We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
If you’re shopping around for a reliable laptop but don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on a premium model from Apple, Lenovo has some highly underrated options that are versatile and offer great processor performance for the price—and it's now even more affordable, thanks to Walmart’s newly discountedLenovo V14 G5 14-inch FHD Laptop, now 37% off and down to $629 (originally $999.99).
It’s powered by the 10-core Intel Core i7-13620H, with six performance cores and four efficiency cores) and has a maximum turbo speed of 4.9GHz. It’s more powerful than many similarly priced 14-inch laptops and can excel at heavy multitasking, light video or photo editing, and data-heavy office work. It includes 16GB of DDR5 memory, comes with a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD for additional storage, and is powered by a modest 47Wh battery.
Despite its power, it’s relatively lightweight, clocking in at around three pounds and 0.7 inches thick. One reason the weight stays low is its plastic build. It might not feel as durable or premium as an aluminum laptop, but the tradeoff for an under-$650 price tag makes it worth it for those on a budget. The V14 G5 includes a range of ports, including two USB-A ports, one USB-C port, and an HDMI 1.4b port, as well as a headphone and microphone jack.
It supports Wi-Fi 6 and includes a physical webcam shutter for added privacy. The keyboard is designed for office use and has a conventional layout that’s helpful for those who find added touchscreens and convertible hinges unnecessary. Despite having a relatively sharp resolution and an anti-glare coating, the panel technology is somewhat outdated and has limited contrast, so it may not be the best choice for photographers, designers, or video editors.
Still, if you’re looking for an everyday office or personal laptop with a strong processor, a solid port selection, and a lightweight build—but don’t mind a couple of cost-cutting compromises—the budget-friendlyLenovo V14 G5 14-inch FHD Laptop strikes the right balance between affordability and performance, especially at nearly $370 off.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
Samsung’s HW-Q800H soundbar has dropped to $696.99 from its usual $1,097.99, which brings it to its lowest price so far, according to price trackers. This 2026 model combines a soundbar and wireless subwoofer in a 5.1.2-channel setup, with dedicated channels for dialogue, surround sound, and overhead effects, plus a separate subwoofer to handle the bass. That layout makes it a sensible upgrade for anyone who keeps turning up the TV volume to catch a conversation—only to turn it down again when the action gets loud—since most built-in TV speakers lack a dedicated center channel to separate voices from the rest of the soundtrack.
Samsung builds on that center channel with two dialogue enhancement modes and a new feature called Sound Elevation, which attempts to raise the apparent height of voices so dialogue seems to come from the actors on screen and not from beneath the TV. That could be particularly useful if your soundbar sits on a low entertainment unit. And if you already have a compatible Samsung TV, Q-Symphony lets its speakers work alongside the soundbar, potentially creating a broader soundstage without buying any extra hardware.
The HW-Q800H also supports Dolby Atmos, adding a greater sense of height and space to compatible movies and shows, though the lack of DTS support is worth considering if you regularly watch Blu-rays with DTS soundtracks. Also, since there are no separate rear speakers included, surround effects won't feel quite as immersive as they would with a full home theater setup. Samsung does include automatic room correction, though, which adjusts the sound to suit your space without requiring much manual tweaking.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
The CRKD Nitro Deck (in the Renegade Raider Fortnite Edition) is down to $34.99 on Woot, a noticeable drop from its usual $79.99 and lower than its current price on Amazon. Price trackers also suggest this is the lowest it has gone so far. Shipping is free for Prime members and costs $6 for everyone else, with the deal expected to last about a week unless it sells out earlier. Keep in mind that Woot doesn't ship to Alaska, Hawaii, or P.O. Box addresses.
At its core, the Nitro Deck is trying to solve one of the Nintendo Switch’s most persistent problems: Joy-Con stick drift. But it isn't a traditional controller—it's a full shell that your Nintendo Switch slides into and locks in with a simple latch system that feels secure without being annoying to use. Once it's in place, it feels more like holding a proper controller with a screen attached—the grips are thicker and shaped more like what you would find on a standard console controller, so your hands have something to rest on instead of flattening out against the Joy-Cons. The sticks are full-sized, the triggers have more travel, and there are four back buttons you can map if you like customizing controls.
You still get motion controls and rumble, and there is also a USB-C passthrough for charging or video output. The right stick sits a bit too far out, so using it for camera control or aiming can feel cramped and slightly awkward. It is manageable for short bursts, but it can get uncomfortable over time. The kickstand is also limited—it works, but you don't get much flexibility in how you prop the system up. And because everything is built into one shell, you lose the option to detach the controllers entirely, which is part of what makes the Switch unique in the first place. And while the added bulk improves grip, it makes the system less portable. Still, if you mostly play in handheld mode and want something sturdier with drift-resistant sticks, the Nitro Deck feels great, especially at this discounted price.
Virtual reality is in a bit of a weird place right now. After a lot of unfulfilled promise in the 1990s, it came back strong with the 2016 release of the Oculus Rift. For a while, it looked like VR, AR, XR, the metaverse, or whatever you wanted to call it, was going to be huge. Mark Zuckerberg was certainly convinced, and even Apple got in on the hype with its Vision Pro.
But by then momentum for alternate realities of every acronym was already in steady decline, and it only dwindled from there. The rate of development of new headsets has slowed, with many companies (including Apple) scaling back or shelving their efforts. While new releases like the Steam Frame and Pimax Dream Air are still happening, many of the most interesting developments in the space these days are on the enthusiast front.
That's right, DIY VR is a thing, and with a couple hundred dollars in components, plus many hours of your time, you too can enter the immersive world of virtual reality while also experiencing the highs and lows of soldering, firmware flashing, and 3D printing. I rode that rollercoaster myself and learned why this is still a decidedly niche movement.
Nearly 100 years after the dirigible Graf Zeppelin made the first nonstop airship journey across the Pacific Ocean, another airship has successfully completed a round-trip flight from New Mexico to Japan and back. But the significance of this modern feat was less about the journey's length and more about its purpose: demonstrating how a lighter-than-air platform can act as a cell phone tower in the sky.
The trans-Pacific flight that took place over a month between August and September 2026 was the most notable milestone yet for Sceye, a US aerospace company based near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sceye has developed an uncrewed platform filled with helium for buoyancy and equipped with an electric-powered propeller for active propulsion, allowing it to resist most strong winds and keep hovering over the same location for long periods. The platform also uses top-mounted solar panels and onboard batteries to stay powered for stratospheric operations around the clock.
“We can stay over an area of operation, and we do that in the stratosphere right around 60,000 feet, so we're twice as high as air traffic and we're above the jet stream, and yet 30 times closer than low-Earth orbit satellites,” Mikkel Frandsen, founder and CEO of Sceye, told Ars. “We can fly through day and night until the sun comes up the next morning and recharges the batteries, at which point we're still at the same altitude and still over the same area of operation.”
Some Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses were recording people’s conversations without the wearer knowing. The recordings occurred without users saying the prompt phrase (“Hey, Meta”), in a bug that Meta says has been fixed.
This week, some usersreported online that their Ray-Ban Metas were recording without their consent. A person going by Kindly-Audience-137 on Reddit, for example, said this happened to them across three Meta Ray-Bans and that they had the “Respond without Hey Meta” setting turned off. The person said the Meta AI app “saves audio recordings and text transcripts of these conversations in my conversation history.”
“I believe this deserves a serious technical investigation. Customers should not have to wonder whether their private conversations are being captured when they have not intentionally activated their glasses’ AI assistant,” the Reddit user said.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
Samsung announced the Galaxy Watch Ultra in the summer of 2024, and then refreshed it in August of 2025 with double the storage and new color options. The Galaxy Watch Ultra emphasizes outdoor and exercise features, putting it in competition with the Apple Watch Ultra as a premium fitness watch at a premium price. Ever since the Galaxy Watch Ultra2 came out this year, the 2025 Galaxy Watch Ultra has been dropping in price, currently reaching a new low price of $471.78 according to price-checking tools, over $175 off the original $649.99 price tag. And if the extra storage isn't a big deal to you, you can get the 2024 version for $399.99 (originally $649.99).
The Galaxy Watch Ultra excels over other watches in one key aspect: its outdoorsy features. If you're an avid hiker or an athlete who spends long hours outdoors, this is a worthwhile choice. Like any good rugged watch, this one is tough, made out of Grade 4 titanium, and has an IP68 water- and dust-resistant rating. You can also take it up high altitudes (up to 9,000 meters) and it can withstand up to 10ATM of pressure (about 330 feet underwater). You also get a built-in siren in case of emergencies. The screen is a 1.47-inch Super AMOLED display, brighter than previous Samsung AMOLED smartwatches. The only downside is that it comes in just one size—47mm.
The watch runs WearOS from Samsung and comes with 2GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The 590mAh battery is one of the best for its price point, making it perfect for prolonged outdoor use. If you don't use any power-saving modes, it'll last 60 hours, but it can go up to 100 hours if you're conservative.
