NVIDIA’s GameStream technology lets you stream games from a GeForce-powered Windows PC to another device. It only officially supports NVIDIA’s own Android-based SHIELD devices, but with a third-party open-source GameStrea…
Windows sets all PCs to a “Balanced” power plan by default. But there are also “Power saver” and “High performance” plans. Your PC manufacturer may have even created their own power plans. What’s the difference between them a…
A significant portion of the population gets moderately to severely nauseated while playing first-person video games, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Here’s why those games make people feel ill, and what you can do ab…
Everything has DRM these days, and while Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, and even DVDs and Blu-rays “just work” on most systems, Linux users always have to do a little more work. Here’s how penguin lovers can get all those se…
Windows offers an on-screen keyboard that lets you type even if you don’t have access to a physical keyboard. It’s particularly useful with a touch screen, but you can also use it to type with a mouse–or even to type with …
When you’re rooting, flashing custom ROMs, and otherwise playing with Android’s system, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. Before you start, you should know how to back up and restore your phone with the TWRP recove…
This week, Microsoft made Windows 10 a “recommended update” that will automatically download for many Windows 7 and 8.1 users. This is just Microsoft’s latest move in aggressively pushing Windows 10–here’s how we got to t…
Microsoft Security Essentials (Windows Defender on Windows 8) was once on top. Over the years, it’s slid in the test results, but Microsoft argued the tests weren’t meaningful. Now, Microsoft is advising Windows users to use …
Rooting your Android device gives you access to a wider variety of apps and a deeper access to the Android system. But some apps–like Google’s Android Pay–won’t work at all on a rooted device.
A mouse and keyboard isn’t always the most convenient way to control a PC, especially a media center PC you control from the couch. You can try to control your desktop with a game controller, but your smartphone will do the…
Compared to a PC, phones and tablets are fairly locked-down devices. Jailbreaking, rooting, and unlocking are all ways of bypassing their limitations, and doing things that manufacturers and carriers don’t want you to do….
Ever sit down to watch a trailer for the latest video game, only to find yourself out of the chair and dancing with excitement by the end of it? “The graphics look so good, and did you see that explosion? It was like I was ac…
USB Type-C brings a new universal connector to laptops and smartphones, and many devices are already starting to use it. But beware: many USB-C cables aren’t designed properly and could potentially damage your hardware….
We’ve written about rooting your Android smartphones and tablets before, but why don’t they come rooted? Google argues that rooting is a mistake for security reasons, as it subverts Android’s security model….
With the addition of 4K video recording on smartphones like the iPhone 6s and Samsung Galaxy S6 this year, many consumers have been left wondering what all the fuss is about. What makes a 4K video so much better than 1080p, a…
Many Android tweaking and hacking guides warn that you’ll void your warranty by continuing. But will you actually be denied repair service if you’ve rooted or unlocked your bootloader?
Commercial DVDs and Blu-ray discs are encrypted. The Digital Rights Management (DRM) is designed to prevent you from ripping them, copying them, and watching them on unsupported players. You can get around this protection t…
If you have your PC set up as a living room gaming PC and media center, why use a mouse for everything when you could just use your game controller?
Apple’s iPhones and iPads use its own Lightning connector for charging and data transmission. You can purchase third-party cables and accessories, but they must be certified. If a cable or accessory wasn’t certified by Apple,…
Most modern browsers support extensions, which add additional features to your browser. But the fewer extensions you have installed, the speedier your browser should be. Here’s how to uninstall or disable extensions you don…
If you play video games on your PC, even casually, then you’ve probably seen the swath of video settings in the options menu. You may not however, understand what they all mean. We’re here to help.
A solid-state drive, or “SSD”, is much faster than a traditional hard disk drive (or “HDD”). SSDs have been around for awhile, but a new breed of SSD, called PCIe SSDs, are slowly starting to rise. But how are they different …
Most antivirus programs–or “security suites”, as they call themselves–want you to install their browser extensions. They promise these toolbars will help keep you safe online, but they usually just exist to make the compan…
The Xbox controller has become the gold standard for PC gaming. It works out of the box better than just about any controller on the market, and if you plan on gaming with a controller, you should get one….
So you want to play Minecraft with your family, but you only have one account. You won’t be able to play online, but with a few tweaks to the configuration files, you should all be able to play over the network together at h…
