Microsoft could be planning to infuse Windows 11 with AI in every corner

Windows 11 could get AI enhancements for a bunch of its core apps in the future, according to a well-known source of leaks on all things Microsoft.

Zac Bowden (of Windows Central) informs us Microsoft is considering bolstering a ‘handful’ of the default apps in Windows 11 with AI functionality, and that includes Photos, Snipping Tool, Paint, and the Camera app.

The idea for Photos is that with images containing people or objects, the AI could identify these and give the user the ability to order them to be cut out and pasted to another image (or document, or wherever).

With Paint, the idea might be to usher in generative AI, meaning you could ask the app to create something specific (in the same vein that the Bing chatbot can knock up a composition of an image when given a brief).

For the Snipping Tool, the idea is to introduce OCR (optical character recognition) which could allow the tool to pick up on text in screenshots, facilitating the extraction of those words to the clipboard. The Camera app may also get a similar OCR trick to pull out text from photos.

Bowden underlines that these ideas are still at the experimental stage, and it’s not clear when they might come to Windows 11.


Analysis: Windows 11 or Windows AI?

The fact that these capabilities are experimental suggests that they may not be coming to Windows 11 in the near future (if they ever do – this is just speculation, after all). Who knows, though – Microsoft could have a lot of the groundwork in place (for example, the image creation functionality already in Bing AI), and it could happen faster than we think.

Certainly, these are going to be very handy features if they do arrive in Windows 11. They’ll cut corners in impressively swift ways – pulling text out of photos more or less instantly, for example, and cutting out a person from an image in the blink of an eye (a painstaking task when performed manually, of course).

So, what’s the catch? Well, apart from the rumored nature of these AI features, Bowden does observe that they may have hardware requirements in some cases. That could include the presence of a VPU or vision processing unit, for example (a capability set to be built into Intel’s next-gen Meteor Lake CPUs, which speeds up AI-based tasks).

All of the above-mentioned features sound realistic inclusions for Windows 11 at some point, beefing up the operating system’s core apps considerably, and fitting neatly alongside Windows Copilot in making the OS a more AI-driven experience all-round.

If this rumor makes one thing clearer, it’s Microsoft’s ambition to infuse Windows 11 with AI in every corner – or maybe next-gen Windows, which as Bowden observes, will incorporate AI more ‘significantly.’ Perhaps that’ll be Windows 12, as rumored, or maybe the next incarnation of the OS could called Windows AI, even?

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9 hidden iOS tricks that every iPhone user should know

Apple’s iOS has come a long way from its iPhoneOS starting point, and all of the best iPhones have built on the operating system’s initial promise. Steve Jobs demonstrated the power of the iPhone in 2007 with a huge on-stage Starbucks order, and the platform has grown year after year with each update adding new features.

Multitasking, the notification and Control Center, and even the App Store, were all added to the iPhone after its first iteration, and that rapid pace of innovation can make it hard to keep up with new features.

With that in mind, we’ve put together this list of useful features you may have missed. Some are accessibility options, some need to be enabled, and others are just waiting to be used. All of them, though, will make your iPhone experience better.

1. Use a cursor to select text

iOS tips and tricks

(Image credit: Apple / TechRadar)

Texting is a way of life, but it’s still surprisingly cumbersome even at the best of times. If you’ve ever had an errant word added by autocorrect but not spotted it until you’ve written a few dozen words more, this tip is for you.

Sure, you can hold your finger to the text to jump to it, but this can occasionally lead to highlighting an entire word or sentence. For more granular control, we’d recommend the following:

  • Hold your finger or thumb at the bottom of your screen, underneath the keyboard.
  • This will grey out the keyboard, and turn it into a trackpad until you raise your finger or thumb.

Hey presto, easy text selection!

2. Create text snippets

iOS tips and tricks

(Image credit: Apple / TechRadar)

Text snippets are popular for macOS power users, but you can achieve the same result with your iPhone. Better yet, it doesn’t require any third-party software.

Text snippets are ideal shortcuts for copying in certain phrases you’ve pre-registered. If you’re dealing with a client via iMessage, for example, you may want to send a standardized response. With text replacement, you can create a block of text to be posted whenever you type a phrase.

  • Open Settings, then head to General, then Keyboard.
  • Pick Text Replacement and you’ll be able to create new replacements, and the words required to trigger them.

In our example, you can see that typing 'omw' brings up 'On my way!', but there are plenty of places where this would be useful. You can also set emoji to appear when you type, which feels pleasantly nostalgic in a way you just don’t get from the emoji picker.

