Sometimes, the best features in a new operating system aren't the flashy ones that get broadcast during a keynote. They're subtle improvements that naturally fit into how you use your device and just make the experience better. One of those appears to be coming in the next macOS update. The dev beta of Tahoe 26.2 includes a feature that essentially lets your computer screen function as a ring light during a video call. It's called Edge Light and it illuminates a rectangular band around the edge ..

IBM has introduced two different quantum chips that it believes could help demonstrate "quantum advantage," or the ability for a quantum computer to solve a problem faster than a classical computer, by the end of 2026. The new chips, Nighthawk and Loon, should help do that by taking different approaches to connecting qubits in a quantum computer, producing fewer errors and supporting more complex computations. Of the two new chips, IBM Quantum Nighthawk is the one the company believes it can ..

Monarch Money is one of our favorite budgeting apps and, fittingly enough, there's a way for newcomers to save money on a subscription right now. If you use the code MONARCHVIP at checkout, you can get an annual plan for 50 percent off. It typically costs $100, but you can get 12 months of access for $50 with this code. There are some key caveats here. The discount is only for new users, and it can't be combined with other offers. The code only works when you sign up through the web. You can't ..

While its probably tempting to go all-out and give a loved one their most desired gadget this year, doing so could put a big dent in your budget. And it would be wrong to assume that you have to spend hundreds to get a good tech gift that anyone will appreciate. There are plenty of gadgets and accessories out there that dont cost an arm and a leg and that will also make good additions to their kits. Here are some of our favorite tech gift ideas that come in at $50 or less. Best stocking ..

The Rogue Prince of Persia is coming to Switch and Switch 2 consoles on December 16. The game was in early access for around a year before being officially released for PC and consoles back in August . This version has been "optimized for handheld and hybrid play" and includes all content from the original release. That means players will be able access a wide variety of biomes, weapons and secrets. This is a unique take on the Prince of Persia franchise, bringing parkour-style movement and ..

Sony has revealed the list of November additions to its PlayStation Plus Game Catalog for those on the Extra and Premium tiers of the subscription service. Its a pretty darn good slate of games this time around, headlined by the return of the PS4 and PS5 versions of Grand Theft Auto V to the service. Its at least the third time GTA V has been part of the Game Catalog it was in the lineup twice last year . Developer Rockstar Games, which is currently facing accusations of union busting, is set ..

Valve is making another run at offering a console-style experience in your living room. The company has announced a new Steam Machine and Steam Controller that let you play PC games on your TV in the same way the Steam Deck lets you play them on the go. Better yet, its planning to release them both in early 2026. The Steam Machine works like a console, but is technically a compact PC running Linux-based SteamOS. The boxy device features a customizable front plate and LED light strip, with a ..

Valve made a triumphant return to the hardware market with the Steam Deck and its OLED-toting counterpart, and now its having another crack at virtual reality with the Steam Frame . The Steam Frame is the long-rumored headset from Valve that had previously been codenamed "Deckard." The company also announced a new Steam controller and PC called the Steam Machine. All three devices are coming in early 2026. Valve is holding off on announcing pricing and exact availability of the new hardware. ..

Apple Arcade has a fairly stacked winter, as the platform is adding some standout titles on December 4. Arcade titles are playable on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Vision Pro. First up, there's Cult of the Lamb Arcade Edition . This is a port of the incredibly addictive roguelike/town sim hybrid thingamajig , with some new features exclusive to Arcade subscribers. This version includes new follower forms, decorations and outfits. It also includes all existing content updates, though ..

A virtual private network (VPN) is useful in several ways a good one can stream foreign TV shows and events, protect your information from cybercrime and thwart those online trackers that show you creepily invasive ads. Although we strongly recommend using a VPN, a bit of comparison shopping goes a long way in this market. The pricing you see on VPN websites is often not an accurate portrayal of what you'll actually pay. Even so, there are some great bargains on the table. VPN providers want to ..

