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Can Invisible Lasers Help Bridge the Digital Divide? I Toured This Futuristic Cell Tower to Find Out

CNET News - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 18:00
I traveled to remote Washington to witness Taara, a futuristic technology using light beams to deliver high-speed internet where fiber can't reach.
Categories: Technology

This impossibly cool turntable uses a removable disc instead of any visible controls – it's a weird minimalist dream

TechRadar News - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 18:00
  • The Luphonic H2 has no buttons or switches: controlled with a puck
  • Three-layer chassis to eliminate vibration
  • Unusual shape and even more unusual materials

Many turntables claim to have minimalist design, but how minimalist are they really if they have buttons and even switches? Luphonic's H2 turntable has no need for such fripperies, because it's powered by magic.

Well, not magic. But it looks a bit like magic, because to operate the turntable you simply place a small circular puck onto a subtle marker on the turntable.

If you place the puck on the marker with its dark side up, it'll start the turntable at 33 RPM. Place it dark side down and it'll play at 45. Take it off and the turntable stops.

Lose the puck under the couch and you'll become awfully familiar with The Sound of Silence until a replacement arrives.

(Image credit: Luphonic)Luphonic H2 turntable: key features and prcing

The H2 is made from a three-layer chassis shaped like a wide letter H, with a vibration-damping rubber layer sandwiched between two Corian layers – a material often used in kitchen work surfaces and made from a mix of natural materials and acrylic resin. Here it's used as part of the vibration damping setup and it's also used for the platter.

Speaking to HiFi Plus, creator Thomas Luh explained that he chose Corian because of its high density and low resonance, and for its highly polishable surface.

(Image credit: Luphonic)

The H2 is belt driven by a microprocessor-controlled synchronous motor, and it drives a Corian platter atop an aluminum sub-platter and a steel spindle on a ceramic ball bearing. The chassis sits on four thermoplastic feet.

The H2 comes with Luphonic's own K2 tonearm, featuring a carbon-composite arm and a digitally printed headshell with straightforward height, azimuth and anti-skate adjustment.

The Luphonic H2 has a recommended retail price of £3,950 / $4,995 (about AU$8,205) and you can find out more at Luphonic.de.

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Categories: Technology

The LG Ultragear GX9 Gaming Monitor engulfed me with its ultrawide, immersive OLED screen, and I don't want to give it back

TechRadar Reviews - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 17:50
LG Ultragear GX9: Two-minute review

The LG Ultragear GX9 is an impressive, immersive gaming monitor that’s ideal for a relatively small subset of gamers. Let's get a couple of things out the way early though: first, it’s not cheap, so any gamer on a budget will probably want to look elsewhere; and as awesome as a 45-inch (well, technically 44.5-inch) ultrawide screen is, some might find it too wide for practicality’s sake.

After all, it can be tough to focus on the action in the center of the screen and also keep tabs on your health bar in the top-left corner when you have to move your gaze over 20 inches to check on it. This also means it's not ideal for esports gamers, despite the impressive refresh rate and response time.

However, those are issues endemic to this ultrawide form factor and not necessarily a knock on the LG Ultragear GX9. All the best gaming monitors with an ultrawide screen are on the pricier side, and too wide to rely on peripheral vision to catch important information.

For those who have the money and aren’t playing esports (or still want that wrap-around experience), that wide display and 800R curvature, along with the 4K resolution, good color coverage, and speedy refresh rates and response times, make this monitor a delight to use with most games.

Cyberpunk 2077 or Monster Hunter Wilds, for example, look gorgeous and completely envelop my vision during gaming sessions. Of course, it helps that the built-in speakers sound pretty decent as well.

There are a few other pluses as well, such as all the necessary ports (minus a USB hub with KVM support), including a USB-C port with power delivery, and good ergonomics for such a wide monitor. This is a hearty recommendation as the best monitor for the right gamer.

LG Ultragear GX9: Price & availability

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)
  • How much does it cost? $1,999.99 / £1,799.98 / AU$3,499.00
  • When is it available? Available now
  • Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

When you look at the best ultrawide monitors, the price of the LG Ultragear GX9 doesn’t seem out of place, though it’s still expensive. You can get a nice gaming laptop with an OLED panel or a powerful gaming desktop for the LG Ultragear GX9’s $1,999.99 / £1,799.98 / AU$3,499.00 asking price.

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G9, which originally went for $2,199.99 / £1,599 / AU$3,399 and is now $400 cheaper, is a good comparison. It is a little bit older, hence the price drop, but it’s got a great OLED screen with sharp resolution, fast refresh rates/response times reaching up to 240Hz, and good color coverage. It’s also bigger than the Ultragear GX9 at 49 inches across.

However, like most ultrawide monitors, it peaks at a 5,120 x 1,440p resolution compared to the LG Ultragear GX9’s 5K2K or 5120 x 2160p resolution.

  • Value: 4 / 5
LG Ultragear GX9: Specs

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Screen size:

44.5-inch

Aspect ratio:

21:9

Resolution:

5120 x 2160

Brightness:

275 nits

Response time:

0.03ms (GTG)

Viewing angle:

178˚/178˚

Contrast ratio:

1,500,000:1

Color support:

98.5% sRGB

Inputs:

1x DP 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x USB-C (90W), 2x USB-A downstream

Weight:

30.9 lbs (14 kg)

LG Ultragear GX9: Design

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)
  • The monitor is massive
  • Decent, if limited, ergonomics
  • Plenty of ports, including USB-C

The LG Ultragear GX9 is a massive gaming monitor. Its 44.5-inch monitor (measured corner-to-corner diagonally) results in a length of 39 inches and a height of 18 inches, not including the stand. This can be an overwhelming monitor to use.

Of course, it has a nice 800R curvature, which brings the far ends of the screen in so that, experientially, its outer reaches fill out the peripheral vision.

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

It’s big enough that I have to dart my eyes to the edges to read specific information, like a health bar, which makes the size and curvature great for immersive experiences but not for esports-type gaming (I’ll get into the actual performance aspect below).

Since the monitor is so big, it does have somewhat limited ergonomics. While no specifics are listed, its biggest possible adjustments are a height adjustment of about 5 inches. If I had to guess, it swivels and tilts about 15 degrees in each direction. It’s not a lot, but more than enough for this kind of monitor.

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Since this is such a big monitor, it has a large, strong, and stable stand with a wide base. There is cable management, though it’s basic, with a passthrough hole in the middle of the stand so all the cables go in one direction out the back and towards whatever they’re connected to.

Speaking of ports, the selection is pretty good. There are two HDMI 2.1 ports, so you could use this with a next-gen console or gaming computer, a single 1.4 DisplayPort, and one USB-C with 90 watts of power delivery for use with Ultrabooks, MacBooks, and the like.

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

There are also two USB-A downstream ports for charging peripherals. Unfortunately, there's no KVM capability via those USB ports.

Lastly, there’s a single button in the center of the lower back for power and navigating the OSD menu.

  • Design: 4.5 / 5
LG Ultragear GX9: Features

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)
  • Game modes in OSD menu
  • Supports variable refresh rates
  • Has picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture, but no KVM

The monitor has a couple of cool features baked into the OSD menu worth knowing about beyond the usual, such as HDR and curvature. For instance, there’s a Game Mode icon in the OSD that brings up four presets with settings such as color temperatures, refresh rate max, and whether VRR, HDR, and DAS Mode (Dynamic Action Sync to minimize lag) are on.

Beyond the different modes, you can change the aspect ratio in the OSD menu to a narrower image for when you need all your gaming info in front of you, offsetting the potential esports-related issue I’ve mentioned with using such a large screen.

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Not only is there support for HDR, but the LG Ultragear GX9 also comes with support for VRR (variable refresh rate), which synchronizes the frame rates of the monitor with the source to minimize screen tearing, stuttering, and the like.

Picture-by-picture and picture-in-picture are both available as well if you want to use two sources at the same time. Unfortunately, as I’ve previously mentioned, there’s no KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) system where you can use a keyboard and mouse plugged into the monitor to control whichever source you have pulled up.

  • Features: 4.5 / 5
LG Ultragear GX9: Performance

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)
  • Can handle any game, though some are not ideal for the aspect ratio
  • Very good contrast and colors, along with a 5K2K resolution
  • Good but not great audio

I've played a number of games on the LG Ultragear GX9, namely Monster Hunter Wilds, South of Midnight, Baldur’s Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, and Gotham Knights, and found the monitor to be everything it's advertised to be.

Really, the only limitation is when loading up a game that doesn’t support the ultrawide resolution, such as South of Midnight – this just means there are black bars on the sides instead of the game stretching edge to edge – or when a game isn't ideal for that ultrawide resolution.

However, as mentioned before, you can change the aspect ratio. If you don’t change it, and then open up something fast-paced where you need to keep an eye on that health bar, you’re going to be in trouble.

The OLED screen and HDR support provide very good contrast – specifically DisplayHDR TRUE BLACK 400 – enabling me to see in the shadows in certain games. And the colors look more vibrant because of it. It also helps that the LG Ultragear GX9 has a rated 1500000:1 contrast ratio and 98.5% DCI-P3 color coverage.

Between the 165Hz refresh rate, 0.03ms response time, and VRR support, the action is smooth no matter how fast. And the 5K2K resolution (5120 x 2160p) is sharper than most of the competition, as most ultrawide monitors I’ve come across use a 5120 x 1440p resolution.

Since this monitor is so large, I appreciate the fact that it comes with built-in speakers. And while they’re not as good as the best computer speakers, discounting the budget options, they sound pretty decent. You don’t get any real low-end or rumble, but the sound is full and packs a good punch otherwise.

