Category: Technologies

  • Watch Champions League Soccer: Livestream Man City vs. Young Boys From Anywhere

    Watch Champions League Soccer: Livestream Man City vs. Young Boys From Anywhere

    Reigning champions Man City could confirm their place in the knockout stages of this season’s UEFA Champions League with a win today at home against Young Boys.

    Sitting pretty at the top of Group G on nine points after three straight wins, City boss Pep Guardiola will be determined for his men to deliver another victory here — a result that would allow him to rotate his squad for the remaining pool fixtures.

    The reverse fixture in Bern, Switzerland, a fortnight ago saw Young Boys put in a valiant effort to hold out City for long periods, but the Premier League giants ultimately prevailed with a 3-1 win.

    Below, we’ll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch every game live wherever you are in the world.

    Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola making a celebratory gesture holding clenched fists above his head.

    Manchester City vs. Young Boys: When and where?

    Man City play Young Boys at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Tuesday, Nov. 7. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. GMT local time in the UK (3 p.m. ET, 12 p.m. PT in the US and Canada, and 7 a.m. AEDT on Wednesday, Nov. 8 in Australia).

    How to watch Man City vs. Young Boys game online from anywhere using a VPN

    If you find yourself unable to view Champions League matches locally, you may need a different way to watch the action — 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. So if your internet provider or mobile carrier has stuck you with an IP address that incorrectly shows your location in a blackout zone, a VPN can correct that problem by giving you an IP address in your correct, nonblackout area. Most VPNs, like our Editors’ Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.

    Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, 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.

    Livestream Man City vs. Young Boys in the US

    American soccer fans can stream every fixture of this season’s tournament via Paramount Plus, which has exclusive live English-language broadcast rights in the US for UEFA Champions League matches.

    Livestream Man City vs. Young Boys in the UK

    Champions League live broadcast rights in the UK are held by TNT Sports (formerly known as BT Sport).

    Livestream Manchester City vs. Young Boys in Canada

    If you want to stream UCL games live in Canada, you’ll need to subscribe to DAZN Canada. The service has exclusive broadcast rights to the Champions League this season.

    Livestream Man City vs. Young Boys in Australia

    Football fans Down Under can watch UCL matches on streaming service Stan Sport, which has exclusive rights to show the Champions League live in Australia this season.

    Quick tips for streaming UEFA Champions League matches using a VPN

    • With four variables at play — your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN — your experience and success when streaming Champions League games 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.
  • Save 20% on This Anker 20K Portable Charger With Integrated USB-C Cable

    Save 20% on This Anker 20K Portable Charger With Integrated USB-C Cable

    Yes, Black Friday might be around the corner but why wait when you can get your hands on this Anker 20K portable charger with a built-in USB-C cable with a massive 20% off right now?

    This portable charger would normally retail for around $50 but if you clip the on-screen coupon before adding it to your cart Amazon will sell you one for just $40 instead.

    This battery pack not only has a built-in USB-C cable so that you won’t need to remember to take one with you, but it also comes in four different colors as well. There’s no reason why these most functional of devices shouldn’t also be fun to use, and Anker’s choice of purple, white, pink and black colors sure is a vibe. It’s the purple one that you’ll see at the top of this post and it might just be our favorite of the four.

    On the inside, all four battery packs are the same and feature a 20,000mAh battery despite the small frame. You’ll be able to charge all of your favorite USB-C devices thanks to that 22.5W USB-C cable that’s attached, and that includes the latest iPhone 15.

    Need to charge other things? There’s an additional USB-C port while a USB-A port is also offered should you need it. That means that you can charge three things at once, perfect for those carrying an iPhone, AirPods and an iPad for example.

    Charging isn’t all this thing can do — there’s a handy built-in stand as well so you can prop your phone up while it’s charging.

    Amazon hasn’t said when this discount will come to an end but this is the first time this particular battery pack has been available as part of a deal, so it might not be here for long. And remember, the Amazon Black Friday event is sure to kick into gear soon as well.

