ADT offers Yale Assure locks with its ADT+ home security systems, and now the security service provider has partnered with Yale and the Z-Wave Alliance to introduce the Yale Assure Lock 2 Touch with Z-Wave. This is the first Z-Wave lock with fingerprint recognition that is certified to use the Z-Wave User Credential Command Class specification that was released in June 2024. The new lock also features the latest generation Z-Wave 800 chipset, which promises longer battery life and improved range on a Z-Wave mesh network. Thanks to its use of the Z-Wave User Credential Command Class spec, ADT+ subscribers will be able arm and disarm their security system at the same time they lock or unlock the new deadbolt, all by just touching their previously enrolled finger to the new lock. ADT offers the Yale Assure Lock 2 Touch with Z-Wave with its ADT+ home security systems, which can be self- or professionally installed.ADT “ADT, alongside our partners at Yale and the Z-Wave Alliance, is setting a new standard for smart home security,” ADT EVP and Chief Business Officer Omar Khan” said in a press release. “With the introduction of the User Credential Command Class and updates to ADT+, we’re not just launching a new lock—we’re redefining how security systems and smart locks work together. This is a leap forward for home security, combining convenience and protection in a way that has never been done before.” Version 3.6 of the ADT+ app, available now, also adds a new Home/Away feature that detects the location of registered smartphones within the home’s geofence to determine occupancy. If everyone leaves the home and takes their phones with them, the security system can automatically switch to Away mode, triggering all unlocked smart locks in the home to lock. Using ADT’s Trusted Neighbors feature, subscribers can enroll their neighbors and grant them permission to enter the home to check in on the home if, for example, a water leak sensor detects the presence of water where it shouldn’t be. They can do the same for regular household help while restricting their access to a defined window of time. This news story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart locks. The latest ADT+ app update also allows ADT monitoring agents to check the system’s security cameras for threat assessment if the system goes into an alarm state while the home is unoccupied. The Yale Assure Lock 2 Touch with Z-Wave is available now at ADT.com for $279.99. ADT customers can install the lock themselves or pay an ADT technician to do the job. We’re working on a full review of the ADT+ home security system now, and we’ll also be putting the new lock through its paces. Look for that coverage soon. Read...

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TL;DR: 1minAI’s lifetime subscription is on sale for $79.97 (over 80% off) before this price drop expires. You’ve heard of ChatGPT, Gemini, and the other top AI tools, but probably not the newest one that’s rising as their biggest competitor. Why? It combines them all into a single platform without subscription fees—and we think it’s far easier to use, especially if you’re new to AI. So, you need to generate articles for work? (We won’t tell). Use 1minAI’s preset tool and select a tone, length, number of sections, and keywords, then describe your desired content. This is where you can also select your preferred AI model like GPT-4o, Gemini 1.5 Pro, or Claude 3.5 Sonnet, among others. There are also AI tools for images, documents, audio, video, and code. 1minAI works on a credit system. You trade credits for AI-generated content, but unless you’re generating full books daily, you’re probably not going to run into any walls. Your lifetime subscription gives you 4,000,000 credits every month. That means you can generate about 32,000,000 words or 640 images. And just by logging in, you can get an extra 450,000 credits every month.  Get lifetime access to this all-in-one AI tool for $79.97 (reg. $540) for a little while longer. No coupon is needed for this price drop. 1min.AI Advanced Business Plan Lifetime SubscriptionSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

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Roku is best known for its streaming boxes and sticks, but it also offers free TV entertainment on its Roku Channel, including live linear TV and some original movies, and you don’t need to have Roku’s hardware—or a Roku TV—to watch it. We’ll show you all the ways you can enjoy the bounty. You can access the Roku Channel via a web browser or via Roku’s mobile apps for Android and iOS. To watch on a smart TV or another brand of streaming device (an Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, Samsung smart TV), you’ll need to install the Roku Channel app from that device’s app store. Unfortunately, Roku doesn’t have a version of the Roku Channel app for LG smart TVs or the Apple TV streamer. But we’ll show you some workarounds for those platforms later. You don’t need a Roku-powered streaming device or TV to watch the free entertainment on the Roku Channel; in fact, you don’t need a media streamer at all. Just point your web browser to theRokuChannel.com and pick what you want to watch.Michael Brown/Foundry What’s available on the Roku Channel? The Roku Channel offers a wide array of FAST (free ad-supported TV) channels, movies and TV series you can watch on demand, as well as live linear TV (movies and shows are streamed on a fixed schedule—as in the good ol’ days of broadcast television—but you can drop in whenever you want). You’ll find some of this same content on other FAST services, such as Pluto and Tubi, but Roku always has a selection of popular films and shows that are exclusive to the Roku Channel. Roku’s most high-profile original project so far is the Emmy-winning Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe