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  • Best Amazon Deals: Get Massive Discounts on Home Goods, Tech Gear and More

    Best Amazon Deals: Get Massive Discounts on Home Goods, Tech Gear and More

    The weekend is just about over. If you’re currently having the Monday blues, why not treat yourself with a little retail therapy? And you can do it without breaking the bank. Give your wallet a break and take advantage of these savings from Amazon. Right now, there are countless deals available. You can find discounts on everything from cookware to tech gear and pretty much everything in between.

    We’ve collected some of our favorite deals below, but be sure to also check out CNET’s gift guides for more great bargains and gifts for every occasion.

    Best Amazon deals to shop right now

    More Amazon deals worth checking out:

    amazon-weekend-sale-8

    What deals can I find at Amazon?

    Amazon sells products in pretty much every category, so no matter what you’re looking to buy, you can probably get it on Amazon. Better yet, the retailer offers new deals every day so there’s a good chance you can save on your next purchase too, especially if you use these money-saving tips.

    Read more: Take Advantage of Amazon Discounts Year Round With This Trick

    When is the next Amazon sale?

    Amazon held the Big Spring Sale in March — a new sale on the calendar — so the next major Amazon sale will be Amazon Prime Day, likely in July. That sale requires an Amazon Prime subscription, so be sure to sign up or start your free trial just before it kicks off to get in on the savings.

    Read more: Get Amazon Prime Perks Without Paying for a Subscription. Find Out How

  • How to Watch the Masters 2024: TV Schedule, Tee Times, Watch Final Round Today

    How to Watch the Masters 2024: TV Schedule, Tee Times, Watch Final Round Today

    The final round of the 88th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club is underway. Scottie Scheffler leads after 54 holes at seven under par. Collin Morikawa is one stroke back, and Max Homa is two behind. After carding a 75 on Saturday, Bryson DeChambeau trails Scheffler by four shots.

    Sunday’s final round has started, and the final pairing of Scheffler and Morikawa tees off at 2:35 p.m. ET. TV coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount Plus.

    For more, check out today’s starting times and pairings and the Masters leaderboard.

    Scottie Scheffler of the United States acknowledges the crowd walking to the 15th green during the third round of the 2024 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club

    Tiger Woods shot a career-worst 82 on Saturday and is out of contention. It was the highest round in any major championship of his career and included eight bogeys and consecutive double bogeys.

    With or without a cable TV subscription, golf fans have plenty of ways to watch the world’s best golfers compete at the world’s best golf course this weekend. Here’s what you need to know to watch the drama unfold today on CBS and Paramount Plus.

    How to watch the Masters

    The first two rounds were on ESPN, and coverage shifted to CBS for the weekend. Today’s final round will be on CBS and Paramount Plus. Today’s TV coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET.

    When does Tiger Woods tee off today?

    Tiger Woods started his final round earlier today at 9:35 a.m. ET.

    Who are the LIV golfers I should root against this weekend?

    Of the 13 golfers playing in the Masters Tournament who left the PGA Tour for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league, eight made the cut. Here’s the list:

    • Bryson DeChambeau
    • Tyrrell Hatton
    • Brooks Koepka
    • Phil Mickelson
    • Joaquín Niemann
    • Jon Rahm
    • Patrick Reed
    • Cameron Smith

    What is the TV schedule for the Masters?

    The final round will air on CBS and stream on Paramount Plus from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET (11 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT).

    Can I livestream the Masters online for free?

    On the Masters website or mobile app, you can stream live without having to sign in with a pay TV provider. You can also watch a livestream of the Masters on CBSSports.com or the CBS Sports app, also without needing pay TV credentials. The Masters site will have the TV simulcast livestream each day, and both the Masters site and CBS Sports will offer an additional five livestreams each of the four days of the tournament:

    • You can follow featured groups at the Masters throughout each day.
    • You can watch golfers navigate holes 4, 5 and 6.
    • You can watch the action as it passes through Amen Corner, Augusta National’s most famous sequence of holes: the treacherous par-4 11th, the short par-3 12th and the long par-5 13th.
    • You can watch golfers navigate holes 15 and 16.
    • You can select your favorite golfers and watch all of their shots with the My Group feature.

    Live TV streaming options

    If you don’t have a cable or satellite TV subscription, you can watch the Masters with a live TV streaming service. Four of the five major services (all but Sling TV) offer CBS. The catch is that not every service carries every local network, so check each one using the links below to make sure it carries CBS in your area. You can also use Paramount Plus to stream the final round.

    All of the live TV streaming services above offer free trials, allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our massive streaming services guide.

  • Golf Fans, the Masters Has AI Ready to Go

    Golf Fans, the Masters Has AI Ready to Go

    Golf fans — technically called “patrons” — in Augusta, Georgia, for the final round of the 88th Masters Tournament can indulge in pimento cheese sandwiches (and peach ice cream sandwiches) in plain view of the azaleas and dogwoods at Amen Corner, which includes holes 11, 12 and 13. But they won’t have any mobile devices on hand. Electronics are strictly prohibited.

    That’s where the millions of golf fans who’ll tune in to the tournament on TV (12 million last year) have an advantage thanks to increasingly elaborate tournament-tracking options beyond simply viewing the Masters on TV. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Here’s how to watch the Masters.)

    And now, of course, it includes AI — generative AI, to be precise.

