Month: August 2024
Don’t like the ‘News and interests’ panel in Windows 10? You’ll hate Microsoft’s new supersized version even more – but luckily, it’s easy to turn off
Windows 10’s News panel now gobbles up a vast amount of screen real-estate – but there’s no need to panic.
Windows 10 users are getting an expanded ‘News and interests’ panel whether they like the idea or not, it seems (something of a familiar theme these days, we might add).
This was spotted by Windows Latest which notes that News and interests, which is an icon on the Windows 10 taskbar – that expands to a large panel when hovered over or clicked, depending on your settings – is now much bigger. We’re talking around 50% larger, or even more, apparently.
This started as an experiment tested with a small number of Windows 10 users early in 2024, the tech site explains, but is now rolling out to everyone on the older of Microsoft’s two supported desktop operating systems.
The News panel covers around half the screen now, or even more like 60% of the display, Windows Latest notes – perhaps depending on the resolution and desktop configuration that you use with Windows 10. The site observes that with a laptop that has a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600, and 150% scaling of the desktop, the panel took up close to two-thirds of the screen.
This panel mostly pushes news stories from the MSN feed, but also packs widgets on the side for the weather, stocks, traffic info, and so forth (which open further details in – you guessed it – Microsoft’s Edge browser and Bing).
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
Analysis: Breaking news – Windows 10 user switches off sprawling MSN panel
The first thing we did was turn News and interests back on with our Windows 10 PC (we’ll come back to how to switch it on, or indeed off, shortly) and observed that Windows Latest is correct. At least about the panel expanding to 50% of the desktop when summoned – whereas before, it took up more like 20% (if we recall correctly).
Certainly, it has been supersized, but not quite to take up more than half the screen, at least not on our desktop anyway (at 1440p resolution). Windows Latest does provide a screenshot of the panel where it is indeed eating around 60% of the screen real-estate available – which seems rather ridiculous.
The bad news is that there’s no way to tweak the size of the News panel – you’re stuck with it being as big as Microsoft wants. The good news is that, as we already touched upon, you can turn off the feature.
It’s easy to do this: just right-click on a blank part of the taskbar (or the News icon itself) and in the menu that pops up you’ll see a ‘News and interests’ option. If you hover over that, a flyout menu will appear with the option to Turn off and you just select that – the News icon will then disappear. You can also make the icon smaller (choose Show icon only), and disable it appearing when you hover over it (untick Open on hover), if you want to keep the News option, but make it a bit less intrusive on the desktop.
The choice is yours, and as long as there is a choice, then it’s not so bad, no matter how Microsoft changes said panel.
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Stephen King is still posting about The Dark Tower. He just dropped his biggest hint yet.
Stephen King has posted another hint about The Dark Tower on X (formerly Twitter), suggested that he feels “called” back to the series.
Another day, another Stephen King hint about The Dark Tower.
Over the past week the horror author has been posting regularly about his eight-book series on X (formerly Twitter). King started by sharing fan art of main character Roland Deschain with a comment indicating the Gunslinger’s world is still there, and then followed that up over the weekend with a suggestion that the Crimson King — the series’ main antagonist — is still alive.
And now, he’s posted his biggest clue yet.
The thing is, while it’s been fun to see King talking about The Dark Tower again after so long, it hasn’t been clear what the purpose of it all is. Could it be related to Mike Flanagan’s TV adaptation? Or was King talking about another story?
Well, based on his latest post, it feels he’s hinting at the latter.
“I feel called,” wrote King in response to a fan asking what all of his posts mean.
Can’t really put it much plainer than that, can you? Sounds to us like King is revving up to write another instalment.
How to watch the 2024 Tour of Britain online for free
Live stream the 2024 Tour of Britain for free from anywhere in the world.
TL;DR: Live stream the 2024 Tour of Britain for free on ITVX. Access these free streaming platforms from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
The best cyclists in the world have got it good. Sure, they have an incredibly gruelling schedule. But they also get to travel the world doing what they love, which must be pretty great. Following on from the Tour de France, Paris Olympics, and Vuelta a España, the Tour of Britain is next in line for those talented enough to travel the world on two wheels.
If you want to watch the 2024 Tour of Britain for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
What is the Tour of Britain?
The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race conducted on British roads. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the Second World War. The current version of the Tour of Britain began in 2004, and it became part of the new UCI ProSeries in 2020.
Wout van Aert won the 2023 Tour of Britain.
When is the 2024 Tour of Britain?
The 2024 Tour of Britain is the 20th edition of the famous race. This year’s event takes place from Sep. 3 to Sep. 8.
