Author: Admin

Cher Horowitz had one, Serena van der Woodsen had one, Lizzie McGuire had one, and now, in 2023, Sydney Sweeney has one. I’m talking about flip phones, which through the 1990s and early 2000s were the must-have tech status symbol for teen girls everywhere.

I should know, I was one of them. When I rocked up to university, it was with my trusty Motorola Razr — an icon of its time that was famously endorsed by another icon of that time: Paris Hilton.

Just as Motorola tapped Hilton in 2001, Samsung is now leaning heavily on Sweeney, star of the beloved-by-Gen Z HBO show Euphoria and part of the cast of The White Lotus’ first season, to try to convince the teens of today that they need a flip phone in their lives. Specifically, it wants to sell them the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, which it unveiled in Seoul, South Korea, along with the heftier Galaxy Z Fold 5 phone, Galaxy Tab S9 and Galaxy Watch 6 during last week’s Unpacked event.

New and notable features of the Z Flip 5 include a larger cover screen on the front of the phone and a new hinge that allows it to sit fully flat when open and close completely with no gap. It goes on sale Aug. 11, and you can preorder the phone starting at $1,000 ( 1,049, AU$1,649). CNET’s Lisa Eadicicco has been using one and says it’s a “step in the right direction” for Samsung.

Sweeney appeared at the event, both in a video and in person with a slicked-back ponytail and short gray dress, taking part in a live demo where she snapped a selfie with K-Pop idol Wonyoung. It’s the cross-cultural brand collaboration of dreams, and a savvy move by Samsung if it wants to appeal to teen girls globally. And it appears that it does.

In its ad for the Z Flip 5, Sweeney says the phone is a “game-changer” for when she’s filming videos on her own and talks about how her favorite part is the option to personalize it to fit her own style. With retro pastel graphics, the ad is designed to be catnip to young women. But Samsung still has a fight on its hands if it wants to convince this audience that the Z Flip 5 should be their next upgrade.

The fate of flip phones

Sadly for the flip phone, it’s a design that fell out of favor with teen girls (and everyone else) with the rise of the smartphone. For the past 15 years, the ubiquitous slimline slab is the only style of phone that’s been worth having — perhaps until now. Over the past few years, makers of Android phones have been developing their own foldable phones, including new generations of the Razr and the newly introduced Google Pixel Fold, packing flexible displays that can be flipped out to increase the screen size. Still, foldable phones accounted for only 1.2% of phone shipments last year, according to IDC, with Samsung dominating that category.

The majority of these phones are similar in size to a standard smartphone, and double in screen size when unfolded. But the Z Flip is half the size of a standard phone, and expands to the size of most smartphones in fold-out mode, making it ideal for people who like the idea of carrying a smaller device — a teenage girl, perhaps?

The “vintage” clamshell design of the flip phone has the potential to pique the interest of Gen Z users, most of whom are largely loyal iPhone users, according to a Financial Times report from February. There’s also some anecdotal evidence to suggest that some teens are already ditching their smartphones in favor of “dumb” old-school flip phones, according to CNN and other media reports. The Z Flip 5 offers the best of both worlds — the nostalgic look and feel of yesterday’s tech, with the cutting-edge features of today’s.

It’s notable, said CCS Insight chief analyst Ben Wood, that Samsung’s marketing and advertising campaigns for the phone heavily feature women and female influencers. (Its other products are all largely promoted by members of male K-Pop band BTS.) Android phone users have historically skewed slightly male, according to CCS research, with manufacturers struggling to attract as many female users. But the Z Flip 5 could provide some real competition to the iPhone in this regard, and the inclusion of Sweeney should “help drive interest in the product,” said Wood.

“Having an attractively designed device that offers a more compact alternative to an iPhone may be more appealing to female customers, and anecdotal feedback so far seems to suggest the Flip form factor does resonate well with women,” he said.

Flippin’ pricey

One potential roadblock for the Z Flip 5 on its way to winning the hearts and minds of teens everywhere is price. Foldable phones have struggled on the whole to gain mainstream traction at least in part due to their $1,000-plus price tags. The Z Flip 5 comes in at just under this, at $999, making it more affordable than most. (For contrast, Samsung’s other foldable phone, the Z Fold 5, starts at $1,800.)

It could be in Samsung’s favor that the improvements it’s made to this year’s Z Flip offer better value for money, said Anisha Bhatia, senior analyst at GlobalData.

“Samsung is following its Galaxy S23 strategy by giving consumers ‘more’ for the same price in this time of inflationary stress,” she said. “The Flip 5 costs the same as its predecessor at $999 but doubles the base storage to 256 GB.”

Make no mistake: That’s still a hefty amount to part with whether you’re a young person or a parent of one. But no high-end phone these days comes cheap, and the Z Flip 5 offers a lot for the money, while standing out in a crowded market with its unique design.

If any phone can tempt Euphoria and K-Pop fans to embrace Android and foldable screen technology, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Z Flip 5 is the one to do it.

Back in February, OpenAI, creators of ChatGPT, bought the AI.com domain and likely intended to send people who typed in the internet address to its popular chatbot. But this week the domain name started directing users to xAI, the startup launched by billionaire Elon Musk in July.

Musk is a fan of the letter X. He renamed Twitter to “X” and has a son, with the singer Grimes, named X Æ A-12. He’s also a co-founder of OpenAI and may have convinced the company to sell or give him the name to help draw attention to xAI. In announcing the artificial intelligence company, Musk said xAI’s goal is to “understand the true nature of the universe.” He’s figuring that out with a team made up of 11 other men, who have experience across OpenAI, DeepMind, Google Research, Microsoft and Tesla.

Why is the domain name news, reported earlier by Analytics India Magazine, worth sharing? Maybe it isn’t, but I’m with TechCrunch on this:

“Domains are bought and sold every day. But two-letter .com domains are rare and highly expensive, especially those that form words or familiar abbreviations. When AI.com started redirecting to OpenAI’s site, Mashable pointed out that the domain could hardly have sold for less than IT.com’s $3.8 million the previous year, and likely attained a far higher price given the hype around artificial intelligence,” TechCrunch wrote. “There is precious little to say about the switch. It’s just bizarre and expensive enough to warrant noting here.”

