BATTERIES & CHARGERS BLOG – Page 3 – We are specialists in quality batteries. We have batteries, chargers and accessories for everything you can think of. Low prices, big inventory, expert advice. Find your battery here!

LG TVs are about to show ads based on your emotions — here’s how

Get ready for ads that read your emotions

(Image credit: LG)

If you thought ads were intrusive before, you haven’t seen anything yet.

LGhas recently signed a multi-year agreement with a company called Zenapse with an aim to leverage “emotional intelligence to deliver more meaningful and measurable brand experiences across 200 million LG Smart TVs globally.”

To make ads more meaningful, Zenapse uses a CTV (Connected TV) platform called “ZenVision” that watches along with the content being played on the screen to better understand the emotional state the viewer might be in.

LG can then use this information to group users into specific subsets and target them ads based on their emotional intelligence. This information becomes psychographic data. Unlike demographic data, which is simpler concepts like age, location, etc, psychographic data gets more personal, diving deep into your psyche and psychological mindset.

Using this data, ZenVision can better “optimize predictions” and thus target you ads that might satisfy your needs a whole lot more. Not only that, but Zenapse and LG can then sell that information to third parties.

>>>ADS-45FSQ-19 Charger for LG 27MP38HQ 27MP38VQ 27MP48HQ 27MP47HQ

How you’ll be categorized

As reported byStreamTV Insiderand onZenVision’s own website, data groups include abstract personality definers like “social connectors,” “wellness seekers,” “goal-driven achievers,” “digital adopters,” and many more.

Zenapse’s AI goes a step further and specifies the user’s general proclivities, lumps those users together and pushes ads based on these key factors. It’s notjustyour emotions being targeted, but your goals, principles, political affiliations, and more all wrapped up into one generalized market segment.

How does it work? The AI uses a combination of facets to better derive this data, including its own sophisticated algorithms, existing information on the particular on-screen content (like the script or genre), and even ACR (automatic content recognition) data collated by LG sets on their own.

>>>LG-INR21700-2P(PC-300) Battery for Nooie LG INR21700-2P(PC 300)

The next era of TV advertising

(Image credit: Google)

LG Ad Solutions made theannouncement on Tuesday, however there’s very little details about the longevity of the agreement, which TVs might suffer from the agreement, or how much LG spent to leverage Zenapse’s tech.

Based on what we know about it so far, though, Zenapse’s ZenVision sets a terrifying new precedent in on-screen advertising and gets so much more dystopian the deeper you dive into the rabbit hole.

Google is already well-acquainted with Zenapse, with Google Ads, Google for Startups, and Google Cloud all having strategic deals with the AI firm.

While LG might just be the first to implement it,Googleis already well-acquainted with Zenapse, with Google Ads, Google for Startups, and Google Cloud all having strategic deals with the AI firm.

Though only speculation, it probably won’t take long before ZenVision finds its way onto Google TV — if it hasn’t already. Google TV commands nearly 270M TVs and it’s leveraged by everything from thebest budget TVsbyHisenseandTCLto some of thebest OLED TVsout of Sony.

As stated, Zenapse is ushering in a whole new era of TV advertising and if you thought things couldn’t get worse, think again.

…And maybeturn off ACR on your TVwhile you still have the chance.

What is HDMI 2.2? Everything you need to know

Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8, HDMI ports with cables inserted.

Officially announced at CES 2025, HDMI 2.2 is the next-generationHDMI standardthat promises to double available bandwidth for higher resolution and refresh rate support, and will require a new cable to support these new standards. It will also bring with it advanced features for improved audio and video syncing between devices.

But the new cable isn’t coming until later this year, and there are no signs of TVs supporting the new standard yet. Here’s everything you need to know about HDMI 2.2.

>>>Acer Predator Triton 300 SE PT314-51S Replacement Battery

What can HDMI 2.2 do?

The standout feature of HDMI 2.2 is that is allows for up to double the bandwidth of existing Ultra High Speed HDMI cables using theHDMI 2.1 protocol. HDMI 2.2 is rated for up to 96 Gbps, opening up support for native 16K resolution support without compression, or native 4K 240Hz without compression. Throw DSC on and it should support monitors up to 4K 480Hz or 8K in excess of 120Hz.

