The Nex Playground and Pixel Buds 2A top our list of the best deals this week
The Nex Playground is a compact, cube-shaped console that’s currently on sale for $50 off. | Image: The Verge The Nex Playground is apparently one of the hottest consoles this holiday season thanks to its kid-friendly games and fun, motion-controlled gameplay. And now through December 14th, the cube-shaped console is on sale for its Black Friday low of around $199 ($50 off) at Amazon. There are some other great deals still available you might have missed this week, too, including a sizable discount on the new Google Pixel Buds 2A and Genki’s Moonbase Charging Station, which looks straight out of Star Wars. Nex Playground Where to Buy: $250 $199 at Amazon The Nex Playground easily connects to your TV and provides a clever interactive solution that encourages you and your family to move around. A built-in camera and AI software track your movements with precision, so you are the controller. The cube-shaped console comes with five games...
The Nex Playground is a compact, cube-shaped console that’s currently on sale for $50 off. | Image: The Verge The Nex Playground is apparently one of the hottest consoles this holiday season thanks to its kid-friendly games and fun, motion-controlled gameplay. And now through December 14th, the cube-shaped console is on sale for its Black Friday low of around $199 ($50 off) at Amazon. There are some other great deals still available you might have missed this week, too, including a sizable discount on the new Google Pixel Buds 2A and Genki’s Moonbase Charging Station, which looks straight out of Star Wars.
Nex Playground
Where to Buy:
$250 $199 at Amazon
The Nex Playground easily connects to your TV and provides a clever interactive solution that encourages you and your family to move around. A built-in camera and AI software track your movements with precision, so you are the controller. The cube-shaped console comes with five games (Fruit Ninja, Starri, Party Fowl, Go Keeper, and Whack-a-Mole Deluxe), but there are a ton of others you can download; however, a three-month subscription ($49) or an annual Play Pass ($89) is required to enjoy the full catalog and seasonal drops.
Genki Moonbase Charging Station
Where to Buy:
$139.99 at Genki
$139.99 $89.99 at Amazon
Genki’s Moonbase features a sleek retro-futuristic design, and it’s currently down to an all-time low of $89.99 ($50 off) at Amazon. The power strip features three AC plugs (1,250W max power) and four USB-C ports that can deliver up to 240W of total power; a single USB-C port, meanwhile, can go up to 140W with the right cable, though one isn’t included with your purchase. The strip also features a non-removable, 1.5-meter braided cable, making it easy to reach the nearest outlet.Each AC plug is spaced far enough apart to accommodate larger power adapters, but the main selling point here is a touch-sensitive b***on that lets you cycle through colors and toggle the charging station’s lights on and off. All in all, the Moonbase is a powerful power strip that looks cool and lets you charge up to seven devices simultaneously.
Pixel Buds 2a
Where to Buy:
$129 $99 at Amazon
$129 $99 at Best Buy
$129 $99 at Target
Google recently launched a holiday sale that runs through December 24th, with many items matching the pricing we saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. One of the standout deals is the Pixel Buds 2A, which have returned to their all-time low of $99 ($30 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and the Google Store.The Pixel Buds 2A are Google’s latest, most affordable pair of wireless earbuds, but they don’t skimp on features. They offer active noise cancellation and a natural-sounding transparency mode, along with excellent sound for the price. They also provide hands-free Gemini support, allowing you to quickly get directions, brainstorm ideas, and summarize messages. The earbuds offer up to 10 hours of listening time with ANC disabled and carry an IP54 rating, too, which isn’t great but should provide at least some protection against rain and sweat.
A few more deals to check out
Apple’s M4-powered MacBook Air 13 is on sale at Amazon and Best Buy starting at $749 ($250 off), which is just a few dollars shy of its Black Friday low. However, if you purchase it at Best Buy, you’ll also get a free $25 gift card. The slim laptop offers an impressive combination of performance and battery life, with double the base RAM of its predecessor (16GB versus 8GB) and two Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C ports. It’s still relatively limited with 256GB of base storage, but it remains one of the best laptops available, especially with the current discount. Read our review.
Hoto’s new PixelDrive electric screwdriver is on sale for the first time at Amazon, where you can snag it for $59.99 ($20 off). The cordless PixelDrive is great for small- to medium-sized projects, whether you’re a**embling electronics or putting together furniture. It features up to 6Nm of torque, along with a single multi-function b***on that allows you to change the screwdriver’s direction, switch to an 80RPM precision mode for delicate tasks, or boost up to 200RPM with one finger. It also has a built-in pixelated display, so you can quickly check the battery life and see which of the six torque levels you’re using.
The Lego Super Mario Goombas’ Playground set is as adorable as it sounds, and it’s currently down to $8.99 ($6 off) at Amazon and Best Buy. The set comes in at a relatively light 171 pieces, which you can use to build three Goomba figurines, a tree trunk, and a seesaw. Each Goomba has its own evil (but cute) expression, and they can stack on top of each other to make a small Goomba tower. There’s even a lever on the back of the tree trunk that can make a Goomba pop out, so you can play a round of peekaboo before placing the set on a desk or bookshelf.