3. Enable the scientific calculator

iOS tips and tricks

(Image credit: Apple / TechRadar)

The iPad may not feature a calculator, but the iPhone does. The trouble is, it can feel a tad limiting outside of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division – at least until you find a new perspective.

Turning your iPhone to the side with the calculator app open will enable the scientific calculator. This adds brackets, square roots, cos/sin/tan options, and the ever-handy π command, among plenty of others.

4. Enable an additional ‘button’

iOS tips and tricks

(Image credit: Apple / TechRadar)

While intended as an accessibility feature, the iPhone’s ‘back tap’ button is handy for power users looking for additional input for their device.

  • Go to Settings, then Accessibility, then Touch.
  • Select Back Tap and you’ll be presented with plenty of options.

You can use this in a number of ways, such as triggering the App Switcher, snapping a quick screenshot, or opening Spotlight search from anywhere on your device. There are also double and triple tap options, meaning you can set multiple functions for it.

5. Use your camera’s 'Burst Mode'

iOS tips and tricks

(Image credit: Apple / TechRadar)

Your iPhone’s camera is plenty powerful enough, but there’s one trick you may have missed: Burst Mode. Burst mode, as the name suggests, takes a series of rapid-fire images in one press which means your iPhone can capture a series of action shots.

It’s ideal for pets and excitable toddlers, letting you go back and look at your pictures after the event and pick out the best ones. It’s easy to access, too. Just slide the Shutter button (the one you use to take photos) to the left when you’re in the Camera app.

You can also head into Settings, then Camera, and toggle Use Volume Up for Burst to allow your volume rocker to trigger Burst mode – just hold it when you’re taking an image.

6. Scan documents using the camera

Your iPhone’s camera can double as a very respectable document scanner, and while Live Text means you can extract text from images, it’s entirely possible to digitize an entire document. Because it’s buried in the Notes app, though, you may not have spotted how to do it.

  • Open Notes, then tap the camera icon, then Scan Documents.
  • Highlight your document and it should automatically save. You can also manually take a scan with the shutter button.

Once the scan is saved, you can sign it, too, or just share it via any email or messaging app. It’s not got the same level of quality as a bespoke scanner, but it’s not far off, and will certainly do in a pinch.

Not convinced? Be sure to check our list of the best document scanning apps.

7. Use your camera flash as a notification

iOS tips and tricks

(Image credit: Apple / TechRadar)

One final camera trick, which is a little different. As an accessibility feature, you can trigger your iPhone’s camera flash to go off when you receive a notification, providing a more visual way of knowing someone is calling or messaging.

  • Head into Settings, then Accessibility.
  • In the Audio/Visual section there’s an option for ‘LED Flash for Alerts’.

You can also trigger it to only work when your phone is on silent, which is ideal if you’d prefer your phone not to vibrate on a desk.

8. Master Control Center

iOS tips and tricks

(Image credit: Apple / TechRadar)

Introduced as part of iOS 7 all the way back in 2013, Control Center has moved from the bottom of the screen to the top as the years have gone by, and it has a lot more utility than you may be aware of.

While Apple doesn’t offer Force Touch these days, you can long-press on Control Center icons to get additional options.

Through this, you can enable Spatial Audio with compatible earphones, pick a Focus mode, get a better look at what’s playing on your audio app, or even go two layers deep – the quadrant with Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and mobile signal can be expanded to allow you to easily select a Wi-Fi access point, for example.

9. Recognize any song with Shazam in the Control Center

iOS tips and tricks

(Image credit: Apple / TechRadar)

Remember Shazam? The music recognition service was purchased by Apple in 2018 and remains a great way to identify whatever song is playing – whether you’re in a store, at a party, or just missed the name on the radio.

While Shazam has an app, you can also add it to your iPhone’s Control Center for easy access.

  • Open Settings, then enter Control Center and tap the Plus button next to Music Recognition to add it.

Now, whenever you hear a great song playing, you can pull down from Control Center and hit the Shazam icon to find out what’s playing. If you’re on Apple Music, it’ll even give you the option to add the track to your library.

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How to watch the Bundesliga: live stream every match online this weekend

Germany has restarted its Bundesliga 2019/20 season ahead of every other major European league – masters of efficiency that they are, the country never fails to live up to antiquated stereotypes. It gives football fans a real glimmer of hope, though,  after the Covid-19 sports shutdown. Ready for the next kick-off? Saturday afternoon's fixtures saw title chasers Dortmund see off Wolfsburg 2-0 – while Friday night offered a Berlin derby where Hertha thrashed Union 4-0.The goals are coming thick and fast, so here's how to get a Bundesliga live stream and watch every match online this weekend – including for FREE!