While there aren’t any consumer TVs or monitors that support such resolutions and refresh rates at this time, it could be that the protocol finds use in future augmented and virtual reality headsets.

HDMI 2.2 will also support Latency Indication Protocol (LIP), which will help make sure audio is synchronized with video, especially in configurations that include an external A/V system.

To support the new resolutions and refresh rates, you’ll need to use a new HDMI 2.2 certified Ultra96 cable design. The new cables will be backwards compatible with all previous HDMI versions, but will only run at the maximum supported speed of the lowest link in the chain. So an HDMI 2.2 cable plugged into a port that is only compatible with HDMI 2.0 speeds will not be able to use the full bandwidth of the cable.

>>>Acer N18P5 P215 TMP215-51G Spin3 SP314-53 Replacement Battery

HDMI 2.2 vs. HDMI 2.1

HDMI 2.1 was a major innovation for the HDMI standard when it was ratified in 2017, but it was only in 2020 and 2021 when we started seeing real products using the design. It almost tripled the bandwidth over HDMI 2.0, and finally made HDMI capable of true 4K 120Hz support which was super important for this latest generation of games consoles.

HDMI 2.1 also introduced a range of new features. These included:

Dynamic HDR support.
Display Stream Compression 1.2 support.
Enhanced audio return channel (eARC) support.
Variable refresh rates.
Quick media switching.
Quick frame transport.
Auto low latency mode.

Inserting an HDMI cable underneath the Samsung Q990B soundbar

HDMI 2.2 is much lighter on features, merely introducing the new LIP protocol, but that will still have its uses. Like HDMI 2.1, though, HDMI 2.2’s bandwidth uplift is dramatic, and indeed by gigabits per second, the largest in the standard’s history. Doubling HDMI 2.1 from 48 Gbps to 96 Gbps makes HDMI 2.2 the most capable video and audio transmission standard, even eclipsing DisplayPort 2.1 and USB4, both of which can only reach 80 Gbps.

It is however, still weaker than thenew standard out of China known as GPMI.

When is HDMI 2.2 available?

HDMI 2.2 was officially unveiled in January 2025, and will officially launch in the first half of the year. The HDMI Forum who manages its ongoing development has suggested the new Ultra96 cables will be released before the end of the year, but we may not see devices that support HDMI 2.2 until sometime in 2026.

That’s the optimistic take, too. HDMI 2.1 was ratified and launched in 2017, but it wasn’t until 2020/2021 where we started seeing displays making full use of it.HDMI 2.2 could in theory take even longer.

At the time of writing there isn’t a great call for more advanced cable standards in the living room. While PC gaming does have a possible use for higher bandwidth cables to enable higher resolution and refresh rate gaming, most high-end PCs aren’t managing 200+ FPS at 4K — and they have DisplayPort 2.1 support, anyhow. Indeed, most still play at lower resolutions. While in the living room, 4K at 120Hz is the standard for the major games consoles. Without a new generation of Xbox or PlayStation to drive up to TV refresh rates, there isn’t much point in supporting more.

HDMI 2.1 cables can have labels like UHD, or 8K on them, but otherwise look the same as any other HDMI cables.Cable Matters

There are 8K TVs which could conceivably offer 120Hz or higher refresh rates, but games consoles and TVs can’t manage that anyhow, so again, little benefit. There are also no plans for 8K Blu-rays which could use the additional bandwidth for higher bit-rate video or greater HDR metadata.

HDMI 2.2 is likely to be the future of connecting all sorts of devices and has the bandwidth and features to compete with the best alternatives elsewhere, but it’s likely not going to become mainstream for some time to come.

What is aperture in photography? The “f-number” is actually key to taking better photos

What is aperture in photography? Here’s what you need to know – and how it affects your images

Learning photography often feels like a never-ending list, but one of the first and easiest concepts that I picked up when I first started is called aperture. But what is aperture in photography? Aperture is a setting that controls how much or how little light comes into the lens. By controlling the aperture, photographers can make a photo brighter or darker, like opening or closing a curtain to let more sunshine into a dark room.

But while aperture is one of three camera settings that influenceexposure, or how light or dark a photograph is, light isn’t the only thing that aperture controls. When I first learned what aperture was, I assumed that I could just keep the aperture wide open all the time to let in the most light. However, I quickly learned that that assumption led to photos that were never quite sharp enough.

