There are plenty of iPhone deals out there, but a lot of them require signing up for a lengthy carrier agreement or trading in a device to get the best savings. If you want reduce the amount of strings attached but still want to save some serious cash, your next best option could be going for a refurbished device. And Woot is offering one such refurb sale today with recent iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 series devices selling there from as little as $330.
Though the devices may not be the absolute best iPhone models available these days following the release of last fall’s iPhone 14 lineup, they are still more than powerful enough for most folks. The iPhone 12 Mini is the most affordable model in the sale at $330 with the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 not much more at $390 if you prefer the mid-size screen. iPhone 12 Pro devices are also included with their boosted camera hardware and the standard iPhone 13 is on sale from $560, around $140 less than what Apple charges for the device these days.
All the devices you’ll find at this sale are “scratch and dent” refurbs. According to Woot, that means that you can expect these items to show moderate signs of wear and tear, but they have all been thoroughly inspected to ensure they’re in full working condition with at least 85% battery capacity. You’ll get a 90-day warranty, too.
In assessing whether the iPhone 14 was worth the upgrade late last year, CNET senior editors Sareena Dayaram and Lisa Eadicicco said that the iPhone 12 series devices were still worth keeping ahold of, and it was only worth jumping from an iPhone 13 to the iPhone 14 series if you really had to have the latest and greatest Pro model.
If you’d prefer a refurb device with minimal cosmetic imperfections, Amazon is currently running a Lightning deal on Renewed Premium iPhone 13 Pro Max devices. These phones are guaranteed to offer at least 90% of their original battery capacity and come backed by a year-long warranty. They could sell out quickly, though.
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Hogwarts Legacy is one of the most highly anticipated games of 2023, and it’s just a little over a week away from launch. The open-world RPG is set in the Harry Potter universe, and it seems like the game many fans of the books have been hoping for.
The new game from developer Avalanche Software lets playersexperience the famed school of witchcraft and wizardry as a student in the 1800s, before the events of the Harry Potter books. Here are some basic things to know about Hogwarts Legacy, including when you can snag a copy depending on your platform.
What’s the story?
Hogwarts Legacy players will “embark on a dangerous journey to uncover a hidden truth of the wizarding world,” according to the game’s official website. You’ll explore Hogwarts Castle, where you’ll be able to attend classes. You’ll also go beyond it to new and familiar locations, per the site.
You’ll be able to customize your character, choose a Hogwarts house and grow your magical abilities by brewing potions, mastering spells and taming beasts. Hogwarts Legacy sticks to the lore but doesn’t adapt the Harry Potter books and films.
What systems can I play Hogwarts Legacy on?
PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC versions of the game launch on Feb. 10. Those looking to play the PS4 and Xbox One versions will, unfortunately, need to wait until April 4.
Nintendo Switch users will have to hang on even longer, until July 25, to play Hogwarts Legacy.
The game was first announced in 2020 and its release dates have changed three times. It’s published by Warner Bros. Games under its Portkey Games label.
Is there early access?
If you really can’t wait to get your hands on the game, the Deluxe Edition for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC includes 72 hours of early access.
Here’s more of a breakdown: Those buying the Deluxe Edition for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S digitally will be able to start playing on Feb. 7 at midnight in their region. Those buying the Deluxe for those consoles physically will need to contact their chosen retailer to determine when the game can be picked up or delivered to them.
Those buying the Deluxe Edition for PC digitally will be able to start playing on Feb. 7 at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET. Those buying the Deluxe for PC physically will also need to contact their chosen retailer.
The PS4 and Xbox One versions won’t have an early access period.
How do I preorder Hogwarts Legacy?
If you want to buy the Standard Edition, you can preorder the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions from stores including GameStop, Amazon and Best Buy for $70 (about 57, AU$99). Same goes for the PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch versions, but it costs $10 less to preorder. The PC version is available to preorder for $60 (roughly 49, $AU85) at Steam and the Epic Games store.
You can view more ways to purchase Hogwarts Legacy (including how to buy the Deluxe Edition) on the game’s website. The Collector’s Edition has already sold out, but you may be able to find it online for a markup. The official site breaks down what comes with each edition.
