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According to reporting by TechCrunch and others, Threads is tapping into one of Bluesky’s best new features: starter packs of people to follow. Chris Messina, who invented the hashtag (!), posted a screenshot of the tool to the social media app. You can see an early version of the tool by pasting “installedbarcelona://recommended_follow_lists” into Safari on iOS if you have the latest Threads app.

The version likely coming to Threads should work like Bluesky’s version. The lists of users are “handpicked by people on Threads” and can be about pretty much anything.

(Engadget has its own starter pack with many of its writers and editors — follow along!)

Threads has pulled in several Bluesky features this year. The platform recently rolled out custom feeds and the ability to change the default feed to people you follow.

— Mat Smith

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The biggest tech stories you missed

Steam’s Autumn Sale has deep discounts on Steam Decks and select games

Shuhei Yoshida is leaving PlayStation in January after three decades

The 50 Black Friday tech deals worth shopping right now

Bluesky has a verification problem

The company is trying to verify more accounts, but its approach is flawed.

Bluesky has its own problems. As the upstart social media service surges, the platform is facing some growing pains, like a wave of scammers and impersonators. Unlike many of its rivals, which offer checkmarks and official badges to government officials, celebrities and other high-profile accounts, Bluesky has a more hands-off approach to verification. The company encourages users to have a custom domain name as their handle to “self-verify.” Engadget currently has the Bluesky handle engadget.bsky.social. But if we wanted to “verify” our account, we could change it to Engadget.com. It’s more complicated than just switching your handle, demanding a string of text to the DNS record associated with the domain. It’s all manual and… complicated.

Continue reading.

Investigators say Chinese ship deliberately dragged anchor to cut undersea cables

Russian intelligence is suspected to be behind the operation.

European investigators believe a Chinese-owned commercial ship deliberately dragged its anchor to sabotage the two undersea telecommunications cables cut in the Baltic Sea earlier this month. However, Western law enforcement and intelligence officials don’t believe the Chinese government was involved — the probe is focusing on whether Russian intelligence persuaded the vessel’s captain to drop anchor.

Continue reading.

Casetify’s latest AirPods case is a giant Gundam head

If your giant robot tastes are a little more retro than Evangelion.

Sure, there are cases and lanyards and MagSafe chargers, but let’s be real: It’s all about this giant pointy Gundam head case for AirPods.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121931628.html?src=rss 

Black Friday officially starts tomorrow, but here’s the deal: Nearly all of the best deals are live now, and we don’t expect further major price drops. Really. And that goes for Cyber Monday as well. So for Thanksgiving, we thought we’d give you a sort of executive summary of the best tech deals this year. This list includes some Engadget team favorites (and some personal ones) along with a bevy of alternate picks, as well as a large swath of Apple deals. That final one is notable because we’re seeing some of the best prices of the year — in some cases, the best prices ever — on a wide range of current Apple gear, including AirPods, iPads and MacBooks, all of which Engadget readers have been scooping up over the past few days and weeks, and the price drops have settled in. 

If you’re looking for a more comprehensive list, check out our best Black Friday tech deals roundup, which has more than four dozen picks and growing. And we’ve linked to several of our other deal roundups below, too, if you want some more specific breakouts. 

PlayStation 5 Slim game console: As a longtime Xbox guy, it pains me to say this: The PS5 is the game console you probably really want. That’s largely due to its impressive list of exclusive titles that you can’t play on Microsoft’s (or Nintendo’s) rival gaming machines — franchises like God of War, The Last of Us, Horizon Zero Dawn, Helldivers and Marvel’s Spider-Man, to name some of the most noteworthy. If you haven’t yet taken the PS5 plunge, now’s a better time than ever: The “Slim” version of the console is slightly less chunky than the 2020 original in both girth and cost, starting at just $375 for the all-digital version, and $424 for the PS5 model with a built-in Blu-ray drive. (Get the latter if you want to play disc-based games or movies.) Alas, there are no discounts on the $699 PS5 Pro, but that’s overkill for all but the most hard-core PlayStation fans. See more Black Friday video game deals.

AirPods Pro 2 earbuds: Apple’s best earbuds are now on sale for nearly $100 less than their price at the Apple Store, despite being more full-featured than ever. And while the latest firmware update lets them work as hearing aids, average users will be more impressed with their top-notch noise-canceling, as well as their effortless compatibility with Apple devices, from iPhones, iPads and Macs. Want Android compatibility? Go for the Bose QuietComfort Ultra for 23 percent off, or opt for full-size headphones like the Beats Solo 4 (down to $100) or the superb Sony WH-1000XM5 (25 percent off). 

