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This story is part of Samsung Event, CNET’s collection of news, tips and advice around Samsung’s most popular products.
A phone’s camera bridges our everyday lives with our online identities, whether you’re sharing family photos, posting clips from your vacation on TikTok or dialing into a Zoom meeting. Apple and Samsung clearly understand this, as evidenced by the iPhone 14 Pro and the new Galaxy S23 Ultra, which goes on sale Feb. 17. With both devices, Samsung and Apple are sending a strong message: The camera is what matters most in a new phone. It’s the biggest factor that separates the best phone money can buy from reasonably priced devices.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro represent the next step in each company’s multiyear campaign to court photographers and videographers, all while expanding what can be done on your phone’s relatively small screen. They’re the culmination of the latest efforts by Apple and Samsung to outpace one another in an arms race that’s been progressing for more than a decade. Apple and Samsung aren’t the only ones focused on the camera; the same goes for Google and OnePlus. But as the world’s two largest phone brands by market share, Apple and Samsung have an outsized influence over the devices we carry in our pockets.
Annual smartphone updates feel incremental, making it harder for people to justify yearly upgrades, especially when the cost for everyday goods and services remains high. The latest high-end phones from Apple and Samsung serve as statements that customers are willing to pay for the best. And for both companies, being the “best” often means having the best camera.
Samsung and Apple bet people will spend more on better devices
Cameras with a 100x digital zoom magnification and a nearly tablet-sized screen aren’t for everyone, especially given their high price. As generational upgrades become less flashy, customers are holding onto their devices longer before upgrading. But there is evidence hinting that premium phones still appeal to shoppers despite inflation, potentially showing that Apple and Samsung’s camera-first approach may be working.
According to Counterpoint Research, the iPhone’s average selling price increased 7% year over year in the third quarter of 2022, indicating Apple’s more expensive phones may be its most popular. (However, that could also be because the price of Apple’s regular iPhones has increased over the years, while the Pro’s starting price has largely remained the same).
Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst for TF International Securities who’s well-versed in Apple’s supply chain, said on Twitter last fall that the pricier iPhone 14 Pro Max accounted for about 60% of Apple’s order increase for the Pro models, hinting that Apple’s priciest phone is selling well.
TM Roh, head of Samsung’s mobile experience business, said in an interview with CNET earlier this year that the Galaxy S22 lineup saw double-digit sales growth compared to the Galaxy S21 series. That indicates Samsung’s more expensive phones are indeed top sellers.
Apple and Samsung are both leaning into the premium phone market.
James Martin/CNET
Remarks from Roh and Apple CEO Tim Cook also suggest that people are simply willing to pay for better devices.
“When times get hard, then people would be more cautious in the choices that they make,” Roh also said to CNET. “In other words, they would be looking for greater value to be gained.”
Speaking with analysts during Apple’s fiscal first-quarter earnings call earlier this month, Cook said he thinks “people are willing to really stretch to get the best they can afford in that category.”
Samsung’s and Apple’s current premium phones could also influence the devices we see in the future as both companies are expected to lean more heavily into high-end devices. Apple is discussing releasing an iPhone Ultra that would be a step up from the $1,099 iPhone 14 Pro Max, according to Bloomberg, likely expanding upon the Pro Max’s features. It may also incorporate more features into next year’s iPhone Pro that further distinguish it from the regular iPhone, the report said. One of those features, Bloomberg reported, could be a periscope lens for better optical zoom on the Pro Max, further underscoring the camera’s significance.
Samsung, meanwhile, used its previous high-end smartphone line, the Galaxy Note, to build the foundation for its current Galaxy Ultra devices. We’re already seeing the Ultra line influence Samsung’s other high-end devices, as the branding has carried over to its new premium laptop, the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra.
What makes an “ultra” or “pro” phone? Mostly the camera
The camera is the centerpiece of both the iPhone 14 Pro and Galaxy S23 Ultra.
James Martin/CNET
Make no mistake, Apple and Samsung both view the camera as the most significant smartphone upgrade that customers are willing to splurge for. Samsung made that clear at its Unpacked event on Feb. 1, during which it tried to woo filmmakers with endorsements from acclaimed directors Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Blade Runner) and Na Hong-jin (The Chaser, The Wailing).
Samsung’s camera system is the centerpiece of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and the biggest way it distinguishes the “ultra” model from its regular flagships. The company spent a large portion of its Unpacked presentation outlining the various new camera improvements: a higher-resolution 200-megapixel sensor, wider dynamic range, steadier optical image stabilization for video, faster autofocus and clearer shots in low light, among other upgrades. The regular Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus also are gaining improvements to the way photos are processed, but they lack the Ultra’s extreme 100x zoom magnification and new 200-megapixel sensor.
If you weren’t already convinced that Samsung is trying to entice camera enthusiasts, the company also makes it easier to access settings for shooting raw files by integrating those options directly into the native camera app. A raw file has uncompressed image data straight from the camera sensor, which allows for more leeway when editing. An Expert Raw file contains data from several images processed together and offers even more clarity and a wider dynamic range. Google and Apple have their own special raw files that are created in a similar way, bridging a traditional raw file with advancements from computational photography.
And to help fit all of those big files on your phone, the S23 Ultra’s base storage is now 256GB, up from the S22 Ultra’s 128GB. The decision to offer more storage in the entry-level model could also be seen as another effort to attract photographers and videographers, since high-resolution photos, raw files and 8K videos occupy a lot of space. The S23 Plus also starts at 256GB, but Samsung doesn’t offer a 1TB storage option for that phone the way it does with the S23 Ultra. It shows what a long way Samsung has come since launching its original Ultra phone, the Galaxy S20 Ultra, which maxed out at 512GB and started at 128GB just like the regular Galaxy S23.
