The first platform games were developed in the early 1980s making it one of the earliest video game genres to exist, but the term platform game or platformer wasn’t used until a number of years later to describe the games. Many game historians and fans consider the 1980 release of Space Panic to be the first true platform game while others consider then 1981 release of Nintendo’s Donkey Kong to be the first....

Typically, the device powers on when a user presses the button and powers off when they press it again. A hard power button is mechanical—you can feel a click when pressed and usually see a difference in depth when the switch is on versus when it’s not. A soft power button, which is much more common, is electrical and appears the same when the device is on and off. Some older devices have a power switch that accomplishes the same thing as a hard power button....

How Is a Roomba Taught to Vacuum? In most basic models, the Roomba uses a random pattern to clean the floor. It will change direction when it senses an obstacle using infrared sensors, but otherwise, it’s not following a specific order. More complex models will learn a floor plan over time and use that to offer more options, but there’s no artificial intelligence in the device. However, it doesn’t just clean the same place over and over again....

The idea behind serial numbers is to identify a specific item, much like how a fingerprint identifies a specific person. Instead of some names or numbers that specify a whole range of products, a serial number is intended to provide a unique number to one device at a time. Hardware serial numbers are embedded in the device, while software or virtual serial numbers are sometimes applied to the user who will be using the software....

Most electronics today are built around semiconductors and chips. A solid state drive uses, as its primary storage medium, semiconductors rather than the magnetic platters of a conventional hard drive. SSD Similarities to Traditional Drives Solid state drives and USB flash drives use the same type of non-volatile memory chips that retain information when there is no power. The difference is in the form factor and capacity of the drives....

How RSS Works RSS is a way for website authors to publish notifications of new content on their website. This content may include newscasts, blog posts, weather reports, and podcasts. To publish these notifications, the website author creates a text file with the XML file extension for the RSS feed that contains the title, description, and link for each post on the site. Then, the website author uses this XML file to add an RSS feed to web pages on the site....

Here’s what you need to know about QNED screens. QNED: The Basics QNED stands for “quantum nano-emitting diode” and is a transmissive display technology that relies on mini-LED backlights. Since LCD pixels are not self-emissive (in other words, they don’t create their own light), most current LCDs use LEDs to light the display from behind. While backlighting technology has improved significantly over the years, LCD TVs can’t offer the bright highlights and deep blacks offered by OLED, which have self-emissive pixels....

Using the official Anchor apps or website, anyone can import an existing podcast to take advantage of its tools or create a new audio project from scratch. The Anchor apps can also be used for downloading and listening to podcasts created by others. Anchor’s Features and Services Here are Anchor’s primary features and services. Podcast hosting. Anchor offers free hosting for an unlimited number of podcast episodes with no limits on data usage or file sizes....

Proprietary vs. Common Batteries Most cameras now require a certain style of battery for a particular camera. Battery styles vary by both manufacturer and camera model. Search for “Nikon battery” or “Canon battery” on the internet, and you’ll find many different shapes of batteries even within that manufacturer’s product line. Some types are for point-and-shoot cameras, while others are for DSLR cameras. Fortunately, most DSLR cameras by one manufacturer use the same style of battery....

All iPhone models are relatively similar when it comes to hardware. It’s the software that’s different. Apple releases a user guide that covers all models that can run the latest operating system every time a major new version of iOS comes out. Apple produces other instructional materials, such as product and safety information and QuickStart user guides, for each model. Identify which model you have below, and then download the user guide you need....

How Horn Speakers Differ From Modern Speakers Horn speakers are much larger than their modern counterparts. For example, some vintage Altec Lansing speakers stand four feet high and three feet wide with an imposing multicellular horn perched on top. Because they were designed to run on low-power amplifiers, they are energy-efficient despite their size. Horn speakers come in different designs. For example, Altec offered several different cabinets, including the A5 and the A7....

You may have thought that Apple’s War on Buttons ended when Joni Ive split, but it seems to be lumbering on. According to well-sourced analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPhone 15 may ditch its remaining physical volume and power switches in favor of touch controls with haptic feedback. This could possibly make the iPhone more durable, but it could also make it a lot more annoying. “Its decision to remove the physical home button with a haptic engine was in the right direction, and time has proved it....

A recent update on Oculus’ development blog revealed plans for multi-user accounts and app sharing—two of the biggest features the virtual reality community has been asking for. While the idea of app sharing might not seem that important to the overall future of VR, some believe it will be a vital step in helping to expand the number of people who enjoy VR content. This could then lead to more purchases of Oculus VR devices in the future, especially as the company continues to update and expand the app sharing system....

Why is it so good? Because the biggest iPad not only excels in everything that makes smaller iPads great, it also has a surprising number of other capabilities only possible with the bigger screen. I love my big iPad, and while I sometimes get jealous of the cute 11-incher, the 12.9 is the best all the way. Love At First Sight The first iPad launched in the US back in 2010, and I had a friend buy one and ship it to me in Europe because I couldn’t wait four months to get my hands on it....

“The Scribe is a huge deal because of its modern features that make the classic Kindle attractive to younger generations as well as older generations,” Troy Portillo, director of operations at online learning platform Studypool, told Lifewire via email. “It’s good for students, writers, researchers, and historians alike. The Kindle Scribe is perfect for users who like to take notes and annotate what they read. I’m excited to get my hands on one!...

The new M2 MacBook Air is thin, light, has battery life for hours, and comes in at only a few hundred dollars more than the iPhone. And that’s because it kind of is a big iPhone, which is exactly the computer we’ve been waiting for all these years. “In my opinion, 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros with M1 Pro and Max were the very first true laptops in the mobile era....

Start saving now because an AirCar, which can drive on roads while also being able to fly, recently completed a 35-minute test flight. A new study found that the cost of a flying car will come in at over $700,000. “Individual, middle-class people may not be able to afford to buy a flying car in the near future or until as early as 2050,” Seongkyu Lee, a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of California, Davis, told Lifewire in an email interview....

Playing video games in VR can cause time to seem compressed, according to new research. The study found that participants who played the virtual reality version of a game first played for an average of 72.6 seconds longer before feeling that five minutes had passed than students who started on a conventional monitor. “Research suggests that perception depends on bodily signals such as our heart rate,” Nick Davidenko, a scientist at the University of Santa Cruz and one of the study’s authors, said in an email interview....

Home Depot is piloting a program that requires tools to be activated by Bluetooth before you can use them. The program is meant to deter theft, but experts say it’s a sign of the increasingly blurry definition of ownership in the digital age. “The bigger question is what downstream software update may turn the once-owned power drill into the newly leased power drill, which throttles features, functions, benefits, digital obsolescence, and your private data,” David Forman, a vice president at cybersecurity firm Coalfire, told Lifewire in an email interview....

OLED displays are superior to the LCDs in most laptops, but short battery life and high pricing have kept them out of small, portable PCs. Dell’s latest XPS 13 could change that. It has a 3,456 x 2,160 OLED and promises a contrast ratio of 100,000:1, nearly a hundred times better than a typical LCD laptop display. This isn’t Dell’s first go at OLED. Alienware, which Dell owns, introduced a short-lived OLED variant of the Alienware 13....