Panasonic TVs have been missing from the US market for over a decade, which is odd because, well, the company makes good stuff. In any event, our national nightmare is over. The Japanese electronics giant just released a bunch of new televisions for US customers.
The releases break down into two lines of OLED displays and another line of Mini-LED TVs. The televisions range in size from 55 to 85 inches and they’ve all been designed and developed in Japan. As expected, all of the TVs boast a 4K resolution, to showcase Panasonic’s “outstanding picture quality.”
Panasonic has also teamed up with Amazon for these displays. Each model comes with Fire TV built in. This partnership likely gave Panasonic an easy way to add an America-friendly UI into the mix, being as how the company’s been missing from these shores for ten years.
Panasonic/Amazon
Why come back now? The company says it was “driven to re-enter the US by a strong belief in the unmet demand for their televisions, particularly among consumers seeking the highest possible picture quality.” That’s just corporate mumbo jumbo, but the real reason is likely one word that rhymes with “shmoney.” The US is a huge market.
The company’s new TVs are available to order right now, though it looks like shipments won’t go out until September 16. Prices range from $1,300 to $3,200, depending on the model and size.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/panasonic-just-returned-to-the-us-market-with-new-oled-and-mini-led-tvs-152614684.html?src=rss
Sony's MDR-7506 headphones have become a go-to option for recording studios and creators. The set of cans are only $100 and they offer crisp, clean sound so you know exactly what your audience is going to hear. Today, the company announced a more robust option for studio headphones, the MDR-M1, that has a slightly updated design, new drivers, wider frequency range and improved bass response.
Inside, the MDR-M1 packs newly developed drivers capable of frequency response of 5Hz – 80kHz. Sony explains that this ultra-wide range is crucial for things like subtle details in various recorded sound sources (Dolby Atmos and 360 Reality Audio especially). More specifically, the drivers here have a soft edge for those super low frequencies and a hard dome shape for accurate reproduction in the ultra-high range. There's also a "tuned port" on the outside of the ear cups, or Beat Response Control as Sony calls it, that provides the ventilation needed for improved low frequency control. That component works in tandem with an optimized diaphragm for "very tight bass response," according to the company.
"In recording sessions, it is important to care what musicians or singers are listening to when they play or sing," explained Akihiro Nishimura, an engineer at Power Station at Berklee NYC who worked with Sony to develop these headphones. "MDR-M1 gives you the same impression of listening in a control room headphone, which makes it easier to create music by listening to each other."
Sony
These are closed-back headphones, so you won't have to worry about sound leakage or ambient noise creeping in. Sony enhanced the replaceable ear pads for both increased comfort and better noise isolation. It also reduced the overall weight compared to the 7506, which means longer recording sessions shouldn't be as much of a burden. The MDR-M1 will come with two detachable cables with machined aluminum connections, one that has a stereo mini-plug and plug adapter (stereo mini to stereo standard) and the other a shorter option for connecting to various professional gear. Sony also took care to make the MDR-M1 more durable, as they're like to get dropped or flung around a studio or other recording and editing environments.
The MDR-M1 is available for preorder now for $250, a significant increase over the MDR-7506. If open-back headphones are more your thing for recording and editing, the MDR-MV1 carries a similar spec sheet to this new model. But, the price tag is even higher at $400.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/sonys-mdr-m1-studio-headphones-offer-an-audio-and-comfort-upgrade-over-the-mdr-7506-150052628.html?src=rss
Last year, Lenovo showed off a fantastically futuristic concept gadget called Project Crystal, which was the world’s first laptop to feature a transparent MicroLED display. But today, in what has become a tradition for Lenovo during IFA, the company is back with yet another demo notebook, this time equipped with a motorized rotating hinge.
Dubbed the Auto Twist AI PC, Lenovo’s latest concept looks almost exactly like a traditional clamshell when closed. However, with a simple voice command, its lid raises automatically and rotates into practically any position — even all the way around into tablet mode. While there is no official pricing, or even plans to bring the device to full production just yet, Lenovo says the Auto Twist is designed to provide enhanced adaptability, improved ergonomics and possibly better security. But for now, the company’s main goal is simply to see what environments or use cases might be able to best take advantage of a laptop with this kind of novel design.