  • Performance: 4.5 / 5
Should I buy the LG Ultragear GX9?LG Ultragear GX9 scorecard

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

The LG Ultragear GX9 is very pricey. However, considering what it is and what it does, the price is more than justified.

4 / 5

Design

Yes, it’s massive, but it has decent if limited ergonomics and a good selection of ports.

4.5 / 5

Features

Variable refresh rates, picture by / in picture, and more make this fairly feature-rich, even if it doesn’t have KVM.

4.5 / 5

Performance

It’s gorgeous, immersive (sometimes a little too much), and has great contrast and colors.

4.5 / 5

Average rating

The good news is that it’s massive. The bad news is that it’s massive. Either way, you have to decide if it’s worth the price.

4.38 / 5

Buy the LG Ultragear GX9 if…

You want an immersive gaming experience
The LG Ultragear GX9 is so massive that it will cover your peripheral vision, transporting you into any game that can take advantage of the ultrawide screen real estate.

You want a great-looking screen
Not only is it OLED, but it has great contrast, helped by the HDR, as well as strong color coverage. Last but not least, it has 5K2K resolution – a higher resolution than what I usually see in the ultrawide monitor space.

You want a gaming monitor with USB-C
There are a lot of good gaming monitors out there. However, USB-C with power delivery is still not standard. So, if you need that to plug in a MacBook when not gaming, it's available here.

Don’t buy it if…

You’re turned off by the price
Whether it’s out of your budget or dropping 2K on a gaming monitor puts a pit in your stomach, there are much cheaper gaming monitors that still offer a good gaming experience.

You don’t want to be overwhelmed
Even if the price doesn’t make you flinch, the sheer size of the monitor could be overwhelming for some, especially if you like playing esports and want a screen where you can see it all without having to constantly move your eyes.

Also Consider

If my LG Ultragear GX9 review has you considering other options, here are two more monitors to consider...

Samsung Odyssey OLED G9
The Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 is a little older, so its price is now much lower than the LG Ultragear GX9 while offering an even wider 49-inch size. The resolution is lower at 5120 x 1440p, but it has a lot of the same features, including the same level of HDR.

Read our full Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 review

MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED
The MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED might be a mouthful to say, but it’s a great ultrawide monitor. Again, it has that lower ultrawide 1440p resolution, but also an almost-as-fast 144Hz refresh rate, and the same HDR and color coverage, plus it goes for about half the price.

Read our full MSI MPG 491CQP QD-OLED review

How I tested the LG Ultragear GX9
  • Used regularly for a couple of weeks
  • Tested with various games and media
  • Tried out all the features

I used the LG Ultragear GX9 Gaming Monitor regularly for a couple of weeks. I tested it with various games and media, especially Monster Hunter Wilds, South of Midnight, Baldur’s Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, and Gotham Knights, to see how it would fare. I also played around with the OSD menu, features, and ergonomics.

The LG Ultragear GX9 Gaming Monitor is clearly meant for gamers who want an immersive experience, specifically those who like their games to feel more cinematic, and it does that job well. Of course, it comes with a price tag to match.

I’ve tested a lot of tech gear over the years, from laptops to keyboards and speakers, so I can use my expertise towards giving an honest and fair opinion, not to mention a critical eye, to any product I test.

  • First reviewed August 2025
Categories: Reviews

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i has just about everything you'd want in a Windows laptop, but falls short of perfection

TechRadar Reviews - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 17:50
Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i: Two-minute review

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i may face some stiff competition from the usual excellent offerings from Apple, Dell, and the like, but it’s more than up to the challenge. In fact, I believe it deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the best Ultrabooks of this generation.

It’s very slim and portable, helped by the fact that the webcam is hidden under the display in a unique and space-saving measure. And its performance is snappy and responsive, comparing well to the best laptops of this type (don’t expect it to match the power of a gaming laptop, of course). Just as important, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i is a gorgeous-looking laptop with an equally gorgeous-looking OLED display.

Really, there are only two drawbacks. The first is price. It’s not anywhere near a budget offering, though that's to be expected of this type of laptop, not to mention that an OLED display always brings a price bump.

The other issue is a little more concerning. The port selection is worse than on an Apple MacBook Air, which is saying something, as that’s already very minimal. More specifically, there’s no audio jack, so hopefully, you have a good pair of Bluetooth earbuds on hand.

However, that’s a pretty short list of things to be concerned about, and one of them (price) is to be expected with a nice Ultrabook. All in all, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i is a wonderful laptop that will make a solid upgrade for anyone looking for an attractive, portable, and powerful Ultrabook.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i: Price & availability

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)
  • How much does it cost? Starting at $1,759.99 / £1,800.00 / AU$3,829.00
  • When is it available? Available now
  • Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

The 10th-generation model of the Yoga Slim 9i comes in two configurations, with both available in the US, UK, and Australia. And both configurations are very similar.

The more basic configuration goes for $1,759.99 / £1,800 / AU$3,829 and comes with an Intel Core Ultra 7 256V CPU and 16GB of RAM. The more robust configuration with Intel Core Ultra 7 258V and 32GB of RAM costs a nominally higher price tag of $1,899.99 / £1,900 / AU$4,179. There’s very little difference in performance between the CPUs – it’s just that the 258v supports 32GB of RAM. Essentially, the price difference comes down to whether you want 16 or 32GB of RAM. Everything else is the same, from the color options to the screen and the storage capacity.

The Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4) makes for an easy comparison. Not just because they have a similar-sized screen, though the Yoga Slim 9i has better resolution, but because they have similar price points. This 14-incher from Apple starts at $1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,499, but that gets you a 512GB SSD. If you want the same amount of storage (1TB), the price goes up to $1,799 / £1,999 / AU$3,299, which is a little more than the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i. Of course, you’ll probably gravitate towards one over the other, mostly depending on whether you want macOS or Windows.

The Dell XPS 13 offers an interesting comparison, too. It comes in at a similar price – $1,999.99 / £2,049 / AU$3,998.50 – if you opt for a touchscreen like the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i has, but the screen is smaller. And while the Dell XPS 13 does have an OLED display, it’s at a lower, though still pretty good, 2880 x 1800p resolution. Both laptops have limited ports, but both have plenty of power.

However, the Dell XPS 13 has an interesting design with its edgeless keyboard (meaning it stretches edge to edge) and a touchpad that just uses haptic feedback and doesn’t have a defined physical boundary. This is one of those love-it-or-hate-it design choices and will probably be a deciding factor for most.

  • Price: 4 / 5
Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i: Specs

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Of the two available configurations, there’s very little difference. You basically get to choose between two almost identical CPUs, the Intel Core Ultra 7 256V and the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, which is about 0.5% better.

However, if you select the ever-so-slightly better CPU, you get 32GB of RAM instead of 16GB, since that CPU supports the higher amount of RAM.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i Specs

Base configuration

Review / Max configuration

Price:

$1,819.99 at Lenovo.com / £1,830 at Lenovo.com / AU$3,849 at Lenovo.com

$1,979.99 at Lenovo.com / £1,900.00 at Lenovo.com / AU$3,909.76 at Lenovo.com

CPU:

Intel Core Ultra 7 256V

Intel Core Ultra 7 258V

Graphics:

Intel graphics

Intel Arc graphics

RAM:

16GB LPDDR5X

32GB LPDDR5X

Screen:

14" WQUXGA (3840 x 2400), OLED, Glare, Touch, HDR 600 True Black, 100%DCI-P3, 400 nits, 120Hz, Glass, Camera Under Display

14" WQUXGA (3840 x 2400), OLED, Glare, Touch, HDR 600 True Black, 100%DCI-P3, 400 nits, 120Hz, Glass, Camera Under Display

Storage:

1TB SSD

1TB SSD

Ports:

2x USB-C Thunderbolt 4

2x USB-C Thunderbolt 4

Wireless:

Wi-Fi 7 2x2 BE 320MHz & Bluetooth 5.4

Wi-Fi 7 2x2 BE 320MHz & Bluetooth 5.4

Camera:

32MP camera-under-display with e-privacy shutter

32MP camera-under-display with e-privacy shutter

Weight:

Starting at 1.25kg / 2.76lbs

Starting at 1.25kg / 2.76lbs

Dimensions:

312.93mm x 203.5mm x as thin as 14.55mm / 12.32 x 8.01 x as thin as 0.57 inches

312.93mm x 203.5mm x as thin as 14.55mm / 12.32 x 8.01 x as thin as 0.57 inches

Outside of the internal upgrades to CPU and RAM, there are no other upgrades. Both configurations come in one color, Tidal Teal, which is admittedly beautiful.

And there’s just the one display available. Thankfully, it’s also very nice with high-resolution and responsive touchscreen capabilities.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i: Design

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)
  • Attractive and slim
  • Gorgeous and impressive display
  • Limited ports, including a lack of an audio jack

Available in Tidal Teal, a shimmery blue with hints of green, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i is a beautiful laptop even before opening it up. It’s slim and light, even for a laptop of this size, and is about as portable as it gets.

In terms of form factor, the one unusual thing I noticed is that there is a raised bar near the top of the lid. This houses the 32-megapixel webcam that’s hidden under the display and pops up near the top-middle of the screen when in use. Though there’s no physical shutter for the webcam, it does have an effective e-privacy toggle next to the right USB-C port.

Image 1 of 2

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

It’s also worth noting that, despite having a touchscreen, this is not a 2-in-1, so don’t expect to be able to fold it to use as a tablet. That said, the touchscreen is very responsive and very sensitive, enough so that I’ve accidentally closed my browser multiple times when lightly touching the corner of the screen without thinking.

