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Ikea’s new $9.99 / €7.99 / £6 Trådfri Shortcut Buttons and existing $14.99 / €12.95 / £12 Trådfri Motion Sensors recently gained HomeKit support to the delight of many Apple device owners. Importantly, the addition is cumulative for the most part, allowing the Ikea devices to function with the best features of Ikea Home Smart while layering on the best of Apple.
I’ve been testing both Ikea Home Smart devices for the past few days and while setup is predictably buggy, when they’re up and running it’s glorious, especially for the price.
Motion sensors designed to work with HomeKit aren’t cheap. They range in price from $21 to $57 according to this roundup from iMore. The popular Motion sensor from Philips Hue, for example, is more capable but costs $40, or almost three times as much as Ikea’s sensor, and both require hub devices to communicate with HomeKit. The Hue Bridge costs $59.99 while the Ikea Gateway costs $29.99, although these are often discounted in bundles with compatible lights and switches. An Apple home hub is also required, which can be a HomePod, Apple TV, or iPad.
There isn’t another product quite like Ikea’s Shortcut Buttons in the HomeKit world, so it’s hard to compare pricing. Some people will repurpose the four buttons on a $24.99 Hue dimmer switch to perform HomeKit automations, but it’s not really the same, and Aqara buttons are hard to find. Ikea designed its Shortcut Buttons to operate a single scene and that’s all.
Ikea Shortcut Button
The Ikea Shortcut Buttons are meant to be scattered around the home as dedicated controllers for individual or groups of devices. Place one next to the bed to shut off all the lights, for example, without having to yell at a smart assistant or launch an app. Place another in the kitchen to play your favorite Spotify playlist on the Sonos speaker.
The magnetic buttons include a metal mounting bracket that can be screwed into a wall or attached with the double-sided tape found in the box for a less permanent option. They also ship with six stickers: three printed with icons representing nighttime, lights, and morning, and three blanks for you to illustrate yourself.
Ikea demonstrating a Shortcut Button starting a scene to The Verge in 2019.Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
The Shortcut Button can be assigned operations in both the Ikea Home Smart and Apple Home apps with cumulative results. It’s a bit confusing (and potentially conflicting), but combining the Ikea and Apple worlds makes the Shortcut Buttons much more powerful.
I defined a “Good Night” Shortcut Button in the Apple Home app that I placed on a shelf above my bed. A regular press turns off seven smart lights (a mix of Ikea and Hue) and four Sonos speakers. A long press turns on a decorative filament night light in the bedroom at 10 percent brightness. To achieve these results, I had to assign a “scene” to the Shortcut Button in the Ikea Home Smart app and also assign “actions” in the Apple Home app.
When using the Shortcut Buttons only with Ikea’s Home Smart app, you are limited to a single scene assigned to a single button press. But Ikea’s deeper Sonos integration exposes all of my Sonos speakers to the Shortcut Button, not just the newer AirPlay 2 speakers recognized by HomeKit. HomeKit improves upon Ikea Home Smart by detecting both a short press and a long press of the Shortcut Buttons. Apple also gives you the option of writing if / then / else shortcuts (confusing, I know) that can be assigned to the short and long presses instead, giving you four possible control options from a single Shortcut Button. (Here’s a useful thread explaining the steps started by u/armadawars on the HomeKit subreddit.)
So far, I’ve kept things simple. I have a scene called “Top music off” in the Home Smart app that I’ve assigned to the aforementioned “Good Night” Shortcut Button. This allows me to shut off any Sonos speakers that might be playing in, or around, my bedroom. In Apple’s Home app, I also assigned a mix of seven Philips Hue and Ikea lights to turn off with a single press of the “Good Night” Shortcut Button. I then assigned a long press to turn on the Ikea filament bulb.
I have a second Shortcut Button in my living room currently set up to control my TV and mood lighting in the Apple Home app. A short press turns on my 2020 LG OLED TV and two lights to a predefined color and brightness. A long press turns everything back off. And just because I can, I also assigned a scene to the button in the Ikea Home Smart app that starts playing a Christmas playlist on the kitchen Sonos anytime it’s pressed. It’s dumb, and my family hates it, but it makes me so damn happy.
Ikea Motion Sensor
I would have driven myself mad setting up the Ikea Trådfri Motion Sensor in HomeKit had I not first read this tip on Reddit.
Despite my Trådfri Gateway being upgraded to firmware 1.13.21 and seeing both of my existing motion sensors in the Apple Home app and the sensors tripping Ikea lights when motion was detected, neither was detecting motion according to HomeKit. To solve that, first I had to remove the motion sensor from the Gateway (four clicks on the pairing button), delete the old rooms hosting the sensors from the Ikea Home Smart app, and then re-add the sensor (two clicks holding it next to the Gateway) where it was assigned a new default room. Only then did I see motion activity detected in Apple’s Home app, allowing me to control HomeKit devices with the sensor.
As with the Shortcut Buttons, automations linked to the Ikea Motion Sensor in both the Ikea and Apple Home apps are cumulative. In my walk-in pantry, I paired an Ikea lightbulb directly to an Ikea Motion Sensor (press the link button on the Motion Sensor while holding it next to the Ikea bulb for about 10 seconds) and then set up an automation in the Apple Home app to turn on a strip of Hue lights above my kitchen cabinet, but only at night. The Ikea pantry light shuts off automatically after three minutes.
That three-minute reset built into the Ikea Motion sensor can cause conflicts with HomeKit automations. The Apple Home app lets you to assign automations to both motion and the lack of motion. It can also take a secondary action after a set period of time. For example, in the Apple Home app, I can tell the Ikea Motion Sensor to light a Hue bulb in the pantry instead, and then shut it off after one minute. However, it can’t be tripped again for another two minutes due to the three-minute sleep time, leaving me to rummage around the pantry in the dark.
Other motion sensors have much shorter reset periods, even as low as 20 seconds, which makes them much better suited for controlling lighting. Others also include temperature sensors, opening the door for even more creative automations. The Ikea Motion Sensor is basic by comparison with a price to match.
Ikea’s Motion Sensors and Shortcut Buttons are so inexpensive and useful that they’re easy to recommend, especially for homes with a mix of Ikea and Apple products already. While the Motion Sensors are available just about everywhere, the new Shortcut Buttons have only started rolling out and still can’t be found in the US. Both HomeKit devices make the smart home accessible to everyone without apps or voice commands, limited only by the smart devices you own, your ability to write HomeKit shortcuts, and your patience with fiddly smart home tech.
Amazon has opened its first cashierless store outside of the US with a new Amazon Fresh location in London, UK. The store uses the company’s Just Walk Out technology, which allows customers to pick items off shelves and take them out of the store without having to stop and pay a cashier. Billing is handled automatically, but requires customers to scan their Amazon app to enter.
The launch marks a major expansion of Amazon’s cashierless stores initiative. The technology powering the stores, which uses cameras to track shoppers and their purchases, debuted with Amazon’s first Go store in Seattle in 2016. There are now over two dozen Amazon Go stores across the US. Last year the initiative expanded with a larger grocery store called Amazon Go Grocery.
The store will sell hot and cold food, as well as other everyday essentials.Image: Amazon
Amazon says its London store, whose existence in Ealing was spotted earlier this week, will stock a range of groceries, and fresh meals. There’ll also be hot food sold under the company’s own “by Amazon” label, which it says are prepared in store. The aim is to offer customers “everything they’d want from their local neighbourhood grocery store,” the company says.
The store opened its doors at 7AM this morning, and will be open until 11PM, seven days a week. It covers 2,500 square feet making it a similar size to the company’s Amazon Go locations in the US, and a lot smaller than its first Amazon Go Grocery store. Additional stores are planned for the Greater London area, the company says.
In the UK, the company is using its Amazon Fresh branding for its cashierless store, rather than Amazon Go like it’s done stateside. Confusingly, Amazon does have an Amazon Fresh-branded store in the US in Los Angeles, but it doesn’t use the company’s cashierless technology, and relies instead on high-tech shopping carts.
Due to the pandemic, the company has a series of hygiene-focused measures in place at the store. Its maximum occupancy is limited to 20 to allow for social distancing, and there’s PPE and disposable gloves available at the store’s entrance.
WhatsApp’s desktop app for Mac and PC is getting voice and video calling today, the company announced, offering end-to-end encrypted calls to other WhatsApp users on both computers and mobile devices.
Voice and video calling isn’t a new idea for WhatsApp: the mobile apps for Android and iOS already offer the feature, and WhatsApp started to roll out the desktop calling feature to a small group of users at the end of last year. But today’s launch means that the feature is now available to all WhatsApp users on desktop, making calling a more ubiquitous feature across all WhatsApp devices.
And like the existing video calling feature, the new desktop calling promises the same end-to-end encryption — meaning that WhatsApp and Facebook can’t see or hear your calls.
The biggest missing feature is that, at least to start, the desktop app will only support one-to-one calling, not group calls. WhatsApp does promise that it’ll be expanding to include support for group voice and video calls down the line, although it hasn’t said when that will be.
To use the new video calling feature, you’ll have to set up the WhatsApp desktop app on either Mac or PC, which requires that you already be a WhatsApp user on mobile. Once you’ve installed the app on your computer, users will then scan a QR code to log in on the desktop app, after which they’ll be able to use the desktop version of WhatsApp with their usual account.
(Pocket-lint) – Fitbit offers numerous devices in the activity tracking market, from the plain and simple Inspire 2 to its top-of-the-range smartwatch Sense.