One of the new features this watch brings is AI-based health metrics and advanced sleep tracking, which you can read more about in PCMag's "excellent" review. If you're looking for a more budget-friendly (and smaller) option for more general use, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 at $220 (originally $329.99) is a great option.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
Whether you love camping, own an RV, frequently deal with seasonal power outages, or just want to be ready with off-grid essentials, it's useful to have a power station. TheAnker SOLIX C2000 Gen 2 has received a 40% price cut, bringing it down to $899.98 (originally $1,499).
This power station delivers a 2,048Wh capacity and 2,400W output, with 4,000W peak power for running a variety of appliances, including a dual-door fridge for up to 32 hours. It has two handles on its sides and is relatively lightweight for its capacity at 41.7 pounds. The LiFePO4 battery can last up to a decade and is rated for 4,000 charging cycles. It recharges to 100% in under an hour (or three hours via solar) and is expandable up to 4kWh. It supports up to 800W solar input (panels sold separately) for off-grid charging and includes five AC outlets, as well as a car outlet, RV connection, and high-output USB-C ports.
Compared to its predecessor, it’s quieter and more compact in both weight and footprint, and the added perk of app connectivity makes it easy to monitor and control. If you want reliable, high-capacity portable power, theAnker SOLIX C2000 Gen 2 is a great emergency essential, though if you want something with true grab-and-go appeal, you may want to opt for theAnker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2, which weighs about 40% less but has half the battery capacity—and also happens to be 46% off right now.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
Amazon has dropped the 27-inch LG Ultragear 27GS93QE OLED gaming monitor from $899.99 to $499.99, bringing it to its lowest price ever, according to price trackers. That’s a $400 reduction (plus 90 days of free Amazon Music) worth considering if you’ve been thinking about upgrading from a conventional IPS gaming monitor to OLED, particularly since you’re getting a 1440p display with a 240Hz refresh rate. And the difference isn’t just speed, either—OLED’s individually controlled pixels produce deep blacks without the backlight glow you sometimes notice on LCD screens.
That picture quality gets another boost from VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification, a 1.5 million-to-one contrast ratio, and 98.5% DCI-P3 color coverage, which help bring out the details in darker scenes and make colors look more vibrant. Once the action picks up, the monitor’s 240Hz refresh rate and near-instantaneous 0.03ms response time keep movement smooth and sharp, while AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and Nvidia G-Sync compatibility reduce tearing and stuttering when frame rates fluctuate.
It's worth noting that getting the full benefit of 240Hz at 1440p does require a capable PC, and although the two HDMI 2.1 ports and DisplayPort 1.4 input all support that refresh rate, console gamers won't benefit from anything beyond their system's 120Hz output limit. There’s also the usual OLED risk of burn-in to consider, particularly if you spend long stretches working with static elements like taskbars and application windows on screen—though LG offers some reassurance with a two-year limited warranty that covers the OLED panel, subject to terms.
Over the past week, the laptop Microsoft sent me has been summarizing books and movies, generating images from my imagination, and running a 70-billion-parameter AI model that would be a stretch to fit on most laptops. It also played AAA games at a speed and fidelity I would have thought impossible on an ARM system just a year ago. Microsoft wants to sell you one computer for all of your needs, and for once that doesn't feel like total marketing fluff. Mostly.
Microsoft is throwing both arms around the new Nvidia RTX Spark platform with the Surface Laptop Ultra—and setting its sights on the would-be MacBook Pro buyer, or as the company called it, "a high performance audience." The bet is that rather than a gaming desktop for fun and a development laptop for work, buyers will pay more for one machine that does both.
The Surface Laptop Ultra arrives at a strange time in personal computing. Recent industry numbers showed a 20 percent drop in total PC shipments year over year in the third quarter of 2026. That's not just consumer purchasing either—that's across the board. Between the RAMpocalypse that has exploded consumer prices and an industry fixated on enterprise money, there hasn't been much new hardware to excite PC enthusiasts.
Android was designed for phones, but that hasn't stopped Google from trying to adapt the OS and its apps to larger machines over the years. Googlebooks are just the latest attempt after tablets, Chromebooks, and foldables induced little change in how people interact with Android software. These new Android-powered laptops are designed to pick up where the web-focused ChromeOS left off, offering premium hardware and native support for Android apps.
Google sees Googlebooks as an alternative to Windows and macOS, but these platforms are entrenched with decades of software and UI conventions that keep users locked in. Googlebooks have to offer something very special to steal users away from either of the dominant operating systems.
For devoted Android phone users, there are some cool things in Googlebook OS, but the Android roots of these machines are impossible to miss. Sometimes it feels like using a Chromebook, and sometimes it feels like using a giant phone. It almost never feels like using a premium laptop, and that's the problem.
Marking the 30th anniversary of KDE on October 14, the project released Plasma 6.8, debuted a movie, and retired Plasma's native X11 session support. The announcement from KDE dubs the new Plasma 6.8 as the "30th Anniversary Edition" and describes the update as preparing Plasma for the future. Legacy X11 applications will still function via the XWayland compatibility layer, and KDE applications will also continue supporting X11 under other desktop environments.
After 42 years in service, the X11 protocol is losing another major desktop environment. Plasma will fully adopt the Wayland system and put support for starting new X11 sessions in Plasma to bed. Users opting to stay on Plasma 6.7 will keep their existing sessions for now. The move was expected, with GNOME officially dropping X11 sessions by default in 2025.
The new Plasma 6.8 brings many improvements, including increased support for adding window decorations (like shadows and rounded corners) to third-party apps, and a more streamlined Union theming system. Other notable additions include Nvidia triple buffering being enabled by default, Kup backup integration (KDE's backup utility—now integrated into Plasma), and kscreenctl, a command-line utility that allows power users to adjust display configurations.
Plex, which made a name for itself by letting users share movies they own, is now helping sell movie theater tickets. The company is looking to monetize its content-discovery capabilities and expand its business beyond its media server software.
Plex partnered with Fandango, which has sold movie tickets since 2000, to drive ticket sales from people searching for movies to stream. Per the announcement:
Starting today, Plex users in the US will see a Fandango ticketing option on title pages for movies currently playing in theaters, allowing them to click through to Fandango to find showtimes and purchase tickets. The integration also enables direct attribution through Kochava, giving studios and advertisers greater visibility into how campaigns and audience engagement translate into ticket sales.
Fandango says it sells tickets for 31,000 movie theater screens in the US. The Plex deal allows it to leverage data from Plex’s streaming service (Plex claims users of the service “make more than 100 million streaming decisions each month”), including "ratings and cross-platform viewing" to gain “insight into audience intent," the announcement said.
Goodreads is a popular platform for managing your To Be Read (TBR) pile, finding recommended titles, tracking your reading stats, and sharing reviews, ratings, and notes with friends, but there are ways to make the experience better. If you're an avid reader, use these tips, tricks, and hidden hacks to get the most out of what Goodreads has to offer.
Use the barcode scanner to vet books while you're in the bookstore
The Goodreads mobile app has a built-in scanner that uses your device's camera to scan either the book cover or barcode. It then pulls up information about the title, including a description and ratings/reviews from other Goodreads users, so you can decide whether to add it to My Books while you're in the store or perusing a friend's shelf. Simply tap the camera icon in the search bar. You can also see a history of scanned books in the camera tab.
Log rereads with separate dates to avoid overwriting your existing data
There are some books that are worth reading multiple times, and Goodreads allows you to track each reread as a separate activity so you don't overwrite your original entry or affect your reading challenge stats. If you just hit the Read button on the title page, it'll simply log the item as read without any additional information. Instead, select Edit my activity > Add read date to enter start and finish dates for each reread.
Select your book’s correct edition to get accurate progress tracking
If you care about nitty-gritty reading stats, make sure you choose the specific edition of the title you're reading. Different editions have different page numbers, and you can also select audiobook versions if you're listening rather than reading to keep those pages from being counted in your totals. Find available editions on the book's title page, or tap Show all editions and select Switch to this edition next to the correct one.
Exclude audiobooks and graphic novels from your Reading Challenge to preserve your stats
Goodreads counts all books read within a calendar year toward your annual Reading Challenge, but there may be titles you don't want included in your year-end stats. For example, if you're tracking audiobooks, graphic novels, or children's books in Goodreads, you can exclude them from your Reading Challenge so they don't count toward your page goal. You can also exclude titles if you want your Reading Challenge to focus specifically on one type of book. In the app, go to More > Reading Challenge > Challenge details, select the book you want to remove, and hit Remove from challenge > Remove. (This can be found under your profile on the web interface.) To add titles back later, remove and re-add the read date.
Use Goodreads to access Kindle notes and highlights directly
If you're a Kindle user, you can link your Amazon and Goodreads accounts to see your Kindle notes and highlights centralized on Goodreads, including those for library books read through Kindle. You can add to or edit existing notes, which sync back to your Kindle book, as well as share notes and highlights with other users. On the web, open the profile menu and select Kindle Notes & Highlights > Connect your accounts.