Thanks to built-in object tracking, for example, the Auto Twist can move its display and follow people as they walk around a room, which could be very helpful when making presentations. It can also detect a person’s body, and possibly even their posture, before moving its display into the best position to reduce fatigue or strain.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Alternatively, the laptop can detect when it’s not being used and then close its own lid to prevent unwanted users from gaining access. And while the Auto Twist’s AI tag feels a bit spurious, Lenovo hopes the laptop will be able to do many of these things on its own or through simple natural language voice control (the laptop currently supports commands to transform into laptop mode, clamshell mode and more).
After seeing it in person, the most immediate use case that came to my mind was in POS (point-of-sale) payment terminals. Here, employees often have to manually flip a screen around so that the customer can see their total or add in things like a tip. Granted, the Auto Twist does seem like overkill in that situation considering how easy it is to rotate a screen around the old-fashioned way with your hands a basic hinge. And at least from what I saw, the built-in motor wasn’t quite as smooth as you’d probably want for commercial applications. But, it is an interesting idea with potential for high-end luxury outlets.
Then there’s just the fun of it. During my demo, I watched as the Auto Twist played a clip of a dancer as its motorized hinge attempted to make its display match the person’s movements. I also saw the laptop swivel its display horizontally to present an ultra-wide panoramic photo in a more engaging way. Additionally, while other bleeding-edge tech like laptops with foldable displays suffer from a ton of added weight and bulk, the rotating servo on Lenovo’s latest concept is relatively unobtrusive and there isn’t a huge impact on the device’s overall portability.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
So while it remains to be seen how useful the Auto Twist really is or what it might turn into down the line, I appreciate that Lenovo is still trying to come up with new ways to evolve the classic clamshell laptop.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/lenovos-auto-twist-concept-laptop-has-a-lid-that-can-swivel-and-bow-down-at-your-command-150022971.html?src=rss
Lenovo has just revealed its latest lineup of laptops at IFA Berlin. The standouts seem to be Aura editions of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 and Yoga Slim 7i. The Aura software, which is the result of a collaboration with Intel, can quickly shift these machines into various modes to optimize for specific tasks, like safe internet browsing, better video call quality or distraction-free work.
Lenovo
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition, It’s a 14-inch laptop with a 16:10 2.8K (2880x1800) OLED display and a refresh rate of 120Hz. It also has DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification and reaches 400 nits of brightness. The CPU is an Intel Core Ultra 9, and the Intel Arc Xe2 GPU handles graphics. The battery is rated at 57Wh and is a replaceable unit.
The Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition is larger at 15.3 inches and also has a screen resolution of 2.8K. The display can be an OLED or LCD touch panel, with a refresh rate of 120Hz and brightness of 500 nits. An Intel Core Ultra 7 processor powers this laptop and uses integrated graphics. With a battery life of 70Wh, it should last all day for web browsing and streaming video content.
Another laptop to look out for is the IdeaPad 5x 2-in-1. It's equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor and integrated Adreno GPU. The 14-inch WUXGA (1920x1200) OLED screen can reach 400 nits of brightness, and the battery is rated at 57Wh. Best of all, the whole package only costs about $850.
The Yoga Pro 7, IdeaPad Slim 5x and the 13- and 15-inch IdeaPad Slim 5s are among the new arrivals as well, but unfortunately, these models won’t be available in the US.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/lenovo-announces-new-aura-edition-laptops-150005439.html?src=rss
NinjaLab, a security research company, has discovered a vulnerability that would allow bad actors to clone YubiKeys. As the company has explained in a security advisory, NinjaLab found a vulnerability in the cryptographic library used in the YubiKey 5 Series. In particular, it found a cryptographic flaw in the microcontroller, which the security researchers described as something that "generates/stores secrets and then execute cryptographic operations" for security devices like bank cards and FIDO hardware tokens. YubiKeys are the most well-known FIDO authentication keys, and they're supposed to make accounts more secure, since users would have to plug it into their computers before they could log in.
The researchers explained how they discovered the vulnerability because they found an open platform based on Infineon's cryptographic library, which Yubico uses. They confirmed that all YubiKey 5 models can be cloned, and they also said that the vulnerability isn't limited to the brand though they've yet to try and clone other devices.
That vulnerability has apparently gone unnoticed for 14 years, but just because it has now come to light doesn't mean anybody can exploit it to clone YubiKeys. To start with, bad actors will need to have physical access to the token they want to copy. Then, they have to take it apart and use expensive equipment, including an oscilloscope, to "perform electromagnetic side-channel measurements" needed to analyze the token. In the researchers' paper, they said their setup cost them around $11,000 and that using more advanced oscilloscopes could raise the setup's cost to $33,000. In addition, attackers might still need their target's PINs, passwords or biometrics to be able to access specific accounts.