  • You Can Still Grab Windows 11 Pro at an All-Time Low of $25

    You Can Still Grab Windows 11 Pro at an All-Time Low of $25

    Upgrading to a top-tier operating system can cost a pretty penny, but if you’re looking to snag the latest Windows OS at a steal, you won’t want to miss this deal. Purchasing a license for Windows 11 Pro through Microsoft directly will run you a whopping $200. But bargain hunters looking for a deep discount can snag a Windows 11 Pro lifetime license for just $25 during StackSocial’s Holiday Frenzy sale filled with early Black Friday deals. That’s an 87% discount and the lowest price we’ve seen. This offer is slated to end Nov. 10, so be sure to get your order in soon if you don’t want to miss out on these incredible savings.

    This is a great price, but it’s important to note that not every computer out there is able to run Windows 11, so before you buy it, you’re going to want to ensure that your computer will meet the requirements for the operating system. Additionally, the listing says that if you have a PC that’s already running Windows 10, and Windows Update doesn’t let you install the free Windows 11 upgrade, your computer won’t be compatible with this version either.

    The activation key that’s provided following your purchase can be used to install and activate Windows 11 Pro on three computers. To be clear, purchases like this are generally intended for advanced users — those who are building a new computer or who want to dual-boot an existing computer with a second OS. To that end, you will need a secondary PC to access and download the files, so be sure you can access everything from another computer in your home or you have a friend’s machine that you can use temporarily. (You’ll also want to have a USB thumb drive on hand to transfer the file.)

    Read more: Preview and Shop Early Deals at Best Buy, Walmart, B&H and More

  • Watch Champions League Soccer: Livestream Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Barcelona From Anywhere

    Watch Champions League Soccer: Livestream Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Barcelona From Anywhere

    Barcelona can seal their spot in the UEFA Champions League knockout stages today with a win over Shakhtar Donetsk.

    The Spanish giants have won all three of their matches in Group H to top the group, bagging eight goals and conceding just once. However, Barça come into this clash without key midfielder Frenkie De Jong thanks to an ankle knock, adding to an injury list that also includes skipper Sergi Roberto.

    While Shakhtar have lost two of their three games so far in the group, including last month’s battling 2-1 defeat in the reverse fixture, the Ukrainians’ win over Antwerp in Gameweek 2 means they’re still very much in the mix for qualification to the knockout stages. With the war in Ukraine ongoing, Shakhtar are playing their home games in borrowed venues, today in Hamburger SV’s Volksparkstadion.

    Below, we’ll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch every game live wherever you are in the world.

    FC Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski looking towards the camera, pointing skywards.

    Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Barcelona: When and where?

    Shakhtar Donetsk play Barcelona at Volksparkstadion in Hamburg on Tuesday, Nov. 7. Kickoff is set for 6.45 p.m. CET local time in Germany (12:45 p.m. ET, 9:45 a.m. PT in the US and Canada, 5:45 p.m. GMT in the UK, and 4:45 a.m. AEDT on Wednesday, Nov. 8 in Australia).

    How to watch Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Barcelona game online from anywhere using a VPN

    If you find yourself unable to view Champions League matches locally, you may need a different way to watch the action — 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. So if your internet provider or mobile carrier has stuck you with an IP address that incorrectly shows your location in a blackout zone, a VPN can correct that problem by giving you an IP address in your correct, nonblackout area. Most VPNs, like our Editors’ Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.

    Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, 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.

    Livestream Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Barcelona in the US

    American soccer fans can stream every fixture of this season’s tournament via Paramount Plus, which has exclusive live English-language broadcast rights in the US for UEFA Champions League matches.

    Livestream Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Barcelona in the UK

    Champions League live broadcast rights in the UK are held by TNT Sports (formerly known as BT Sport).

    Livestream Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Barcelona in Canada

    If you want to stream UCL games live in Canada, you’ll need to subscribe to DAZN Canada. The service has exclusive broadcast rights to the Champions League this season.

    Livestream Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Barcelona in Australia

    Football fans Down Under can watch UCL matches on streaming service Stan Sport, which has exclusive rights to show the Champions League live in Australia this season.