How to watch the 2024 Tour of Britain for free
Fans can live stream the 2024 Tour of Britain for free on ITVX.
ITVX is geo-restricted to the UK, meaning you’ll be blocked if you attempt to stream on ITVX from anywhere else in the world. That is unless you’re using a VPN. With a VPN, you can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can bypass restrictions to access ITVX from anywhere in the world.
Unblock and stream on ITVX from anywhere in the world in just a few simple steps:
Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK
Visit ITVX
Stream the 2024 Tour of Britain from anywhere in the world
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ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free)
The best VPNs for streaming are not free. However, leading VPNs do tend to offer free trials or money-back guarantees. By making the most of these offers, you can watch the 2024 Tour of Britain without actually spending anything. This obviously isn’t a long-term solution, but it does give you plenty of time to watch the Tour of Britain before recovering your investment.
What is the best VPN for ITVX?
ExpressVPN remains the top choice for unblocking streaming sites from around the world. ExpressVPN is the best service for unblocking ITVX, for a number of reasons:
Servers in 105 countries including the UK
Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
Strict no-logging policy
Fast connection speeds free from throttling
Up to eight simultaneous connections
30-day money-back guarantee
A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.
Watch the 2024 Tour of Britain for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
Best CD Rates Today — Don’t Let High APYs Pass You By, Aug. 20, 2024
Earn up to three times the national average with these top CDs.
Earn up to three times the national average with these top CDs.
Price, not AI, is the deal-breaker for potential iPhone 16 buyers
A survey has found that price and thermal design are the biggest factors in whether people will purchase an iPhone 16.
The main trend in smartphones currently is AI, as exemplified by the AI-packed Google Pixel 9 line, but for iPhone owners, AI might not be such a big deal.
This is according to a survey of over 2,000 US adults that own iPhones, carried out by SellCell (via 9to5Mac).
Despite Apple doing its best to hype Apple Intelligence earlier this year, the survey found that just 21.9% of respondents considered AI to be the most important factor in whether they upgrade, and 82.1% said they would be happy to wait an extra month after launch for the AI features to start rolling out.
So what are the main things that could tempt people to upgrade to an iPhone 16? Well, according to this survey, affordability that’s the main factor, which – since Apple has never been overly known for competitive prices – could be a bad sign for the upcoming phones.
That said, this is still only the top factor for 30.9% of respondents, so there’s no clear consensus on the most important aspect.
In second place there’s the hope of a new thermal design to combat overheating, which is likely a response to the overheating issues some iPhone 15 Pro models initially exhibited.
Then in third place it’s AI, so there is at least some interest in this, and that’s followed by a faster chipset, and then the rumored larger screen sizes on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
But while only 19.3% of respondents considered larger screen sizes to be the most important rumored feature of the iPhone 16 line, 54.9% said they would like a larger iPhone, while only 12.9% claimed to be holding out for a new compact model.
For many Apple fans, the iPhone 15 Pro Max isn’t big enough (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Buttons are seemingly boring
The rumored Capture button and the likely presence of the Action button on all four upcoming phones seemingly hasn’t excited many potential purchasers though, with just 19% claiming the latter is the most important factor in their purchase, and 17.7% pointing to the former.
Perhaps unsurprisingly there’s even less interest in Wi-Fi 7 or in a vertical camera lens arrangement for the standard models, but the potential for new iPhone 16 colors was the thing that the fewest respondents saw as the main factor in a potential purchase. Which is fair enough, especially if you’re just going to be putting the phone in a case anyway.
But despite a fairly muted response to some of the most high profile rumored features, 61.9% of respondents said they probably would buy a model in the iPhone 16 line, and among those who claim they won’t the main reasons are the cost, and them being happy with their current iPhone.
Still, while there’s some interesting data here, it’s worth remembering this is a tiny sample size relative to all the people who might consider buying an iPhone 16, and it also only accounts for the US – which is Apple’s biggest market – and only existing iPhone owners. So this definitely won’t tell the whole story.
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UK government set to back working from home to boost productivity
Working from home could boost falling producitivty, especially if workers have the right to switch off, says PM.
The UK government has said that a “culture of presenteeism” among workers has damaged productivity, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer subsequently backing working from home to reverse this.
‘Presenteeism’ refers to the practice of businesses introducing a minimum number of days that an employee should be in the office per week or month, but there are questions on whether this tactic actually improves productivity.
The government also wants to introduce the “right to switch off”, which would set out a code of practice on contacting employees outside of working hours.
