The app now features an AI-generated floor plan on any home you’re looking at to predict room dimensions, square footage, and the location of the listing photos relative to others. Real estate experts say AI technology will become more prevalent in the design and home shopping experience as an additional tool to help consumers find their dream homes. “AI is the algorithm that’s going to hopefully help improve [the search experience] by pulling in more data sets and trying to narrow down what exactly it is you’re looking for,” Jeff Lobb, the founder and CEO of SparkTank Media, told Lifewire over the phone....

Screen technologies have advanced to the point where tablets are outstanding devices for most purposes. The iPad is a clear winner for watching movies or browsing the web. But a single-use machine still wins out when you want to concentrate. I have a Kindle app on the iPad, and I’ve tried reading books on it, but it never works. When I’m using the iPad, I’m constantly subject to distractions like emails and the need to check breaking news....

Until recently, podcasting was simple. Creators could provide the show free, take money in exchange for in-show sponsor reads, or set up a paid subscription program using a service like Memberful. But, last week, Apple added a new option: paid subscriptions, exclusive to Apple’s Podcasts app. Now, Spotify has added a similar option, only with way better terms for podcast creators. It looks like the gloves are coming off. “I see podcasting as one of the best innovations on the internet in the past decade,” podcaster Aaron Bossig told Lifewire via email....

What makes them different from one another, and should this be important to you? Music File Formats Explained When it comes to digital music, does the format really matter? The answer: It depends. There are compressed and uncompressed audio files, which may have either a lossy or lossless quality to it. Lossless files can be enormous in size, but if you have ample storage (e.g., a PC or laptop, network storage drive, media server, etc....

Whether you’re on the market for a new pair of wireless headphones or want to get the most out of your existing pair, here’s what you need to know about how AirPods Pro work. How Does the AirPods Pro Noise Cancellation Work? The most significant upgrade the AirPods Pro deliver is Active Noise Cancellation. Using a combination of external microphones and software, AirPods Pro automatically adapt to outside noise (at a rate of 200 times per second!...

Currently, companies like Peloton have added gaming options to their workout lineup, and VR headsets from companies like Oculus offer fitness-based games such as Supernatural and Beat Saber. However, what’s missing from the fitness-based video game landscape is that one hit game that satisfies both gamers and fitness fanatics. “When done well, I think fitness video games are fantastic. There needs to be an understanding from both [the fitness and gaming] industries about what makes a good fitness routine and what makes a good game,” Rex Freiberger, the co-CEO of Gadget Review, told Lifewire in an email....

Phan is the founder and executive director of Thriving Elements. This Seattle-based nonprofit matches young women in communities of need with STEM mentors. Thriving Elements arose from Phan’s experience with mentors and how influential they were to her career success. “When it came down to it, it was my mentors who gave me opportunities to build the skills to do technology consulting and to open up doors for other people,” Phan told Lifewire in a video interview....

Veal is the founder and CEO of Black Tutors of Social Media (BTSM), an online platform that connects young people of color with Black-owned tutoring services in their area. BTSM is an expansion of Veal’s education and tutoring organization, INC Education. BTSM offers tutoring, entrepreneurial services, financial literacy education, college tours, mentoring, and travel programming. The organization looks to connect with Black-owned private tutoring companies to help provide their services to BIPOC communities nationwide....

Pokémon Go developer Niantic Labs recently acquired Scaniverse, a company that makes 3D mapping software. It’s a sign the developer is ramping up plans to develop a 3D map of the globe. Such maps could have far-ranging benefits, experts say. “Three-dimensional maps bring huge benefits for daily activities,” Linh Truong-Hong, a researcher at the Delft University of Technology who studies 3D mapping, told Lifewire in an email interview. “It can be used for everything from navigation to the management and planning of buildings, infrastructures, and green areas....

One answer to car-clogged streets could be the recently unveiled sky pods in the United Arab Emirates. The driverless, high-speed pods are designed to zip high above roads while suspended from a metal track. Innovative solutions to traffic problems are increasingly necessary, experts say. “Most major cities have reached a point where they cannot build their way out of congestion,” Sean Laffey, an engineer at Kittelson & Associates, a transportation engineering and planning firm, told Lifewire in an email interview....