    Quick tips for streaming UEFA Champions League matches using a VPN

    • With four variables at play — your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN — your experience and success when streaming Champions League games 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.
  • OpenAI Looks for Its iPhone Moment With Custom GPT Chatbot Apps

    OpenAI Looks for Its iPhone Moment With Custom GPT Chatbot Apps

    OpenAI, the company whose ChatGPT brought AI chatbots to mainstream awareness, said Monday that it’ll let you build special-purpose AI apps using its technology. And with a new app store coming that’ll let you find or share these GPTs, as the company is calling these customized artificial intelligence tools, OpenAI looks like it’s hoping to have something an iPhone moment.

    You don’t need to know how to program to make a new GPT. You have to give it plain-language instructions, upload some of your own knowledge in the form of PDFs, videos or other files, then steer the bot’s purpose in a direction like creating images or searching the web.

    “GPTs are tailored versions of ChatGPT for a specific purpose,” OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman said at the OpenAI DevDay conference in San Francisco. He demonstrated the technology, telling the build system to create an advice-giving app for startups that draws from videos of his own talks that he uploaded. And he expects many more GPTs to arrive.

    “Eventually, you’ll have your personalized GPTs that can call out to lots of other GPTs,” Altman said. “You’ll be able to accomplish very complex things by bringing different services together.”

    Also at its DevDay, OpenAI talked up a new large language model called GPT-4 Turbo that can handle much larger, more complex prompts.

    OpenAI is at the cusp of the AI revolution, training its enormously complex LLM to recognize patterns on vast swaths of text like internet chat forums. The AI technology can accept prompts like “explain the concept of hell in Dante’s Inferno” and generate its own response. The company also offers generative AI that can create images through its Dall-E technology. More than 100 million people use ChatGPT each week, Altman said.

    AI systems aren’t trustworthy when it comes to facts, which is why AI proponents like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Meta and Anthropic often position chatbots as assistants or co-pilots that still require human supervision. But their abilities to do things like create illustrations or summarize legal documents are powerful enough to have spooked many that AI could replace human employees.

    The new special-purpose GPT technology could help take AI to a new level. For one thing, the GPT app idea could help people get more use out of AI with focused tools. For another, being able to tune those tools to your own needs — for example with a particular data set or image style — could improve AI beyond the vast, generic abilities that come with ChatGPT today. Last, building an app store is a tried and true way for a big business to turn a broad computing foundation into a business that lots of people pay to use.

    If you’re curious, you can try out the custom GPT technology on OpenAI’s website. The interface nudges you through the process, asking what you want the tool to do, requesting files to upload and volunteering a name.

    And next month, OpenAI will publish many of these chatbots through a new GPT store interface. OpenAI didn’t reveal pricing details, but the company will share revenue with those who build the custom GPTs and eventually offer subscriptions to individual ones, Altman said.

    A screenshot of OpenAI's planned app store for GPTs, its term for custom AI tools. At the top are four featured tools for writing, math, cooking and creating stickers. Below is a link to GPTs powered by OpenAI's Dall-E image creation tool.

    The GPT apps should appeal to businesses trying to automate tasks and give them conversational interface, said Gartner analyst Arun Chandrasekaran. But it’ll be real work to manage these chatbots as needs and usage changes, he said. In other words, next-gen tech tools still come with the maintenance hassles of their predecessors.

    OpenAI is revamping its core large language model to be more powerful. Next on the priority list will be making it faster, Altman said. That’ll be good news for anyone who’s stared at ChatGPT’s interface waiting for a response.

    GPT-4 Turbo arrives at developer event

    At OpenAI’s first developer event, hundreds of programmers gathered to hear the latest developments about building their own services on the company’s GPT technology.

    OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks at his company's DevDay event in front of a presentation slide showing new lower costs for developers to build tools with the company's GPT AI technology.

    Among the new abilities OpenAI will offer developers, and thus to all of us who use those developers’ tools, is the new GPT-4 Turbo large language model. It’s capable of much larger, more complex prompts, and it’s also been optimized so it’ll cost less for developers to use.