Yes, it's finally time to banish those memories of Belarusian Premier League relegation six-pointers and Nicaraguan league cup clashes – top-flight European soccer is now back on the menu again and the first weekend of Bundesliga fixtures saw no less than 27 goals banged in. Now, a new round of matches is upon us as Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund continue their nearly neck-in-neck pursuit of the Salatschüssel.

You'll find a complete Bundesliga fixture list below, with the forthcoming batch of games serving as something of an appetizer for next week's big clash – Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday. That could well prove to be a Bundesliga title decider – but first Germany's top two teams face tricky opponents in Eintracht Frankfurt and Wolfsburg, respectively. 

Dortmund's trip to Wolfsburg looks particularly precarious, as the Lower Saxony side need a strong finish to the season to realize their ambitions of European football next season.

Dortmund, meanwhile, have slightly loftier aspirations – of being the team to break Bayern Munich's run of seven straight Bundesliga titles. And English football fans will be particularly interested in Dortmund's endeavours, as rising Three Lions star Jadon Sancho is part of a ferocious Dortmund attack that also features Norwegian wunderkind Erling Braut Haaland, German international Mario Götze, and Eden Hazard's younger brother, Thorgan. 

American soccer fans also have plenty of reason to want to tune in to the Bundesliga this weekend, with promising youngsters like Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen) and Weston McKennie (Schalke) plying their trade in the Bundesliga this season alongside USMNT veterans John Brooks  (Wolfsburg) and Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach)

With that in mind, here's this weekend's complete fixture list, followed by how to live stream the Bundesliga and watch every match online – including all the legitimate free viewing options available today. 

Bundesliga fixtures and results: all this weekend's games

There are nine Bundesliga fixtures scheduled across Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week – which started with the Hertha vs Union Berlin derby. Here's the full list, along with results and when you can watch the next matches in Germany, the UK and US. 

Friday, May 22

  • Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin:  4 – 0

Saturday, May 23

  • Wolfsburg v Dortmund: 0-2
  • Mönchengladbach v Leverkusen: 1-4
  • Freiburg v Bremen: 0-1
  • Paderborn v Hoffenheim: 1-1
  • Bayern v Frankfurt – 6.30pm CEST / 5.30pm BST / 12.30pm ET

Sunday, May 24

  • Schalke v Augsburg – 1.30pm CEST / 12.30pm BST / 7.30am ET
  • Mainz v Leipzig – 3.30pm CEST / 2.30pm BST / 9.30am ET
  • Koln v Dusseldorf – 6.30pm CEST / 5.30pm BST / 12.30pm ET

Get a FREE Bundesliga live stream in Germany this weekend

Sky Sports has the broadcast rights to the Bundesliga in Germany and it's going big on the restart, announcing that Saturday mid-afternoon fixtures are available to watch for free – both online and on TV – in Deutschland and neighbouring Austria.

This means its never been easier to watch the Bundesliga for free! Matches will be available to watch for free on German TV on the Sky Sports News HD channel, but even more conveniently online via the German Sky Sports website.

The Sky Sports News HD Bundesliga live stream is like a constant highlight reel, cutting between matches at the most opportune times so you never miss a moment of the action.

The eligible fixtures for Saturday, May 23 were:

  • Wolfsburg v Dortmund – 3.30pm CEST / 2.30pm BST / 9.30am ET
  • Mönchengladbach v Leverkusen – 3.30pm CEST / 2.30pm BST / 9.30am ET
  • Freiburg v Bremen – 3.30pm CEST / 2.30pm BST / 9.30am ET
  • Paderborn v Hoffenheim – 3.30pm CEST / 2.30pm BST / 9.30am ET

How to watch the Bundesliga from outside your country

If you're abroad and can't bear to miss out on Bundesliga football, don't worry. While you may initially encounter a problem watching your usual domestic coverage in the form of geo-blocking, there's an easy solution to this common annoyance. 

It's called a VPN and it's a clever bit of software that relocates your device back to your country of origin – thereby allowing you to regain access to the services you normally use (and almost certainly pay for) back home.

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How to watch the Bundesliga live in the UK

watch bundesliga live stream uk

If you're out of the UK or Ireland but have subscribed to a streaming service you want to access from abroad, remember you can always use a VPN to enjoy all the content you've already paid for back home.

bundesliga live stream free

How to watch a FREE Bundesliga live stream in the US

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How to live stream the Bundesliga in Canada and watch German soccer online

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How to watch the Bundesliga in Australia on TV or online

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Philips TV 2020: every OLED, LED, and Ambilight set coming this year

What’s new with Philips TVs in 2020? We’re only a short while into the year, but all the major TV brands have already started to showcase the latest sets to join their TV ranges – and while Philips didn’t make many announcements at CES 2020, the cat’s now out of the bag.