How to Access Data From an Old Hard Drive The steps below are for Windows 11 and Windows 10 PCs but should also apply to older versions of Windows. Connecting the Hard Drive to Your PC Before beginning, you need to decide how you will connect the hard drive to your PC. It will depend on the connection standard it uses. This step could be the trickiest part of the process if you don’t have a cable that fits the old hard drive....

Keep reading to learn how to add bullet-point lists to a Google Slides presentation and get them to look the way you want. How to Add Bullet Points to Google Slides on the Web The web version of Google Slides is accessible via the official Google Slides website on any internet web browser such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, and Mozilla Firefox. How to Make Bullet Points in Google Slides on iOS The official Google Slides iOS app is available for free from the App Store and works on Apple’s iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad smart devices....

How to Block Ads on iPhone With Safari Using an ad blocker for your iPhone means your browser won’t download ads. This usually translates to faster page loads, a longer-lasting battery, and less wireless data usage. If you don’t want to see pop-up ads, there is a way to block these ads. Here’s how to do so using the Safari web browser for iPhone. Content blockers are apps that add new features that your default web browser doesn’t have....

Why Do I Need to Calibrate My Battery? Batteries will inevitably see a decrease in performance over time. That’s just simple physics: As ions flow between the anode and the cathode of a battery, the cathode wears out. In fact, this happens even if you leave your phone in a drawer. And it applies to all batteries, from your car to your phone. However, this performance decrease is rarely as dramatic as your phone may make it out to be....

How Do I Check CPU and GPU Usage on Mac? Your Mac comes with a built-in utility designed to show CPU and GPU usage, along with a lot of other helpful performance information. This Activity Monitor can be accessed through Spotlight or found in the Utilities folder. You can also set it to display real-time CPU usage information right on your Mac’s dock. Here’s how to check your CPU usage on a Mac:...

How Do I Connect Ethernet to My Laptop? If you have an Ethernet port on your laptop, all you need to do is plug an Ethernet cable into that port and connect it to your router on the other end. You may need to disable Wi-Fi or tell your laptop to prioritize the Ethernet connection to make the most of it, but the setup is straightforward. If you don’t have an Ethernet port on your laptop, then you’ll need to use an accessory to provide that functionality for you....

Excel Formula Basics Writing a spreadsheet formula is different from writing an equation in math class. The most notable difference is that Excel formulas start with the equal sign (=) instead of ending with it. Excel formulas look like =3+2 instead of 3 + 2 =. The equal sign indicates that what follows is part of a formula and not just a word or number that you want to appear in the cell....

How to Cast Your Desktop To display your entire computer desktop on your TV via Chromecast, your Windows computer and Chromecast device must be on the same Wi-Fi network. Open the Chrome browser on the computer and then: What Desktop Casting Is Good For Casting your desktop works well for static items like a slideshow of photos saved to your hard drive or a PowerPoint presentation. As with casting a tab, casting video isn’t great....

Cybercafes vary in appearance, ranging from plain spaces filled with computer workstations to actual cafes offering food and drinks for purchase. Who Uses Internet Cafes? Internet cafes are particularly useful for travelers who don’t want to carry laptops along on their trip. They are common in many countries, and using their services is often inexpensive, especially if you’re checking email, sharing digital photos, or using VoIP for short periods. In many countries where computers and internet access are not widely available or affordable, cybercafes also provide an important service to the local population....

Many other things beyond error messages might happen if you don’t fix the “Windows is not genuine” problem. If your copy of Windows isn’t activated, your computer might log you out every hour, reboot occasionally, give you a permanent black desktop, or even prevent you from installing some Windows updates. What the Error Looks Like The error is different depending on the Windows version. For example, when Windows 7 Build 7601 isn’t genuine, you’ll see this error: You’ll probably also get occasional pop-ups or see messages in other parts of Windows....