Create a secret group to maintain a private reading log
Goodreads doesn't have the option to make a bookshelf private, meaning anyone can view your activity. Even if you set your profile to private, your shelves and reading activity are visible to your Goodreads friends. To keep a reading log that no one can see, you can create a secret group of which you are the only member and use the group's bookshelves to track private activity. On the web, go to Community > Groups > Create a group and select This group is secret.
Use a DNF shelf to separate abandoned titles from those you've read
A DNF shelf is spot for titles that you started but abandoned, giving them a dedicated place separate from your other categories. Earlier this year, Goodreads added a default Did Not Finish shelf alongside Want to Read, Currently Reading, or Read, so you no longer have to create one manually. If you give up on a book before finishing, you can still track progress but put it on your DNF shelf. (Note that these books will still count toward your goals if you include a read date with the entry, so you'll need to exclude them using the steps above if you only want to count books you've read all the way through.)
Use Compare Books to find recommended titles for book club or reading with friends who have different tastes
If it's difficult to find books that both you and your friends want to read together, you can use Goodreads' Compare Books feature to see a head-to-head comparison of your shelves for shared interests. Go to your Friends list and tap compare books next to their name to pull up an analysis of your libraries, including a list of books you have in common and a score for how your tastes line up.
Set sort criteria to keep highly ranked titles at the top of your TBR
Goodreads has granular settings for what criteria you can view and sort by on your bookshelves. If you have hundreds of titles saved on your Want to Read list, customize and save a category to sort by so you always see the highest-rated books (or those with the lowest page count or most recently published, for example) at the top. Each shelf must be sorted separately. Open the Settings tab at the top of the list, select inclusion criteria, and then choose a sort option from the dropdown. Press Save Current Settings to your shelf to lock them.
Export your data for backup or for in-depth analysis of your reading history
Goodreads tracks your reading history and stats, but you may want to do a regular backup of your data to ensure you don't lose years of logs if something happens to your account. Library exports include fields like book title, author, publisher, year published, and number of pages, as well as read dates, ratings, and notes. When downloaded as a CSV, the data can also be sorted and analyzed in myriad different ways. To export your books on desktop, go to My Books and click Import and export under the My Tools section. Click Export Library followed by the file name to download it to your device.
Researchers say that mercenary hackers laced ads with zero-click exploits that installed sophisticated malware on the devices of targeted individuals when they did nothing other than load a website or open an installed app.
The finding, published Thursday by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, said the incident is likely to be the first confirmation of zero-click mercenary spyware delivered through targeted ads. The attacks, which worked on iOS and Android devices, are particularly pernicious because they work without requiring any interaction from the target and are invisible unless users run special forensic hardware or software. Citizen Lab said it confirmed that AdFection, as it named the campaign, infected 45 devices at international media organization Al Jazeera in 2024 and 2025.
A clear warning signal
“This investigation should… serve as a clear warning signal to news organizations around the world that they may be being actively targeted via this new threat,” Citizen Lab researchers wrote. “This targeting may happen both in newsrooms and to individual journalists, editors, and other staff members.” Their report went on to say: “The distribution of spyware via targeted ads represents a security risk not only for potential victims but also for states and civil society at large.”
Russian drones are suspected of sinking a cargo ship and leaving chemical tankers ablaze near the Black Sea coasts of Bulgaria and Romania, respectively. The latest attacks mean that at least seven ships have been attacked in the exclusive economic zones of NATO member countries—and even within Romania's territorial waters if Russian involvement is confirmed in the case of the chemical tankers.
Such attacks have spurred requests for NATO to redeploy counter-drone systems to provide more protection. In a social media post on October 15, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that NATO had increased "counter-drone capabilities" along the alliance's eastern flank after meeting with the leaders of Bulgaria and Romania.
The latest attacks this week occurred within 24 hours between October 14 and October 15, when the two chemical tankers were set afire after Russian drones were detected in Romanian airspace, according to Deutsche Welle. Both ships were sitting at anchor near the mouth of the Sulina canal that connects the Black Sea to the Danube River, which has become a crucial shipping export route for Ukraine, Reuters reported.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
Powered by the M6 chip, the compact 2026 Mac mini is currently 13% off at Amazon, dropping its price to $779.99 from $899. That gives shoppers in the Apple ecosystem a small but mighty computer, meant for home offices and creative workspaces short on desk space.
The entry-level model pairs a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU with 16GB of unified memory and a modest 256GB SSD, but its speed and five-by-five-inch footprint help make up for the limited storage. If you want to upgrade to the 512GB model, you can still get a 14% discount, although it costs $170 more. The Mac mini supports up to three monitors and can handle everyday work and multitasking.
It comes in a sleek aluminum enclosure with rounded corners, and the metal case sits atop a rubberized plastic base lined with cooling vents. It has front-facing USB-C ports and a headphone jack, as well as plenty of connectivity options, including Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, 2.5Gb Ethernet, wifi 7, and Bluetooth 6. For those with iPhones, iPads, and other Apple devices, it also offers seamless integration. PCMag, which gave it anEditors’ Choice award, praises its ability to stay cool and quiet under load, along with its impressive CPU and GPU performance.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
I've been a fan of Soundcore's Sleep A20 earbuds since I first put them on to sleep over two years ago. I've never experienced earbuds that feel so comfortable when sleeping on your side. But that model was missing one crucial feature: ANC. The new Sleep A30 Special earbuds have taken care of that, and more—and despite their release this January, they're already significantly discounted. Right now, you can get them for $168.99 (originally $229.99), the lowest price ever, according to price-tracking tools.
As noted in Mashable's review, the Sleep A30 Special are the most popular and arguably the best sleeping earbuds you can buy right now. They're designed for sleep in every way: Side sleepers can doze off without feeling pressure in their ears, since the earbuds sit comfortably inside, and with the addition of ANC, you can now block more outside noise than before.
The battery life isn't the best, but this new Special version from 2026 will get you through the night: You can get eight to 10 hours of juice with ANC on, with some variation depending on your settings. There's also some cool tech and features designed for sleeping: The companion app lets you set a timer for your music so you don't drain the battery after you've fallen asleep; the earbuds now integrate with the Calm app for sleep-focused meditations and sleep stories; the charging case's microphones use Adaptive snore masking to block snoring sounds by increasing white noise; and the app includes an alarm and sleep-tracking features, among other features.
All in all, I really can't recommend these earbuds enough to anyone who values quality sleep and doesn't mind wearing earbuds to bed. If the ANC isn't a big deal to you and you're looking to spend a bit less, the refurbished Sleep A20 or a refurbished Sleep A30 Special pair are cheaper options.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
The Asus ROG Strix OLED XG27ACDNG is down to $549 on Amazon, a $210 discount from its usual $759 price. This is a high-end gaming monitor designed for players who want top-tier performance without stepping up to a larger display—and you also get 90 days of Amazon Music free with your purchase right now. It pairs a 27-inch QD-OLED panel with a 2560x1440 resolution and a 360Hz refresh rate, a combination that has become one of the most sought-after setups for competitive gaming, placing the XG27ACDNG in direct competition with premium models like the Alienware AW2725DF.
Image quality is one of the monitor's biggest strengths. The QD-OLED panel delivers deep blacks and excellent contrast, making games and movies look especially striking in darker rooms. The monitor also supports both FreeSync and G-Sync, helping gameplay stay smooth across a wide range of frame rates on either AMD or Nvidia systems. Performance is equally impressive, especially in motion handling—the 360Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms response time keep fast-moving objects sharp, making competitive shooters, racing games, and esports titles feel especially responsive. Input lag is also very low, further enhancing that sense of immediacy.
Outside of gaming, Asus has also included several features aimed at long-term usability—including a built-in heatsink and OLED Care+ tools, which are designed to help minimize the risk of burn-in, a USB-C port with 90W power delivery, a USB hub, and a KVM switch—making the monitor more useful for work setups and multi-device users. That said, like many QD-OLED monitors, the panel can lose some of its inky-black appearance in bright rooms, where ambient light may cause darker areas of the screen to take on a slight purple tint. VRR flicker can also become noticeable when frame rates fluctuate, particularly in darker scenes, and there are no built-in speakers.
Suspected Russian drone attacks sank a cargo ship and forced the evacuation of another vessel within two dozen miles of the coast of Bulgaria in the Black Sea on October 13. The latest attacks mean that five ships have been attacked in the exclusive economic zones of NATO member countries—spurring requests for NATO to redeploy counter-drone systems to provide more protection.
Although there is no hard proof that the drone attacks originated from Russia, one of the ships that came under attack was the Ukrainian-operated coastal freighter Chelsea 3, registered under the flag of Malta. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev told the Russian ambassador in Sofia that “it makes no sense for Ukraine to destroy its own ships in the Black Sea, and the results of these strikes favor Russia’s interests,” according to The Associated Press.
