It’s the start of a new month, but the same old Connections we’ve come to know and love. Today’s is moderately tough, so take advantage of my hints below if you need them.
I’m not entirely sure why I found it do difficult to solve the final two groups here, because the blue ‘bookstore sections’ group was really quite simple in hindsight. But I got stuck on genres of books, rather than thinking ‘bookstore sections’, and decided that as ROMANCE and HUMOR are usually types of FICTION, the latter word wouldn’t be included in the group alongside them.
As is often the case, I was overthinking it – which is a shame, as the game had been going well until then. Fortunately, I eventually spotted the [blank] socks group instead, so was able to solve the book-related answer by default.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, 31 July, game #416)
YELLOW: RASPY GRUFF, HOARSE, HUSKY, ROUGH
GREEN: FINGERS LITTLE, MIDDLE, POINTER, RING
BLUE: ALE STYLES AMBER, PORTER, SOUR, STOUT
PURPLE: FRENCH ___ BULLDOG, FRY, HORN, KISS
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don’t technically need to solve the final one, as you’ll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What’s more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It’s a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It’s playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
What letters do today’s Quordle answers start with?
• S
• C
• S
• S
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
Quordle today (game #920) – the answers
(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)
The answers to today’s Quordle, game #920, are…
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Another easy Quordle here, on account of three of the words starting with the same letter. What’s more, that letter is S – the most common starting letter in Wordle and therefore almost certainly the most common here too.
Players of common letters will have had a good time of it, in fact, with T appearing in two answers and placings for R, A, E, I and N on the board too. The K in SPIKE is the only fairly uncommon letter, but all four words are well known, so I don’t expect any problems for most people today.
Here’s another potentially easy Strands puzzle for you – but only ‘potentially’ because in my experience different Strands games can cause trouble for different people. See how you get on, and take advantage of my hints if you need them.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
Your Strands expert
Your Strands expert
Marc McLaren
NYT Strands today (game #151) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… Not stirred
NYT Strands today (game #151) – hint #2 – clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
NASTY
SOOT
STOOD
TRAIN
BAKE
RAMEN
NYT Strands today (game #151) – hint #3 – spangram
What is a hint for today’s spangram?
• Given a jiggle
NYT Strands today (game #151) – hint #4 – spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?
• First: left, 4th row
• Last: right, 5th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #151) – the answers
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today’s Strands, game #151, are…
SALT
MARACA
RATTLE
HAIRSPRAY
MARTINI
BOOTY
HANDS
SPANGRAM: SHAKEN
My rating: Easy
My score: 1 hint
I’m annoyed at myself today. Very annoyed. No, I didn’t fail – but I needed one of the NYT’s in-game hints when really I could and should have solved it without. The theme clue was really obvious, and as soon as I saw ‘Not stirred’ I thought ‘shaken’! But for some reason it didn’t occur to me that the answer might be quite so simple as that, so I didn’t even look for the word SHAKEN, which was the spangram. If I had, I wouldn’t have needed the hint to set me on my way, because all of the answers were pretty easy. Silly silly silly.
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Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Wednesday 31 July, game #150)
EPOXY
GLUE
BUBBLEGUM
ADHESIVE
TAPE
CARAMEL
SPANGRAM: STICKYSTUFF
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT’s new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It’s now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT’s games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I’ve got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you’re struggling to beat it each day.
Google is dramatically upping its efforts to combat the appearance of explicit images and videos created with AI in search results. The company wants to make it clear that AI-produced non-consensual deepfakes are not welcome in its search engine.
The actual images may be prurient or offensive in some other way, but regardless of the details, Google has a new approach to removing this type of material and burying it far from the page one results if erasure isn’t possible. Notably, Google has experimented with using its own AI to generate images for search results, but those pictures don’t include real people and especially nothing racy. Google partnered with experts on the issue and those who have been targets of non-consensual deepfakes to make its system of response more robust.
Google has allowed individuals to request the removal of explicit deepfakes for a while, but the proliferation and improvement of generative AI image creators means there’s a need to do more. The request for removal system has been streamlined to make it easier to submit requests and speed up the response. When a request is received and confirmed as valid, Google’s algorithms will also work to filter out any similar explicit results related to the individual.