    While AI has been part of the Masters experience for several years, gen AI first came on the scene in 2023 via an English language narration feature for app and site content. That, of course, was also the year gen AI went mainstream following the launches of ChatGPT, Gemini (known originally as Bard), Claude and Copilot. As consumers have experimented with the technology to write poetry, generate fanciful images, compose symphonies and perhaps even get tips on how to improve their golf swings, gen AI has been infiltrating our lives further and further.

    So it’s perhaps no surprise the 2024 Masters is availing itself of the technology to provide course insights through its app, to improve highlight reels and to enable segments of its first experience on the Apple Vision Pro device.

    The technology changes, but the goal remains the same: enhancing the mobile and site experience for fans who can’t be in Augusta.

    The Masters is a legendary four-day golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in the first week of April. After the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday, the top 50 players move on to the final rounds. It culminates on Sunday when the winner is awarded the tournament’s iconic green jacket (and about $3 million).

    American golfer Scottie Scheffler, currently ranked the top player in the world, ended Saturday at seven under par, which gave him the solo lead. But Americans Collin Morikawa (-6), Max Homa (-5) and Bryson DeChambeau (-3), along with Swedish golfer Ludvig Åberg (-4), are not far behind.

    Tiger Woods’ hopes of winning a sixth Masters to tie Jack Nicklaus for the most victories overall dimmed on Saturday as he sank to a career-worst score of 82 (par is 72). And Rory McIlroy’s hopes of completing a career grand slam with his first Master victory also took a hit on Saturday as he finished one under par. McIlroy begins play on Sunday tied for 21st while Woods is tied for 51st.

    (By the way, if you’re looking for a deeper dive into AI, check out CNET’s new AI Atlas guide, which includes reviews of gen AI tools, along with AI news, tips and explainers.)

    Three examples of what iPhone users will find in the 2024 Masters app.

    A trove of golf data from Hole Insights

    Here’s how the gen AI features work. Let’s say I’m hoping Northern Ireland’s McIlroy will finally get the winner’s green jacket on Sunday. If I select him as one of my favorite players, the Masters app will tell me his tee time each day — and compile highlight videos and send alerts with McIlroy updates if I choose.

    A new Hole Insights feature can also help me stay on top of his play.

    According to IBM, the feature processes data about all the shots on the course by all competitors over all four rounds in the last eight years — that’s 170,000 total shots, to be precise — to calculate the overall probabilities of what’s going to happen next “based on the resting positions of the ball relative to the next shot,” as Noah Syken, vice president of sports and entertainment at IBM, put it.

    As soon as the ball stops, IBM captures the x, y and z coordinates to compare them to historical data.

    So if I pull up the Track Players feature within the app, pick which hole I want to see from Round 1 on Thursday —like Hole 12, where McIlroy birdied —watch video clips of each shot (along with a yellow arc highlighting the ball’s flight path) and then click on an icon of circles within a circle to get Hole Insights.

    After McIlroy’s first shot at Hole 12, which went 148 yards, Hole Insights says players have a 43.48% chance of par from that spot historically.

    Golf fans can play around in the app to find breakdowns of current and historical play, as well as projections for the 2024 tournament, which include recaps of how each hole has played daily and throughout the tournament as a whole; projections of how each hole might play based on performance data; and historical data about how each hole has played — at least in the last eight years.

    This marks the first Masters tournament in which offsite fans will have access to this data and the shot probabilities. And, per Syken, it’s also yielding more accurate intel about the course itself.

    So while caddies might have estimated, say, that golfers hit the 12th green 70 to 80% of the time, Hole Insights will tell you it’s actually 51%.

    “That data just has never been available at this course before,” he added.

    This expands upon an existing Track Shots feature. “In the past, [Track Shots] would show you Player A hit his tee shot 227 yards and he has 150 yards to the hole and that would be the totality of the information,” Syken said.

    Now Hole Insights can tell you he hit the ball 217 yards into the fairway and the probability of him making a par or a birdie from that position.

    “In the past, we really just captured distances of the ball going, but that didn’t have any correlation to actual performance,” Syken added.

    Narrating the Masters in Spanish, a la AI

    Joining the AI-enabled English language narration feature, which debuted in 2023, the Masters app will offer AI-enabled Spanish language narration in 2024 as the tournament attempts to reach a more global audience.

    Last year, IBM and the Masters used foundation models to train the English language AI in “the unique language of golf at the Masters” to automate the addition of spoken commentary to video clips of player and tournament highlights. IBM says gen AI helps to produce varied sentence structure and vocabulary, which prevents redundant commentary.

    Spanish language narration is possible this year thanks to a large language model that was trained in Spanish, so audio and closed captioning should sound more realistic to Spanish-speaking fans.

    IBM says the AI narration offers audio and closed caption commentary for on-demand highlight videos of every shot, which works out to about 20,000 throughout the four-day tournament each year.

    Viewing the Masters via Apple Vision Pro

    Also new this year is a Masters app for the Apple Vision Pro device, which debuted in February.

    In addition to preexisting app features like livestreams, Track Shots and My Group, which lets fans watch every shot from their favorite golfers, the Vision Pro app includes 3D renderings of the course, enabling fans to view the course from multiple perspectives.

    Putting together a Masters highlight reel

    IBM has been one of the few tournament sponsors for at least 25 years. That includes the launch of Masters.com in 1996, along with the usual technological subjects thereafter leading up to AI and gen AI in 2023.