All 15 members of the Ukrainian-owned Chelsea 3 were safely evacuated by Bulgarian rescue operations after the ship was reportedly struck by three aerial drones.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
Finding a pair of headphones or earbuds that precisely meet your needs—whether you’re using them at the gym, while working from home, or even when showering—doesn’t have to mean shelling out a ton of money. The best of them can be really expensive, yes, but if you're a patient shopper, you can usually find a good deal on just about any pair of headphones.
With that said, here are the best deals, discounts, and sales you can find on earbuds and headphones right now. I'll be regularly updating this list as offers come and go, so check back in as needed—but given these prices can change at any time, I would advise you not to wait if you spot a pair that fits your needs and budget.
Nothing keeps impressing with its value. The Nothing Ear (a) earbuds come with a companion app that lets you customize the sound with presets or adjust the bass, mids, and highs individually. They support AAC, SBC, and LDAC codecs, Bluetooth 5.3, plus multipoint for two devices at once, ANC, and a 9.5-hour battery life. If you have a Nothing phone, you can use a pinch-to-speak ChatGPT feature. You can now get them for $66.99 (originally $109 at launch).
The best Apple headphones are $120 off
The new AirPods Max 2 currently have a rare discount and are down to $429 (originally $549.99), their second-lowest price yet. The biggest upgrades to the AirPods Max 2 include the new "dynamic range" amplifier, live translation, and Apple's H2 chip. But there are many other upgrades also worth noting.
The older but still capable Shokz OpenRun Pros are discounted to $109.95 ($179.95 at launch), the lowest price they've reached. If you've never used bone conduction headphones, they're worth a try, and the Shokz OpenPros are a great introduction to the technology. As the name implies, these are meant to be used on outdoor runs. They have an IP55 rating for dust- and water-resistance, are lightweight and comfortable, and can be worn with bicycle helmets and sunglasses. You can use them as everyday headphones too; they can even take calls, but you'll need to be mindful of the fact that they don't block any competing sound.
The Beats Fit Pro earbuds are $75 off
The Beats Fit Pro (1st Gen) earbuds aren’t the newest exercise earbuds on the market (or even in the Beats line; that would be the Powerbeats Pro 2), but they’re a classic option with ANC and a comfortable fit, making them a sportier version of the AirPods Pro, with a slight edge when it comes to battery life. You can get a pair in white or pink for $124.95 (originally $199.95), their lowest price ever.
The older and refurbished Sony 1000XM5 are just $160
If you don't need the latest XM6 headphone, the older XM5 version are still incredible headphones. Right now, a refurbished pair is $159.99 on Amazon. A new pair will run you $298, which is still a pretty good deal compared to the $399.99 launch price.
The Sony WH-CH720N are just $104
Not everyone needs or can spend nearly half a grand on the latest Sony headphones. If this sounds like you and are looking for a bargain on a budget, then perhaps the more affordable Sony WH-CH720N could work for you. While they're not quite as premium, they're significantly cheaper and offer good enough quality for most people. You can get them for $103.99 (originally $179.99) on Amazon right now.
The Sleep A30 earbuds are $50 off
The new Sleep A30 earbuds have ANC and new features the older A20 model didn't have—and despite their recent release this past August, they're already significantly discounted. They are my favorite earbuds for sleep, and right now, you can get them for $168.99 (originally $229.99), the lowest price ever.
The Nothing Ear (Open) is just $99
The Nothing Ear (Open) are Nothing's open-ear earbuds from 2024, and they're currently $99 ($149) for Prime Members, the lowest price they've ever been. They come with a multipoint connection, so you can hook them up to your phone and laptop simultaneously. There's also a "Find My Earbud" feature that plays a loud sound on the earbuds if you misplace them. There's also a low-lag mode with 120 milliseconds of latency for gaming, so the audio will be in sync with your actions. If you use a supported Nothing phone, this feature is automatic, and there's also a ChatGPT integration that you can access directly through the earbuds.
This is your chance to get the AirPods Pro 3 for $199
The AirPods Pro 3 are a big step up. The third iteration of Apple's iconic earbuds comes with a number of quality-of-life and software improvements that make them worth the typical premium over the AirPods Pro 2—and right now, the AirPods Pro 3 are even cheaper than the previous generation. They're $199 on Amazon, down from $249 and matching their second-lowest price ever, according to price-tracking tools.
Microsoft's monthly Patch Tuesday bug count has been trending higher since the beginning of the summer, and October is no different. The company just issued fixes for a record 1,411 vulnerabilities, including three zero-days, which are flaws that have been actively exploited or publicly disclosed before an official patch is available, making them especially risky.
For comparison, in October 2025, Microsoft issued patches for fewer than 180 flaws—six of which were zero-days—which was considered a large update at the time. Fixes typically numbered in the double digits until the middle of this year, when the totals jumped to 206 (June), 570 (July), 400 (August), and 966 (last month). That steep increase is largely attributable to AI models, which are making it easier for bad actors to develop hacking tools to exploit vulnerabilities, and for companies to find and patch these flaws more quickly. This means that update cycles are being shortened and/or include a significantly higher number of fixes. Companies like Microsoft are using AI to discover and address bugs, though AI isn't as good at the latter, and may, in some cases, introduce additional vulnerabilities in the process.
October's Patch Tuesday fixes 1,411 flaws, including three zero-days
As BleepingComputer reports, the October 2026 security update addresses flaws across the following categories: 677 elevation-of-privilege vulnerabilities, 40 security feature bypass vulnerabilities, 317 remote-code-execution vulnerabilities, 254 information disclosure vulnerabilities, 28 spoofing vulnerabilities, and 73 denial-of-service vulnerabilities. 70 of the bugs are rated "critical" and include remote code execution, elevation of privilege, and spoofing flaws. Microsoft patched an additional 348 bugs earlier this month for various Azure, Mariner, and Microsoft products.
One of the zero-days patched this month has been actively exploited in the wild. CVE-2026-96951 is a security feature bypass vulnerability in Windows Shell that allows attackers unauthorized access over a network. Microsoft has not provided details on who disclosed this flaw or how it was exploited.
The other two zero-days were publicly disclosed. CVE-2026-108398 is a security feature bypass vulnerability in the .NET framework that would allow attackers to bypass Windows Defender Application Control restrictions and run unauthorized applications without user interaction. This flaw has been attributed to James Forshaw of Google Project Zero. Finally, CVE-2026-92707 is a denial-of-service vulnerability in MessagePack-CSharp credited to an anonymous source.
You should update your PC ASAP
PC users should ensure that they download and install all security updates as soon as they're available. Patch Tuesday typically releases on the second Tuesday of every month around 10 a.m. PT and should be applied automatically. However, given the increasing risk, it's a good idea to confirm your machine's update status via Start > Settings > Windows Update > Check for Windows updates.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
Samsung’s HW-Q600F soundbar is down to $389.99 at Amazon from $499.99, a $110 discount that brings it to its lowest price ever, according to price trackers. This 2025 model sits in the middle of Samsung’s Q-Series lineup and pairs a sleek, angular bar with a subwoofer in a 3.1.2 setup, where the bar’s nine drivers cover the left, center, and right channels as well as two up-firing height channels. Those up-firing drivers let it handle Dolby Atmos and other object-based audio correctly, an advantage over Samsung’s 5.1-channel HW-B750F, though it gives up the extra audio channels, app support, and broader connectivity of the pricier HW-Q800F.
For everyday listening, the HW-Q600F performs particularly well, with balanced tuning across the stereo and center channels that keeps dialogue clear without requiring much adjustment. It also preserves the dynamics of a soundtrack, so an explosion still lands with more force than the conversation before it. Dolby Atmos also brings a modest sense of height, and effects track cleanly from left to right. Surround sound, on the other hand, is less convincing, since the soundbar doesn’t include rear satellite speakers and downmixes surround formats, which limits its ability to convincingly place effects behind you. You do get a graphic equalizer and sound presets for adjusting the audio to your preferences, though without a companion app, you’ll be making those changes through the included remote.
On the connectivity side, the bar includes an HDMI input, so you can plug a game console into it and pass video through to your TV, while an optical port covers older devices. That said, HDMI audio latency runs slightly high, potentially requiring an adjustment in your TV's settings to keep dialogue synchronized with what's happening on screen. As for wireless connectivity, it is limited to Bluetooth, meaning no wifi streaming or multi-room audio. Also, Samsung's SpaceFit Sound Pro room correction and Q-Symphony integration, which lets the TV’s speakers play alongside the bar, only work with compatible Samsung sets.
YouTube TV is one of several streaming services for live TV—and a particularly good pick for sports fans who want to be able to watch and record every matchup from their favorite leagues. If YouTube TV is your platform of choice, here are the tips and tricks to optimize your experience.