Yes, there are a number of new Philips TVs coming this year, from OLED beauties to more pedestrian (but still likely impressive) LCD sets. Philips is a company with great options, whether you’re buying on a budget or for the fanciest centerpiece television you can afford, and the sets announced so far look set to continue that tradition.

With the Philips OLED 804 now coming stateside, it looks like some big things are in the pipeline too. Given Funai currently licenses the Philips brand over in the US, it’s a welcome move that should bring some stiff competition to the nation’s TV market.

You can find every new Philips TV announced for 2020 below, with a rundown of the specs, processing and format support to expect from this year’s TV range. Make sure to check back every few weeks, though, as we’ll be adding new televisions as they’re formally unveiled.

New Philips TVs for 2020

Philips OLED 805 / 855 (available in 55, 65 inches): This pair of OLED TVs may differ in design – only the TV stand, really – but they should both offer the same level of high-end excellence. Philips’ OLED sets are largely spectacular, thanks in no small part to the three-sided Ambilight projection built in their frames – and this year’s cohort promises greater AI processing too.

These aren’t quite the flagship sets in the range, as the Philips 984+ (which launched in late 2019) is still the top dog for now. Expect Dolby Atmos audio and 50W speakers, though – with a release sometime in May. (Pricing not announced.)

Philips 9435 4K HDR LED (available in 55, 65 inches): Even as we drop down to LCD panels, this 4K HDR television still packs in a 50W 2.1.2 channel audio system – from Bowers & Wilkins – with upwards-firing drivers to make the most of Dolby Atmos content. Same Ambilight features as above. (Pricing / availability not announced.)

Philips 9235 4K HDR LED (available in 43 inches): 40W 2.1 channel speakers should still give this smaller 4K set something to shout about – while three-sided Ambilight should help too. (Pricing / availability not announced.)

Philips 8505 4K HDR LED (available in 43, 50, 58, 65, 70 inches): This Philips set is at the tail end of the premium range, or the top end of the mid-range, depending on your perspective. You’ll get the same three-sided Ambilight and P5 picture processor as the sets above, with a smaller 20W audio output from built-in speakers (no soundbar here.) The stand design varies between panel sizes, but you should get the same picture quality from the 43-inch to 70-inch model.

Philips TV 2020 technology

What marks out Philips TVs from the rest? The most eye-catching feature would certainly be Philips Ambilight: a projection technology that throws onscreen colors onto the wall behind your television, upping the ambience (hence the name) and making for a light-show you won’t get with Sony or Samsung TVs.

It has a good reputation for sound, too – though not through Philips own audio arm. The company collaborates with audio specialists Bowers & Wilkins for its high-end televisions, fitting them with dedicated Dolby Atmos soundbars to really hear those movie soundtracks or cheering crowds at their best.

Like most other TV brands today, Philips offers a range of LCD and OLED sets, with the latter panels saved for its more premium offerings.

Only quite premium sets have been announced so far, with every set listed above featuring the P5 Perfect Picture Processor, now in its fourth iteration. Last year’s chip was certainly impressive, but it looks like there’ll be an even bigger jump this year with the addition of AI processing / neural networks able to analyze millions of video clips and learn how to best display the content sent its way, fine-tuning the “source, color, contrast, motion and sharpness” for each frame.

A press release for Philips claims that, “By analyzing all elements of the content, frame by frame, the 4th Gen P5 reproduces a much more realistic, natural image that no longer feels like TV but creates images that closely mirror real life.”

Like Panasonic, Philips is agnostic towards HDR formats, and makes sure to support both the dynamic Dolby Vision and HDR10+ standards (unlike Samsung, which sticks only with the latter). You’ll also get the HLG (hybrid log gamma) broadcasting format, though these formats drop off when you get down to more affordable mid- or low-end sets.

Philips uses the Android smart TV platform across its TV range, with 2020 models getting the latest Android Pie (9.0) version. It’s the most common TV platform and the most unremarkable – though Android’s stability issues have generally improved over the past couple of years, thanks to updates from Google.

Perhaps most importantly though – depending on your priorities – we now know that every new Philips set this year will come with Disney Plus at launch, meaning you won’t have to wait around for a firmware update later in the year to bring the app to your television.

Philips 2019 4K OLED TVs

Of course, there are still plenty of Philips TVs released in 2019 you can still find on the market:

Philips OLED+984 Ambilight TV (available in 65 inches): The top-of-the-range TV for Philips in 2019, we loved the OLED+984 Ambilight TV when we reviewed it earlier this year. It's the ultimate high-end lifestyle 4K OLED. It does exactly what a flagship TV should, setting a high bar for image quality, audio and design, without significant compromises. It comes in just one size: 65-inches and costs £4499 / approx $ 5908 (about AU$ 8633).

