Microsoft is expanding the Xbox PC app with a “Stream your own game” feature. If you have Game Pass Ultimate, you can now stream over 250 console games from beyond the usual Game Pass library to your PC without installation—including several console-exclusive titles, as Microsoft explains in this Xbox blog post. Stream 250+ Xbox games directly on your PC via the Xbox app Microsoft is making cloud gaming more flexible: the “Stream your own game” feature—which started last year for consoles, TVs, and browser-supported devices—is now available directly via the Xbox app for PC users. This is for streaming games you already own. The assortment of supported games has increased from 50 to over 250 games, including smash hits such as Baldur’s Gate 3, Star Wars Outlaws, Cyberpunk 2077, and Hogwarts Legacy. The full list of streamable games can be found on the Xbox website. When streaming, you aren’t playing the game on your Xbox console; the game runs directly on Microsoft’s powerful cloud servers. This saves you installation time and storage space on your PC, and it grants access to console-exclusive titles that aren’t available on Windows. It’s especially good for weak laptops and travelers who game on the go. There are only two key requirements In order to take advantage of the “Stream your own game” feature, you’ll need a Game Pass Ultimate subscription for $19.99 per month and digital copies of the games you want to stream. Physical discs aren’t supported. You also need to be part of the Xbox Insider program and register for the PC Gaming Preview. The feature is available in 28 countries. Microsoft plans to remove the Insider restriction soon and further expand the game list, including Xbox Play Anywhere titles. This is a smart move for Game Pass Ultimate. It makes the Xbox library more mobile and saves resources, and it’s ideal for gamers who value flexibility. If you meet the requirements, you should give it a try. Further reading: Microsoft spends up to $50 million for Game Pass titles Read...

Maintaining a perfect lawn takes a lot of work and care, but that doesn’t mean it also has to take a lot of your time. Aiper’s IrriSense is the ideal solution for those who want to maintain a green and luscious, well-watered lawn, without spending hours with a hose in their hand. There are other solutions for taking the manual work out of garden irrigation, but this system from Aiper doesn’t demand a fiddly installation that involves digging up half your garden. In fact, within a single unit, IrriSense is able to replace an entire system of rotor sprinklers, electrical valves, and irrigation controllers. Customizable watering zones A single one of these Aiper devices can cover up to 4800 square feet, an area that would otherwise require dozens of sprinklers and endless hose lines running below the soil. Just one IrriSense will handle the whole yard, spraying out water with up to 39-foot range with the correct water pressure and flow rate. It’s able to efficiently adapt to any lawn shape, and you can easily customize the watering zones through the mobile app. IrriSense uses a technology called Adaptive ReSpray to shorten and lengthen spray distances to let it reach all areas of the garden. So, if your lawn is narrower on one side, it won’t water your fence, your walkway, or even your lawn chairs. Water smarter with Irrisense Simulating natural rainfall to protect your plants Aiper’s own EvenRain technology is a highlight of the IrriSense. When you’re in a rush to get the watering done, it can be tempting to turn up the water pressure – potentially leading to over-watering and damage to your plants. EvenRain simulates the water pressure of natural rainfall, delivering even coverage across the entire lawn. This gentler water stream is much easier on your plants, and could be the difference between life and death for any tiny seedlings or loose soil that couldn’t withstand a full-on blast from the hose. Speedy 15-minute installation Aiper Aside from the convenience of an automated watering system, one of the most appealing things about the Aiper IrriSense is its simple installation: this smart watering system can be set up in around 15 minutes. You install one locator, fix it with four ground stakes, add the device, get the hose, plug it in, and you’re done. The IrriSense works with 5/8? and 3/4? garden hoses, so you won’t need any fancy equipment to get it working. It’s also super-light, weighing just 10.58 lbs, making it easy to relocate if needed. Water smarter with Irrisense Mobile or manual operation for ultimate convenience The accompanying app brings a slew of benefits too, enabling you to easily set a watering schedule based on the weather forecast, and you can make manual adjustments at any time. Should it rain for more than five minutes continuously, an on-device rain sensor sends a message to cancel the day’s irrigation plans, so you won’t needlessly waste water. The IrriSense was built to last, with UV-resistant materials and copper hose fittings that resist corrosion. It also features a filter to prevent pipe clogging and water source contamination, can automatically shut off water, and even has a winter drainage mode so you don’t have to worry about it freezing up or breaking down during the cold season. Get a smarter watering system today Stop wasting time, water and money and get the IrriSense for your yard – delivering just the right amount of water at just the right pressure, IrriSense will help you maintain a healthy lawn with minimal effort. The IrriSense system usually costs $699.99 – less than you’d pay to install a full irrigation system, and without the need to dig up the yard – but until July 31 PCWorld readers can unlock a 10% discount with the code PCWORLD10OFF. Save 10% on Aiper IrriSense with exclusive voucher code Use code PCWORLD10OFF Read...