The screen is pretty remarkable beyond its touch capabilities. This 14-inch OLED panel has a 4K or 3840 x 2400 resolution (that’s a 16:10 aspect ratio) with a 120Hz refresh rate, along with 100% sRGB and DCI-P3 color coverage, which is ideal for photo editing. It also has a Vesa Certified DisplayHDR True Black 600 rating. It even supports Dolby Vision. You get the idea – the display is pretty spectacular.

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

The keyboard is a bit shallow, so it's not the most comfortable one I’ve used, but that’s to be expected with a laptop this slim. It’s otherwise accurate and responsive, and I had no trouble pounding out a couple of articles on it.

The touchpad is just as snappy and accurate. While a lot of newer laptops seem to increase the size of the touchpad, that’s not the case here. If you want a really big touchpad, you’re not going to get it here.

Finally, the port selection is very, very minimal. There are just two USB-C ports, one on each side. They’re both Thunderbolt 4, so there’s plenty of throughput if you want to use a dongle. Still, it’s very limited. What I’m most upset about is the fact that Lenovo has done away with any kind of audio jack. As ubiquitous as wireless earbuds are, some of us still use wired headphones from time to time.

  • Design: 4.5 / 5
Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i: Performance

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)
  • Snappy, responsive performance
  • Copilot+
  • Great audio quality with spatial audio

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i is quite powerful. It can handle day-to-day work easily. Opening, scrolling, clicking links, typing, photo editing: all the sorts of things most people want from an Ultrabook. For example, I was able to open 20 browser windows very quickly, just by pressing the Plus sign in Microsoft Edge.

Each window, which opens the MSN homepage filled with different news stories and information, loaded up almost immediately. Of course, I reviewed the 32GB configuration, but the CPU and RAM still do quite a bit of heavy lifting.

Even the camera behind the screen pops up promptly. Speaking of which, the webcam performs smoothly and looks good, though it does struggle with noise in low light.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i CPU / System Benchmarks

Benchmark

Score

Geekbench 6.4 Single Core

2,755

Geekbench 6.4 Single Core

11,186

Crossmark Overall

1,689

Crossmark Productivity

1,638

Crossmark Creativity

1,934

Crossmark Responsiveness

1,234

25GB File Copy Transfer Rate (MB/s)

1,032.87

Now, it’s not a gaming laptop, but I was able to run some less demanding or older games without any trouble, like Sable and Alan Wake. For those games, the action was crisp, clear, and smooth. That gorgeous OLED screen really helps. Still, there were some games I tried to run that wouldn’t even open.

As this is a newer laptop, it comes with Copilot+. Using the app is quick and responsive, though I still don’t find it to be a game-changer in my computing experience.

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i GPU / Gaming Benchmarks

Benchmark

Score

3DMark Fire Strike

9,107

3DMark Time Spy

4,436

3DMark Speed Way

6,094

3DMark Steel Nomad

823

3DMark Night Raid

35,326

Borderlands 3 (Badass, 1080p)

27fps

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Highest, 1080p)

46fps

Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (Max impact, 1080p)

67fps

Total War: Warhammer III (Ultra, 1080p)

37fps

I’ve rarely been impressed by the audio from a laptop. I was when I reviewed the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i, and I am here. That’s probably because there are more than two speakers in the Lenovo Yoga Slom 9i. Specifically, there are two 2-watt tweeters and two 3-watt woofers. There’s also some virtual spatial audio since the laptop supports Dolby Atmos.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i: Battery life

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)
  • Decent if disappointing battery life
  • Doesn’t seem to do fast charging

Laptops with OLED displays aren’t always the most efficient, so the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i’s just under 10 hours of battery life in the PCMark 10 Battery benchmark is not surprising, though it is a bit disappointing. It did manage a better showing in our Web Surfing test, where it managed to get just over 11 hours of battery life.

While not the best results we've seen, this isn't terrible battery life. However, we’re seeing a few laptops, particularly ones that this one competes with, hitting up to double those numbers. To be fair, I turned off the laptop’s battery-saver feature, which makes the laptop run more efficiently when the battery is low, so you might manage to squeeze more juice from the battery depending on the settings.

On the bright side, it was very good at maintaining battery life when the lid was closed. I’ve used and tested some laptops where the battery would continue to run down when idling, and that’s not an issue here.

  • Battery life: 3 / 5
Should you buy the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i?Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i scorecard

Category

Notes

Rating

Value

While pricey, this laptop is thin, powerful, and comes with a wonderful OLED screen.

4 / 5

Design

It’s not only thin and light, but it is gorgeous. Too bad it lacks an audio jack and only comes with two USB-C ports.

4.5 / 5

Performance

The performance (and audio quality) is excellent, especially for productivity work.

4.5 / 5

Battery Life

The battery life is decent, but compared to the competition is lower than expected.

4 / 5

Final score

It’s gorgeous, light, and comes with robust performance. Plus, it has that OLED screen.

4.25 / 5

Buy the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i if...

You want a thin, light laptop
At under three pounds (and with a 14-inch screen), this laptop is about as portable as it gets.

You want a gorgeous screen
Not only is the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i a looker, but it comes with a high-resolution OLED display that might be the centerpiece.

You want responsive performance
This might not be a gaming laptop, but its performance is snappy and responsive, exactly what one needs for most productivity work.

Don't buy it if...

You want more ports
Only two USB-C Thunderbolt ports are limiting enough. The fact that there’s no audio jack is pretty disappointing.

You have limited funds
While worth the cost, this is not a cheap machine. If you’re limited on funds, there are some great laptops out there without an OLED screen that are probably within reach.

Also consider

If my Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i review has you considering other options, here are two laptops to consider...

Dell XPS 13
Between the long-lasting battery life, strong performance, and gorgeous OLED screen, the Intel Core Ultra 2nd Gen version of the Dell XPS 13 is the ideal Ultrabook. That is, if you’re game for an innovative design change that some will love and others not so much – essentially a haptic-only touch bar and touchpad.

Read our full Dell XPS 13 review

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4)
The Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4) may not have WiFi 7 or any major physical design upgrades, but it’s an almost perfect laptop otherwise. It has powerful and incredibly efficient performance (meaning it also has a very long battery life) and comes with some unique features such as the centerstage camera and optional nano-texture screen.

Read our full Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4) review

How I tested the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i
  • Tested for a month
  • Used it for work, gaming, and streaming
  • Tested its various features

I used the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i for a month, testing it for work, including this review (along with the requisite online research). I used it to stream video. I even did some light gaming. I played with the webcam, the audio, and the AI features as well.

After spending time with the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i, it’s clear that this is perfect for those who want a premium experience (and can pay for it) in a gorgeous wrapping.

I’ve spent the last few years reviewing tech gear for gaming and otherwise, where I’ve gotten a feel for what to look for and how to put a piece of kit through its paces to see whether it’s worth the recommendation.

  • First reviewed August 2025
Categories: Reviews

Google is building a small nuclear reactor in Tennessee to power its data centers

TechRadar News - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 17:31
  • Google looks to fuel cloud hosting needs with nuclear energy
  • Tennessee emerging as a hub for bold nuclear experimentation
  • Data centers drive demand for clean power and nuclear exploration

Google has entered into a collaboration with Kairos Power and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to support the development of a small modular nuclear reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee to power its infrastucture expansion.

The company announced the Hermes 2 facility is expected to begin operations in 2030, and generate up to 50 megawatts of electricity for the TVA grid.

This will help power Google’s data centers in Tennessee and Alabama, which are central to the company’s growing needs for the likes of cloud hosting, cloud storage, and AI tools.

Partnership model for advanced nuclear power

The arrangement takes the form of a power purchase agreement, in which TVA will buy electricity from Kairos Power and deliver the clean energy attributes to Google.

The partners describe this as the first purchase of electricity from a Generation IV reactor by a US utility.

While the project provides only a fraction of the 500 megawatts Google has outlined as a longer-term goal, it is being framed as a proof of concept for how utilities, technology companies, and developers might share costs and risks in future deployments.

Unlike solar and wind, which depend on weather conditions, nuclear power can provide continuous energy.

"Nuclear is the bedrock of the future of energy security. Google stepping in and helping shoulder the burden of the cost and risk for first-of-a-kind nuclear projects... it’s not just good for Google. It’s good for TVA’s 10 million customers. It’s good for the United States," said Don Moul, CEO of TVA.

However, nuclear construction has historically faced delays and cost overruns, raising questions about whether this new generation of reactors will truly deliver affordable and reliable power at scale.

The project is also being presented as a way to boost economic activity in Oak Ridge, a city long tied to nuclear research and development.

Training programs with the University of Tennessee and other local institutions are being planned to prepare workers for technical roles at the Hermes 2 plant.

While the initiative promises high-paying jobs and renewed investment, critics may ask whether reliance on experimental nuclear designs is the most effective strategy compared to expanding proven renewable generation.

Nevertheless, this development has attracted interest and comments from industry experts, government agencies, and politicians.

“To power the future, we need to grow the availability of smart, firm energy sources... This collaboration with TVA, Kairos Power, and the Oak Ridge community will accelerate the deployment of innovative nuclear technologies.” said Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s Global Head of Data Center Energy.

“This collaboration is an important enabler to making advanced nuclear energy commercially competitive,” said Mike Laufer, Kairos Power CEO and co-founder.

“Tennessee’s legacy of nuclear innovation positions the Volunteer State to lead America’s energy dominance and drive continued economic growth with safe, clean, and reliable nuclear energy,” said Governor Bill Lee.

