Tech Fix

Apple, Microsoft and Google need more access to our data as they promote new phones and personal computers that are powered by artificial intelligence. Should we trust them?

Apple and Google are getting up close and personal with user data to craft memos, summarize documents and generate images.

OpenAI released GPT-4o, its latest chatbot technology, in a partly finished state. It has much to prove.

Google and Samsung used to update smartphone software for only three years. That has changed.

Meta, Google and others are driving a renaissance for voice assistants, but people have found the technology uncool for more than a decade.

Despite Mark Zuckerberg’s hope for the chatbot to be the smartest, it struggles with facts, numbers and web search.

The $700 Ai Pin, funded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Microsoft, can be helpful — until it struggles with tasks like doing math and crafting sandwich recipes.

Even if you manage to ditch your iPhone, Apple’s hooks are still there.

What happens when a columnist and a reporter use A.I. glasses to scan groceries, monuments and zoo animals? Hilarity, wonder and lots of mistakes ensued.

Roku recently changed its policy to make it even harder for customers to take legal action. It’s a reminder of how we need to protect ourselves.

A wallet-free lifestyle relying on your phone is attainable, but it requires preparation and some compromise.

Canceling is simple. The tough part is remembering to do it.

Billed as the future of computing, the $3,500 goggles can’t replace a laptop for work. At times, wearing them also made our columnist feel nauseated.

The new headset teaches a valuable lesson about the cost of tech products: The upsells and add-ons will get you.

Starting with Google Glass, all have been plagued with the same issues, even as Apple plunges into the market with its Vision Pro.

The best tech, from universal power charging to foldable phones, solved practical problems. But the worst tech, including self-driving cars and cryptocurrency, put us in harm’s way.

Meta’s $300 smart glasses look cool but lack a killer app, and they offer a glimpse into a future with even less privacy and more distraction.

While texting technology will soon get better, the “blue versus green bubble” disparity is far from over.

We are overpaying for phone plans from Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. Budget wireless services, similarly fast and robust, can save thousands.

The so-called iPhone giveaways marketed by Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T can make customers spend more on perks they don’t need.

Google’s new $700 Pixel 8 lets you use artificial intelligence to add or remove elements from your images. It’s not clear we really need this.

The new $500 headset lets people see the outside world while immersed in virtual reality. The benefits are to be determined.

Google says a change takes just a few steps, but a panel of designers found otherwise. The issue is at the heart of a federal antitrust trial.

The dream of carrying one power cable for all your devices is becoming a reality. But things aren’t as simple as they sound.

Many of us stream shows and movies with the subtitles on all the time — and not because it’s cool.

The mobile wallet service is a cautionary tale of how apps born at least a decade ago may be exposing more information than you would like.

To mitigate the production and spread of misinformation from chatbots, we can steer them toward high-quality data.

One of us is a Twitter addict; the other not so much. In the end, we were both unsure how people might use Threads in the long run.

Google’s new $1,800 gadget proves that phones with bendable screens are something people might want. Now they just need to get cheaper.

Hotels and airlines struggling to recoup their losses from the pandemic have been including more hidden charges. Don’t fall for them.

I briefly got my hands on Apple’s new high-tech goggles, which impressed and creeped me out and raised a question: Why do we need these?

Concerned parents have many tools, including free software from Apple and Google, to actively oversee how children use their tech.

Google’s latest entry-level phone, which costs $500, is just as good as devices nearly double its price.

Facebook, TikTok and Twitter seem to be increasingly connecting users with brands and influencers. To restore a sense of community, some users are trying smaller social networks.

An Apple Watch or a Garmin can draw incorrect conclusions about your health, but the broad trends may be more valuable than the numbers.

Elon Musk, Twitter’s owner, is changing the platform’s longstanding practice of verifying accounts. That has implications for a range of users.

Google’s Bard chatbot fared far worse than OpenAI’s ChatGPT, but human assistants might soon be out of their jobs.

The digital version of the SIM card, included on many newer phones, is set to become prevalent. It also offers affordable cellular data abroad.

Payment apps and touch screens have made it easy for merchants to ask us for preset gratuity amounts. We don’t need to succumb to the pressure.

Elon Musk was right: Text messages are not the most secure way to protect your account.

Sony’s new $550 headset offers best-in-class virtual reality gaming, but it’s still hard to see why we need V.R. goggles at all.

ChatGPT isn’t the only writing assistant that has emerged to replace editors. We tested it alongside two others to assess their strengths and weaknesses.

Your email address has become a digital bread crumb for companies to link your activity across sites. Here’s how you can limit this.

In a live conversation, we offered tips for readers looking to optimize their digital lives this year.

The hacking of the password manager should make us reassess whether to trust companies to store our sensitive data in the cloud.

Say hello to new-and-improved A.I. assistants, and move over to brands like Twitter and Tesla.

It’s a turning point for artificial intelligence, and we need to take advantage of these tools without causing harm to ourselves or others.

The new Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion was overhauled in graphics and gameplay, making it much better than the original.

The new Halo Rise studies your body and breathing and rates your restfulness, from “Poor” to “Great.” Who needs this?

Don’t delete your account just yet. Elon Musk’s takeover can teach us valuable lessons about our relationship with social networks.