Set up family sharing to separate recommendations and storage limits
If you and members of your household have wildly different streaming tastes, you can create unique profiles for each person to prevent recommendations from one from influencing another and to separate DVR libraries. A single subscription can be shared with five additional family members, who technically must reside in the same household, and those who are outside of the home need to check in once every three months (more on that below) to maintain access. You're also limited to three active streams at a time, so six people can't be watching on six separate devices at once.
Regularly reset your YouTube TV 90-day home area allowance
If you travel frequently or are part of family sharing based anywhere besides your home, make sure you launch YouTube TV whenever you are in the account's home area. YouTube TV requires all users to check in every 90 days to avoid losing access when away from your home area. (For baseball fans, MLB imposes viewing restrictions after just 30 days.) If you get in the habit of resetting your 90-day window, you're less likely to find yourself locked out when you're on the road.
Create custom multiviews to monitor multiple games or content types at once
YouTube TV has pre-built multiviews that show you three or four channels at once—these are often either several games across a single sport or a combination of sports channels. Earlier this year, the platform launched customizable multiview, which allows you to select up to four channels across content categories. This means you can choose the specific games you want or mix and match sports with news, TV shows, and movies so that everyone in your household can be entertained. From any livestream, press the down button and select Multiview > Your multiview to choose up to four channels.
Use “catch up through key plays” to get curated highlights before syncing with live action
YouTube TV is heavy on features benefiting sports fans. If you can't begin a broadcast when a game starts, the platform offers you several options when you launch the stream: Start from the beginning, join live, or catch up to live through key plays. The latter shows you only the highlights of the action then drops you into the live stream, so you don't miss anything important but don't have to watch or fast-forward through the entire game to see what's happening now. You can also find the key plays view via Scores & stats at the bottom of the screen. This feature is supported for events from the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, college football, and college basketball.
Hide sports scores to avoid spoilers until you can watch a recorded game
Another way to avoid spoilers for live sports is to hide scores, which prevents final scores or live previews from launching before you start watching. For NFL, NBA, and MLB games, you can hide scores on a team-by-team or league-wide basis. If a league doesn't have pages for individual teams, you can hide scores for the whole league. On the team or league page, go to More and turn on Hide all scores for this team/league.
Customize your YouTube TV Live Guide to minimize scrolling
If you aren't sure what you want to watch on YouTube TV and none of the recommendations do it for you, you can use the platform's Live Guide just like the channel guide from traditional cable. However, this version is customizable, so you don't have to scroll through dozens of channels you never watch to reach the ones you do. On the web browser or app, go to Settings > Live Guide to reorder, favorite, or hide channels from your list. This can't be done directly from a streaming box, but when you open the live guide on your TV, select the Custom filter view to see your updates.
Pause your YouTube TV watch history when you don’t want content informing your algorithm
Your watch history informs recommendations on YouTube and YouTube TV, which is useful for discovering new content but also means that your algorithm can be influenced by anything and everything you watch. If you don't want certain content affecting what you're served—let's say you're binge-watching a show you wouldn't normally or you have someone staying at your house and using your account—you can pause your watch history temporarily. Tap your profile photo, go to Settings > Privacy, and toggle on Pause watch history.
Select specific teams or franchises for recording to keep your library under control
YouTube TV has unlimited DVR, but that doesn't mean you need to fill your storage with content you don't plan to watch. You can record everything from an entire sport or league, or you can select only the specific teams or franchises you care about. This depends on how you set up recording: You can search for the league and tap Add + or the "+" icon to get every game, or search for your favorite team or individual matchup. DVR playback has similar options to live events you start on delay, including resuming where you left off and watching key plays.
Switch from VOD to DVR versions on playback to skip ad breaks
Some content you record from the live feed may also be available as video on demand (VOD). With the former, you can fast-forward through ads; with the latter, ads can't be skipped. However, you may be able to choose your version if you used DVR. Click down on the stream to see whether you're on VOD or DVR, then go back to the show page and select Choose a Version > DVR (if available).
Check Stats for Nerds to diagnose streaming issues
If you have technical issues with YouTube TV, the built-in Stats for Nerds feature can help you diagnose the problem (and whether it's coming from your network or YouTube TV itself). For example, if your resolution drops significantly, connection speed, buffer health, and dropped frames can give you a clue as to whether your wifi is the culprit. Access Stats for Nerds on your TV via player controls > More > Bug icon. On your computer, right-click on the video player; on mobile, tap More > Stats from the video player.
Ukrainian troops have been caught off guard by restrictions on Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite Internet systems that disrupted frontline operations, while Kyiv received no warning from its partners of a Russian missile attack on its energy facilities for the second day running, according to Ukrainian officials.
Starlink terminals used by Ukrainian drone units began experiencing signal failures at speeds above 160 km/h, disrupting several missions early on Wednesday morning, according to military personnel and senior Ukrainian officials.
“Logistics at the frontline and middle strikes are badly limited,” one senior official familiar with the situation on the front told the FT. Ukraine’s middle strikes target Russian military supply lines and logistics. The limitations came with “no warning, just in the middle of the night,” the official said.
Despite the expansion of Starlink and other communications satellite services, most of the world’s Internet traffic still travels through subsea cables crisscrossing the ocean floors. Those fiber-optic cables coexist with a network of oil and gas pipelines and submarine power cables—and all these crucial links connecting countries and continents now face growing sabotage risks as gray-zone warfare and open conflicts have become widespread.
The rising risks to the world’s invisible infrastructure beneath the waves are the main subject of a new book by Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council who leads the Threats to the Global Maritime Order Initiative. Her book, titled Undersea War, explores the modern rise in suspicious incidents in which ships dragging their anchors for unusually long periods have cut or damaged undersea cables and pipelines, from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean.
Braw acknowledges that about 60 percent of undersea cable damage is primarily due to human error during fishing and shipping activities, when weighted nets or anchors drag across the seabed. Natural hazards like storms and undersea landslides also account for a smaller proportion of such incidents. In total, between 150 and 200 cables are damaged each year and usually repaired quickly.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
If you’re looking to outsource as much of your floor cleaning as possible, a combination robot vacuum and mop is your best bet short of hiring regular house cleaners. TheRoborock Saros 10R Robot Vacuum and Mop is a great option, with powerful suction, a slim silhouette that gets into tight spaces, and a bevy of automated features that deliver a mostly hands-off experience—especially at its current 44% off price of $899.99 (originally $1,599.99).
Though it comes in at under $1,000, it still delivers reliable obstacle avoidance, a super-slim design, and powerful hard-floor vacuuming and mopping, with up to 22,000 Pa of suction. According to Mashable, it’s better at mopping than competitors like the Saros 10, and comes with dual rotating mop pads and an extending arm to get into nooks and crannies, as well as a split brushroll to reduce hair or fur tangles. Its slim 3.14-inch profile means it more easily fits under low-profile furniture than bulkier robot vacuums, which are typically about an inch taller.
While it excels at cleaning hard floors, it’s also more effective than older Roborock models at managing rugs, thresholds up to 4 centimeters high, and rooms with various obstacles, including furniture. The low-maintenance dock empties the dustbin, refills the Saros 10R’s water tank, and washes and dries the mop pads. While it accomplishes quite a lot, the self-cleaning station does require dedicated floor space, as the dock is on the larger side.
If you want an everyday cleaner that excels at navigation and hands-off routines, theRoborock Saros 10R Robot Vacuum and Mop is one of the most reliable “set it and forget it” vacuum-and-mop combos available. And at a lower-than-ever $700 off, it offers a fantastic value right now.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
Although October Prime Day is officially over, some significant deals on home-maintenance essentials are still available. One of the best is the Ecovacs Goat O1000 LiDAR Pro Robot Lawn Mower, now 37% off at an all-time low of $949.05 (originally $1,499.99).
The O1000 Pro can mow up to 0.25 acres and handle slopes of up to 45%, making it ideal for smaller suburban lawns that need regular upkeep. It uses LiDAR, a 3D time-of-flight sensor, and an AI camera to map and navigate, so it doesn't need perimeter wire or an RTK antenna. In the app, you can create zones and no-go areas, adjust cutting settings, and schedule mowing.
The built-in TruEdge trimmer is what sets it apart from many competitors. Unlike some robot mowers that still leave a strip for you to finish manually, this model has edge trimming integrated to reduce cleanup. Another perk is how quiet it is: The mower operates at just 61 dB (significantly quieter than a gas mower), though the trimmer can reach around 81 dB.
While it has a PIN and lift alarm, it doesn’t offer the same location-tracking protection as premium competitors, which could matter if your mower is accessible from the street. Still, if your lawn is a quarter acre or less, somewhat level, and regularly maintained, the wireless Ecovacs Goat O1000 LiDAR Pro Robot Lawn Mower can handle most of your weekly mowing needs—and is even more appealing at nearly $550 off.
Ad-free plans for new subscribers went from $10 per month to $12/month. Ad-based plans went from $6 to $7.