Apple also loves to flaunt the iPhone’s photography prowess, and you could even argue that may have influenced some of Samsung’s thinking. That approach was on full display in September when Apple unveiled the iPhone 14 Pro, which has better optical image stabilization and low-light performance. Like Samsung, Apple also made a leap in resolution that brings the iPhone 14 Pro’s camera from 12 to 48 megapixels, although it’s really the device’s larger main sensor that’s made a big difference in the camera’s low-light performance. ProRaw, Apple’s feature for capturing raw photos that still incorporate some of the company’s image-processing algorithms, can now shoot at a 48-megapixel resolution.
As is the case with Samsung, the camera is a large part of what separates the iPhone 14 Pro and larger Pro Max from the cheaper iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus. Those phones, by comparison, are missing the iPhone 14 Pro’s telephoto lens and have a smaller 12-megapixel main camera sensor. Apple’s cheaper iPhone 14 models also lack a 1TB storage option, unlike the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.
iPhone 14 Pro, Pro Max Get the Biggest Changes to Apple’s Phone Lineup
While the camera may be the biggest defining characteristic of Apple’s Pro line and Samsung’s Ultra line, there are other common threads between these phones. Both phones have more productivity-oriented features than the cheaper alternatives in their respective lineups. The S23 Ultra comes with a stylus you can store in the bottom of the phone, unlike the regular Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus. The iPhone 14 Pro has the Dynamic Island, a clever software interface built around the selfie camera for showing system alerts and controlling background activities without leaving the app you’re using. That feature is absent from the regular iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus.
Both phones also have more to offer when it comes to the screen. For Samsung, that’s quite literal; the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 6.8-inch screen is physically larger than the displays on the Galaxy S23 (6.1 inches) and the S23 Plus (6.6 inches). Apple offers the same two display sizes across the entire iPhone 14 lineup (6.1 inches or 6.7 inches), but has found other ways to make the screens on its Pro iPhone’s stand out. Only the Pro models have an always-on display, the Dynamic Island and an adaptive refresh rate for smoother scrolling and graphics.
Samsung’s and Apple’s high-end phones have more of a focus on the display compared to their cheaper devices. For Samsung, it’s about size, while Apple offers extra perks like an always-on screen and an adaptive refresh rate.
James Martin/CNET
Despite these similarities, Apple and Samsung’s approaches also differ in significant ways — mostly when it comes to which technologies these companies bring to cheaper devices. All of Samsung’s Galaxy S23 devices have the same chip, a new customized version of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Apple, on the other hand, has only put its fresh A16 Bionic chip in the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, while the regular iPhone 14 models have the previous A15 Bionic chip, marking the first time Apple has kept an older processor in a new flagship phone. Apple also equips its Pro iPhones with a lidar scanner for detecting depth, which helps improve AR apps and certain photography features like autofocus and enables accessibility functions like door and people detection.
For Apple and Samsung, adding more advanced camera and display features to their premium phones isn’t just about boosting sales. Both companies are under pressure to uphold their reputations as innovators while proving there are still plenty of reasons to be excited about the smartphone’s future.
Right now, many of those reasons come down to the camera — the tool we use for everything from video chatting to documenting vacations and, perhaps in the future, fueling augmented reality apps. It will be fascinating to see how Apple, Samsung and others attempt to improve and redefine that experience over the next few years.
Have you ever clicked the little “X” on a Chrome browser tab when you didn’t mean to? Of course you have! I do it on a daily basis. Maybe even an hourly basis. Could it be that I’m a little too click-happy in this multitasking world? Maybe. But if I’m not particularly prudent about my cursor positioning, it’s because I have a secret weapon up my sleeve: I know that my favorite keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+Shift+T (or Cmd+Shift+T for Mac users),has my back.
I love keyboard shortcuts in general. These handy little combinations of keys may improve your productivity at work, sure, but the real benefit is the preservation of your equanimity. And Ctrl+Shift+T in particular is, I’d argue, one of the most important and useful keyboard shortcuts there is, right up there with Ctrl+Z. In fact, it performs a similar function: undoing a mistake. Specifically, the mistake of accidentally closing a browser tab or window. Ctrl+Shift+T is the easiest way to restore a browser tab that you didn’t mean to X out.
Google Chrome gives you a few options for restoring tabs and windows after you’ve closed them, and depending on your needs, it’s good to know how they all work. Note, however, that restoring closed tabs isn’t an option when browsing in incognito mode.
1. Keyboard shortcut method
The quickest way to restore a single tab you closed by accident is with a keyboard shortcut. On a PC, use Ctrl+Shift+T. On a Mac, use Cmd+Shift+T. If you want to restore multiple tabs, or if you need a tab you closed a while ago, just keep pressing Ctrl+Shift+T and your tabs will reappear in the order in which they were closed. Bonus: If you accidentally close your entire browser window altogether, just open a new Chrome window and the keyboard shortcut will reopen everything at once. This is a great trick for the times when a system update forces you to close your browser or restart your computer altogether.
2. Browser history method
Your Chrome browser history also keeps track of recently closed tabs. It’s not as lightning-fast as a keyboard shortcut, but this method is useful if you closed the tab a long time ago and need to refer back to it.
There are a few ways to access your browser history in Chrome. One way is to use another shortcut: Ctrl+H. Another is to click the hamburger menu in the top right corner of your browser, then select History. And a third option is to type “chrome://history” into your address bar, then press enter.
However you arrive at your browser history, once there you’ll have access to all the websites and tabs you’ve viewed, in reverse chronological order. Clicking on a result will reopen it for you. Going through the hamburger menu also has a built-in list of Recently Closed tabs, which you can select to reopen.
Angela Lang/CNET
3. Tab search method
Ever noticed the little downward-pointing arrow in your Chrome tab bar? In Windows, it’s right next to the icons for minimizing, maximizing and closing your window. (On Mac it’s at the top right.) This icon is Chrome’s built-in tab search feature, which itself can be accessed with a simple keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+A. Tab search shows you a list of all the tabs you currently have open, and another list of your recently closed tabs. You can scroll through the lists to reopen or switch to the desired tab, or use the search bar to find it with a keyword. This comes in handy for those who keep dozens of tabs open at all times.