as the satirical singer. Roku offers a small amount of its own original programming, including Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe.Jared Newman / Foundry Other original shows include The Great American Baking Show, Honest Renovations, and Visionaries: The Arch Project with Keanu Reeves. It’s a tiny catalog when compared to what’s streaming on Max or Netflix, but you can watch all these shows for free (with ads). Roku has also gone bargain hunting, picking up worthy projects other streaming services have dropped. That includes the entire library of Quibi, the failed “quick bites” short form video service that Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg (former chief executive of Disney and co-founder of Dreamworks), designed for phones. Roku rescued an entire library of Quibi shows like Die Hart with Kevin Hart, Most Dangerous Game, a Punk’d revival with Chance the Rapper, the Reno 911! revival, and Bill Burr Presents Immoral Compass. Roku also picked up The Spiderwick Chronicles TV series from Disney+. Roku acquired the entire Quibi library of short films and offers it for free on the Roku Channel.Quibi Since The Roku Channel was designed as a hub for Roku streaming devices, there’s a lot of emphasis on luring users to subscribe to other streaming services, such as Prime Video, Peacock, MGM+, and Paramount+. If you’re not familiar with the catalogs of those streaming services, you might find yourself routed to their apps or websites when you click on a title. If you are interested in subscribing to those services, it’s best to sign up for them directly, so that your customer relationship is with the service provider and not a go-between. How to use a browser to watch the Roku Channel First, point your browser to therokuchannel.com. You’ll see a large grid with thumbnail images of the movies and TV shows on offer. At the risk of contradicting everything I’ve said about this entertainment being free and ad supported; well, some of it—a little of it—isn’t. But the Roku Channel user interface makes it easy to tell the difference.Roku’s browser view makes it easy to identify which content is free with ads and which requires a subscription to one service or another. Each section features tiles that slide to the left or right with arrows on each side of the screen, much like the navigation on Netflix. You’ll need to scroll down three times to see the entire user interface when viewing the Roku Channel in a web browser on an iPhone. Michael Brown/Foundry What you can’t do is adjust the view of the page to hide the Premium Subscription content. That makes sense—for Roku, at least—because part of the company’s business model revolves around you subscribing to outside services from within its site, for which Roku collects a commission. But it would be nice if users could hide the subscription options they don’t plan to use. A Browse tab allows a viewer to focus on such categories as Roku Originals, Movies, Series, Comedy, Drama, Western, and dozens of others. You can click a + button next to a program’s description to add it to a Saved tab. The Live TV tab shows what’s streaming now with the same sliding tile interface the rest of The Roku Channel site uses. It’s a bit counterintuitive for anyone who grew up with the traditional cable guide grid interface that Pluto and Tubi use for their live TV offerings. How to use the Roku Channel mobile app The Roku Channel lives inside the Roku app for iOS and Android. That app is primarily designed to act as a remote for a Roku device or Roku-powered television, so you’ll need to get used to working around that capability if you’re primarily using the app to just watch the Roku Channel. There is no Roku Channel app for the Apple TV streaming box, but you can play the service on your phone and cast it to the box connected your big-screen TV via Apple AirPlay.Michael Brown/Foundry For example, I use an Apple TV streamer with a TCL television that happens to have the Roku software built in. I don’t use the Roku software on the television, but I do have a Roku account. Press the wrong icon on the screen, and the Roku interface launches on the TV screen. There’s no way to turn that off or eliminate the icons for apps you may have installed on a Roku device or television. The mobile app uses the same sliding tile interface as the web version, but it’s far more difficult to use on a smaller screen. There’s no way to get an overview of what’s streaming live, and it’s impossible to surface a list of Roku Originals if you’re looking to focus on movies and shows exclusive to the channel. If you own an Apple TV, you can watch The Roku Channel on your television screen via mirroring. There’s no support for AirPlay. That means you won’t have access to anything but the streaming video when watching. What’s the best way to watch the Roku Channel? If have a Google-, Amazon Fire- or Roku-powered streaming device or television, download the Roku Channel app for your respective device, as that’s the easiest way to watch the service, as you’ll be able to use a remote control. If you don’t have one of those devices, the easiest way to watch the Roku Channel is on a web browser on a computer or tablet. If you’re looking to use your mobile device and want to have access to the full catalog of movies and shows, your best bet is to log in via a web browser and add what you want to your Save List. That content will then be easily accessed on the mobile app. Free streaming has become a major player in home entertainment. If you’re willing to put up with a few commercials (and sometimes the same commercials playing during every single ad break), there’s a wide variety of classic and relatively new movies and shows available on the Roku Channel—and other FAST services—to pass the time. Read...