The Charge 4 is an activity tracker that sits in between the Fitbit Inspire range and the Fitbit Versa range.
We’ve compared it to its predecessor – the Charge 3 – as well as the older Charge 2 to see how the Charge devices differ and help you work out if you should upgrade.
Which Fitbit is right for me?
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Design
Charge 2: OLED tap display, buckle, stainless steel, interchangeable straps
Charge 3: OLED touchscreen, buckle, aluminium, interchangeable straps, water resistant
Charge 4: OLED touchscreen, buckle, aluminium, interchangeable straps, water resistant
The Fitbit Charge 3 and Charge 4 are virtually identical in design on the surface, but they offer a number of refinements compared to the Charge 2. Not only do they add water resistance up to 50-metres, making them both swim proof, but they also trade the stainless steel body of the Charge 2 for aluminium, resulting in 20 per cent lighter devices.
The Charge 3 and Charge 4 have smoother, sleeker finishes overall compared to the Charge 2, and they also have a more refined mechanism for changing the straps. Additionally, the Charge 3 and Charge 4 trade the physical button found on the left of the Charge 2’s display for a neater inductive button.
The Fitbit Charge 2, Charge 3 and Charge 4 all have OLED displays, but the Charge 2 is just a tap display, while the Charge 3 and Charge 4 both have touchscreen displays. The Charge 3 and Charge 4 also have 40 per cent larger displays than the Charge 2.
The three devices all have buckle fastenings and they all feature a PurePulse heart rate monitor that sits on the underside of their main bodies – more on that next.
Fitbit Charge 3 review
Specs and sensors
Charge 2: PurePulse HR monitor, connected GPS
Charge 3: PurePulse HR, SpO2 monitor, connected GPS, NFC in some models
All three Fitbit Charge devices being compared here have a PurePulse optical heart rate monitor, offering automatic and continuous heart rate tracking. They also all have an accelerometer, altimeter and vibration motor.
The Charge 3 and Charge 4 both have relative SpO2 sensors too, allowing users to view a graph in the Fitbit app to see an estimate of the oxygen level variability in your bloodstream, which is designed to help show variations in your breathing during sleep.
In terms of GPS, the Charge 2 and Charge 3 both offer connected GPS, using your smartphone for the GPS signal meaning you’ll need to bring it with you when you go for a run or walk if you want detailed map data. The Charge 4 however, offers built-in GPS. There are seven GPS-enabled exercise modes to choose from.
The Charge 3 and Charge 4 also both have NFC on board, allowing you to pay with your activity tracker at contactless terminals through Fitbit Pay. While the NFC chip comes as standard on the Charge 4 however, it’s only available in the Special Edition models of the Charge 3.
Features
Charge 2: Activity and sleep monitoring, auto exercise recognition, multi-sport tracking, smartphone alerts
Charge 3: Adds swim tracking, goal-based exercise, run detect with auto stop, accept/reject calls, quick replies, NFC (Special Edition), Active Zone Minutes
Charge 4: Adds Spotify support, Smart Wake
The Fitbit Charge 2, 3 and 4 all feature all-day activity tracking (steps, distance, calories, floors climbed, activity minutes, hourly activity, stationary time) and sleep monitoring with sleep stages and sleep score. They also all allow you to see daily stats on their displays, along with smartphone notifications – the latter of which are more advanced on the Charge 3 and 4.
Other features found on all three devices include SmartTrack, which automatically recognises when you exercise, Multi-Sport tracking, Cardio Fitness Level, which allows users to see a personalised Cardio score and Guided Breathing, which offers personalised breathing sessions based on your heart rate.
In addition to all the features offered on the Charge 2, the Charge 3 and Charge 4 also both have swim tracking on board, Goal-Based Exercise, Run Detect with auto stop, a timer option and weather information. It’s also possible to accept or reject calls and send Quick Replies if you are an Android user.
There’s also a feature called Active Zone Minutes. This feature uses your personalised heart rate zones to track your effort for any energising activity, allowing you to earn credit towards the recommended 150-minute weekly goal for each minute of moderate activity in the fat burn zone and double the credit for vigorous activity in cardio and peak zones.
Adding to the Charge 3’s features, the Charge 4 offers Spotify support for control of Spotify on your phone, as well as Smart Wake, which uses machine learning to wake you at the optimal time – a feature that was previously only available on Fitbit smartwatches.
Price and conclusion
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The Fitbit Charge 2 and Special Edition models aren’t available through Fitbit anymore, but you can still get hold of it online at retailers like Amazon. We’d recommend looking at the Charge 3 before you do though as that is the superior device in many ways and there might not be much difference in price.
The Fitbit Charge 3 could be a good option for some, especially given the design is the same as the Charge 4. It has a great feature set and you might find it at a decent price compared to the Charge 4.
With built-in GPS on the Charge 4 however, and the extra additional features like Spotify control, that’s the model to go for if your budget allows. The built-in GPS means it also makes for a decent upgrade, to both the Charge 3 and 2 but you’ll see an even bigger difference if you have the Charge 2.
CircuitPython, Adafruit’s enhanced fork of the MicroPython language, runs on nearly 200 different microcontroller boards, including the Raspberry Pi Pico, and it could soon become an operating system for regular (non-Pico) Raspberry Pis. While appearing as a guest on the Tom’s Hardware Pi Cast this week, CircuitPython Programming Lead Scott Shawcroft told us that he wants to create a version of the language that single-board computers like the Raspberry Pi Zero, Pi 4 and Pi 400 can boot straight into, without the overhead of a full operating system.
“I’d like to get CircuitPython running on the Raspberry Pi alone, without Linux underneath it,” Shawcroft said in response to our questions about whether he plans to add Pico VGA output support to the languages. “So, when I think of ‘I want to interface with a TV’ sorts of tasks, I want to actually go the route of getting CircuitPython running the A series chips on the regular Raspberry Pis instead of putting my time into the VGA sorts of things on the Pico, because that’s super limited.”
Recently, a number of Raspberry Pi Pico projects have used the chip’s ability to output to VGA. Ben Stragnell created a Pico-powered NES emulator and, on another recent episode of the Pi Cast, Raspberry Pi Pico SDK author Graham Sanderson showed off a BBC Micro emulator he had created for the microcontroller. However, to Shawcroft’s point, the Pico and its 133 MHz RP2040 processor will never provide the kind of high-res, high refresh rate video out that a regular Pi can.
“If we can get CircuitPython running on a CM4, a Pi 4 or a Pi 400, that means that you can have that nostalgia programming experience on a 4K display or two 4K displays and, if we’re running native on the devices, we can still have that experience of like plug it in and it shows up as a drive, depending on how its connected,” Shawcroft said.
Aside from just allowing better video out than a Pico can handle, bringing CircuitPython to Raspberry Pi as an OS would have other advantages. It would likely allow a regular Raspberry Pi to act more like a microcontroller, booting and running its default program almost instantly and turning off without the need for a safe-shutdown process.
We got more details about this idea from Shawcroft after the show was over and he noted that, while he thinks that bootable CircuitPython for Raspberry Pi will happen, it’s just an idea at this point with no scheduled rollout.
A more immediate priority, which Shawcroft is starting to work on now, is creating the framework for users to edit CircuitPython over Bluetooth LE from mobile devices. So anyone who only has access to a phone or tablet will be able to edit code on a Bluetooth-enabled microcontroller using a mobile app or perhaps a browser. This will allow children, who may not have PCs, to get in on the programming experience.
Whenever bootable CircuitPython comes to Raspberry Pi, its workflow could take one of several forms. First, if the Pi supports USB host mode as Pi 4 and Zero do, you would be able to connect it to a PC and have it appear as a storage device you can write files to, much in the way you write files to CircuitPython-powered microcontrollers.
However, it’s also possible that the Pi could boot to a command interpreter that looks and acts similar to the way people programmed in BASIC on a Commodore 64. Shawcroft has actually played around with this mode of Python input and placed a demo of it, along with an animation of the demo in action, on his github. You also might be able to program the Pi via Bluetooth LE.
Even though there’s no bootable version yet, Raspberry Pi users do have a way to use CircuitPython right now. The Adafruit Blinka library for Python, which you can install via pip, allows you to add CircuitPython code to regular Python programs.
While Shawcroft may not have time to work on bootable CircuitPython for a while, he noted that other developers are free and encouraged to take up the project.
“If folks like this idea, then I’d encourage them to reach out to help make it happen,” he said. “We’re always looking for more CircuitPython contributors. My highest priority is always to support others working on CircuitPython so I’m happy to give guidance and get things merged into CircuitPython proper. I’d love to see CircuitPython supported directly on Pis and other single board computers.”
The YouTube app on older Apple TV models has officially been discontinued as of today. If you have a third-generation device (the 2012-era model that predated the modern tvOS-based set-top boxes), you’ll only be able to stream YouTube through an iOS device using AirPlay starting today, as noted by 9to5Mac.
While the news has been known for a while, the change highlights a key issue with the Apple TV ecosystem. Namely, that it’s been nearly three and a half years since Apple has last updated its streaming box hardware.
If you own the old model with the now defunct YouTube app, your only Apple-made option is the Apple TV 4K, released in September 2017. That’s particularly problematic, given that the Apple TV 4K still starts at $179 (with a pricier 64GB model that offers double the storage for $199), despite being released years ago.