4. Taskbar method
If you’ve got a Chrome window opened — or if the app is pinned in your taskbar — right-click the icon from the taskbar and you’ll see a short list of links: Most visited and Recently closed. From there, you can restore a tab just by clicking on it. (Note these options do not appear on Mac.)
Bonus: ‘Continue where I left off’ method
There’s a Chrome setting that essentially makes Ctrl+Shift+T the default. By toggling this feature on, every time you open Chrome, the browser will automatically reopen the tabs you had open in your previous session. To turn it on, go to your Chrome settings (also through the hamburger menu), then On startup. Select the Continue where you left off option.
What about other browsers, like Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Opera?
The Ctrl+Shift+T keyboard shortcut will work in other browsers, too (as well as right-clicking the tab bar and selecting Reopen closed tab). Most of the other methods of reopening a tab work across browsers too, though the menu labels and options may differ. The experience is largely the same on a Mac, with the exception of the taskbar method.
For both Firefox and Microsoft Edge, you can also go through your browser history to find and reopen a tab you accidentally closed. Firefox has a dedicated sub-menu under History called Recently closed tabs. Microsoft Edge has a tabbed History menu for All, Recently closed and Tabs from other devices. In Opera, if you have the sidebar enabled — and if History is one of the elements you’ve elected to include in the sidebar — clicking the History icon from the sidebar will also pull up a list of recently closed tabs.
The other browsers also offer a setting to reopen the previous session’s tabs automatically upon startup. In Firefox, go to Settings > General and check the box under Startup labeled Open previous windows and tabs. In Microsoft Edge, go to Settings > Start, home, and new tabs and under When Edge starts, select open tabs from the previous session. And in Opera: Settings > On startup, then check the box for retain tabs from previous session.
If you’re looking for a great family gaming console, the Nintendo Switch is a great option. While there are a ton of great single-player games, there are also a lot of family-friendly games that you can play together. Games like Switch Sports and the newest Kirby are perfect for co-op. More competitive games, like Mario Strikers, are also good for creating some friendly contests between you and your mom, dad or siblings.
Assuming you only have one Switch, here are the best multiplayer games that are worth playing with your family, which we keep updated as new titles appear. Remember, this is just a list specifically focused on games that have some sort of family-friendly same-Switch multiplayer mode — for other picks, check out our list of the best Nintendo Switch games. If any strike your fancy, Nintendo sometimes even offers demos through its online storefront.
If you’re looking to do same-room multiplayer gaming, just make sure your Switch is TV dockable. The most recent OLED-screened Switch, like the original TV-connected Switch, are both better family picks than the smaller Switch Lite, which only works in handheld mode, and doesn’t have those useful sharable Joy-Con controllers. (Switch Lite owners could do multiplayer, but you’d need to buy extra controllers and huddle around the tiny screen.)
Note: Most of the links below are for the physical copies of the games, sold via Amazon, Walmart, GameStop and other retailers. You can alternately buy and download all of these directly from the Nintendo eShop, straight from the Switch. Just make sure you have a microSD memory card with ample capacity to store game data.
Mario plays soccer (or football) in this update to a Wii classic. The four-on-four matches support up to eight players on a single Switch, making this one of the best options besides Super Smash Bros. for large groups. The fast-paced, chaotic matches can be a little tough to keep track of which player you’re controlling, though. Online leagues give it life beyond same-room multiplayer, too.
Remember Wii Sports? It’s back, and the six kinetic motion-controlled games on Switch Sports are a lot of fun for same-room two- to four-player gaming, connected to a TV. You should definitely aim for using a TV-docked Switch with this one, and keep in mind that Switch Sports isn’t a game made for handheld playing on the go (although you could play while huddled around the Switch screen with Joy-Con controllers held in-hand, in a pinch). There’s a $40 digital version or a $50 physical version that includes a leg strap you can use with the Soccer game.
Kirby, a power-absorbing puffball who’s brightened Nintendo’s multiverse for decades, is one of the most upbeat game characters out there. Nintendo’s latest Kirby game drops the cute pink blob into a 3D platformer that’s full of secrets, fun powers, and a difficulty level that won’t scare off young kids. There are two great Kirby games on the Switch, but I’d put Forgotten Land at the top of your Kirby shopping list.
Years ago, Nintendo had the Brain Age series that was full of math and logic quick-reaction puzzles to “train your brain.” Big Brain Academy was another game in that same tradition. This Nintendo Switch version focuses on two- to four-player competitions over a handful of math, logic and analysis minigames, rewarding quick thinking. The game’s fun, and there’s a daily “test” of your speedy skills as well as chances to try to beat ghosts of others online. Though it feels too short, I’d love to have more games like it on the Switch. Controllers feel like a weird way to interact with some games, but there’s a touchscreen option for two-player head-to-head games too. There’s a free demo on the Nintendo eShop to play before you buy. See if you like it.
WarioWare games, if you’ve never played them, involve surviving rapid waves of strange arcade-like quick-reaction minigames. Get It Together is a collaborative and competitive game for two players (and more in some of the multiplayer modes), with a variety of game modes and arcade-like challenges. If it’s on sale, it’s well worth considering.
There are two great Mario Party games on the Switch: Super Mario Party was the first, and leans more on motion controls. But Nintendo’s recent remastering of a bunch of classic N64 and GameCube Mario Party game boards, called Mario Party Superstars, is also excellent. The minigames are more button- and controller-focused, which I prefer if I don’t have a lot of room to play. Also, this Mario Party can be played in handheld mode or on the Switch Lite, which you can’t do with Super Mario Party.
There are plenty of Mario games on the Switch, and a lot of them are listed below. Super Mario 3D World originally was made for the long-gone Wii U, but its mix of local and online multiplayer (up to four players) offers a lot of fun chaos on the Switch. An extra (but short) game called Bowser’s Fury only uses the second player as a helper, but this bonus game’s a welcome extra. If you want even more multiplayer Mario, see New Super Mario Bros. U below. Or for creative Mario, try Super Mario Maker 2.