Read more in our 5 star Philips OLED+984 Ambilight TV review.

Philips OLED+903 (available in 55, 65 inches): When we reviewed the OLED+ 903 earlier this year, we loved that it delivered punchy HDR pictures. Which at the time was better than any OLED TV we’d tested so far. The 55-inch model costs £2,499 / approx $ 3282 (about AU$ 4795). and the 65-inch model is £3,499 / approx $ 4596 (about AU$ 6713)..

Read more in our Philips OLED+ 903 review.

Philips OLED 854 and OLED 804 (available in 55 and 65 inches): We're looking forward to spending more time with these screens. Identical apart from stand differences (the 854 centrally mounted, the other with a pair of legs) these 4K screens will be available in 55 and 65-inch sizes.

Image Credit: TechRadar

They’re very similar to last year’s Philips OLED+ 903, except with one key omission – they lack the impressive Bowers and Wilkins sound system, opting for a Philips-own build instead. 

Running Android TV, working with Alexa and Google Assistant and with all four of their HDMI ports HDR-ready, these Ambilight screens will be ones to watch for those looking top-notch OLED visuals.

For a deeper look at these screens, read our hands-on: Philips OLED 804 / OLED 854 review.

Philips 2019 4K LCD LED TVs

Though OLED TVs have become Philips’ showstoppers, the majority of its range still consists of LCD TVs. Though LCD can lack the richness of a well-tuned OLED TV, they shouldn’t be sniffed at in their own right – Philips has done some stellar work not only in the picture stakes, but also with audio, thanks to a partnership with Bowers and Wilkins.

Philips 8804/PUS 8804 (available in 50, 55 and 65 inches): One of the most promising LCD screens we’ve seen in a while. It’s 4K visuals are available in 50, 55 and 65-inch sizes, and will have the full house of HDR10+, HLG and Dolby Vision support, as well as Dolby Atmos sound. It’s also the only screen revealed so far this year from Philips to include that show-stopping Bowers and Wilkins sound system again. 

For more info, read our hands-on review: Philips 8804 TV review.

Image Credit: TechRadar

Philips 9104/PUS9100 (available in 55-inches): If style is more important than sound quality, check out this TV. It’s another 4K LCD panel, but has been designed in conjunction with design house Georg Jensen, and has striking chrome finish aluminum feet. It too has standard HDR support covered but drops HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, only features Dolby Atmos audio passthrough, and will only come in a single 55-inch screen size. It has a three sided Ambilight though, so this may be one to check out for its aesthetic value.

Philips 7304 Performance Series/PUS7304 (available in 43, to, 55, 58, 65 and 70-inches): This is the TV Philips is pushing most heavily for this half of the year, which is nicknamed ‘The One’. Why? Because it’s ‘the one’ TV they think will suit most people, ticking lots spec boxes will aiming to come in at a mid-range price point. 

The Ambilight 4K LCD screen will come in a range of size – 43, 55, 58, 65 and 70-inches – has the full suite of HDR options and features Dolby Atmos. For more information, check out our Philips The One first look impressions

Philips 7504/PUS7504 (available in 50 and 55-inches): This TV looks set to be a similar screen, coming in 50 and 55-inch screen sizes, trading a less striking stand for beefier 25W 2.1 built in speakers. The One only has two-channel 20W speakers.

From here down the range of LCD Philips TVs, you lose access to the top-notch P5 image processing engine, instead being left with the Pixel Precise Ultra HD processing engine. They also run the SAPHI operating system, rather than the more versatile Android TV

Philips 6814/PUS6814 (available in 43, 50, 55 and 65-inches), Philips 6704/PUS6704 (available in 43, 50, 55, 65 and 70 inches), Philips 6504/PUS6504 (available in 43, 50, 58 and 65 inches): The key differences here? The 6814 has a T-Bar centrally-mounted light finish stand with 3-sided Ambilight, while the 6704 has Ambilight, a dark frame finish and two feet supporting it. The 6504 looks pretty much the same as the 6704, but doesn’t have any Ambilight features.

Philips 2019 HD TVs

It says a lot about the dominance of 4K TV now that, not only is there only a single non-4K TV in Philips range this year, but it’s not even 1080p – just a 24-inch HD-ready 1366×768 screen. 

Philips 4304: has no smart features, no HDR, and only two HDMI port ports. This is very much one for the kitchen, or a “my first TV” for the kids’ bedrooms.

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