It extends to a maximum height of 69.12 inches, or a folded height of 28.12 inches. Weight is no issue either, as this stable, durable tripod can support up to 15.4 pounds. It’s not overly heavy, at 5.38 pounds, but its bulk means that you may not want to carry it around all day when shooting on location. Non-slip, spiked rubber feet are useful for keeping the tripod in place....

The skin uses a rubbery plastic less than 3 millimeters thick that’s studded with magnetic particles. The innovation uses artificial intelligence to calibrate the sense of touch. It’s part of a growing number of innovations designed to enhance virtual environments. “VR is the first embodied digital format, which means that the whole body is engaged into believing that the immersive experience is real,” Amir Bozorgzadeh, the CEO of virtual reality company Virtuleap, told Lifewire in an email interview....

The Gen 5E is similar to last year’s Gen 5 series, but at a lower price point and a new, smaller 42mm size. The watches still run Google’s Wear OS and now cost $249, a $50 drop from the previous model, but the question remains whether it can compete with the Apple Watch or other watches in the growing smartwatch field. The Gen 5E watches include the same sleep tracking, battery saving, and fitness features that rolled out to the Gen 5 via a software update this summer....

What Is FunimationNow? Funimation is one of the prominent companies within the North American anime distribution scene and has been around since the beginning of the anime boom in 1994. The company is responsible for the domestic release of popular anime series such as Dragon Ball Z and Fairy Tail and produces both English subbed and dubbed versions of properties. The streaming service is available via both a free and paid subscription model and its content can be viewed either from the official Funimation website or via one of the FunimationNow apps....

The new feature aims to help employees complete tasks away from the office more efficiently at a time when remote work is on the increase due to the coronavirus crisis. An update to Glass will allow Google Meet to run on the Glass and enable live chat. But the ability to surveil workers through Glass raises privacy issues, observers say. “One concern is overzealous managers using this technology to over-monitor their employees, which could lead to additional stress in the workplace,” Ottomatias Peura, chief marketing officer of Speechly, a speech recognition software company, said in an email interview....

The smartphone has replaced many gadgets, from phones to iPods to cameras and plenty more. But so far, GoPro remains, despite the many advantages of phone cameras. The GoPro HERO11 Black and HERO11 Black Mini add Field of View and a much-improved Horizon Lock. These are software features that could—theoretically—be copied by a phone maker. But is that likely? Not really. “You can stick one on the hood of a car for starters, instead of your $1,000 iPhone/S22 Ultra,” David Chow, of technology company CSA Catapult, told Lifewire via Twitter....

All Tablets Have Wi-Fi Wi-Fi is the most ubiquitous form of wireless networking technology. Wi-Fi is designed for local area networking, so it alone will not allow you to use the internet. You must first connect to a wireless network that shares a broadband connection or a public hotspot with internet access. Public hotspots are very common in coffee shops, libraries, and airports, so it is generally easy to find a connection....

Samsung’s new $3,500 Odyssey Ark, a 55-inch curved monster, is so focused on gaming that the company even mentions it in the display’s name. With a fast refresh rate, support for HDR, and a 4K resolution, it’s the perfect companion for a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X. But gamers aren’t the only people that could benefit from extra display real estate—if you work with a lot of windows open or need to have as many controls on-screen at once as possible, you need a big display....

AI and machine learning have already transformed photography, and with the new iPhone 12 Pro Max, apps like Pixelmator Photo 2, and Skylum’s Luminar AI launching soon, it’s set to get even worse/better. Have you noticed that the portraits you take with your phone are free from blinkers, and everyone is smiling? Or that the background is beautifully blurred? Or that all your photos are perfectly exposed? But the next wave of AI editing is here, and it promises to make your photos look amazing....

What Is Apple’s Center Stage? Center Stage is a technology that works with the ultra-wide 12-megapixel TrueDepth camera first included with the 2021 iPad Pro to keep everyone (whether it’s one person or a group) centered in the frame during video calls. The technology works by sending just the part of the image you or a group are actually in. Center Stage uses machine learning technology to recognize and focus on your face and make adjustments on the fly to ensure you’re always in the center of the frame....