That’s in stark comparison to competitors like Amazon, Google, and Roku, which have released newer streaming products that offer the same (if not better) features than Apple’s outdated box at far lower prices. Roku’s flagship streaming box, the Roku Ultra, costs $99 — nearly half the price of the entry-level Apple TV 4K — while supporting 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, and Apple’s own AirPlay 2 streaming. The $50 Streaming Stick Plus offers 4K and HDR (without Dolby Vision) for those looking to save even more money.
Amazon’s Fire TV Cube costs $119.99 and offers similar high-end streaming specs, while also doubling as a full-fledged Echo speaker. Like Roku, Amazon also has its cheaper $50 Fire TV Stick 4K, which offers the full gamut of streaming support (Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, HDR10+, and HDR10) without the added Alexa speaker.
And of course, there’s Google’s latest Chromecast, which costs just $50, offers excellent content curation, supports 4K, HDR, Dolby Atmos, and Dolby Vision, and remains The Verge’s best choice for a streaming stick in 2021.
With more and more apps starting to end support for Apple’s older streaming boxes (CBS All Access has already announced that it’ll be enacting a similar change when Paramount Plus launches), the problem of the Apple TV’s outdated hardware and pricing are only going to continue to grow.
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Calling the 2021 Motorola Moto G Stylus the best budget stylus phone feels a bit like a backhanded compliment. There’s more or less just one other contender for that title, the LG Stylo 6, which is too underpowered to recommend. But the G Stylus doesn’t just win by default; it’s actually a well-rounded and capable phone for under $300.
It offers a big 6.8-inch 1080p screen, a generous 128GB of built-in storage, and a Snapdragon 678 processor with 4GB of RAM. Motorola introduced it earlier this year with a $299 MSRP, though it’s now selling for $279 from the manufacturer and other retailers.
Other highlights include a 48-megapixel main camera accompanied by ultrawide and macro rear cameras, a 4,000mAh battery, a “water-repellant” design, and a fingerprint sensor embedded in the recessed power button. It’s a well-rounded set of features for a budget device, even without considering the G Stylus’ headline feature.
The G Stylus includes apps for note-taking, doodling, and coloring.
Moto G Stylus (2021) stylus features
The main selling point is definitely the G Stylus’ stylus, so let’s cover that first. Like the Stylo 6, the G Stylus includes a built-in capacitive stylus tucked into the bottom-right corner of the device. Popping it out brings up a quick menu of shortcuts to stylus-friendly apps.
There’s a note-taking app and a shortcut to take and annotate a screenshot. You can also jot down a quick note without unlocking the screen. It’s a basic set of features — nothing too advanced like what the Galaxy Note series offers — but with a couple of neat bonuses.
With AI, the phone can recognize what you’re trying to draw and turn it into a coloring book template.
First, messaging apps support handwriting-to-text conversion. This is a Gboard setting you can enable on any Android device, but it’s available by default on the G Stylus. Pressing the “globe” icon to the left of the spacebar opens up the handwriting panel. Write your message, and watch it appear in the text line above.
The Moto G Stylus’ other trick is the ability to create cinemagraphs, still images with a moving element. To create one, you’ll basically take a short video clip, holding the camera still. Then you use the stylus to draw on the areas of the scene with motion. The rest will remain frozen as a still image. You don’t necessarily need a stylus for this, but the added precision is helpful. Results can be saved as an MP4 or a GIF. The app does a decent job of stabilizing a handheld image for a more convincing final product, though the resulting clip is fairly low-res. Still, it’s fun to play with.
While the LG Stylo 6’s stylus features felt a little more fun and creativity-focused, the Moto G is a little more no-nonsense. Sure, there’s a coloring book app that does a neat trick of using AI to identify a rudimentary sketch of a cat and turn it into a template for your digital “crayons.” But where’s the animated GIF creator? Or an app that records as you sketch so you can text your friends and show off your mad doodling skills? These things exist in third-party apps, no doubt. But the native feature set feels, for better or worse, a little more grown-up.
The Moto G Stylus features a big 6.8-inch screen.
Moto G Stylus (2021) screen and performance
The Stylus’ screen is nothing fancy — standard 60Hz refresh rate LCD — but it’s a decently bright and large 6.8-inch 1080p display. The phone itself is, naturally, also large and on the heavier side, but the slightly rounded edges of its back panel make it more comfortable to hold than its dimensions suggest. It looks a little ridiculous peeking out of the top of a yoga pants pocket, but this stylus-packing device was never meant to be ultra pocketable.
The G Stylus uses a Snapdragon 678 processor with 4GB of RAM, and this combination feels more than adequate for day-to-day tasks. Apps load quickly, and jumping between them feels snappy. There are some occasional hiccups and slight slowdowns when scrolling through media-rich apps like Twitter, but nothing that feels too frustrating.
Battery life is also good — not outstanding but thoroughly sufficient. Motorola claims the Stylus will get two days to a single charge, which feels like a little bit of a stretch in my experience. More importantly, I had no problem getting through a full day, including two-plus hours of screen time, with plenty of battery life left to spare. Motorola includes a 10W charger, which it calls “Turbo Power” when it’s connected. Charging speeds are more average than “Turbo”: 10 minutes of charge got me an extra 10 percent, and it took about 40 minutes total to bring an 80 percent battery up to full charge.
The Moto G Stylus ships with Android 10 and is expected to get an update to Android 11. Motorola doesn’t say exactly when, but G Stylus owners can keep an eye on the company’s software update page for more information. Motorola’s budget device support isn’t great; the phone will get just two years of security updates, ending in January 2023. Samsung recently announced that even its budget A-series Galaxy phones will now be guaranteed four years of security updates. Hopefully, that’s a policy more manufacturers like Motorola will consider adopting.
The Stylus includes standard wide, ultrawide, and macro rear cameras.
Moto G Stylus (2021) camera
The triple camera on the G Stylus is the same found on the $400-ish Motorola One 5G Ace, with the addition of a dedicated depth sensor. To recap, that includes a 48-megapixel f/1.7 main camera that produces 12-megapixel images, an 8-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide, and a 2-megapixel macro camera.
There are no surprises here. Like the Ace, the G Stylus is capable of good-quality images in bright light, particularly from the main camera. Downsampling from 48 megapixels to 12 allows it to capture plenty of detail, but if you look close, you’ll see some crunchy-looking sharpening. Colors are reproduced well, without looking overly saturated. As an exception, the camera seems to boost saturation and warmth when it identifies a subject as food. The results are more appetizing, if a little unnatural.
Taken with ultrawide lens
Taken with ultrawide lens
Unfortunately, the ultrawide camera is less good. Even photos taken in bright light show smeary details and some ugly noise. A photo I took of a city street has an unusual purple tint, while a photo from the main camera in the same spot looks much better. This is all evident even at smaller image sizes for social sharing, which is unfortunate. The macro camera is bad, but the selfie camera is a little sharper and better than expected from a budget phone. Win some, lose some.
While the camera system on the Ace was a bit of a letdown, it feels about right on the less expensive Moto G Stylus. You won’t find an amazing night mode or top-notch picture quality here, but for a sub-$300 phone, it does the job just fine.
The G Stylus is a well-rounded budget device, even if you don’t care about its pen-focused features.
The Moto G Stylus is a well-rounded budget phone that also happens to have a stylus. Of Motorola’s 2021 budget devices that I’ve tested so far, this one offers the best balance of features and cost-saving measures. It has a big display, stylus features, good battery life, and solid everyday performance. The cameras, though flawed, are good enough to get by.
This is the obvious choice for someone looking for a budget stylus phone, but I hesitate to recommend it to everyone else. The $299 OnePlus Nord N10 5G offers a faster refresh rate screen, a better camera, and slightly better performance for nearly the same price. If you can afford to spend a bit more, the $349 Google Pixel 4A will offer better software support and a great camera.
If you’re a stylus devotee or even just strongly stylus-curious, the Moto G Stylus is a good choice. But if you’re ambivalent toward the stylus, you might be better off with one of these other options.
Microsoft’s newest Garage app, the company’s brand for more experimental apps, is Group Transcribe, which lets groups of people capture real-time collective meeting transcriptions using their phones. It’s available for free right now on iOS.
“This app uses a multi-device approach to provide real-time, high quality transcription and translation, so users can be more present and productive during in-person meetings and conversations,” Microsoft’s Lainie Huston said in a blog post.
Here’s how it works. Everyone who wants to participate in the group transcription needs to download the Group Transcribe app. Then, one person kicks off a transcription, and they can invite others to join by sharing a five-letter conversation code, a QR code, or by joining the group transcription with nearby sharing over Bluetooth.
Then, the app will begin transcribing the group’s conversation, noting who said what. Group Transcribe can even also auto-translate things people say and show those translations in line as part of the transcription. Transcriptions are saved in the app so you can review or share them after a meeting.
Here’s a screenshot of what the transcriptions and translations look like:
Image: Microsoft
Microsoft suggests that each person participating in the meeting should use their own phone “within arm’s reach” to have “the highest quality experience.” And in an FAQ, Microsoft says Group Transcribe doesn’t have a limit to how many people can join a transcription, but it notes that the app works best for “in-person meetings [with] up to four people.”
Microsoft doesn’t require you to sign in with any sort of account to use the app — you just have to enter your name and your preferred language. The app does send data to the cloud as part of the transcription and speaker identification process, but Microsoft lets you choose whether you want to share meeting recordings with the company that it will use to help improve Microsoft’s speech recognition technologies. And if you’re making a group transcription, everyone in the group needs to have agreed to share recordings before one is shared with Microsoft.
You can read more about the app and its privacy features in Microsoft’s FAQ.