    When hearing of the more powerful prompt abilities, developers at the event cheered loudly. But it’s not just for developers: GPT-4 Turbo is now also the brains behind the ChatGPT service.

    GPT-4 Turbo also is trained on more recent data, including information published up to April 2023. That’s a big improvement over the first version of GPT-3 and its ChatGPT chatbot interface, which were years out of date when they arrived a year ago.

    And GPT-4 Turbo can accept images as input, which means OpenAI’s technology can be used to perform tasks like identifying objects in a photo or generating a caption. As for creating images, the new model can do so with the new Dall-E 3 technology.

    Another big change for developers is the ability to create assistants — AI bots that can take actions on your behalf. OpenAI demonstrated one that went through the DevDay attendee list and granted each developer $500 in GPT usage credits.

    And for enterprise customers OpenAI now will cover any legal costs resulting from copyright infringement claims through a feature called Copyright Shield. That’s potentially reassuring given lawsuits that authors and artists have filed against AI services they argue were trained using their creations without authorization.

    No price cut for ChatGPT Plus

    Developers cheered the cost optimization and the usage credit. But those financial perks won’t mean a price cut for ChatGPT Plus subscriptions, which cost consumers $20 per month.

    “For now, people seem very happy with the price,” Altman said. Instead, the company is working on making ChatGPT more powerful, he said. “They want more usage and more stuff, so that’s what we’re focused on.”

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

  • Early Black Friday Sales Are Already Here. What You Need to Know

    Early Black Friday Sales Are Already Here. What You Need to Know

    While Black Friday is still weeks away on Nov. 24, early sales are starting before then at retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon and more. Since many stores don’t open on Thanksgiving night anymore, retailers are instead opting for early Black Friday deals, putting some of their best sales online.

    That means you can hold off on venturing out into the cold, avoid the crowds and shop the same sales ahead of time from the comfort of your couch. Then on Black Friday, you can kick back and relax.

    Here’s what you need to know about Black Friday shopping this year. For more, check out these Amazon Prime perks you can use for Black Friday shopping.

    Which stores will have early Black Friday deals?

    Here’s where you can find the best early deals for 2023:

    Ditch the long lines in stores

    Do you really want to camp out or stand in lines for hours on end waiting for Best Buy to open? Of course not. By staying home, you can cozy up on your couch with a warm cup of tea and simply click Buy when it’s time. No need to rush out to the stores, only to lose out on the $190 AirPods Pro 2 you’ve been waiting for.

    Since the pandemic, many stores realize people aren’t willing to waste time in long lines when they can take advantage of deals at home, so they’re putting their Black Friday deals online early. So far, we’re seeing deals coming early from Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy. We’ll continue to update the list as we hear about new deals from other stores.

    The online deals are usually just as good

    Some retailers are offering the same, if not better, deals online. The best part is, you won’t have to wait until Black Friday to buy what you’re looking for because many stores have started their sales early. Look closely at ads and newspaper circulars for “in-store only” disclaimers. In the past, Walmart has had those for many of its ultracheap Blu-ray deals and even some TVs, but the vast majority of other sales are available online.

    Not to mention, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to use promotional codes online and save even more. For example, a store might offer a one-time discount for signing up to receive its emails. (You can always unsubscribe at a later date.)

    best-buy-logo-laptop-3484

    The early bird gets the AirPods

    If you shop early, rather than waiting to go into the stores, you have a better chance of snagging what you want. Make sure you know when the product is going on sale so you can grab it before it’s gone. You can also add it to your shopping cart ahead of time and make sure you’re logged in to your account on the store’s website.

    Just remember, if you’re buying a gift for someone else, know these rules first.

  • How We Test Products and Services

    How We Test Products and Services

    For more than 25 years, CNET has built a reputation as the premier source for trustworthy, no-nonsense reviews on everything tech – from phones to TVs to laptops to tablets to streaming services. If you can snap a picture with it, watch it, type on it or subscribe to it, chances are we’ve reviewed it.