RTO mandates failing
Both working from home and the right to switch off are aimed at tackling a single goal. “The focus behind that is on improving productivity,” Sir Keir’s spokesman said. “Good employers understand that for workers to stay motivated and productive they do need to be able to switch off and a culture of presenteeism can be damaging to productivity.”
“So it’s about making sure we have the right balance between making the most of the flexible working practices that we saw following the pandemic, with also having appropriate arrangements in place to ensure that people can stay productive,” he concluded.
A recent analysis by Flex Index (via ITPro) also found that just 3% of firms have a full-time return to office mandate, whereas 79% of firms offer fully flexible working. Just 18% are mandating which days their workers have to be in the office.
The governments working from home policy would however depend on individual business needs as “people’s roles will vary.” The Conservative party has questioned whether policies such as these would apply to civil servants and government advisors, criticising the PM that the rules Sir Keir imposed on businesses would not apply to his own staff.
“Expected working hours are set out for all Cabinet Office employees in their terms and conditions of employment,” Cabinet Office minister Georgia Gould said in response.
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iPhone 16 Pro Models to Be Assembled in India for the First Time
Apple is making the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max in India for the first time this year as it looks to diversify production beyond China, according to Bloomberg.
Tear-off tab packaging for iPhone 16 Pro (Image source: Weibo)
Apple has reportedly been considering producing the iPhone Pro models in India for the last couple of years, and has now decided to manufacture the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max models in India.
Initially, the iPhone 16 Pro models will be imported into the country, but Apple will start local assembly for both the domestic market and exports shortly after launch in mid-September, once the new product introduction (NPI) process is complete.
Training is said to be already underway for thousands of workers at Foxconn’s factory in southern Tamil Nadu state as it rushes to produce the iPhone 16 Pro models as close to the global launch as possible.
When Is the iPhone 16 Coming Out?
Last year, Apple had India-made iPhone 15 models ready on launch day, with locally made iPhone 15 Plus models becoming available shortly after.Related Roundup: iPhone 16 ProTag: IndiaThis article, “iPhone 16 Pro Models to Be Assembled in India for the First Time” first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Apple is making the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max in India for the first time this year as it looks to diversify production beyond China, according to Bloomberg.
Apple has reportedly been considering producing the iPhone Pro models in India for the last couple of years, and has now decided to manufacture the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max models in India.
Initially, the iPhone 16 Pro models will be imported into the country, but Apple will start local assembly for both the domestic market and exports shortly after launch in mid-September, once the new product introduction (NPI) process is complete.
Training is said to be already underway for thousands of workers at Foxconn’s factory in southern Tamil Nadu state as it rushes to produce the iPhone 16 Pro models as close to the global launch as possible.
When Is the iPhone 16 Coming Out?
Last year, Apple had India-made iPhone 15 models ready on launch day, with locally made iPhone 15 Plus models becoming available shortly after.
This article, “iPhone 16 Pro Models to Be Assembled in India for the First Time” first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums
Should you sign up for Hulu? Our film critics weigh in.
Tiers and bundles as far as the eye can see. Let’s run down the pros and cons of a Hulu subscription.
With the streaming wars in full swing, it can be challenging to figure out which services to sign up for, or what benefits they offer. It feels like Hollywood studios come out with new platforms every week, whether Disney+, Paramount+, Apple TV+, or even MGM+. Based on the plus signs in their name, they all may love math, but they won’t exactly help you budget for your entertainment needs — which is where Mashable’s watch guides and streaming app reviews come in.
After all, what better way to figure out which services are worth it than by hearing from the people who use them on the regular? We’ve tested the waters so you don’t have to (though in many cases, you can sign up for a free trial if you choose). This time, we’re running down the pros, cons, and costs of one of the OGs of the streaming industry: Hulu.
The site is available in the U.S. and Japan, though we’ll be detailing the American version.
What is Hulu?
Credit: Hulu
Launched just a few months after Netflix, Hulu has been around since October 2007, when it began as a joint venture between several companies, including NBCUniversal and News Corporation, though it’s now wholly owned by Disney. The site started as a place to watch recently aired episodes of your favorite TV shows, a function it still retains, though the app has since branched out with its own originals, including Shōgun, The Bear, and The Handmaid’s Tale, and even a live TV component as an alternative to cable.
Hulu has a nifty topic bar on every page that allows you to navigate between its major categories. You can go to “Movies” and “TV” — each offers a combination of Hulu Originals as well shows and films from elsewhere, with further options to sort by genre or network. There’s also a “My Stuff” button that lets you quickly access all the programming you’ve added to your queue. These features ought to be familiar if you’ve used other streaming sites, but Hulu also has an option called “Hubs,” which sets it apart from its competitors.