Human beings have a hard time dealing with numbers that get really big. The speed of light, the number of atoms in apparently small amounts of matter, the energy being burned every time you ask ChatGPT how many days there are in July. It doesn’t really fit into our meat brains. Take, for example, Seagate’s latest industrial hard drive, which holds 30 terabytes of data. Oof. The new Exos M and IronWolf Pro are the most dense drives single I’ve ever seen in the standard form factor, narrowly beating out existing 28TB models by leveraging Seagate’s innovative Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) technology. But these hard drives aren’t really designed for regular PC users — they’re being made for the data center market, as demand for scalable storage spikes in the AI industry. That said, there’s nothing stopping you from just rolling up to Seagate’s digital storefront and putting your money down. The new drives, in the standard 3.5-inch form factor, cost $600. (Editorial note: It’s entirely possible that 30TB drives have been available before in the 3.5-inch form factor, and I know NAS systems with more than that spread over multiple drives are a thing. This is the first time I’m seeing it with a regular link to buy, as far as I’m aware.) Again, it’s hard for me to imagine what I’d do with that much storage. My first desktop PC that I didn’t have to share with my sister had a 40GB drive, and my parents thought that was beyond the dreams of avarice. I have hundreds and hundreds of games in my Steam account, some of which teeter beyond the 100GB mark, and I still don’t think I could fill up a 30TB hard drive with all of them. In college a friend of mine who definitely, absolutely was not me, allegedly, once shared a little over 2TB of video files on the local campus network, and that was the top score in a student population of over 40,000. But these things aren’t meant for individual users, unless those individual users are hosting some rather impressive websites from a home server or doing some other exotic stuff. These drives are meant to be bought dozens or hundreds at a time, and installed in data centers that cost billions of dollars to set up. I haven’t seen a new laptop with a spinning hard drive in years, and even desktop users with space to spare are now transitioning to full solid state storage more often than not. Still, I can’t deny that there’s something tempting about buying one and seeing if I could fill it up. I wonder how many hi-res Skyrim textures it would take… Further reading: The best SSDs for any budget Read...

Google has released an important update for Chrome, fixing several vulnerabilities in new Chrome versions 138.0.7204.157/158 for Windows and macOS and 138.0.7204.157 for Linux. According to Google, one of the vulnerabilities is already being exploited by attacks in the wild. Other Chromium-based browsers should follow suit in the coming days. In the Chrome Releases blog post, Srinivas Sista lists the two vulnerabilities that were discovered by external security researchers and reported to Google. Google classifies these two vulnerabilities (CVE-2025-7656 and CVE-2025-7657) as high risk. These include an integer overflow in the V8 JavaScript engine and a use-after-free vulnerability in the WebRTC component. Srinivas Sista also lists a third vulnerability with a high risk potential: CVE-2025-6558. The cause of this error is that untrusted user input (or data originating from outside the browser) is not checked carefully enough in the ANGLE graphics library and in the GPU component. Attackers can exploit this to inject and execute malicious code. Google remains silent about the other internally discovered vulnerabilities. As a rule, Chrome updates itself automatically when a new version is available. You can manually trigger the update check using the menu item Help > About Google Chrome. Google has also released Chrome for Android 138.0.7204.157 and Chrome for iOS 138.0.7204.156, which fix the same vulnerabilities as in the desktop versions. The manufacturers of other Chromium-based browsers are now required to follow suit with their own security updates. Microsoft Edge, Brave, and Vivaldi are currently at the security level prior to this Chrome update. Meanwhile, Opera 120.0.5543.61 is still on outdated Chromium 135 from April with its many security vulnerabilities still in play. Google plans to release Chrome 139 at the beginning of August. Read...

What would you do if you were camping, hiking, or traveling somewhere without electricity and your phone died? Panic? If so, then you need a solar power bank that can keep up with your adventures for peace of mind in case of emergencies. Right now, this massive Mregb solar power bank is on sale for $22.49 and it’s a no-brainer as a backup. What makes this power bank so special? First of all, the built-in solar panel lets you charge it on the go no matter where you are. No outlets? No problem! A little bit of sunlight is all you need. It’s also quite rugged—waterproof, dustproof, and shockproof—and built to survive everything you put it through. Oh, and it also has a built-in flashlight so you can always find your way in the dark. And if that wasn’t enough, this thing is pretty darn chunky with its 42,800mAh charging capacity, which is absolutely insane. (The average phone battery is about 5,000mAh, depending on make and model.) It has two USB-A and one USB-C port, so you can charge up to three devices at once, and it’s compatible with phones, tablets, Switches, and more. And even though it’s big, it remains portable. With this 38% discount, you’re looking at a price drop to $22.49, and that makes this solar power bank a fantastic purchase. Don’t miss out on this limited-time deal! Grab it before it expires. Get this massive 43K solar power bank for 38% offBuy now at Amazon Read...