The victim won’t have to manually comb through every variation of a search request that might pull up the content, either. Google’s systems will automatically scan for and remove any duplicates of that image. And it won’t be limited to one specific image file. Google will proactively put a lid on related content. This is particularly important given the nature of the internet, where content can be duplicated and spread across multiple platforms and websites. This is something Google already does when it comes to real but non-consensual imagery, but the system will now cover deepfakes, too.
The method also shares some similarities with recent efforts by Google to combat unauthorized deepfakes, explicit or otherwise, on YouTube. Previously, YouTube would just label such content as created by AI or potentially misleading, but now, the person depicted or their lawyer can submit a privacy complaint, and YouTube will give the video’s owner a couple of days to remove it themselves before YouTube reviews the complaint for merit.
Deepfakes Buried Deep
Content removal isn’t 100% perfect, as Google well knows. That’s why the explicit deepfake search results hunt also includes an updated ranking system. The new ranking pushes back against search terms with a chance of pulling up explicit deepfakes. Google Search will now try to lower the visibility of explicit fake content and websites associated with spreading them in search results, especially if the search has someone’s name.
For instance, say you were searching for a news article about how a specific celebrity’s deepfakes went viral, and they are testifying to lawmakers about the need for regulation. Google Search will attempt to make sure you see those news stories and related articles about the issue and not the deepfakes under discussion.
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Google’s not alone
Given the complex and evolving nature of generative AI technology and its potential for abuse, addressing the spread of harmful content requires a multifaceted approach. And Google is hardly unique in facing the issue or working on solutions. They’ve appeared on Facebook, Instagram, and other Meta platforms, and the company has updated its policies as a result, with its Oversight Board recently recommending changing its guidelines to directly cover AI-generated explicit content and improve its own appeals process.
Lawmakers are responding to the issue as well, with New York State’s legislature passing a bill targeting AI-generated non-consensual pornography as part of its “revenge porn” laws. At the national level this week, the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act of 2024 (NO FAKES Act) was introduced in the U.S. Senate to deal with both explicit content and non-consensual use of deepfake visuals and voices. Similarly, Australia’s legislature is working on a bill to criminalize the creation and distribution of non-consensual explicit deepfakes
Still, Google can already point to some success in combatting explicit deepfakes. The company claims its early tests with these changes are succeeding in reducing the appearance of deepfake explicit images by more than 70%. Google hasn’t declared victory over explicitly deepfakes quite yet, however.
“These changes are major updates to our protections on Search, but there’s more work to do to address this issue, and we’ll keep developing new solutions to help people affected by this content,” Google product manager Emma Higham explained in a blog post. “And given that this challenge goes beyond search engines, we’ll continue investing in industry-wide partnerships and expert engagement to tackle it as a society.”
Best for creating email marketing campaigns: Pipedrive
Marketing CRM software is a sales solution that specifically aids businesses in creating and managing lead generation and nurturing through digital or in-person campaigns. Campaigns and strategies you can implement include email marketing, social media marketing, digital content marketing, in-person events, referral programs and so much more. Marketing CRM tools can manage all this, plus track how prospects interact with your content, all while promoting a positive perception of your brand.
CRM providers typically offer marketing products in tandem with sales tools or they offer marketing features embedded into the sales CRM itself. If your business is looking for a CRM provider with advanced marketing functionality, key features to consider are content generation, such as email templates, integrations and general marketing automations.
Below, I review top sales CRM providers for their marketing expertise and capabilities. My list of the best marketing CRM software providers includes HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho CRM and others. I list out pricing details, pros and cons, and identify ideal use cases for each to help you pinpoint which provider best fits your marketing needs.
HubSpot has a product called HubSpot Marketing Hub that offers both free and paid features. Within the free CRM tool, users can access email marketing, web forms, live chat, ad management and mobile optimization. If your business wants more marketing tools and is in a position to purchase a paid subscription, then multiple currencies, email health insights, social media integrations and adaptive testing are advanced features that are up for grabs.
Pricing
Free CRM: Free for up to five users with contact management, quotes, live chat and more.
Sales Hub Starter: $15 per seat per month, billed annually, or $20 when billed monthly. The Starter plan includes all free tools, plus simple automation, e-signature, conversation routing and more.
Sales Hub Professional: $90 per seat per month, billed annually, or $100 when billed monthly, plus a one-time $1,500 onboarding fee. This plan includes all Starter features and prospecting workspace, playbooks, forecasting and more.