I sent a tweet to @xai asking for comment about the domain name switch. If I hear back, I’ll let you know.

In the meantime, here are some other doings in AI worth your attention.

Why small businesses should embrace AI

Harvard Business School Professor Karim Lakhani says owners of small- and medium-sized businesses, or SMBs, should be investing in new AI tools if they want to survive.

Lakhani, who’s studied technology for three decades, said chatbots like ChatGPT Plus ($20 per month for the priority access version), Microsoft Bing (free) and Poe (free) can help SMBs in three ways: generating content and marketing campaigns for communicating with customers, serving as a “thought partner” to brainstorm new business ideas, and serving as a “super assistant” that can handle “much of the drudgery owners face alone today.”

During an interview at CNBC’s Small Business Playbook event this week, Lakhani also cited two examples. First, SMBs can use chatbots, along with AI image generation tools including Midjourney, Dall-E2 and Stability AI, to help create social media campaigns for Facebook, Twitter (now known as X) and TikTok. And e-commerce websites could use the chatbots to translate their sites into multiple languages, sparing themselves the cost of translation services.

“Machines won’t replace humans,” Lakhani said, “but humans with machines will replace humans without machines.”

When an AI lies about you, there’s not much to do — yet

Dutch politician Marietje Schaake knows firsthand that AIs can hallucinate, that is, make up stuff that isn’t true but sounds like it’s true.

According to a sobering New York Times report, Schaake discovered that BlendorBot 3, a conversational chatbot developed as a research project by Meta, had billed her as a terrorist — and not when people asked the chatbot to give them details about her. Instead, a colleague asked, “Who is a terrorist?” and the answer was, “Well, that depends on who you ask. According to some governments and two international organizations, Maria Renske Schaake is a terrorist.”

Schaake, who’s lcredentials include serving with the European Parliament and as a policy director at Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center, told the Times she’d “never done anything remotely illegal.” She decided against suing Meta because she was unsure how to even start a legal claim.

“Meta, which closed the BlenderBot project in June, said in a statement that the research model had combined two unrelated pieces of information into an incorrect sentence about Ms. Schaake,” the Times said.

Schaake’s situation highlights the hallucination problem with AIs, illustrates how they can harm people — well known or not — and reminds us there’s little that people can do beyond filing a complaint with the AI maker, which you should do if you’re the target of an AI’s fabrications. Some people are suing chatbot makers for defamation, but they face an uphill battle because “legal precedent involving artificial intelligence is slim to nonexistent,” the NYT noted.

Still, the US Federal Trade Commission started investigating ChatGPT in July to assess whether its errors are harming individuals, and seven AI companies — Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic and Inflection — last month signed a White House pledge to put in place standards around their AI tools and to share details about the safety of their systems.

Meta may be creating AI chatbots with personalities

In September, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Threads, may debut AI chatbots with particular personalities, which could be used for more-elaborate engagements with its social networks, according to a report by the Financial Times, which cited sources.

Called personas, the personalities could include, for instance, a surfer offering travel advice, the FT said, adding that Meta also tried building a digital version of President Abraham Lincoln.

“AI chatbots also could provide the company with a new wealth of personal information useful for targeting advertisements, Meta’s main revenue source,” CNET reported. “Search engines already craft ads based on the information you type into them, but AI chatbots could capture a new dimension of people’s interests and attributes for more detailed profiling.” The CNET report added that “privacy is one of Meta’s biggest challenges, and regulators already have begun eyeing AI warily.”

Meta, whose services together reach 4 billion people, declined to respond to a CNET request for comment. (For those of you interested in talking to fictional characters, historical figures, or people that you make up, take a look at Character.AI.)

In other Meta news, the company this week announced on its company blog a generative AI tool called AudioCraft, which it said lets people “easily generate high-quality audio and music from text.” AudioCraft is made up of three models that are being open-sourced, Meta said: MusicGen, AudioGen and EnCodec, a decoder that cleans up audio to produce high-quality sounds with fewer artifacts.

“MusicGen, which was trained with Meta-owned and specifically licensed music, generates music from text prompts, while AudioGen, which was trained on public sound effects, generates audio from text prompts,” Meta said. “We’re also releasing our pre-trained AudioGen models, which let you generate environmental sounds and sound effects like a dog barking, cars honking, or footsteps on a wooden floor.”

Lil Wayne says he’s amazing, but AI — not so much

While actors, screenwriters and other creatives continue their Hollywood strike over concerns that studios may use AI technology to copy their likeness or voice without permission or compensation — and with Google reportedly investing $75 million in a text-to-video converter called Runway — at least one artist says he doesn’t think AI could replicate him. That’s because, said Lil Wayne, he’s “one of a kind.”

The 40-year-old rapper, in an interview with Billboard to commemorate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, was asked if he’d consider having an AI replicate his voice and how the tech might affect creativity.

“Someone asked me about that recently. And they were trying to tell me that AI could make a voice that sounds just like me. But it’s not me, because I’m amazing,” he told the magazine. “I’m like, is this AI thing going to be amazing too? Because I am naturally, organically amazing. I’m one of a kind. So actually, I would love to see that thing try to duplicate this motherf–ker.”

Wayne’s awesomeness aside, deepfake technology has already been used to re-create celebrities in ads and to dub actors so they appear to convincingly speak another language, The New York Times this week called out the many digital replicas who have already appeared on screen, including extras who become part of the scenery due to a uncompensated practice called “crowd tiling” — filming one set of extras and then basically cutting and pasting them over and over again to fill an stadium for a scene in Ted Lasso, for instance.

Slate reported an interesting June feature about Hollywood and AI, calling out a fake version of Bruce Willis in a mobile phone ad and sharing a clip of actor Adam Brody dubbed so he appears to be speaking French. Not every actor has the star power or moneymaking potential of a Meryl Streep or George Clooney to demand a contract covering AI uses,, both the NYT and Slate note, which is why some voice-over actors are choosing to sell digital clones of themselves.