The new prices take effect for new subscribers immediately. Current subscribers to the streaming service, which primarily features unscripted content, like reality shows and documentaries, will receive 30 days’ notice before the new prices take effect, starting with bills issued as of November 12.
Apple opened preorders for the HomeView smart home hub today.
The HomeView is a 7-inch smart display and speaker that aims to be a central access point for up to six members of a family to access and control Apple’s ecosystem of devices, apps, and the Siri generative AI chatbot that's currently in beta.
Users can speak to HomeView to control smart home devices, such as, for example, telling Siri to close the smart blinds or activate smart locks. HomeView can also show a livestream for up to nine video feeds simultaneously.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 Creator Combo is currently down to $495 from $629, saving you $134 and bringing the bundle to its lowest price ever, according to price trackers. That's a decent discount if you've been considering a dedicated camera for vlogging, travel videos, or social media content, particularly since the Creator Combo includes accessories you'd otherwise have to buy separately—along with the camera, you get a DJI Mic 2 transmitter for clearer voice recordings, a battery handle for longer shooting sessions, and a mini tripod that comes in handy when you want to film yourself without holding the camera.
As for the camera itself, it uses a one-inch (Type 1) sensor that handles dim light better than earlier Pocket models and records 4K video at up to 120fps, so you can capture everything from everyday vlogs to slow-motion footage. And because it has a three-axis mechanical gimbal, you can walk around while filming without ending up with shaky footage, while the wide 20mm-equivalent lens gives you enough room to fit yourself and your surroundings into the frame. Its rotating two-inch touchscreen also makes switching between horizontal videos for YouTube and vertical clips for Instagram fairly simple.
PCMag also praised its natural-looking color profiles, while more experienced creators can use 10-bit D-Log M for greater control over colors during editing. Audio gets similar attention, as the camera records in stereo and connects directly to up to two DJI Mic 2 or Mic Mini transmitters, so the bundled transmitter clipped to your collar keeps your voice clear during an interview or a walk down a busy street. Its main limitation is durability: It isn't weatherproof or particularly rugged, so rain, dust, and rough handling are concerns. You'll also need a microSD card for storage, and there's no HDMI output.
Amid worries about children’s relationship to tech, the solution is often spending more time talking openly with each other
We have become obsessed with the idea that screens are destroying human connection.
The evidence seems to be everywhere. Each week headlines warn of teenagers addicted to phones, a lonelinessepidemic and the dangersof AI. The release of The Social Reckoning leads us to ask, “How bad were those guys at Meta?” and then ultimately wonder, “How bad am I if I still use Instagram?” In our day-to-day, we observe workers eating lunch alone while scrolling and friends choosing online games over offline gatherings.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
Ever since I got my power station, I've been sleeping a bit better whenever a storm comes through, confident I'm covered if my power goes out. Power stations are pricey, so the best time to get one is during a sale, and not when a storm is imminent or the food in your fridge is spoiling from a power outage.
Right now is a good time to buy: The Anker SOLIX S2000 is 46% off, landing at $649.99 (originally $1,199). The S200 is great for anyone who lives in an area that is prone to losing power or in need of a compact but powerful portable power station they can take camping. It can power an average fridge for 35 hours, according to Anker, which gives you an idea of how powerful it is.
Don't let the size or weight of the Solix S2000 fool you. Although it's small, at 8.2 × 11.1 × 12.7 inches (LWH), and relative light, weighing in at around 36 pounds, it has a battery capacity of 2,010 Wh. According to PCMag's "excellent" review, the Solix S2000 delivers an unusually high percentage of its rated capacity while consuming remarkably little idle power on intermittent loads like refrigerators and routers. It's very quiet while operating, and the Anker app is one of the best power station apps I've used.
There are two AC outlets in the back and three more on the front. There are also two USB-C ports in the front, along with a USB-A port and a solar port that will allow you to attach an optional Anker solar panel to recharge the unit.
To give you an idea of how long you can expect to have the S2000 last, if you were to use this power station and charge it every day, it would give you about 15 years of use (10,000 charge cycles) before the battery becomes severely affected. That's a long lifespan for a small power station. If you don't have a solution to power your home essentials in an emergency, this is a great option at a huge 46% discount.
Proton Pass is the password management app from privacy-focused Proton (whose suite of tools also includes Proton Mail and Proton VPN). Whether you're already a Proton user or are looking for a new password manager to securely store your credentials and other data, these are the tips and tricks that will help you get the most out of Proton Pass.
Create a separate shareable vault in Proton Pass for guests
Password managers offer a secure alternative to writing down wifi passwords and other logins or sending them via text. In Proton Pass, you can create a separate vault specifically for your home and share a limited list of credentials—such as guest wifi, smart lock codes, and streaming information—with visitors. Vaults can be set as view only, and you can revoke access at any time. Users without a Proton Pass account receive a shared link, which can be set to expire after a specific amount of time or number of views.
Build an emergency kit vault in Proton Pass to share with trusted contacts
Another use case for separate vaults is as an "in case of emergency" selection of items that you can share with trusted contacts. For paid users, Proton Pass has a dedicated emergency access feature, which lets up to five contacts of your choice get into your account after a dedicated waiting period in the event of your illness or death. Alternatively, you can set up a vault that contains only specific items, such as logins or secure notes, and share it with those who may need the information if you are incapacitated or unreachable. Remember that guest access can be set to expire or revoked at any time.
Use custom hidden fields to protect security answers and PIN codes
When you create an item in Proton Pass, you have the option to add custom fields, which allow you to save additional information relevant to your credential, such as text notes and 2FA codes. You can also select a Hidden field, which masks the text by default until you reveal it (similar to how passwords are masked). This prevents someone from looking over your shoulder and catching sight of sensitive information, such as security question answers and PINs. Custom fields are available on paid Proton plans.
Create burner identities for online shopping by combining email aliases and virtual cards
A Proton Pass selling point is its hide-my-email alias feature, which generates a unique email address when you sign up for a new account. Email aliases forward to your main inbox, but they prevent you from having to share your real address, essentially creating burner identities that you can use for online shopping, newsletters or promotional lists, and other activity that you don't want tied to your personal email. Free users get 10 hide-my-email aliases, while those on paid plans have an unlimited number. While Proton Pass doesn't yet have an integrated virtual card option like 1Password, you can use a service like Privacy.com or Revolut to create single-use or merchant-locked payment cards that protect your real account information.
Add custom descriptions to hide-my-email aliases to track who is selling your data
Another benefit of hide-my-email aliases is that you can find out who is selling your data (again, without compromising your personal email address). When you generate an alias, add a custom text field with notes on exactly what the address is being used for. If you start receiving marketing emails or spam to that alias, you'll know where that compromise came from. You can then disable the alias instantly within Proton Pass.
Add multiple login URLs to one master entry to avoid duplicate accounts in Proton Pass
Some employers, universities, and service providers have multiple URLs for accessing online portals, but you use the same credentials across all of them. Instead of cluttering your vault with duplicate entries, you can add multiple URLs to an item so Proton Pass will autofill that item across all of them. This also prevents an issue where you have to update a password and then remember to sync it across duplicate items. When you edit an entry, simply tap Add in the Website box.
Recover old credentials using item history in Proton Pass
Proton Pass stores a history of your saved items so you can see previous passwords and information that's since been changed. This makes it easy to revert back to earlier versions if you encounter an error when updating a credential. You have access to the last 50 versions of an item on paid plans, and you can restore earlier versions to be the current version directly from the item history.
Switch password generation to passphrase for secure but easy-to-type credentials
When you create a new credential, Proton Pass can randomly generate a strong password to match site requirements. Alternatively, you can opt for passphrases, which are strings of words separated by hyphens (or another symbol). These are still highly secure but much easier to remember and type than a random string of letters, numbers, and symbols. Passphrases can be useful on accounts for which you have to manually enter your credentials.
Enable Extra Password to provide an additional layer of protection to your Proton Pass vault
When you sign up for Proton Pass, you start by creating a global Proton account that works across Proton apps. You should, of course, make this password highly secure and enable multi-factor authentication, but you may also want to set up a password specifically for your Proton Pass vault(s) so even if your Proton account is somehow compromised, your credentials remain protected. You'll find this option under Settings > Security > Extra password on the browser extension and under Profile > Account name > Manage account on the mobile app. Note that if you forget or lose this password, you won't be able to access your Pass account.
Use notes and attachments to create an encrypted document vault in Proton Pass
Some of the best password managers can double as encrypted storage vaults, meaning you can upload sensitive documents that you don't want to entrust to other cloud services that may be more susceptible to compromise. Proton Pass includes 1 GB of storage on its free plan and 10 GB for paid users. You can create secure notes and attach uploaded files to any item in your vault.
When Russia began attacking Ukrainian data centers and telecommunication infrastructure, it apparently failed to prepare for possible retaliation. Now Russia’s digital services are facing widespread outages after Ukrainian drone strikes knocked out three of the largest data centers owned by Russian tech giant Yandex within several days.