There’s nothing like an explosion of blockchain news to leave you thinking, “Um… what’s going on here?” That’s the feeling I’ve experienced while reading about Grimes getting millions of dollars for NFTs or about Nyan Cat being sold as one.
You might be wondering: what is an NFT, anyhow?
After literal hours of reading, I think I know. I also think I’m going to cry.
Okay, let’s start with the basics. What is an NFT? What does NFT stand for?
Non-fungible token.
That doesn’t make it any clearer.
Right, sorry. “Non-fungible” more or less means that it’s unique and can’t be replaced with something else. For example, a bitcoin is fungible — trade one for another bitcoin, and you’ll have exactly the same thing. A one-of-a-kind trading card, however, is non-fungible. If you traded it for a different card, you’d have something completely different. You gave up a Squirtle, and got a 1909 T206 Honus Wagner, which StadiumTalk calls “the Mona Lisa of baseball cards.” (I’ll take their word for it.)
How do NFTs work?
At a very high level, most NFTs are part of the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum is a cryptocurrency, like bitcoin or dogecoin, but its blockchain also supports these NFTs, which store extra information that makes them work differently from, say, an ETH coin. It is worth noting that other blockchains can implement their own versions of NFTs. (Some already have.)
What’s worth picking up at the NFT supermarket?
NFTs can really be anything digital (such as drawings, music, your brain downloaded and turned into an AI), but a lot of the current excitement is around using the tech to sell digital art.
You mean, like, people buying my good tweets?
I don’t think anyone can stop you, but that’s not really what I meant. A lot of the conversation is about NFTs as an evolution of fine art collecting, only with digital art.
Do people really think this will become like art collecting?
I’m sure some people really hope so — like whoever paid almost $390,000 for a 50-second video by Grimes or the person who paid $6.6 million for a video by Beeple. Actually, one of Beeple’s pieces is being auctioned at Christie’s, the famou—
Yoink!Image: Beeple
Sorry, I was busy right-clicking on that Beeple video and downloading the same file the person paid millions of dollars for.
Wow, rude. But yeah, that’s where it gets a bit awkward. You can copy a digital file as many times as you want, including the art that’s included with an NFT.
But NFTs are designed to give you something that can’t be copied: ownership of the work (though the artist can still retain the copyright and reproduction rights, just like with physical artwork). To put it in terms of physical art collecting: anyone can buy a Monet print. But only one person can own the original.
No shade on Beeple, but the video isn’t really a Monet.
What do you think of the $3,600 Gucci Ghost?
This last sold for $3,600, but the current owner is asking for $16,300.GIF by Trevor Andrew
Also, if I got a Monet, I could appreciate it as a physical object. With digital art, a copy is literally as good as the original.
But the flex of owning an original Beeple…
What’s the point?
That really depends on whether you’re an artist or a buyer.
I’m an artist.
First off: I’m proud of you. Way to go. You might be interested in NFTs because it gives you a way to sell work that there otherwise might not be much of a market for. If you come up with a really cool digital sticker idea, what are you going to do? Sell it on the iMessage App Store? No way.
Also, NFTs have a feature that you can enable that will pay you a percentage every time the NFT is sold or changes hands, making sure that if your work gets super popular and balloons in value, you’ll see some of that benefit.
I’m a buyer.
One of the obvious benefits of buying art is it lets you financially support artists you like, and that’s true with NFTs (which are way trendier than, like, Telegram stickers). Buying an NFT also usually gets you some basic usage rights, like being able to post the image online or set it as your profile picture. Plus, of course, there are bragging rights that you own the art, with a blockchain entry to back it up.
No, I meant I’m a collector.
Ah, okay, yes. NFTs can work like any other speculative asset, where you buy it and hope that the value of it goes up one day, so you can sell it for a profit. I feel kind of dirty for talking about that, though.
So every NFT is unique?
In the boring, technical sense that every NFT is a unique token on the blockchain. But while it could be like a van Gogh, where there’s only one definitive actual version, it could also be like a trading card, where there’s 50 or hundreds of numbered copies of the same artwork.
Who would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for what basically amounts to a trading card?
Well, that’s part of what makes NFTs so messy. Some people treat them like they’re the future of fine art collecting (read: as a playground for the mega-rich), and some people treat them like Pokémon cards (where they’re accessible to normal people but also a playground for the mega-rich). Speaking of Pokémon cards, Logan Paul just sold some NFTs relating to a million-dollar box of the—
Please stop. I hate where this is going.
You’ve activated my trap card (which sold for $17,000).Image by Logan Paul
Yeah, he sold NFT video clips, which are just clips from a video you can watch on YouTube anytime you want, for up to $20,000. He also sold NFTs of a Logan Paul Pokémon card.
Who paid $20,000 for a video clip of Logan Paul?!
A fool and their money are soon parted, I guess?
It would be hilarious if Logan Paul decided to sell 50 more NFTs of the exact same video.
Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda (who also sold some NFTs that included a song) actually talked about that. It’s totally a thing someone could do if they were, in his words, “an opportunist crooked jerk.” I’m not saying that Logan Paul is that, just that you should be careful who you buy from.
Can I buy this article as an NFT?
No, but technically anything digital could be sold as an NFT. deadmau5 has sold digital animated stickers. William Shatner has sold Shatner-themed trading cards (one of which was apparently an X-ray of his teeth).
This one I like. Maybe not for $700, but…Image by deadmau5 and Mad Dog Jones
Gross. Actually, could I buy someone’s teeth as an NFT?
There have been some attempts at connecting NFTs to real-world objects, often as a sort of verification method. Nike has patented a method to verify sneakers’ authenticity using an NFT system, which it calls CryptoKicks. But so far, I haven’t found any teeth, no. I’m scared to look.
Look? Where?
There are several marketplaces that have popped up around NFTs, which allow people to buy and sell. These include OpenSea, Rarible, and Grimes’ choice, Nifty Gateway, but there are plenty of others.
I’ve heard there were kittens involved. Tell me about the kittens.
NFTs really became technically possible when the Ethereum blockchain added support for them as part of a new standard. Of course, one of the first uses was a game called CryptoKitties that allowed users to trade and sell virtual kittens. Thank you, internet.
I love kittens.
Not as much as the person who paid over $170,000 for one.
My face when I’m worth $170K.Image: Cryptokitties.co
Arrrrrggggg!
Same. But in my opinion, the kittens show that one of the most interesting aspects of NFTs (for those of us not looking to create a digital dragon’s lair of art) is how they can be used in games. There are already games that let you have NFTs as items. One even sells virtual plots of land as NFTs. There could be opportunities for players to buy a unique in-game gun or helmet or whatever as an NFT, which would be a flex that most people could actually appreciate.
Could I pull off a museum heist to steal NFTs?
This image is not an NFT. Yet.Image: Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers
That depends. Part of the allure of blockchain is that it stores a record of each time a transaction takes place, making it harder to steal and flip than, say, a painting hanging in a museum. That said, cryptocurrencies have been stolen before, so it really would depend on how the NFT is being stored and how much work a potential victim would be willing to put in to get their stuff back.
Note: Please don’t steal.
Should I be worried about digital art being around in 500 years?
Probably. Bit rot is a real thing: image quality deteriorates, file formats can’t be opened anymore, websites go down, people forget the password to their wallets. But physical art in museums is also shockingly fragile.
I want to maximize my blockchain use. Can I buy NFTs with cryptocurrencies?
Yes. Probably. A lot of the marketplaces accept Ethereum. But technically, anyone can sell an NFT, and they could ask for whatever currency they want.
Will trading my Logan Paul NFTs contribute to global warming and melt Greenland?
It’s definitely something to look out for. Since NFTs use the same blockchain technology as cryptocurrencies, they could also end up using a lot of electricity per transaction. There are people working on mitigations for this issue, which is great because I don’t want to set the world on fire for CryptoKitties, much less Logan Paul.
Can I build an underground art cave / bunker to store my NFTs?
Well, like cryptocurrencies, NFTs are stored in digital wallets (though it is worth noting that the wallet does specifically have to be NFT-compatible). You could always put the wallet on a computer in an underground bunker, though.
(Pocket-lint) – Whether you want to save money or water – or both – employing a top smart sprinkler controller is the easiest way to improve your irrigation system.
Installing one not only means your pipes and valves will be able to operate more efficiently, but you also get the added bonus of never having to mindlessly hose down the lawn again. And, even better, old-style systems that relied on your manual input are now being superseded by more modern equivalents, which automatically adapt to weather forecasts, give you anytime app control and link-up with smart assistants.
It’s still a difficult area of the smart garden to pick through, however, which is why we’re here to guide you. Below, we’ve detailed some of the top picks to help keep your grass greener than the other side.
Best smart sprinkler controllers you can buy
Orbit
Orbit B-hyve
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Orbit’s B-hyve takes inspiration from some of the more classic sprinkler controllers and bakes in extra smarts to give you greater control.
Users can set timers manually, or, alternatively, can rely on the device’s weather-based software to create a custom plan. This can even take into account your garden’s conditions, including any slopes, the soil type, and sun/shade levels.
The B-hyve is also relatively simple to install and can be placed either indoors or outdoors. Whether you need to access the full wiring terminal or the plug-and-go line cord, the design makes this very straightforward.
Rachio
Rachio 8ZULWC-L
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Rachio’s eight-zone sprinkler unit is a bit more basic than others when it comes to manual control, but it excels in its automatic features.
