Category: Technology

The first few days of the year are typically sleepy for deals — and 2025 is proving no different. Since most Black Friday sale prices have expired, big ticket items are back to full price, but we found a few new discounts on smaller tech and accessories from brands we recommend, like Anker, Sony, Amazon Echo and JBL. You can get an Anker charging station for 40 percent off and pick up the Apple Watch Series 10 for $329, a return to its all-time low. An Amazon Echo display is also selling for close to a record low. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today. 

8Bitdo Ultimate Wired Controller (Xbox) for $30 ($15 off): Here’s a record low price for a licensed Xbox controller from a brand we recommend in a few of our best of lists. It’s compatible with the Xbox Series X, Series S, Xbox One and Windows 10 and above, so it can work with either a console or PC. It has hall effect joysticks and impulse triggers, a 3.5mm audio jack on the back, and two extra buttons that aren’t included with the official controller, which could be useful for mapping with PC games.

Anker 9-in-1 Charging Station for $36 ($24 off): This small tower has been a boon for my messy and small work area, letting me charge and power the various phones, batteries, tablets and other electronics that are a necessary part of a tech-heavy work life. It’s got four USB-C ports, two USB-A and two AC outlets, plus the wall adapter is nice and slim. I just wish I had bought mine on sale. 

Apple Watch Series 10 (GPS 42mm case) for $329 ($70 off): This is a return to the Black Friday pricing we saw in November and represents the biggest discount we’ve seen yet on Apple’s latest flagship wearable. We gave it good marks in our review and named it the best Apple Watch and the best smartwatch overall currently on the market. Of course, it’s only for iPhone users, but if you’re an Apple fan, it can be pretty dang useful. Also at Best Buy. 

Ugreen Revodok Pro 109 USB-C hub for $39 ($16 off with Prime): Prime members can save 30 percent off the 9-in-1 dock we named the best of the bunch after testing for our USB-C hub guide. It lets you connect two 4K monitors and has a good array of other ports plus the longer 10-inch cable gives you more options for where to put it on your desk.  

Roku Streaming Stick 4K for $29 ($21 off): If your TV feels a little slow as it streams its built-in apps, this is one of the cheapest ways to help. The $29 price tag is one we’ve seen often these past few months, and it’s about $4 more than its all-time low, but it does match the largest discount we’ve seen this past year. The discount was previously available from multiple retailers, but it appears Amazon is the only site sticking with the discount. 

Sony WH-1000XM4 ANC headphones for $198 ($150 off): This deal is so old, it’s got whiskers on it, but still worth mentioning for anyone looking for a quality set of headphones. Sony’s XM4s were the top pick in our guide to wireless headphones until the latest generation (the XM5s, currently $300) knocked them off their throne. They’re four years old at this point, but if that’s not an issue, it’s a good way to save on a premium set of cans. 

Logitech Pebble Mouse 2 M350s for $20 ($10 off): A newer model of one of our favorite productivity mice is on sale for a third off. It’s got more recycled plastic this time and the middle button is customizable. All three colors look to be on sale (pink, black and white). Also at Amazon.

Beats Pill bluetooth speaker for $100 ($50 off): This is the same price we saw for Black Friday on the Beats’ return to the Bluetooth speaker market. The completely redesigned Pill earned a spot on our Bluetooth speaker guide and an 83 in our review. It offers much improved sound quality with impressive bass and full mids. You also get a long, 24-hour battery life and lossless audio over USB-C. Also at Best Buy.

Zagg screen protectors for 20 percent off: If you got a new phone or smartwatch for the holidays, you may want to slap a screen protector on it to avoid cracks and chips. Right now through January 4, Target is selling a range of the Zagg accessories for 20 percent off. 

JBL Xtreme 4 for $300 ($80 off): The latest generation of our recommended JBL Xtreme is back to it’s Cyber Week price (we put the Xtreme 3 on our guide to the best BT speakers). This one adds around nine hours of battery life for a total of 24 hours plus the replaceable battery can be swapped out. It’s also made from more recycled materials and throws in some AI-powered tuning. Also at Amazon. The previous generation model is $200.