    Returning in 2024 is the My Group feature, which uses AI models to identify highlights of your favorite players, which are automatically added to a personalized feed.

    IBM pulls this together in part by analyzing excitement on the course.

    That includes factoring in elements like the difficulty of a given shot, as well as crowd noise and player gesture recognition — say, a fist raised in triumph — to come up with an excitement score for each shot.

    And so IBM will generate a personalized highlight reel based on excitement scores for McIlroy and whoever else I pick as my favorites, along with human curation.

    The goal is to create a better, more personalized experience for the 12 million or so golf fans who won’t be in Augusta.

    “The Masters wants to present the best event in all the world of sports to their patrons and their fans, and so on-site those experiences are intended to be the best, like free parking, right?” Syken said. “You don’t go to many sporting events that offer free parking.”

  • Last Chance to Take Advantage of Deals During Best Buy’s Massive 3-Day Sale

    Last Chance to Take Advantage of Deals During Best Buy’s Massive 3-Day Sale

    All good things must come to an end and that includes Best Buy’s huge three-day sale. Today, Sunday, April 14, marks the third and final day of this epic sale event — which means you have just hours to secure some sweet savings. If you’ve been wanting to upgrade your home appliances, overhaul your entertainment setup or treat yourself to some new tech, this is the perfect time to do it. Best Buy is slashing prices on everything you need to start fresh for spring. Spruce up your space with the latest devices at a great price on everything from smart home devices to TVs, laptops, smartwatches and plenty of other top tech at Best Buy right now.

    We’ve gone through the sale and have highlighted some of the best offers below to help you snag some good deals. You can also check the full sale by clicking the link below. Just be aware that the weekend sale ends on April 14 at 9:59 p.m. PT, so be sure to make your selection before then.

    More great deals at Best Buy:

    Some of the items listed may have additional discounts available for My Best Buy Plus or Total members, so if you’ve been considering signing up, now might be a great time to do so. While those subscriptions are paid accounts, the money you make back in exclusive savings during this event or throughout the year can be worth it, especially if you shop at Best Buy regularly. There are some other perks too, such as free two-day shipping with no minimum amount and extended return windows.

    For more device savings, we’ve rounded up the best phone deals, laptop deals and TV deals to help you keep more money in your pocket.

  • iOS 17.4: View Your Apple Cash’s Virtual Card Numbers in 4 Easy Steps

    iOS 17.4: View Your Apple Cash’s Virtual Card Numbers in 4 Easy Steps

    When Apple released iOS 17.4 on March 5, the update introduced a few bug fixes and a host of new features to your iPhone, including more Stolen Device Protection settings and transcripts in Podcasts. And one of those new features is virtual card numbers for Apple Cash, allowing you to use Apple Pay in more places online.

    CNET Tech Tips logo

    According to Apple, Apple Cash is a digital card in your iPhone’s Wallet app that can be used to buy items in physical and digital storefronts as well as in apps that accept Apple Pay. But now with iOS 17.4, you can generate virtual card numbers to use at digital storefronts that don’t accept Apple Pay. However, it’s important to note that Apple Cash doesn’t support some merchant categories, such as cashlike transactions.

    Here’s how to view and use your Apple Cash virtual card numbers.

    Read more: You Should Download iOS 17.4.1 Now

    How to set up and view your virtual card number

    If you haven’t set up your Apple Cash card, here’s how to do that. If you’ve already set up an Apple Cash card, you can skip past these instructions.

    1. Open your Wallet app.
    2. Tap your Apple Cash card near the bottom of your screen.
    3. Tap Set Up Now under Set Up Apple Cash.
    4. Follow the on-screen prompts and your Apple Cash card will be available in no time.

    Once you’ve set up your Apple Cash card, you’ll have a card number, expiration date and security code for your card, like you’d have on a physical credit or debit card. Here’s how to view your virtual card numbers.

    1. Open Wallet.
    2. Tap your Apple Cash card.
    3. Tap the three dots () in the top right corner of your screen.
    4. Tap Card Number.

    Now that you’ve got a new virtual card number for your Apple Cash, your iPhone’s Safari app can autofill your card information if you make a purchase on your phone. You can also manually enter your card’s information on other devices or in other browsers to make purchases, too.

    And if you think your current card number has been compromised, you can easily request a new virtual card number. Follow the steps above, tap Request New Card Number, then tap Request again and you’ll immediately be given new virtual card numbers — no waiting for your bank to send you a new card.

    For more on iOS 17, here are all the features your iPhone could get with iOS 17.5 and what was included with iOS 17.4. You can also check out our iOS 17 cheat sheet.

  • Today’s Wordle Hints and Answer: Help for April 14, #1030

    Today’s Wordle Hints and Answer: Help for April 14, #1030

    Today’s Wordle answer is a well-known word, but some of the letters aren’t among the game’s most-guessed. This one may take you a few tries.

    Every day, we’ll post hints and then the answer for the current day’s Wordle, just in case you need it.

    Today’s Wordle hints

    Warning: If you keep reading, you’ll see the Wordle answer for Sunday, April 14, puzzle No. 1030. That could be a devastating spoiler for some players. But if you just need the answer — maybe you’re on your last guess and just don’t want to see an 800-game streak go poof — keep reading.

    Wordle hint No. 1: Vowel

    There’s only one vowel in today’s answer.

    Wordle hint No. 2: Location

    The lone vowel is in the middle position of the answer, so the third letter of five.

