Category: Technology

Sleep tracking is nothing new in Garmin’s fitness watches, but the company’s latest wearable is a dedicated smart sleep band. The Index Sleep Monitor offers week-long battery life with continuous pulse ox tracking for monitoring your blood oxygen saturation while you sleep.

Garmin’s tracker is worn on the upper arm — which should hopefully make it more comfortable — where it tracks a variety of metrics: skin temperature; light, deep and REM sleep stages; and variations in your heart rate and breathing. The data is then combined to provide an overall personalized daily sleep score that can be viewed in the Garmin Connect app. If you already use a Garmin smartwatch but don’t sleep with it on your wrist, the Index Sleep Monitor is designed to add the missing metrics to the insights you’re already getting from the watch.

Skin temperature tracking gives you a better idea of how your sleep environment affects the quality of your sleep, while flagging potential illnesses indicated by temperature changes. This metric also extends to menstrual health tracking, with skin temperature changes useful for tracking cycles, past ovulation estimates and offering what Garmin describes as “improved period predictions.”

Garmin’s Index Sleep Monitor will also monitor your energy levels, providing you with its “Body Battery” measurements that advise you to take more rest when the reading is coming in low. Again, these insights should be more accurate and reliable when combined with a compatible smartwatch worn during the day. The sleep band will also track your stress throughout the night, and features a smart alarm that attempts to wake you gently during lighter sleep stages so you’ll feel less tired.

The Index Sleep Monitor is available in S-M and L-XL sizes and costs $170.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/garmins-new-sleep-tracker-offers-a-week-of-battery-life-142350473.html?src=rss 

The bumper 2025 edition of Amazon’s Prime Day is fast approaching and the deals are starting to emerge. While we’ve seen this offer pop up several times in the past, it’s one that’s always worth highlighting. New Audible subscribers can get three months of access to the Premium Plus plan for $3. That’s a total of $42 off.

This is one of the best streaming deals around right now. It will be available until July 31, which is a few weeks after the Prime Day event ends (it could probably be called Prime Week this year since it’s running for four days). If you don’t cancel your Audible membership before the promotional period ends, it will automatically renew for $15 per month.

Through the Audible Premium Plus plan, you’ll receive one credit each month. You can use this to claim any audiobook you like on the platform, whether it’s a bestseller, new release or something else you’ve been meaning to get to. You’ll retain access to audiobooks you claim with credits even after your subscription expires. So, you’re effectively getting three audiobooks for your permanent collection for three bucks.

Audible members will be able to take advantage of exclusive discounts and sales too. They also get access to thousands of audiobooks, Audible Originals and podcasts as long as their subscription remains active.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/prime-day-deals-include-three-months-of-audible-for-only-3-143734782.html?src=rss 

People in Iran have been having difficulties accessing internet services, mostly foreign websites and messaging apps like WhatsApp. According to The New York Times and NBC News, it was the government’s decision to restrict internet in the country to ward off cyberattacks by Israel as the conflict between the countries escalate. Fatemeh Mohajerani, Iran’s spokesperson, said the government was forced to throttle internet speeds in the country to maintain network stability “given the enemy’s cyber attacks.” Iran reportedly plans to reduce its internet bandwidth by 80 percent. 

Kentinc and Netblocks, companies which track global internet connectivity, told NBC News that Iran’s connection plummeted at around 5:30PM Eastern time on June 17. Iranians have been having issues accessing online services for days, however, with their mobile data networks being completely down in parts of the country and the VPNs they were using to access foreign websites being blocked intermittently. In addition to blocking WhatsApp, the Iranian government urged citizens to delete it from their smartphones, accusing it of collecting information to send to Israel. WhatsApp told AP that it was “concerned these false reports will be an excuse for [its] services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most.”

While Iran’s spokesperson said that the government is blocking and slowing down the country’s internet connection as a way to prevent Israeli cyberattacks, it’s also making it harder for people to get warnings about incoming attacks and to contact loved ones in cases of emergency. And since maps like Google’s also aren’t working, people trying to evacuate are also reportedly getting lost. Iran is urging its citizens to use its national internet services or N.I.N., which remain available and allow messaging using government platforms, but people don’t think they’re secure.

It’s worth noting that Iran also seems to have launched its own cyber attacks on Israel. As The Verge notes, cybersecurity firm Radware reported a surge in cyberattacks on Israel since its strike on Iran. The firm believes they were carried out by Iranian state actors and pro-Iran hacker groups. Iran had been linked to several cyberattacks in the past, including an instance wherein hackers associated with the country stole US voter information and sent intimidating emails to Democrat voters. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/iran-restricts-internet-access-to-ward-off-israeli-cyberattacks-120025170.html?src=rss 

Hades II announced its third update today. The sequel to 2020 indie game darling Hades is technically still in early access on PC and Mac, but has been getting some beefy updates ahead of its expected official release later this year. The Unseen Update is a free, automatic update that mostly focuses on new combat development.