Last week, I secured my lowest price for Spectrum internet in years. All it took was a call to Spectrum’s retention department, which is where you end up after telling the automated system you want to cancel your service. After a mildly tedious conversation with an exceedingly friendly rep, my monthly bill dropped from $68 to $45 per month for the next full year. Not only did I save money, but my speeds increased from 400 Mbps to 500 Mbps. While I can’t guarantee the same results everywhere, in general it’s a great time to threaten to cancel cable internet service. For years, Comcast and Charter (which operates the Spectrum brand) have boasted to shareholders that growth in home internet more than offsets the collapse of cable TV, but now they’re losing internet customers to vendors offering faster fiber and cheaper 5G wireless alternatives. They are highly motivated to keep potential defectors on board, so you should take full advantage of their collective insecurity. What competition looks like Last year, Spectrum and Comcast lost 508,000 and 411,000 home internet customers respectively . The year before, Comcast lost 66,000, while Spectrum lost 61,000. Stock prices for both companies are already below what they were two years ago. By contrast, fiber and wireless home internet are growing. T-Mobile and Verizon added 1.7 million and 1.5 million wireless home internet customers in 2024 respectively, while AT&T added 1 million customers to its fiber service. Both of their stocks are up from two years ago. This isn’t rocket science: Wireless home internet is cheaper than cable, with plans starting at $35 per month for T-Mobile and Verizon when bundled with mobile phone service. Fiber, meanwhile, offers symmetric upload and download speeds, which aren’t always available with cable, and it can be cheaper as well. (AT&T’s 500 Mbps plan, for instance, costs $75 per month on a non-promotional basis, $10 per month less than Comcast.) Cable providers should have reckoned with this new reality years ago. Instead, they resorted to scare tactics and misinformation. Comcast and Charter both rolled out ad campaigns to convince people that they didn’t actually want cheaper internet service, which they later had to modify for being misleading. Comcast then tried to advertise its internet plans as “10G” in a desperate attempt to look better than 5G (despite being unrelated technologically). Advertising watchdogs pressured Comcast to drop that line of attack as well. Cable’s response Only now are the cable giants doing what they should have done all along, which is to actually compete. Comcast, for instance, announced a somewhat-simplified set of home internet plans last week, starting at $40 per month for 300 Mbps service with a one-year price guarantee. (Customers can also pay a higher price of $55 per month to lock in that rate for five years.) These new plans also reverse a longstanding policy of enforcing data caps in most markets. Comcast’s internet service plans as of July 2025.Comcast Last year, Comcast also launched a separate pair of internet plans under its “Now” brand, priced at $30 per month for 100 Mbps and $45 per month for 200 Mbps. Those plans don’t include data caps either. Spectrum’s response hasn’t been as splashy. It’s been more focused on increasing internet speeds and bundling more services together, including free streaming services on its cable TV side, and an offer of $30-per-month home internet (at 500 Mbps) when bundled with two mobile lines. It’s also been scrapping hidden fees and trying to improve its customer service. But here’s the problem: Cable companies don’t want to hand out big discounts to existing customers if they can avoid it. While Comcast says its new packages are available to anyone, existing customers must call in to make the switch, and I’ve heard from a few readers who’ve run into problems getting the plans they want. As my experience with Spectrum has shown, it’s all a matter of reaching the right representative. What you should do about it Negotiating a lower home internet price is easy. You just need to bypass the standard customer service department and skip straight to the one with the goal of keeping you from cancelling your service. You can often accomplish this through the automated answering system by selecting the options that lead to cancelling your service. I understand this can be nerve-wracking. If you have no intention of switching providers, you certainly wouldn’t want the cable company to call your bluff and cut you off without warning. Trust me, that’s not going to happen. Cable companies operate retention departments for the express purpose of pumping the breaks on cancellations and talking things out first. They also have access to promotions that standard customer service reps don’t. (Every Spectrum retention specialist I’ve ever talked to has relished pointing this out.) If it makes you more comfortable, just approach the subject in a circumspect way. Once the retention rep is on the line, tell them you’re thinking about cancelling, or you want to discuss the logistics of cancelling at a convenient future date. In my experience that’s enough to set the promotional gears in motion. And if that doesn’t work, maybe it’s time to look into other options. There are more of them available now in more places, much to the cable companies’ dismay. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more money-saving advice. Read...

The most advanced Galaxy Z series yet, seamlessly blending precision engineering and powerful intelligence to elevate everyday interactions, all in its thinnest and lightest design to date. Read...