Sales Hub Enterprise: $150 per seat per month, with an annual commitment and a one-time $3,500 onboarding fee. Users receive all Professional tools, plus advanced permissions, predictive lead scoring, conversation intelligence and lead form routing.
Marketing Hub Free: $0 per month for up to five users.
Marketing Hub Starter: $15 per seat per month, billed annually, or $20 when billed monthly.
Marketing Customer Platform: $15 per seat per month, billed annually, or $20 when billed monthly.
Marketing Hub Professional: $800 per month, billed annually, or $890 when billed monthly. This includes three seats with additional seats starting at $45 per month.
Marketing Hub Enterprise: $3,600 per month and includes five seats. Additional seats start at $75 per month.
Features
A/B testing: Implement adaptive testing of different marketing strategies by receiving real-time feedback and insight into campaign success.
Web forms: Generate leads directly from your business website by building online forms.
Marketing campaign management: Align marketing and sales teams by allowing collaboration in one central place.
Task tracker within campaign management tool. Image: HubSpot
HubSpot pros and cons
Pros
Cons
Users report easy platform setup.
No free trial for paid plans.
24/7 user support for paid plans.
No live support for free users.
Offers a variety of free tools and templates.
Users report lacking reporting features.
Why I chose HubSpot
HubSpot is the ultimate free CRM software for its rich marketing, sales and support features. As a popular provider thanks to its usability and user support, HubSpot can be a great choice for businesses that are new to using a CRM, want an affordable option or aim to level up their lead generation strategies.
HubSpot’s free CRM is extremely useful, but those upgrades can be costly for small businesses. For a free CRM with more affordable premium upgrades, I would recommend checking out Zoho CRM.
Salesforce: Best enterprise marketing and CRM solution
Star rating: 4.1/5
Image: Salesforce
Salesforce is enterprise CRM software built to handle the needs of large organizations. As one of the most flexible sales solutions, Salesforce allows enterprises to add niche elements and custom app integrations. It offers a marketing solution that can organize campaigns and assets and associate them with sales activities. This allows users to accurately communicate ROI to stakeholders and make strategy decisions based on campaign data history with reporting features.
Pricing
Starter Suite: $25 per user per month, billed annually. Users get account, contact, lead and opportunity management, as well as the mobile app, email integration and more.
Professional: $80 per user per month, billed annually. The Professional plan includes everything in the Starter Suite plus Sales Cloud, full offline functionality and more.
Enterprise: $165 per user per month, billed annually. This tier offers opportunity scoring and deal insights plus data synchronization and harmonization.
Unlimited: $330 per user per month, billed annually. The Unlimited tier includes all features mentioned above plus developer pro sandbox, lead scoring and five campaigns per opportunity.
Einstein 1 Sales: $500 per user per month, billed annually. This tier includes all Salesforce CRM features like collaboration tools via knowledge shares and Slack and more.
Marketing Cloud Engagement: $1,250 per organization per month, billed annually. Includes email marketing, content creation and robust analytics.
Marketing Cloud Account Engagement: $1,250 per organization per month, billed annually. This tier includes up to 10,000 contacts, lead nurturing and scoring, engagement history backboards and campaign reporting.
Marketing Cloud Growth Edition: $1,500 per organization per month, billed annually. This includes AI-powered emails and campaigns, multi-channel journeys and landing pages.
Data Cloud for Marketing: $108,000 per organization per year. These subscriptions unify data into a single customer profile with data ingestion, harmonization and insights and predictive analytics.
Marketing Cloud Personalization: $108,000 per organization per year. Includes web and email personalization, segmentation, rule-based decisioning, A/B testing and reporting and product and content recommendations.
Features
Content creation and selection: Use generative AI that learns from your brand and campaign data to create copy and visual content.
SMS messaging: Manage and track SMS messages by sending alerts and transactional messages to customers using templates and a drag-and-drop interface.
Marketing analytics: Optimize spend and customer engagement by unifying performance data, automate reporting and identify performance opportunities with AI-backed insights.
Einstein AI marketing insights. Image: Salesforce
Salesforce pros and cons
Pros
Cons
30-day free trial.
Users report time-consuming implementation and setup.
Provides customizable reports and dashboards.
Software might be too complex for small businesses.
Offers powerful automations for marketing and sales processes.
