Robotics

LastPass ZDNET’s key takeaways: The LastPass plug-in can now prevent access to unapproved SaaS apps. Feature extends plug-in’s monitoring of SaaS access attempts. Passkey authentication coming by month’s end — not yet supported. Earlier this year, LastPass announced it was adding the ability for administrators of its password management solution to monitor employee usage of […] More

Adobe If you need an Adobe Creative Cloud Pro subscription<!–> for work, school, or your creative projects, but haven’t wanted to pay full price, now is a great time to buy: Adobe is running a sale for 40% off Adobe Creative Cloud individual plans–> for six months or 40% off Adobe Creative Cloud team plans<!–> […] More

Kerry Wan/ZDNETApple introduced iOS 26 to the public at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference event in early June, and since then, has been polishing the software with developers for the eventual beta release. Now that it’s finally available for everyone to test, you may be wondering if it’s worth diving straight into or waiting for the official software launch — likely sometime in September. That’s what we’re here to answer.Also: Should you buy an iPhone 16 or wait for the iPhone 17? Know this before you decideTo set the stage, Apple’s iOS 26 offers a refreshing new look, more streamlined first-party app layouts, more functionalities across popular services, and some smaller Easter egg features that greatly enhance your iPhone’s usability. My ZDNET colleague Kerry Wan and I have been testing the public beta (via Developer Beta 4) for the past few weeks, and here are our biggest takeaways so far.1. Visual Intelligence is almost ready for primetime More

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETEvery new Google email account comes with 15GB of free storage — a solid offer at no cost. However, that space can fill up fast, especially since it also covers files in Google Drive and Google Photos.If your inbox is cluttered with unread newsletters and sneaky spam, there’s a way to clean house without losing important messages. With the right approach, you can preserve what matters while giving yourself a fresh start.Also: Gmail is making it a whole lot easier to clean out your inbox on AndroidThere is always the option of manually cleaning out your Gmail inbox or downloading some material to your local drive. What a pain, though, right? And, chances are, you’ll only eliminate so much junk before those gigabytes start stacking up again.I should note that Google offers a way to pay for more storage by upgrading to a Google One account. The “Basic” plan costs $24 per year for 100GB. The free solution, however, lies in taking a few steps to back up your essential files and reset your data capacity.1. Back up your files, at least temporarilyIf you’re going through this process, you’re likely serious about retaining emails that could span years. So, as an added safety measure, it’s a good practice to back up your emails on your computer or an external hard drive before transferring them back into the cloud.Also: 6 hidden Android features every user should know – and how they make life easierTo do this, go to Google Takeout and select “Google Photos” and/or “Drive” as the products you wish to export, then follow the prompts. (Once you’ve completed the transfer, you can delete and free up your hard disk drive (HDD) for other uses.) Be aware that this process can take a while, depending on your quantity of emails and number of gigabytes. To give you an idea, CNET’s Jason Chun used Google Takeout with a test Gmail account that held about 75,000 emails, and this wholesale download took around two hours to complete.2. Prepare to transfer your Gmails to a new email accountNow that you’ve saved a copy of your emails, it’s time to transfer them. To do this:Log into your original Gmail account and click the gear icon in the top right corner. Then click “See all settings.”Select the Forwarding POP/IMAP tab. Then select the option “Enable POP for all mail.” (POP stands for Post Office Protocol).You’ll have several options under “When messages are accessed with POP.” Select delete Gmail’s copy to automatically delete the emails from your original account after the transfer.Select “Save changes.”3. Create a second (archive) account and transfer your messagesAt this point, you can create your new account and transfer all your messages there: To create a new inbox-zero Gmail account, go here. This new one will serve as your archive account. Log into your new archive account, click the gear icon in the top right, and select “See all settings.” Select the Accounts and Import tab at the top. Then select “Add a mail account” next to “Check mail from other accounts.”In the pop-up window, enter the name of your original Gmail account, then select “Next.” Select “Import emails from my other account (POP3),” and then select “Next” again. 6. Enter the password of your original Gmail account.Also: Notion Mail offers AI perks – but skips a few crucial Notion featuresNote that you might also need to whip up a temporary Google app password to sync the accounts. So, if your original Gmail account password doesn’t work at this step, visit https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords to create a temporary 16-digit passcode.Simply create a name for the password, such as “Email Transfer,” then hit “Create.” A pop-up window with your new 16-digit passcode will display. Here, you should jot it down or take a screenshot until you can discard this password. Google will only show it to you once! 7. Once you’ve synced your accounts, find Port and select “995.” 8. Next, you’ll want to check three boxes:  9. Finally, select “Add account.” More

