Gaming
Are game subscription services actually worth the monthly fee?
Game subscriptions promise a library instead of a shelf of discs, but the value depends entirely on how you already play, not on the size of the catalogue.
Published by THRYV Tech Desk
Gaming
Console or PC upgrade: the real cost comparison for 2026
The sticker price of a console or a graphics card is the smallest part of the decision. Total cost of ownership over a five-year window tells a different story.
Buying Guides
How to choose a work laptop that will still be worth using in four years
Specification sheets emphasise numbers that age badly. A handful of durability and support signals predict longevity far better than clock speed alone.
Business
The real economics of hiring remote versus in-office staff
Remote hiring is usually framed as a cultural or productivity debate. The cost side of the decision is more concrete, and often decides the question first.
Streaming
Streaming price tiers and password-sharing rules, explained
Ad-supported plans, extra-member fees, and shared-account crackdowns have turned a simple monthly bill into a small pricing puzzle. Here is how the pieces fit together.
Automotive
EV charging costs and battery health: what to actually expect
Charging an electric vehicle is cheaper than fuelling a petrol car in most scenarios, but the gap is narrower, and more location-dependent, than headline comparisons suggest.
Business
Cost control for small businesses that does not start with headcount
Layoffs are the most visible cost lever and often the last one a small business should pull. A structured review usually finds savings before staffing needs to be touched.
Streaming
Ad-supported streaming tiers: what you actually give up
The cheapest tier on any streaming service is rarely free of trade-offs. Knowing which trade-offs apply to which service avoids an unwelcome surprise mid-series.
Business
How to choose a CRM without overbuying or underbuying
Customer relationship management software ranges from simple contact lists to sprawling platforms. Matching the tool to the actual sales process avoids years of paying for unused features.
Streaming
Why your television now shows you different adverts than your neighbour
Streaming turned the least targeted medium in advertising into one of the most addressable. The controls exist — they are just several menus deep.
Tech
How to judge a laptop spec sheet without being sold to
Four numbers decide how a machine feels after a year. Most of the others exist to differentiate models that are otherwise identical.
Software & CRM
The quiet cost of software: how to audit your subscriptions
Perpetual licences became monthly fees, trials became renewals, and the total is rarely visible in one place. An hour of arithmetic usually pays for itself.
Tech
How long a phone really gets security updates
Support length has quietly become the most consequential specification on a phone — and the one most likely to be missing from the product page.
AI
What "on-device AI" actually changes on a phone
Manufacturers now market local model execution as a headline feature. The honest version is narrower: it changes latency, privacy exposure and battery behaviour — not capability across the board.
Software & CRM
The SaaS contract renewal checklist most businesses skip
Auto-renewal clauses and usage-based pricing tiers turn a routine software renewal into a decision that deserves the same scrutiny as the original purchase.
Tech
One connector, many rules: how to read USB-C charging specs
The port is standard. The cable, the charger and what the two negotiate between them are not — which is why a laptop can charge slowly from a perfectly good plug.
AI
What actually happens to what you type into an AI chatbot
Retention, human review and training use are three separate settings. Most people assume one switch controls all of them.
AI
What an AI agent can and cannot do for you yet
"Agent" now describes everything from a scripted macro to a model with access to your inbox. The difference matters most when something goes wrong.
AI
AI-generated video advertising: reading the Smavida pitch carefully
A wave of platforms now promises to analyse a business, generate video ads and place them across streaming, social and connected TV automatically. Smavida is one of them — here is how to evaluate the model.
Tech
How to read a TV spec sheet without being upsold
The panel and its processing decide how a television looks in your living room. Most of the numbers printed on the box are there to justify a higher price.
Gaming
Screen Tearing, V-Sync and Adaptive Sync: What Actually Fixes Stutter in Games
A plain-language guide to why games tear or stutter, and which display and driver settings genuinely solve it versus just adding input lag.
Streaming
Lossless, Hi-Res, and 'CD Quality': What Streaming Audio Labels Actually Mean
Music apps love badges like Lossless, Hi-Res, and Ultra HD. Here's what those words technically mean, where the sound quality actually gets lost anyway, and when paying for a higher tier is worth it.
AI
Why AI Chatbots Sometimes Make Things Up—and How to Check Their Answers
Large language models don't 'lie' the way people do, but they can produce confident, wrong answers. Here's what's actually happening under the hood, and a practical routine for catching it.
AI
What an AI 'Context Window' Actually Is (and Why It Keeps Forgetting You)
Ever had a chatbot forget something you said ten minutes ago? That's not a bug in its personality — it's a hard architectural limit called a context window. Here's what it means and how to work with it.