Bottom line is that users part of government agencies or anybody handling very, very sensitive documents that could make them espionage targets would have to be very careful with their keys. For ordinary users, as researchers wrote in their paper, "it is still safer to use YubiKey or other impacted products as FIDO hardware authentication token to sign in to applications rather than not using one."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/yubikey-vulnerability-will-let-attackers-clone-the-authentication-device-143049198.html?src=rss
DJI has just unveiled the Neo, its much-leaked $200 drone aimed at content creators and casual users. It’s tiny and easy to use thanks to novice-friendly features like propeller guards, palm takeoff and voice control.
However, the Neo is no toy (or Snap Pixy). It has a suite of powerful features like ActiveTrack, Quick Shots, FPV controller support, smartphone control and the ability to record yourself with the DJI Mic 2.
Video specs look promising as well, but not everything is perfect — it lacks obstacle detection and uses small propellers that are likely to be noisy. I wasn’t able to give it a full look as some features were missing, but I was still astonished by what DJI got a small, cheap drone to do.
The Neo is DJI’s lightest drone by a long way at 135 grams and is nearly small enough to fit into a pocket. That tiny size also means it's exempt from FAA registration and doesn't require a drone pilot permit.
It also has a feature we’ve not seen on the company’s drones before: a second button near the camera gimbal that lets you choose from different “Smart Shot” modes (Quick Shots on other DJI drones), like Follow and Dronie.
It comes with removable propeller guards that provide protection for use indoors and around people. Be careful when you fly, though, as there’s no obstacle avoidance apart from the main camera’s AI and a downward facing IR landing sensor.
The camera gimbal can tilt up 60 degrees and down 90, though it doesn’t flip for vertical video. The half-inch 12-megapixel sensor has an ultra-wide angle 13mm equivalent focal length with an f/2.8 aperture — good specs for a drone in this price range.
The Neo’s 1,435mAh lithium-ion battery is incredibly light but supports up to 17 minutes of fly time, or around 13 to 14 minutes in the real world. The small size means they charge quickly, but most users will want the two extra cells and a charger included in the Neo Combo kit.
To charge the batteries and transfer footage, there’s a USB-C port on the back. You won’t find a microSD card slot, though, as the Neo relies on 22GB of internal storage that holds about 40 minutes of 4K 30p footage.
Steve Dent for Engadget
Though small, the Neo offers features you’d expect on a high-end drone. To make it less intimidating for beginners, the Neo can be launched simply by placing it in hand and pressing the mode button. Then, it’ll automatically record video while performing one of six preprogrammed smart shots: Follow, Dronie, Circle, Rocket, Spotlight and Direction Track. To land the drone, just place your hand under it.
Settings can be tweaked with the new DJI Fly app, which now works without a controller and connects to the drone over Wi-Fi. For the smart modes, you can change things like follow distance and height, dronie radius and flight path, circle radius and more. You can also adjust video and photo resolution.
The Neo is DJI’s first model that lets you use voice control to launch the drone and perform Smart Shots and other actions. That feature wasn’t available in the beta software I tested, but DJI said it will be there when the drone goes on sale today.
Steve Dent for Engadget
If you want to pilot the drone yourself without buying a controller, that’s doable now too. Manual mode brings up touch screen controls for all drone movements, along with camera/video modes and a return-to-home (RTH) toggle.
Touchscreen piloting worked surprisingly well, letting me fly the Neo with precision. Outdoors with a GPS lock the drone is quite stable, but it can drift around and get a bit hard to manage indoors.
For more precision, the Neo also supports multiple DJI controllers, including the RC N3 model sold separately. However, you can also use it as an FPV drone by connecting it to DJI’s RC Motion 3 and DJI Goggles 3.
Controller mode offers the same features you’ll find on drones like the Mini 4 Pro, with cinema, normal and sport modes, manual and auto video, quick shot features and more. Using it with the FPV goggles and controller gives you the same experience as the Avata 2, including one-press acrobatics — albeit with a large drop in performance, of course.
Steve Dent for Engadget
And the Neo performs surprisingly well. Maximum horizontal speed in sport mode is 18 mph, or 36 mph in manual mode — pretty damn fast for such a tiny drone. However, manual mode is only available if you’re using the FPV Controller 3 and wasn’t enabled for my testing.