An extensive catalog of features and products can make Salesforce complicated.
Why I chose Salesforce
Salesforce is another popular CRM that is ideal for teams with complex sales cycles that rely on accurate data to make business decisions. Salesforce has the ability to generate custom CRM reports, display in-depth analytics and produce real-time forecasts. Additionally, its mobile CRM allows reps to access critical data on the go.
If cost is a bigger concern, Zoho CRM offers a fair amount of customization at a much more affordable rate. Though it’s not as flexible a platform as Salesforce, Zoho CRM costs between $14 and $52 per user per month, and a free version is also available. For this reason, Zoho CRM is an inexpensive alternative to Salesforce.
AI email predictions: AI assistant Zia can suggest the best time to contact each lead to get the best results, such as email open rates.
Real-time notifications: Receive real-time notifications for every client interaction by integrating any app to get all alerts on one platform.
Automated lead generation: Set up triggers to automatically add new leads or contacts from social media based on their interaction with your brand to cut out manual data entry.
Automate lead generation from social media. Image: Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM pros and cons
Pros
Cons
15-day free trial.
Users report inconsistent customer support.
High level of customization options throughout the dashboard.
Add-on features can get pricey.
Offers advanced team collaboration features.
Users report a learning curve with the platform interface.
Why I chose Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM is a leading CRM provider due to its multichannel marketing management, sharp sales tools and affordability. This makes it appealing software for startups or small businesses. If you’re a business already familiar with CRM software and are in need of a tool to help generate and nurture leads, Zoho CRM is a great choice for its moderate learning curve but strong customizations.
Since there are multiple user reports of the Zoho CRM interface being difficult to use, Pipedrive is a suitable alternative for those seeking simplicity. Even though PIpedrive is more expensive than Zoho CRM, all Pipedrive plans include AI sales tools and 24/7 customer support, in addition to an intuitive visual interface.
Head over to our Zoho CRM review for more information on this CRM provider.
monday CRM: Best for team collaboration
Star rating: 3.6/5
Image: monday CRM
monday CRM is a visual CRM platform that offers advanced collaboration tools and colorful dashboards that are simple to set up and use. Any user with permission and access can co-edit and comment in real time. With the clean interface, users can collaboratively organize deals, projects and campaigns on the kanban boards that include assignment tabs, color-coded statuses, document tracking and deadlines.
Pricing
Free version: Basic CRM offerings only available for students and nonprofit organizations after submitting an application.
Basic CRM: $12 per user per month when billed annually, or $15 when billed monthly. This tier offers unlimited pipelines, boards and contacts, as well as templates for lead, contact and deal management.
Standard CRM: $17 per user per month when billed annually, or $20 when billed monthly. This includes advanced account, contact and deal management, two-way email integration with Gmail and Outlook, and AI email generator.
Pro CRM: $28 per user per month when billed annually, or $33 when billed monthly. This tier includes Sales forecasting, email templates with custom parameters, mass emails and added integrations.
Enterprise CRM: Contact monday.com for a quote. This level of support offers lead scoring, team goals and advanced analytics.
Features
Activity management: Log all lead or contact-related activity, such as calls, meetings, notes and more, to know where all communication stands.
Email composition and rephrasing: Create any type of email or use a template for professional emails.
Automated task generation: Utilize AI to automate meeting outcomes or marketing strategies into actionable tasks.
Task automation generator. Image: monday CRM
Monday CRM pros and cons
Pros
Cons
14-day free trial.
HIPAA compliance is only available at the highest paid tier.
Can upload unlimited contacts.
Lacks more advanced marketing tools.
Offers unlimited custom pipelines.
Doesn’t offer live user support.
Why I chose monday CRM
Monday CRM is a fully customizable sales platform that can be built without coding knowledge. With its intuitive interface and robust automations, users can save valuable time by automating repetitive work. As a hub for all centralized client communication, reps can efficiently speak with customers through email integrations.
Similar to monday CRM, Pipedrive also offers robust industry specializations and intuitive dashboards. If you’re looking for a tool similar to monday CRM with user-friendly features plus additional email marketing capabilities, I encourage you to look into Pipedrive or Zoho CRM.
Read our monday CRM review for more details on pricing, top features and more.