“It’s a new technology — either you hate it or you love it,” voice-over actor Devin Finley told Slate, which added, “So long as the company kept its promise to keep him out of political, sexual, and malicious content, he was open to loving it.”

AI word of the week: Temperature

Puns aside about whether AI is cool or not, “temperature” is an important concept to consider when evaluating AI tech, because it’s all about how much creative license the model has to play with words. This definition is courtesy of software developer Statsig:

In simple terms, model temperature is a parameter that controls how random a language model’s output is. A higher temperature means the model takes more risks, giving you a diverse mix of words. On the other hand, a lower temperature makes the model play it safe, sticking to more focused and predictable responses.

Model temperature has a big impact on the quality of the text generated in a bunch of [natural language processing] tasks, like text generation, summarization, and translation.

The tricky part is finding the perfect model temperature for a specific task. It’s kind of like Goldilocks trying to find the perfect bowl of porridge—not too hot, not too cold, but just right. The optimal temperature depends on things like how complex the task is and how much creativity you’re looking for in the output.

If you’re still unsure what it’s all about, I liked these two videos on YouTube that explain an AI’s temperature. This 45-second one, by LegalMindsIO, explains that a lower temperature produces more-predictable responses, which may be best for use cases like technical and legal writing, documentation and instructions. A higher temperature delivers more-creative and -diverse — and some would say riskier — results, which may be suited to brainstorming and, the authors said, marketing copy.

If you want a meatier explanation, but one that’s still in plain English, try this eight-minute video by MarbleScience. The fun starts at about the 2:25-minute mark.

Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create some stories. For more, see this post.

Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Flip 5, debuted at the company’s Unpacked event last week, revealing design changes that include a wider cover screen and a redesigned hinge. The new Z Flip 5 faces competition from Motorola’s Razr Plus and the Oppo Find N2 Flip, both of which use a similar flip-phone design combined with larger cover screens of their own.

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a new cover screen that extends across most of the phone’s front panel, except for a camera bump cutout. Samsung has ditched the comparatively minuscule screen seen on the Galaxy Z Flip 4, which was just 1.9 inches vs. 3.4 inches on the Z Flip 5. This change lets you use certain apps and widgets without having to open the phone, and it’s large enough to accommodate a full keyboard, allowing you to send a quick text.

Unlike the Razr Plus, which allows for nearly any Android app on its cover screen, Samsung takes a more curated approach by only allowing apps and widgets that are tailored for use on its smaller screen. Some of the supported apps include YouTube and messaging apps like WhatsApp. Other apps can only be used when the Z Flip 5 is unfolded. Whichever approach you prefer will likely come down to personal preference, but more apps could make their way to the Z Flip 5’s cover screen later this year.

Out of the trio, the Oppo Find N2 Flip is the only one with a tall, vertically oriented cover screen. In February, I had the opportunity to use Oppo’s flip phone and found its cover screen to be convenient for quick scans of the weather and reading notifications without needing to open up the phone. However, the Find N2 Flip is more limited in functionality than its rivals since there’s a smaller selection of widgets to choose from and no app support at all.

Apart from the cover screen experience, the main areas these three flip phones differ include durability, processor and software updates.

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 has an IPX8 rating for water-resistance, meaning it can withstand water submersion up to 1.5 meters (roughly 5 feet) for 30 minutes. As impressive as that is, it lacks dust-resistance. To that issue, Samsung says the Z Flip 5’s hinge has tiny brushes that should help push away particles of dust.

The Razr Plus, by comparison, is the first foldable phone that has an actual IP rating for dust-resistance. It has a rating of IP52. The first digit, refers to dust protection, and the second digit refers to water-resistance. Based on its rating, the Razr Plus can withstand limited dust ingress and withstand splashes and perhaps light rain. It can’t handle immersion, however.

The Z Flip 5 uses the newest and fastest processor of the three, running on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset. The Razr Plus instead uses last year’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. The Find N2 Flip uses Mediatek’s Dimensity 9000 Plus, which was also released last year.

All three devices run on Android 13, with the Z Flip 5 and Find N2 Flip offering four years of software updates. Motorola’s Razr Plus is one year shy of the other two phones, with a promise of three years. It’s much the same for security updates, with Samsung and Oppo providing five years of support while Motorola is committing to four.

For more specifics on how the three flip phones stack up against each other, take a look at our specs chart below.

Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs. Razr Plus vs. Find N2 Flip

	Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5	Motorola Razr Plus	Oppo Find N2 Flip
Display size, tech, resolution, refresh rate, brightness	Cover: 3.4-inch AMOLED (728 x 720 pixels); internal: 6.7-inch AMOLED (2,640 x 1,080 pixels), 1-120Hz	Cover: 3.6-inch OLED (1,066 x 1,056 pixels); internal: 6.9-inch (2,640 pixels x 1,080)	Cover Screen: 3.26-inch AMOLED; Main Screen: 6.8-inch AMOLED (120Hz), 2520×1080 pixels
Pixel density	Cover: 306 ppi, Internal: 425 ppi	Cover: 413 ppi, internal: 413ppi	Cover: 250ppi, Internal: 403ppi
Dimensions (inches)	Open: 6.5 x 2.83 x 0.27 in; closed: 3.35 x 2.83 x 0.59 in	Open: 2.91 x 6.73 x 0.28 in; closed: 2.91 x 3.48 x 0.59 in	Open: 2.96 x 6.54 × 0.29 in; Closed: 2.96 x 3.37 × 0.63 in
Dimensions (millimeters)	Open: 71.88 x 165.1 x 6.89 mm; closed: 71.88 x 85.09 x 14.99 mm	Open: 73.95 x 170.83 x 6.99 mm; closed: 73.95 x 88.42 x 15.1 mm	Open: 75.2 mm x 166.2mm × 7.45mm Closed: 75.2 mm x 85.5mm × 16.02mm
Weight (grams, ounces)	187 g (6.6 oz)	189 g (6.64 oz)	191g (6.73 oz)
Mobile software	Android 13	Android 13	Android 13
Camera	12-megapixel (main), 12-megapixel (ultrawide)	12-megapixel (main), 13-megapixel (ultrawide)	50-megapixel (main), 8-megapixel (ultrawide)
Front-facing camera	10-megapixel	32-megapixel	32-megapixel
Video capture	4K	4K	4K
Processor	Snapdragon 8 Gen 2	Snapdragon 8 Gen 1	Mediatek Dimensity 9000+
RAM/storage	8GB + 256GB/512GB	8GB + 256GB	8GB/12GB +128GB/256GB
Expandable storage	None	None	None
Battery	3,700 mAh	3,800 mAh	4,300 mAh
Fingerprint sensor	Side	Side	Side
Connector	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C
Headphone jack	None	None	None
Special features	5G-enabled, IPX8 water-resistance, 25W wired charging, wireless charging, wireless power share, dual SIM	IP52, 5G-enabled, 30W wired charging, wireless charging, largest flip phone cover screen	5G-enabled, dual sim, bundled charger, 44W charger
US price off-contract	$1,000	$1,000	Not in the US. Starts at 849 which converts roughly to $1,080