    In addition to every type of technology device, we’ve expanded over time to cover home products, energy providers, health and wellness, broadband services and personal finance choices, evaluating everything from meal kits to solar panel companies to mattresses to hearing aids to electric cars and scooters. No matter what we’re evaluating, we’ll always be transparent about the unbiased and unmatched testing standards that went into our review.

    All reviews and “best list” product rankings share the same commitments to excellence:

    Independence: The products and services we recommend are independently, editorially chosen for evaluation, review and recommendation.

    Expertise: Our team of experts has decades of combined experience mastering their specialities.

    Hands-on tests: We unbox, touch and test the products we cover whenever possible. For services, we subscribe, test and use them ourselves.

    Research: When we can’t test a product or service hands-on, we make recommendations based on reporting and research. We also consider experiences from industry experts and customers.

    Value: We take pricing into account and focus on finding the best option at the most affordable cost.

    What makes CNET unique is our tried-and-true process for evaluating a product with repeatable tests performed by our labs and reviewers with deep understanding of their beats. Our reviewers have built their expertise with hands-on experience and relationships with industry experts we call on for perspective.

    How CNET gets the products we review

    It starts before the new product is even announced. We’re intimately familiar with buying cycles and attuned to rumors and release dates months in advance, covering the lead-up to big product announcements and leveraging our relationships with manufacturers to give readers the scoop. We use this knowledge to pinpoint exactly which products we’ll be reviewing and why, considering factors like pricing, popularity and new features.

    Many of the devices we review are production samples supplied by manufacturers. They’re sent to us as part of a short- or long-term loan agreement. This arrangement lets us publish the review as soon as possible, sometimes even before a product goes on sale, and to compare and retest the product deeper in its life cycle.

    If we identify a product we want to review but can’t get it from the manufacturer for some reason, we’ll buy it. After a review publishes, we often hang onto the product for updates and follow-up coverage, including comparisons with competing gadgets. Products loaned to CNET are returned to the manufacturer after the loan period ends.

    CNET's robot vacuum test room

    Product review 101: In-depth testing at CNET

    Once the product arrives, the review process varies by product category, but all reviews follow a similar structure:

    Setup: We unbox the device (often with an unboxing video) and set it up like any user would, connecting it to the internet if appropriate and installing the latest software. Unlike any user, we document the setup process and note how it compares to competing devices.

    Look and feel: We use the product and note its design and how it feels to operate, leaning on photos and video to illustrate our findings.

    Features: We note its capabilities and how they compare to similar gadgets, concentrating on new and interesting extras and how (or if) they’re actually worthwhile.

    Performance: We test those capabilities rigorously, using the device as intended for hours or days and reporting our impressions. We use the same set of tests we have used for similar products to ensure that we find variations in performance across the industry.

    The PC test bench at CNET's New York lab

    Lab testing: For many product categories, we capture performance data in a lab using standardized tests. For example, in our New York lab we test battery life and screen brightness for laptops and measure color and gaming lag for TVs. And in our Louisville facility, we created a specialized testing platform lab to compare how much dirt a vacuum picks up — up to and including tracking the cleaning trails for robot vacuums, too. But whether that testing happens in Manhattan, Kentucky or at myriad off-site locations, we store our data for future comparisons to other products. And soon we’ll be using that data to better identify long-term trends within categories, too.

    Verdict: All of those impressions are gathered together in the review. In many cases we publish a numeric rating from 1 to 10, along with what we liked and didn’t like.

    If we encounter a major issue during testing, we work with the manufacturer to resolve it and report on that process. At every point in the reviews process, however, our editors and testers maintain full control over the review as it appears on CNET.

    A person lies belly down on a mattress

    Serving up reviews of services

    The traditional CNET review covers physical products you can touch, but a growing number of things you buy today are services, typically available for a monthly fee. We review those too. They include streaming services like Netflix, YouTube TV and Spotify, financial services like credit cards and tax software, home services like meal kits and wine clubs, and utility services like internet service providers (ISPs), cellphone plans, password managers and virtual private networks (VPNs).