The Neo neo can resist winds up to 18 mph, compared to 24 mph for the Mini 4 Pro. Realistically, though, it’s only good for light winds under 10 mph.
It’s maneuverable and precise as well, particularly with the optional controller. That makes it ideal for events, as it’s very safe around people and small enough to fit in tight spaces. It is very noisy though, with a sound not unlike a hive of angry bees. “This propeller noise is a crime,” as my colleague Aaron Souppouris put it.
Steve Dent for Engadget
The Neo happens to be an awesome FPV drone as well, particularly since there’s less fear of crashing given its $200 price. It’s not nearly as fast as the Avata 2, of course, but it’s wildly fun when using the RC Motion 3 remote.
ActiveTrack, Spotlight and Point of Interest (POI) all work the same as on other DJI drones to track subjects tenaciously. Another mode, Direction Track, lets you vlog while walking and talking with the drone keeping your face in view. There’s no rear obstacle sensor, though, so you need to be careful when using it.
When the Neo is under smartphone Wi-Fi control, don’t let it get too far away as the maximum range is just 165 feet. With a controller and DJI’s O4 transmission, though, it has a 6.2 mile line-of-sight range in the US or about 3.7 miles in Europe. That’s impressive given the size, though you’d be braver than me if you let it get that far away.
Samuel Dejours for Engadget
The Neo supports up to 4K 30p video and 1080p at up to 60 fps, with no D-LogM like the Mini 4 Pro. You can also grab 12-megapixel photos for Instagram, Facebook, etc. Video isn’t up with even the DJI Mini 4 Pro, but it’s well above what you’d expect for something in this price range in terms of sharpness and color accuracy. With the small sensor, low-light capability isn’t great.
Stabilization is excellent thanks to DJI’s RockSteady and HorizonBalancing systems. Those offer action cam-like stability, while correcting tilt up to 45 degrees. Again, I was pretty amazed by the smoothness of footage even in a stiff breeze.
Finally, you can record audio via your smartphone’s microphone just by tapping on the DJI Fly app’s audio record button. And you can boost the quality considerably using the DJI Mic 2 by connecting it to your phone over Bluetooth. Though the drone is extremely noisy, DJI’s app manages to remove almost all of it, leaving your voice shockingly clear and legible with some distortion.
Steve Dent for Engadget
DJI’s Neo is an incredibly capable lightweight drone that will be attractive to a large number of potential users. For example, my drone pilot and photographer friend (a likely buyer) thought it would be ideal as a behind the scenes drone, because it can shoot good-quality video around people with no risk of injury.
It’s also a great drone for vloggers, content creators and recreational users on a budget. It executes cool shots automatically and the image quality is at the level of a smartphone, which is easily good enough for social media. The main problem is the noise, though all drones have that issue to some extent.
The most exciting part of the Neo is the price. For $200, or $289 in the combo kit with three batteries and a charger (in Europe you can get it with the RC-N3 controller for €349), it’s an incredible value considering the capabilities. It doesn’t really have any serious competition either, with the closest being the $350 HoverAir X1, which costs more and shoots lower resolution video. With all that, the Neo is DJI’s most exciting drone in years and is likely to be another hit. It's now on pre-order with shipping set to start soon.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/dji-neo-hands-on-a-powerful-and-lightweight-200-drone-130039169.html?src=rss
As great as they can be, folding phones can be a blight upon our pockets when wearing something tight. After all, these devices feel like you’ve got two phones in your pocket instead of the one you actually own. It’s not just the hardware, either, but the necessary hinges and joints that keep the components from breaking. So it was to my surprise that Honor’s new Magic V3 felt almost svelte in my jeans compared to its predecessor.
The company has spent the last year removing 0.7mm from the Magic V2, making the new model just 9.2mm thick. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s enough to make the whole thing feel noticeably thinner. It’s emblematic of the work Honor has put in to refine its flagship foldable in the hope of making it easier to live with day to day. So while the list of eye-catching new features is non-existent, a lot of small tweaks add up to a lot.
Photo by Daniel Cooper / Engadget
For instance, the display isn’t much changed beyond boosting the brightness of its backlight which helps readability in strong sunlight. You’ll also notice the company making a big deal about its AI defocus technology to help reduce eyestrain. The battery, too, gets a meager bump from 5,000mAh in the V2 to 5,150mAh here, but you can now charge it wirelessly. Similarly, work has been made to keep the V3 running cooler for longer under heavy load.