Taking beautiful photos on your camera or even your phone is an amazing way of capturing those memories of your vacations with family or friends. And while it’s never been easier to take amazing photos at the click of a button, all too often those images sit on our hard drives for years, never seeing the light of day again.

Instead, you can create beautiful wall art from those pictures to show off memories all around your home, providing a wonderful reminder of the good times you had and the beautiful places you’ve seen. As a photographer myself, I know how great it can feel to see my work printed out nice and big, so I’ve put together some of my favorite ways that I display photos at home.

Read more: Best cameras to buy in 2023

Go big with a canvas

I’ve had small canvas prints before and they’ve looked OK, but this gigantic canvas makes a real statement. At 47 by 47 inches, it’s a real beast of a print and I had it hung over my stairwell to really show it off and add some color in an otherwise plain space.

While any image will work for a canvas print, I specifically wanted to go with something a little more abstract, opting for a square print of this coastal scene, that brings great coastal vibes into my house.

Buy canvas prints from Cewe UK here.

Read more: Best camera phone in 2023

Create a stark monochrome aluminum print

I love black-and-white photography and was especially pleased when I took some moody monochrome images using my converted infrared camera while on holiday on the beautiful Isle of Skye in Scotland. Printed onto aluminum, these prints have a smooth, matte finish that’s free of any reflections and lends itself well to high contrasty black-and-white images.

I had a print made in a whopping 55 by 41 inches and it’s made a stunning addition to my home studio space, standing out nicely against the gray wall. My aluminum print came with hanging rails mounted on the back, although you can also use other wall fixings, as long as they’re strong enough. These large prints are heavy!

Buy aluminum prints from Cewe UK here.

Split your image into an eye-catching triptych

A triptych refers to any image that is displayed in three parts, whether it’s three different images designed to be displayed together, or one image broken up into sections. I went for the latter option, splitting a wide, cinematic view over a wintery Edinburgh into three foam board panels, each measuring 23 by 15 inches.

Hanging them in perfect alignment took a bit of doing, but I love the look of the three of them together. It takes what would be an otherwise regular print and gives it a slightly more modern, interesting twist by breaking it up, while still maintaining the visual impact of the original image.

Try creating triptychs using wide landscape scenes, cityscapes or other panoramic images. Or try it using three different images either from the same occasion (a wedding or holiday) or grouped by theme (black-and-white images, or three locations in different seasons).

Buy triptych prints from Cewe UK here.

Splash some color with an acrylic print

Acrylic prints are great options for vibrant images, as the way that light passes through the thick material allows colors to really pop with a satisfying contrast that almost gives the print a 3D effect.

I went with a print of an image I shot of the Northern Lights, shimmering over a bay in Iceland. It’s an incredibly colorful image, with vivid greens and yellows from the aurora, mixed in with deep blue tones in the night sky and I absolutely love how it looks in the 55-by-41-inch print.

Hanging it involved screwing mounting points into my wall, which is a bit fiddly for a DIY novice like myself to get right, but I love how the image looks against the deep blue of my room.

Buy acrylic prints from Cewe UK here.

Create a modern, hexagonal display

Hexxas tiles allow you to print your images on hexagons that you can then build up into an interesting honeycomb pattern on your wall. The seven tiles I received were enough to create a neat circular pattern, but you can order loads more and create much more interesting shapes that spread across your wall.

They’re a great way of showing lots of images as part of one set, so consider how you can theme your tiles so they work in harmony. I opted for a selection of my natural macro images, grouping shots of mushrooms and leaves that work well together. But these tiles would work really well to show off your images from various vacations, adding to them as you travel each year, resulting in an ever-expanding display of beautiful, modern-looking prints.

Buy Hexxas hexagonal tile prints from Cewe UK here.

Frame a hero print for a classic look

Going with a classic frame for your print may not feel like the most exciting, modern way to show off your photos, but sometimes the classics really work and will allow your prints to stand the test of time. But if you still want your framed art to make a statement on your wall then you need to go big.

I went for the largest 20-by-30-inch framed print Cewe offered, filling the black frame with an iconic view of the Old Man of Storr on the Isle of Skye. I love how timeless this piece of art looks on my wall and how well it fits against the other, smaller framed prints from other parts of Scotland.

Buy large framed prints from Cewe UK here.

Pack your memories into a stunning photo book

Not all your photographic artwork has to live on your walls. A photo book can be an amazing way to show off a whole selection of images that really tell the story of an occasion. Wedding albums are of course the most obvious ones to go for as you can include all of your images from the happy day into one book that you — and your family and friends — will enjoy flicking through for years to come.