    Like with physical devices, our reviews of services vary depending on what the service provides. With streaming services, we weigh the pricing, catalog and ease of use. With credit cards, we scour the fine print and compare welcome bonuses, interest rates and promos. With VPNs, we test and evaluate numerous factors including speed, privacy, data leaks and value. We focus on reportable facts and, where appropriate, tailor our recommendations to different locations. We have separate lists for the best internet providers in New York City, Atlanta and Houston, for example, and we’re adding more locations all the time.

    Various elements of a meal kit on a cutting board

    How we order our Best List recommendations

    In most categories, we gather our reviews and research into best lists, which put our most-recommended products in one place and designate superlatives such as Best Overall, Best Value and Best Design. These lists are intended to be a one-stop shop for information on categories we cover, including links to how we test that category, factors to consider during the buying process, frequently asked questions and seasonal price trends.

    On many of our Best Lists and guides, you’ll find a list of recommended products or services at the top of the page, just below the headline. This feature gives readers immediate access to the summarized results of our product reviews.

    If there’s a clear “Best Overall” pick in a given category, we place that product or service at the top of the list. After that, we sort our recommendations according to several factors. These include how strongly we recommend each product or service, so that highly recommended picks are generally closest to the top. The order in which our product recommendations are listed does not always correlate directly to their numerical ratings. Editors may also curate the list to make sure that a diversity of options, for example a relatively low-priced product, are included.

    After a Best List is published, we may use audience engagement metrics to re-order the list after Best Overall pick, to the give more prominence to products and services that have shown the most positive responses from readers. Some of our best lists also include a sponsored product or service that is not chosen by our editors. This is a paid advertisement and is clearly labeled accordingly.

    Why you can trust CNET reviews

    It all comes down to editorial integrity. We’re transparent about how we make money, from advertisements and affiliate commissions, which include clear labels and disclosures. Other companies don’t have any say in our reviews, and in cases where content on CNET is sponsored by a third party, we present a disclosure. We do not use generative AI (artificial intelligence) in our hands-on product testing. In some cases, we use it to help gather and organize information to compare services. For example, AI helps us find and compare proprietary data on regional internet service providers, as in this example. We disclose and explain how we use generative AI on those pages.

    In some cases we also present multiple perspectives. For example, health journalism is a topic that changes with new studies, so we created the CNET Medical Review Network, a group of health professionals who review and vet our content to make sure it accurately represents current medical guidelines, research and standards of care.

    In short, trust is our stock in trade and remains so after a quarter-century of reviews. Call us biased, but we think no other reviewers do it better.

    Below, you’ll find links to methodologies for many of the product and service categories we write about.

  • OpenAI Now Lets You Build Your Own Custom GPT Chatbots

    OpenAI Now Lets You Build Your Own Custom GPT Chatbots

    OpenAI, the company whose ChatGPT brought AI chatbots to mainstream awareness, said Monday that it’ll let you build your own special-purpose version of its artificial intelligence technology. And with a new app store coming that’ll let you find or share these GPTs, as the company is calling the special-purpose bots, OpenAI looks like it’s hoping to have something an iPhone moment.

    You don’t need to know how to program to make a new GPT. You have to give it plain-language instructions, upload some of your own knowledge in the form of PDFs, videos or other files, then steer the bot’s purpose in a direction like creating images or searching the web.

    “GPTs are tailored versions of ChatGPT for a specific purpose,” OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman said at the OpenAI DevDay conference in San Francisco. He demonstrated the technology, telling the build system to create an advice-giving app for startups that draws from videos of his own talks that he uploaded. And he expects many more GPTs to arrive.

    “Eventually, you’ll have your personalized GPTs that can call out to lots of other GPTs,” Altman said. “You’ll be able to accomplish very complex things by bringing different services together.”

    The technology could help take AI to a new level. For one thing, the GPT app idea could help people get more use out of AI with focused tools. For another, being able to tune those tools to your own needs — for example with a particular data set or image style — could improve AI beyond the vast, generic abilities that come with ChatGPT today. Last, building an app store is a tried and true way for a big business to turn a broad computing foundation into a business that lots of people pay to use.