Once set up, which should take around 30 minutes, the 8ZULWC-L is able to easily distinguish when a sprinkle is necessary, with the user able to skip when it’s raining, windy or freezing. Seasonal shifts can be set within the app, too, as well as a manual start, pause or stop of the watering.
For those who would rather use voice control, the unit is even able to link up with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant and begin cycles.
RainMachine
RainMachine Touch HD-12
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You want your sprinklers to gain some smart control, but you also want the unit to look a bit more stylish on your wall than the classic, barebones panel. Enter, then, Rainmachine’s Touch HD-12.
You get all the standard smart features here, such as schedules that automatically adjust to the forecast – even when Wi-Fi is down.
What you really pay for, though, is that beautiful display. It’s able to give you a nice visual of the 12 zones you can control, giving you the choice to create, edit and begin the watering schedule directly from the wall.
Of course, there is app and voice assistant support, too, which allows for on-the-fly sprinkling when you’re not at home.
Rain Bird
Rain Bird ST8I-2.0
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Rain Bird’s ST8I-2.0 follows the more traditional design for sprinkler controllers, but don’t let its looks deceive – this is one smart piece of kit.
It’s able to easily connect to your phone and the companion app, as well as Amazon Alexa for voice control. This allows for on-the-go adjustments to timers, as well as manually through the control panel.
Like others, the real efficiency boost comes from the device’s automatically adjusting watering schedules, which are based on local weather, temperature, humidity and more.
Netro
Netro Smart Sprinkler Controller
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Netro’s sprinkler controller offers the clean, modern look of a smart home hub and a super-simple setup, making it a great pick for watering newcomers.
There are six zones you can control through the panel, and it’s able to dynamically create and adjust watering schedules based on the local forecast.
Handily, it’s also able to automatically comply with restrictions in your area, too, and you can always adjust things manually while on the move thanks to the very intuitive companion app.
(Pocket-lint) – Samsung’s Neo QLED TVs employ a revolutionary new LED backlight that’s significantly smaller and more efficient than previous generations. This enables the manufacturer to squeeze extra LEDs behind the panel, allowing for increased dimmable zones and greater precision.
This approach is generally referred to as Mini LED, and should not be confused with Micro LED, which is a completely different self-emissive display technology. However, Mini LED does promise to significantly improve local dimming and reduce unwanted blooming – all at an affordable price.
The QN95A is the flagship 4K TV from Samsung for 2021, and not only incorporates this Mini LED backlight but, in a change from last year, also includes the majority of features found on the high-end 8K models. So you’re not forced to buy the higher resolution TVs to get all the latest gizmos.
So just how jaw-dropping is Mini LED in the Samsung QN95A (which is the QN90A in other territories)? Spoiler alert: it’s very impressive indeed.
Design, connections and control: Slimmed down minimalism
Slimmer One Connect Box
Single fibre optic cable that includes power
4x HDMI inputs with eARC, 3x USB; Ethernet
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2
Along with those increased number of dimming zones, the QN95A includes a slimmed down One Connect box (where the connections go – it’s not on the TV’s frame as a result), comprehensive smart platform, AI processing, extensive gaming features, and Object Tracking Sound.
Plus, the QN95A is a gorgeous piece of industrial design, with a minimalist appearance, nearly bezel-less screen, and speakers cleverly hidden in the edges of the panel. The stand is well-made, providing solid support, and can be installed on a narrow surface.
It’s a testament to the smaller LEDs used that Samsung is able to cram a full-array backlight into a chassis only 15mm deep. It also means the QN95A looks great wall-mounted (using the optional ‘No Gap’ bracket), and the single cable from the One Connect box makes installation tidier.
The new slimmed-down One Connect box is sleeker and more elegant. Its reduced size is also discreeter, making it easier to hide away. The textured matte finish is also preferable, because the earlier glossy black boxes tended to attract fingerprints and smudges.
The box houses four HDMI inputs, one of which (HDMI 3) supports eARC. All of the HDMI inputs are capable of handling 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM, making this TV a great choice for next-gen gamers who want to take full advantage of their new consoles.
What is HDMI eARC? Why is it different to HDMI ARC?
There are also two USB 2.0 inputs, twin tuners for terrestrial and satellite broadcasts, a CI slot, an optical digital output, and an Ethernet port. In terms of wireless connections, there’s Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and support for Apple AirPlay 2.
The sleek metal Solar Cell remote is ergonomically-shaped, making it comfortable to hold and easy to use with one hand. While essentially the same as last year, the new zapper sports a solar panel on the back that recharges the batteries – making it eco-friendly and economic.
Features: Mini LED and multi-intelligent processing
Processing engine: Neo Quantum 4K Processor with AI
100% of DCI-P3 colour, 2000nits of peak brightness
Anti-reflection screen and Ultra Viewing Angle
HDR Support: HDR10, HLG, HDR10+ Adaptive
The Samsung QN95A’s main selling point is its use of a Mini LED backlight, made possible by a newly-designed micro layer that contains LEDs significantly smaller than previous generations. This is possible due to the elimination of the protective packaging and lens around the diode, allowing for thinner panels, more LEDs, and an increased number of dimmable zones.
There are 792 zones in the QN95A – a big increase on the 480 zones used previously – but upping the number of zones also requires more processing power, so a new local dimming algorithm redirects power from darker areas to improve efficiency and peak brightness. All while the Quantum Matrix system coordinates all the zones, and the Black Detail Boost feature increases shadow detail.
The new Neo Quantum Processor increases the processing power by employing multi-intelligence deep learning. Instead of a single neural network, this processor combines up 16 to create a neural analyser specialised for upscaling and processing video. All this added power is designed to deliver the best possible experience, regardless of what you’re watching.
The QN95A supports high dynamic range (HDR) in the form of HDR10, HLG (hybrid log-gamma), and HDR10+ Adaptive. The last of which uses dynamic metadata designed to adapt the tone-mapping on a scene-by-scene basis, and now employs a sensor to customise the performance based on the ambient lighting conditions in your room.
The combination of Mini LED and Quantum Dot tech ensures brightness levels and a colour gamut that’s tailor-made for HDR. Samsung claims a peak luminance of 2,000 nits. In our measurements the QN95A topped 2,800 nits in Dynamic Mode, although the more accurate Filmmaker Mode maxed out at 1,700 nits.
What is QLED and Quantum Dot?
In terms of the colour gamut, this reached 94 per cent of DCI-P3 – not quite the claimed 100 per cent but still impressive given the overall brightness. It’s the combination of very bright peak highlights combined with saturated colours at increased luminance levels that gives QLED an inherent advantage over OLED when it comes to delivering impactful HDR.
The Filmmaker Mode was introduced in 2020, and is designed to deliver an image that represents the content creator’s original intentions. It uses brightness and colour settings to match the industry standards, and turns off any unnecessary processing or frame interpolation.
What is Filmmaker Mode and why does it matter?
Other features introduced previously and continued into 2021 include the anti-reflection screen and Ultra Viewing Angle technology. The former is designed to reduce reflections from ambient light in the room, and works well, making this an effective TV for daytime viewing. The latter reduces the colour and contrast drop-off experienced when viewing LCD TVs at extreme angles.
The processor doesn’t just improve the picture quality, it also analyses the audio signal and optimises the sonic performance based on the TV’s location in your room. Other acoustic features include Adaptive Sound+, with Active Voice Amplifier for clearer dialogue, and Adaptive Volume that adjusts the volume based on content.
Samsung
The QN95A supports Object Tracking Sound Plus (OTS+), which uses eight speakers and 70W of amplification to produce a more immersive audio experience. There are four speakers along the bottom for the left, right and centre channels, along with a pair of woofers and two speakers at the top for greater immersion.
This particular model also supports Q Symphony, so when combined with a compatible Samsung soundbar, the system employs the TV’s top speakers to give the overall soundstage a greater sense of height and immersion.
Finally there’s the new Tap View feature, which allows owners of compatible Samsung smartphones to instantaneously connect by simply tapping the phone against the TV’s chassis.
Picture quality: Impressive local dimming
The Samsung QN95A certainly delivers when it comes to picture performance, with all those extra zones put to good use. It’s relatively easy to add lots of zones behind an LCD panel, what’s considerably more difficult is orchestrating them in a way that delivers the deepest blacks and the brightest highlights without causing blooming or losing details in the shadows.
Samsung has always employed a highly effective local dimming algorithm in its TVs, and the latest iteration continues that tradition. The results are genuinely impressive, with the blacks appearing deep and inky, while the highlights are free of blooming. This is best demonstrated by the scene in First Man where the Apollo command module orbits into the shadow of the moon.
Samsung
In this sequence the screen goes completely black and then the surface of the brightly-lit Moon gradually appears through the spaceship’s window. This scene is incredibly difficult for any display that uses local dimming, but the QN95A does an excellent job of highlighting the details in the moon’s surface through the window without introducing haloing or other artefacts.
The QN95A also handles bright colourful HDR images with skill, allowing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 to take full advantage of the wider gamut offered by the format. The scenes on Ego’s planet are a riot of Day-Glo colours that pop with comic book vibrancy.
The same is true of Pan, where the Samsung delivers the film’s exaggerated colour scheme correctly, and reproduces the arriving-in-Neverland sequence with no clipping and a clearly defined sun setting over the mountain. This proves the QN95A is correctly tone-mapping HDR10 content, and retaining the original creative intent.
The film Overlord mainly takes place at night, and is often a very dark, but the Samsung handles this difficult material very well, delivering deep blacks, excellent shadow detail, and highlights where necessary. The TV also renders all the subtle differences in the film’s primarily green and brown colour design very effectively.