    Wordle hint No. 3: No repeats

    None of the letters in the answer are repeated.

    Wordle hint No. 4: Beginnings

    The answer begins with the letter B.

    Wordle hint No. 5: Flying high

    The answer has a couple of meanings, but one of them is an unusual method of air transportation.

    TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

    Here comes the spoiler: Today’s Wordle answer is BLIMP, as in the Goodyear Blimp that often flies over sporting events.

    Yesterday’s Wordle answer

    Yesterday’s Wordle answer was STEEL.

    Past Wordle answers

    • April 9, No. 1025, MERGE

    • April 10, No. 1026, BROTH

    • April 11, No. 1027 LOUSE

    • April 12, No. 1028 WHINY

    Everyday Wordle tips

    I’ve written a lot about Wordle — from covering its 1,000th word to my list of the best starter words to a helpful two-step strategy to news about controversial word changes. I’ve even rounded up what I learned playing the hit online word puzzle for a full year. So if you’re rethinking your need for the actual answer, you might try tips from one of those stories.

    Still need a starter word? One person told me they just look around and choose a five-letter object that they’ve spotted to use as their starter word — such as COUCH or CHAIR. I tend to stick to starter words that have the most popular letters used in English words. I like TRAIN as a starter, though I have a friend who uses TRAIL. I’ve read that people use the financial term ROATE, but I like to use words I actually know.

    What is Wordle?

    If you read this far, you know how to play. You have six chances to guess a five-letter word, and the game gives you feedback as to whether the letters you’ve guessed are in the puzzle or not, and if they’re in the same spot where you guessed they are. The New York Times bought the game from creator Josh Wardle for seven figures in 2022. Wardle famously created the game for his partner, and let her narrow down the 12,000 five-letter words in the English language to just 2,500, creating the database of answers. It was convenient, too, that he has a name that plays off “word.”

    A Times spokesperson told me it lists the very first Wordle as appearing on June 19, 2021, and the paper celebrated the game’s 1000th word on March 15. Spoiler: That 1000th word was ERUPT. As in, “Dad will erupt if the Wordle is so tough he loses his streak.”

    There are other fun games in the Times Games stable. My latest addiction is Connections, which I think is trickier than Wordle. This is the game where you look at a grid of 16 words and try to put them into four groups of related words. Sometimes the relationships between the words are pretty out there — like the time when it was four words that all began with rock bands, such as “Rushmore” and “journeyman.” (Connections got a little sassy on April Fools’ Day with an all-emoji puzzle. Some gamers did NOT find that funny.)

    Spelling Bee is a popular Times game too. And there’s a new game that’s still in beta, Strands, which I’m trying to master.

  • Score Lifetime Access to Microsoft Project 2021 for Only $30

    Score Lifetime Access to Microsoft Project 2021 for Only $30

    Having solid project management software can help keep all aspects of your team organized and running efficiently. There are a lot of software options out there. Microsoft’s is budget-friendly, especially with this deal from StackSocial that knocks the 2021 version down to just $30 from its original $250, an 88% savings. Keep in mind this offer is available to new users only.

    This app can streamline project management to make it much simpler to keep up with all the nuts and bolts of your plan. It includes plenty of features, including prebuilt templates; a way to run what-if scenarios; complex schedules with built-in multiple timelines; helpful resource assignment technology; automated scheduling tools; built-in reports and more. Plus, it can sync with Project Online and Project Server and it supports Long-Term Servicing Channel and is compatible with Office LTSC and Office 2021, with support available through Oct. 13, 2026.

    If you’re looking to buy Project Professional 2021 outright, rather than subscribing to a monthly plan, it’ll cost you $1,130 from Microsoft directly. You can also get a one-month free trial through Microsoft. This StackSocial deal essentially saves you over a thousand dollars on the one-time fee and skips those recurring subscription fees that other options require.

    It’s worth noting that only new customers can take advantage of this deal. And once you make your purchase, you’ll be able to install the app only on a single computer for use at home or work, so you’ll have to decide which PC you want to access this program through. Because you won’t be able to download this app on multiple devices, if your computer dies, you may lose access to Project Professional 2021 and be unable to transfer it to another computer. If this is your first purchase from StackSocial, you can save an additional 15%.

  • Save on Chipolo Trackers and Never Lose Your Wallet or Keys Again

    Save on Chipolo Trackers and Never Lose Your Wallet or Keys Again

    Losing your wallet, keys or backpack can end up being a pretty costly mistake — not to mention a major headache. So it’s worth spending a little up front so you can track them down if they go missing. Chipolo makes sleek and convenient Bluetooth trackers that’ll fit just about anywhere, and right now you can snag some at a discounted rate.

    Chipolo currently has a few discount codes available, including RINGKEYS20, which will get you up to 30% off Chipolo One trackers. You can grab a single tracker for $20, down from its original $25 price. There are even more deals to be had if you spring for the multipacks. A pack of four is usually listed for $100 but is currently on sale for $75. With RINGKEYS20, you can get four trackers for just $60. This also applies to the pack of six. Combining the coupon with the current sale will get you six trackers for $84 instead of $150.

