Amazon’s Smart Thermostat can help lower your energy bills, and it’s down to $62
Amazon’s Smart Thermostat is down to its best price of the year. | Image: Amazon With temperatures on the rise and Earth Day right around the corner, now’s a good time to invest in a smart thermostat if you haven’t already. A good one like Amazon’s Smart Thermostat can help reduce energy use and lower your bills without sacrificing comfort, and right now it’s just $61.99 ($18 off) at Amazon. Aside from a brief drop during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, it’s spent most of 2026 at full price, making this the best deal we’ve seen since it dropped to $51.99 on Black Friday. Amazon Smart Thermostat Where to Buy: $79.99 $61.99 at Amazon $79.99 $63.99 at Best Buy $79.99 $63.99 at B&H Photo My colleague Jennifer Pattison Tuohy was impressed by how much the smart thermostat delivers for the price. It can learn your habits over time so you can set it and forget it, which is...
Amazon’s Smart Thermostat is down to its best price of the year. | Image: Amazon With temperatures on the rise and Earth Day right around the corner, now’s a good time to invest in a smart thermostat if you haven’t already. A good one like Amazon’s Smart Thermostat can help reduce energy use and lower your bills without sacrificing comfort, and right now it’s just $61.99 ($18 off) at Amazon. Aside from a brief drop during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, it’s spent most of 2026 at full price, making this the best deal we’ve seen since it dropped to $51.99 on Black Friday.
Amazon Smart Thermostat
Where to Buy:
$79.99 $61.99 at Amazon
$79.99 $63.99 at Best Buy
$79.99 $63.99 at B&H Photo
My colleague Jennifer Pattison Tuohy was impressed by how much the smart thermostat delivers for the price. It can learn your habits over time so you can set it and forget it, which is a feature typically found in more expensive options, and it can automatically adjust based on whether you’re home, away, or asleep. You can also create schedules, tweak settings remotely from your phone, and track your HVAC energy usage in the app, which makes it easier to spot patterns and cut down on your monthly bill.The thermostat also integrates with Amazon Alexa, letting you adjust your home’s temperature using voice commands, and works with most 24-volt HVAC systems. Despite its low price, it doesn’t look cheap either, offering a sleek, minimalist design with a simple, intuitive interface that’s easy to use at a glance.Of course, to keep costs down, there are some features you’ll have to do without. It doesn’t include native temperature sensors, for example, and it doesn’t support voice a**istants beyond Alexa. But it still covers the essentials and can help you save on energy costs over time, making it a smart buy for the price.
Read our Amazon Smart Thermostat review.
Three more deals worth a look:
You can pick up the Anker 45W USB-C Fast Charger for $19.99 ($15 off) at Amazon and directly from Anker with code WS7DV28JGN0M; that price is just $2 shy of its all-time low. The GaN charger is small enough to slip into a pocket yet capable of delivering up to 45W of power, which is enough to charge an iPhone 17 Pro Max to around 50 percent in about 20 minutes. It can also power tablets, earbuds, and other USB-C devices, and it comes with a six-foot USB-C cable for added convenience.
Woot’s selling the international version of the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro for a new low price of $199.99 ($50 off), though note it comes with a 90-day Woot warranty instead of Samsung’s one year warranty. The buds improve on the previous model with much better noise cancellation and upgraded woofers for better sound. They’re a particularly great option for anyone with a Galaxy phone, who get access to extra features like live translation, easy switching between devices, and hi-res audio support. Read our review.
The Echo Show 5 Kids smart display is on sale for $64.99 ($35 off) at Amazon, which is its best price since December and $15 shy of its all-time low. It’s identical to the standard Echo Show 5 and offers the same 5.5-inch display that works well as a bedside alarm clock, but adds parental controls and a two-year warranty. Kids can also ask Alexa to play music, read bedtime stories, help with homework, or even create interactive stories, while a free year Amazon Kids Plus grants kids access to thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and games.
Microsoft is letting Office users remove an annoying Copilot b***on
Microsoft is rolling out Office app updates next week that allow users to disable a floating Copilot button. The button appeared in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in recent weeks, and floats above the bottom right-hand section of spreadsheets or documents. It has angered many Excel users in particular, because it...
