Category: Technologies

Facebook is taking a page out of TikTok’s playbook. The social media giant is launching an updated video player that incorporates all video lengths and formats, including Reels, longer videos and live videos. As part of the update, horizontal videos can be opened up in full-screen mode, and a slider will appear to let you skip ahead in longer videos. Users will also get more “relevant” video recommendations on their Feed and in the Video Tab, regardless of video length.

If this all sounds familiar, it’s because this setup closely resembles what you’ll already find on competitor TikTok. Scrolling through the app’s For You page (or “home” page), you’ll find a combination of longer and shorter videos, a slider to move forward or backward and live videos dispersed throughout. TikTok has reportedly been experimenting with videos as long as 30 minutes, potentially encroaching on YouTube’s territory.

Facebook’s latest update is rolling out on iOS and Android in the US and Canada before eventually becoming available globally in the coming months. To pull up the player, tap on a video anywhere in Facebook’s app.

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is no stranger to adopting popular features from competitors. Instagram notably mimicked Snapchat’s stories feature back in 2016 and launched Reels in 2020 in a bid to compete with short-form video giant TikTok. Now, Facebook is banking on a layout that’s worked well for TikTok, which now has over 1 billion monthly active users.

There’s a feature Facebook is adding that doesn’t exist on TikTok: the option to jump forward or backward in 10-second increments. Tapping on a video brings up controls that let you skip forward or go back with the tap of a button. A pause/play button will also appear.

Facebook also says it’ll surface more Reels “to meet the growing demand for this format.”

See also: This Privacy Setting Helps Keep Instagram and Facebook From Tracking You

Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Max Homa and Adam Scott headline an impressive field that’s set to take on the TPC San Antonio this weekend at the Valero Texas Open.

The final event of the PGA Tour ahead of the all-important Masters, the event provides a last chance for players to earn a spot at the Augusta National.

Last year’s event saw Corey Conners win the tournament for a second time, ending a four-year winless run for the Canadian star.

Keep reading to find out the best live TV streaming services to use to watch each day of the tournament live wherever you are in the world.

Livestream the Texas Open 2024 in the US

Linear TV coverage in the US is on The Golf Channel and NBC, while streaming service Peacock also boasts the same coverage of the entire tournament.

For more comprehensive coverage, PGA Tour Live streaming coverage takes place Thursday through to Sunday on ESPN Plus, offering main action feeds, marquee groups, featured groups and featured hole coverage.

Four of the major live TV streaming services offer Golf Channel.

Livestream the Texas Open2024 in the UK

Golf fans in the UK can watch the tournament live on Sky Sports. The tournament will be broadcast across its Sky Sports Golf and Main Events channels, with further coverage on its Red Button service.

Livestream the Texas Open2024 in Australia

The Texas Open2024 can be watched Down Under on Fox Sports via Foxtel. If you’re not a Fox subscriber, your best option is to sign up for the streaming service Kayo Sports.

Stream the Texas Open 2024 in Canada

Live coverage of the 2024 Texas Openwill be available in Canada via TSN. Cord-cutters can watch via the network’s streaming service TSN Plus. Coverage of the third round starts at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, while Sunday final round broadcast starts at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Quick tips for streaming the Texas Open2024 using a VPN

• With four variables at play — your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN — your experience and success when streaming 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 tournament 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.

Today’s Wordle isn’t the toughest word in the dictionary (we know, players, you’re still mad about SALLY being an answer back in March). Today’s answer is a much more commonly used word.

For me, this answer was pretty easy, because I have two regular start words, and between them, they gave me three of the five letters. Plus, it didn’t have any extremely rare letters or unusual patterns.

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

Today’s Wordle hints

Warning: If you keep reading, you’ll see the Wordle answer for Thursday, April 4, puzzle #1020. That could be a devastating spoiler for some players. But if you just need the answer — maybe you’re on your last guess and just don’t want to see an 800-game streak go poof — keep reading.

Wordle hint #1: Starts with two consonants

Just like yesterday’s word, today’s answer begins with two consonants.

Wordle hint #2: One vowel

But there’s only one vowel, so if you’ve nailed which one it is, you just need to work on the placement.

Wordle hint #3: Movie mania

The answer is also the first word in a song title from the musical The Sound of Music.

Wordle hint #4: Starting letter

The answer begins with the letter C.

Wordle hint #5: Meaning

The word means, “to go up or to ascend.”

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Here comes the spoiler: Today’s Wordle answer is CLIMB. Climb every Wordle mountain, ford every Wordle stream. Follow every rainbow, don’t run out of steam. Hey, not everybody can be Rodgers and Hammerstein, you know.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s answer was PLAIT, which sparked some debate between Americans and those abroad about what exactly you call a hair braid, and how you pronounce the word for it. PLAT or PLATE, your call. I thought that was a tough one, but a friend got it on his second guess.

