How-To Geek

If you’ve ever tried building a smart home across brands, you already know the frustration of devices disconnecting, apps not syncing, and ‘universal standards’ still requiring workarounds. This is a problem that Samsung is now trying to solve. The brand’s global smart home platform, SmartThings now offers native, hub-free integration with 25 IKEA smart home devices. Notably, the partnership goes deeper, instead of the two brands just slapping a compatible sticker on the box and calling it a day.

Many gamers don’t mind spending hundreds of dollars on a new graphics card the moment they notice a performance drop in their favorite games, while the CPU remains untouched for years. While this upgrade pattern can work to some extent, since most games are GPU-bound, that strategy only holds for so long. CPUs aren’t immune to time, and modern games are starting to demand more from them than ever before.

Amazon is facing a proposed class action lawsuit in California state court for allegedly forcing early Fire TV Stick users to upgrade by dropping software support.

For years, smart home systems such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home have been free to use. If you bought an Amazon Echo smart speaker, for example, you could use it to control your smart home without any additional fees. Both Amazon and Google have recently started to lock some smart home features behind paywalls, but there's a free alternative that never will.

Luxury sedans have changed a lot over the last decade. Bigger screens, softer rides, and more driver-assist tech have become the new standard.

Finding the right setup for your garage or DIY shop is easier said than done. A big part of that process is a workbench, which is where you'll complete all your projects. While Ryobi is most known for its wide array of 18V ONE+ tools, the company also makes excellent accessories, including this Ryobi Framework Workbench.

I stopped using Gmail around 8 years ago. The decision did not arrive as a reaction to a single incident or policy change but as a gradual shift in how I thought about email as a system. Gmail worked well then and continues to work well now. What changed for me was not the quality of the product but the role it played in a larger ecosystem that collects and correlates data across nearly every digital interaction (which sounds abstract until you notice how often you click "Sign in with Google").

There are plenty of reasons to want to upgrade that starter or affordable turntable you bought when you first got into vinyl. Maybe your passion has grown, and you want to get a bit more serious, or maybe you got some new speakers and want to do them justice by stepping up from your sub-$300 turntable.

Now that Sony and Honda have cancelled their Afeela EVs, they're ready to put their automotive joint venture on hold. The Japanese companies have announced that they will "scale down" operations at Sony Honda Mobility.

If you're curious about self-hosting and owning a NAS but got put off by the price of "proper" NAS enclosures, I've got good news for you: you don't need to spend a fortune to get started.

When it comes to keeping your vehicle on the road for the long haul, oil changes and tire rotations are still king. Most cars have an oil life monitor to let you know when it’s time for an oil change. And since most cars now use a longer-lasting synthetic oil, it’s a good idea to rotate your tires at each oil change (back in the day, you used to rotate your tires every other oil change because the previous interval was 3,000 miles).

In a rational world, Linux is just an operating system and people who genuinely believe it's a better operating system than the alternatives would want it to become as easy to use and popular as possible.

Every homeowner or DIYer has a few power tools from their preferred brand, with Milwaukee being a popular choice. And while most brands offer the essentials, what sets Milwaukee apart is its vast selection of unique, niche, or trade-specific tools. With that in mind, here are some neat Milwaukee tools you can't get from Makita.

I have long loved the idea of owning a Fairphone, but it wasn't until the latest generation that I decided to make the switch. Unfortunately, shortly after placing the order, I realized this phone wouldn't quite live up to its promise of being fully repairable. In some areas, it is just as vulnerable as any other phone.

YouTubers are great at driving interest in 3D printers, especially with fancy time-lapses and early hardware reviews. Some of these polished tutorials tend to hide a trend of viral hacks created for views instead of engineering quality. But replacing mechanical knowledge with surface-level tricks can inadvertently hide hardware problems that need careful consideration.

Digital minimalism is one of those ideas that sounds wise until you actually live it. The promise is fewer devices, more focus—but what you often get instead is one overloaded machine pulling you in six directions at once. I know because I tried it, and my "optimized" two to three device setup was quietly one of the most distracted periods of my life. More devices fixed that—and the reason has its roots in behavioral psychology.

When you think of the best Pixar movies, a few likely come to mind first—maybe the always-popular Toy Story series or the emotional rollercoaster of Up.

You might think of your NAS as a "build once and forget about it" thing. The thing is, however, that just like your computer does, your NAS can benefit from upgrades. And a really good upgrade people often overlook is RAM. Here's why it'd be worth it to upgrade—if you can afford these RAM prices, that is.

While most Galaxy owners are still waiting for the One UI 8.5 release, Google and Samsung have already begun testing the next big update, One UI 9, based on Android 17. Google announced Android 17 in February and is now beta-testing the new software, which will be available on Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets soon.

Linux has been used as a catch-all term for any free, open-source operating system that prioritizes user control over systems like Windows or macOS. Although many share command-line interfaces and a philosophy of freedom, calling every open-source project a Linux distribution ignores important details about computing history and engineering. There are distinctions you need to understand if you want to appreciate the complexity and variety of open-source software. Just remember, not everything that is an outsider is Linux, even though distros can be very different.