Nimble Champ Pro portable charger for $80 ($20 off): I’ve tested nearly 50 batteries for our power bank guide and this is the one I take with me when I travel. It’s compact but packs a high, 20,000mah capacity that can refill a large smartphone nearly three times — and quickly. It’ll even juice up an iPad just under two times. The fact that the company is a certified B Corp doesn’t hurt. 

Amazon Echo Show 8 for $85 ($65 off): You can grab Amazon’s 8-inch smart display for $85, down from its usual $150. The Echo Show can display the weather, videos, show your connected doorbell feeds and do all the things Alexa is good for — like adding butter to your Trader Joe’s shopping list and controlling your smart home devices.

Leebein Electric Spin Scrubber for $40 ($20 off with Prime): This spin scrubber made a huge difference in one of our editors’ bathroom cleaning routine — as detailed in our year-end tech-we-bought roundup. It’s 33 percent off for Prime members at the moment, which is about $9 more than its all-time low. 

Amazon Echo Show 5 for $45 ($45 off): You can also pick up the smaller Echo Show for half price. It went for $10 less back in 2023, but this is the lowest price we’ve tracked since then. The Echo Show 5 has a smaller screen (smaller than most smartphones) so it’s better for compact spaces like bedside tables or cozy kitchens. 

Anker Docking Station 575 for $140 ($30 off): We tested the Anker’s 575 for our guide to docking stations, but it wasn’t one of our top picks as it had trouble supporting a MacBook Pro. It did great with a Dell PC, however, so if you’re not an Apple user, this could be a good way to get more utility out of your laptop. 

Anker Nano 65W USB C Charger for $30 ($26 off): If you need a fast charger, you can hardly do better than one from Anker. This Nano charger has three USB ports, one Type A and two Type C. Its max output of 65 watts should quickly charge phones, tablets and even laptops at their max speeds. 

Anker Soundcore 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker for $28 ($12 off): Anker’s doesn’t just make accessories, the Soundcore brand has impressed us both with its earbuds and Bluetooth speakers. The Soundcore 2 is one of the smaller and more affordable models and it’s currently back to the low it hit for Cyber week. 

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/8bitdos-wired-xbox-controller-is-just-30-plus-the-rest-of-this-weeks-best-tech-deals-175952340.html?src=rss 

LG has announced two new projectors for CES 2025, which it calls successors to last year’s CineBeam Q. The PF600U may look like a stand fan, but it’s actually a projector that’s also a Bluetooth speaker and a LED mood lamp. Its lighting has nine colors and five brightness levels, so you can customize it to create the ambiance you want. Tilt its head, and you’ve got yourself a projector that can produce images up to 120 inches in size with an FHD (1,920 x 1,080) resolution and 300 ANSI lumens of brightness. It can stream movies, shows and other content from streaming platforms via LG’s webOS.

The company’s other projector is CineBeam Q’s direct successor. CineBeam S is now LG’s smallest 4K Ultra Short Throw projector and weighs in at only 5.5 pounds. It’s capable of delivering images as big as 100 inches — with a 4K UHD resolution and with 500 ANSI lumens of brightness — while only needing “a few inches of wall clearance.” It has Dolby Atmos capability, and like the PF600U, it’s powered by LG’s webOS. The device has a metallic finish and was designed to be portable, so you can easily set it up anywhere you want. Since it was made to be moved around, LG gave it intuitive features that can automatically align its screen, adjust its colors based on the wall, as well as resize its picture to fit the room’s dimensions. 

LG has yet to reveal the projectors’ prices and availability, but it willy likely announce more details at CES 2025. To note, the CineBeam Q became available for preorder in March 2024 and sold for $1,299. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/lgs-new-projector-looks-like-a-stand-fan-140048366.html?src=rss 

Apple is kicking off 2025 with a new wave of updates to Apple Fitness+. This time, the company is not only adding new content to the service’s yoga, strength training, and meditation programs, but also offering a new integration with another popular fitness app: Strava.

If there’s any problem with Fitness+’s offerings up until this point, it’s that they primarily cater to beginners. Yoga Peak Poses could be one way that changes. Apple is adding yoga retreat-inspired workshops focused on specific, challenging yoga poses like Dancer or Crow. “For each pose, there’s a 10-minute prep flow to warm users up,” Apple says, followed by a “corresponding 10-minute practice session.” You can use the workshop to build on your skills and hopefully end up pulling off a tricky pose in the process.