Pipedrive: Best for creating email marketing campaigns
Star rating: 4.3/5
Image: Pipedrive
Pipedrive offers robust email marketing software that helps users send email marketing campaigns to effectively engage with customers. Pipedrive’s campaigns can capture the attention of your ICP with customizable layouts and additional tracking, analytics and filtering features. Users can access the same intuitive drag-and-drop element from the sales CRM to create custom layouts or use a premade template. Reps can see contact information in lead profiles and all email communications on one dashboard.
Pricing
Essential: $14 per user per month, billed annually, or $24 per user when billed monthly. The Essential plan includes people and organization management, product catalog, sales assistant and more.
Advanced: $29 per user per month, billed annually, or $39 per user when billed monthly. The Advanced plan offers all Essential features plus automations, two-way email sync, group emailing and more.
Professional: $49 per user per month, billed annually, or $64 per user when billed monthly. This tier supports all Advanced features and contacts timeline, free Smart Docs add-on, automatic assignment and more.
Power: $64 per user per month, billed annually, or $79 per user when billed monthly. The Power plan includes all Professional offering plus phone support, 500 custom fields and more.
Enterprise: $99 per user per month, billed annually, or $129 per user when billed monthly. This tier offers all mentioned features plus up to 180 active automations, unlimited teams and unlimited custom permissions.
Features
Email builder: Choose from free email templates, import pre-existing HTML or use a drag-and-drop editor to create an email from scratch or modify an existing one.
Email reporting: Dive into how your audience is receiving your emails with real-time reporting, including open rate, click rate, click-through rate and total/unique clicks.
Email segmentation: Ensure the right customers are receiving the right email message by creating filtered recipient lists. Use built-in filters such as subscription status, email bounce reason, send data and more.
Email segmentation feature. Image: Pipedrive
Pipedrive pros and cons
Pros
Cons
14-day free trial.
Doesn’t offer a free-for-life tier.
Intuitive mobile app for iOS and Android.
User reports of limited analytics.
Offers 24/7 customer support for users.
No social media marketing tools.
Why I chose Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a top scoring CRM solution that has made its way onto several of my guides, and for good reason. It is a scalable tool for small businesses up to enterprise level organizations. It also offers extensive in-market expertise for niche industries like automotive sales, government, hospitality and more.
Even though Pipedrive’s premium plans are competitively priced for the mix of marketing and sales features, there is no free tier. If that’s a goal for your business to explore before committing to a paid subscription, I recommend looking into HubSpot or Zoho CRM first.
How to choose the best marketing CRM software for your business
Before selecting CRM software, I recommend following best practices to research the software in depth in order to determine if it can provide real solutions for your organization. Starting with the providers on my list, consider signing up for free trials or demos and mapping out each option’s onboarding process with their sales team.
Here are some questions to ask before committing to a paid subscription:
Does this CRM tool integrate with all of my existing tech tools?
Does this CRM tool offer the marketing tools that my business needs?
Are the core sales features offered by this software equipped enough to streamline my sales process?
How quick is the onboarding process to get started using this tool?
Can the CRM software scale up to adapt to my growing business?
Does this CRM tool have any in-market specialization in my industry?
Review methodology
To evaluate each provider’s marketing CRM offerings, I used my in-house rubric with outlined criteria of CRM industry standards. After running each CRM software through this rubric, an algorithm calculates an overall rating, scoring each out of 5 stars. I use those scores and major feature callouts to assign each software an ideal use case that best represents the software’s best offering.
Here’s the exact breakdown of my predefined scoring criteria:
Cost: Weighted 25% of the total score.
Core features: Weighted 25% of the total score.
Customizations: Weighted 15% of the total score.
Integrations: Weighted 15% of the total score.
Ease of use: Weighted 10% of the total score.
Customer support: Weighted 10% of the total score.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
What is a CRM model in marketing?
A CRM model in marketing is very similar to the general CRM model for sales and support. It’s a framework that helps users and businesses manage all aspects of customer relationships. A CRM model for marketing includes the processes, technologies and methodologies used to define an ideal customer profile, generate leads that fit that ICP and then retain them. This model will include a structured framework that displays all the steps and strategies from end-to-end sales.
Which is the best CRM for marketing?
HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho CRM, monday CRM and Pipedrive are the best CRM options for marketing. From this list of providers, determining which can provide the best marketing solution for your business is ultimately up to you. If you want to optimize social media marketing, I would recommend Zoho CRM. If you just want strong email marketing campaigns, I suggest Pipedrive. If you’re looking for AI-powered marketing insights, I’d say Salesforce should be your go-to provider.