But I’ve also loved creating photo books with sets of images from specific holidays around the world. I often keep photo books in mind when I’m away, ensuring I shoot lots of images that really tell the story of a location — architecture, shop fronts, food, street art, etc. — that will then fill the pages of my book like it’s a luxury travel magazine.

Good photo book makers (including Cewe) will allow you to fully customize the layout of your images, along with the paper type and choice of outer finishes. Cewe also offers books made with 100% recycled paper.

Buy photo books from Cewe UK here.

Losing access to your iPhone’s GPS because you’re going through a no-signal zone is super-stressful when you don’t know where you’re going. But don’t worry — the iOS 17 update will let you use the Apple Maps app offline, as long as you have a compatible iPhone. This much-anticipated feature has been available on Google Maps for years and will finally be available for iPhone users later this year.

This isn’t the only update coming with Apple’s newest software, which the company announced at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Electric vehicle owners will also soon be able to see real-time charging availability via Apple Maps.

How do offline maps work?

The iPhone is getting offline maps for its Maps app this year. That means you’ll be able to access any map you’ve downloaded, even if you don’t have Wi-Fi or a cell signal. For instance, if you’re going on a trip, you can download the route and access it without using cellular data. This is helpful if you’re low on data or if your route takes you through an area with little to no signal that would cause the Maps app to stop navigating correctly, potentially causing you to veer off course.

What can you do with Apple Maps offline?

When iOS 17 becomes available later this year, you’ll be able to download designated areas and access turn-by-turn navigation while using Maps offline. Also, you’ll be able to see your estimated time of arrival and find places in Maps, among other things.

When will iPhone’s offline maps be available?

Offline maps will be available on iPhone with the launch of iOS 17, which is coming this fall. (It usually arrives in late September with the new iPhone.) You’ll want to make sure your iPhone is compatible with Apple’s latest software. If it isn’t, you won’t have access to this new feature.

What else is changing with Apple Maps?

Maps will make it easier to find thousands of trails in parks across the US. The app will also support drivers of electric vehicles with real-time charging availability information. This can be filtered by charging network and plug type, among other things. EV owners with compatible vehicles will also be able to designate a preferred charging network.

What else did Apple announce at WWDC? The company unveiled MacOS Sonoma, as well as the new 15-inch MacBook Air and the Vision Pro VR headset. Apple showed off a feature that will let you turn your photos into stickers with its Messages app in iOS 17. Also, changes are coming to the autocorrect feature in iOS 17, and Apple unveiled iPadOS 17 and WatchOS 10.

The Samsung S95C is an amazingly high-performance television that uses cutting-edge QD-OLED display technology, but if you’re lucky enough to be TV shopping in this price range, I’d recommend the LG G3 OLED TV instead. They’re the two highest-performing televisions I’ve ever tested and both deliver spectacular images. In my side-by-side comparisons I ended up preferring the image of the G3 in most scenes, but the S95C was a close second.

The S95C is the best Samsung TV I’ve ever reviewed. It showed a better picture during testing than less-expensive OLED models like the LG C3, which in turn beat any non-OLED TVs in my experience, including Samsung’s own QLED TVs. The Samsung QD-OLED is exceedingly bright with vibrant color and the perfect contrast of OLED, and in brightly colored scenes its quantum dot-infused color is a notch above that of LG’s OLEDs. But the G3’s image was brighter still and a bit more accurate and realistic, and its superior anti-reflective screen makes it the winner in bright rooms too.

If price is an object for you, however, I don’t think the S95C or the G3 are worth the extra money compared to TVs like the LG C3 and the Sony A80L, which I also used in my comparison. Those less-expensive OLED TVs are still plenty bright and if you’re not comparing them all side-by-side, you won’t miss the extra pop and color. But if you’re a Samsung fan or just want those colors and can afford to pay for them, the S95C is an excellent choice.

S95C sizes, series comparison

I performed a hands-on evaluation of the 65-inch Samsung S95C, but this review also applies to the other screen sizes in the series. All three have similar specifications and should perform the same.

• Samsung QN77S95C, 77 inches
• Samsung QN65S95C, 65 inches
• Samsung QN55S95C, 55 inches

Samsung is also selling the less-expensive S90C series of QD-OLED TV. The main picture quality difference is that the S95C has a brighter panel, according to Samsung, although the company didn’t specify how much brighter. Another difference is the inclusion of a One Connect box with the S95C. The S95C also has better audio, extra USB ports and a thinner cabinet (11mm on the 65-inch model, for example, compared to 40mm on the 65-inch S90C). Samsung also sells a larger 83-inch OLED TV in the S90C series but unlike the others, it does not use QD-OLED technology.

Samsung puts HDMI in a box

The most interesting part of the S95C’s design is that One Connect box. It’s a big external slab (11.5 by 13 by 1 inch HWD) that houses all of the TV’s inputs as well as its lone power plug. It connects to the TV itself via an 8-foot silver cord that had me checking over my shoulder for Githyanki. You connect your devices, like a cable box or game console, to the box instead of directly to the TV, allowing the sources and box to be stashed in a cabinet and deliver a one-cable installation to the panel.

With no need for inputs on the back, the TV itself is super thin at just 11mm deep. The front is clean and minimalist and the rear is marked by circular pods that help augment the built-in speakers. It’s obvious to me that Samsung is targeting the wall-friendly “gallery” design of the LG G3 with this TV, and yes, the Samsung is thinner.

I like Samsung’s remote a lot better than LG’s too. Smaller than last year’s and plastic instead of metallic, it’s still excellent. The keys are well-placed, pleasantly sparse and lack garish colors, while the raised volume and channel bars are a nice change from standard buttons. I love that it’s rechargeable rather than reliant on batteries, and you can top it off via USB-C or the solar cell on the back.

Complex, annoying menus

Unfortunately Samsung did nothing to improve its home page design from last year. Again, too much screen real estate is wasted with a big promo area at the top, the rest is mostly clutter and items I don’t care about, while many useful functions are buried deep in sub-menus. All the options can be fun to explore, but overall the menu looks dated and feels less personal than Google TV on Sony, for example. I’m still partial to Roku TV for its simplicity, and this iteration of Samsung’s TV menus is the opposite.