Apple is rolling out a new feature that lets users store US passports in the official Wallet app. This will allow travelers to present this digital ID as a valid form of identification at TSA checkout lines at airports. In other words, folks with a passport who have yet to upgrade a driver's license to a Real ID will be able to board a plane without bringing a physical copy of that passport to the airport. This whole Real ID thing has been a source of frustration to many, so I appreciate any ..

Its been four years since the wonderful Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and, especially given the rate at which developer Insomniac churns out great games, I had hoped we wouldnt have to wait too much longer for another installment of the long-running action platformer series. As it turns out, there is a new Ratchet & Clank game coming soon, just not on PS5. Ratchet & Clank: Ranger Rumble is a fast-paced multiplayer arena shooter thats coming to iOS and Android soon. In fact, according to the games ..

Waymo is bringing its driverless cars to freeways in three major US cities and the surrounding environs. These areas include San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles. The platform didn't say how many of these vehicles have been greenlit to take to the freeway, other than noting that "a growing number of public riders" will be given access. At the very least, families will be able to play a new road trip game in which they point out cars with weird spinning LiDAR units on the roof. The ..

Black Friday might still be a few weeks away, but theres no need to wait if youre in the market for a new air fryer, as one of our longtime favorite models is currently $50 off. The Ninja DZ401 is $180 right now, which is a saving of 22 percent on its usual price. Admittedly, we have seen this model cheaper before, but if youre on cooking duty for Thanksgiving, you might not have the option of waiting until what could be a deeper discount on Black Friday . And the DZ401 is the perfect air fryer ..

It's not always easy to find gifts for dads, especially for those who are often quick to snap up whatever they need on their own. But even the geekiest and most well-informed dads have blind spots the trick is to find something they've never heard of, but could actually make their lives useful. We've collected some of our favorite dadcore gift ideas, which would suit everyone from a complete gadgetphobe to a total techie. Best gifts for dads Check out the rest of our gift ideas here. This ..

Backbone just released a new Pro version of its Xbox controller. The Backbone Pro Xbox Edition looks like an improvement over the pre-existing One controller in nearly every way. It's still a USB-C shell that wraps around a phone or related device, but the actual controller is now more in league with an actual Xbox gamepad. It features full-size control sticks, hall effect triggers and two customizable back buttons. Most of the inputs can be remapped. This should make plowing through that Game ..

The Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) has issued formal legal claims against Rockstar Games, which it has accused of union busting. The Grand Theft Auto VI developer last month fired dozens of employees who were organizing . The IWGB said in a statement it made several attempts to meet with Rockstar with the aim of resolving the situation through negotiations, but claimed the studio rebuffed the union. Its now looking to take the matter before a court. We have now issued formal legal ..

Airbnb is testing a service in which guests can order groceries through Instacart, as reported by Bloomberg . This may not sound like a big deal at first, because guests can already use any grocery app during their stay to stock the house up with snacks. However, this service can be accessed by customers before their stay. This means that folks can prepare for, say, a barbecue or similar event ahead of time. I can see this being pretty dang useful around certain holidays. This duty falls to the ..

Plenty of companies have promised to produce a gaming laptop that could be upgraded over time. If were honest, nobody has managed to properly deliver on that pledge until now, as Framework launches a meaningful CPU and GPU upgrade for the Laptop 16 . Almost two years after the machine first went on sale , you can now swap out its discrete Radeon RX 7700S for NVIDIAs GeForce RTX 5070 . If the company deserves a standing ovation for that feat, then it gets an extra prize for bringing an NVIDIA ..

The Analogue 3D is finally set to ship to buyers. After several delays, Analogue is set to start sending out its 4K remake of the Nintendo 64 on November 18, as spotted by appropriately enough Wario64 . If you havent already locked in a pre-order, however, you face a longer wait, as both the black and white variants of the $250 system are out of stock. Unless theres a last-minute hitch, the company behind the Analogue Pocket will stick to the promise it made in August to ship the 3D in the last ..