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Categories: Technology

This wild Mercedes-AMG concept car just demolished several EV distance records – including driving 'around the world' in eight days

TechRadar News - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 17:30
  • The upcoming AMG GT XX drove 5,479km (3,404 miles) in 24 hours
  • It went on to break 25 long-distance records on the Nardò test track in Italy
  • Mercedes-Benz says the motors and batteries are 'production ready'

Mercedes-Benz has been busy proving that its upcoming AMG GT XX can go the distance by driving it around the world. Well, 40,075 kilometers (24,901 miles) in exactly 7 days, 13 hours, 24 minutes and 07 seconds... to be precise.

The achievement was just one of the many long-distance records set during a grueling challenge at the high speed Nardò test track in Italy, where a slew of drivers and two vehicles maintained a constant speed of 300km/h (186mph), only stopping to briefly brim batteries via purpose-built 850kW charging infrastructure.

Mercedes-Benz was keen to point out that the AMG GT XX is capable of much higher speeds, but the 300 km/h (186mph) marker was carefully selected based on extensive simulations that balanced average track speeds with the number of charging stops required for the fastest overall time.

During the stunt, Mercedes broke a total of 25 long-distance records, including the greatest distance covered by an EV in 24 hours (a pretty impressive 3,405 miles).

Overall, it required 3,177 laps of the 12.68km Nardò circuit, where 17 drivers took two-hour shifts behind the wheel, including Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 driver George Russell.

Betting big on new technology

(Image credit: Mercedes-Benz)

The impressive feat wasn’t just designed to snare a few headlines, as Mercedes-AMG is also keen to highlight the performance and robustness of its pioneering new powertrain.

This is a point that’s particularly pertinent given its long and illustrious career in producing fearsome combustion engines and the difficulty it might have converting its current customer base.

Consisting of three axial-flux motors, an 800V electrical architecture and in-house developed cylindrical cell batteries – which use an electrically non-conductive oil for cooling purposes – the futuristic powertrain in the AMG GT XX concept is said to offer in excess of 1,360hp and is able to charge at over 850kW across a wide range of the charging curve.

During the reveal of the AMG GTXX concept earlier this year, senior Mercedes figures told TechRadar that the company hopes to roll out its own 10,000-strong super-fast charging network using 850kW technology by the next decade.

During the endurance endeavor, the German marque claimed it took just five minutes to recharge enough for a range of around 400 kilometers (248 miles).

Michael Schiebe, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes‑AMG, said that the company is the first to use axial flux motors and directly cooled batteries in fully electric models and that the records prove "how superior these technologies are".

(Image credit: Mercedes-Benz)

What’s more, he said that customers of future electric models will get a genuine AMG, “no ifs; no buts”.

However, Mercedes-AMG also understands the threat from China, with Xpeng’s P7 electric sedan traveling almost 4,000km (2,485 miles) in 24 hours just last week — laying down the challenge for other manufacturers.

Xiaomi’s YU7 Max also managed 2,451 miles during a similar stunt, proving that potent powertrains and rapid charging speeds are no longer just the preserve of recognized performance brands.

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Categories: Technology

Everything new on HBO Max in September 2025: stream 72 movies and 60 TV shows

TechRadar News - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 17:00

HBO Max is about to freshen up its library of content with a new batch of movies and TV shows being added throughout September 2025.

Warner Bros. Discovery's flagship streaming service often brings us new movies from A24 and next month is no different, with two new releases set to be added: the comedy-drama Friendship (2024) starring Paul Rudd, which lands September 5, followed by Alex Garland's thrilling modern war movie Warfare (2025) on September 12.

With a total of 72 new movies and 60 fresh TV shows, the balance is almost perfect, and gives us more reason to credit HBO Max as one of the best streaming services. Which titles will you be starting with? We'd love to hear in the comments below!

Everything new on Max in September 2025

Arriving on September 1

A Life of Her Own (movie)
Almost Christmas (movie)
Barney's World season 1D (TV show)
Caged (movie)
Charley Chase Silent Shorts (movie)
Children Who Chase Lost Voices (movie)
December 7th (movie)
Dog Day Afternoon (movie)
Emmanuelle (movie)
Evil Dead II (movie)
Fireworks (movie)
Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko (movie)
Gasoline Alley (movie)
Ghost Cat Anzu (movie)
Goodfellas (movie)
Helen of Troy (movie)
Jonah Hex (movie)
Keeper of the Flame (movie)
Kismet (movie)
Lonely Castle in the Mirror (movie)
Love & Pop (movie)
Man From The Black Hills (movie)
Mary of Scotland (movie)
Misery (movie)
Montana Incident (movie)
Mr. District Attorney (movie)
Murder Is My Beat (movie)
Mystery Street (movie)
Night Nurse (movie)
No End in Sight (movie)
No Questions Asked (movie)
Nobody Lives Forever (movie)
On Dangerous Ground (movie)
Our Miss Brooks (movie)
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (movie)
Pirate Radio (movie)
Presenting Princess Shaw (movie)
Prometheus (movie)
Rick and Morty season 8 (TV show)
Ruby & Jodi: A Cult of Sin and Influence (TV show)
Safe Haven (movie)
Scene of the Crime (movie)
Se7en (movie)
Selena (movie)
Shadow of a Woman (movie)
Splinter (movie)
Stranger on Horseback (movie)
Summer Storm (movie)
Susan and God (movie)
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (movie)
The Cabin in the Woods (movie)
The Charge at Feather River (movie)
The Command (movie)
The Fallen Sparrow (movie)
The Fate of the Furious (movie)
The Fate of the Furious: Extended Director's Cut (movie)
The Place Promised in Our Early Days (movie)
The Sea of Grass (movie)
The Secret Garden (movie)
The Sitter (movie)
The Sitter: Unrated (movie)
The Woman in White (movie)
The Woman on the Beach (movie)
Thirteen Women (movie)
Veronica Mars (movie)
Vigil in the Night (movie)
When Ladies Meet (movie)
Without Love (movie)
Young Bess (movie)
Your Name (movie)

Arriving on September 2

The 33 (movie)

Arriving on September 3

Bobby's Triple Threat season 4 (TV show)
Guy's Grocery Games season 39 (TV show)
Modern Warfare 2.0 season 1 (TV show)

Arriving on September 4

Billionaire Boys Club (TV show)
The Last Wright: Building the Final Home Design of America's Greatest Architect season 1 (TV show)

Arriving on September 5

Beachfront Bargain Hunt Renovation season 11 (TV show)
Bugs Bunny Builders season 2F (TV show)
Friendship (movie)
House Hunters International volume 9 season 204 (TV show)
House Hunters volume 10 season 245 (TV show)
Live Aid: When Rock 'n' Roll Took On The World (TV show)
Most Wanted: Teen Hacker (TV show)
My Lottery Dream Home season 17 (TV show)

Arriving on September 6

Maneet's Eats season 1 (TV show)

Arriving on September 7

Magnolia Table: At The Farm season 1 (TV show)
Task (TV show)
We Baby Bears season 2D (TV show)
Have I Got News For You season 3 (TV show)

Arriving on September 9

90 Day Fiance: The Other Way season 7 (TV show)
Contraband: Seized at the Border season 7 (TV show)
Seen & Heard: The History Of Black Television (documentary)

Arriving on September 10

The Tech Bro Murders (TV show)

Arriving on September 11

Dylan's Playtime Adventures season 1C (TV show)
Flipping 101 with Tarek El Moussa season 3B (TV show)

Arriving on September 12

Warfare (movie)

Arriving on September 13

Vacation House Rules season 6 (TV show)

Arriving on September 14

Build for Off-Road season 2 (TV show)
Love & Marriage: Huntsville season 10 (TV show)

Arriving on September 15

Signs of a Psychopath season 10 (TV show)
Truck U season 21 (TV show)

Arriving on September 16

Chopped volume 4 season 62 (TV show)
Halloween Baking Championship season 11 (TV show)

Arriving on September 17

100 Day Dream Home season 7 (TV show)
Built in the Bronx (TV show)
Truck Dynasty season 1 (TV show)

Arriving on September 18

Bea's Block season 1D (TV show)
Destruction Decoded season 1 (TV show)
Sin City Rehab season 1 (TV show)
Who Killed Our Daughter? (TV show)

Arriving on September 20

Scariest House in America season 2 (TV show)

Arriving on September 21

Greatest Mysteries Ever season 2 (TV show)

Arriving on September 22

Halloween Wars season 15 (TV show)

Arriving on September 23

American Prince: JFK Jr. (TV show)
The Kim Kardashian Heist season 1 (TV show)
Seeking Sister Wife season 6 (TV show)
The Devil Is Busy (documentar)
The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, Sports Betting: America’s Biggest Gamble (TV show)

Arriving on September 24

Hustlers Gamblers Crooks season 2 (TV show)

Arriving on September 25

Help! I Wrecked My House season 5 (TV show)
On The Case with Paula Zahn season 28 (TV show)
Jesse & Joy: Lo que nunca dijimos season 1 (TV show)

Arriving on September 26

Quiet In Class (TV show)
The Graft season 1 (TV show)

Arriving on September 27

90 Day Diaries season 7 (TV show)
Ready to Love season 10 (TV show)

Arriving on September 28

Heart & Hustle: Houston season 1 (TV show)

Arriving on September 29

Sister Wives season 20 (TV show)
Two Guys Garage season 24 (TV show)
Women Wearing Shoulder Pads (movie)

Arriving on September 30

Eva Longoria: Searching For Spain (TV show)
Good Cop/Bad Cop season 1 (TV show)
My Happy Place (TV show)
Prime Minister (documentary)

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Categories: Technology

Level's New Invisible Smart Lock Looks Miles Ahead of the Competition

CNET News - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 16:31
The new Matter-enabled smart lock from Level offers solid protection and app-based smarts, all hidden neatly away in a standard deadbolt design.
Categories: Technology

It's not all bad news for Intel - AWS just snapped up a load of custom Xeon chips for extra cloud power

TechRadar News - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 16:31
  • AWS introduces R8i servers tuned for memory-heavy enterprise cloud workloads
  • Intel’s custom Xeon chips target databases and massive cloud data tasks
  • Memory bandwidth defines AWS’s new Intel-powered servers for demanding applications

Intel has received some positive news after Amazon Web Services (AWS) confirmed it is rolling out new virtual server options built on custom versions of Intel’s Xeon 6 processors.