Nintendo’s new collection of family board games and retro games bundles 51 surprisingly fun worldwide classics, with online play and local multiplayer. The game also supports local Switch-to-Switch play with a free bridging app. Many games do two-player; a few do three- to four-player. A few games like Bowling are almost like a return to Nintendo’s Wii Sports. It’s a great instructional tool for games like backgammon, chess or even shogi, mahjong and hanafuda, and there’s a lot of stuff to keep entertained over the summer. It’s also equally good on a TV, huddled over one Switch, or played between several Switches.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons has become an absolute phenomenon last year, and for a lot of people it’s now the game to buy a Switch for. The casual, calming, social community game just lasts forever, and a new multiplayer mode allows more than one player to wander around and play at the same time. This co-op game has a lot of ways to connect with other players and friends, too.
Also, Animal Crossing is an ideal multiplayer game for homes where any sort of group play becomes a battle royale. There’s no winning, just planting trees, catching fish and chatting with other players — an ideal video game scenario for the super-stressed. Just be forewarned that you can only make one island per Switch, so get used to sharing.
Fans and newcomers to the Mario Kart series alike will never get tiredof Mario Kart 8. The game’s dozens of tracks are excellent, and local multiplayer with four players can get crowded on a smaller TV, but this Nintendo Switch game is fantastic. It’s one of the very first games that we’d recommend for Switch multiplayer. It also has an online multiplayer mode, so it’s a great game for your kiddos to play with fellow quarantined friends without actual interaction.
Nintendo’s long-running Mario Party series is like a video board game with a bunch of wacky minigames thrown in. The Switch Nintendo console version also has a rhythm-dancing party game that’s a good little workout, too, and a collaborative game where players paddle down a river together. My family loves this one — it’s just overall an excellent game.
You may get into some arguments, or you may find this builds teamwork. This party cooking game is madness, and it’s a perfect couch co-op game for a single player or for four players at once. Seriously, you’re going to get stressed. But it’s so fun.
Besides being a Mario construction kit and mini-course on game design, not to mention being full of user-made levels to download, four players can play levels together too. Super Mario Maker has an endless fountain of things to try. By the way: if you’re playing directly on the Switch, a basic stylus (seen here) is a great tool to use.
The Switch’s eight-player multiplayer game has a lot of fighting, but it’s of the cartoon kind. There are a growing number of characters to add to a roster that’s already at 75 and counting. This couch co-op fighting game is another game that allows for online play, or you can join everyone on one screen (it gets crowded).
Nintendo’s version of Ghostbusters, but with Luigi — if you haven’t played, that’s the best way to think of this ridiculously charming, Disney-like haunted house game. A two-player co-op mode works through the whole game and might be the best way to play.
Nintendo’s cute planet-exploring and treasure-hunting strategy game, which involves collecting, caring for and using populations of plant-like Pikmin, first came out on the Wii U console years ago. The Switch update adds two-player co-op through the whole game. The open maps encourage teamwork, and a handful of party modes and challenges levels are included too. It’s the best Nintendo franchise you’ve probably never played.
Nintendo’s papercraft platformer slightly extends into the third dimension, with a two-player co-op mode. It joins a number of other fun games that are also platformers in Nintendo’s roster, but Yoshi’s challenges are a bit gentler, and more focused on discovering secrets and surprises.
A cheaper Mario Kart, or perhaps WipEout for the Switch, this futuristic hover-racing game was an early Switch launch title, and it’s really underrated. It does multiplayer wonderfully.
Mario Tennis is unforgiving. Mario Tennis has lots of characters and enemies. Mario Tennis has online modes, and it’s maybe one of the best Switch sports games. There you go. It’s Mario characters playing tennis with crazy power-ups.
I still prefer Mario Tennis over Mario Golf, but this party-oriented golf game adds some twists that are better in groups. A speed mode (which is why it’s called Super Rush) has players golfing at the same time, even interfering with other people in the game. A battle mode gets even nuttier. The game does two-player split-screen on a single Switch, or four-player turn-based golfing (two players can also play online with others simultaneously on one Switch). There’s also a lengthy single-player adventure mode, too.
The sequel to an older console Marvel series of games, Ultimate Alliance 3 feels like Diablo or an arcade brawler, but with a roster of dozens of Marvel characters to play. It’s repetitive at times, but the joy of collecting characters is a lot of fun, and you can keep switching your heroes throughout.
Two paper-things solve puzzles together by snipping pieces of each other. Or battling each other with snips. It’s a puzzle game with a lot of different play modes, perfect for two at a time.
Tetris 99 is a must-have Tetris battle-royale online game, but Sega’s Tetris game works with four-player battles, and includes Puyo Puyo, which is another puzzle game worth your time. There’s a long story mode, too.
Now that real sports leagues are on hold, either of these franchises are excellent stops to play out the season virtually and challenge your family. Depends on whether you prefer soccer or basketball (I’m picking FIFA here, just based on personal preference).
If it’s hard to get exercise indoors, Just Dance is an active alternative to Ring Fit Adventure and works with the Switch’s included Joy-Con controllers. You could buy any version of Just Dance and be happy.
Super Mario Odyssey is a stellar Switch Mario game, but this remaster of a Wii U classic is the one for four-player action. It’s an old-school, platformer-style Mario game, with an extra Luigi mode that adds harder challenges.
Nintendo’s cardboard experiment is still worth a try if you can find it online and have an original TV-docking Switch (the OLED and Lite won’t work with all its parts). The all-cardboard folding construction kit, which takes hours to put together, is like a craft kit and game rolled into one. Once built, the wild inventions in each Labo kit have a ton of extra games and things to tinker with and try. It’s crafting and gaming combined. (While there’s also a very cool Labo VR set that’s worth trying, the original Labo 1 variety kit may be the best package to go for with several kids.)