Nintendo gear is always sought after during the holiday shopping season, but this year likely more so than others. The Nintendo Switch 2 is the console launch of 2025 and it will undoubtedly be at the top of many wish lists for both kids and adults alike. If you were hoping to save a bit on the console during the Black Friday shopping season, you may be disappointed. The Nintendo Black Friday sale was just announced , and unsurprisingly, there aren't a lot of true "deals" to be had. This is ..

Even Realities is releasing the next version of its lightweight smart glasses, and this time its pairing them with an entirely new device that will act as both a controller and health tracker. The Even G2 Display Smart Glasses are a more refined version of the G1 smart glasses, and you'll be able to interact with them without having to touch the frames or uses voice commands thanks to the new Even R1 Smart Ring. The G2 features an updated version of the Even Realities' HAO optical engine (a ..

A lot of people think the original Google Glass failed because of subpar tech. But the larger issue was that they were so ugly that people simply didn't want to wear them. And when it's a device that sits on your face, that's kind of important. Thankfully, that's a lesson Even Realities seemingly took to heart when it made the G1 , which combined the stylishness of proper eyewear with built-in waveguide displays. Now the company is back with its second-gen smart glasses the G2 which offer even ..

Meditation app Headspace is bringing back one of its biggest annual deals this Black Friday. Through December 4, youll be able to get 50 percent off the regular annual subscription price, bringing a full year of guided meditations, sleep sounds and mindfulness tools down to $35 per year. If youve been looking to build a better daily routine, this discount makes it easier to start. Headspace has become one of the most recognizable names in digital mindfulness. The app blends practical meditation ..

The Alien franchise has been decidedly hit and miss since the near-universally beloved first two movies, but its in a very good place at the moment. 2024s Alien: Romulus was a magnificent return to form, and this year that good run of form continued in the series first TV show, Alien: Earth , which has been renewed for a second season. The first season wrapped up in September and ended on a pretty dramatic cliffhanger, so while it seemed pretty obvious that more episodes would be coming, its ..

Following a teaser in September that confirmed the movies title , Nintendo and animation studio Illumination unleashed the first proper trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie in a dedicated Nintendo Direct. The sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie , the highest-grossing movie based on video games, will hit theaters in the US on April 3. The trailer opens with Bowser engaging in a little art therapy, which, honestly, could be really great for him. Mario cant help put put down Bowsers artwork, ..

If you've wanted to check out The Paper or any other new NBC show on Peacock, you can do so now while spending less thanks to this hack. Walmart, believe it or not, comes into play here: the retailer is offering Walmart+ subscriptions for half off right now, bringing the cost down to $49 for your first year. Thanks to a streaming benefit for subscribers, you can then sign up for Peacock at no extra cost. Walmart+ subscribers are able to choose between a Peacock Premium or a Paramount+ Essential ..

At this point, the streaming music landscape feels pretty well settled. Giants like Spotify, Amazon, Apple and YouTube duke it out at the top, while plenty of other players like Qobuz, Tidal, Deezer try their best to stand out from the pack. Somewhat surprisingly, though, a new player emerged in September. Coda Music used the recent backlash around Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek as a way to differentiate itself from the number one streamer, calling out Eks controversial funding of defense ..

Black Friday Apple deals are already trickling in, and one of the best we're tracking is on the AirPods 4 . They're down to $85 right now, which is a new record low. While these buds don't provide active noise cancellation, they're still a great option for those who want all of the conveniences of a pair of Apple earbuds in an affordable package. The Apple AirPods 4 are the best budget AirPods you can get in 2025, with Apple's H2 audio chip to support some of the more advanced audio features ..

Google has filed a lawsuit against a group of Chinese hackers running a platform called Lighthouse that sells phishing services for a monthly fee. The group offers clients its services to launch massive phishing and smishing (SMS phishing) campaigns. Google says the bad actors typically send out emails or text messages that link to fake websites pretending to be legitimate pages of established brands like USPS and E-Z Pass, in order to trick people into keying in their log-ins and other ..

While there are lots of great Black Friday sales on cheaper devices, it's the big ticket items that really make a world of difference. Take Apple's 2024 Mac mini M4 , which has dropped to $499 from $599 as part of early Black Friday deals . The 17 percent discount brings Apple's mini desktop computer with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD to only $30 more than its all-time low. We gave the Mac mini M4 a 90 in our review , in part, because it packs an incredible amount of power into such a small ..