Learning aperture is one of the first steps to getting a camera out of auto mode. The concept can be tricky for beginners. But, by understanding the two things that aperture affects and how to adjust the aperture, beginners can quickly pick up this new skill.

>>>NB-CP2LH Battery for Canon CP710 CP730 CP760 CP780 CP790 CP800

What is aperture? Aperture effects a photo’s exposure or “brightness”

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Aperture is actually more of a lens setting than a camera setting. The term aperture refers to how wide or narrow the opening in the lens is. A wide aperture will let in lots of light, creating a brighter image. A narrow aperture won’t let in much light, resulting in a darker image. Think of aperture like opening and closing a curtain to let more or less light into a room, only the “room” is a photograph.

A lens’ aperture blades create a hole that light passes through to reach the camera. These aperture blades can widen to let in more light, or narrow to let in less light. By changing your aperture, you can control how much light enters the camera sensor from your lens. This control allows photographers to brighten or darken an image.

Here’s our aperture cheat sheet, previously formatted forDigital Camera Magazine. Download the image and save it to your phone’s camera roll for quick reference

The size of the aperture opening is calibrated in “stops” of light – also known as f-stops. This numerical value also describes the ratio of a lens’ focal length (the “f”) to the diameter of the opening. A lower f-number, such as f/1.8, is a wider opening that lets in more light. A higher f-number, such as f/8, is a narrower opening that lets in less light.

Each successive stop is half as bright as its predecessor. That means that an f/2 is half as bright as f/1.4, f/2.8 is half as bright as f/2, and so on. But, if that sounds confusing, the most important thing to remember about aperture is thata low f-number creates a brighter image, while a high f-number creates a darker image.

>>>LB-60 Battery for Canon LK-62 IP100 IP110

Aperture also controls how much of the photograph is in focus

Okay, so if a wide aperture lets in the most light, photographers only need to touch the aperture setting when a photo is too dark or too bright, right? Not exactly, because the aperture also controlsdepth of field, or how much of the image is in focus.

Think of a professional portrait. Often, these portraits have a very blurry background. This blurry background is controlled by the aperture.

A wider aperture (which is a lower f-number) creates more background blur. An f/1.8 aperture setting, then, will both let in more light and create more background blur! This extreme background blur is called a shallow depth of field.

That background blur is often considered a good thing, after all, even the iPhone tries to imitate it with portrait mode. But more background blur means less sharpness. For example, if you take a portrait photo at f/1.2, one eye may be in focus while the other one is soft.

Using a narrower aperture (which is a higher f-number) will leave more of the image sharply focused. If you take a photo and it’s not very sharp, an aperture that’s too wide could be the culprit (the other common culprit isthe wrong autofocus setting). Using an aperture of f/8 or f/11 will leave more objects in the photo in focus, which is called a deep depth of field.

Download this cheat sheet as a handy reference to aperture and depth of field that you can take on the go

Let’s put that concept into practice. If you are taking a group photo of your family, an f/1.8 aperture is going to make the people in the second row blurry. If you narrow the aperture to f/8, you can get both the front and second row perfectly focused.

In short, a wider aperture lets in more lightandadds more blur. A narrower aperture limits the light coming into the lensbutleaves more of the image sharply focused.

Aperture is one of the three fundamental pillars ofthe exposure triangle, (the other two beingshutter speedandISO). Learning all three allows a photographer to have full control over the photograph to capture acorrect exposure. But, it’s perfectly fine to take baby steps and learn aperture before moving on to the other two exposure elements, thanks to a setting called aperture priority mode.

>>>NB-5H Battery for Canon Powershot A5 Zoom/A50/S10/S20

How do you adjust the aperture on a camera or a lens?

Turn the camera’s top dial to the A to control aperture

Once you understand the basics of how aperture works, it’s time to put it into practice. The first step is toget your camera off of auto mode.

Instead of the green camera icon or auto mode, turn the mode dial on the camera to A (or Av, if you have aCanoncamera). Most cameras will have that mode dial but some do not, so if you can’t find the setting, consult your camera manual. If you are working with a budget compact camera, your camera may not even have aperture priority mode at all, but DSLRs and mirrorless cameras have this setting, along with high-end compact cameras.