What is CRM in e-marketing?
E-marketing is an all-encompassing term for online marketing, which can include email, social media, influencer marketing, affiliate marketing, organic search and much more. A CRM that can monitor e-marketing will come with features such as omni-channel communication, lead segmentation and templates for copy creation.
The payments (via CNBC), though welcome for workers, may be one of the ways that Microsoft is trying to boost employee morale following its role in sustained layoffs in the tech industry.
Per CNBC, the tech giant is reportedly in panic mode as it attempts to retain its remaining US based talent, and recruit yet more people, following the strain placed on the labor market after the Federal Reserve’s aggressive campaign of hiking interest rates.
Treating symptoms of low morale, not the cause
While it may look good that Microsoft’s employees are getting their due, we’re also concerned that one-off payments will only delay any kind of revolt. Prior to the layoffs of 10,000 employees in June 2024 alone, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had been clear in 2022 that even something as straightforward as raising salaries for employees is out of the question.
Reporting revenue this quarter of $64.73 billion this quarter, with $22 billion of that being net profit, it seems odd Microsoft seems to be eager to cut back on personnel spending, but at the same time feels compelled to give tokens of appreciation to those that remain. It almost certainly can afford to give more than, at maximum – a quarter of an employee’s annual bonus, which is helpfully left unquantified.
Microsoft’s annual revenue is up 16% year-on-year, and its cloud computing division alone now accounts for 44% of the entire company’s revenue, marking a 19% increase year-on-year – in no part due to the rise in popularity of its Copilot AI tool. The tone of our coverage of Microsoft’s Q4 report suggests that the company isn’t shrinking, just growing less quickly than company executives will like.
It’s unlikely that one-off bonuses will keep employees that are perhaps disgruntled about their perceived lack of job security on-side for too long. It’s a difficult time to be a Big Tech employee, and Microsoft may have to do more or risk its workers leaving of their own accord.
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In today’s digital landscape, video content is king. Crafting attention-grabbing videos for social media is essential to reaching new audiences. However, not everyone has experience with video editing, and even experts can benefit from tools that help streamline the process. Wondershare Filmora is here to help you create high-quality video content efficiently using the power of AI. The latest update, Wondershare Filmora version 13.6, introduces features designed to transform your editing experience.
For content creators who film in public places, it’s possible to find unwanted items or passers-by in the video after filming. This can disrupt the otherwise perfect shot with people or items that they simply don’t want there, but it might be too distracting to hide with other editing techniques. The mishap doesn’t have to break down a video, though. Wondershare Filmora offers a solution for saving hard-to-get footage with Filmora’s AI Object Remover feature.
What’s NEW in Filmora 13.6: AI Object Remover, Smart Search and MORE! – YouTube
AI Object Remover features multipoint removal systems that allow users to track one or more marked subjects to be removed. Subjects can be tracked through multiple frames, even throughout an entire sequence! Filmora can then use generative AI capabilities to fill in the areas left by the removing the tracked subjects, eliminating the troublesome elements from your video, and leaving a seamless continuation of the background in its place. All of this can be done with just a few simple mouse clicks, minimizing the need for tedious frame-by-frame detection and editing.
One of the other major innovations in Filmora is the Sound Cloning feature. This tool allows users to replicate voices and add AI-generated dialogue or voiceovers, providing a new level of audio customization and enhancing the storytelling aspect of your videos. Filmora also includes tools to help you organize clips and automatically add dynamic captions. This feature ensures your videos are well-structured and engaging, enhancing the overall viewer experience.
(Image credit: Wondershare)
Viewers are looking for snappy and attention-grabbing content. Filmora streamlines video content production, helping you keep up with the quick pace needed for content creation. Whether you’re a professional editor, a newcomer to editing, or looking to make a splash with video marketing, Wondershare Filmora is packed with professional-quality yet beginner-friendly features that unlock your creativity.
After a tumultuous few months for Sonos, specifically with its app for controlling its connected speakers and soundbars, yet another bug-squashing update is rolling out. And if you’ve been exploring rapid battery drain on your iPhone courtesy of the Sonos app for iOS, this should come as good news.