On the imaging front, there’s a 50-megapixel, f/1.6 wide camera paired with a 50-megapixel f/3.0 periscope telephoto lens with optical image stabilization (OIS) and LIDAR and a 40-megapixel, f/2.2 ultra-wide camera that also comes with OIS. There are also two 20-megapixel cameras for selfies embedded in both the cover display and the internal display, should you need them.
Photo by Daniel Cooper / Engadget
Honor is also throwing a kitchen sink’s worth of AI features at this thing which I’ve not yet been able to test. That includes the Google-powered AI Eraser to paint out unwanted nasties in your photos and face-to-face translation services. Honor’s Magic Portal, too, will offer hooks into Google search and try to throw up recommendations as and when you need them.
Of course, we don’t yet know how much this thing will cost you or when it’ll be available, but we hope that it’s priced smartly enough that it keeps its rivals on their toes.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/honor-solves-a-major-folding-phone-problem-with-the-magic-v3-130026967.html?src=rss
If you’re the sort who’d fling yourself on a fainting couch at the thought of an unsightly laptop bezel, there are kindred spirits working in Honor’s design department. The Chinese company has rocked up at IFA 2024 to show off the BookArt 14, with a uniform 2mm display bezel on the top three sides. Where then, you may ask, is the webcam? It’s hidden in a recess on the laptop deck, and when required will magnetically attach to the top of the lid with pogo pins.
The BookArt 14 is the latest in Honor’s attempts to produce a machine that it hopes will best a MacBook Air in a smaller body. That, as usual, means a smaller footprint and a far broader range of connectivity options including two USB-C, HDMI-out, 3.5mm jack and a USB-A port. Similarly, the 14.6-inch, 3.1K OLED display has a peak brightness of 700 nits and will come specced with Intel’s Core Ultra 7 when it drops at some point in the near future.
Photo by Daniel Cooper / Engadget
But more on that webcam, which looks like a single piece of flat chewing gum that sits in a push-in cavity on the right of the deck when not in use. When required, you can pop it out and it’ll nestle onto the magnetic pogo pins on the very top of the lid, only connecting when in place. (There’s no wireless connection, so you don’t have to worry about the webcam being used for anything dodgy when it’s not sitting on the pins.) You can connect it facing you or, if you so require, you can flip the view for conference calls in bigger rooms.
Of course, this isn't the first Honor laptop with a wacky webcam: Aping Huawei's MateBook X Pro, several of its machines, including the MagicBook Pro 16, had the camera mounted in a recess in the middle of the function row. That was great from a privacy perspective, but less than ideal when your video chats were looking up your nose.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/honors-new-laptop-has-a-detachable-webcam-130006729.html?src=rss
Honor rocked up at IFA 2024 with a plethora of products to show off, including its latest crack at building an iPad Pro killer. The MagicPad 2 is a 12.3-inch slate with a 3K, 144Hz OLED display that, the company says, will work harder than most to reduce eye strain. It’s a far cry from the LCD version its predecessor, the Magic Pad 13, shipped out with at the same time last year.
Understandably, Honor emptied a truck full of specs into this thing in the hope of making it a compelling purchase. There’s a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 paired with an Adreno 735 GPU and 12GB RAM, plus your storage option of choice. There’s a 13-megapixel, f/2.0 rear-facing camera and a 9-megapixel f/2.2 selfie unit which is on the “top” of the device in landscape mode. But Honor is more proud that, when laying on a table, it stands 5.8mm tall, a millimeter less than the iPad Pros it’s measuring itself up against.
Certainly, the hardware oozes austere charm, with a nicely-machined edge and rounded corners that you’d expect from a pro device. I’m not sure we can separate this from the products it apes but you have to give some small credit for making it look good. Especially given the usual risk of hewing too close to your inspiration and looking all the more inferior for it.
Photo by Daniel Cooper / Engadget
Whereas the keyboard on the MagicPad 13 connected to the tablet with pogo pins, this time out the Smart Bluetooth Keyboard is all wireless. I’m a fan of the keyboard folio, which uses chiclet switches with 1.6mm of key travel and is perfect for working on. Sadly, it does have that slightly agricultural feel that comes from a lot of third-party tablet case manufacturers, but that’s a small crime. Certainly, when flipped down in tablet-only mode, I was surprised at how few times I was able to trigger a mis-key, even when holding the slate in my arms.