    You can nab deals on other trackers, including the Card Spot. The Card Spot is ultrathin, at just 2.4mm, so you can easily slip it into your wallet, and it boasts a battery life of up to two years. You can grab these with code FINDWALLET20, which will take up to 20% off the current sale prices. For example, a pack of four Card Spots is typically priced at $140. It’s currently on sale for $112 and your discount code will take you down to just $90. The code also applies to the new Card Point — which is available for preorder now. Chipolo also has bundles, so you can get 25% off the Chipolo Bundle, which includes two Chipolo Ones and one Chipolo Card. There’s also the Chipolo Spot Bundle, which has one Card Spot and two One Spots included. Use code GIFT20 to activate these savings.

    Some Chipolo trackers use Apple’s Find My network, which means you’ll be able to see their location as long as they’re in the proximity of someone’s iPhone or other Apple device. Plus, they’re equipped with a built-in alarm that you can activate through the companion app. So you can easily track your items down when you’re nearby, and they’ll even send alerts to your phone when you leave one behind. They’re also fairly rugged, with an IPX5 water-resistance rating, so you don’t have to worry about getting them wet. However, if you’re not sold on the Chipolo trackers, we’ve put together a guide to help you find the best Bluetooth tracker for you.

  • Watching the Masters? You Can Get an AI Assist With That

    Watching the Masters? You Can Get an AI Assist With That

    Golf fans — technically called “patrons” — in Augusta, Georgia, this week for the 88th Masters Tournament can indulge in pimento cheese sandwiches (and peach ice cream sandwiches) in plain view of the azaleas and dogwoods at Amen Corner, which includes holes 11, 12 and 13. But they won’t have any mobile devices on hand. Electronics are strictly prohibited.

    That’s where the millions of golf fans who’ll tune in to the tournament on TV (12 million last year) have an advantage thanks to increasingly elaborate tournament-tracking options beyond simply viewing the Masters on TV. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Here’s how to watch the Masters.)

    And now, of course, it includes AI — generative AI, to be precise.

    While AI has been part of the Masters experience for several years, gen AI first came on the scene in 2023 via an English language narration feature for app and site content. That, of course, was also the year gen AI went mainstream following the launches of ChatGPT, Gemini (known originally as Bard), Claude and Copilot. As consumers have experimented with the technology to write poetry, generate fanciful images, compose symphonies and perhaps even get tips on how to improve their golf swings, gen AI has been infiltrating our lives further and further.

    So it’s perhaps no surprise the 2024 Masters is availing itself of the technology to provide course insights through its app, to improve highlight reels and to enable segments of its first experience on the Apple Vision Pro device.

    The technology changes, but the goal remains the same: enhancing the mobile and site experience for fans who can’t be in Augusta.

    The Masters is a legendary four-day golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in the first week of April. After the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday, the top 50 players move on to the final rounds. It culminates on Sunday when the winner is awarded the tournament’s iconic green jacket (and about $3 million).

    It was a windy day in Augusta on Friday, but Americans Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler — currently ranked the top golfer in the world — and Max Homa ended Round 2 in a three-way tie.

    Tiger Woods, who’s after his sixth Masters win to tie Jack Nicklaus for the most victories overall, ended up tied for 22nd place when he posted an even-par 72. In doing so, he set a record for making the cut to the weekend rounds for the 24th time. Meanwhile, defending champion Jon Rahm shot 76, while Rory McIlroy shot 77. Both narrowly made the cut and will continue to Round 3.

    (By the way, if you’re looking for a deeper dive into AI, check out CNET’s new AI Atlas guide, which includes reviews of gen AI tools, along with AI news, tips and explainers.)

    Three examples of what iPhone users will find in the 2024 Masters app.

    A trove of golf data from Hole Insights

    Here’s how the gen AI features work. Let’s say I’m hoping Northern Ireland’s McIlroy will finally get the winner’s green jacket on Sunday. If I select him as one of my favorite players, the Masters app will tell me his tee time each day — and compile highlight videos and send alerts with McIlroy updates if I choose.

    A new Hole Insights feature can also help me stay on top of his play.

    According to IBM, the feature processes data about all the shots on the course by all competitors over all four rounds in the last eight years — that’s 170,000 total shots, to be precise — to calculate the overall probabilities of what’s going to happen next “based on the resting positions of the ball relative to the next shot,” as Noah Syken, vice president of sports and entertainment at IBM, put it.

    As soon as the ball stops, IBM captures the x, y and z coordinates to compare them to historical data.

    So if I pull up the Track Players feature within the app, pick which hole I want to see from Round 1 on Thursday —like Hole 12, where McIlroy birdied —watch video clips of each shot (along with a yellow arc highlighting the ball’s flight path) and then click on an icon of circles within a circle to get Hole Insights.

    After McIlroy’s first shot at Hole 12, which went 148 yards, Hole Insights says players have a 43.48% chance of par from that spot historically.

    Golf fans can play around in the app to find breakdowns of current and historical play, as well as projections for the 2024 tournament, which include recaps of how each hole has played daily and throughout the tournament as a whole; projections of how each hole might play based on performance data; and historical data about how each hole has played — at least in the last eight years.

    This marks the first Masters tournament in which offsite fans will have access to this data and the shot probabilities. And, per Syken, it’s also yielding more accurate intel about the course itself.

    So while caddies might have estimated, say, that golfers hit the 12th green 70 to 80% of the time, Hole Insights will tell you it’s actually 51%.

    “That data just has never been available at this course before,” he added.

    This expands upon an existing Track Shots feature. “In the past, [Track Shots] would show you Player A hit his tee shot 227 yards and he has 150 yards to the hole and that would be the totality of the information,” Syken said.