As confirmed by “KeithFromSonos” on the Sonos Reddit, the iOS app is receiving a fresh update. This one focuses on fixing the app’s excessive use of the phone battery and the previously promised commitment to improve the stability of adding new products.
This comes just a few days after CEO Patrick Spence penned a letter apologizing for the app and rollout and promising to add missing features and regain trust with its users. The letter also notes that more updates are planned and lists what is being fixed and when.
A long list of updates are still incoming
Seemingly, though, with users vocalizing the issues of battery drain, the team at Sonos worked to get this fix out sooner rather than later. And a good chunk of folks were happy to see it, with some noting that they even deleted the app due to the battery drain on their iPhone or iPad. Others are still detailing problems with the app crashing and Sonos systems not being found, so there is clearly more work to do.
The other issue supposedly squashed with this latest update is improving the stability when adding new products, like an Era 100, Roam 2 speaker, or the Ace headphones.
Sonos is still working on future improvements and bug fixes, which are set to arrive next week. Judging from Spence’s note, August will focus on music library fixes, volume responsiveness, general user interface improvements, and error handling through the system. Improvements to alarms, changes to settings, and restoring the edit mode for queue and playlists are set to arrive in September and October.
Version 80.05.05 of the Sonos app is available now on iOS and iPadOS. If you’ve been experiencing issues, it’s time to update, and you can expect to see more of these updates over the coming weeks.
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Portability and durability are musts for an on-the-go Bluetooth speaker. That said, this deal for the Bose SoundLink Flex could be just what you need to keep the summer fun going from a relaxing resort to a sprawling trail. You can get the Bose SoundLink Flex Bluetooth Speaker at Amazon for $109 (was $149).
That’s a nice $40 discount and the lowest price we’ve ever seen for this specific model. As per the Bose website, this deal will only last until August 25, but it might run out before then.
One note: The $109 price tag only applies to the black version. Other colors like Chilled Lilac, Stone Blue, Green, and White Smoke are on sale for $119. Even so, it might be worth the upcharge if you’d much rather have a more uniquely colored speaker that matches your tastes.
Today’s best Bose SoundLink speaker deal
The Bose SoundLink Flex boasts the tagline of big sound in a small package. In our Bose SoundLink Flex review, TechRadar noted its light, robust build alongside its full-range and “periodically expressive” sound. Its pairing options with voice, app, or onboard controls also added to its user-friendliness.
The Bose SoundLink Flex lasts up to 12 hours on a full battery and takes about 4 hours to completely charge. It features a built-in microphone for taking calls and voice commands and a separate Stereo and Party Mode for connecting with another Bluetooth speaker. The IP67 rating certifies that it is dust-tight (no dust can get in) and water-resistant, even able to survive temporary immersion in water. It even floats. The speaker comes with a USB-C cable for charging, but you’ll need to buy your own case.
Not ready to commit? Feel free to browse TechRadar’s best Bluetooth speakers for bestsellers that might better fit your needs. Bose also has the new Bose SoundLink Max review that could be a premium alternative to the SoundLink Flex.
With a lot of the latest features from flagship phones of previous years now appearing in budget phones, it’s a great time to get one of the best cheap phones. If you want more money off an already affordable phone, then you can now get the Samsung Galaxy A35 at Amazon for $349.99 (was $399.99).
The phone is available in both Navy and Lilac, with a few more dollars discount on the latter. If you’d like the phone as well as a pair of Samsung Buds FE then the combo deal is discounted from $499.98 to a new low of $429.98. The earbuds are $99.99 on their own so buying them together will save you some money.
Today’s best Samsung Galaxy A35 deal
When we got our hands on the Samsung Galaxy A35 for review we found that it “exceeds its price tag with a great-looking display, impressive gaming performance and highly customizable software”. You really do get a lot of phone for your money.
Samsung’s fantastic display tech is shining brightly on the Galaxy A35. The bright and vibrant screen makes it perfect for anyone who considers their phone to be a glorified Netflix, Prime Video or Disney Plus-streaming device. It also has a decent camera and reasonable performance for the price, just don’t expect to be able to play demanding games. But as an affordable daily device, it’s hard to beat at this price.
The Samsung Galaxy A35 isn’t the only smartphone worth looking at, either. We have all the best Samsung phones in one place so you can decide which is best for you. If it’s one of the best Android phones you’re after, then we’ve also got you covered.