Co-op dungeon-crawling, but with Minecraft. For kids who want a battle experience but aren’t ready for something as intense as, say, Diablo, Minecraft Dungeons is plenty of pixelated fun to play through. It’s a spin-off game, so don’t expect normal Minecraft. But it’s fun on its own terms.
Free with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, from $4 a month, the NES and Super NES games that live on the Switch are actually a great little repository of two-player gaming. Many of the games have two-player modes, which work well in a tabletop Switch mode with Joy-Cons detached, and there’s enough arcade, action and sports stuff to keep kids occupied for hours. Or do high-score battles. It’s not every NES and SNES game we wanted, but it’s a lot. Note: I’d mention the N64 and Sega Genesis games on the Switch as well, which are great, but those require an additional bump-up subscription price that probably isn’t worth it unless you’re a die-hard N64 fan.
This couch co-op is a lot of frantic fun for up to four players. The controls and gameplay are simple so that even younger kids can play and the level bosses are just challenging enough to keep things interesting but not impossible. It’s a good option if you’re looking for something to play in short bursts, but it does have 100 levels to get through and Taito will release additional content for download, including new stages and the character Baron von Blubba. The original 1986 version of the game is included, too.
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Do you need Nintendo Switch Online to play?
Nintendo’s subscription service, called Nintendo Switch Online, is needed for online play with multiplayer games, but not for locally-played games. If you’re playing with friends in the same room or locally between Switches, you don’t need Nintendo Switch Online. But, if you’re planning on playing with friends anywhere else, you do.
What controllers do you need?
You can play most Switch multiplayer games using a single Joy-Con, which are the two controllers that snap onto the sides of your Switch. Some games, however, require the extra buttons and analogue sticks of two Joy-Cons at once. Keeping a few sets of Joy-Con controllers around is usually all you need, but there are a number of good third-party controllers that work well, too.
What makes a good Switch multiplayer game?
All the games on this list can be played with people in the same room using a single Switch, which is something I feel is important for parents who don’t want to buy a second Switch. There are a number of co-op games on this list that can offer lots of fun team play, but a number of them are competitive and have near-unlimited replay value. I play with my kids a lot as I test games, and it becomes pretty clear which ones are the most interesting to them. I also appreciate that these games are pretty much all perfect for a wide range of ages.
After social distancing pushed a wave of big-budget movies straight to streaming, theatrical exclusives are the norm again. But for a while, it seemed like Disney and other big Hollywood movie studios might be falling into a new post-COVID rhythm for how long they kept flicks in theaters before streaming them, one that was much faster in getting films to a streaming service than before.
Now, though, streaming release dates are all over the map. And for the biggest films, like Marvel’s, the waits are stretching out longer. For Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, that could mean waiting until May.
When is Ant-Man: Quantumania’s streaming release date?
It’s anybody’s guess, but it probably won’t be quick.
Last year, Marvel released three films in theaters: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, in May; Thor: Love and Thunder, in July; and Black Panter: Wakanda Forever, in mid-November. Doctor Strange took 47 days to reach Disney Plus. Thor hit Disney Plus 62 days after its theatrical release. But Wakanda Forever took 82 days to start streaming.
In other words, each movie took progressively longer to hit Disney Plus.
The Black Panther sequel marked the longest wait for a Marvel movie to start streaming since the company resumed theatrical exclusives in 2021. (That year, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was in theaters for 70 days and Eternals for 68 days.)
All this comes as big Hollywood companies like Disney aren’t prioritizing streaming-subscriber growth nearly as much as they did, depressing the incentive to bring big movies to a service quickly.
Paramount, for example, kept Top Gun: Maverick off its streaming service for 209 days, nearly seven months. The strategy paid dividends at the box office, with the Top Gun sequel grossing nearly $1.5 billion. While Disney has been much more aggressive than Paramount in putting its movies onto its streaming service quickly, Disney’s trend for Marvel movies has been to hold them back longer in theaters as well.
However, Wakanda Forever may have been held off Disney Plus so long because of a consideration that won’t apply to the next Marvel films coming out this year: With a Black director and predominantly Black cast, Wakanda Forever debuted on Disney Plus on the first day of Black History Month. Disney didn’t mention any connection in the timing, but it’s possible the film’s wait to start streaming was drawn out so its availability coincided with an opportunity to celebrate Black culture.
Still, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania set to hit theaters next week, you could be waiting about three months to stream it if Disney sticks with Wakanda Forever’s pace. If Ant-Man matches the 82-day duration, it won’t start streaming until the second week of May.
After the introduction of the Apple Watch Series 8 and updated Apple Watch SE, along with the high-end Apple Watch Ultra last fall, you now have a wealth of new wearable options, with occasional Apple Watch deals to sweeten the pot.
The Series 8 starts at $399 in the US — the same as the previous Series 7 — while the new Watch SE starts at $249, which is $30 less than the 2020 model. The rugged Watch Ultra checks in at $799. The size and shape of the Series 8 and new Watch SE models remains largely the same as the models they replace, but they boast a couple of new health and safety features under the hood, with a temperature sensor and car-crash detection.
Monitor fitness goals without breaking the bank.
We’ll help you find the best deal on your next smartwatch or fitness tracker.
Right now, you can save $30 on the latest Series 8 and $9 on Watch SE models. It’s getting harder to find the previous Series 7 models in stock — Amazon has some, but not at prices that would sway you from buying the latest Series 8 at its current discount, unless you’re looking for a used model.
Amazon has the best prices for the latest Apple Watch Series 8. You can save $30 on either the 41mm or 45mm models in select colors right now. If you’re interested in the latest and greatest, this is the best Apple Watch deal for you.
Apple’s affordable Watch SE is now more affordable. When not on sale, the new 40mm model starts at $249 and the 44mm model starts at $279 — each is $30 less than the equivalent 2020 model. With the new S8 processor, the updated Watch SE will run 20% faster than the previous SE, according to Apple. The new SE also gets the temperature sensor and car-crash detection features as the Series 8. You can save a meager $9 on either size of the Watch SE at Amazon right now, which is the only discount we see for it right now.