JBL Clip 5 Bluetooth speaker: Yes, you can get Bluetooth speakers for as little as $20 this Black Friday. But we’d recommend spending up for something like the JBL Clip 5. I own — and love — the predecessor, but this new-for-2024 model adds stereo pairing (if you get a second set) and an adjustable EQ via JBL’s app. It’s also fully dust- and waterproof, in addition to being partially made from recycled plastics. Sealing the deal? It’s currently discounted 37 percent. Save a bit more with the even smaller stepdown model, the JBL Go 4, now marked down to $40. See more Black Friday deals under $50.

Apple iPad (10th generation): For the past several months, Apple has been blowing out its discontinued 9th generation iPad for as little as $199. But now the current baseline model has dipped down to $250, making it even more appealing. This 2022 model doesn’t have the computing muscle to run current or future Apple Intelligence apps, but it’s otherwise a solid entry in the company’s touch-screen computing line, with a Touch ID power button, a big 10.9-inch screen and compatibility with the Apple Pencil (sold separately). Need more storage? The 256GB model is down to $410 — twice as much space as you’ll get with the admittedly nicer and newer iPad Air (also currently on sale for $100 off). See more Black Friday Apple deals.

Roku Ultra: Engadget’s list of best video streamers is littered with Roku models, including this new-for-2024 Ultra box. And with good reason: This latest high-end Roku pretty much erases complaints from the previous version, with a full range of HDR compatibility, an updated rechargeable voice remote (USB-C, finally) and both Ethernet and Wi-Fi 6 support. The 20-percent Black Friday discount gets it to $80, but if you’re on a tighter budget, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K ($29) will get you most of the same features at less than half the price. And we’ll give an honorable mention to the Amazon Fire Stick 4K Max — currently on sale for just $33 — which is a better choice for anyone who uses a VPN to increase their streaming options. And whether you’re buying a new streamer or you’re already covered on that front, note that Disney/Hulu, Peacock and Max all have some solid Black Friday specials worth checking out.

Apple Watch 10: The Apple Watch got a nice redesign for 2024, with a thinner body and larger face — the “small” one is now 42mm while the larger one is 46mm, effectively eclipsing the Apple Watch Ultra. Yes, you’ll still need to recharge it almost every day, but the always-on screen and more efficient battery make this a nice upgrade for anyone who’s still rocking a Series 7 or earlier. With the starting prices down to $329 for Black Friday, it’s a great time to buy. It’s worth noting, though, that the Apple Watch SE has dipped as low as $149, if you don’t need all the latest and greatest features. 

MacBook Air: There are at least three “new” MacBook Airs you can buy right now, with prices starting as low as $600 for the M1 model at Walmart. My advice? Splurge not only for the latest M3 model, but pay a bit extra to get it with half a terabyte of storage. That 512GB MacBook Air M3 model, paired with the now-standard 16GB of RAM gets you an extremely capable Apple laptop for just $1,049. That’s $250 less than the Apple Store price, and a cool $150 lower than what I paid when I purchased that configuration at Amazon last March. Of course, the inevitable M4 version of this product is expected by next spring — but that won’t help you hit your gifting deadlines, will it? See more Black Friday laptop deals.

Meta Quest 3S: Yes, a standard Xbox, PS5 or Switch will never disappoint under the tree, but if you’re aiming for bleeding-edge gaming, it’s hard to beat the Quest VR headset. The latest 3S model delivers most of the same experience as the earlier Quest 3 model at a much lower starting price, and the Black Friday deal — Amazon is throwing in a free $75 credit on top of the bundled Batman: Arkham Shadow game — makes this a great time to jump in. See more gift ideas for gamers.

Apple AirTags (4-pack): This is pretty much the only Apple product priced to qualify as a “stocking stuffer,” but it’s a can’t-miss gift for anyone who’s got an iPhone. Drop one of these little half dollar-sized trackers anywhere — a purse, backpack, suitcase or even a keychain — and you’ll be able to track them down using your Apple device. At $24 for a single tag, the better deal is to go for a 4-pack, which is currently hovering at a record-low $73. See more gift ideas under $25.

LG OLED TV: The axiom of TV shopping for the past several years still applies: OLED TVs offer the best overall image quality and black levels, bar none. While Sony and Samsung have finally brought some competition to this space, LG remains the go-to choice — and the Black Friday season is still the best time to buy. The top of the line evo C4 model will run you close to $1,500 for 65-inch screen, but the very similar LG B4 OLED has dipped under $1,200 at the same screen size. And bargain hunters shouldn’t ignore the 2023 B3 OLED, which is currently under $1,000 for the 65-incher at Walmart. If those price tags are all too rich, or if you’re not enough of a videophile to care about perfect black levels, don’t fret: We’ve got plenty of other, more affordable Black Friday TV deals, too.

Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-28-best-thanksgiving-black-friday-tech-deals-you-can-get-right-now-122523747.html?src=rss