Software & CRM
Cloud versus on-premise software: what small teams should weigh now
The cloud-by-default assumption has held for a decade, but rising subscription costs and data-control concerns have made on-premise software worth a second look for some small teams.
Gaming
Why Your Controller Feels Slower Than It Should: Input Lag Explained
The delay between pressing a button and seeing it happen on screen comes from more places than you'd think — and most of them are fixable.
Gaming
Ping, Jitter, and Packet Loss: What Actually Causes Online Game Lag
Your download speed is probably not the problem. Here's what those three network numbers really measure, and which one to fix first.
Gaming
How Game Upscaling (DLSS, FSR, XeSS) Actually Works, and What You're Trading Away
Turning on an upscaler can make a game run dramatically faster with barely a visual penalty, or it can look worse than native resolution. The difference comes down to how the technology reconstructs an image, and which mode you pick.
Streaming
Paramount Wants States Suing Over Its Warner Bros. Deal to Post a $1.88 Billion Bond
The media giant says a coalition of 12 states and the Writers Guild should have to guarantee its losses while the antitrust fight over its Warner Bros. Discovery deal drags on. A judge is set to weigh the request Sept. 24.
AI
Google's New 'CC' AI Agent Wants to Run Your Family's Schedule
The experimental assistant reads your email and calendar to fill out permission slips, plan meals, and calculate drive times — but it's invite-only for now.
Gaming
Microsoft Cuts Hundreds More Xbox Jobs, Hands Halo's Next Game to Activision
The restructuring is now 75% complete toward 3,200 planned Xbox job cuts, with Obsidian folding into Bethesda and Turn 10 merging with Playground Games.
Tech
Meta Unveils Charm, a Keychain-Sized AI Gadget, at Connect 2026
Announced alongside new Ray-Ban Meta glasses and a $1,299 VR headset, Charm packs Meta's Muse AI assistant into a pocketable touchscreen device shipping this December.
AI
Verizon Commits $70 Million to Free AI Training for U.S. Workers
The telecom giant is teaming with OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Anthropic and others to offer no-cost AI upskilling to job seekers, educators and small businesses.
Streaming
Paramount Clears Its Last Legal Hurdle to Buy Warner Bros. Discovery
A settlement with 12 state attorneys general — including new content and jobs commitments — removes the final roadblock to the $110 billion media merger.
AI
U.S. and China Agree to Open a Direct Channel for AI 'Incidents' — But Not Much Else
The deal, announced after a three-day Trump-Xi summit, sets up dialogue on artificial intelligence risks. The two sides didn't agree to jointly regulate or develop frontier AI.
Tech
INMO Air3 Smart Glasses Recalled After Reports of Burns to the Face and Ear
The CPSC says the left temple of INMO's $900-$1,300 AR glasses can overheat during extended use; the company is offering a free software fix.
Tech
Meta's New Muse AI Agent Shared a User's Home Address Without Permission, He Says
Meta hasn't independently confirmed the incident, but the agent itself admitted afterward that it "never asked for consent."
Tech
Pentagon Data Breach Exposed Social Security Numbers of Nearly 3 Million People
A breach of the Defense Manpower Data Center ran undetected for nine months, exposing personal records of current and former military-connected people and their families.
Gaming
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis Shuts Down October 6 — Here's What Happens to Your Purchases
The mobile RPG goes dark October 6, cutting off new currency sales and limiting refunds to players in Taiwan.
Tech
NEWDERY Recalls 21,380 Power Banks Sold on Amazon After Explosions, $2 Million Fire
The CPSC says the ZHX-PB22 power bank's battery can explode or ignite; nine reports include a fire that caused $2 million in damage.
Streaming
Disney Is Sending 'Ice Age' and 'Percy Jackson' to Netflix. Here's the Catch.
A new licensing deal, confirmed October 2, puts Disney and Pixar titles on Netflix for limited windows — often timed right before they hit Disney+ or theaters.
AI
OpenAI Starts Testing Visual Ads Inside ChatGPT's Image Generator
The ads appear after image results for U.S. users on free and low-cost plans, OpenAI says, as the company looks to monetize its free tier.
Streaming
Paramount Just Closed Its $110 Billion Deal for Warner Bros. Discovery. Here's What Changes for HBO Max and Paramount+.
The merged company, now operating as Skydance, combines HBO Max, Paramount+, and Pluto TV under one roof — though a single unified streaming app isn't happening yet.
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