The QN95A is equally impressive when it comes to motion handling, with 24p content looking smooth, and free of judder or unwanted artefacts. The Picture Clarity motion settings apply frame interpolation, resulting in smoothing, which can be useful with sport, while the LED Clear Motion setting uses black frame insertion, darkening the image, but improving the motion.
Samsung
The built-in apps deliver excellent 4K and HDR images, and in the case of Amazon Prime there’s the added enhancement of HDR10+. The levels of detail and contrast are equally as impressive when watching Netflix, Apple TV+ and Disney+, despite the lack of Dolby Vision support.
What is Dolby Vision? Dolby’s own HDR tech explained
Since the QN95A uses an LCD panel, there’s no danger of screen burn. It also offers a host of features aimed at next-gen gamers, including VRR (variable refresh rate) for syncing the TV’s refresh rate with the console’s frame rate, thus reducing tearing. There’s also support for 4K at 120Hz, along with AMD Freesync Premium Pro and Nvidia G-Sync.
There’s ALLM for automatically detecting a console and selecting the Game mode, which results in a class-leading input lag of 9.2ms. The Game Motion Plus is designed to smooth out motion, but in doing so it does increase the lag to 14ms – although that’s still very respectable. If all that isn’t enough, the QN95A even supports the 21:9 and 32:9 ultra-wide aspect ratio options offered by a number of PC games.
What is ALLM and VRR? TV gaming tech explained
Samsung has realised that with so many different gaming options and features now available, it’s easy to lose track of what exactly you’ve selected. The solution is the new Game Bar, which pops up when a game source is detected to provide at-a-glance key information. This includes HDR, frame rate, VRR, and key gaming picture adjustments.
Pocket-lint
Finally there’s a multi-view mode that allows users to watch two different sources simultaneously. You can adjust the size of the two picture-in-picture screens, change their relative position and choose which has audio priority. While this feature isn’t necessarily game-specific, it is useful for gaming while watching YouTube tutorials.
Smart features: Comprehensive platform
Tizen OS
SmartThings app
Alexa/Bixby built-in
The Samsung QN95A uses the same Tizen-powered smart platform as previous generations, which remains a responsive, intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface. There’s a launcher bar along the bottom and a second layer that provides faster access to the video streaming services.
In terms of those streaming services, the choice is fairly comprehensive and includes Netflix, Amazon, Now TV, Disney+, Apple TV+, Rakuten, YouTube, and all the UK TV catch-up services. The only problem with all this choice is it’s hard to keep track, but Samsung has a solution.
The Universal Guide helps you find the content you want by presenting it all via a user-friendly interface. It then uses AI machine learning to analyse your viewing habits and create a single ‘For You’ page with personalised content to suit your tastes.
The Digital Butler was introduced in 2020, allowing for quick and easy connection by automatically scanning for nearby devices, detecting them and then representing all of them in an easy-to-understand graphical fashion.
Finally there’s a brace of built-in smart assistants – Samsung’s own Bixby, and Amazon Alexa. You can also access Siri via Apple’s AirPlay 2, while the Samsung SmartThings app allows for quick and easy setup, plus a degree of control if you don’t fancy using the provided remote or your voice.
Sound quality: Object tracking sound
Object Tracking Sound Plus (OTS+)
4.2.2 speakers and 70W of amplification
Adaptive Sound+
Q Symphony
The QN95A sports Samsung’s Object Tracking Sound Plus (OTS+), which integrates eight speakers in a seamless fashion, hiding them in the outer edge of the TV cabinet. The audio performance is genuinely impressive, with an open soundstage, additional height, plenty of bass, clear dialogue and powerful amplification.
Samsung
Object Tracking Sound doesn’t just involve more speakers, it also analyses the audio signal and uses sophisticated processing to align sounds with the location of specific images on the screen. It really works, creating an engaging experience with improved directionality and immersion. There’s also an optimisation feature to fine-tune the audio based on the acoustic environment.
While there’s no on-board Dolby Atmos decoding, the QN95A can send the object-based audio format back via ARC from its internal apps to a supporting soundbar or AV receiver. Since it also supports eARC, the Samsung can even pass lossless audio back via HDMI to a supporting soundbar or AV receiver.
Anything missing?
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it really is time Samsung added support for Dolby Vision. The company is the only TV manufacturer not to embrace the dynamic metadata format, and while HDR10+ is similar, there’s significantly more content available in Dolby Vision.
While we’re on the subject of Dolby, the QN95A also doesn’t include on-board Atmos decoding. This is a shame because with all those extra built-in speakers, the Samsung could really take advantage of the additional height channels the format offers.
Samsung’s smart platform is undeniably comprehensive, but it doesn’t include Freeview Play. This isn’t really an issue because all the UK TV catch-up services are present and correct, but it does mean these aren’t integrated within the EPG (electronic programme guide).
Verdict
The Samsung QN95A makes an excellent case for embracing Mini LED as an alternative to OLED. While it remains an evolution of existing LCD backlight technology, rather than something completely new like Micro LED, it does offer an impressive picture performance.
The added precision of nearly 800 dimming zones results in deeper blacks, brighter highlights, improved shadow detail and almost no blooming. Add in the superior colour performance of Quantum Dot and upgraded processing, and you have a highly capable 4K HDR TV. Its pictures truly sing.
The QN95A is also a seriously specified model with a comprehensive smart platform, every necessary streaming app, the One Connect box, excellent audio quality thanks to OTS+, and a shed-load of features for next-gen gamers.
Also consider
Philips
Philips OLED+935
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Not fussed about Mini LED and OLED more up your street? Philips’ top-end 2020 telly integrates Ambilight – edge lighting that goes beyond the screen, for extra immersion and dynamism – plus a B&W soundbar for top notch sound quality. It’s a very different offering to the Samsung, but a very elegant alternative indeed.
Move over H.264/AVC and HEVC, there’s a new video streaming codec in town and it’s got you in its sites. AV1 is here and it’s going to be everywhere before you know it.
AV1 is an open, royalty-free video standard with an improved compression system that should allow huge data efficiency savings without reducing video quality – and that could be key going forward into a world of higher frame rates, 8K resolution, HDR standards and audio demands.
As such, AV1 brings implications for those who use services such as Netflix, Disney Plus and Prime Video; people looking to buy a new TV or media streamer; and anyone interested in 8K TV. And as a catch-all compression standard there are many uses beyond, including gaming, realtime applications such as video conferencing and anything else where video streams are required.
Best streaming services for TV and movies
What is AV1?
AV1 (AOMedia Video 1) is the the next evolution of the defacto video streaming codec across the internet. It’s planned as the successor to the HEVC (H.265) format that is currently used for 4K HDR video on platforms such as Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney Plus and Netflix.
It was developed by the Alliance for Open Media, which counts Amazon, Apple, ARM, Facebook, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla, Netflix, Nvidia and Samsung among its members, and is designed to offer internet streaming efficiency upgrades without affecting quality. That makes it an important step in the uptake of streamed 8K video, given the more data-heavy demands of this higher-res format.
The other big advantage to the streaming giants is that AV1 is royalty-free. That means video platforms, device manufacturers and, by proxy, users can avoid the hefty licensing payments previously associated with codecs such as HEVC. With any luck, that should also grease the wheels of AV1’s evolution and development by avoiding costly, time consuming and generally prohibitive law suits and patent claims.
At the time of writing, the AV1 video codec shows anywhere up to 30 per cent more efficient compression than HEVC, and those within the Alliance for Open Media will push for even bigger gains still. After all, it’s always good to leave room to squeeze more audio and video standards into the bitstream as and when they arise.
But while all sounds good for efficiency of the compression, there is a catch – it takes much, much longer to encode videos in AV1 in the first place. Imagine capturing a video on your mobile then having to wait an age for the AV1 file to be created before you can share it.
The aim for AV1 is for significant improvement here. Realistically, it’s a problem that needs to be solved before widespread adoption can happen. Until then, expect AV1 to be a more fringe player.
Best media streamers 2021: The best TV streaming devices
AV1 specs
(Image credit: AOAlliance)
AV1 decoders are available at different profile settings and levels, depending on each piece of hardware’s capabilities. Theoretically, though, there’s plenty of scope and the very upper limits of AV1 have not yet been defined.
For the time being, the codec can go as far as 8K at up to 120fps, involving bitrates at up to 800mbps. Bit depth for colour comes in 8-, 10- and 12-bit varieties and with colour sampling up to a 4:4:4 full pixel level.
Can I watch AV1 video now?
Google has already implemented some AV1 use onto YouTube and requires AV1 support to view its 8K videos on TV.
Netflix has also started streaming AV1 content on a few titles. In fact, the subscription giant first took on AV1 as a way of keeping costs down for Android customers. The Netflix ‘Save Data’ feature on Android devices prioritises the use of the less data-heavy AV1 streams where possible. The company has also committed to take AV1 use across the board going forward.
Vimeo has adopted AV1 for the streams of its ‘Staff picks’ channel. Facebook has promised a roll out of AV1 as browser support emerges, and Twitch has 2022 or 2023 targeted with universal support projected to arrive in 2024 or 2025.
To watch this AV1 content requires both hardware and software support, which mostly breaks down to which device you’ve got and what operating system it’s using. At the time of writing, there’s no AV1 support on MacOS or iOS.
Android (10 onwards), Chrome (70 onwards) and Linux can decode AV1 streams, as can Windows 10 devices (once updated) for certain Windows apps.
