz/ZDNETI am a big fan of ecosystems when it comes to electronic devices. Ecosystems let devices work together easily. When it comes to digital devices, especially for video production, there are three main ecosystems I’ve adopted: Apple, Edelkrone (for robotic motion control), and DJI (for drones, mics, and cameras). In this article, I’ll focus on DJI and how its devices work well together, and with my iPad-centric video production process. My first experience with DJI was using its Mavic Pro More

Yosi Azwan/Getty Images Before we get into this, I want to be clear: Using the command line is not a requirement for using Linux. I mention this because the idea of typing commands tends to scare off new users and my goal — for years — has been to introduce people to the open source […] More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The iPad Mini 7 is now available for $500. The compact iPad Mini 7 has gone everywhere with me this past week, fitting easily into bags and purses without weighing them down. Aside from the more powerful A17 Pro chip, the iPad Mini 7 isn’t much of an upgrade (especially for […] More

ZDNETZDNET’s key takeawaysSDesk is available now, free of charge, and you can install it on as many computers as you need.SDesk is a fast and dependable Linux distribution with a user interface that anyone will be instantly familiar with.I experienced some minor issues during my setup, which were simple to resolve.I wouldn’t normally suggest an Arch-based Linux distribution for new users, but every so often, I come across one that challenges my perceptions. Recently, I discovered an Arch-based Linux distro called SDesk, and there couldn’t be a clearer use case for it.Firstly, SDesk is fairly straightforward and doesn’t do all that much to separate itself from the ever-growing list of Linux distributions. Sometimes, that’s a good thing. I wasn’t sure what to expect after installing and logging into this desktop distribution, but when I did, everything was immediately familiar.Also: 6 Linux commands I can’t work without – and what I use them forSDesk opts for the GNOME desktop, which is configured to resemble a “standard” desktop that would be familiar to both Windows and MacOS users. On the interface, you’ll find a panel, a menu, a top bar, favorites, and desktop icons. On the top bar, there’s the Workspaces button (far left), the time/date (which, when clicked, opens notifications and calendar), and the system tray. More

Kerry Wan/ZDNETSamsung just announced the latest generation of Galaxy smartphones. Along with the new lineup comes new software. One UI 7 is now available for public download, and older compatible Samsung devices can also use the latest software.Also: Everything announced at Samsung Unpacked 2025: Galaxy S25 Ultra, AI features, and moreIt’s unclear when older Galaxy devices will receive the update, but the S23 and S24 series phones will likely receive it shortly after the S25 launch More