There’s a new Vow of Rivals that allows players to challenge more powerful Guardian foes. All of the main weapons have received hidden aspects that offer new forms and fighting styles. There’s also new hexes and blessings, some fresh artwork, and new story events to help grow your relationships with the many members of the ancient Greek pantheon.

When Hades II does exit early access with the launch of v1.0 — and developer Supergiant said that it doesn’t have a timeline for that yet — the game will follow its predecessor’s launch schedule. Switch 2 and Switch will be the first consoles to get the full release alongside PC and Mac, with PlayStation and Xbox players needing to wait before they’ll get a version of the rogue-like.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/hades-ii-adds-more-combat-options-in-its-third-major-early-access-update-225206452.html?src=rss 

President Donald Trump will, once again, give TikTok a temporary reprieve as it faces another deadline to sell itself or face a ban in the United States. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Tuesday that Trump will sign another executive order to extend the deadline.

The latest extension — this time for 90 days — is now the third time Trump has punted on a looming TikTok ban since he took office in January. “As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark,” Leavitt said in a statement reported by CNN. “This extension will last 90 days, which the Administration will spend working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure.”

US officials are presumably still negotiating terms of a potential deal that would allow TikTok to remain operational in the United States, though there’s been little news on that front since the last extension in April. A number of potential buyers are interested in acquiring TikTok’s US business, but officials in China would need to sign off on any agreement. In April, several reports suggested that a deal would likely involve the company’s existing US investors rolling over their stakes into a new entity. Those talks were derailed by Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/donald-trump-will-delay-a-looming-tiktok-ban-for-a-third-time-231757522.html?src=rss 

Social media company X has filed a lawsuit against the state of New York over a law governing hate speech. The social network’s Global Government Affairs account posted about the suit, claiming the law’s required disclosures infringe on First Amendment protections for free speech.

The Stop Hiding Hate Act, which is slated to take effect this week, would require social media companies to report on how they define and moderate content including hate speech, misinformation, disinformation, harassment and foreign political influence.

X sued California in 2023 about a similar state-level law regarding content moderation. A panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals put a hold on the lower court’s initial ruling in favor of California. While the law did endure, a settlement between the state and the company at the start of 2025 led to the elimination of the provisions that X claimed were unconstitutional.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-sues-new-york-over-hate-speech-disclosure-law-214655414.html?src=rss 

Facebook is once again rebranding the “video” section of its app. This time, the tab formerly known as “video,” which was also once called “watch,” will become “reels.” The change comes as the company says that all video on the social network will now fall under the umbrella of “reels” regardless of how long the clip is or how it was shot.

According to Meta, the change will make things simpler for users and creators sharing video clips on the platform. Previously, users had to decide whether they wanted a given video to be a “reel,” shorter clips that are recommended throughout the Facebook app, or a “video,” which also included live and longer-form content, as well as video posts intended only for friends. Now, that distinction will no longer matter.

While reels was once explicitly meant for shortform videos of one minute or less, Meta has gradually expanded the format. On Instagram, Reels can now be up to three minutes long. On Facebook, there will be no upper limit on how long a “reel” can be. “You’ll be able to create and share reels of any length or orientation, whether it’s a quick, 30-second vertical clip or an in-depth, 20-minute plus horizontal episode,” Meta explains.

This change could end up being slightly confusing as most people are used to “reels” being shorter, vertical clips rather than long “episodes.” It’s also notably different from how video functions on Instagram, where reels still have time constraints. It could also raise questions from a privacy standpoint as reels are typically public posts, while many Facebook users upload video they only want to share with their existing friends (Meta says it will prompt users to revisit their privacy settings once the change rolls out to ensure their clips only make it to the intended audience.)

Meta notes that the changes will be rolling out slowly “in the coming months,” so people will have some time to adjust to the new format.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/facebook-videos-are-all-just-going-to-be-reels-now-185807805.html?src=rss 

The discourse around artificial intelligence has all been about pursuing the bleeding edge, pushing the tech into the future as fast as possible. So maybe it should be refreshing that OpenAI’s latest announcement feels almost quaintly analog. Starting today, users can tap into the company’s image generation by texting 1-800-ChatGPT on WhatsApp.

The post on X announcing this new option for using the ChatGPT AI chatbot specifies that the feature is “now available to everyone.” I’m not sure what percentage of “everyone” wanted to have a 1-800 number to contact in order to obtain their AI-generated pictures. Considering how long it’s been since the concept of a long-distance call was a factor in regular communication, I’d guess that many ChatGPT users don’t even know why 1-800 phone numbers were notable. Perhaps this is OpenAI’s attempt to lure the older generations away from potentially confusing (and embarrassing) competitors.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/this-1-800-number-will-generate-chatgpt-images-if-for-some-reason-you-need-that-174636780.html?src=rss