    Now Hole Insights can tell you he hit the ball 217 yards into the fairway and the probability of him making a par or a birdie from that position.

    “In the past, we really just captured distances of the ball going, but that didn’t have any correlation to actual performance,” Syken added.

    Narrating the Masters in Spanish, a la AI

    Joining the AI-enabled English language narration feature, which debuted in 2023, the Masters app will offer AI-enabled Spanish language narration in 2024 as the tournament attempts to reach a more global audience.

    Last year, IBM and the Masters used foundation models to train the English language AI in “the unique language of golf at the Masters” to automate the addition of spoken commentary to video clips of player and tournament highlights. IBM says gen AI helps to produce varied sentence structure and vocabulary, which prevents redundant commentary.

    Spanish language narration is possible this year thanks to a large language model that was trained in Spanish, so audio and closed captioning should sound more realistic to Spanish-speaking fans.

    IBM says the AI narration offers audio and closed caption commentary for on-demand highlight videos of every shot, which works out to about 20,000 throughout the four-day tournament each year.

    Viewing the Masters via Apple Vision Pro

    Also new this year is a Masters app for the Apple Vision Pro device, which debuted in February.

    In addition to preexisting app features like livestreams, Track Shots and My Group, which lets fans watch every shot from their favorite golfers, the Vision Pro app includes 3D renderings of the course, enabling fans to view the course from multiple perspectives.

    Putting together a Masters highlight reel

    IBM has been one of the few tournament sponsors for at least 25 years. That includes the launch of Masters.com in 1996, along with the usual technological subjects thereafter leading up to AI and gen AI in 2023.

    Returning in 2024 is the My Group feature, which uses AI models to identify highlights of your favorite players, which are automatically added to a personalized feed.

    IBM pulls this together in part by analyzing excitement on the course.

    That includes factoring in elements like the difficulty of a given shot, as well as crowd noise and player gesture recognition — say, a fist raised in triumph — to come up with an excitement score for each shot.

    And so IBM will generate a personalized highlight reel based on excitement scores for McIlroy and whoever else I pick as my favorites, along with human curation.

    The goal is to create a better, more personalized experience for the 12 million or so golf fans who won’t be in Augusta.

    “The Masters wants to present the best event in all the world of sports to their patrons and their fans, and so on-site those experiences are intended to be the best, like free parking, right?” Syken said. “You don’t go to many sporting events that offer free parking.”

  • Fubo Review: Top-Tier for Sports, but Channel Selection Falls Short

    Fubo Review: Top-Tier for Sports, but Channel Selection Falls Short

    Our Experts

    Written by

    Ty Pendlebury
    Ty Pendlebury Editor
    Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.
    Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He majored in Cinema Studies when studying at RMIT. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials

    • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
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    Sarah Lord covers TVs and home entertainment. Prior to joining CNET, Sarah served as the tech and electronic reviews fellow at Insider, where she wrote about everything from smart watches and wearables to tablets and e-readers. She began her career by writing laptop reviews as an intern and subsequent freelancer at Tom’s Hardware. She is also a professional actor with many credits in theater, film and television.
    Expertise TVs, Home Entertainment, Streaming, Computers Credentials

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    CNET’s expert staff reviews and rates dozens of new products and services each month, building on more than a quarter century of expertise.

    01-fubo

    7.1/ 10
    SCORE

    Fubo

    $75 at Fubo

    Pros

    • Fans of soccer will find plenty to love
    • Quick and easy navigation, especially on Roku
    • Huge DVR storage and 4K content included

    Cons

    • Lacks CNN, TNT, TBS and other Turner channels
    • YouTube TV and Hulu Live are better overall

    For cord-cutters live TV streaming services like YouTube TV, Sling TV and Fubo have become replacements for cable. The selection of channels on these services is diverse, just as with cable, but Fubo differentiates itself from rivals with a sports-centric focus. But is it enough to compete against some strong contenders?

    At $80 a month, Fubo still has a decent channel lineup, although it’s the only service in its price range to lack major Turner networks including CNN, TNT and TBS. If you’re a fan of soccer, however, this is the streaming service to get because no other competitor offers a more comprehensive list of games, or ways to find them, in both 4K and HD. Beyond soccer it’s also one of the best sports streaming services, full stop.

    Yet, all of the other services in this price range present stronger packages. Hulu Plus Live TV offers a wealth of on-demand content including Disney Plus, and YouTube TV has even more channels and a superior DVR. More crucially, DirecTV Stream has a competitive channel selection comparable to Fubo. Overall, while Fubo has kept evolving over the years it still remains a niche player in the live TV streaming arena.

    What is Fubo?

    Fubo home screen

    Fubo launched in January 2015 as a soccer (er, football) streaming service, but it has expanded its reach within live TV streaming to include channels for local networks, lifestyle, true crime, dramas and movies. In the past few years it has lost important channels such as CNN, TBS, Lifetime and A&E, but its origins are still apparent with dozens of sports-centric channels. Of our top 100 channels, though, Fubo has the lowest among all the premium services at 56, followed closely by DirecTV Stream at 57. Meanwhile, YouTube TV leads with 78.

    Fubo offers a smattering of live 4K sports programming, and in the past this has included events as diverse as the Super Bowl and the Westminster Dog Show. Currently, the upcoming 4K events page lists a mix of English Premier League and NCAA basketball tournament, aka March Madness, but the service has plenty of non-4K too with the UEFA Europa League. See the next section for an in-depth rundown.