Everyday Wordle tips

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

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

What is Wordle?

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

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

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

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

Samsung’s next update to its lineup of folding smartphones, the Galaxy Z Fold 6, has been rumored to have a boxier design when it launches this summer, with squared edges similar to those of the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Now, new leaks say it’ll be thinner and lighter as well.

A known tipster, Ice Universe, posted on X on Wednesday that the Galaxy Z Fold 6 would have an unfolded thickness of 5.6 millimeters, and a folded thickness of 12.1mm. That would make the device up to 10% thinner than last year’s model. Ice Universe also posted that the device will weigh 239 grams, putting it on par with the OnePlus Open and making it a little lighter than the 253-gram Galaxy Z Fold 5.

Samsung didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read more: Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6 Is Coming in July, Report Says

The buzz of rumors around the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 suggest that the folding smartphone is being prepped for a launch this July. Though foldable smartphones aren’t big sellers, they do make for a premium, futuristic-looking product that’s particularly popular among techies.

When it inevitably launches, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 will give Samsung an opportunity to talk about innovation, using devices like its folding smartphones to gesture at magical-seeming technologies that used to exist only in sci-fi.

Read more: The Galaxy S24 Is Just the Start. Here’s What Else Samsung May Launch in 2024

Other companies have followed a similar approach, with Motorola in particular drawing attention during Mobile World Congress in March by showing off a smartphone designed to bend around your wrist like a bracelet. Unlike those prototypes though, Samsung offers its folding phones for sale, not just as a concept device.

One rumor that hasn’t surfaced about the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is word about the price. Folding phones in general are still expensive, launching with price tags around $1,800 before discounts and incentives. That cost is far higher than the price of the Galaxy Z Fold’s more standard, candy bar-shaped cousins, such as phones in the Galaxy S24 line, which typically start at $800. Another downside is that foldables are fragile, though Samsung has improved on that with more-resilient screens and hinges.

Last year, Google warned users that it would stop supporting the Dropcam, Dropcam Pro and Nest Secure security devices on April 8, 2024. The date is next Monday, meaning people who still have these devices must figure out their next steps as device support is ending soon.

Once the date hits, a few things are going to happen. The affected devices will no longer record video. Users will have access to their prior video histories for the remainder of their subscriptions, which The Verge says can range from five to 30 days. Once the subscription end date passes, video history will become inaccessible, so if you want to save anything, you should do so as soon as possible.

Dropcam user instructions

For Dropcam owners, Google has two different offers. The first is a 50% discount toward the purchase of an indoor wired Nest Cam for people who aren’t subscribed to Nest Aware. Those who are subscribed to Nest Aware can get the Nest Cam for free. Google should have already emailed the promotion to users, but if you didn’t receive one, you may want to contact Google support.

The Nest Cam is Google’s least expensive camera, but it doesn’t lack in features. In our review, we called it a great little camera. Users who end up with one can get three hours of cloud storage for free along with smart alerts that detect people, pets and objects that are moving around the room. It should serve as a solid upgrade to the outgoing Dropcam.

Nest Secure user instructions

Nest Secure users also have two options when it comes to migration. The first is a free Self Setup System from ADT where you can transition into ADT’s service to keep using your device. Google will handle the bill, provided that the system costs less than $485, according to PCMag. Alternatively, Google is offering a $200 voucher that can be used on the Google Store to purchase newer Nest products to replace the Nest Secure.

Nest Secure users with Nest x Yale Locks have a few additional steps to perform. Once April 8 comes and goes, the Nest Guard keypad won’t be able to connect your lock to Wi-Fi anymore. To avoid being locked out, you’ll need to procure a Nest Connect if you don’t already have one. Google is giving people a free Nest Connect if they own a Nest Secure. Most people should’ve received their emails for it by now but if not, you may want to check your deleted and spam folders and then get in touch with Google support.

The final thing affected users will want to do is cancel their Nest Aware subscription if they no longer need it. To do so, head to home.nest.com or use the Google Home app. Google will not cancel your subscription automatically if you no longer own products that can use Nest Aware, so you’ll need to do that yourself if you no longer need it.

Why is Google ending support for Dropcam and Nest Secure?

In 2023, Google unified its smart home ecosystem under the Google Home and Google Assistant Umbrella. Google determined that the Nest Secure and the two Dropcam devices were too old to integrate properly with the new system and have thus ceased support. The rest of the Google Nest hardware family is still supported for the time being.

