Modula5

PRODUCT REVOLUTION

HOW TO SET UP AND CUSTOMIZE YOUR WINDOWS 11 INSTALLATION

The Windows 11 setup process is similar to that of Windows 10, but there are a few surprises when it comes to account access, privacy, security, and other features. And installing the new OS is only half the battle. Afterward, you have to go through a host of setup screens to customize and configure Windows 11 the way you want it.

Apple iPhone 13: A Battery-Life Beast

The Apple iPhone 13 is a battery-life beast, with far greater longevity than previous midrange smartphones.

HOW TO DISAPPEAR COMPLETELY FROM THE INTERNET

It’s not just government spying; big-tech behemoths including Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have collected huge amounts of people’s data in order to serve up targeted ads—and then, there’s the personal data that’s scooped up in all the breaches and hacks.

Framework Laptop: True Modularity

REVIEWS/HARDWARE

Demand for SpaceX's Starlink Satellite Internet Pushes Wait Times to 2023

Demand for SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband system may push wait times into 2023.

HAS A CYBERSTALKER TAKEN OVER YOUR LIFE? HERE'S HOW TO GET IT BACK

Picture this: You enter your house and find a stranger (or an enemy) sitting at your kitchen table chowing down on your leftover potato salad and reading your mail. You order him out, but before long, he’s back.

HP Instant Ink vs. HP Plus vs. HP Smart: Which Ink Program Saves You the Most?

When you buy and install an HP printer, the setup routine may ask you to make some choices depending on the printer model.

Vilo Mesh: Very Affordable

REVIEWS/HARDWARE

You Don't Need Millions to Get Started in NFTs

When the Paper Cats project launches, it should be a continually affordable non-fungible token (NFT) avatar.

Trippy Treatments

Psilocybin, the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms,” is undergoing clinical trials. It could be the biggest advance in treating depression since Prozac.

Master Social Media Without Sacrificing Your Privacy

Some people have no filter. They’ll conduct the most personal phone conversations at maximum volume on the subway. Or they’ll regale perfect strangers with the excruciating details of their latest medical procedures. Most of us, though, have a better idea of how to maintain privacy for ourselves and our friends. But do you take the same attitude on social media? It’s easy to notice that you’re too loud on the phone in public, but it’s less easy to realize that your settings let any schmo read your social media posts. And yet protecting your privacy on social media is important, in more ways than you may realize.

Hulu: A Top Streaming Choice

As the competition between video-streaming services intensifies, differentiation is ever-important. Hulu continues to offer both a strong on-demand streaming library and a robust live TV option. The service is an excellent option for watching popular TV shows, and we like its broad platform support, even if Hulu’s original series are hit-or-miss. On the live TV front, Hulu’s channel coverage is top-notch, and its DVR features compare well to the competition’s. Despite a few missteps, Hulu keeps its Editors’ Choice award, because no other service can quite match its combination of streaming content.

Clean Up Apple Messages to Free Up Space

My family and I love to share pictures and videos in an Apple Messages group text. Since COVID-19 struck, we’ve mostly shared pics and videos of dogs, babies, food, snow, hiking, and the 20-plus bananas I accidentally bought in an online grocery order.

Sony ZV-E10: A Camera for Vloggers

A year after introducing its first camera for vloggers—the fixed-lens ZV-1—Sony is bringing the concept to an interchangeable lens platform. The ZV-E10 is built around the same sensor as the stills-focused Sony a6100 but is made just for video.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 (2021): A Superlative Aspirational System

We won’t try to keep you in suspense. When we reviewed last year’s model, we called the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon the best laptop in the world—though we later decided it shared that title with the Dell XPS 13 OLED—and it hasn’t done anything in its latest revision to change that state of affairs. The X1 Carbon Gen 9 catches up with the Dell and other elite ultraportables by moving to an 11th Generation Intel “Tiger Lake” Core processor and a slightly taller 16:10 rather than 16:9 screen aspect ratio. Its premium price and lack of an SD card slot still knock half a star off what would otherwise be a perfect five-star rating, but it effortlessly collects yet another Editors’ Choice award as the most desirable executive notebook on Earth.

HP Laptop 14-dq2020nr: A Limited Budget Laptop

You probably know that HP’s Pavilion brand is for consumer PCs priced and positioned below its upscale Envy and Spectre lines. But Pavilion is only the second-lowest rung on HP’s notebook-PC ladder. Its budget laptops have no brand at all, just a generic family name: “HP Laptop.”

Hands on With macOS Monterey: Improvements Abound

WHAT'S NEW NOW/APPLE

How to Manage Your Google Privacy Settings

A privacy policy is meant to be a contract between you and a company—big tech companies in particular—that ensures these companies are keeping your data safe. One company that has an enormous amount of your data, from email and photos to videos to documents, is Google.

WILL THE BATTLE FOR CPU SUPREMACY PUSH THE RIVALS TOGETHER?

For years, neither company has been able to claim absolute victory. But as Amazon, Apple, Google, and other tech giants design and manufacture their own processors, will AMD and Intel circle their wagons?

Fitbit Luxe: Sleek and Stylish

Do you like the idea of a fitness tracker, but you haven’t found one that suits your sense of style? The Fitbit Luxe might be right up your alley.

Sennheiser CX True Wireless: High-Quality Audio

Many of the true wireless earphones we test these days are built with noise cancelation or exercise in mind.

Mushkin Gamma: High-Performance SSD

In recent years, computer memory producer Mushkin has made a name for itself in the market for low-priced internal SSDs, but with its Gamma drive, the company has tried a change in tack—and largely pulls it off.

Why ‘Microbial Area Kleaners' Can Help Save Our Seas

EMT CEO Randall Mount addresses the benefits of MAKs.

Robosen Robotics

It’s not often you see a new product today and have a true “Wow” moment. Unless that is, you have seen the robots produced by Robosen Robotics.

The Virtual Vacation: Around the World in Your Easy Chair

The spread of COVID-19 has fundamentally disrupted everyday life for millions of people throughout the world. For many, travel plans have been canceled or delayed indefinitely. However, if there were a way to explore exotic places from the comfort of your own home, would you do it?

A Man of Every Talent

James Gunn dishes on The Suicide Squad, life, and music.