    If you’re curious, you can try out the custom GPT technology on OpenAI’s website. The interface nudges you through the process, asking what you want the tool to do, requesting files to upload and volunteering a name.

    And next month, OpenAI will publish many of these chatbots through a new GPT store interface. OpenAI didn’t reveal pricing details, but the company will share revenue with those who build the custom GPTs and eventually offer subscriptions to individual ones, Altman said.

    A screenshot of OpenAI's planned app store for GPTs, its term for custom AI tools. At the top are four featured tools for writing, math, cooking and creating stickers. Below is a link to GPTs powered by OpenAI's Dall-E image creation tool.

    OpenAI is at the cusp of the AI revolution, training an enormously complex large language model to recognize patterns on vast swaths of text like internet chat forums. The AI technology can accept prompts like “explain the concept of hell in Dante’s Inferno” and generate its own response. OpenAI also offers generative AI that can create images through its Dall-E technology. More than 100 million people use ChatGPT each week, Altman said.

    AI systems aren’t trustworthy when it comes to facts, which is why AI proponents like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Meta and Anthropic often position chatbots as assistants or co-pilots that still require human supervision. But their abilities to do things like create illustrations or summarize legal documents are powerful enough to have spooked many that AI could replace human employees.

    The GPT apps should appeal to businesses trying to automate tasks and give them conversational interface, said Gartner analyst Arun Chandrasekaran. But it’ll be real work to manage these chatbots as needs and usage changes, he said. In other words, next-gen tech tools still come with the maintenance hassles of their predecessors.

    There is clearly demand for more business function and role specific conversational agents, which GPTs will cater to. However, managing the lifecycle of these custom chatbots as well as their performance across various business functions will be new challenges for enterprise clients.

    OpenAI is revamping its core large language model to be more powerful. Next on the priority list will be making it faster, Altman said. That’ll be good news for anyone who’s stared at ChatGPT’s interface waiting for a response.

    GPT-4 Turbo arrives at developer event

    At OpenAI’s first developer event, hundreds of programmers gathered to hear the latest developments about building their own services on the company’s GPT technology.

    OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks at his company's DevDay event in front of a presentation slide showing new lower costs for developers to build tools with the company's GPT AI technology.

    Among the new abilities OpenAI will offer developers, and thus to all of us who use those developers’ tools, is a new large language model called GPT-4 Turbo. It’s capable of much larger, more complex prompts, and it’s also been optimized so it’ll cost less for developers to use.

    When hearing of the more powerful prompt abilities, developers at the event cheered loudly. But it’s not just for developers: GPT-4 Turbo is now also the brains behind the ChatGPT service.

    GPT-4 Turbo also is trained on more recent data, including information published up to April 2023. That’s a big improvement over the first version of GPT-3 and its ChatGPT chatbot interface, which were years out of date when they arrived a year ago.

    And GPT-4 Turbo can accept images as input, which means OpenAI’s technology can be used to perform tasks like identifying objects in a photo or generating a caption. As for creating images, the new model can do so with the new Dall-E 3 technology.

    Another big change for developers is the ability to create assistants — AI bots that can take actions on your behalf. OpenAI demonstrated one that went through the DevDay attendee list and granted each developer $500 in GPT usage credits.

    No price cut for ChatGPT Plus

    Developers cheered the price cut and the usage credit. Those financial perks won’t mean a price cut for ChatGPT Plus subscriptions, which cost consumers $20 per month, though.

    “For now, people seem very happy with the price,” Altman said. Instead, the company is working on making ChatGPT more powerful. “They want more usage and more stuff, so that’s what we’re focused on,” he said.

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

  • Premier League Soccer Livestream: How to Watch Tottenham vs. Chelsea From Anywhere

    Premier League Soccer Livestream: How to Watch Tottenham vs. Chelsea From Anywhere

    A derby win today at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will see Spurs head back to the summit of the English Premier League as they host London rivals Chelsea.