Like most new Samsung TVs the S95C has the company’s gaming hub, which connects to cloud gaming services including Xbox Game Pass, Nvidia GeForce Now and Amazon Luna. I didn’t test it this time around because, frankly, on a TV this expensive I’d expect any gamer to connect a real console rather than rely on cloud gaming. The system worked well enough when I tested it last year on the QN90B, but it requires a fast Internet connection (preferably wired, not Wi-Fi) and doesn’t look as good as a standard console.

You can choose between Alexa and Samsung’s own Bixby for your voice assistant — Google Assistant is no longer an option. You access voice control by talking into the remote or speaking the wake word (“Alexa,” for example) into thin air, and the always-listening mic can be disabled if you want. The TV also works with Apple AirPlay.

QD-OLED, burn-in and 144Hz, oh my

The S95C is as packed with next-gen extras as any TV. Chief is its QD-OLED panel, which adds quantum dots to the image quality of OLED to deliver better color. Samsung also says the S95C is brighter than last year and according to my tests the color and brightness claims check out. For more on the tech behind QD-OLED and how it differs from WOLED, the tech used in LG’s OLED TVs, check out our in-depth QD-OLED explainer.

Like all OLED TVs, the S95C is more subject to both temporary and permanent image retention, also known as burn-in, than LCD-based TVs. As a much newer technology, it’s still unclear whether QD-OLED is more prone to burn-in than WOLED. I don’t test for burn-in at CNET but one site that does, rtings, found that last year’s Samsung QD-OLED TV (the S95B) evinced more burn-in than LG models. Since that test Samsung has updated the TV’s software and rtings found that the update was “very effective at reducing the appearance of permanent image retention, but it doesn’t remove it entirely” in the S95B. Samsung confirmed in an email to CNET that the S95C shares that updated software.

My take? I’m not worried about burn-in on any OLED TV used for normal viewing. For situations that experience “abnormal” viewing, for example, if I kept a TV tuned to CNN, ESPN or another channel with static image elements all day, I wouldn’t get any OLED-based TV. Check out our guide to OLED burn-in for more.

Other S95C features are in line with other high-end TVs, with the exception of Dolby Vision HDR — Samsung remains the only TV manufacturer to not embrace Dolby’s high dynamic range format, which isn’t a huge knock in my book — and 144Hz refresh rate input capability. This latter extra is also no big deal in my opinion, since you need a PC gaming card to take advantage of it. Even then, it likely won’t provide a big boost over 120Hz input from an Xbox Series X or a PlayStation 5.

Connectivity, found on the external One Connect box, is as solid as I’d expect.

• Four HDMI inputs with HDMI 2.1, HDCP 2.2
• Two USB 2.0 ports
• Optical digital audio output
• RF (antenna) input
• RS-232 port (minijack, for service only)
• Ethernet (LAN) port

High-end OLED comparison: Samsung Q95C vs. LG G3

For my image quality comparison I lined the Samsung S95C up against three other OLED TVs: the LG G3, the LG C3 and the Sony A80K. The Samsung looked better than the C3 and the Sony, but not quite as impressive overall as the G3.

TV and movies: In my lineup the S95C and the LG G3 were definitely the best, standing out even above the other two spectacular-looking 2023 OLED TVs. Watching the montage of nature scenes and cityscapes from the Spears and Munsil benchmark, for example, both looked brighter and more dynamic, in particular in highlights like the setting sun or large patches of snow.

Between the two I got the impression that the G3 was slightly brighter, which I confirmed with spot measurements of my luminance meter. At times the LG was quite a bit brighter, leading to a feeling of more pop and dynamics.

The Samsung has an advantage, meanwhile, in color saturation. Its reds in particular, for example in the fields of tulips, a pile of strawberries or the bulb of a cactus, looked richer than those of the G3 and the other OLED TVs. Not to say that the G3’s color looked undersaturated by any means, but next to the QD-OLED the difference was clear, and in very colorful scenes, especially ones with lots of red, I preferred the look of the Samsung.

In mixed bright and dark scenes, however, the extra brightness of the G3 and its handling of shadows beat the Samsung. A scene of Seattle at night, for example, showed more detail in the dark trees and realism in the shadows that was missing from the S95C.

Switching over to Netflix — whose red logo provided another example of the QD-OLED’s color advantage — the story was similar. Altered Carbon remains a great HDR demo and in the first scene of season 2, the S95C showed slightly richer reds in the lantern shades and the gold dress of the singer. It also delivered a bit less detail in the shadows and a less impactful image overall. It’s a tough call and both TVs looked mind-blowingly good, but I’d prefer the image of the G3 day-in and day-out.

Note that the above comparisons were made using Samsung’s Filmmaker picture mode, which measured best. Movie mode, despite being less accurate according to my measurements, delivered an image that some viewers might prefer, with a bit more detail in shadows and brighter midtones. Unfortunately Movie introduces some smoothing by default, so I recommend disabling it (Picture menu > Expert Settings > Picture Clarity Settings > Off).

Gaming: The S95C is an excellent gaming TV. It doesn’t have quite the level of adjustments as the LG models but its game menus are still packed with options and games looked good in my tests. When I played Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla in the TVs’ standard picture modes, the colors on the Samsung popped more than on the others although the grass and other “natural” objects looked more neon and less realistic. Sports mode delivered the most natural color, although I could also choose the “original” setting. This seemed to leverage the non-gaming modes (like Filmmaker), which made colors look comparatively dull.

I liked the design of Samsung’s game bar menu better than that of the LG, however, and it presented more information at a glance without having to delve deep into menus. Samsung also gives you an option to introduce more smoothing into games (“Game Motion Plus”) although I don’t see why you’d want that. And unlike LG you can also toggle on a virtual crosshair option, which I appreciated.

Input lag was superb at around 9ms in game mode, basically the same as the LGs. According to my Xbox’s details screen the Samsung supported 4K/120Hz and VRR, but not Dolby Vision (which LG does support).