Pro-Kremlin bloggers are warning that Russia’s centralized digital economy could collapse because the country is not prepared for the “data center war” it started, according to poststranslated by the pseudonymous independent researcher ChrisO_wiki. The Russian commentators also suggested that Ukraine’s decentralized digital services could prove more resilient than Russia’s system if the countries continue trading such blows.
Russia initially launched a drone strike campaign targeting Ukrainian data centers and mobile phone networks in late September. The attacks temporarily disrupted Internet and cell phone service for up to 100,000 households in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and came as part of a broader long-range strike campaign that has involved Russian missiles and jet-powered drones hitting Ukraine’s power grid infrastructure, transportation hubs, and even residential apartment building blocks.
Google is releasing its second Fitbit tracker of 2026, offering fans of the aging Charge 6 a more refined option. The new Fitbit Edge slots right in between the Pixel Watch 5 and the Fitbit Air, featuring a compact screen and more health sensors than the Air. You won't get all the apps and features of the Pixel Watch 5, but the Edge is only about half as expensive.
The Fitbit Edge is essentially a new Charge 6, but it has more of a Pixel Watch aesthetic. Squish Google's smartwatch from the sides, and you've got the Edge. It has a pill-shaped 1.34-inch OLED touch display inside a slender aluminum frame that is rated IP68 (5 ATM) for water and dust protection. Google says the screen has 46 percent more viewable area compared to the Charge 6. It's very close in overall size to the Fitbit Air and uses the same magnetic charging puck.
Left to right: Fitbit Air (with new metal mesh band), Fitbit Edge, and Pixel Watch 5.
Credit:
Google
The Edge works with Android or iPhones via the Google Health app, and it can run for about seven days on a charge. If the tracker is away from your phone, it can still follow your activity all week with support for seven days of full health data storage (or 30 days of basic data). However, the generous weeklong battery life does not include always-on display mode. If you turn it on, battery life drops to about two days, barely longer than the Pixel Watch 5.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
The JBL Go 5 is down to $39.95 from $54.95 on Amazon, and price trackers show that this is its lowest price so far. At roughly four inches wide and just over half a pound, it is small enough to toss into a backpack, clip onto a bag, or keep on your desk without taking up much room. The upgraded IP68 rating also makes it a better travel companion than the Go 4, especially for beach days, hikes, or anywhere dust and water are likely to show up.
Battery life gets a modest improvement too, with JBL rating the Go 5 for up to eight hours of playback, or around 10 hours with Playtime Boost turned on. That should comfortably cover a day out, but it is not built for all-day-and-night listening. The same goes for volume. It gets reasonably loud for something this small, but it is better suited to a picnic table, bedroom, or a few people sitting nearby than covering a backyard party. Its front-facing driver also makes placement more important, since the sound is noticeably stronger when you are sitting in front of the speaker than off to either side.
The Go 5 does add a few conveniences that make it easier to live with—you can now play audio over USB-C, Bluetooth 6.0 brings LC3 codec support, and AirTouch lets you pair two Go 5 speakers for stereo simply by bringing them together. JBL’s companion app also gives you more control over the EQ if you want to tweak the sound. None of these upgrades dramatically change the listening experience compared with the Go 4, so owners of the older model do not have much reason to rush out and replace it. At $40, though, the Go 5 is the better buy for someone who wants a compact speaker with more durability, slightly longer battery life, and a few useful extras without moving up to a larger model.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
Amazon currently has the Insta360 Flow 2 Pro Ultimate AI Tracker Bundle for $154.99, down from $227.99, and price trackers show that as its lowest price so far. The main reason to consider a phone gimbal like this is not just smoother footage, but having a setup that can keep you in frame even when there's nobody behind the camera—its three-axis stabilization helps take the shake out of walking shots and handheld clips, while the built-in tripod and selfie stick make it easy to set the phone down for a vlog, workout, livestream, or travel video without carrying separate accessories.
On the iPhone, Apple DockKit support allows subject tracking across more than 200 compatible apps, while the included AI Tracker brings similar hands-free tracking to Android and iPhone users across supported apps. That tracking is where this bundle earns its higher price over a basic gimbal—it can rotate continuously through 360 degrees, so you can move around without repeatedly walking back to reposition the phone, and its multi-person mode can keep a group framed instead of locking onto one face. The AI Tracker can also follow subjects while zoomed in, with the Flow 2 Pro supporting tracking from 1x to 15x.
Its built-in fill light also helps when the lighting is poor, while its Free Tilt Mode gives you more freedom to move the camera up or down while keeping the shot stable. None of those tools will make your phone camera better by themselves, but they can make it much easier to get usable footage without repeatedly reshooting a clip.
It's not waterproof, so rain, poolside filming, or other wet environments require more care than an action camera would. And some of its smarter tracking features also depend on the phone, app, and shooting mode you're using, so the experience isn't identical across every device. Still, for solo travelers, vloggers, sports parents, or creators who regularly move around while filming themselves, this $155 bundle gives you a lot more control without needing a second person behind the camera.
No organization in the world operates more robots than Amazon. The company already has more than 1 million robots working in warehouses around the clock to make tens of millions of same-day and one-day package deliveries happen on a daily basis—and Amazon is poised to significantly grow that robotic fleet in the coming years as it establishes new factories to churn out increasingly more capable robot workers.
Despite deploying so many robots, Amazon is also the second-largest corporate employer in the world, with more than 1.5 million full-time and part-time human workers, according to its 2025 annual report. Amazon executives say that the growing robot fleet has eased the burden on its human workforce by taking on the toughest fulfillment center tasks that carry the greatest risks of physical fatigue and injury. But labor advocacy groups and independent researchers point to evidence suggesting that warehouse automation driven by AI is not all upside for the humans who work alongside robots.
“For the last 100 years, most of the automation that we've seen usually happens away from workers—you're taking that high-risk task away from the worker, and you're doing so in a way that is not physically proximate,” Brad Greenwood, professor of business at George Mason University, told Ars. “The rise of collaborative robots really changes that dynamic for two reasons: one is that it is physically proximate, and two, the robot has the ability to dictate the pace of work.”
Elon Musk is a very familiar figure to Ars readers, given his massive influence (for better and worse) on the technology sector over the last 20 years. Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney's latest biographical documentary—simply titled Musk—covers a lot of well-known ground and challenges the carefully crafted public image of Musk as a visionary tech titan.
Gibney's documentary presents Musk as more of a Gilded Age confidence man, rejiggered for the 21st century: an investor cosplaying as an inventor whose real genius is pumping stocks and dazzling investors and the public alike with visions of a high-tech utopian future. The film is bound to push all the right outrage buttons, whether one is a Musk fan or a detractor—which makes it very much a product of the peculiar social media-driven era in which we live.
Gibney has been making documentaries since the 1980s, covering such varied subjects as Jimi Hendrix, Hunter S. Thompson and gonzo journalism, WikiLeaks, Scientology, Steve Jobs, Elizabeth Holmes (the subject of another forthcoming documentary, You Can See Everything, featuring comedian Nathan Fielder), Boris Becker, The Sopranos creator David Chase, alleged Russian interference in the US 2016 presidential election, the opioid epidemic, and cyclist Lance Armstrong. He snagged his first Oscar nomination for 2005’s Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, and won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature two years later for Taxi to the Dark Side.
Ukrainian drone strikes have knocked out two of five data centers belonging to the Russian tech giant Yandex. The damage has left Yandex, known as “Russia’s Google” because it operates the country’s most popular search engine, struggling to maintain its AI chatbot and other online services.
The Ukrainian drones struck Yandex data centers in the Sasovo and Kaluga regions of Russia on October 8 and October 9, according to Reuters. Those actions came as a direct response to a Russian drone strike campaign targeting Ukraine’s data centers, which has disrupted mobile phone and Internet services for thousands of Ukrainians since late September.
“We continue to respond to Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, and we’re doing so with high precision,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a post on X. “Another data center was hit as well—our symmetrical response.”
The Museo de Historia de la Computación in Spain has unveiled a 1:1 scale visual replica of the famous Cray-1 supercomputer from 1976. Instead of sourcing expensive, cutting-edge tech to run the system, the creative team powered the project with 30 2012-era Mac Minis. Developed over 18 months, the project serves as a 50th-anniversary tribute to the Cray-1 and Apple's founding.
Mac Minis from over a decade ago might not seem like the obvious first choice for building a cluster supercomputer, but when networked together, the developers can orchestrate the 64 active processing cores into a combined 1.3 teraflops of performance in their most recent tests. The museum reportedly achieved 1.5 teraflops previously using all 70 available cores, prior to one node going offline. Benchmarks were obtained using a custom matrix-multiplication Python script. Five PCs are quad-core i7s, and the remaining 25 are dual-core i5 models. Except for two units from 2014, the rest of the array dates to 2012.