The Apple Watch Ultra is the biggest, priciest Apple Watch to date (aside from the precious-metal Edition models). It features a 49mm titanium case, a sapphire flat front crystal and a brighter display (2,000 nits). There’s a new dedicated second button, an improved speaker and a bigger battery. Apple promises the Ultra will run for 36 hours of full-power use, ramping up to 60-plus hours in reduced-function low power mode. Cellular is also the only model it comes in. The Ultra was $50 off last month at Amazon and Best Buy, but has returned to full price in the new year.
The Series 7 is getting harder and harder to find in stock. Amazon has more used than new models for sale, and the discounts on the models in new condition aren’t enough to make sense choosing the Series 7 or the latest Series 8. While the Series 7 lacks the temperature sensor of the new Series 8, it does have a number of useful health features, including blood-oxygen saturation measurements and the ability to take electrocardiogram measurements. It also features an always-on display.
An Xbox Game Pass subscriptionis almost essential for Xbox owners. The service, which runs $10 to $15 a month, not only includes a large, ever-changing catalog of games to download and play, but also bundles access to online multiplayer services. Each month, Microsoft adds new games to the service, and in November, an indie hit is leading the pack.
If you’re on the fence about Game Pass, or just looking for some suggestions about what to play, below are some recent and classic favorites on the service.
Madden NFL 23 might not be the best-reviewed Madden games, but it made its way to Game Pass for PC and Xbox consoles just days before Super Bowl LVII. Subscribers can find out for themselves if the Philadelphia Eagles or the Kansas City Chiefs will win the big game before this Sunday, although a simulation of the game predicts the Eagles will win 31-17.
Game Pass has evolved far beyond its Xbox-bound origins to become a subscription that delivers something for everyone who plays games, and now encompasses console and PC game downloads, access to online multiplayer services, a deal with gaming giant EA and a cloud-based service that streams games to nearly any device.
Microsoft offers several versions, but because of how the features are sliced up between them, only the $15-per-month Ultimate plan, with all the benefits detailed above, really makes sense. Read our Xbox Game Pass review.
Love, Vikings and revenge are some of the most popular themes in anime this February. A limited screening of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War — The First Kiss That Never Ends hits theaters on Valentine’s Day, but you can indulge in plenty of adventure, action or lighthearted anime right at home.
Here’s a look at what to stream this month on Crunchyroll, Netflix and other streaming services.
The Trigun Stampede reboot hit Crunchyroll on Jan. 7 and features Vash the Stampede, Millions Knives, Rem Saverem and a character called Roberto de Niro on a new set of adventures. The 12 episodes air on Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. PT (11:30 a.m. ET).
Nothing says love like heavy metal and red pandas. Retsuko is back to complete her journey in this final installment of Aggretsuko. Who will she wind up with in the love department? Is she going to go into politics? Stream the last season on Netflix, and make sure to turn up the volume to catch the death metal vibes.
My Hero Academia Season 6
Shigaraki seems unstoppable on his latest rage-filled mayhem mission, and the stakes are high for our beloved Izuku “Deku” Midoriya, U.A. High and the pro superheroes. New quirks, new challenges and a new war will keep you glued to My Hero Academia. This season is a must-see, and the show airs on Hulu or Crunchyroll on Saturdays at 2:30 a.m. PT (5:30 a.m. ET) with the dubbed version dropping at 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET). Watch the latest installment into March 2023.
NieR: Automata Ver1.1a
An adaptation based on the video game NieR: Automata, the new anime series takes viewers to the year 5012, when aliens nearly wiped out humans. Androids help mankind in their fight to reclaim the planet, which is full of curious and unusual phenomena. The series launched Jan. 7 at 9:30 a.m. PT (12:30 p.m. ET) on Crunchyroll and is made up of two parts that are 12 episodes each.
Vinland Saga Season 2
After leaving viewers with a cliff-hanger in season 1, Vinland Saga returned on Jan. 9. Follow Thorfinn on a new quest, where he seeks salvation and peace after Askeladd’s death. Praised for its dynamic characters and Viking-themed storytelling, the series streams new episodes on Netflix and Crunchyroll each Monday.
The popular anime series returned to TV on Jan. 7 with the Christmas Showdown arc. The story dives into the beef between the Tokyo Manji Gang and the Black Dragons. Watch Takemichi, Hakkai and Taiju maneuver and fight when Tokyo Revengers streams on Hulu.
This anime anthology is adapted from Junji Ito’s popular horror manga, and landed on Netflix in January. Watch stories like Hanging Balloon come to life on the small screen, along with more than 15 other tales. If you missed it last month, stream all 18 episodes in season 1 now.
Tomo-chan Is a Girl!
If you want to check out a rom-com this month, get into Tomo-chan Is a Girl! on Crunchyroll. The story follows Tomo, a tomboy who’s crushing on her childhood friend Junichiro. He looks at her only like one of his bros, and she has trouble revealing her feelings. The series airs each Wednesday at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on Crunchyroll.
To Your Eternity Season 2
To Your Eternity comes back with more melancholy and compelling storytelling about Fushi’s struggles as a shape-shifting immortal. This time, he can’t keep his commitment to solitude when he faces the Nokkers and needs help to do it. To Your Eternity season 2 features 20 episodes and began streaming on Crunchyroll on Oct. 23 at 5:30 a.m. PT (8:30 a.m. ET). The series will wrap on March 5.
Don’t be fooled by the dark imagery in the trailer for The Eminence in Shadow, because the series falls in the lighthearted lane. Follow the coolest kid on the block, Cid Kagenou, on his quest to protect the world with his imaginary shadow organization against imaginary bad guys, the Cult of Diabolos. He’s not completely off-base, though, and that works to his advantage as he recruits others to his cause. Adapted fromDaisuke Aizawa’s manga, the new series is available to stream on Hidive on Wednesdays at 7:30 a.m. PT (10:30 a.m. ET). Season 1 began Oct. 5 and will feature 20 episodes that wrap on Feb. 15.