It’s possible to eject a graphics card while you’re using your computer, if it’s an external model or some other non-standard setup. But if you’re using a desktop with a GPU installed on the motherboard, or a laptop with discrete graphics within the case, it’s generally a bad idea. Which is why some Windows 11 users were alarmed when their computers asked if they wanted to eject their graphics cards. This appears to be a Windows bug that adds graphics cards to a list of devices that can be ejected in the “Safely remove hardware and media” tool in the notification center. It’s that thing you’re supposed to use every time you unplug a flash drive, which I’ve never seen anyone use in the real world, ever. Some Reddit users, seeing the option to “eject” the very powerful, very expensive graphics card soldered into the guts of their laptop, were understandably confused. This bug has been showing up for years, apparently as an unintended UI expression of the option to disable some discrete laptop graphics and switch to integrated graphics to save power. (Note that “disabling” and “ejecting” are very different terms, and probably shouldn’t be conflated for regular PC users.) Windows Central notes that there are registry hacks available to turn off this alarming and apparently unintentional message. While hardly the worst user-facing bug for Windows, I can see how this would be concerning even if you’re fairly tech-savvy. “I’m afraid I might accidentally eject it one day and god knows what’s gonna happen to my laptop,” says one Reddit user on the Windows 11 sub. If you’re seeing something similar, and you don’t want to dive into a registry hack (which I think is very admirable caution), maybe just leave it alone. Read...

Before its staggering data breach that exposed private data of over 62 million kids, few people outside of education knew what PowerSchool was. But this software, which manages student data, became the subject of many news articles since the beginning of the year—depending on the school district, the data stolen included sensitive personal information like names, addresses, birth dates, and social security numbers. The hacker behind the attack may now be caught, but the Massachusetts college student’s guilty plea in a court of law doesn’t neutralize the risk of the data having leaked. Affected students and staff should still take advantage of PowerSchool providing two years of credit monitoring and identity protection. However, the enrollment period ends this month, which means you only have a couple of weeks left if you haven’t already signed up—and due to time zones, it’s possible you could miss the window if you’re not careful. For both U.S. and Canadian residents impacted by the leak, you have until July 31, 2025 at 5:59 UTC to sign up with your activation code. That works out to July 30, 2025 at 10:59pm PT or July 31, 2025 1:59am ET. To enroll, follow the instructions on PowerSchool’s webpage dedicated to details about the breach. Part of the sign-up instructions from PowerSchool’s website for U.S. residents. While the stolen PowerSchool data has not yet surfaced elsewhere, there’s no guarantee it hasn’t already spread privately—or later spread publicly. So this leak still poses a possible threat—one with potential long-term consequences for minor children. Most people don’t expect kids to be the targets of identity theft, and so don’t check credit reports periodically. Scammers can end up trashing their credit scores, which can then affect the ability to open bank accounts, credit cards, secure an apartment, or get a job when the children reach adulthood. So besides credit monitoring, you can take three stronger, more secure steps like freezing your kids’ credit, bank reports, and requesting an IRS identity PIN to safeguard their financial reputations. I actually recommend these moves as smart proactive actions to all the parents I know—given the increasing frequency and scope of data breaches, their kids will be at risk someday, if not already. Read...

If you’re still on Windows 10, you have to know that Microsoft is ending support soon. Don’t let that end-of-life date creep up on you! You have to start thinking about what you’re going to do when it hits, and maybe that means upgrading to Windows 11. But if the only reason you haven’t done so yet is the price, here’s good news: you can upgrade to Windows 11 for up to 60% off via the PCWorld Software Store. For home users who don’t need the advanced bells and whistles of the Pro version, Windows 11 Home is a mere $60 right now (originally $140). This is a non-transferable license for a single PC, and it brings you up to speed with all the latest Windows 11 features and improvements. Save 57% and get Windows 11 Home for just $60Buy now via PCWorld software store Meanwhile, Windows 11 Professional is now available for $80 (originally $200), which gets you all the features in Windows 11 Home plus advanced extras, like full-blown BitLocker encryption, Remote Desktop Server, Hyper-V virtualization, and the Local Group Policy Editor. Save 60% and get Windows 11 Professional for just $80Buy now via PCWorld software store These are amazingly discounted prices, so don’t miss out! But what if you already have Windows 11 Home and want to step up to Windows 11 Professional? There’s a third option, which is to snag the Windows 11 Home to Professional upgrade for $59 (originally $99). Upgrade Windows 11 Home to Professional for just $59Buy now via PCWorld software store How to upgrade to Windows 11 After putting in your order, you’ll get a license key in your email inbox which you can use to activate your copy of Windows 11. Here’s how you can activate Windows 11 Home or Windows 11 Professional: Go to Start > Settings > System > Activation. Click on Change Product Key and enter the product key you got via email (copy/paste works). Select Next and start your system upgrade. If you’re upgrading from Windows 11 Home to Windows 11 Professional, the process is pretty much the same—clicking Next will trigger the upgrade, which will take a bit of time. Read...