Windows has long offered two ways to “pause” your computer without actually shutting it down: Sleep mode and Hibernate mode. Sleep is often referred to as “standby,” a low-power state that enables your computer to “wake up” almost instantly when you open the lid or hit the power button. Hibernate, on the other hand, saves …

Pebble’s last round of smartwatches came in three flavors, and several prices. Over the holidays, Pebble dropped the price on some of these watches temporarily. Now those price cuts are in effect going forward. The Pebble Time now costs $150, while the Pebble Time Round is $200. The Pebble Time Steel remains at $250. It’s a bit of a shame, …

Xbox VR? Don’t bet on it. Microsoft doesn’t see the need to produce its own virtual reality headset — and even if it did, that headset probably wouldn’t plug into an Xbox game console in the same way that rival Sony’s PlayStation VR headset works. “Would we ever do our own VR device? We could, if we thought we had …

This latest installment of The 3:59 podcast kicks off with more news on Apple’s battle with the feds. The tech giant has been fighting a court order compelling it to hack into an iPhone used by one of the attackers in the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. Apple says helping the FBI in this situation could jeopardize the privacy …

Back in early January I wrote an article asking “Would it be a mistake for Apple to remove the headphone jack on the iPhone 7?” It was based on a rumor that Apple was planning to do away with the 3.5mm headphone on the iPhone 7, likely to be released this fall, and would steer people toward using wireless headphones …

AT&T is ready to go Hollywood. The Dallas telecommunications giant unveiled on Tuesday three Web video services under its DirecTV brand. The services will launch in the fourth quarter, the company said, though it was mum on details like the price and what specific channels and content will be available. There’s DirecTV Now, a package of on-demand and live programming …

iPhone 7 may be Apple’s first to rock out with stereo speakers. A batch of rumors unleashed by Japanese blog Mac Otakara on Monday night point to several new features and changes in the next iPhone, which is expected to launch in September. Beyond the addition of stereo speakers, Apple will reportedly kill off the 3.5mm audio jack. Previous rumors …

Back in my day, McDonald’s fast-food Happy Meals came with little plastic toys like chicken McNuggets dressed as cowboys or Garfield the cartoon cat on a skateboard. And we were grateful. Kids these days are about to get a whole new dimension of reality with their Happy Meals. McDonald’s Sweden is kicking off a campaign with Happy Meal boxes that …

Has a friend ever given you a negative opinion of a movie, only for you to see it yourself and find that, though your friend had some valid arguments, it really wasn’t all that bad? That’s been my experience with smartwatches; anticipating the worst, I found that they functioned a lot better than I expected. Let me start by saying …

There’s no doubt that Twitter has been revolutionary. But for the uninitiated, logging into the microblogging platform can be a bit like getting hit with a firehose of news, social commentary, hot takes and Friday Lizard memes. To help cut through the cacophony, Twitter launched Moments — curated feeds of tweets that bring together all the news and discussion around …

Just like the Oscars and the Super Bowl, the race to the White House is set to capture the attention of the world this year. And just as with those movie awards and the big game, for many of us it’s not really about watching career achievers fulfill a lifelong dream to rise to the top of their field. It’s …

It’s Super Tuesday, and that means the remaining US presidential candidates have to do whatever they can to ensure they have enough delegates to carry them to their respective political conventions. Sometimes, that push can involve dirty tricks, by candidates or their fervent supporters, that would make people with more scruples need to take a long, scalding shower. So far, …

If you’re among the few who actually don 3D glasses to watch movies at home, you’re not gonna like this. If you’re everyone else, you probably couldn’t care less. 3D, once hailed as a breakthrough new feature on TVs and propelled into mainstream consciousness by the blue aliens of “Avatar” and the efforts of ESPN and DirecTV, has been waning …

It might be time to start a Kickstarter for Kanye West. That’s the call from Deadmau5 (aka music producer and DJ Joel Thomas Zimmerman) after he spotted what looked like Kanye’s attempt to download music editing software from online file-sharing site The Pirate Bay. In typical rockstar fashion, Deadmau5 used some colourful words. Language warning: Cussing imminent. Kanye tweeted a …

Music-streaming services let you listen to nearly any song or album for a small monthly fee. By our count, there are at least 11 subscription music services available around the world: Spotify, Rdio, Apple Music, Rhapsody, Google Play Music, Tidal, Xbox Music, Deezer, Napster, Mog and Rara. But despite all the options, they’re all pretty similar — you typically pay …