Ash and Pikachu head to the world championships while Goh gears up for the final stages of Project Mew. To see the beloved characters, stream part 2 when it drops on Netflix on Feb. 24.
Spy Classroom
One of the newest anime series to be adapted from its manga, Spy Classroom follows up-and-coming spy Lily, who’s motivated to show she has what it takes. It won’t be easy to be on Team Tomoshibi, and even harder to take down Impossible Mission. You can start streaming the show on Hidive on Jan. 5 and watch it each Thursday at 6:30 a.m. PT (9:30 a.m. ET).
The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague
Continuing with the rom-com theme this February, you can check out this budding-workplace-romance anime about Himuro and Fuyutsuki. Himuro is descended from a snow spirit and has supernatural powers that can create icy weather around him. He falls for his co-worker, Fuyutsuki, who has a natural ability to keep him calm. Their colleagues’ love lives are just as interesting. Stream the new series on Crunchyroll.
If you enjoyed Spy x Family, you’ll probably want to check out the new original anime series Buddy Daddies. Animated by PA Works, the story follows two hitmen who happen to be roommates and wind up caring for the young daughter of a kingpin. Start streaming it on Crunchyroll on Jan. 6.
The world’s largest online retailer in January released its latest feature for Amazon Prime members — a monthly prescription drug service called RxPass that provides generic medications for more than 80 ailments, all for $5 a month. The new perk is the latest in a long line of lesser known Amazon Prime benefits.
For example, Amazon Prime members can actually get deliveries much faster than two days, sometimes in a few hours. You can also schedule delivery dates for convenience or to avoid times when you’ll be away from home. And you even get exclusive deals simply by using Alexa on an Amazon Echo.
Announced in early 2023, Amazon’s RxPass could be a sweet deal for those with monthly prescriptions. For just $5 a month (which is on top of your existing Prime membership fee), you can get all your qualified medications covered — and they’ll be delivered to your door. That means if you’re currently paying more than $5 a month for your combined medications, this add-on subscription could save you money. If you’re already a Prime member, sign up for RxPass under the Amazon Pharmacy section.
You can get free same-day delivery on qualifying items
If there’s a product you want immediately, you can see if it’s available for delivery the same day you order. To check a product’s eligibility, look for delivery that’s marked as “Prime FREE Same-Day” while shopping. Note that your order will need to contain over $35 of qualifying items. If not, you’ll have to pay a small fee.
Amazon will deliver from morning until evening, so you won’t have to worry about receiving your order at 3 a.m. However, same-day delivery isn’t available in all locations, so enter your ZIP code on the Amazon Same-Day Delivery page to see if you’re eligible.
Schedule a convenient shipping date during checkout with Amazon Day.
James Martin/CNET
Alexa offers extra discounts when you shop with an Echo
You can use your Amazon Echo to ask “Alexa, what are my deals?” anytime. Alexa will then share Prime-exclusive deals and you’ll have the option to add the item to your cart, buy it now or move on to the next deal.
Schedule convenient shipping dates for packages
Everyone knows about Amazon’s free two-day shipping, but another option is to choose a delivery date during checkout. It’s called Amazon Day and it’s helpful if there’s a specific day you know someone will be at home to answer for packages — especially if it’s something pricey that you don’t want to risk leaving unattended.
If you order multiple items on different days, you can have them delivered on the same day as long as they’re eligible for this offer.
Just say “Alexa, where’s my package?” and your Echo will let you know where it is, who it’s for and when it’ll arrive. Once your order has been delivered, the Echo’s ring light will pulse yellow and if you have the Echo Show, the delivery notification will appear on the screen.
Use any Amazon Echo to track your packages.
Chris Monroe/CNET
Shop Early Access deals before non-Prime members
If something you’ve been eyeing says “Prime Early Access,” as a Prime member you can shop that sale 30 minutes before non-Prime members. However, you’ll still have to compete with other Prime members who are interested in the product before it sells out.
Have Amazon deliver your package inside your house
When you know you’re not going to be home for a while and you’ve got a shipment on the way, it’s much safer to have an Amazon employee leave your items inside your house to avoid theft.
For in-home delivery, you’ll need a Key-compatible smart lock and an (optional) Amazon Cloud Cam. The Amazon driver will send you a notification when they’ve arrived at your house and will request to unlock your door. Amazon will verify the package is at the right address and the driver is near the door, then will turn on Amazon Cloud Cam and unlock your door.
You can also get Amazon packages delivered to your garage
“Porch pirates” — thieves who steal packages left in front of homes — are no joke. Security site SafeWise told CNET that about 260 million packages were stolen from home exteriors in 2022. The Amazon Key in-garage delivery service can stop porch theft completely and is free for all Amazon Prime members.
When you use Amazon In-Garage Delivery, select Key Delivery at checkout. The garage kit is $29 right now and turns your garage into a smart garage. It works the same as in-home delivery so Amazon will do all the verifying for you.
Amazon employees can leave a package inside your house with Amazon Key.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
Send gifts to other Prime members, even without addresses
An Amazon Prime feature lets you send someone a gift, even if you don’t have their address. For instance, if you’d like to send a coworker something for the holidays or their birthday but don’t know what their address is, you can still send a gift. But there’s a catch — that person must also have a Prime account and you need either their phone number or email address associated with the account.
Just note that not every item on Amazon is eligible.
Share Amazon Prime perks with your family
If you’ve got another adult living in your household, like a significant other or friend, you can share your Prime membership with them. You’ll still be able to keep your personal accounts separate, but you’ll both have access to all the same Prime benefits.
You can also share your account with up to four teens and up to four children in your household. While they’ll have their own logins, you can still manage their profiles.
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For the brainier Bing to work, though, Microsoft has to get the details right. ChatGPT can be useful, but it can be flaky, too, and nobody wants a search engine they can’t trust.