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra <!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is on sale for $650 in four color options. Its display is vibrant and large, the battery lasts through a couple of days, and LTE is provided at no extra cost. It comes in a single 47mm size, gesture support is limited, […] More

Maria Diaz/ZDNETWhenever I hear about consumer data tracking, my half-century-old brain dredges up that Hall and Oates hit called “Private Eyes” with the refrain “they’re watching you.” I don’t mean to incite Big Brother paranoia; I know I’m not being spied on everywhere I go, especially not in the seclusion of my home. But while using streaming devices, you can almost guarantee that your entertainment and advertisement preferences are being tracked.Also: Your Apple TV is getting 5 useful features for free – including a big one for karaoke fansThe culprit is better known as Big Data — arguably less invasive and sinister, but still annoying to some people — and there are ways to mitigate that on your streaming devices if you’re one of them.While some data collection is necessary for basic functionality, many streaming devices collect more than required; so much so that you essentially lose control of your privacy, fall into filter bubbles (viewing algorithms that are narrower), and receive more targeted ads than expected. Below are some general strategies for regaining control over your privacy while using streaming services.  More

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETZDNET’s key takeawaysTariffs cost Apple approximately $800 million last quarter.That bill will go up to about $1.1 billion this quarter.Apple says 1 in 10 iPhone sales in April were due to tariff fears.Apple earnings calls usually have a theme, and there’s usually a word associated with that theme that ends up being repeated many times throughout the call. During yesterday’s call, the theme and repeated word was “tariffs.”iPhone sales were upBecause of the negative aura that surrounds that T word, Apple was keen to keep things upbeat, and with good reason. After all, iPhone sales were up 13% year over year, generating a colossal $44.6 billion in revenue. Also: Should you turn on Adaptive Power on iOS 26? Here’s my advice after testing itThe feeling among investors prior to the earnings release was that the iPhone would enjoy a bump in sales as consumers pulled the trigger on an upgrade ahead of any tariff-related increases. Apple tried to deflect from this during the earnings call by pointing out the iPhone saw “growth in every geographic segment and double-digit growth in emerging markets.” But headlines suggested tariffs could push the price of the iPhone to stratospheric levels, and that no doubt helped encourage some people to upgrade. In fact, when Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked about this during the Q&A, he said that the company estimated that “the pull forward of demand into April, specifically to be about 1 point of the 10 points in terms of people buying because of discussions about tariffs.” How, or even whether, this will affect iPhone 17 upgrades remains to be seen. Also: First look at iPhone 17 Pro? Public images seemingly confirm big design and camera changesDuring the last earnings call, Cook was keen to point out that tariffs would have an impact of around $900 million. It turned out that the impact was a little less, “approximately $800 million,” but over the following quarter, it would increase to $1.1 billion — and that number assumes nothing changes. Quite a big assumption.That’s a big chunk of change, even for a company that just posted revenues of $94 billion and a gross margin of nearly half that. And so far, Apple is shouldering that cost.  More

A few months ago, I tested a pair of Kospet Tank Ultra smartwatches and found them to be pretty compelling for their $150 price point. Since then, I acquired two new Kospet smartwatches: the Magic P10 More