A new watchOS 9.0.1, a software update intended for the new Apple Watch Ultra, improved the user experience on the same day the watch went on sale—a sign of things to come with Apple and other companies using software updates to improve their wearables over time. “The Apple Watch is a complex computer on your wrist, so it’s unsurprising that there are software updates,” Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, told Lifewire via email....

“The European Parliament has just made history by passing the landmark vote on the Digital Services Act. This can set the global standard for regulating Big Tech and protecting people online,” tweeted online activist network, Avaaz. Rein Them In After months of deliberation, the European Members of Parliament (MEPs) voted overwhelmingly to give initial approval to the wide-ranging regulations listed in the DSA. Both Facebook and Google have recently started to improve their advertising and privacy practices, but experts believe the European legislation, if and when enacted into law, would hold them even more accountable....

In 2015, the FCC introduced a change to the agency’s standard definition of broadband. The former minimum speeds of 4 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 1 Mbps upload were replaced with 25 download and 3 upload, to help account for the increased needs of modern internet users. Almost six years later, Pai and the FCC still consider those benchmarks adequate, despite more people and businesses moving online. “The current threshold does not reflect the needs of our increasingly online populace,” Tyler Cooper, editor-in-chief of BroadbandNow told Lifewire via email....

The new features include the ability for TikTok users to delete up to 100 comments at once or block the same number of accounts in bulk, creators of the popular app announced in a May 20 post. “We hope this update helps creators feel more empowered over their experience on TikTok,” Joshua Goodman, the company’s director of product, trust, and safety, wrote in the announcement. “I think that allowing users to more easily block comments and accounts is a good thing, but it remains to be seen if it will be helpful in stemming the tide in bullying,” University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Professor Justin Patchin told Lifewire in an email....

How to Activate Facebook Dating You need a current Facebook account and must be 18 or older to use the Dating app. You don’t have to create a separate dating profile on Facebook, though; it uses the information on your current profile to recommend potential matches based on shared interests. Follow these steps to get started using Facebook Dating: What to Know About Using Facebook Dating Your profile will also be recommended to others who have Facebook Dating activated....

How to Connect to a Wi-Fi Network on iOS Since mobile devices are wireless by nature, getting on a Wi-Fi network on iOS is a snap. These instructions are valid for iOS 12.1. How to Add Wi-Fi Network on Android Unlike iOS, the precise look and feel of your Wi-Fi settings may differ on Android since Android can be customized by device manufacturers. However, the basic process is the same....

How Do I Put Pictures on My Chromecast Backdrop? By default, Chromecast displays a slideshow of featured images from Google whenever you aren’t casting anything. This is called Ambient Mode. The background images displayed during Ambient Mode fit into several categories, like nature, art, and landscapes. Since no single image stays on the screen for very long, this feature acts as a screensaver. If you don’t like the background images your Chromecast displays by default, you can change them in the same Google Home app you initially used to set up your Chromecast....

How to Turn Off All GPS/Location Services You can turn off all location services, including GPS, on the iPhone. Here’s how: Limit GPS to Only Some Apps You can take a more specific approach by limiting or granting access to GPS information for specific apps. You can set when an app is allowed to access GPS information and other location technology to Never, Ask Next Time, While Using the App, or Always....

Creating and storing ISO backups of your essential software installation discs and even operating system setup discs is a smart plan. Complement that with one of the best unlimited online backup services, and you have a near bulletproof disc backup strategy. ISO images are great because they’re self-contained, perfect representations of the data on a disc. Being single files, they’re easier to store and organize than outright copies of the folders and files on a disc would be....

How to Turn on Voice Control in Catalina Unlike Enhanced Dictation in earlier versions of the OS, Voice Control in macOS Catalina doesn’t send your voice to Apple’s servers for conversion. Voice Control is off by default, so you must turn it on to use it. Make Your Own Voice Commands in Catalina To make your own voice commands, click the plus (+) at the bottom of the list of commands, or say Add Command to enter a custom command....