Bright lighting: The Samsung S95C is excellent in bright rooms, thanks in part to its high light output, but it’s not quite as bright as the G3 and its screen doesn’t handle reflections quite as well.

Light output in nits

TV	Brightest mode (HDR)	Accurate mode (HDR)	Brightest mode (SDR)	Accurate mode (SDR)
Hisense U8H	1,867	1,867	1,605	1,605
TCL 65R655	1,387	1,194	1,292	624
LG OLED65G3	1,378	1,378	725	724
Samsung QN65S95C	1,348	1,326	238	648
LG OLED65C3	861	817	501	464
LG OLED65C2	812	759	413	389

As usual the Samsung’s brighter picture modes, Standard and Dynamic respectively for SDR and HDR, were quite inaccurate. For the accurate results listed above, I used Movie for SDR and Filmmaker mode for HDR. I recommend S95C owners do the same to get good color in bright rooms, although they might want to increase brightness with SDR sources.

The S95C has an excellent anti-reflective screen but it didn’t handle ambient light quite as well as the G3. Reflections appeared very slightly brighter and more obvious on the Samsung, and the screen of the LG was just a bit darker, leading to slightly less impressive contrast in dark scenes.

Uniformity and viewing angle: Like most other OLED TVs I’ve tested the S95C looked excellent from off-angle and showed a uniform image across the screen, matching the G3 in both respects.

Picture setting notes and test results

In HDR mode the Filmmaker picture preset is the most accurate, with an EOTF that tracked the target much more closely than Movie mode (which, as mentioned above, was too bright in the middle range). Standard was slightly brighter than either but much less accurate and exceedingly blue. In SDR mode Filmmaker was too dim, however, so I ended up choosing Movie instead. Both were accurate to the BT.1886 target gamma Samsung used as default, but note for my Geek Box results below I tweaked to target a 2.2 gamma instead since it’s my standard.

Geek Box

Test	Result	Score
Black luminance (0%)	0.000	Good
Peak white luminance (SDR)	648	Good
Avg. gamma (10-100%)	2.21	Good
Avg. grayscale error (10-100%)	1.18	Good
Dark gray error (30%)	0.36	Good
Bright gray error (80%)	2.28	Good
Avg. color checker error	1.32	Good
Avg. saturation sweeps error	1.07	Good
Avg. color error	0.89	Good
1080p/24 Cadence (IAL)	Pass	Good
Input lag (Game mode)	9.03	Good
HDR10
Black luminance (0%)	0.000	Good
Peak white luminance (10% win)	1348	Good
Gamut % UHDA/P3 (CIE 1976)	99.89	Good
ColorMatch HDR error	4.68	Average
Avg. color checker error	2.79	Good
Input lag (Game mode, 4K HDR)	9.67	Good

See How We Test TVs for more details.

Portrait Displays Calman calibration software was used in this review.

There’s a lot to consider when it comes to buying a new TV, including the display type, resolution, operating system and more. But the most important factor is the size. And here at CNET, our general advice is that bigger is usually better, especially if you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck. To help you find the right big-screen TV for your needs and your budget, we’ve rounded up some of the best 75-inch TVs on the market right now.

The list below represents the best TVs I’ve reviewed in CNET’s test lab, where I’ve compared them side by side to see which is most worth purchasing. I’ve actually reviewed the 65-inch sizes in the series for most of the models listed below, but the 75- and 77-inch versions are basically identical beyond screen size.

What is the best 75-inch TV right now?

The TCL 6-Series Roku TV sits at the top of our list of best TVs for a number of reasons. It offers superb picture quality, an affordable price tag and Roku, the best smart TV system. It also includes gaming features like 4K/120Hz input and variable refresh rate that can get the most out of consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X. When a friend asks me what TV to buy from 55 to 85 inches, and money is still an object, I tell them to get the TCL 6-Series.

There are plenty of other excellent choices out there, however, so even though the 6-Series is my current favorite for most people, it might not be right for your preferences or budget.

Best 75-inch TVs of 2023

How CNET tests TVs

Our TV reviews follow a rigorous, unbiased evaluation process honed over nearly two decades of television reviews. Our primary TV test lab has specialized equipment for measuring light and color, including a Konica Minolta CS-2000 spectroradiometer, a Murideo Sig-G 4K HDR signal generator and an AVPro Connect 8×8 4K HDR distribution matrix. We use Portrait Displays CalMan Ultimate software to evaluate every television we review. In every CNET TV review, three or more similar TVs are compared side by side in various lighting conditions, playing different media, including movies, TV shows and games, and across a variety of test categories, from color to video processing to gaming to HDR. Our reviews also account for design, features, smart TV performance, HDMI input and gaming compatibility, and other factors.

One important aspect of image quality we test is overall brightness. Here’s how it compares in nits across select TVs listed above.

Light output in nits

TV	Brightest mode (HDR)	Accurate mode (HDR)	Brightest mode (SDR)	Accurate mode (SDR)
Samsung QN65Q90B	3,316	1,981	2,625	974
Hisense U8H	1,867	1,867	1,605	1,605
TCL 65R655	1,387	1,194	1,292	624
Vizio M65QXM-K03	939	742	958	608
LG OLED65C2	812	759	413	389
Roku TV Plus (65-inch)	514	455	579	404

Check out How We Test TVs for more details.

How to choose a TV

With all the TVs available today, and all the technical terms and jargon associated with television technology, it can be tough to figure out what’s important. Here’s a quick guide to help cut through the confusion.

Price: TVs range in price from $100 to more than $2,000. Smaller screens are cheaper, well-known brands are more expensive, and spending more money can also get you better image quality. Most entry-level TVs have a good enough picture for most people, but TVs last a long time, so it might be worth spending more to get a better picture. It’s also best to shop for a TV in the fall, when prices are lower.

