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The best pre-Super Bowl deals for 4K TVs and streaming
With the big game right around the corner -- I mean Super Bowl LIV, in case that isn't clear -- it's once again time to consider making a TV upgrade. If you need a little something extra to make sure football fans stop by your party instead of staying home, a bigger and brighter setup will go further than pushing your array of snacks. Plus, while many of these deals are online, shopping locally can give you an opportunity to see the screen in person, or make for a quick return if you find out that it's just too wide for the stand you wanted to put it on. (I should've measured first.) With prices nearly as low as we saw during the Black Friday push, and likely as low as they'll get until sets start hitting clearance shelves, you have your choice of equipment. Also worth considering is the fact that this year, for the first time, you can watch a Fox Sports 4K/HDR feed. It's upconverted from 1080p, but judging from my experience watching Thursday Night Football earlier in the season, it's sharp and vibrant enough to justify switching over if you can. Fox's plan to capture the game includes eight 4K cameras, as well as three 8K cameras trained on the sidelines and benches -- you'll want every super slow motion zoom-in to look as good as possible.
Richard Lawler01.29.2020
Bixby was quiet in 2019, but don't sleep on Samsung's assistant
Decades of science fiction assured us all that, yes, one day we'd be able to control the immensely complex gadgetry around us with just our voices. It was right, mostly. The rise of the virtual assistant, built atop still other developments in cloud computing and machine learning, means we can wonder out loud what the weather is like, or how far away the moon is, or hail a car and expect a response from a carefully crafted voice in moments. And now, those disembodied voices have taken up residence in our homes.
Chris Velazco01.23.2020
Is the Dell XPS 13 the best Windows laptop around?
Very little sums up Devindra Hardawar's feelings about the Dell XPS 13 better than the first sentence of his review: It's "pretty much the best Windows ultraportable around, and you should buy it." That's a bold statement. However, the combination of thin bezels, a compact design and speedy performance helped to earn the laptop a phenomenal score of 93. The only drawbacks were the lack of a full-size SD slot and a reliance on integrated (instead of dedicated) graphics.
Amber Bouman08.15.2019
Readers tell us why the OnePlus 6T has earned so many fans
When Senior Editor Richard Lai reviewed the OnePlus 6T, new features like its distinct dewdrop notch and in-display fingerprint reader stood out to him. As the company's first offering through a US carrier and the successor to the popular OnePlus 6, the device had a lot to live up to. But it came with some trade-offs. While the 6T maintained a premium build and powerful Snapdragon 845 chipset, it ditched the headphone jack and offered some weak haptic feedback. Richard awarded the 6T an overall score of 89 (two points less than he gave the OnePlus 6). User reviewers, who tend to score more harshly, gave the 6T an average score of 84.
Amber Bouman07.19.2019
Tell us your best memories of the NES
This week, Nintendo announced an updated version of the Switch. Meanwhile, one of its oldest consoles celebrated its thirty-sixth birthday. The Nintendo Entertainment System was released on July 15th, 1983 and went on to sell over 61 million units worldwide in its lifespan, thrilling multiple generations of kids and adults with 8-bit graphics in titles like Super Mario Bros. and the Legend of Zelda.
Amber Bouman07.18.2019
The best games for Nintendo Switch
Nintendo's Switch is on a roll. The youngest of the games consoles is punching above its weight with a mix of core Nintendo games that have pushed iconic characters like Mario and Link into the modern gaming age.
Engadget07.03.2019