J.K. Rowling and Hogwarts Legacy
The game’s connection to Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling — who’s made past comments that have been labeled as transphobic — has led Rowling critics to call for a boycott, according to The Week.
The Hogwarts Legacy website notes that Rowling isn’t involved in the creation of Hogwarts Legacy, but her writing is the foundation for the project.
Your iPhone is an amazing little pocket computer. It gives you access to the entire worldwide web on the go, letting you browse through page after page of information online at high speeds. But even the latest iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models might start to feel sluggish over time. A good habit to build up is regularly clearing the cache on your iPhone’s browsers.
Whether you use Chrome, Safari or other browsers on your iPhone, your cache builds up digital clutter over time. Clearing your cache gives the browser a new start, which can speed up your web surfing whether you’re using iOS 15 or iOS 16. (And if you’re trying to get your phone to run faster, try managing your iPhone’s storage.)
Your browser cache acts like a digital shortcut — it stores website data so your browser has a head start the next time you load up that page. In the short term, that helps speed up the process. But over time, the data stored in your cache can become outdated and no longer match what the site actually needs. If that happens, pages will load slower, and the formatting might be wrong.
That’s why clearing your cache can help: It gives sites a fresh start in your browser and frees up some space in your storage.
Website cookies are similar, except they store information about user data, rather than data on the website itself. Clearing your cookies gives you a chance to reset those preferences, which could improve your browsing experience. Note that clearing your cache and cookies will log you out of sites, which means you’ll have to log into them again and reset any preferences. But the upfront investment of that time can lead to a smoother experience down the road, and it can be a useful fix if you’ve recently changed settings that aren’t being applied properly.
Here are step-by-step guides on how to clear your cache on your iPhone based on the browser you use.
How to clear your iPhone cache in Safari
Safari is the default browser on iPhones, and you can clear your Safari cache in a few short steps. Starting with iOS 11, following this process will affect all devices signed in to your iCloud account. As a result, all your devices’ caches will be cleared, and you’ll need to sign in to everything the next time you use them. Here’s what to do.
1.Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Select Safari from the list of apps.
3. Go to Clear History and Website Data.
4. Choose Clear History and Data in the pop-up box.
Chrome is another popular browser for iPhone users. The overall process for clearing your Chrome cache requires a few more steps, and you’ll need to do things through the Chrome browser itself. Here’s how.
1. Open the Chrome app.
2. Select the three dots in the bottom right to open more options.
3. Scroll across the top and select Settings.
4. Select Privacy and Security in the next menu.
5. Then select Clear Browsing Data to open up one last menu.
6. Select the intended time range at the top of the menu (anywhere from Last Hour to All Time).
7.Make sure that Cookies, Site Data is selected, along with Cached Images and Files. Finally, hit Clear Browsing Data at the bottom of the screen.
If you’re a Firefox devotee, don’t worry. Clearing the cache on your iPhone is pretty straightforward. Just follow these steps.
1. Click the hamburger menu in the bottom right corner to open up options.
2. Choose Settings at the bottom of the menu.
3. Select Data Management in the Privacy section.
4. You can select Website Data to clear data for individual sites, or select Clear Private Data at the bottom of the screen to clear data from all selected fields.
Clearing your cache removes the website data your phone stored locally to prevent having to download that data upon each new visit. The data in your cache builds over time and can end up slowing things down if it becomes too bulky or out of date. (My phone had about 150MB of data stored in Chrome when I checked.) Clearing that data gives sites a fresh start, which may fix some loading errors and speed up your browser. However, clearing your cache also signs you out of pages, so be prepared to sign in to everything again.
How often do I need to clear my cache?
Most people only need to clear their caches once every month or two. That’s generally the point when your browser will build up a cache large enough to start slowing things down. If you frequent a large number of sites, you should err on the side of clearing your cache more often.
This story is part of 12 Days of Tips, helping you make the most of your tech, home and health during the holiday season.
If Netflix’s looming account-sharing fees are on your mind, you may be thinking about cramming in a few binge sessions ahead of the big change. But before you kick off your next streaming marathon, remember that scrolling through the same list of Netflix’s TV show and movie recommendations aren’t the best ways to find something new to watch. They’re also not great to find other niche genres you might be interested in.