Whataperture priority modedoes is allow the photographer to control the aperture while leaving the other settings on automatic. That means you can control aperture before you learn about shutter speed and ISO. Aperture priority mode is a great learning tool, but I even use it often as a professional photographer at times because it is quick and simple.

Once your camera is in aperture priority mode, you’ll adjust the aperture itself. Most cameras do this in one of two ways. The first is on a control dial directly on the camera, often near the shutter release, or the button that takes the picture. The second common location of the aperture setting is on the lens itself. This looks like a ring around the lens, which is often (but not always) labeled with those f-numbers. Because the method to change the aperture depends on what camera and even lens you are using, if you aren’t sure, consult your camera manual.

This is an aperture ring on a camera lens(Image credit: Future)

Next, use the control dial or lens ring and watch the f-numbers on your camera’s screen or viewfinder change. Learn by experimenting. Try taking a photo at a low aperture, then another at a high aperture and compare the differences between the two photos.

Once you are comfortable with aperture, dive into the two other settings that are essential to exposure:shutter speedandISO.

How does aperture come into play when buying a camera lens?

(Image credit: Chris George)

An aperture itself (the opening) is formed by intersecting blades. Different lenses have a different number of blades, and these can move to make the opening larger or smaller depending on the f-stop that you select.

The aperture assembly is located in the barrel of the lens, between the lens elements. A motor opens and closes the aperture as you adjust the aperture setting.

The different aperture settings that you have to choose from will depend on the lens that you have. Camera lenses have a maximum aperture setting, or the brightest, widest opening possible. This varies from lens to lens.

If you have a mirrorless camera or DSLR and a basic kit lens that came bundled with the camera, you may have a lens that goes as wide as f/4 or f/5.6. More advanced lenses will have brighter apertures. A prime lens, which is a lens that doesn’t zoom, can have a wide f/1.8 or even an f/1.2 aperture. Lenses that have zoom will often have a narrower maximum aperture, like f/2.8 or f/4.

That means that, if you have more than one lens, one might have a wider aperture than the other. Photographers often refer to this as a “brighter” lens. Now that you know what aperture is, you should keep that in mind whenever you shop for a new camera lens. The maximum aperture is listed right in the lens name. For example, a lens with “f/1.2” in the name is going to be brighter than a lens with “f/4” in the name.

Aperture explained at a glance

Aperture is calibrated in f-stops.
A wide aperture opening creates a brighter image with more background blur.
A narrower aperture opening creates a darker image, but with more objects sharply focused.
An aperture of f/22 is narrower than f/4.
Your maximum or widest aperture is determined by your lens.

Nintendo quietly removes mentions of VRR support from its US and Canada Switch 2 websites

It seems that VRR support will no longer be a feature at launch

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Nintendo has quietly removed the mention of VRR support from some of its regional Switch 2 websites
The US, Canada, and Japan websites no longer feature the mention of VRR support
As of writing, the UK website still mentions VRR, but could still be removed

Nintendo has quietly removed any mention of variable refresh rate (VRR) support from some of its regionalSwitch 2websites, suggesting the console may not offer the feature after all.

That’s according to Digital Foundry’s Oliver Mackenzie (viaVGC), who spotted that the US website has been updated since theNintendo Switch 2 Direct, and no longer mentions VRR support for docked play.

Now it reads: “Take in all the detail with screen resolutions up to4Kwhen you connect the Nintendo Switch 2 system to a compatible TV using the dedicated dock. The system also supportsHDRand frame rates up to 120 fps on compatible TVs.”

It’s not just the US website that has been updated, but theCanadaandJapansites too.

>>>OXY-003 Battery for Nintendo Game Boy Micro OXY-001 Y76NB01

As of writing, theUKsite still mentions that the Switch 2 “supports HDR, VRR, and frame rates up to 120 fps on compatible TVs,” but Nintendo may be in the process of removing it from all its regional sites.

It’s unclear why Nintendo has made changes, but Mackenzie theorises that VRR support may not be available at launch. However, the Switch 2 in handheld looks like it will still offer VRR thanks toNvidia G-Sync, which will ensure “ultra-smooth, tear-free gameplay.”