    Fubo once offered a $65 starter package, but this has been phased out in favor of the $80 Pro plan, which comes with 4K, 1,000 hours of cloud DVR storage, 10 screens and a total of 196 channels. Move one level up to the $90 Elite plan, and you’ll get a bunch of extra channels (though only two more from the top 100) along with the Pro plan’s perks, like the DVR upgrade. It’s a massive improvement from the paltry 30 hours of recording the service offered a few of years ago. The cloud DVRs on YouTube TV and Hulu Plus Live TV are unlimited, for what it’s worth.

    Top services compared

    Monthly price Sports channels RSNs? Simultaneous streams Cloud DVR
    Fubo $80 for Pro plan (196 channels) ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, ESPN FS1, FS2, Bally Sports Yes 10 at home (2 outside home) 1,000 hours
    DirecTV Stream $80 for Entertainment Package with basic sports (90+ channels); $109 for Choice plan with deluxe sports (125+ channels) ESPN, ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, TBS, TNT, F1, RSNs Yes 20 at home (3 outside home) Unlimited
    Hulu with Live TV $77 ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, ESPN, TBS, TNT, FS1, FS2 Limited 2 (pay an extra $10/month for more) Unlimited
    YouTube TV $73 ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, ESPN, TBS, TNT, FS1, FS2, league channels Limited 3 Unlimited
    Sling Starts at $40 ESPN, TBS, FS1, some major networks No 1 for Orange, 3 for Blue, 4 for Orange & Blue 50 hours (pay $5/month for 200)

    Sports on Fubo

    Fubo has sports in its DNA, and it offers channels such as ESPN, FS1, FS2, BeIN Sports, the Big 10 and the Golf Channel, along with most of your local networks like ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. Its lineup also includes Bally Sports. However, its lack of TNT and TBS could be a dealbreaker for many baseball, basketball and hockey fans.

    Additionally, many sports fans will need access to their local regional sports networks, or RSNs, to watch their home team’s games. Fubo now offers 35 RSNs in its base package for viewers around the country –beating out DirecTV Stream’s count. You will need to check to see if Fubo carries your local networks and RSNs. Fans looking for league-owned channels will have to pay for an additional package. The Sports Lite add-on includes NHL, NBA, MLB, SEC and Tennis channels for $10 a month.

    In terms of the competition, DirecTV Stream carries TBS and TNT, RSNs, and additional channels like MLB Network, NBA TV, SEC Network but to access them you’d have to pay $109 a month, which is still $29 more than Fubo Pro and Sports Lite combined, and $9 more than Elite with Sports Lite. Hulu with Live TV also has TBS and TNT, but only carries four RSNs and even their sports add-on lacks many league-owned channels. The bulked-up Hulu costs $77 a month and includes the Disney Bundle, which also gives subscribers access to ESPN Plus. The chart at the end of this article has a full comparison of how Fubo’s channel lineup fares against competitors.

    What’s it like to use?

    Fubo live sports home screen on streaming app

    While it may be missing some important channels, the interface feels custom-built for sports fans. Fubo’s home screen features a specific “sports” tab that unlocks a menu right out of a sports-lover’s dream. Up top is a scrolling line of featured shows and matchups, along with local games. Below that is a clean, easy-to-read list of every upcoming game airing on the service that day sorted by time and sport type. You can click on a live event and immediately begin watching, with the option to record or in some cases, start playback from the beginning. You can tap on the DVR button to record the game or even record all of the games of one of the individual teams playing.

    If looking at the whole daily schedule of games is too much, or you are in a hurry and looking for a particular sport, Fubo breaks down the menu even further. Directly under the “Fubo Spotlight” section is a list across the top of the screen of just about every sport you could want. Just click on the sport you’re looking for and a list of all the events in that sport will pop up. From there, you can even narrow it down further by league. For example, clicking on “hockey” will bring up all the hockey games airing today and for the rest of the week. But I can also toggle between the various league tabs to sort between the NHL, NCAA and AHL games — all with DVR options readily available. Fubo offers a comprehensive way to quickly find, record or watch a sporting event. There isn’t another service that even comes close to Fubo’s ease of use when it comes to sports, not even YouTube TV.

    Fubo movie selection

    The user interface offers a number of selections on the side of the screen including Search, Home, Sports, Shows, Movies, Guide and My Stuff. Most of these menus summon a Netflix-like grid, which groups similar types of content, but I found the navigation speed varied according to platform. I used the interface on the most popular devices including the Roku, Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, iOS and the Chrome browser. I found that while the mobile and browser versions worked as expected, the TV iterations varied, and some were slicker than others.

    If you’re using the Apple TV or Roku, for example, the navigation menu is hidden and requires side click or swipe. Of all the platforms, I liked Roku best for browsing — it was responsive and let me use the fast-forward key to zip through the thumbnails on discovery pages.

    My least favorite Fubo platform was the standard Amazon Fire TV Stick, and this is likely due to the hardware itself. Scrolling, whether it was up, down, left or right, was laggy with a noticeable stutter, and each thumbnail would take a couple of seconds to appear, though the newer Fire TV 4K was faster.

    More streaming advice

    Should you get it?

