Email apps in particular have become smarter, so that references to a web page or an embedded phone number can be transformed into links. Now Windows 11 is getting into the game, but as part of a new experimental feature called “Suggested Actions.” Windows 11 Build 25115 for the Windows Insider Dev Channel, released this week, doesn’t offer much in the way of new features or fixes, although Windows’ speech platform has been tweaked to allow better voice activity detection and better guesses of where punctuation should be inserted during dictation. But Suggested Actions is something new. Remember, since this…

At a glanceExpert’s Rating ProsFirst-class text editing capabilitiesEasy to add and edit imagesReadily available on most PCs and MacsConsMay have trouble correctly displaying documents with heavy formatting or lots of graphicsNo PDF annotation toolsNo easy way to reorganize document pagesOur VerdictMicrosoft Word can ably edit PDFs with lots of text, but it can’t replace a dedicated PDF editor for complex documents. Price When ReviewedMicrosoft Word PDF editor: Free with Microsoft Word Best Prices Today: Microsoft Word PDF editor Retailer Price Delivery – View Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Microsoft doesn’t include a PDF editor in its Office suite,…

Odds are good that if you have a desktop computer, you spend a lot of time sitting at your desk, either for business or pleasure. So why shouldn’t your desk be as comfy and efficient as possible? While upgrading your computer can often take serious dough (especially these days), you can spend a lot less to improve your workstation itself in some surprising ways.  Here are ten ways to improve your workstation for under $100, presented in no particular order. Most of these cost less than $50, and many under $25! A fancy desk mat Oakywood No matter what kind of…

At a glanceExpert’s Rating ProsIncluded monoblock makes for an unique build for the right water cooling enthusiastBoth variants include a robust feature set, such as four M.2 slots, PCIe Gen 4, and good networkingAttractive design and RGB, especially on the EKWB monoblockUpdated X570S with no chipset fan, and mature BIOSConsCarbon EK X is more expensive than typical X570 motherboardsRequires a custom loop to work Could have additional 1Gbe LAN includedNo major performance advantage over cheaper X570S MSI Carbon Max motherboardOur VerdictThe MSI MPG X570S Carbon EK X takes aim at a niche segment of water-cooling enthusiasts, offering features and style for…

Summer is just around the corner, so you’re probably itching to get out and explore. But, before you do, consider grabbing a one-year subscription to Launching Travel, discounted today by 33 percent to just $29.99. Launching Travel is an exclusive club that provides savings on hotels, car rentals, event tickets, and more. In fact, you can save up to 60 percent off the regular cost of a hotel stay and as much as 20 percent off on other travel-related expenses. Plus, you’ll receive two magazine subscriptions, a free $25 certificate to Restaurant.com, exclusive pricing on products, cashback at 500 different stores, and…

Shipments of desktop PC CPUs fell by more than 30 percent during the first quarter of 2022, according to Mercury Research. That’s the largest drop in desktop CPU sales in history. The drop hit Intel far harder than AMD. AMD’s “all-inclusive” unit share, which includes PC CPUs, server CPUs, and the semi-custom processors used in gaming consoles, topped 27.7 percent, a record high for the company that handily exceeds the record 25.6 percent share that it recorded last quarter, Mercury added. Average prices for the combined notebook and desktop market also set a record at $138, the highest combined average…

At Google I/O Wednesday, the company announced it’s adding new privacy protections to the information it stores about you online. Also on deck: virtual credit cards, the ability to choose the ads you see in Search, and features to manage how others see your personal information in search results. But storing a driver’s license on your phone? That may be the most controversial. Google didn’t say anything about collecting less information about you, however, and the company’s new My Ad Center can be seen as just another way to personalize ads to your tastes—which means they’re even more valuable to…

Android fans have been waiting an entire year to see more options for the new and improved Wear OS 3 watches, since the only one that came out last year was Samsung’s exclusive Galaxy Watch4. At Google I/O 2022, the company announced the much-anticipated (and much-leaked) Pixel Watch, technically Google’s first smartwatch developed entirely in-house. And thanks to the company’s acquisition of Fitbit last year, it’s also going to be the first major update of Fitbit hardware since the original Fitbit Versa. Details on the Pixel Watch are still scarce, as it’s planned to launch in the fall next to…

For years, users of Google Maps have had numerous tools to navigate the planet: Street View, 3D representations, and more. Now Google is adding Immersive View, combining real-world imagery and artificial intelligence to make 3D maps even more lifelike. Google made the announcement at Google I/O, its annual developer conference, held for the first time in three years at the Shoreline Ampitheatre in Mountain View, Calif. Mapping the world “Around the world, we’ve mapped around 1.6 billion buildings, and over 60 million kilometers of roads today,” Pichai said. “Some remote and rural areas have previously been difficult to map due…

With Thunderbolt ports becoming more common in laptops, a Thunderbolt dock can be a critical accessory. Think of the Thunderbolt dock as a more powerful, high-speed alternative to a USB-C hub, adding I/O expansion to your laptop in the form of extra ports for mice, keyboards, external drives, SD cards, and, most importantly, displays. It can even charge your laptop and smartphone! Simply put, laptops are slimming down. Though cheaper laptops still include microUSB ports, HDMI, SD card slots, and more, premium laptops are opting for the “clean” look, and are pushing all of these legacy ports onto external devices….