Buying toilet paper got ugly during the early part of COVID—between panic buying and hoarding, shelves were often empty. Due to tariffs, we may soon see similar scarcity for a bigger range of products, and that could include tech gear like PCs. Recently, the biggest port in the U.S. said that by next week, arriving shipments will have declined by 35 percent… and that empty shelves could soon follow in several weeks. In an interview with TV news station KTLA, Gene Seroka, the executive director for the Port of Los Angeles, described the anticipated drop and the expectation of layoffs in adjacent industries like trucking and longshoremen. More relevant to those of us at home, retailers who’ve spoken with Seroka gave an estimate of about five to seven remaining weeks of usual inventory. (That is, we consumers being able to walk into a store and immediately get what we need or want). After that stock runs out, Seroka predicts a rise in product prices, as well as a decrease in selection for goods. The example given: You might want to buy a blue shirt, but you’ll instead only find one among many purple ones. Despite the current (but temporary) hold on the higher tariffs for electronics like laptops, the ongoing chaos with these taxes will still likely result in fewer options and higher prices. When I spoke with companies about the effects of tariffs, multiple sources warned of reducing the availability and variety of product lineups, along with potential price increases to cover the new levies. So if you’re on an older Windows 10 PC that can’t make the upgrade to Windows 11, you could end up in a similar situation as the above shirt example—maybe you want a budget laptop for under $500, but all that’s available are $1,200+ models. Our current favorite cheap laptop currently costs just $280. That likely won’t last through the summer.Raphael Brasileiro / Unsplash Currently, one asset management company (Apollo Global) has sketched out a possible timeline for how fast tariffs could lead to empty shelves, as per Investor’s Business Daily. Released on April 27, their scenario has container shipments drying up by mid-May and domestic freight (transportation) by late May, with layoffs in retail and trucking beginning in mid-June. A recession could then follow in the summer. You can get a closer look at how this grim outlook is playing out right now in tech through Gamers Nexus’s detailed three-hour video report, which contains extremely transparent interviews with multiple contacts in the industry. To best understand why companies have chosen to stop shipments to the U.S., listen to the section where Hyte discusses the numbers for its Y40 case. The interview with Louis Rossman also explains clearly the impact on small business owners. Peppered throughout the report is the repeated estimate of reduced product availability, downsizing or outright closing, and possible layoffs. While these businesses speak more on components than on fully built PCs or laptops, the challenges posed by the tariffs apply across electronics—including moving manufacturing to the U.S. (a stated goal of these taxes). But as Seroka points out in his KTLA interview, manufacturing brought stateside won’t completely boost the job market—many tasks will be automated and performed by robots. So ultimately, what does this mean for anyone in the market for a new PC? You have to make a choice soon about whether to replace an old machine. When asked about retailers, Seroka said that large retailers will be able to hold on to normalcy the longest, as they increased pre- and lower-tariffed shipments to the U.S. in anticipation of higher ones. Major retailers will be able to offer normal levels of inventory the longest—but even that will run out in five to seven weeks.Zoshua Colah / Unsplash Small- and medium-sized businesses haven’t been warehousing stock to the same degree, so they will have to decide sooner if they’ll bring over product based on the new pricing. But again, even major retailers aren’t expecting to hang on beyond five to seven weeks. If you want to stretch your tech further, you do have some options. You can install Linux or, if you have a compatible machine, ChromeOS Flex. You can also buy yourself time by paying $30 to extend Windows 10’s security updates. But no matter if you choose to replace, stretch, or extend, you should decide on a plan. Unfortunately, sitting around won’t guarantee any more stability. The potential for additional tariffs on semiconductors still looms, as an example. Currently, China says it hasn’t entered negotiations yet with the U.S. regarding the existing tariffs. Further reading: The best laptop we’ve tested Read...

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