Everything we needed to know about theSwitch 2’s specswas revealed during the Direct earlier this month, where it was also confirmed that the console will have a bigger screen, from 6.2 inches to 7.9 inches, 256GB of internal storage, and a mouse function for its magnetic Joy-Con controllers.

>>>WUP-003 Battery for Nintendo Wii U GamePad WUP003 WUP-012

The Nintendo Switch 2 is set to launch on June 5, 2025, for $449.99 / £395.99 or $499.99 / £429.99 for aMario Kart Worldbundle.

Farewell, iPhone 6S – Apple marks classic phone as ‘vintage’ alongside this Mac mini

On the path to obsolescence

The iPhone 6S (above) is now officially ‘vintage’ – despite not looking radically different to today’s iPhones

Apple has just labeled the iPhone 6S as “vintage”
The same designation has been applied to the 2018 Mac mini
This means repairs are more limited should something go wrong

Are you still using aniPhone 6Sor a2018 Mac mini? If you are, we’ve got some bad news:Applehas just declared both products to be “vintage” on itsvintage and obsolete products page, which means you’ll get much more limited service and repairs for them if anything goes wrong.

The iPhone 6S andiPhone 6S Pluswere released in 2015 and came with a few notable milestones. They were the first iPhones to come with Apple’s 3D Touch tech, while they were also the last to featureheadphone jacks.

In addition, Apple strengthened the chassis of the devices to prevent the kind of ‘bendgate’controversy that befell the iPhone 6. The iPhone 6S was last offered for sale by Apple in 2018.

The 2018 Mac mini, meanwhile, was the last Mac mini to come with anIntelprocessor rather than anApple silicon chip(the first of which – the M1 – debuted in 2020). And it was the first (and so far only) Mac mini to come in a space gray finish.

>>>616-0765 Battery for Apple iPhone 6 Plus

What does this mean for you?

The 2018 Mac Mini (above) has joined the iPhone 6S on Apple’s perilous ‘vintage’ list

Other than taking many of us on a trip down memory lane, this news has some practical implications for those who are still running an iPhone 6S or 2018 Mac mini.

Apple labels a product as “vintage” when at least five years have passed since the company last offered it for sale. Products that last went on sale seven or more years ago are designated as “obsolete.”

Now that the iPhone 6S and Mac mini have been declared “vintage,” that means your repair options are more limited. You can get them fixed at Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASPs), but only if the required parts are available. Third-party shops might be able to repair your device if Apple or its AASPs won’t.

The next step – declaring a product to be “obsolete” – means that Apple Stores and AASPs generally will not repair your device, with Apple declining to provide replacement parts. In that case, you have no option but to either rely on a third-party repair shop or upgrade your device.

>>>161-00042 Battery for Apple iPhone 6S PLUS A1634 A1687

So, if you are still using an iPhone 6S or 2018 Mac mini, you’ve still got a little longer before Apple stops offering repairs. That said, with these devices getting long in the tooth – and products like theiPhone 16andM4 Mac minioffering far better performance – now might be a good time to look at upgrading to one of thebest iPhonesandbest Macsyou can get.

Windows 11 is about to get a nifty shortcut for copying out all the text from an image

Snipping Tool feature now in testing will sort you out in a jiffy

Windows 11 is powering up the Snipping Tool in testing right now
A new feature allows you to copy all the text from an image straight away
There’s no need to take a screenshot first, as was previously the case, so this is a neat time-saver

Microsoftis making it even easier forWindows 11users to be able to extract text from images (or any content) on the screen.

Windows 11 already has this OCR-powered (Optical Character Recognition) ability, as you may be aware, but at the moment, it’s necessary totake a screenshot first with the Snipping Toolbefore you can extract text from that image.

With a new update for the Snipping Tool that’s just been released (which was leaked previously), you don’t need to grab a screenshot to perform text extraction any longer – although bear in mind this is still in testing at this point (so may still be wonky).

AsNeowin reports, with previewversion 11.2503.27.0of the Snipping Tool, you can simply hit theWindows + Shift + Skeys together, and this will pop up the capture bar for the tool.

However, instead of having to create a snip (screenshot), the ‘text extractor’ option will be right there in the bar, so you can just click that, with no need to save a screen grab first.