What is Google TV? Apps, features, compatible TVs, everything you need to know
What devices support AV1?
Any device looking to support AV1 will need to have an AV1 decoder built-in at the chip level. Compatibility to the codec cannot be added as a firmware update for most devices. That means the very vast majority of devices out there at the time of writing aren’t ready for it.
There are one or two that were future-proofed in 2020, though. Of those, the Roku Ultra is probably your best bet to get going with AV1 content straight away, although it’s only available in the US for now.
LG’s 8K TVs from 2020 are also AV1 compatible with a decoder built into the α9 (Gen 3) processor. It’s a similar story for Samsung’s 8K sets from the same time – you can actually watch AV1-encoded 8K content from the YouTube app of those sets now.
The other notable AV1-enabled hardware is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 Series graphics cards, which would make a very handy video streaming addition to most PCs.
Otherwise, it’s a list of AV1 promises but these include a particularly good one. Google recently announced that any device looking to use the Android TV 10 OS produced after the 31st March 2021 deadline will need to have an AV1 decoder built in.
So, expect plenty of set-top boxes and smart TVs launched in 2021 and beyond to be ready to go and, with Google putting its foot down, all sorts of other products and services should fall in line over the next 12 months, and that’s good news for everyone. Higher quality video, here we come.
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Samsung’s first Neo QLED is a force to be reckoned with, and the greatest threat yet to the dominance of OLED
For
Superbly bright, punchy and sharp
Exhaustive feature set
Lovely design
Against
Artificial boost to dark detail
Reticence with extreme contrast
Still no Dolby Vision
This year looks very much like the year of Mini LED. The technology, which sees the traditional LEDs of a TV backlight miniaturised in order to increase contrast, is a feature of the 2021 line-ups of most major TV brands, including LG and Philips.
For those brands, Mini LED TVs sit below their OLED models, but for Samsung, Mini LED is its flagship technology (assuming you discount its eye-wateringly expensive new Micro LED sets). The company has developed its own Mini LEDs, which it says are even smaller and more efficient than those of its rivals, and combined them with its existing Quantum Dot tech to create a range of premium TVs that it calls Neo QLEDs.
The QE65QN95A is the first Neo QLED we’ve tested. It’s the top 4K model in Samsung’s 2021 range, and it purports to offer a huge upgrade on last year’s equivalent without any increase in price.
This is the model that Samsung is pitching against LG’s incredibly popular C-class OLED, the 2021 version of which (the C1) we have yet to review. When it does appear, the C1 is going to have its work cut out because the Samsung QN95A is the best QLED there’s ever been, and that makes it a serious challenger to even the best OLEDs.
Pricing
The Samsung QE65QN95A is priced at £2999 – exactly the same price its predecessor, the QE65Q95T, launched at, despite this new model representing what appears to be a serious technological upgrade.
The QN95A is exclusive to Europe. US buyers instead get the QN90A, which does without the QN95A’s One Connect box and has just one HDMI 2.1 socket (the QN95A has four). Confusingly, the US QN90A is different to the European QN90A, which is more heavily downgraded. Apparently, Europe will in fact get an as-yet-unannounced model called the QN94A, which will be the same as the US’s QN90A.
If you’ve completely lost track, it’s no surprise. It feels as though Samsung has gone out of its way to make its model structure even less coherent than it was in 2020. Sony, meanwhile, is putting a concerted effort into unifying its model numbers across all regions, and LG has been doing that for years, at least in terms of its OLEDs.
Build
(Image credit: Future)
Besides the benefits in terms of contrast, a Mini LED backlight is much slimmer than one consisting of standard LEDs. Samsung has also worked hard to reduce the distance between the backlight and the Quantum Dot panel, making the whole display section slimmer.
Samsung QE65QN95A tech specs
(Image credit: Future / Escape From Pretoria, Amazon Prime)
Screen type QLED
Backlight Mini LED
Resolution 4K
Operating system Samsung Tizen
HDR formats HDR10, HDR10+, HLG
HDMI x4
USB x3
Optical x1
Of course, a TV also needs to pack in processing hardware and speakers, but Samsung has still managed to reduce the thickness of the QN95A to just 2.6cm, down from the 3.5cm of last year’s Q95T.
That doesn’t make the QN95A as thin as an OLED is at its thinnest point (the LG CX is under 4mm thick here) but its uniform depth measurement means it is much thinner than most OLEDs are at their thickest points (the CX is 4.7cm here) and arguably makes for a more stylish, picture frame-like proposition when wall mounted.
The QN95A also gets the new, redesigned version of Samsung’s One Connect box. The concept is the same – all connections, including power, go into a separate unit that’s connected to the TV via a single cable – but the chunky brick design has been replaced by one reminiscent of a stack of five or six placemats. While this One Connect can be mounted to the rear of the stand of Samsung’s 2021 8K models, it can’t be mounted to the QN95A at all.
Also slightly disappointing is that the cable that runs between the One Connect box and display is significantly thicker and less flexible than that of previous versions. Samsung says the cable has changed in the name of “performance stability and durability”, but we weren’t aware of any issues with the previous design.
While the move to a thicker wire is a bit of a shame, having just one cable running to the display rather than multiple HDMIs and power is still undeniably neater. And, if your set-up means that the One Connect box will be visible in your TV rack, this new version is significantly easier on the eye than its predecessor.
Features
(Image credit: Future / Escape From Pretoria, Amazon Prime)
The One Connect box also gives the QN95A a more advanced set of connections than other 2021 Samsung models such as the QN90A. It’s all down to the HDMIs: all four of the QN95A’s HDMI sockets are 2.1-spec, while its siblings get just one HDMI 2.1 socket. That probably won’t make a huge difference right now, but anyone planning to buy both the PS5 and Xbox Series X will need more than one HDMI 2.1 socket to take full advantage of both consoles, and there will only be more HDMI 2.1 sources in the future.
Of course, simply having HDMI 2.1 sockets isn’t enough to guarantee support for all of those fancy next-gen HDMI features, but the QN95A offers support for eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel), ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), 4K@120Hz (aka High Frame Rate) and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate). VRR is supported in all three of the formats currently available: standard HDMI VRR, Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync (this is the first TV to be FreeSync Premium Pro-certified, in fact).
As is probably already clear, Samsung is even more committed to courting gamers than before, going as far as creating the ‘Game Bar’ – a pop-up menu that gives you quick access to various game-related features and delivers live information on the signal being received, including the VRR format and frame rate. Input lag, meanwhile, has been reduced to under 10ms, which is entirely imperceptible. If you don’t mind sacrificing a little of that speed, you can enable some gaming-specific motion smoothing, although we don’t find that necessary during testing.
Finally, on the gaming front, the HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) setting that was added to Samsung’s 2020 QLEDs via a software update late last year is also present on the QN95A. This is well worth using in conjunction with your console’s HDR calibration settings as it results in a more accurate picture with deeper blacks and more detailed highlights.
Samsung has also long been the market leader when it comes to integrated streaming apps, and the QN95A is just as well-appointed as its predecessors in that regard. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV, Google Play Movies & TV and Rakuten are all present in 4K and HDR; BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All 4 and My5 complete the set of catch-up apps; Now TV and BT Sport are also here; and Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, BBC Sounds and TuneIn mean every major music and radio app is on board, too. In short, there’s no app of significance that’s missing here, and there are loads of niche apps in there too.
There is, though, an HDR format of significance that’s missing – Dolby Vision. While Samsung’s rival HDR10+ has made undeniable in-roads in recent years, Dolby Vision is clearly the more dominant format and it’s very hard indeed to see the power balance shifting. Even if Samsung truly believes HDR10+ is better, it should by now be offering Dolby Vision support as well.
(Image credit: Future)
The operating system is more or less unchanged from last year, which is no bad thing. It’s still the best in the business, slickly getting you to the content you’re after quicker than any rival. One new feature that has the potential to be great is Multi View, which allows you to split the screen in two and watch an HDMI source in one window while you access an app via the other. We could see this could be useful for watching two football games at once, for example, one via your Sky Q box and the other the BT Sport app, but currently the only apps supported in Multi View are YouTube and a wellness app called Calm, rendering it almost useless.
The QN95A’s new remote has a useful new feature, though: on the bottom is a light panel that allows it to be charged via sunlight and even house lights. It works really well – during testing, the remote’s battery level doesn’t drop below about 95 per cent as it constantly tops itself up. That said, the remote does also have a USB-C socket that can be used as a backup charging method.
Under the TV’s skin is a new version of Samsung Quantum Processor, called the Neo Quantum Processor 4K. The big new feature here is referred to as Ultra Precision Light Driving, which involves more precise dimming and a local power distribution feature that sends power to the brightest areas of the picture and away from the darker parts. It also works in conjunction with a sensor integrated into the TV’s frame to adjust brightness and contrast in response to ambient lighting conditions. There’s a new level of ‘deep learning’ applied to contrast enhancement, too.
Of course, the biggest new feature of the QN95A is its Mini LED backlight. Samsung explains that the majority of a typical LED’s size is made up of its protective packaging and light-guiding lens, both of which it has done away with for its so-called ‘New LEDs’. Not only that, but it has also miniaturised the LEDs themselves, to astonishing effect: the new LEDs, packaging and all, are a fortieth the size of their traditional counterparts and look like little more than sparkly grains of sand.
Instead of a lens, this New LED backlight works with a new ‘micro layer’ that guides the light through the quantum dots (which provide the set’s colours). The result is apparently no light leakage or blooming.