    With 26 points from their opening 10 league games, Tottenham’s sparkling start to the season is their best since 1960-61.

    The match is set to mark an emotional return for former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino, with the Argentine making his first appearance in the visitors’ dugout since since his sacking as Spurs boss almost two years ago.

    It’s been a tricky start as Blues boss for Pochettino, and while there’s been evidence of a recent turnaround in form, their 2-0 defeat to Brentford at home last time out starkly illustrated how much work is still left to be done before the west Londoners can be considered contenders once more.

    Below, we’ll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch all of the action live wherever you are in the world.

    Tottenham Hotspur midfielder James Maddison celebrating, running towards the camera.

    Tottenham Hotspur vs. Chelsea : When and where?

    Spurs host Chelsea at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday, Nov. 6. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. GMT local time. That’s 3 p.m. ET or 12 p.m. PT in the US and Canada, and 7 a.m. AEDT on Tuesday morning in Australia.

    How to watch the Spurs vs. Chelsea game online from anywhere using a VPN

    If you find yourself unable to view the game locally, you may need a different way to watch — 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. So if your internet provider or mobile carrier has stuck you with an IP address that incorrectly shows your location in a blackout zone, a VPN can correct that problem by giving you an IP address in your correct, non-blackout area. Most VPNs, like our Editors’ Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.

    Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, 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.

    Livestream the Tottenham vs. Chelsea game in the US

    Monday’s Tottenham-Chelsea match is streaming on Peacock. You’ll need a Peacock Premium or Premium Plus account to catch the game live.

    Livestream the Tottenham Hotspur vs. Chelsea game in the UK

    Premier League rights in the UK are split between Sky Sports, Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports (previously known as BT Sport). Spurs vs. Chelsea is exclusive to Sky Sports, showing on its Sky Sports Main Event, Premier League and Ultra channels. If you already have Sky Sports as part of your TV package, you can stream the game via its Sky Go app, but cord-cutters will want to get set up with a Now account and a Now Sports membership to stream the game.

    Livestream the Tottenham Hotspur vs. Chelsea game in Canada

    If you want to stream this match live in Canada, you’ll need to subscribe to Fubo Canada. The service has exclusive rights for this Premier League season.

    Livestream the Tottenham Hotspur vs. Chelsea game in Australia

    Football fans Down Under can watch this EPL fixture on streaming service Optus Sport, which is showing every single Premier League game live in Australia this season.

    Quick tips for streaming the Premier League using a VPN

    • With four variables at play — your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN — your experience and success when streaming EPL matches 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.
  • Save Up to $300 on Motorola’s Amazing Razr and Razr Plus Foldable Phones

    Save Up to $300 on Motorola’s Amazing Razr and Razr Plus Foldable Phones

    The world of the foldable phone is full of options, especially if you’re into flip phones. Motorola makes some of the best around right now, and two of the very best are available with savings of up to $300 if you’re quick. Discounts can be had on both the Motorola Razr Plus and Motorola Razr — all you need to do is pick which one is right for you.

    Those savings need to be seen to be believed, too. At the top of the list is the excellent Razr Plus, a phone that would normally sell for around $1,000 but can now be picked up for just $700. It isn’t every day that you get the chance to save $300 on something, but what if you’re looking to spend a little less? The Motorola Razr is a great option, too, and right now it’s available in a choice of four colors for just $500.

    Starting with that Razr, this is the 2023 model, which means that it comes with 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. There’s a 6.9-inch foldable display on the inside and an external display capable of showing notifications, the weather and more. The selfie camera is a 32-megapixel affair, while the rear-facing cameras include a main 64-megapixel sensor and a 13-megapixel ultrawide. In terms of processing power, the capable Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chip is onboard.

    The high-end Motorola Razr Plus builds on that by increasing the external display from 1.5 to 3.6 inches, giving more room for apps and whatnot. You also get more storage, with 256GB on offer here. The upgrades continue with the chip — Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 should ensure your apps never miss a beat.

    No matter which phone you opt for, you’ll benefit from 5G connectivity and they’re both unlocked, so you can pick and choose your carrier, too.