Microsoft is rolling out Office app updates next week that allow users to disable a floating Copilot button. The button appeared in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in recent weeks, and floats above the bottom right-hand section of spreadsheets or documents. It has angered many Excel users in particular, because it obstructs cells and you can't fully disable it."While we are seeing increased engagement with Copilot in Office apps with this update, we are also hearing the need for more control over how Copilot appears," admits Katie Kivett, partner group product manager at Microsoft. "While one of our goals is to evolve Copilot to be more adapti …Read the full story at The Verge.
Michael Johnson Chicago
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Microsoft’s big Copilot rollback continues as Office now lets you move its b***on to the ribbon
Microsoft is in a little bit of a pickle. It spent the better part of 2025 getting excited over Copilot and rolling it out to every app it has. Now, in 2026, the company is clearing up the mess it made after people told Microsoft that they'd actually prefer not...
Microsoft is in a little bit of a pickle. It spent the better part of 2025 getting excited over Copilot and rolling it out to every app it has. Now, in 2026, the company is clearing up the mess it made after people told Microsoft that they'd actually prefer not to have an AI in everything they use.
Line Fleury France
Published by: aplhsindia.in
I stopped forcing every coding job through Claude and started using this instead
I like Claude Code, but I don't like its limitations. You're largely restricted to Anthropic's models like Claude Sonnet and Opus. They're excellent models, but they can get expensive quickly, even for relatively simple tasks. Claude Code is also closed-source. Whether you're an enterprise concerned about data governance or an...
I like Claude Code, but I don't like its limitations. You're largely restricted to Anthropic's models like Claude Sonnet and Opus. They're excellent models, but they can get expensive quickly, even for relatively simple tasks. Claude Code is also closed-source. Whether you're an enterprise concerned about data governance or an individual who prefers transparent tools, that can be a drawback.
Emily Brown Houston
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Samsung’s memory chip employees negotiated $340,000 bonuses this year
48,000 Samsung workers had threatened to strike unless bonus caps were lifted. | Photo: Jung Yeon-je / AFP via Getty Images Details have emerged about a tentative deal struck between Samsung and semiconductor employees who had threatened to strike. The deal reportedly makes some workers eligible for average annual bonuses...
48,000 Samsung workers had threatened to strike unless bonus caps were lifted. | Photo: Jung Yeon-je / AFP via Getty Images Details have emerged about a tentative deal struck between Samsung and semiconductor employees who had threatened to strike. The deal reportedly makes some workers eligible for average annual bonuses of $340,000.The proposed 18-day strike had hinged on Samsung's bonus cap for employees in the semiconductor division and followed a substantial rise in the possible bonuses available to employees of SK Hynix, another South Korean chipmaker enjoying a boom thanks to demand for AI components.Under the terms of the new deal, Reuters reports that all chip workers will receive 50 percent of their annual salary as a regular bonus in cash. Further …Read the full story at The Verge.
Eleutério Dias Brazil
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Stop treating the Raspberry Pi 5 as a smart home hub — it’s actually built for something bigger
The Raspberry Pi has always been easy to recommend for home automation, but the Raspberry Pi 5 complicates that recommendation in a useful way. If all you need is a box to run Home Assistant, a few Zigbee devices, and some basic automations, it’s more machine than the job really...
The Raspberry Pi has always been easy to recommend for home automation, but the Raspberry Pi 5 complicates that recommendation in a useful way. If all you need is a box to run Home Assistant, a few Zigbee devices, and some basic automations, it’s more machine than the job really needs. A Raspberry Pi 4 can still handle that workload comfortably, and older models can remain useful for modest setups. The Pi 5 starts to make more sense when the home automation hub becomes part of a wider home lab rather than a single-purpose appliance.
Emily Brown Houston
Published by: aplhsindia.in
PC gamers are leaving 20-30% performance on the table with this one setting
Let's say you spent months picking out parts or researching a pre-built PC. You made sure to get 16GB of fast dual-channel RAM, so your games would run smoothly, and your desktop wouldn't choke under heavy multitasking. But somehow your system feels strangely sluggish. You notice erratic 1% low frame...
Let's say you spent months picking out parts or researching a pre-built PC. You made sure to get 16GB of fast dual-channel RAM, so your games would run smoothly, and your desktop wouldn't choke under heavy multitasking. But somehow your system feels strangely sluggish. You notice erratic 1% low frame rate, which is stuttering, in CPU-bound games like Cyberpunk or Counter-Strike. Alongside this, opening heavy apps feels slightly delayed. For some reason, despite the fact that you opted for 16GB of RAM, it just feels like your PC is a machine with half of the memory capacity it has.