These new options, known as R8i and R8i-flex, will give AWS customers additional choices when renting computing power through the cloud.

For Intel, this marks a rare win at a time when rivals such as AMD and ARM-based processors have been capturing more of the market.

What R8i and R8i-flex actually bring

AWS said both R8i and R8i-flex support “DDR5 7200MT/s memory” and can run “up to 3.9 GHz all-core turbo frequency.”

The R8i family spans a wide range, scaling from just two to 384 vCPUs, matching the capability of dual-socket servers powered by Intel’s 96-core Xeon 6 chips, since AWS defines a vCPU as one thread of a core.

While AWS has not disclosed further details of what makes these custom Xeons distinct, the focus on memory bandwidth appears to be the defining factor for these deployments.

AWS is marketing the new instances for memory-heavy use cases, including SQL and NoSQL databases, in-memory caches such as Memcached and Redis, SAP HANA deployments, and data frameworks like Apache Hadoop and Apache Spark.

Customers are also given the option to adjust how bandwidth is distributed between network functions and Amazon’s elastic block store connections, which AWS suggests may provide measurable database performance improvements.

This positioning reflects how cloud hosting and cloud storage increasingly depend on optimized hardware to handle large-scale workloads, particularly those tied to analytics and enterprise resource planning.

Hyperscale providers such as Oracle have previously promoted unique Xeon configurations with extra cores or slightly faster clock speeds, while AWS itself has highlighted earlier rounds of tailored Intel processors.

The arrival of these new Xeons, therefore, fits into an established pattern, yet still shows that Intel remains relevant to large-scale providers.

The memory bandwidth improvements, while not a complete architectural overhaul, are enough for AWS to publicly promote the chips as competitive within its portfolio.

For Intel, this order signals continued reliance from a crucial customer at a time when alternative architectures such as AMD’s Epyc and ARM-based designs are gaining ground.

For AWS, it broadens the range of performance options available to clients whose workloads demand high memory throughput and stable performance across large clusters.

In an era where AI tools and data processing shape demand, Intel is not losing out completely; it still holds a place in the core of cloud infrastructure.

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Categories: Technology

Anthropic Will Settle Lawsuit With Authors Over Pirated AI Training Materials

CNET News - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 16:27
The settlement could set expectations for how other AI training disputes involving authors and content creators are decided.
Categories: Technology

Texas company pleads guilty to 2021 construction worker trench death

NPR News Headlines - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 16:24

An investigation by NPR, Texas Public Radio and 1A in 2024 found that more than 250 workers had died as a result of preventable trench collapses since 2013, and that at-fault companies were rarely held accountable.

(Image credit: Lorianne Willett)

Categories: News

Hear New Orleans' rising temperatures in music

NPR News Headlines - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 16:12

Average temperatures have been going up in many cities, including New Orleans. Here's what those higher temperatures sound like.

Categories: News

Acemagic's new Ryzen AI 9 mini PC is a better deal than Geekom's HX370 model - F5A costs far less, has Wi-Fi 7, and OCuLink

TechRadar News - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 16:04
  • Acemagic F5A Ryzen AI 9 HX370 delivers claimed 80 TOPS across workloads
  • Early buyers get $120 off with pre-sale code “ACEUS120”
  • DDR5 memory expansion reaches 128GB, unusual for compact desktop systems

Acemagic has introduced the F5A, a new mini PC powered by the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, part of the Zen 5 generation and built on TSMC’s 4nm FinFET process.

This chip carries 12 cores and 24 threads, runs at up to 5.1GHz boost clock, and includes 24MB of L3 cache with a configurable TDP of up to 54W.

The company claims the processor can reach up to 80 TOPS of total computing power, with 50 TOPS reserved for AI-related workloads.

Early availability and discounts

This device is currently on pre-sale, and any order made between now and August 31, 2025 using the code “ACEUS120” will get a $120 discount. It will begin shipping on September 10, 2025.

The F5A is available in several versions, starting with a barebone option without RAM or storage for $769 ($649 with code).

There are also the 32GB RAM + 1TB SSD and 64GB RAM + 2TB SSD models, which are selling for $909 ($789 with code) and $1,139 ($1,019 with code), respectively.

Acemagic is offering a two-year warranty across all models, which is in line with consumer electronics standards but not unusually generous for a system designed to compete with higher-end business PCs.

Unlike many compact systems, the F5A includes two M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 slots, supporting up to 4TB of storage, along with memory expandability up to 128GB of DDR5.

The cooling system features copper heat pipes and dual fans, with added thermal management for solid-state drives.

While Acemagic emphasizes quiet operation, real-world performance under sustained load will be the true test of its effectiveness.

Connectivity is another area where the F5A appears well-prepared. It supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and dual 2.5Gbps LAN ports.

For wired expansion, there are two USB4 ports delivering up to 40Gbps transfer speeds, along with HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1, and OCuLink.

The device also supports four simultaneous 4K displays, which could appeal to users seeking a compact workstation environment.

Pre-installed Windows 11 Pro comes as standard, with support for Linux distributions like Ubuntu and Manjaro for those who prefer open-source systems.

Acemagic’s F5A will compete with the recently released Geekom A9 Max, another HX370 model, which costs more.

While Geekom leans on a longer warranty and established brand recognition, Acemagic counters with affordability and flexible expansion.

The comparison reflects the wider dynamics of the mini PC market, where buyers weigh cost and specifications against support and brand assurance.

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Categories: Technology

I’ve just tested a multi-talented air purifying table – turns out, it can do much more than hold your keys

TechRadar Reviews - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 16:00
SwitchBot Air Purifier Table: two-minute review

The SwitchBot Air Purifier Table integrates an air purifier with a tabletop, a wireless Qi charger, a colored ambient light, and a fragrance diffuser.

It has a list price of $269.99 / £299.99, and can be purchased from SwitchBot and Amazon; however, there appear to be very regular discounts on the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table, and at the time of writing, it’s on offer for $175.50 / £180.

Replaceable filters cost $39.99 / £44.99, and will need to be replaced roughly every 6-12 months, depending on use, so it’s important to factor this extra cost in.

(Image credit: Future)

Setting up the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table was fairly simple but a little fiddly, on account of the little electrical connector I needed to plug in before putting the tabletop in place.

It’s a good height for having next to the couch or bedside, and the built-in wireless charger proves particularly useful in these cases. The onboard controls are a little tricky to see due to the tabletop, but I found myself using the SwitchBot app to control the purifier most of the time.

The simple-to-use companion app was pleasingly responsive when operating the air purifier and offers air quality data, scheduling, and a timer, which are all good features to have.

(Image credit: Future)

During testing, the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table quickly detected and cleared dry shampoo contamination. While it didn't immediately remove fragrance, it was cleared fairly quickly once I intervened and increased the fan speed myself.

It operates quietly in sleep mode, and is only as loud as light traffic when on top speed. Pet Mode didn’t operate as I’d expected, but the overall low volume of the purifier meant that it didn't bother my cats. I also found the fragrance diffuser to be efficient in lightly fragrancing the room after I’d applied drops of fragrance oil to the pop-out pad.

Overall, this is a good price for a multi-talented and Matter-compatible air purifier with an efficient companion app. If you’d like to explore other air purifiers we recommend, I suggest taking a look at our guide to the best air purifiers.

SwitchBot Air Purifier Table review: price & availability
  • List price: $269.99 / £299.99
  • Available now in the US and UK

The SwitchBot Air Purifier Table is available to purchase from the official SwitchBot website and Amazon, and has a list price of $269.99 / £299.99.

The list price sounds pretty high considering the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table only detects and reacts to PM2.5; however, there appear to be regular discounts on offer on the SwitchBot site and at Amazon, so it’s common to find it available at a lower price. For instance, at the time of writing, the Air Purifier table has 35% off in the US, and 40% off in the UK at SwitchBot, knocking a considerable $94.50 / £120 off the list price, and lowering the cost to $175.50 / £180.

(Image credit: Future)

There’s a cheaper model available too, the SwitchBot Air Purifier, which includes most of the features mentioned in the following review, just without the tabletop and wireless charging. This has a list price of $219.99 / £239.99 but, as with the Air Purifier table, this price is often discounted, and it’s listed at $119.99 / £139.99 at the time of writing.

Both models use the SwitchBot Air Purifier Filter, which has a list price of $39.99 / £44.99. As with all HEPA filters, this will need to be replaced on occasion, with SwitchBot advising a lifespan of 6-12 months depending on usage and air quality, so it’s important to factor in this regular cost.

Taking into account the convenience and additional features of the Air Purifier Table, and that it’s very regularly available for less than its official list price, I would say that you’re getting good value for money here.