Google began its migration last year when the company asked Nest users to migrate their accounts from Nest to Google Home. Around that same time, Google released a script editor so that Nest users could continue using home automation. Nest account holders were also encouraged to migrate their Nest accounts to a Google account so that they wouldn’t lose functionality when the company shut down Works with Nest.

Since then, Google has migrated the rest of its Nest lineup to the Google Home app where they can be managed as they were in the Nest app. Anyone who still hasn’t migrated their Nest accounts yet is encouraged by Google to do so before support ends so they can continue using their tech after April 8.

Discord, the voice and video chat service for gamers that’s more recently expanded its scope, is joining the long list of free services that use ads to support their platform. The change is an about-face for a company that’s long held an anti-advertising view.

Ads should start showing up on Discord within the week, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The ad slots will be offered to game developers as a way for them to get Discord users and their friends to play their games, earning the developers money from sales, in-app purchases and in-game ads.

Instead of standard ads, however, the Discord advertisements will appear in the form of “sponsored quests,” Discord Senior Vice President Peter Sellis said in a blog post last month. When someone streams over Discord and they’re playing a game with a sponsored quest, they’ll have the opportunity to perform the quest while others watch. Viewers can then hop into the game and also complete the quest for rewards.

Discord reportedly said it’ll target ads based on a user’s gameplay, age and geographic location, but you can turn off your personalization in the app’s settings.

Here’s what we know so far about sponsored quests.

Sponsored quests aren’t new

Sponsored quests are something Discord has tried before. The chat service collaborated with Epic Games and Lucasfilm Games for a sponsored quest in May 2023. Players could share Fortnite gameplay with their friends in a Discord stream, complete the quests, and earn Star Wars-inspired skins that were exclusive to the event. It’s likely the new sponsored quests will work in a similar way.

Currently, you can disable quests in the app’s privacy settings. However, that setting may be altered or removed when sponsored quests officially launch.

In addition to adding advertising, Discord will also ramp up its efforts to sell things such as sponsored profile flair in its shop. This initiative began last week with the release of the Valorant collection, which includes avatar decorations and profile effects inspired by the game. Such sponsored collections will join the profile flair already available in the shop.

The move to advertising comes amid a push to generate more revenue for the chat service. Discord laid off 17% of its workforce back in January. The company has attracted plenty of investors, but it’s never posted a profit, despite large revenue gains over the last few years and hundreds of millions of registered users.

During an interview with Bloomberg, Discord CEO James Citron said Discord hopes “every game will offer quests on Discord.” He also told Bloomberg that Discord will likely file for an initial public offering at some point and become a publicly traded company.

For now, Discord likely hopes that sponsored quests and collections in its shop fare better than the company’s game store, which lasted two years before it was axed in 2021.

How will sponsored quests work?

Developers who pay for a sponsored quest from Discord are hoping to encourage a game-playing user’s friends who are watching the stream to also play their game. A sponsored quest will pop up, a game-playing user will be able to engage in the quest through Discord’s interface, and once they complete the quest, other users in the stream will have the opportunity to tackle the challenge. After they finish a quest, users will be able to claim rewards to redeem in-game.

What will sponsored quests look like?

Once you start streaming a game that has a sponsored quest, while friends are watching, you’ll receive a prompt to engage in the quest. Once you’re done, another pop-up will appear to let you know the quest is complete and that the rewards are available to redeem. People watching the stream may also get pop-ups inviting them to perform the quest once the streamer finishes. The exact graphics will be available after sponsored quests launch.

Can I turn off sponsored quests?

Yes, for now. Open Discord and navigate to the Privacy & Safety section of the Settings. There, you should see a selection for In-game rewards (aka Quests). Turn off that setting.

But know that this setting is likely to change when sponsored quests go live.

“Users can opt out of personalized promotions for quests based on activity or data shared with Discord,” a representative for Discord said in an email. “Users may still see quests, however, if they navigate to their gift inventory and/or through contextual entry points, like a user’s friends’ activity. They’ll also have the option to hide an in-app promotion for a specific quest or game they’re not interested in.”

When will Discord launch sponsored quests?

Discord didn’t give an exact release date, but it did tell The Wall Street Journal that it would be sometime during the first week of April.

Will I see advertising if I don’t stream?

We won’t know until the update fully launches. However, it appears that the majority of the advertising will be shown only to people who use Discord’s streaming feature. But if you don’t stream, you may still see pop-ups, as Discord does advertise events through its notifications.

OnePlus is jumping on the AI bandwagon. The Android phone-maker on Wednesday announced AI Eraser, a new tool for erasing unwanted objects in photos. The launch comes after Google and Samsung have introduced similar AI-powered editing tools for their respective Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy devices.