If strength training is more your speed, Fitness+ is also getting a new three week-long progressive strength training program Apple has dubbed “Three Perfect Weeks of Strength.” The program is spread across a dozen 30-minute workouts, with the first week focused on “Progressive Overload,” the second on “Time Under Tension,” and the third on “Dynamic Power.” Apple says its designed the program to be repeatable so you can run through it again with different weights as you grow stronger. Don’t expect it to be as in-depth as Peloton’s new strength training app, but it’s nice to have more options.

One of the more interesting new additions in this update is how Fitness+ will integrate with Strava. When you share a Fitness+ workout to Strava, the app will now display things like the Fitness+ workout you performed or trainer who led it, on top of your normal health metrics. Apple is offering Strava subscribers up to three months of Fitness+ at no additional costs in a savvy bit of cross-promotion, too.

Alongside these new additions is a grab bag of other new features, like an Intro to Breath Meditation class, a selection of workouts designed around training for pickleball, a new slate of Apple’s celebrity-led Time to Walk audio stories, and workout playlists focused on Janet Jackson (on January 13), Coldplay (on January 20), Bruno Mars (on January 27) and Kendrick Lamar (on February 3).

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/apple-fitness-gets-strava-integration-and-new-workouts-120013064.html?src=rss 

The Sixth Circuit US Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that the FCC does not have the “statutory authority” to implement net neutrality rules.

Since the rules were established in 2015, the FCC argued that classifying ISPs as “telecommunication services” gives it broad authority to regulate them. The decision to redefine ISPs as “information services” during the first Trump Administration led to the repeal of net neutrality in 2017.

The current FCC voted to restore net neutrality on April 25 last year. The difference between 2015 and now is the Supreme Court’s recent, radical reinterpretation of an important legal doctrine. The Chevron doctrine said that if Congress doesn’t weigh in on an issue, courts are supposed to defer to the interpretation of government agencies. Now, interpretation falls to the individual judge, and the Sixth Court doesn’t agree with the FCC.

This is the end of the road for the FCC’s attempts to wrench a little bit of the power from internet providers and carriers and level speeds and access regardless of service. Net neutrality rules will remain in California and other states, but anything at the federal level will require either an act of Congress or, for this case, be appealed to (and succeed in front of) the Supreme Court.

– Mat Smith

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Tesla reports its first-ever annual drop in deliveries

The information caused the stock price to slide.

Tesla delivered around 1.78 million vehicles in 2024, but the company delivered 1.81 million total in 2023. Company shares fell by as much as seven percent at the news, but has since rallied a couple of points. This follows similar news from Q1 of 2024, but that was just for a single quarter. Tesla doesn’t publish actual sales numbers in the US, but numbers are down in Europe, with a 14 percent decline in 2024 when compared to last year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.

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Apple agrees to settle a 2019 Siri privacy lawsuit for $95 million

Class members could get up to $20 per Siri-enabled device.

Apple will settle a five-year-old class action lawsuit over Siri privacy. Reuters reports that the company agreed to pay $95 million to class members, estimated to be tens of millions of Siri-enabled device owners. The lawsuit stemmed from a 2019 report that Apple quality control contractors could regularly hear sensitive info accidentally recorded by the voice assistant’s “Hey Siri” feature. The clips were said to include medical information, criminal activities and even “sexual encounters.” Reuters notes that $95 million in cash amounts to about nine hours of profit for the company. If you owned a Siri-enabled mobile product during that period (and Judge White approves the settlement), you might get a heady $20 per device.

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In 1972, Time named the computer ‘Man of the Year’

Well, machine of the year.

42 years ago, long before Time was awarding it to ‘you’, groups of scientists or even women (gasp!) it awarded the personal computer its ‘man of the year’ award. Time publisher John A. Meyers wrote: “Several human candidates might have represented 1982, but none symbolized the past year more richly, or will be viewed by history as more significant, than a machine: the computer.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121617627.html?src=rss