>>>MQ20 Battery for Microsoft Surface Pro 9 2032 1996 1997 2038

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Analysis: Power(Toys) to the people

Essentially, this is directly integrating the ability to extract text from images (or any screen content) into Windows 11, with no additional steps needed, mirroring the functionality present in Microsoft’sPowerToys suite of tools(for advanced Windows users) – and it’s definitely going to be appreciated by folks who use this capability.

It’s obviously less of a hassle than having to clear the hurdle of actually grabbing a screenshot, if all you’re interested in doing is copying all the text that’s currently visible on your monitor.

>>>G3HTA071H Battery for Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 1964

I sayallthe text, but that’s only what happens if you use the ‘Copy all text’ option provided. If you just want a specific portion of text, you can manually select and extract only those words (it’s also possible to remove line breaks if you want).

Microsoft is slowly expanding Windows 11’s OCR powers, and you may recall that late last year, thePhotos app got Optical Character Recognition built into pull text from images directly within the application.

Google Messages is testing some useful upgrades – here are 5 features that could be coming

The Google Messages revamp continues

Google is testing even more new features in its Messages beta app
These include an expanded 14-line message view and new RCS message labels
While these are still in beta testing, they could start rolling out to users this month

Over the past couple of months,Googlehas been doubling down on eradicating all traces of Google Assistant to makeGeminiits flagship voice assistant, but amidst the organized Gemini chaos, Google has been paying a lot of attention to improving its Messages app, giving it some much-needed TLC.

It’s safe to say that the new revisions to the Google Messages app have significantly improved its UI. Itsnew snooze function for group chats alsocomes to mind, but Google is still in its beta testing era. For a while, Google was experimenting with aneasier way to join group chats,followingWhatsApp’s footsteps. Now, it’s testing five more features that could make up the next wave of Google Messages upgrades this month.

Although these features are in beta, there’s been no comment on whether they’ll be officially rolling out to users. With that said, we’ll be keeping an eye out for any further updates.

>>>GWRL2 Battery for Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold

Google expands its 4-line text field limit

(Image credit: 9to5Google)

Just a few weeks ago, we reported on a new upgrade found in Google Messages beta indicating thatGoogle would get better at handling lengthy text messages.

For a while, Google Messages users have been restricted to a four-line view limit when sending texts, meaning that you would need to scroll to review your entire message before sending. This is particularly frustrating when sending long URL links.

But that could soon be a thing of the past, as9to5Googlehas picked up a new beta code that reveals an expanded message composition field on thePixel 9athat now reaches up to 14 lines.

>>>GDHB7 Battery for Google GDHB7

New RCS labels

Recently, Google has been testing new in-app labels that could distinguish whether you’re sending an SMS or RCS message.

Thanks to an APK teardown fromAndroid Authority, the labels found in beta suggest that soon you’ll be able to see which of your contacts are using RCS in Messages, adding a new RCS label to the right side of a contact’s name or number.

Unsubscribe from automated texts

This is a feature we’re quite excited to see, and we’re hoping for a wider rollout this month. A few weeks ago, anunsubscribe buttonwas spotted at the bottom of some messages, which could give users an easier way of unsubscribing to automated texts and even the option to report spam.

When you tap this, a list of options will appear asking you for your reasons for unsubscribing, which include ‘not signed up’, ‘too many messages’, and ‘no longer interested’ as well as an option for ‘spam’. If you select one of the first three, a message reading ‘STOP’ will be sent automatically, and you’ll be successfully unsubscribed.

Read receipts gets a new look

(Image credit: 9to5Google)

Google could introduce another revamp of how you can view read receipts in the Messages app. In November 2024, Google tested a redesign of its read receipts that placed the checkmark symbols inside the message bubbles, which used to appear underneath sent messages.

In January, Google tested another small redesign introducing a new white background, which could roll out soon, and while this isn’t a major redesign, it’s effective enough to make read receipts stand out more.

Camera and gallery redesign, and sending ‘original quality’ media

We first noticed that Google Messages was prepping anew photo and video quality upgrade. In March, more users started to notice a wider availability, but it’s still not yet fully rolled out, meaning it could be one of the next new updates in the coming weeks.

Essentially, Google could be rolling out a new option that allows you to send media, such as photos and videos, in their original quality. This will give you the choice of the following two options:

‘Optimize for chat’– sends photos and videos at a faster speed, compromising quality.