Where the “Movies” and “TV” tabs will categorize content by genre, Hulu’s specialized “Hubs” are more granular, since they divide films and shows by more specific points of origin. Some Hubs are studio or production company-specific, in case you’re in the mood for a film distributed by Neon or a show produced by FX. Other Hubs, meanwhile, are divided by country or culture, with options like “Black Stories Always” for African American voices, or “Hulu Has Pride” for LGBTQ+ stories. There’s also the “Hotstar” hub, named for the Disney-owned Indian streaming service, which grants viewers access to a whole library of Indian movies and shows in various languages.
How much is Hulu without ads?
Credit: Hulu
A Hulu ad-supported plan will run you $7.99 a month (or $79.99 a year), unless you’re a student, in which case you may be eligible for Hulu (With Ads) for just $1.99 a month once you verify your college enrollment. Also, if you happen to be Hulu-shopping during the site’s annual Thanksgiving sale, you may be able to snag a year-long subscription for as low as $0.99 a month if you’re a new subscriber. In the meantime, the Hulu (With Ads) tier offers a free seven-day trial so you can get the hang of things, though you’ll need to input a payment method and remember to cancel before the trial period ends if you don’t want to be charged.
The ad-free Hulu (No Ads) tier is a little more expensive, at $17.99 a month, but it’s a smoother, interruption-free experience without ad breaks during the episodes. The only downside is that some shows will still play with a few unskippable ads before the video begins.
Can you bundle Hulu with other streaming services?
Credit: Hulu
If you like to keep your streaming options varied, there may still be a way to cut costs, either through bundling Hulu with other apps, or through the streamer’s add-on services. Since Hulu is owned by Disney, the studio offers a number of bundling options with two of its other major streaming sites, Disney+ and ESPN+, with the following combinations:
Disney Bundle Duo Basic: Hulu (With Ads) and Disney+ (With Ads) for $9.99 a month
Disney Bundle Duo Premium: Hulu (No Ads) and Disney+ (No Ads) for $19.99 a month — you would need to purchase this one through Disney+
Disney Bundle Trio Basic: Hulu (With Ads), Disney+ (With Ads) and ESPN+ (With Ads) for $14.99 a month
Disney Bundle Trio Premium: Hulu (No Ads), Disney+ (No Ads) and ESPN+ (With Ads) for $24.99 a month
Hulu also recently added the option of bundling with Disney+ and the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned Max for $16.99 a month, all of them with ads. However, if you’d rather sign up just for Hulu but still want to be able to customize your services later, you can not only switch between Hulu (With Ads) and Hulu (No Ads) in your account settings, but you can also add Disney+ and ESPN+ as Partner Add-ons, as well as Premium Add-ons like Max, Paramount+ with Showtime, Cinemax, and Starz.
How much is Hulu Live TV?
For prospective cable-cutters, Hulu has a Live TV Only option if you just want access to about 90 channels (depending on your zip code), though its $75.99 a month price point can’t compete with YouTube TV’s $72.99 or Sling’s various $40 to $55 tiers for live TV.
However, you can also bundle Hulu Live TV in a number of permutations with other services that might make it worth your while. If you want it with Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ (all three with ads), then the monthly price is just a dollar more than the Live TV Only option, at $76.99.
That price tag goes up an additional $5 to $81.99 if you want your Disney+ without ads, and another $8 on top of that if you want to remove ads from the Hulu streaming service as well, meaning the most expensive tier — Hulu (No Ads) + Live TV with Disney+ (No Ads) and ESPN+ (With Ads) — will run you $89.99 monthly.
Regardless of which tier or bundle you choose, you’ll have unlimited DVR storage, and can also pay to add various sports and entertainment networks as you please, in both English and Spanish.
Can you download movies on Hulu?
Credit: Hulu
Like most major streaming services, Hulu is available across every major smartphone, smart TV, gaming console, and tablet, with the option to download movies and shows on most mobile devices. However, you can only download content with a Hulu (No Ads) plan or bundle.
You can also watch downloaded content offline, and while downloads on Hulu have certain time restrictions, they’re easy to renew. Each file will remain valid for 30 days, and you’ll have 48 hours to complete a film or episode once you start watching, but after that, you can download it again with no hassle.
Is Hulu worth it?
All in all, while you may have better luck elsewhere with your live TV options, our verdict is that Hulu is worth the price if you decide to bundle it with other streaming services or take advantage of its annual sale in November.