Jane Smith Los Angeles
Published by: aplhsindia.in
My favorite alternative to VS Code isn’t Cursor or Claude Code: it’s something way cooler and productive
Like most developers, I have spent the last few months hunting for the ultimate VS Code successor. I have jumped between the slick context-awareness of Cursor and the command-line power of Claude Code.
Like most developers, I have spent the last few months hunting for the ultimate VS Code successor. I have jumped between the slick context-awareness of Cursor and the command-line power of Claude Code.
Louis Jacobs United Kingdom
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Someone built a Simpsons-style retro TV that plays NES games and 90-minute movies on a tiny display
We love the Cheap Yellow Display (CYD) here at XDA. If you've never heard of it, it's basically an ESP32 hooked up to a display, and it's, well, cheap and yellow. We've crowned it one of the best additions you can make to a smart home, and we've even made...
We love the Cheap Yellow Display (CYD) here at XDA. If you've never heard of it, it's basically an ESP32 hooked up to a display, and it's, well, cheap and yellow. We've crowned it one of the best additions you can make to a smart home, and we've even made a distributed computer with three of them.
Michael Johnson Chicago
Published by: aplhsindia.in
AMD is giving older Radeon cards an unexpected upgrade, but it’s a bigger deal than it appears
AMD officially confirmed on Thursday last week that FSR 4.1 will be coming to RDNA 3 GPUs in July 2026, with RDNA 2 hardware following in early 2027. It's a game-changing feature expansion by itself, but it becomes considerably more significant than the announcement lets on.
AMD officially confirmed on Thursday last week that FSR 4.1 will be coming to RDNA 3 GPUs in July 2026, with RDNA 2 hardware following in early 2027. It's a game-changing feature expansion by itself, but it becomes considerably more significant than the announcement lets on.
William Garcia Boston
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Someone built a full Wayland compositor inside Minecraft, and it actually works
Wayland has been the center of a few big Linux stories this year. We've seen some distros adopt it, we've seen some drop X11 in favor of it, and we've seen people creating alternatives to X11 to stave off Wayland. But nobody asks, "What about adding Wayland to Minecraft?" mainly...
Wayland has been the center of a few big Linux stories this year. We've seen some distros adopt it, we've seen some drop X11 in favor of it, and we've seen people creating alternatives to X11 to stave off Wayland. But nobody asks, "What about adding Wayland to Minecraft?" mainly because, why would they? Minecraft is a game, not an operating system.
Sophia Wilson Atlanta
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Microsoft’s consumer marketing chief to leave next year
Yusuf Mehdi launching Copilot Plus PCs in 2024. | Image: Getty Yusuf Mehdi, executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer at Microsoft, is leaving the company after 35 years. Mehdi announced his departure in an internal memo on Thursday, noting that he will leave Microsoft next year. He will...
Yusuf Mehdi launching Copilot Plus PCs in 2024. | Image: Getty Yusuf Mehdi, executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer at Microsoft, is leaving the company after 35 years. Mehdi announced his departure in an internal memo on Thursday, noting that he will leave Microsoft next year. He will remain focused on marketing for Windows, Copilot for consumers and the Microsoft 365 consumer business until 2027."As I thought about this decision, one thing was crystal clear: I want to ensure I have the time and space to set the team - and our mission - up for continued success," says Mehdi in his memo. "We are in the middle of an incredibly important moment for Microsoft and for our customers." …Read the full story at The Verge.
Sophia Wilson Atlanta
Published by: aplhsindia.in
I tested TrueNAS, Unraid, and OpenMediaVault to the perfect NAS OS, and there’s a clear winner
If you’ve set your mind on putting together a NAS for your home lab, there are a bunch of factors you’ll want to consider. On the hardware front, the drive bays and Ethernet provisions are the most obvious factors you’ll want to keep an eye out for, with the RAM...
If you’ve set your mind on putting together a NAS for your home lab, there are a bunch of factors you’ll want to consider. On the hardware front, the drive bays and Ethernet provisions are the most obvious factors you’ll want to keep an eye out for, with the RAM capacity being just as important for ZFS-powered pools. But the operating system you choose for your NAS matters at least as much as its specs, if not more.