    With the loss of a number of important channels over the last two years, Fubo has lost much of the diversity it once offered, and now defaults to a sports-rich offering. If you are a hardcore sports fan, or its particular selection of channels interests you, it’s worthwhile at least signing up for a week to Fubo try it out. If you want the best value at this level, though, it’s YouTube TV or Hulu Plus Live TV where your money is best spent.

    Top 100 channels compared

    Channel Philo ($25) Sling Orange ($40) Sling Blue ($40) YouTube TV ($73) Hulu with Live TV ($77) DirecTV Stream ($80) Fubo ($80)
    Total channels: 42 24 35 78 75 57 56
    ABC No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
    CBS No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Fox No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    NBC No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    PBS No No No Yes Yes Yes No
    CW No No No Yes Yes Yes (limited) Yes
    MyNetworkTV No No No Yes Yes Yes No
    Channel Philo ($25) Sling Orange ($40) Sling Blue ($40) YouTube TV ($73) Hulu with Live TV ($77) DirecTV Stream ($80) Fubo ($80)
    A&E Yes Yes Yes No Yes $ No
    ACC Network No $ No Yes Yes $ Yes
    Accuweather Yes No No No No Yes Yes
    AMC Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
    Animal Planet Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
    BBC America Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
    BBC World News Yes $ $ Yes No $ No
    BET Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Big Ten Network No No $ Yes Yes $ Yes
    Bloomberg TV No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
    Boomerang No $ $ No $ Yes No
    Bravo No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Channel Philo ($25) Sling Orange ($40) Sling Blue ($40) YouTube TV ($73) Hulu with Live TV ($77) DirecTV Stream ($80) Fubo ($80)
    Cartoon Network No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
    CBS Sports Network No No No Yes Yes $ Yes
    Cheddar Yes No No Yes Yes $ Yes
    Cinemax No No No $ $ $ No
    CMT Yes $ $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
    CNBC No No $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
    CNN No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
    Comedy Central Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Cooking Channel Yes $ $ No $ $ $
    Destination America Yes $ $ No $ $ $
    Discovery Channel Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Disney Channel No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Disney Junior No $ No Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Disney XD No $ No Yes Yes Yes Yes
    E! No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    ESPN No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
    ESPN 2 No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
    ESPNEWS No $ No Yes Yes $ $
    ESPNU No $ No Yes Yes $ $
    Channel Philo ($25) Sling Orange ($40) Sling Blue ($40) YouTube TV ($73) Hulu with Live TV ($77) DirecTV Stream ($80) Fubo ($80)
    Food Network Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Fox Business No No $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Fox News No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    FS1 No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    FS2 No No $ Yes Yes $ Yes
    Freeform No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
    FX No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    FX Movies No No $ Yes Yes $ $
    FXX No No $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
    FYI Yes $ $ No Yes $ No
    Golf Channel No No $ Yes Yes $ Yes
    Hallmark Yes $ $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
    HBO/Max No No No $ $ $ No
    HGTV Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    History Yes Yes Yes No Yes $ No
    HLN No $ Yes Yes Yes Yes No
    IFC Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
    Investigation Discovery Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Lifetime Yes Yes Yes No Yes $ No
    Lifetime Movie Network Yes $ $ No Yes $ No
    Channel Philo ($25) Sling Orange ($40) Sling Blue ($40) YouTube TV ($73) Hulu with Live TV ($77) DirecTV Stream ($80) Fubo ($80)
    Magnolia Network Yes $ $ Yes Yes $ Yes
    MGM+ $ $ $ $ No $ No
    MLB Network No $ $ No Yes $ $
    Motor Trend Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
    MSNBC No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    MTV Yes $ $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
    MTV2 Yes $ $ Yes $ Yes $
    National Geographic No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Nat Geo Wild No No $ Yes Yes $ $
    NBA TV No $ $ Yes No $ $
    NFL Network No No Yes Yes Yes $ Yes
    NFL Red Zone No No $ $ $ No $
    NHL Network No $ $ No No $ $
    Nickelodeon Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Nick Jr. Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes $ Yes
    Nicktoons Yes $ $ Yes $ $ $
    OWN Yes No No Yes Yes $ Yes
    Oxygen No No $ Yes Yes $ Yes
    Paramount Network Yes $ $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Science Yes $ $ No $ $ $
    Channel Philo ($25) Sling Orange ($40) Sling Blue ($40) YouTube TV ($73) Hulu with Live TV ($77) DirecTV Stream ($80) Fubo ($80)
    SEC Network No $ No Yes Yes $ $
    Showtime No $ $ $ $ $ $
    Smithsonian Yes No No Yes Yes $ Yes
    Starz $ $ $ $ $ $ $
    Sundance TV Yes $ $ Yes No Yes No
    Syfy No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Tastemade Yes $ $ Yes No $ Yes
    TBS No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
    TCM No $ $ Yes Yes Yes No
    TeenNick Yes $ $ Yes $ Yes $
    Telemundo No No No Yes Yes $ Yes
    Tennis Channel No $ $ No No $ $
    TLC Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    TNT No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
    Travel Channel Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes $ Yes
    TruTV No $ Yes Yes Yes Yes No
    TV Land Yes $ $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
    USA Network No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    VH1 Yes $ $ Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Vice Yes Yes Yes No Yes $ No
    WE tv Yes $ $ Yes No Yes No
    Channel Philo ($25) Sling Orange ($40) Sling Blue ($40) YouTube TV ($73) Hulu with Live TV ($77) DirecTV Stream ($80) Fubo ($80)