The replica is a valuable tool for museum-goers to understand the shifts in computer architecture since 1976. The original Cray-1 used vector processing, applying a single instruction to multiple data elements simultaneously, whereas the replica distributes work across independent processors in a parallel cluster. The peak theoretical performance of the original Cray-1 was approximately 160 megaflops. What was originally a purpose-built research machine has been re-created with consumer hardware that's vastly more capable than the machine that inspired it.
PC shipments saw a steep drop of about 20 percent in Q3 2026, analysts reported this week.
The industry saw its “sharpest decline since “Q1 2023," Omdia said in an announcement toady. Global shipments of laptops, desktops, and workstations fell 21.2 percent year over year (YoY) to 58.1 million devices, the analyst said.
Desktop PC shipments (including desktop workstations) decreased 23.5 percent to 11.7 million units, and laptop shipments (including laptop workstations) declined 20.6 percent to 46.4 million, per Omdia.
The Debian Linux project has opened a call for community artwork submissions ahead of the release of the upcoming Forky (Debian 14). If you think you've got the artistic chops, your art could appear on the boot screens, login prompts, and desktop wallpapers of millions of users. The submission deadline is November 26.
Continuing Debian's community-driven ethos, the artwork submission process mirrors that of previous releases. The artwork must feel distinctively "Debian," integrate cleanly without the need for core software patching, and remain visually appealing for the long term.
Elise Couper's "Ceratopsian" theme was chosen as the winning default for Debian 13 Trixie. For anyone who might not be up on the latest from the Toy Story franchise, the release names echo character names from the animated films. Trixie was a triceratops introduced in Toy Story 3, hence the "Ceratopsian" wink in the winning submission. It makes sense that the next version of Debian continues this trend with Forky, a character introduced in the franchise's fourth entry. The Debian team cautions against overly busy designs that may cause user fatigue, but if anyone can successfully incorporate Forky's googly eyes into the design somehow, know that you'd at least win the contest for my Debian desktop wallpaper.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
Anker’s Nebula P1i Portable Projector is down to $299 from $399 on Amazon, taking $100 off a full HD projector with built-in streaming—it runs Google TV out of the box, so you can jump straight into apps like Netflix without plugging in a streaming stick, while Anker’s Smart Instant Setup automatically handles focus, keystone correction, and screen alignment to get the picture ready with minimal effort.
That convenience extends to the projector’s portability, too, with the Nebula P1i weighing just under five pounds, making it easy to move between rooms or take outdoors—although its lightweight design does mean that an accidental bump can shift the image, so a tripod is worth considering if you want a more stable setup. Connectivity is fairly straightforward, with an HDMI port, USB-A port, and headphone jack for hooking up external devices, but the built-in interface already covers most streaming needs.
As for picture and sound quality, the Nebula P1i delivers a decent viewing experience for its price, but there are a few limitations to keep in mind—it supports 4K input but projects at 1080p, producing fairly natural colors and a reasonably sharp picture, though the edges can appear softer when the projector is positioned at an angle. Brightness is another consideration, as the picture looks best in a dark room or at night, with daylight washing out much of the detail.
On the audio side, the fold-out speakers have enough volume for a small gathering and reproduce dialogue clearly, but they lack the depth to give movies a particularly immersive feel, so you may want to connect a Bluetooth speaker for better sound. There’s also no built-in battery, so it needs to stay plugged in, which takes away some of the flexibility you might expect from a portable projector.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
Amazon's October Prime Day sale has wrapped up, but the Sonos Arc Ultra is still selling for $899, down from its usual $1,099. PCMag named it the best soundbar of 2024 and gave it an “outstanding” review. $899 is still a lot to spend on a single soundbar, and anyone shopping on a tighter budget will find more affordable picks in our Fire TV soundbar roundup.
For those who can make room in their budget, the next thing to plan around is space, since the Arc Ultra measures a little over 46 inches across and weighs about 13 pounds, making it a natural match for a larger TV. Despite all that width, it keeps a low profile at just under three inches tall, so it can sit beneath most screens without blocking the picture, or you can wall-mount it if you would rather keep your TV stand clear. All that size makes room for a 9.1.4-channel layout (a big step up from the original Arc) that gives Dolby Atmos effects more space to spread around and above you. Sonos also added a new Sound Motion driver that it says doubles the original Arc's bass, giving action scenes real weight without a separate subwoofer, though you can still add a Sub 4 later for more rumble.
At the other end of the sound spectrum, voices and dialogue come through clearly even at low volumes, and a Speech Enhancement mode lifts them further. Trueplay tuning then adjusts the sound to your room, with a quick version on Android and iOS and a more detailed one for iPhone owners. The biggest drawback is connectivity, since the Arc Ultra has a single HDMI eARC port with no passthrough, which can leave you short on inputs for a console or streaming box, and no optical port. It also lacks DTS:X support, a letdown for some Blu-ray collectors, and voice control is limited to Alexa or Sonos' own assistant, though Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and AirPlay 2 make streaming music from your phone easy.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
Amazon’s October Prime Day event may be over, but the Bose SoundLink Max is still available for $279, down from its usual $399, keeping it at the lowest price we’ve seen so far, according to price trackers. Unlike many speakers in this price range, the SoundLink Max keeps things fairly simple, leaving out wifi, smart assistants, and speakerphone support. That lets Bose focus on what most people buy a portable Bluetooth speaker for in the first place: loud, well-balanced sound, long battery life, and a design that can handle being taken almost anywhere.
That practical approach carries over to the design—it has a steel frame that is wrapped in silicone for added durability (though the textured exterior tends to collect dust more easily than smoother finishes), and the woven carry handle makes it easy to grab before heading to the backyard, the beach, or a campsite. I also like that Bose uses physical buttons here instead of fussy touch controls. Inside, three front-facing drivers and dual passive radiators deliver a wide stereo sound with clear vocals and crisp instruments. According to this PCMag review, the mids and highs remain detailed even at higher volumes, though the deepest bass notes lose some impact when the speaker is pushed to its limits. Bose rates the battery life at up to 20 hours, and the IP67 rating means it can survive dust, rain, accidental splashes, and even a brief drop into water.
The companion Bose app adds a little extra flexibility without becoming a requirement. You can adjust bass, mids, and treble, switch between connected devices, and customize the shortcut button to launch Spotify or jump to the auxiliary input. Just don't expect dramatic changes from the equalizer; it is better suited for small tweaks than completely reshaping the speaker’s sound. Bose also does not include a shoulder strap in the box, which feels like an odd omission for a speaker this large. Even so, if you're looking for a rugged Bluetooth speaker that prioritizes sound quality over smart-home features, the SoundLink Max remains one of the stronger options in its class, especially at its current price.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
As Amazon’s October Prime Day winds down, you can still find the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar on sale for $844.99 (originally $1,099), its lowest price yet, according to price trackers. It replaces the Smart Ultra Soundbar in Bose’s lineup and sits at the center of the company’s newer Lifestyle Ultra family, with matching speaker and a subwoofer available if you eventually want to build out a larger system. On its own, though, this is a substantial soundbar at 43.3 inches wide and 14.3 pounds, though its 2.6-inch height keeps the profile relatively low.
Inside are nine drivers arranged in a 5.0.2 configuration, including a center tweeter for dialogue and two upward-firing drivers for Dolby Atmos height effects, and the result is crisp, detailed audio with a convincing sense of space. That said, while the bass is solid, it doesn't quite keep pace with the rest of the sound, with this PCMag review recommending adding a subwoofer. Until then, Bose's app gives you plenty to work with, including a three-band EQ for nudging up the low end and separate level controls for the center, height, and surround channels, so you can bring voices forward or dial in the Atmos effect for your room.
Connectivity covers one HDMI eARC port, Ethernet, a subwoofer output, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 5.3, but there's no passthrough for a second HDMI device and no 3.5mm aux input. It also skips DTS entirely and can't pair with Bose headphones for private listening. Anyone already invested in Bose speakers or planning to build out a full system around it will get the most from this discount, while those wanting deeper bass without buying a subwoofer may be better served by the Sonos Arc Ultra, which is also on sale for $899, though it comes with the same single-HDMI, no-DTS limitations.
Let's Encrypt is continuing a push toward tighter security by reducing free SSL/TLS certificate lifetimes from 90 days to 64 days, starting February 10, 2027. For administrators already implementing modern ACME clients that support ARI (ACME Renewal Information), the change should be seamless. For those still relying on hardcoded renewal schedules or manual processes, February will be the deadline to update before certificates start expiring unexpectedly.
Starting on October 14, Let's Encrypt will begin testing the 64-day certificates, and interested users can opt in to test their setups before production goes live.
Prior to Let's Encrypt's launch in early 2016, certificates were often issued for as long as one to three years. The service started with 90-day certificates to force renewal automation that didn't previously exist. Shorter certificate validity periods limited vulnerabilities from private key thefts and encouraged accelerated HTTPS adoption across the web.
Login