Crucially, because the New LEDs are so much smaller, significantly more of them can be packed in, creating more individual dimming zones in the process. While Samsung doesn’t quote official figures for these dimming zones, we understand that the QN95A has just under 800 of them. Last year’s Q95T and Q90T are thought to have had around 120 dimming zones each so, on paper at least, this appears to be a massive upgrade that should have a startling impact on contrast.
Picture
(Image credit: Future / Escape From Pretoria, Amazon Prime)
Kicking off with the 4K Blu-ray of John Wick: Chapter 3, it quickly becomes clear that this is a massive upgrade in real terms, too. Not only does the QN95A go vastly brighter than the OLED competition, in most conditions it combines bright and dark picture elements unlike any commercially available TV before it. As John cuts through the chandelier shop near the start of the film, the warm, piercing light contrasts brilliantly with the rain-soaked streets in the background, with the bulbs and the glass sections of the chandeliers sparkling to a degree that makes the Award-winning Philips 65OLED805 look decidedly dull.
Crucially, this brightness doesn’t come at the expense of black depth, which is close to OLED-quality. If you look closely at a still image, you can see that the top black bar loses a bit of purity as one of the shining bulbs lingers at its edge, but in action, this isn’t noticeable. What’s more, there’s no obvious haloing around bright objects on dark backgrounds, or any other real hint that this is a backlit telly. It’s not totally perfect, but it could be argued that it’s close enough to not matter.
That said, the QN95A is, like its predecessor, a little cautious when confronted by small bright objects in otherwise overwhelmingly black images. During the opening scene of It, Pennywise’s eyes should glow menacingly bright out of the gloom of the basement, but they’re barely noticeable here. As the camera heads through the tunnel towards daylight for the start of the film, it’s clear that the TV is holding back, presumably for fear of introducing blooming, and it makes the image less exciting than it should be.
The same trait is clear in the company logos and intro text at the start of Blade Runner 2049. It could be that Samsung is playing things just a little too safe here, but crucially, these ultra-high contrast images are relatively uncommon, and in isolation, the Samsung’s delivery rarely looks wrong. It’s only in a side-by-side comparison with one of the punchier 2020 OLEDs that this reticence becomes clear.
The only other slight flaw in the QN95A’s delivery is regarding the balance of dark detail and black depth. Not that the TV isn’t capable of both, but we struggle to find the perfect balance. There’s a dedicated Shadow Detail setting that does exactly that but it also somewhat washes out the image. Switching the Contrast Enhancer to High, meanwhile, reveals so much dark detail that it feels as though artificial light is being added to some dark scenes.
We’ve always appreciated Samsung’s bold and straightforward picture settings, but for this TV, a Contrast Enhancer setting between Low and High might have proved perfect. As it is, you have to trade just a bit of dark detail to get inky blacks, or have slightly artificially boosted shadow detail.
Ultimately, though, the QN95A is a stunning performer overall. It’s so dynamic and vibrant that it makes its rivals look flat and boring. Whites, in particular, are incredibly pure and punchy, from John Wick’s shirt to the fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling of the first-floor armoury above the chandelier shop.
(Image credit: Future / Escape From Pretoria, Amazon Prime)
Colours are incredibly lush, too, but also natural and controlled – as long as you tone down the Colour setting just a bit. It’s the perfect foil for the comic book-style exaggeration of John Wick 3, pumping up the pink of the shirts of the call centre staff and bringing the Marrakesh market to life with its varied and vibrant hues.
Switch to 1917 and the vibrancy is tempered by a slightly unexpected degree of naturalism. Some TVs we’ve reviewed have, in their quest for vibrancy, pushed the green fields at the film’s start from verdant to lurid, but the QN95A doesn’t fall into this trap and the film is delivered with both punch and poise.
The same effortless balance is applied in regards to detail and sharpness, too. Where some TVs, including previous Samsung models, can over-sharpen edges and details, giving everything an artificially etched look, the QN95A ensures that everything is crisp and clearly defined without any of that exaggeration. The detail is all there, but it isn’t rammed down your throat, and that’s the way it should be.
In 2020, Samsung took a big step forward in terms of motion processing, and it’s good to see that that balance of smoothness and naturalism continues into 2021. Again, you need to select the right setting: the default Auto setting is forced and unpleasant, but switching to Custom and setting Blur Reduction and Judder Reduction to 10 and 3 respectively keeps motion controlled without adding fizz around fast movement or any of the dreaded soap opera effect.
Switching from 4K to 1080p with the Looper Blu-ray, it becomes clear that this Samsung takes a surprisingly subtle approach to SDR content. While many TVs attempt to give SDR content an HDR sheen, the QN95A opts instead for subtlety. Compared with the Philips OLED805, the Samsung’s image is less dynamic and instantly exciting, but also more nuanced in its shading and a fair bit more detailed. Both approaches have their merits, but Samsung’s feels more authentic.
The same relative characteristics are present as we switch to our trusty Dirty Harry DVD. While the Samsung is once again less punchy in its delivery, it’s subtler and cleaner, too.
Sound
(Image credit: Future)
Considering the QN95A’s sound system is essentially invisible, it packs in a large number of drivers – eight of them, in fact – in a 4.2.2 arrangement that Samsung refers to as OTS+ and is rated to 70W. ‘OTS’ stands for ‘Object Tracking Sound’ and refers to the fact that the system is designed to create a sense of three-dimensionality akin to Dolby Atmos. All of which makes it slightly baffling that the QN95A can’t natively play Dolby Atmos soundtracks, although it can pass them out to a connected speaker system (even a Samsung soundbar).
Regardless of the tech involved (or not), the QN95A puts in a solid audio performance that’s clear, direct and punchy but with good weight and openness. It delivers a strong sense of space and atmosphere while ensuring that dialogue and effects are presented clearly. Detail levels are high by the standards of an integrated sound system, too.
That said, the QN95A’s speakers struggle with the super-deep bass at the start of chapter 2 of Blade Runner 2049, with its woofers flapping uncomfortably. This is far from the only TV to have problems here – LG’s CX OLEDs suffer at least as badly – but it’s a shame all the same. Still, we would always recommend partnering a TV as impressive as this with a dedicated sound system, and this flaw only reinforces that message.
If you are determined to stick with the Samsung’s integrated speakers, Adaptive Volume is best switched off as it tends to sound quite forced and hard, but Adaptive Sound+ is worth using as it adds spaciousness and a slight sense of cinematic envelopment. Amplify is worth trying, too: it sacrifices a bit of low-level dynamic subtlety for bigger overall dynamics and more punch, making it useful for action films. Standard is probably better if you want to use one setting for all content, though.
Verdict
While Mini LED might not quite be the revolution that Samsung is pitching it as, it’s still a substantial upgrade to an already excellent range of TVs. The overall contrast offered is staggering, and the QN95A combines near-OLED black levels with awesomely crisp white highlights and fabulously vibrant colours, all while retaining an effortless sense of naturalism.
Throw in the best, most app-packed operating system in the business, a delightfully slim design and a full set of next-gen HDMI sockets and this is (a lack of Dolby Vision support aside) as complete a package as can be imagined.
It’s early days for 2021 TVs, but Samsung has thrown down the gauntlet in emphatic style and it will be fascinating to see how its rivals respond.
Parler has withdrawn its antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, ending its two-month effort to legally compel the company to reinstate its hosting account. Parler made the decision in a motion filed late Tuesday night in federal court for the Western District of Washington. The company gave no explanation for the move, but reserved the right to refile on similar grounds in the future.
Notably, the decision to withdraw came on the same day Parler was due to file an amended complaint in the case. Parler had failed to meet an earlier February 16 filing deadline and received a two-week extension from the court — but with the case withdrawn, that deadline is now moot.
Amazon first suspended service to Parler on January 9th, in the wake of an unprecedented mob attack on the capitol building. Parler had sought to use antitrust law to force Amazon to restore service, but faced an uphill battle in court. In a response filing, Amazon revealed more than 100 violent threats the company had flagged to Parler in the weeks leading up to its takedown, including one that told Jack Dorsey, “you will die a bloody death.” Parler had refused to moderate the content, citing its free speech policy.
On January 21, the court rejected a preliminary motion ordering Amazon to reinstate Parler’s hosting account, calling the presented evidence “dwindlingly slight.”
With Parler back online, many of the underlying issues in the case are less urgent. Parler restored web service on February 15th, using a range of smaller hosting and registrar services as an alternative to Amazon. Content posted before the ban was lost, however, and Parler’s app remains unavailable on the iOS or Google Play app stores. Parler cited the networks success in restoring service as a reason to extend the filing deadline, predicting that it would “have a material impact on how Parler pleads the amended complaint.”
Parler did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Valve is significantly expanding your ability to share games at home and with your friends for free using Steam.
One change is the introduction of a Linux version of its Steam Link app, which lets you stream games from a computer to a device with the Steam Link app installed on the same local network. This new Linux version means that you can now stream games from a computer to a Linux-based set top box hooked up to a TV, for example. The app is also available on Android, iOS, and Raspberry Pi.
Valve has also rolled out a big update to its Remote Play Together feature, which lets you stream games on your computer over the internet so you can play them with friends. Just last week, Valve introduced a way to let you play games with friends who don’t have a Steam account, but the feature only let you play with one friend without a Steam account at a time. Now, though, you can play with as many friends without Steam accounts as you want, depending on how many other players a game supports and your network’s bandwidth.
If you want to try the feature, which is in beta, follow the instructions here.
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