Microsoft has put a lot of thought and its own programming resources into the challenge. It’s wrestled with issues like how AI-powered Bing shows ads, reveals its data sources, and grounds the AI technology in reality so you get trustworthy results, not the digital hallucinations that can be hard to spot in machine-generated information.
I spoke to Jordi Ribas, leader of Bing search and AI, to dig more deeply into the overhauled Bing search engine. He’s a big enough fan that he used the technology to help him write his boss a memo about it. “It probably saved me two to three hours,” he said, and it improved the Spanish executive’s English, too.
When the technology expands beyond today’s very small test group, it’ll let millions of us dig for much more complicated information, like whether an Ikea loveseat will fit into your car. And we’ll all be able to see whether it truly gives Google a run for its money. But for now, are seven aspects of Bing AI that I learned.
Bing AI isn’t just a repackaged version of ChatGPT
Microsoft blends its Bing search engine with the large language model technology from OpenAI, the AI lab that built the ChatGPT tool that’s fired up excitement about AI and that Microsoft invested in. You can get ChatGPT-like results using Bing’s “chat” option — for example, “Write a short essay on the importance of Taoism.” But for other queries, Bing and OpenAI technology are blended through an orchestration system Microsoft calls Prometheus.
For instance, you can Bing, “I like the band Led Zeppelin. What other musicians should I listen to?” OpenAI first paraphrases that prompt to “bands similar to Led Zeppelin,” then repackages Bing search results in a bulleted list. Each suggestion, like Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones, comes with a two-sentence description.
Bing AI cites its sources — sometimes
When you give ChatGPT a prompt, it’ll respond with text it generates, but it won’t tell you where it got that information. The AI system is trained on vast amounts of the information on the internet, but it’s hard to draw a direct line between that training data and ChatGPT’s output.
On Bing, though, factual information is often annotated, because Bing knows the source from its indexing of the web. For example, in the Led Zeppelin prompt above, Bing includes a link at the top of its answer to a Musicaroo post, 13 Bands That Sound Like Led Zeppelin, and includes that link and others from MusicalMum and Producer Hive.
That sourcing transparency helps address a big criticism of AI, making it easier to evaluate whether the response is accurate or a mere AI hallucination. But it doesn’t always appear. In the essay on Taoism above, for example, there aren’t any sources, footnotes or links at all.
Some source links are ads that make Microsoft money
The Bing AI’s elaborate answers provide a new way for Microsoft to generate money from ads. In traditional Bing searches, the “organic” search results that Bing judges to be most relevant are separate from items placed by advertisers. But with Bing AI searches, the two types of information can be blended.
Bing’s AI-powered search results blend in ads. Hovering a mouse pointer over the text in this example shows a combination of an ad and a source for its search results.
Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET
For example, in its response to the query “plan me a one-week trip to Iceland without a rental car,” AI-powered Bing suggests several destinations. In one of them, several words are underlined: “You can visit places like Vík, Skógafoss, Seljalandsfoss, and Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon by joining a multi-day tour or taking a bus.” Hovering over that link shows three sources for that information and an ad from a tour company. The advertisement is the top item of the three and is labeled “ad.”
“When you look at those citations, sometimes they are ads,” Ribas said. “When it’s more of a purchasing intent query, you hover over it and you’ll see the list of the references and sometimes it’s an ad. Then sometimes in the conversation itself, you’re going to see product ads, like if you do a hotel query.”
Ad revenue is a big deal, since it takes weeks of work on an enormous cluster of computers for OpenAI to build a single update to its language model, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman estimates it costs a few cents to process each ChatGPT prompt. Bing, even though it’s a distant second to Google in the search engine market, still handles millions of queries a day.
OpenAI-boosted results are more relevant than plain old Bing
The fundamental measure of a search engine’s usefulness is whether its results are relevant, and the OpenAI technology brings a huge boost in the measurement that Microsoft uses to score its search engine results’ relevance.
“My team, working super, super hard in a given year, might move that metric by one point,” Ribas said, but OpenAI’s technology boosted it three points in one fell swoop. “It’s just never happened before in the history of Bing,” Ribas said.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella debuts Bing’s AI-powered search engine.
Stephen Shankland/CNET
That relevance boost is just for ordinary search results, Ribas added. OpenAI’s technology can further improve Bing with its chat interface that offers more elaborate answers and a follow-up exchange.
OpenAI makes Bing better with languages besides English
One particular area where Bing has been weak is searches that aren’t in English, and Ribas said OpenAI helps there. A lot of Bing’s three-point gain in relevance scoring “came from international markets,” Ribas said.
OpenAI’s large language model, or LLM, is trained with text from 100 languages. “Catalan is my first language. I can have a dialogue in Catalan. It works really, really well,” Ribas said
Bing brings OpenAI’s results up to date
Large language models like OpenAI’s GPT-3.5, the foundation for ChatGPT, are slow to build and improve, which means they don’t move at the speed of the web or of conventional search engines. GPT-3.5, for example, was trained in 2021, so it doesn’t have any idea about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the effects of recent inflation on consumers, or Xi Jinping securing his third term as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.
Bing often does know this more recent information, though. “When you bring in the Bing results, then you will get fresh results on that complete answer,” Ribas said.
Bing ‘grounds’ OpenAI’s flights of fancy
Microsoft uses its Bing data to try to avoid situations where OpenAI’s more creative technology could lead people astray. The more factual a query and answer are, the more Bing’s technology is used in the answer, Ribas said. This “grounding” significantly reduces AI’s problems with making stuff up: “It will reduce hallucination, which is … an ongoing battle,” Ribas said.
But Microsoft doesn’t want its grounding system to squash all the magic out of the AI. There’s a reason ChatGPT has been so captivating. The Prometheus system decides on the priorities for each query.
“We had to find the sweet spot between over-grounding the model and keeping it interesting,” Ribas said. “We have a measurement of the interestingness of the results, and we have a measurement for the groundedness of the results. The more the query is looking for something very factual, the more we weight the grounded. The more the query is supposed to be creative, the less we weight the grounded. I kept telling my team, I want my cake and eat it too.”