But there’s a secret trick for filtering Netflix’s library by genre to find exactly what you’re browsing for: Netflix codes. Instead of passively accepting the algorithm’s picks, learn how to use Netflix codes to find your own next binge-watch.
Netflix codes are based on a number system that corresponds to a different genre or subgenre, which the algorithm uses to categorize and serve up recommendations. For example, instead of scrolling through Horror, you can search Small Town Scares (81496215) for more specific results.
So far, Netflix has about 36,000 codes. Note that codes can only be used on Netflix’s website and not in its apps.
This is what you’ll see when you visit the Netflix codes website.
Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET
Where do I find Netflix’s secret menu?
Check out netflix-codes.com for a full list. There are about 20 categories like anime, foreign movies and classic movies. Those categories are broken down into more specific subgenres. For example, horror movies — coded 8711 — houses 12 more codes like deep-sea horror movies, zombie horror movies, teen screams and more.
The easiest way is by installing the Better Browse for Netflix extension for Chrome. Here’s how:
1. Go to the Chrome Web Store and search “Better Browse for Netflix.” 2. Click Add to Chrome. 3. Click Add Extension. 4. Log into your Netflix account in a new tab.
At the top of the Netflix home screen, you should see a new option — Browse All — next to My List. Click that to search manually or scroll through the subgenres available.
Use the code 5475 and you’ll unlock a trove of romantic comedies on Netflix.
Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET
Another way is through the Netflix codes website. Here’s how:
1. Visit netflix-codes.com in your PC or mobile browser. 2. Find the genre or subgenre you want to explore. 3. Tap the code next to the genre or subgenre you want. 4. If you’re on a device that has the Netflix app installed, the app should open and take you directly to the genre or subgenre you chose. If you don’t have the app installed, it’ll open Netflix through the browser and you can view the specific movies and shows available. 5. Tap thetitle you want to watch.
You can also use the Netflix codes manually in your browser. Here’s how:
1. Visit netflix-codes.com in your PC or mobile browser. 2. Find the genre or subgenre you want to explore. 3. In another tab, type in <http://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/INSERTNUMBER>, but replace INSERTNUMBER with the specific genre or subgenre code. 4. You’ll be taken to Netflix to peruse the titles available in that section.
From there, you can either make a mental note of the movie you want to watch and go back to the app on your preferred device, or log in to watch in your browser.
This story is part of Samsung Event, CNET’s collection of news, tips and advice around Samsung’s most popular products.
Adobe and Samsung have banded together to ease the difficulties of advanced smartphone photography on Samsung’s new Galaxy S23, S23 Plus and S23 Ultra phones. The smartphones will exclusively use Adobe’s Lightroom software to handle the raw-format photos that pros and enthusiasts prefer.
Most of us are fine with plain old JPEG and HEIC, the formats that phones use to store photos. But raw photos, stored in the Digital Negative format, DNG, that Adobe invented, offer higher image quality and more editing flexibility when you want to fiddle with exposure, color balance, sharpening and other factors.
The problem is that raw files also are a pain to handle, which is why the Samsung-Adobe partnership — revealed exclusively to CNET — is notable. Once you take a photo using Samsung’s Expert Raw camera app, you can open them directly in Lightroom with one tap, the companies said.
Although Lightroom won’t be preinstalled on the phones, a prompt will encourage people to install it, after which Lightroom will be the default raw photo editor, Adobe photography marketing chief Stephen Baloglu said. The phone version of Lightroom can be used for free, but a $10 per month subscription opens up some premium features and synchronizes photos with laptops. The Samsung phones will come with a two-month free Lightroom trial.
Smoothing the bumps is important to unlocking that power. When shooting raw, there are plenty of difficulties. For example, even though Google helped pioneer the technology by adding DNG format support to Android years ago, the Google Photos app warns you of “limited raw support” if you try to edit.
Adobe’s mobile version of Lightroom offers advanced features, including, left to right, color grading to fine-tune colors; the ability to rough out items you’d like removed from a photo; and AI-based selection tools to make it easier to edit subjects of a photo while leaving the background unchanged.