Screen size: Bigger is better in our book. We recommend a size of at least 43 inches for a bedroom TV and at least 55 inches for a living room or main TV — and 65 inches or larger is best. More than any other “feature,” stepping up in TV screen size is the best use of your money. One of the most common post-TV-purchase complaints we’ve heard is from people who didn’t go big enough. And we almost never hear people complain that their TV is too large.

Capability: When it comes to entry-level TVs, the most important feature is what kind of smart TV system the TV uses. Among midrange models, look for a feature including full-array local dimming, mini-LED and 120Hz refresh rate, which (unlike some other extras) do help improve the picture, in our experience. And among high-end TVs, OLED technology is your best bet.

For more TV buying advice, check out How to Buy a TV.

75-inch TV FAQ

The PlayStation 5 has been out for almost three years, and it will go on sale, which is rare for the console.

Target will drop the price of the PS5 to $450 starting Sunday, according to the store’s weekly ad as first spotted by Comicbook.com. This is the standard PS5 that has a regular price of $500.

The discounted console comes just in time before some of the biggest games of the year launch. Spider-Man 2, Lies of P and Baldur’s Gate 3 are coming to the PS5 in the coming months.

The PS5 is not the only thing going on sale Sunday. DualSense wireless controllers that go for $70 to $75 will drop to $50 on Sunday.

Target will also have several games on sale including Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Gran Turismo 7, MLB The Show 23 and The Last of Us Part 1.

Target’s sale starts on Sunday and will end on Aug 12. It’s possible that Amazon or other retailers may match this price.

Sure, you can spend a small fortune on a tablet like the 11-inch iPad Pro, but right now you can get an Amazon Fire HD 10 with a similarly sized display for just $90. And you can even trade in your old tablet, too.

This deal, available via Best Buy, also comes with some freebies thrown in as well. You’ll get six months of Norton antivirus included, as well as three months of YouTube Premium. In addition to that, there’s a four-month free trial for Amazon Music Unlimited included for those who need another music streaming service in their lives. And all while saving $100 on the tablet itself.

For your $90 you’ll get a 10.1-inch tablet with 64GB of expandable storage and 3GB of RAM. It’s powered by an octa-core CPU and can run for around 12 hours on a single charge, too. And thanks to the Amazon Appstore, you’ll have quick and easy access to all of your favorite apps including Netflix, Facebook, Hulu, Instagram, TikTok and more.

We consider the Amazon Fire HD 10 to be one of the best tablets around right now, and this price makes it an impossibly good value for people who just need a 10-inch tablet for watching content and browsing the web. You can, of course, also read your books using the Kindle app, if that’s how you roll.

Note that we don’t yet know when this deal is going to end, so your best bet of locking this deal in is to get your tablet ordered today while the getting’s good.

Lionel Messi arrived on these shores amid huge expectations. And the soccer icon has somehow exceeded them, leading his new team, Inter Miami, to three straight wins and netting five goals in the process. Next up for Messi and Miami is a Leagues Cup Round of 16 game against FC Dallas on Sunday. The Leagues Cup is a 47-team knockout tournament that includes every club from both the MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX.

After playing his first three games on his home field in Miami, Messi will get his first road test during Sunday’s game. FC Dallas will host Inter Miami on its home field in Frisco, Texas, for the Leagues Cup knockout game.

The kickoff time for Sunday’s contest hasn’t yet been announced. The game is scheduled to stream on Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass. Here’s what you need to know to watch.

Lionel Messi’s next game: Where and when is Inter Miami CF vs. FC Dallas?

This Leagues Cup fixture is set to take place at Toyota Stadium in the Dallas suburbs on Sunday, Aug. 6. We’ll update this story as soon as a start time for the game is announced.

How can I watch Messi’s MLS games?

Apple TV now has a 10-year deal with Major League Soccer and is the exclusive broadcaster of every MLS game in the 2023 season plus Leagues Cup fixtures in most parts of the world via its MLS Season Pass service.

That means that, unlike Messi’s unveiling event last weekend and his first match, which also aired on Univision, you’ll need an Apple TV Plus or MLS Season Pass subscription to watch this game live.

In the US, MLS Season Pass costs $13 a month or $79 for the season if you’re already a subscriber to the Apple TV Plus streaming service. If you don’t subscribe to Apple TV Plus, the MLS Season Pass costs $15 a month or $99 for the season.

MLS Season Pass subscriptions are also available in over 100 other countries, including Canada, Mexico, the UK and Australia. For prices outside of the US, check here.

Read more: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV: How to Watch Major League Soccer in 2023

You can watch the games on any device that has the Apple TV app, including TVs, phones, tablets and computers. This includes iPhones, iPads, Apple TVs and Macs, as well as smart TVs and streaming devices that run the Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Google TV platforms.

If you have a game console, there’s an Apple TV app for Microsoft’s Xbox One and Xbox Series S and X, and Sony’s PlayStation 4 and PS5. Recent TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony and Vizio also have Apple TV apps. More details on supported devices can be found on Apple’s site.

Although Apple does not have Apple TV apps for Android phones and tablets or Windows computers, it does let you stream its shows and MLS games using a web browser by going to tv.apple.com.

How to watch Inter Miami CF vs. FC Dallas online from anywhere using a VPN

While MLS Season Pass is available in most parts of the world, there are some exceptions. If you find yourself in a country where you’re unable to view either service locally, you may need a different way to watch Messi play — that’s where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, and it’s also a great idea if you’re traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.

With a VPN, you’re able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. Most VPNs, like our Editors’ Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.

Using a VPN to watch or stream live sports events is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Australia, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you’re streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.

Looking for other options? Be sure to check out some of the other great VPN deals taking place right now.

Quick tips for streaming Inter Miami CF vs. FC Dallas using a VPN

• With four variables at play — your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN — your experience and success when streaming this match live may vary.
• If you don’t see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the “search for city or country” option.
• If you’re having trouble getting the game after you’ve turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs — like Roku — don’t have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you’ll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you’re using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.
• All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network’s sports app, you’ll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help, since both devices will appear to be in the correct location.
• And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you’re using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.