It, like the Magic Pencil 3, attaches to its parent with magnets and draws power via close contact with the slate. If there’s one downside, it’s that the documentation is, as usual, woeful, and the magnets that run along the tablet's “top” bezel are strong enough that you can mount the Pencil in the wrong place. Which leads to the risk that you won’t sit it over the charging coil, leaving you in the lurch when you need to jot something down. As for the stylus, it’s very Apple Pencil v1, but the slate is responsive to inputs and palm rejection works perfectly.
Photo by Daniel Cooper / Engadget
Of course, much of what Honor is selling with this device isn't the hardware so much as the AI insights it promises to conjure up. Like being able to recognize handwritten mathematical formulas and writing, turning them into text with the promise of fewer "Eat Up Martha's." I was impressed by the speed at which I could scrawl "Hello, I am looking for a new housekeeper" in Honor Docs and it instantly translated it —- albeit to "Hello, I am looking for a new horsesleeper."
My brief sojourn with the Magic Pad 2 won’t offer generous insights into its longevity but that 10,050mAh battery seems fairly sturdy. I spent an hour or more browsing the w… — okay, obsessively scrolling through Reddit – and watching a 25-minute YouTube video. But even that activity only managed to knock the battery life figure down by three percent and I’d be surprised if it didn’t offer more than a whole day’s worth of life, depending on how aggressive you use it.
Of course, like many products in this pantheon, the big question is how compelling its price will be. If Honor is expecting to charge the same sort of price as an iPad Pro, then you can imagine only the most diehard of Android fans will opt for this. But if Honor can keep the price at a level that’ll ensure only positive comparisons, then it may be on to a winner.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/honors-high-end-magicpad-2-offers-elegance-and-style-130004154.html?src=rss
The Apple TV is one of the best streaming devices you can get right now to add Netflix, Disney+, Max and other streaming apps to your boring old TV. It costs more than the competition, but it offers a more polished experience (the screensavers are worth the price of admission) as well as more privacy protections. But you may not know that, with a VPN, you can use your Apple TV to access even more content. By downloading one of several VPN apps directly to the Apple TV, you can spoof your IP address, tricking your system into thinking you’re in a different country. And because most streaming services license different shows in different territories, flipping the VPN to an international location lets you access a wider array of content. Here’s how to use a VPN on your Apple TV and why you might want to install one.
How to use a VPN on Apple TV
As of the September 2023 release of the tvOS 17 software update, the Apple TV platform supports third-party VPN apps. Setting them up is easy; just follow these steps (these may vary slightly between VPNs):
In the Apple TV App Store, search for the VPN you want to download or search for the keyword “VPN” to see your options.
Download and install your chosen VPN.
Sign up or log in.
We have a comprehensive guide on how to stream video to your TV using a VPN, which covers Apple TV installation and provides alternative methods for connecting a VPN to your Apple TV.
Why you should use a VPN on Apple TV
As previously mentioned, using a VPN on your Apple TV allows you to change your IP address to make it seem like you’re browsing from a different country. This happens as the VPN encrypts your connection and tunnels it through the VPN’s digital or physical servers located in other countries. So if you’re in the US and tunnel to a UK VPN server, you’ll be able to access the UK Netflix content library and watch shows on UK-only services like BBC iPlayer.
VPNs can also be essential security tools, although their features apply best when you’re using them on a smartphone or PC where you do most of your internet browsing. If you purchase a VPN subscription with your Apple TV in mind, we recommend using it on your smartphone and laptop, too. A VPN can help keep you anonymous online and protect your data from malicious parties or advertising networks. If you care about digital privacy and anonymity, it’s good practice to use a VPN across all devices with internet connectivity.
Choosing the right VPN
Apple TVs only work with a limited number of VPNs. Although that seems like a hindrance, Apple vets the VPNs it allows on its App Store, and you can feel reassured knowing they’re trustworthy options. Every one of the top picks on our best VPNs list is on the Apple TV app store.
We encourage you to do your own research when choosing a service. Although each VPN has the same basic functionalities, their price and extra features vary. Before deciding which one is right for your needs and the devices you have, take some time to look at what each one offers and see what other users have to say.
VPN options for other streaming platforms
Don't have an Apple TV? Good news: Robust VPN options (or alternatives) exist for the other major streaming platforms, too.
How to use a VPN to stream with Fire TV (coming soon)
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/vpn/how-to-to-stream-with-a-vpn-on-your-apple-tv-113345975.html?src=rss