Adobe
Lightroom can correct optical problems like distortion with specific lenses, and Adobe worked with Samsung to offer lens corrections for all the front and back Galaxy S23 lenses, Baloglu said. Adobe has done that in the past with earlier Samsung phones, too, as well as iPhones and other smartphones.
Adobe’s Lightroom is geared in particular for raw photos. On traditional high-end cameras like DSLRs and mirrorless models, that means capturing the data straight from the image sensor without all the processing that’s required to “bake” it into a compact, easily shared JPEG.
On phones, though, image sensors are smaller and image quality isn’t as good. Smartphones compensate with computational photography techniques that merge multiple frames into one photo. That can dramatically improve a photo’s dynamic range — the span of bright and dark elements in a scene — to boost image quality.
Newer phones from Google, Apple, Samsung and others come with computational raw technology that performs some of this processing but that produces a DNG. That balances the flexibility of raw photos with the power of computational photography.
One of the new tricks on Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra is using AI technology to reconstruct fine details in photos taken at the full 200 megapixel resolution. That’s necessary because the phone’s Isocell HP2 sensor uses pixel binning technology that groups pixels into 4×4 groupings that only capture only a single color each. The 16-pixel groups are good for low-light photos but complicate matters at high resolution.
“We’re excited to see the continuous innovation from Samsung to deliver impressive photography experiences,” Baloglu said.
Because Lightroom synchronizes photos, Samsung S23 phone owners can get their raw shots on Samsung’s new Galaxy Book 3 Ultra and Pro laptops — or for that matter, on any Mac or Windows PC. On the new Samsung PCs, though, Lightroom will come with a two-month free Lightroom subscription offer.
Google has begun testing an AI chatbot called Apprentice Bard that’s similar to ChatGPT, an online service that in many ways is more useful than Google search, CNBC reported this week.
ChatGPT uses artificial intelligence technology called a large language model, trained on vast swaths of data on the internet. That type of AI model uses a mechanism called a transformer, which Google pioneered. ChatGPT’s success in everything from writing software, passing exams and offering advice, in the style of the King James Bible, on removing a sandwich from a VCR has propelled it into the tech spotlight, even though its results can be misleading or wrong.
Google’s Apprentice Bard tool is similar to ChatGPT, but the company also is testing a question-and-answer format for Google search results, CNBC said. Google Research leader Jeff Dean told employees in a 2022 meeting that Google is being more conservative with its approach to avoid “reputational risk” of AI that offers bad responses.
Google didn’t comment on the specifics of the report, but spokesperson Lily Lin said in a statement, “We have long been focused on developing and deploying AI to improve people’s lives … We continue to test our AI technology internally to make sure it’s helpful and safe, and we look forward to sharing more experiences externally soon.”
AI technology already is all around us, helping in everything from flagging credit card fraud to translating our speech into text messages. The ChatGPT technology has elevated expectations, though, so it’s clear the technology will become more important in our lives one way or another as we rely on digital assistants and online tools.
Google AI subsidiary DeepMind also is involved. Chief Executive Demis Hassabis told Time that his company is considering a 2023 private beta test of an AI chatbot called Sparrow.
Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to create some personal finance explainers that are edited and fact-checked by our editors. For more, see this post.
Overwatch 2 season 3 is expected to start on Tuesday, Feb. 7, and it’s bringing several changes to matchmaking, battle passes and in-game currency, among other features. The changes sound great, and I don’t want to downplay them. But I also don’t want to bury arguably bigger news: The game is also adding a new map called Antarctic Peninsula, and that new map has penguins in the environment.
Antarctic Peninsula will be the game’s first new control (sometimes called king-of-the-hill, or KOTH) map since Busan was released in September 2018. In fact, it’s only the second control map the game has added since launch. As with all maps of this type, it’ll include three submaps: an icebreaker ship, a mining sublevel, and the laboratory where Overwatch hero Mei and her colleagues worked. In some ways, it’s an expansion of the Ecopoint: Antarctica arcade map.
Overwatch devs said the new map features more natural terrain than the average map.