‘Original quality’– sends photos and videos as they appear in your phone’s built-in storage.

I pitted Galaxy AI’s photo editing tool against Apple Intelligence’s Clean Up, and let’s just say the results aren’t even close

The difference is unbelievable

I’ve been an iPhone user since 2009 when I got my first iPhone 3G, and since then I’ve been a loyal customer, upgrading annually to the best smartphoneApplehas to offer.

WhenSamsungreleased the S25 series of smartphones earlier this year with AI at their core, I knew I had to finally give Android a proper go and see whatGoogle’s mobileoperating systemwas capable of.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to pit my S25’sGalaxy AIfeatures against my iPhone 16 Pro Max’sApple Intelligencecapabilities to see which smartphone has AI features worth using compared to those that are just a gimmick.

When I received the S25, early last week, the first thing I decided to do was test Galaxy AI’s photo editing prowess, after all,Clean Upon iPhone is one of the most complete Apple Intelligence features to date, or so I thought.

>>>EB-BT575BBE Battery for Samsung Galaxy Tab Active 3

The dog

Original

Galaxy AI

Apple Intelligence

To start my Galaxy AI Generative Edit versus Clean Up comparison, I decided to start by erasing my French Bulldog, Kermit, from his very plain grey bed. I thought this was a good starting point as while the bed is a plain background, there would be the shadow of the dog coming from the natural sunlight of the window in front of the camera.

Galaxy AI had no issue removing Kermit from his bed, in fact not only did it remove the shadow, it continued the brown stitching of the bed’s border, and smoothed out the surface to completely erase any sign of Kermit from the photo.

Apple Intelligence’s Clean Up, on the other hand, failed miserably at this simple task, leaving Kermit’s shadow while removing the dog from the bed. This AI editing created a sort of blur effect that would never pass for an edited image, let alone an original one.

>>>EB-BS922ABE Battery for Samsung Galaxy S24 SM-S921B/DS

Galaxy AI 1-0 Apple Intelligence

The croissant

Original

Galaxy AI

Apple Intelligence

Next up, I took my two smartphones to my local coffee shop to test AI photo editing out in the wild. As I went later in the day, there were only two croissants left, one regular and one pain au chocolat.

For this test, I decided to remove the pain au chocolat from a photo as the coffee shop’s branded paper underneath was monochrome and a repeating pattern that I thought would make for an interesting comparison.

Again, Samsung’s AI editing was impressive, to say the least. Not only did the pain au chocolat completely disappear from the image, but Galaxy Ai replicated the branded pattern perfectly, keeping some crumbs for added realism.

The iPhone’s attempt was again, pretty rubbish, creating a sort of crumpled paper effect and leaving the pain au chocolat’s shadow in plain sight. This was again pretty disappointing from Apple Intelligence, there may be a trend appearing here…

>>>HQ-6887NAS Battery for Samsung Galaxy M55 F55 SM-M556B

Galaxy AI 2-0 Apple Intelligence

The coffee cup

Original

Galaxy AI

Apple Intelligence

I asked the barista behind the bar if he could pour a Flat White so I could try and remove the coffee cup from his hands using Galaxy AI and Apple Intelligence.

I thought it was worth trying just to see how the AI photo editing tools handle pouring liquid, and again the results are night and day.

On the S25, the cup disappeared, Galaxy AI recreated the barista’s thumb, inserted some objects on the surface, and tried to create the impact of the hot milk on the sink below.

While the liquid’s physics is somewhat off, the editing of the hand and the recreation of what Galaxy AI perceived to be behind the cup were seriously impressive.

As for Apple Intelligence… I’ll let the image do all the talking.

Galaxy AI 3-0 Apple Intelligence

The empty shop

Original

Galaxy AI

Apple Intelligence

、

At this point, I had completely accepted the disparity in effectiveness between Samsung and Apple’s offerings, so I decided to push Generative Edit and Clean Up as far as these flagship smartphones would allow me to.

I took a photo of the busy coffee shop, and after erasing one of the people from sight I decided to go even further and just erase everything from the photo, leaving nothing but the seating.

Again, Galaxy AI passed with flying colors, recreating the shops outside the window, and extending the sofa where I had removed my table and coffee cup. Apple Intelligence, well… It mushed everything together and was absolutely useless.