  • Value score: 4 out of 5
SwitchBot Air Purifier Table review: specs

Type

Air purifier table

Fan speeds

3

Timer

Yes

CADR (Clean air delivery rate)

236CFM

Filter

Pre filter, HEPA and activated carbon

Particle sizes detected

PM2.5

Dimensions

11.4 x 11.4 x 16.5 inches / 290 x 290 x 420mm

Weight

10.7lb / 4.9kg

Control

Onboard power buttons, app, and voice control

Additional modes

Auto, Sleep, Pet

Extra features

Fragrance diffuser, Light sensor, Wireless charging, Matter

SwitchBot Air Purifier Table review: design and features
  • 4-in-1 air purifier, wireless charger, fragrance diffuser, and ambient light
  • Simple to set up, but a little fiddly
  • Detects and reacts to PM2.5 contamination

It feels like they were having a “yes” day in the SwitchBot office when they came up with the concept of the Air Purifier Table, like every idea thrown out was met with an enthusiastic nod. But somehow they found a way to make it work.

The SwitchBot Air Purifier Table consists of an air purifier with a tabletop, as one might expect, but it also boasts a wireless Qi charger, a colored ambient light, and a fragrance diffuser. It made a useful little side table next to my couch, and the built-in Qi wireless charger proved handy for keeping my iPhone or Motorola Moto Buds+ earbuds topped up, which was a nice bonus feature.

Does an air purifier really need all these things? Perhaps not, but I appreciated the thought, and found these extra features useful, so you may do, too.

(Image credit: Future)

The air purifier is capable of detecting and reacting to PM2.5 (particle matter of 2.5 micrometers or smaller), but it is also capable of filtering VOCs and odors, thanks to the HEPA and activated carbon filter. This filter sits within the base of the machine, behind a washable pre-filter, both of which can be easily accessed by removing the outer panel.

Setting up the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table was a little fiddly, as there are two parts of a little electrical connector between the purifier and the table top that need to be connected together. Once this was done, it was a case of rotating the table top until it clicked into place. There were four little screws that were meant to be screwed into the purifier underneath the tabletop for extra reinforcement, but this seemed basically impossible, even with my tiny hands, so I had to leave them.

(Image credit: Future)

There are a number of controls on the top edge of the purifier, underneath the tabletop, to use when you’re within reaching distance, or you can use the companion app to control the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table. The onboard controls include a button to change between the air purifier’s three modes: Auto, Pet, and Sleep, a button to cycle through the three fan speeds, a child lock, and a timer.

The controls were a bit tricky to reach, as they’re somewhat hidden underneath the tabletop. It wasn’t easy to change the settings unless I was sitting down and had a better view, although this wasn’t such a problem once I’d used them for a while, and it made more sense to use the app to adjust the settings, anyway.

  • Design score: 4 out of 5
SwitchBot Air Purifier Table review: app
  • Responsive and simple to use
  • Can set schedules and timers
  • Shows current and historical air quality data

The SwitchBot companion app is simple to use and houses a good range of features and air quality data insights for the price of the appliance. It proved very responsive over the weeks I used it, making it easy to switch modes or power on or off.

It clearly displays the air quality reading on the dashboard, using ratings from very good to bad, along with a numerical reference that relates to the number of micrograms of PM2.5 per meter cubed.

The app also provides historical data in graphs spanning either the last 24 hours or 30 days. This meant I could view which hour any spikes in air contamination occurred over the last day, and see what the minimum and maximum readings were each day over the last month. It would have been nice to have access to a 24-hour graph for previous days of the month, but this is only a small niggle, really.

(Image credit: SwitchBot / Future)

I could also set schedules within the app, either as a one-off occurrence or repeating on particular days and times. There’s a timer function, too, which offers both hours and minutes, up to 12 hours, so I could leave it running for exactly 11 hours and 26 minutes, if I really wanted to.

Finally, the care and maintenance section told me how many hours of life were remaining on the filter, and how many hours I’d been using it for. At this moment, it’s telling me that I’ve used it for 184 hours, and I’ve got 4,136 hours left. This section also advises that the pre-filter should be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner every two to four weeks, which is all handy info to know.

  • App score: 4.5 out of 5
SwitchBot Air Purifier Table review: performance
  • Quick contaminant detection and clearing
  • The noise didn’t disturb my rescue cats
  • Subtly fragranced the air

The SwitchBot Air Purifier Table was pleasingly responsive when I tested it by spraying dry shampoo from roughly two feet away. It took just a few seconds to detect the contamination, with the PM2.5 reading increasing to 619 micrograms per meter cubed in thirty seconds.

In this time, the fan speed increased in order to tackle the detected contamination, and took a further thirty seconds to return the air level to “good”, and back to “very good” in less than two minutes from the initial detection.

As it tackled the contamination so quickly, and therefore returned to its lowest setting, it didn’t do much to tackle the lingering fragrance of the dry shampoo in this time, though this is standard for air purifiers incapable of reading the ambient levels of VOCs in the air. This doesn’t mean that it doesn’t capture VOCs, however, as the HEPA and carbon filter is capable of doing so, but it needs to be manually set back to a higher fan speed to do so efficiently. I upped the fan speed to level two, and could no longer detect the fragrance after about fifteen minutes.

(Image credit: Future)

On the subject of scents, the built-in fragrance diffuser worked better than I was expecting. I’ve encountered this feature before with my beloved GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite, though it was one of the rare sources of disappointment, as it wasn’t very efficient. Things were a bit more positive when it came to the diffuser in the SwitchBot, however; I could detect a good amount of the fragrance from the oils I’d placed on the pad.

One important thing to note regarding fragrance or essential oils and pets is to please make sure you do your research on whether any oils you plan to use are safe, as some can prove toxic to our furry friends.

The SwitchBot Air Purifier Table was very quiet when in sleep mode, measuring just 26dB from two feet away, which is quieter than a whisper. It was therefore very easy to sleep next to, and so I’d have no concerns using the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table as a nightstand.

(Image credit: Future)

Pet Mode worked a little differently than I expected. On the SwitchBot site, Pet Mode is described as using a softer air supply to prevent disturbing pets. In practice, I found that enabling it just seemed to bump the fan speed up to two, regardless of the air quality, which was already good. Nonetheless, neither of my rescue kitties seemed bothered by the 49dB volume, and were happy to come up and have fusses right next to it.

At its top fan speed, the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table gave a reading of 55dB, making it a little louder than the Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max, but seeing as this is still only as loud as light traffic, it’s perfectly acceptable.

Overall, the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table is an efficient air purifier for the price, and a handy little side table and phone charger.

  • Performance score: 4.5 out of 5
Should I buy the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table?

Section

Notes

Score

Value for money

Provided you purchase it at what appears to be a regularly discounted rate, you’re getting a good little air purifier and some fun additional features for the price.

4/5

Design & Features

There’s a lot packed into this little table, thanks to its air purifying, charging, and fragrance diffusing features. The setup was a little fiddly in places, but easy enough overall.

4/5

App

The companion app was simple to use and responsive. It gave some insights into any spikes in contamination throughout the day, plus min and max readings over the past thirty days.

4.5/5

Performance

The air purifier reacted to and tackled contamination quickly during testing, and dealt with the odor left over, once I’d manually upped the fan speed.

4.5/5

Buy it if...

You want a smart purifier
Having the SwitchBot app made it really easy to control and schedule the air purification, and it proved responsive and informative during testing.

You’ll make use of the extra features
If you happen to need a new side table or nightstand with built-in wireless charging, then the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table is a great way to feed two birds with one scone.

You want a purifier with auto-detection
It’s always useful to have an air purifier that can be left to its own devices, and the automatic detection and reactivity to PM2.5 means the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table will jump into action on its own accord.

Don't buy it if...

You want VOC detection
Unsurprisingly, considering its price point, the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table doesn’t detect or react to VOC contamination. If you’re looking for something that does, and you have a little more to spend, I highly recommend checking out the Dyson Purifier Cool Formaldehyde TP09 instead.

You just want an air purifier
If you’re not bothered about having an extra side table or a wireless charger, then you’re probably better off opting for the standard SwitchBot Air Purifier and saving some money.

You want it to deal with odors unaided
As it only detects and reacts to PM2.5 contamination and deals with it quickly, the fan isn’t running high enough for long enough to tackle odors. Therefore, manual intervention is required by turning up the fan speed until the odor is gone.

SwitchBot Air Purifier Table review: Also consider

SwitchBot Air Purifier Table

Blueair Blue Pure 411i Max / Blue Max 3250i

GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite

Price

$269.99 / £299.99

$169.99 / £169

$49.99 / £59.99

Fan speeds

3

3

3

Modes

Auto, Sleep, Pet

Auto, night mode

Sleep, Custom

Additional features

Fragrance diffuser, Light sensor, Wireless charging

Washable fabric pre-filter

Aromatherapy

Filter

Pre-filter, HEPA and activated carbon

HEPA and activated carbon

3-in-1 HEPA filter

App support

Yes

Yes

Yes

Dimensions

11.4 x 11.4 x 16.5 inches / 290 x 290 x 420mm

18.9 x 10.6 x 10.6 inches / 481 x 269 x 269 mm

6.2 x 6.2 x 10.75 inches / 158 x 158 x 273mm

Weight

10.7lb / 4.9kg

7.5 lbs / 3.4 kg

2.4lb / 1.1kg

Blueair Blue Pure 411i Max / Blue Max 3250i
This delightfully lightweight air purifier offers simpler on-board controls, with one touch button to cycle through the three fan speeds, and auto and night modes. There’s a handy companion app that allows for easy control, along with air quality data based on the ambient levels of PM2.5. BlueAir has cleverly made the pre-filter part of the aesthetic, opting for a washable fabric covering, making this air purifier more pleasing to the eye. If you’d like to find out more, check out my full Blueair Blue Pure 411i Max / Blue Max 3250i review.

GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite
This is another favorite of mine, and makes for a great desktop option. Similar to the BlueAir above, it’s simple to control with a touch button to cycle through the fan speeds and modes. One such mode is the custom mode, which was great, as it allowed me to run a customized routine. The Smart Air Purifier Lite can be controlled via the fantastic Govee Home companion app and voice control, too. For more information, why not take a look at my full GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite review?

How I tested the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table
  • I tested the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table for a few weeks
  • I explored the different modes and features
  • I tested its detection and reaction speeds

I passively tested the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table by having it next to my couch for a few weeks. I used it as a side table, charged my iPhone and earbuds, and made use of the fragrance diffuser and ambient lighting.

I tested out all of the different modes, like Sleep mode when I napped on the sofa, and Pet mode when my rescue cats were about. I explored the app and made use of the various features.

I tested how fast the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table would react to and clear contamination by spraying dry shampoo around two feet away. I also monitored the readings on the app during this time.

Categories: Reviews

YouTube TV might lose some NFL games, but another streaming service seems set to scoop them up

TechRadar News - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 16:00

If you've been watching Fox or Fox News via YouTube TV you might have heard the warning: since Monday, Fox has been telling viewers that their channels may be getting pulled from YouTube TV.

This isn't about censorship or political affiliations or anything like that. It's because Mom and Pop are fighting. Fox and Google are having a bit of a bust-up over what's called a carriage deal, which is how much YouTube TV pays Fox to carry its products.

As The Hollywood Reporter explains: "August and September are often critical times for carriage deals, as they coincide with the start of the NFL season." That's bad news if Fox's predictions come true and the channels get pulled: "If the Fox channels do go dark, then YouTube customers in markets with a Fox-owned station would lose access to their local NFL games, as well as college football and the MLB playoffs."

What's going on with Fox and YouTube TV – and what you can do about it

What's happening here is that Fox is basically airing dirty laundry in public, claiming that "we are disappointed that Google continually exploits its outsized influence by proposing terms that are out of step with the marketplace". And of course there are two sides to every story, and Google's side is that "Fox is asking for payments that are far higher than what partners with comparable content offerings receive."

This isn't the first time this has happened. Disney pulled channels from Charter Communications last year, and earlier this year it looked like Paramount channels including CBS, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon were going to be pulled for similar reasons. But in both cases the respective parties did eventually reach a deal, and in Paramount's case the channels didn't go down at all.

That's likely to happen here too. But if it doesn't, you're not out of options: Fox has launched its own streaming service, Fox One, and says it wants that to be available to anyone who pays for traditional pay-TV services. So, if Fox disappears from YouTube TV you'll be able to watch its channels there – and YouTube says if the channels do go dark for "an extended period" it'll give you a $10 credit.

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Categories: Technology

Domain.com review

TechRadar Reviews - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 15:47

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Want to buy a domain name? Kickstart an online empire? Become a self-made millionaire with a web-based business? Then fill your cart at Domain.com and get 25% off your order using the discount code TECHRADAR. T&C apply, see further down the page.View Deal

Founded in 1998, Florida-based Domain.com is a web hosting provider and domain registrar who claims to power 1.2 million websites across the globe.

The company is now owned by Newfold Digital (previously known as Endurance International Group), the power behind other hosting names like Bluehost, HostGator and iPage. As of August 2025 the site is closed and has merged with Network Solutions.

What types of hosting did Domain.com offer?

Domain.com offered easy-to-use and low cost shared hosting plans in various forms: WordPress hosting, a website builder, an online store builder, and general-purpose do-everything shared hosting plans to cover everything else.

The company didn't offer VPS hosting, dedicated server hosting, or any more advanced hosting plans.

(Image credit: Domain.com)Domain.com shared hosting (No longer available)

Domain.com's shared hosting range is refreshingly simple. There are only three plans, all with the same core features: free domain, free SSL, unlimited bandwidth, 1-click WordPress install and a free website builder. Upgrading only adds more resources, so there are no extra features to weigh up. Prices start at $3.75 a month on the annual plan, $4.99 on renewal, but there's no complex discounting scheme if you sign up for longer. Choose a one, two or three-year contract, it's still $3.75 a month.

We signed up, but quickly ran into problems. Domain.com doesn't use any of our favorite hosting management platforms (cPanel for its all-round tools, Softaculous to install and manage WordPress and other apps.) We found its replacements have fewer options and aren't always organized logically, often leaving us struggling to find key functions.

The 1-click installer is especially disappointing. It only covers WordPress, has the bare minimum of configuration options, includes few management tools, and has occasionally failed to install WordPress in the past (though not during this review.)

The plans have some feature gaps. In particular, there are no backups with the cheaper plans (adding them to our test account would cost an extra $2.13 a month.) Even when we got our site online, performance was below average (more on that, later.)

If you're running a basic site, with few visitors, and long-term prices are your top priority, then Domain.com might, just about, be acceptable. Although many providers have lower prices in the first term, they tend to jump on renewal, and Domain.com's 'from $4.99' renewal price is very low.

Unfortunately, opting for Domain.com means you'll pay in other ways, with below-par speeds, few features and poor management tools.

Hostinger's shared plans start a little cheaper at $2.99 a month on the annual, two or four your plans, although they're more expensive after that $6.99 to $8.99. Backups are still limited on the cheapest plans (weekly rather than daily), but performance is good, there's an excellent control panel and 1-click installer, useful WordPress extras, six data centers, and more.

The WordPress plans come with preinstalled plugins and themes (Image credit: Domain.com)Domain.com WordPress hosting (No longer available)

WordPress is the world's favorite website creation platform, a hugely configurable tool which can handle everything from a single page personal site to a product-packed international web store.

Domain.com's shared hosting supports installing WordPress, perhaps enough if you just want to explore what it can do. But if you've something more serious in mind, Domain.com's WP range extends the range with a handful of extra features. 

The WP Starter plan is priced from $3.75 a month, just like the shared hosting, but adds unlimited storage, a customized control panel and pre-installed themes and plugins. They're small improvements, but not worth very much. You probably don't need a lot of storage (simple WordPress sites are often barely 1GB in size), and even newcomers can find plenty of quality themes and plugins for themselves.

The WP Essential plan (priced from $6.95 a month) includes more valuable extras, including Sitelock's malware scanning and removal service, and a direct phone line 'to a team of support agents who are specially-trained in all things WP Essential.'

Malware scanning is useful (hacked WordPress sites are a well-known web danger), and the plans are fair value, but they just don't have enough WordPress-related functionality to justify your time. Many hosting providers offer malware scanning as a paid extra, and you could easily buy a better shared hosting package elsewhere and add malware scanning yourself.

Domain.com does have one unusual extra in its WP Live support service. Priced from $29.95 to $149.95 a month, this goes beyond troubleshooting problems to giving advice on all kinds of design and optimization issues: social media strategies, creating an online store, making sure your site works well on mobile devices, more.

This could be useful in some situations. If you're new to WordPress, just starting your site, spending a one-off $149.95 for a month of design advice could save you a lot of time, and produce a better site. But in reality, you're likely to be better off choosing a more capable WordPress plan with additional WordPress-related features, faster hosting underneath, and the option to upgrade to VPS hosting if your site grows.

Alternatives include Hostinger's shared package, very cheap but with handy WordPress extras. Bluehost has a wide range of plans, with some strong business features at the top of the range. And if you're not quite sure what you need, IONOS' has WordPress options ranging from the impossibly cheap ($0.50 a month for year one, $8 on renewal) to supremely powerful ($120 a month for agencies and developers).

The website builder includes a powerful web store (Image credit: Domain.com)Does Domain.com have a website builder? (No longer available)

If you're looking for the easiest and quickest route to create a web presence, then a website builder is often the best choice. Most builders come with or can create starting sites in minutes, and adding elements to pages (text, images, videos forms) is as easy as dragging and dropping.

Domain.com has three website builder plans, ranging from $1.99 a month (billed monthly) for a limited product which supports a maximum of six pages, to a $12.99 a month ecommerce plan with product listings, inventory tracking, integrated shipping, order and tax management, and more.

The builder is certainly easy to use. No need to browse through templates to find something that appeals: just answer a few questions on yourself, your site and its goals, and it creates a starter site for you right away.

There's a reasonable set of features, too. All plans include free SSL, unlimited storage, social media sharing, blogs, contact forms, easy integration with an existing Facebook page, and more.

The plans are fair value, and the $1.99 plan in particular could be a smart low-cost solution for very simple sites.

As with Domain.com's WordPress plans, though, the lack of VPS or dedicated support is a problem for more demanding projects, such as a web store. If your site outgrows Domain.com's basic shared hosting infrastructure, you can't upgrade to anything better, and could be forced to move somewhere else.

Wix is a capable website builder with many more features and a far wider range of plans. Casual users can build and host a website for free, and an array of other plans covers everyone from personal users to (potentially) big international corporations.

Squarespace is a powerful alternative with great-looking templates and professional business and e-commerce plans. Or if it's value you're after, Bluehost has plans from $2.95 a month, while the Hostinger-powered Zyro has an 'e-commerce essentials' plan from an initial $3.99 a month.

(Image credit: Domain.com)How fast is Domain.com? 

Reliability is a must-have for any serious website. If your site is regularly broken, or down entirely, it hurts your reputation and may drive users away.

We check reliability by using Uptime.com to access a test site every five minutes over a two week period. We expect hosts to show 100% uptime with this short a test, but Domain.com managed a disappointing 99.11%. That puts it last in our last 15 tests (11 hosts hit 100% uptime, even the next-to-last host managed 99.63%.)