Blizzard
Season 3 is shaping up to be a pivotal season for Overwatch 2, which is closing out its third month post-release. We won’t get a new hero this season, but the developers are making changes to the game’s matchmaking to address player complaints that games are neither balanced nor particularly fun. The changes, detailed in a developer blog, aim to balance teams more evenly by role. The requirements for competitive updates — when you get your updated rank — will also be lowered from seven wins/20 losses to five wins/15 losses. These updates should be significant improvements in regard to some of the community’s biggest pain points.
No penguin sightings as yet, but there’s plenty to cover in this map.
Blizzard
But I want to go back to the penguins. I can’t truly say they’re a better or more exciting addition than the other changes. Matchmaking really needed some adjustments. But it’s a fun little detail that’s in line with the bright future Overwatch attempts to inhabit. (We asked if you can interact with the penguins. You can. We asked if you can shoot at the penguins. You can. One person asked if you can kill the penguins. Thankfully, you can’t.)
And the penguins aren’t the only fun detail players will find in the map. In media interviews, the developers talked about updating their shaders so you could leave footprints behind and draw in the snow. And Lead Narrative Designer Gavin Jurgens-Fyhrie hinted that the new map may also answer long-standing questions like, “Why didn’t Overwatch rescue Mei and her team?” and also hint at other pieces of lore.
Blizzard is expected to release more information about season 3 ahead of its start next week.
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) wrote a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai Thursday, calling for the removal of TikTok from both Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store.
“TikTok collects vast and sophisticated data from its users, including faceprints and voiceprints,” Bennet wrote. “Unlike most social media platforms, TikTok poses a unique concern because Chinese law obligates ByteDance, its Beijing-based parent company, to ‘support, assist, and cooperate with state intelligence work.’”
The social media app has faced growing concerns from US lawmakers over security concerns. The FBI has called the app a national security threat, and the Biden administration reportedly pushed for the app’s owners to sell its US operations.
“Given these grave and growing concerns, I ask that you remove TikTok from your respective app stores immediately,” Bennet wrote.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has agreed to testify before a House of Representatives committee in March. A TikTok spokesperson previously told CNET the company welcomes the chance to “set the record straight about TikTok, ByteDance, and the commitments we are making to address concerns about U.S. national security.”
If you’re into classic smartphones, you might be able to buy a sealed first-generation iPhone — if you have the cash. LCG Auctions has a sealed 8GB iPhone on the auction block now.
“One of the most important and ubiquitous inventions of our lifetime,” the item description reads. “A truly remarkable piece with great appeal to both collectors and investors alike.”
The starting bid for this iPhone was $2,500, and bidding ends Feb. 19. Another sealed first-generation iPhone was sold in October, 2022, for $39,339.60.
The original iPhone launched almost 16 years ago, on June 27, 2007, at a price of $599.
Google has begun testing an AI chatbot called Apprentice Bard that’s similar to ChatGPT, an online service that in many ways is more useful than Google search, CNBC reported this week.
ChatGPT uses artificial intelligence technology called a large language model, trained on vast swaths of data on the internet. That type of AI model uses a mechanism called a transformer, which Google pioneered. ChatGPT’s success in everything from writing software, passing exams and offering advice, in the style of the King James Bible, on removing a sandwich from a VCR has propelled it into the tech spotlight, even though its results can be misleading or wrong.
Google’s Apprentice Bard tool is similar to ChatGPT, but the company also is testing a question-and-answer format for Google search results, CNBC said. Google Research leader Jeff Dean told employees in a 2022 meeting that Google is being more conservative with its approach to avoid “reputational risk” of AI that offers bad responses.
Google didn’t comment on the specifics of the report, but spokesperson Lily Lin said in a statement, “We have long been focused on developing and deploying AI to improve people’s lives … We continue to test our AI technology internally to make sure it’s helpful and safe, and we look forward to sharing more experiences externally soon.”
AI technology already is all around us, helping in everything from flagging credit card fraud to translating our speech into text messages. The ChatGPT technology has elevated expectations, though, so it’s clear the technology will become more important in our lives one way or another as we rely on digital assistants and online tools.
Google AI subsidiary DeepMind also is involved. Chief Executive Demis Hassabis told Time that his company is considering a 2023 private beta test of an AI chatbot called Sparrow.
Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to create some personal finance explainers that are edited and fact-checked by our editors. For more, see this post.