AI Eraser can remove objects from photos and generate a replacement background to blend in with the rest of the image. It’ll be available on the OnePlus 12, OnePlus 12R, OnePlus 11, OnePlus Open and OnePlus Nord CE 4 starting this month. The company says it uses its own proprietary model to power AI Eraser and plans to introduce more AI features later this year.

Read more: The iPhone May Get a Big Dose of AI This Year

Until now, OnePlus was one of the only smartphone-makers not pushing generative AI as a main selling point — a stance that my colleague Andrew Lanxon called “refreshing” in his OnePlus 12 review. The company’s biggest competitors, namely Samsung and Google, have been going all-in on generative AI and other AI-fueled tools.

Samsung, for example, introduced a suite of features on the Galaxy S24 series called Galaxy AI, which it recently began rolling out to select other Galaxy devices. Among those features is Generative Edit, a tool that similarly uses AI to delete or move objects in a photo and refill the leftover space. Before that, Google introduced Magic Editor on the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, which is also designed for removing, relocating or resizing elements in a photo. Google’s Magic Eraser tool was introduced years ago on the Pixel 6, but has been made available as a cloud-based tool for Google One subscribers.

OnePlus’ announcement is yet another sign that generative AI is poised to play a larger role in upcoming smartphones. Apple is expected to announce new AI-based features as part of its next major iPhone update, presumably called iOS 18, according to Bloomberg. Market research firm IDC also expects we’ll see a surge in phones equipped to handle AI computing. It predicts that 170 million so-called “next-gen AI” smartphones will be shipped in 2024, compared to 51 million in 2023.

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

I was hoping that Apple-owned Beats would upgrade its Fit Pro earbuds this year. That could still happen, but if the latest report by Mac-enthusiast site 9to5Mac proves accurate, the next Beats headphones to drop will be the Solo4, the successor to one of the most popular headphones of all time, the Beats Solo 3.

According to 9to5Mac, the Solo4 are expected to retail for $200 and are pegged for a May 2 release date. They appear to be an on-ear version of Beats’ over-ear Studio Pro headphones that list for $350 but sometimes sell for as little as $200. Like the Studio Pro, I expect that the Solo4 will be geared towards both Apple and Android users and feature spatial audio (with head tracking) but will be powered by a custom Beats chip, not Apple’s H1 or H2 chips. Their redesigned case appears to be very similar to the case for the Studio Pro.

Read more: Beats Releases Beats X Alo Special Edition Fit Pro Earbuds

Like the Studio Pro, the Solo4 will also feature USB-C charging and both a 3.5mm port and a USB-C audio option for wired listening. Aside from a smaller form factor, the one big difference between the Solo4 and Studio Pro is that the Solo4 may be missing active noise canceling. The Solo3 didn’t have it; only the now-discontinued Solo Pro did.

9to5Mac says the Solo4 will weigh 217 grams, have upgraded 40mm drivers that deliver improved sound, and offer up to 50 hours of battery life — or 10 hours more than the Solo3’s.

In the past, Beats has faced leaks as images of its future products have appeared in beta iOS versions in advance of their official release. In this case, an image of the next-generation Solo, which looks very similar to the Solo3, turned up in an iOS 17.4 beta in February, and an FCC filing for the new headphones was spotted recently.

It’s unclear who gave 9to5Mac all the aforementioned specs for the Solo4, but it cited a “trusted” source. Based on my reporting experience, that could be an insider at a retailer, though I can’t confirm that.

Apple typically doesn’t respond to rumors, but CNET has reached out to Apple for comment, and we’ll update this post should we get a reply.

Read more: Best On-Ear Headphones of 2024

The Apple Watch has long been considered to be one of the best smartwatches you’re likely to find and it’s available in a few different sizes and configurations to suit different needs and budgets. But even the cheapest Apple Watch isn’t cheap and that’s why finding a great deal is vital. Right now Woot is the place to be if you want to bag an Apple Watch at a great price with the Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch Series 7, and Apple Watch SE all represented.

Those looking to get the cheapest Apple Watch possible need to look no further than the Apple Watch SE. Although this is the first-gen model, its discounted price of just $168 is hard to beat. That’s the 40mm model although the larger 44mm one is also available while multiple colorways are also offered.

The most modern model included in this sale is the Apple Watch Series 8. This watch comes in the 45mm size and includes cellular connectivity for just $290, but it’s worth noting that this is from excess carrier inventory. That means it’s going to come in a brown box with an OEM charger and watch band. If that isn’t an issue, this could well be the model to go for.

Looking to bag some cheap accessories? Multiple watch band and charger bundles are available from just $25. Still not sure that these deals are for you? Be sure to check out our collection of the best Apple Watch deals, we’re sure there will be something in there for everyone.