Uptime also records the response time of each test web server. Domain.com came bottom of the list here, too, with an average response time of 2.97 seconds (nine of our last 15 averaged less than 0.5 seconds.) 

(Image credit: GTMetrix)

We measure hosting performance by using a tool called GTmetrix to access a test WordPress site and calculate how long it takes to display the main content of a page (a figure technically called Largest Contentful Paint, or LCP). The lower the LCP, the faster and more responsive your site appears, and the happier your visitors will be.

Domain.com's LCP was relatively disappointing at 1.5 seconds, far slower than providers such as Bluehost (0.8 seconds), GoDaddy (0.7 seconds) and Hostinger (0.6 seconds.) Although 1.5 seconds is still acceptable, keep in mind that's based on launching our very simple template site. If yours has any significant content or features then it could be much slower.

(Image credit: k61)

Finally, we use k6 https://k6.io to measure website performance when it has many visitors loading pages at the same time. Our Domain.com site handled an average 22.67 requests per second, but with a price. Response times became even longer and more unreliable as the site load increased, and the overall test response time was a lengthy 1.591 seconds. Most providers were at least a second faster, and Hostinger, HostGator, InMotion Hosting and Bluehost managed response times of around 100ms or less.

Domain.com's web control panel is basic (Image credit: Domain.com)How easy is Domain.com to use?

Buying a Domain.com plan is easier than usual. There are generally only a few plans, and the site only displays the bare minimum features for each. Pricing is clear and there are no misleading discounts to catch you out (a '$4.99' starter price which leaps to $14.99 after a year, say).

Managing your plan isn't as straightforward. Domain.com doesn't use standard tools such as cPanel or Softaculous, opting for its own custom control panels, instead. We found them relatively basic, with fewer features. These don't seem as intuitive or well organized as more standard control panels, either, and we spent longer than expected trying to carry out some tasks.

Use the control panels for a while and these initial impressions won't matter as much, because you'll learn where everything is. But if you're looking for the most straightforward shared hosting, we'd generally recommend choosing a host which offers quality tools such as cPanel or Softaculous.

Alternatively, there are some hosts who do produce very capable control panels of their own. Hostinger's hPanel is a great example, and it's available in the company's budget shared hosting range (from $1.99 a month).

(Image credit: Domain.com)What is Domain.com's support like?

Domain.com offers 24/7 live chat support and a web knowledgebase. There's no ticket support, though, and the company no longer offers telephone support. That can become a problem if you've a long-term issue, as you'll have to explain the situation from the beginning whenever you talk to an agent.

The web knowledgebase has plenty of useful content, and its search engine does a good job of displaying the most relevant articles at the top. We noticed that some content appeared to be cut-and-pasted from iPage, (both iPage and Domain.com are owned by Newfold Digital), and no-one had remembered to replace the 'iPage.com' references with 'Domain.com.' That looks a little clumsy, but as iPage and Domain.com use the same technology, the articles should hopefully apply to both hosts. 

We opened several test live chat sessions, and in every case an agent appeared to respond in under a minute. The initial responses are largely automated, and appeared more or less identically for every test question, but typically we still had an initial reply to our issue within three to four minutes.

The quality of responses varied depending on the issue, with agents performing noticeably less well on more complex or unusual problems (how to install WordPress on a subdomain, and the SSL consequences of that.) But when it came to common issues which you're far more likely to have, the agents quickly identified each problem and pointed us to the best solution.

Domain.com has very few plans (Image credit: Domain.com)Final verdict

Domain.com's low long-term prices are appealing, and if cost is your top priority, your site is basic and you're not that bothered about power or performance, it might - just about - do the job. But if you're managing any more serious project, you'll find faster, more reliable and powerful hosting available elsewhere for only a little extra cash.

Domain.com FAQsWhy have you not completely removed this review?

Domain.com only recently closed. Some readers might want to read back over a review to compare what hosting was like at domain.com and compare it to Network Solutions.

What payment types does Domain.com support?

Domain.com accepts payment via card and PayPal.

Does Domain.com offer refunds?

Domain.com has a 30-day money-back guarantee covering hosting, but not domain registration, setup fees, or the cost of any additional services.

The small print warns that all first-time hosting accounts are eligible. If you've been a customer before, and signed up again, you won't be able to claim a refund.

(Image credit: Domain.com)Does Domain.com have an uptime guarantee?

The Domain.com states in several places that some hosting plans have a 99.99% uptime guarantee, which translates to a downtime of just four minutes and 23 seconds a month. Sounds like good news, especially as most hosting packages only offer 99.9% uptime, or 43 minutes and 50 seconds a month.

Unfortunately, we can't find anything on the Domain.com website which explained anything about the policy: what counted as downtime, what didn't, when you might start being compensated for problems, and you might get. We asked support but our agent couldn't tell us, either.

Maybe the company has the tech to hit that target, maybe it doesn't, but with no clear definition of what 'downtime' means, it's not a meaningful guarantee. We'd recommend you ignore it until Domain.com adds some relevant details to its terms and conditions.

Where are Domain.com's data centers?

The Domain.com website doesn't have any significant information on the company's data centers, and we weren't offered a choice of locations when we signed up for our regular hosting account.

We put our server IP address into IPLocation.net https://www.iplocation.net/ip-lookup to find out where the server is located. This doesn't always return an accurate answer, but of the eight databases IP Location checked, six suggested our IP was in Florida, one said Massachusetts, and one couldn't give us a location.

What is my Domain.com IP address?

Log into the Domain.com customer account panel.

Click the Hosting tab at the top of the screen.

The server IP address is displayed in the Server Information box on the right-hand side of the control panel.

What are Domain.com's nameservers?

Log into your Domain.com customer account panel.

Click 'DNS & Nameservers' in the left sidebar.

Domain.com's nameservers are displayed beneath the 'Add Nameserver' button. (If you don't see them, they're probably ns1.domain.com and ns2.domain.com: try those, first.)

Domain.com's change auto-renewal status to cancel a product (Image credit: Domain.com)How do I cancel a Domain.com product?

Log into your Domain.com web account.

Click the Hosting Tools icon at the top of the page (nine small dots arranged in a square.)

Click the 'Logged in as ' box at the top of the screen, and choose Hosting Renewal.

Choose whether you'd like your hosting canceled immediately, or when your subscription expires. Read the details carefully to avoid any mistakes, and click Change Status.

The TECHRADAR coupon is good for 25% off the cart total with no minimum purchase. All renewals after the initial discounted period will be charged at the then current standard list price for the selected period. Coupon is not valid with sunrise registrations, landrush registrations, EAP registrations, pre-registrations, premium registrations, renewals, transfers, custom website design, other coupons, or special pricing.

Categories: Reviews

NEA cancels decades-long creative writing fellowship

NPR News Headlines - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 15:39

For decades the program has supported writers who would become big names – Alice Walker, Michael Cunningham, Louise Erdrich and more. Last week, applicants got an email saying the program would be no more.

Categories: News

Taylor Swift Is Engaged. Her Instagram Post Might Beat Messi's Record

CNET News - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 15:37
Swifties, football fans and everyone else: Are you ready for the engagement era? Plus: Details on her dress, his sweater and that ring.
Categories: Technology

They weren't lovin' it - hacker cracks McDonald's security in quest for free nuggets, and it was apparently not too tricky

TechRadar News - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 15:26
  • Researcher finds a free nuggets exploit exposed much deeper flaws within McDonald’s systems
  • McDonald’s apparently has no obvious path for researchers to report vulnerabilities
  • A URL change from “login” to “register” granted account access

What began as an attempt to claim free food through the McDonald’s app rewards system turned into something far more revealing for one expert.

A security researcher known as “BobDaHacker” discovered serious weaknesses in McDonald’s online systems while trying to redeem a reward for free McNuggets through the company’s mobile app.

The flaw ran deep, granting access to the “Feel-Good Design Hub,” a central platform for marketing assets and brand materials used by employees and agencies in more than 120 countries.

Reporting security issues the hard way

Attempts to disclose these flaws highlighted another concern: McDonald’s had no clear path for researchers to report vulnerabilities - according to Bob, the company once had a “security.txt” file listing contacts, but it disappeared just months after being posted.

With no direct disclosure channel, Bob had to dig through LinkedIn for staff names and repeatedly call headquarters until someone finally responded.

This drawn-out process suggests other researchers may give up long before their findings reach the right people.

Even after McDonald’s replaced its password system with an account-based login, another oversight remained.

By altering “login” to “register” in the URL, Bob was able to create new accounts with full access.

Worse still, when registering, the system emailed plain-text passwords - a practice discredited for decades because of the risks it creates for identity theft and misuse.

While companies at McDonald’s scale face unique challenges in rolling out secure systems, such basic failures raise difficult questions about priorities.

This is not the first time McDonald’s has faced scrutiny for weak safeguards, as just a month earlier, a different issue came to light when a platform storing private data was protected by the password “123456.”

When flaws are repeatedly so easy to exploit, it raises doubts about whether firewalls, security suites, or even routine internal reviews are consistently applied.

For a corporation with global reach, lapses of this kind have consequences beyond marketing assets, as employee and customer information could be at stake.

McDonald’s reportedly fixed most of the vulnerabilities flagged by Bob, but the company has not reestablished a reliable reporting channel for future disclosures.

Without one, the risk remains that serious flaws will be overlooked or ignored until exploited.

Via Toms Hardware

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Categories: Technology

Arlo Announces a New Lineup of AI-Powered Security Cameras

CNET News - Tue, 08/26/2025 - 15:25
The next Arlo Essential, Pro and Ultra cameras will have more Arlo Intelligence features. Pan Tilt cameras are joining the lineup.
Categories: Technology

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