Some moms really do mean it when they say they dont need any gifts. But those same moms will probably appreciate getting something thoughtful and personal a gift that shows you put in a bit of consideration. Its tough to pin-point what that ideal gift is for any given mom, but weve got ideas to get you started. Since we spend our days testing and otherwise thinking about tech, most of the presents here have a gadget spin, but all of them are a heck of a lot more unique than a candle and a bath ..

In a new teaser trailer for Toy Story 5 , Buzz, Woody and the rest of the gang face what may be their ultimate enemy in the war for a child's play time: electronics . With INXS's Never Tear Us Apart playing in the background, we see the delivery of a parcel to Bonnie Anderson, Andy's younger sister, who inherited his toys back in Toy Story 3 . Our heroes including Rex, Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head, Woody, Buzz and Jessie, look on in horror as she opens the package to reveal a frog-themed tablet named ..

If you'd rather not spend the money on a brand new TV this year, you can make an old set feel new again with a streaming device. Our favorite streaming device is on sale right now ahead of Black Friday: you can grab the Google TV Streamer 4K for only $75, which is the lowest price we've seen so far. The Google TV Streamer is our top pick for an all-in-one streaming device . It has a faster processor than Google's previous streaming devices (22 percent faster, according to the company), so you ..

Sony and Polyphony Digital are rolling out a huge update for Gran Turismo 7 on December 4 in the form of a paid add-on. The Power Pack DLC for the PlayStation 5 will unlock 50 new races across 20 theme categories, including 24-hour endurance events that Le Mans fans could sink their teeth into. In previous games, the endurance events really took 24 hours to finish, though you could pause and, eventually, save mid-race, allowing you to pick up where you left off. You can also experience ..

PokPark Kanto , the first permanent Pokmon theme park, will open its doors on February 5, 2026. Previous Pokmon parks and attractions existed in the past, but they were only open for a limited time. PokPark Kanto will be located inside the Yomiuriland amusement park in Tokyo, Japan and will require an add- on pass to enter. Visitors will have to go through a Pokmon Research Lab building, which serves as the gateway to the parks two sections: Pokmon Forest and Sedge Town The Pokmon Forest is ..

Elden Ring Nightreign , the co-op survival take on FromSoftware's massively successful open-world single-player game, is getting a DLC at the end of this year. The Forsaken Hollows launches on December 4, 2025. This DLC is the first big content update for the spinoff, although Nightreign did receive previous updates to add improved tuning for the two-player and solo-player experiences, as well introducing an even-more-punishing Deep of Night mode. The trailer shows exactly the grim, macabre ..

Sony had some new hardware to reveal during its State of Play Japan showcase on Tuesday. Along with a refreshed Japanese-only PS5 Digital Edition, the company unveiled an official PlayStation monitor that you can also hook your PC up to. Its a 27-inch QHD display with a 240Hz refresh rate and support for HDR and variable refresh rate . However, the refresh rate is limited to 120Hz when youre playing PS5 games. Whats more, the monitor has a charging hook. It folds down from the rear of the ..

Lego has a long history of geek and gaming crossovers. We've seen recent sets for Star Wars and Star Trek , while past collaborations include everything from Super Mario Bros. to Minecraft . The latest blocky tie-in is a classic: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time , as teased on social network X by Nintendo of America with the caption Do you realize who youre dealing with? Do you realize who you're dealing with? #LEGOTheLegendofZelda pic.twitter.com/NCl84ydZ3a Nintendo of America ..

Once upon a time, a "board game" meant Monopoly or Risk . Then several brave souls dared to ask the question: "What if this was fun?" Thirty years later, we're blessed with tabletop games that challenge our minds, immerse us in other worlds and conjure good times with those we love sometimes all three at once. For your gift-buying needs, we've put together a list of new favorites and returning classics that run the gamuts of genre and weight. If you're ready to push beyond Pictionary , read ..