Galaxy AI 4-0 Apple Intelligence

A whitewash

It’s fair to say there’s a clear winner when it comes to AI photo editing between these two devices, and if you follow any smartphone news you’re probably not surprised.

What was surprising to me, was just how amazing Galaxy AI’s photo editing is, and how bad Clean Up on my top-of-the-line iPhone is.

I’ve used Clean Up in the past and found it did a decent, but hardly mind-blowing job when it comes to removing a subject from a photo. After using the S25, I can’t believe Clean Up has even shipped in its current state knowing what alternatives are out there.

I want to emphasize that both companies have taken a different approach to AI photo editing. Apple wants to keep the image as close to the original as possible, while Samsung is happy to showcase its AI power and offer more emphatic editing.

While I think that’s worth keeping in mind, I do still think Apple’s Clean Up approach should be capable of some of the simple edits you’ve seen above. Instead, it’s come incredibly short of the mark when Samsung’s offering is capable of truly achieving what it sets out to do.

Google is retiring country-specific domains for search

Everything from .ae to .zw will now redirect to google.com.

REUTERS / Reuters

Googleannouncedtoday that it will no longer be using country code top level domains for searches. Instead, all search services will happen on the google.com URL and local results will be delivered automatically. For example, that means users in the UK will no longer see google.co.uk in their browser’s address bar. Google URLs with those country-specific domain endings will now redirect to the main google.com address.

Google started using location information to automatically provide search results based on geographyin 2017. With that change, it didn’t matter whether you entered a query into a local country code URL or into google.com; you’d always see the results version for the place you were physically located. Today’s announcement seems to take that initial action to its conclusion by sunsetting those ccTLDs.

>>>GWRL2 Battery for Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold

“It’s important to note that while this update will change what people see in their browser address bar, it won’t affect the way Search works, nor will it change how we handle obligations under national laws,” Google noted in its announcement.

Microsoft warns of Outlook Classic bug that can crank CPU use up to 50% when typing

The company recommends switching update channels as a band-aid solution.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsofthasconfirmed a bugin Outlook Classic, where users are experiencing CPU usage spikes, as high as 50%, when simply typing in the application. Notably, reports of this incident can be traced back to November last year, and even now, users have been asked to switch to the Microsoft 365 Apps update channel as a temporary workaround.

After around six months since the first sighting, Microsoft is finally addressing an issue in Outlook (Classic), which led to increased CPU usage, visible slowdowns, and even freezes whenever you’d sit down to compose an email or type a message. Microsoft quotes a figure ranging from a 30-50% hit to the CPU utilization, and that’s sure to be noticeable, especially on aging hardware.

The developer team was able to reproduce this bug on updating to Microsoft 365 Apps Version 2406 Build 17726.20126+, which was released in June 2024, on the Current, Monthly Enterprise, and Insider Channels. As of writing, a concrete solution is not available, so users have been recommended to move to the Semi-Annual Channel release, where this issue has not been observed.

>>>MQ20 Battery for Microsoft Surface Pro 9 2032 1996 1997 2038

If you’re running an organization with several devices, Microsoft offers adetailed guidefor migrating your update channel with options like Group Policies, the Office Deployment Tool, Microsoft Configuration Manager, and Intune, just to name a few. For home users, a simpler way to achieve the same result is by just tweaking the registry as follows:

Open a Command Prompt (CMD) window with admin privileges.
Paste the following command and hit Enter: “reg add HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\office\16.0\common\officeupdate /v updatebranch /t REG_SZ /d SemiAnnual”
In Outlook, navigate to File > Office Account > Update Options and select “Update Now” to switch to the Semi Annual Channel.

Affected userswent through several troubleshooting hoops, like turning off graphics acceleration, disabling the spell-check utility, along with add-ins, but to no avail. It got so bad that a user with a beefy i9-14900HX reported CPU temperatures breaching 95 degrees Celsius just by having the ‘New Message’ window open, which is used to compose emails.

>>>G3HTA071H Battery for Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 1964

As the problem is still under investigation by the Outlook team, this is no more than a stopgap solution. The nature of this bug seems to be tied to how the software handles text fields, but it’s quite puzzling how such an obvious issue slipped past the developers in the first place.