My decade with Synology is over — a networking company just proved there’s a better way to build a NAS
For years, Synology was the safe bet for home NAS enclosures. And like many of you, I went with the safe bet for the best part of a decade. But things change, and my home storage needs changed. It’s not even because Synology became actively hostile to users, although that’s...
For years, Synology was the safe bet for home NAS enclosures. And like many of you, I went with the safe bet for the best part of a decade. But things change, and my home storage needs changed. It’s not even because Synology became actively hostile to users, although that’s certainly been on my mind, but because the all-in-one NAS formula stopped making sense to me.
Emily Brown Houston
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Someone built a Steam Machine face plate that lets you stick your Steam Controller onto it
Valve has been pretty open about what people do with the faceplate of their Steam Machines. In fact, it made the designs for an e-ink front display open-source so you can make your own at home. Now, someone has made their own faceplate that can hold a Steam Controller in...
Valve has been pretty open about what people do with the faceplate of their Steam Machines. In fact, it made the designs for an e-ink front display open-source so you can make your own at home. Now, someone has made their own faceplate that can hold a Steam Controller in place while also charging it using the official puck.
Daniel Martinez Dallas
Published by: aplhsindia.in
A Windows 11 service you never asked for is making your laptop run warmer and die sooner
Have you ever wondered why your laptop is running warmer than you'd like? You might think it is just the hardware struggling to run the apps you are using. But it is also Windows itself that is causing it — even on high-performance systems.
Have you ever wondered why your laptop is running warmer than you'd like? You might think it is just the hardware struggling to run the apps you are using. But it is also Windows itself that is causing it — even on high-performance systems.
Daniel Martinez Dallas
Published by: aplhsindia.in
OpenAI says Apple’s trade secrets lawsuit is ‘rotten to its core’
OpenAI has asked a federal judge to toss out Apple's landmark lawsuit accusing the ChatGPT maker of stealing trade secrets, describing the allegations as "meritless." In a motion filed yesterday to dismiss the complaint, OpenAI says that Apple is mischaracterizing both the actions of the AI startup's employees as theft,...
OpenAI has asked a federal judge to toss out Apple's landmark lawsuit accusing the ChatGPT maker of stealing trade secrets, describing the allegations as "meritless." In a motion filed yesterday to dismiss the complaint, OpenAI says that Apple is mischaracterizing both the actions of the AI startup's employees as theft, and "generic" product development information as "trade secrets," adding that Apple made no reasonable efforts to maintain such secrecy.The dismissal request is in response to a lawsuit filed by Apple in July, alleging that former Apple employees that went on to work for OpenAI stole confidential documents to further OpenAI …Read the full story at The Verge.
Daniel Martinez Dallas
Published by: aplhsindia.in
The empty PCIe slots in your PC can do more than hold a graphics card
When I built my first PC, I figured the PCIe slot was useless outside of plugging a graphics card, and I went my merry way after tossing my pixel-pushing companion into the rig. Unfortunately, this trend continued for longer than I’d like to admit, until I ran into a situation...
When I built my first PC, I figured the PCIe slot was useless outside of plugging a graphics card, and I went my merry way after tossing my pixel-pushing companion into the rig. Unfortunately, this trend continued for longer than I’d like to admit, until I ran into a situation where I needed extra adapter cards after my motherboard’s I/O ports proved to be inadequate for my tinkering misadventures.
Esperanza Diez Spain
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Elon Musk’s attempt at an AI Wikipedia hasn’t been updated in months
xAI's Grokipedia, an online encyclopedia with AI-generated articles that Elon Musk once promised would be a "massive improvement" over Wikipedia, apparently hasn't been updated since April 24th, according to a report from Lawfare. "As far as we can tell, no entry has changed in more than three months," Lawfare said....
xAI's Grokipedia, an online encyclopedia with AI-generated articles that Elon Musk once promised would be a "massive improvement" over Wikipedia, apparently hasn't been updated since April 24th, according to a report from Lawfare. "As far as we can tell, no entry has changed in more than three months," Lawfare said.Grokipedia launched in v0.1 in October 2025 with an initial batch of 885,000 articles, and is now on v0.2 (released in November 2025) and has more than 6,000,000 total articles, according to grokipedia.com/live. But that live page also has a section titled "Recent changes to…" with a message under it that reads "No live edits av …Read the full story at The Verge.
John Doe New York
Published by: aplhsindia.in
After a week in Zed, I couldn’t go back to how slow Cursor had become
I prefer Cursor over VS Code because it is more agentic, and its $20 subscription gives me generous usage limits that let me get actual work done. I am comparing Cursor with VS Code because both are based on the Electron framework and are similar in speed and performance. They...
I prefer Cursor over VS Code because it is more agentic, and its $20 subscription gives me generous usage limits that let me get actual work done. I am comparing Cursor with VS Code because both are based on the Electron framework and are similar in speed and performance. They take longer to open files and folders once you have a significant number of extensions installed. They also consume a lot of RAM.
Emily Brown Houston
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Sony proves it’s not reversing its decision as warnings about physical discs appear on new PS5s
After Sony revealed that it would ramp down disc production in 2028, gamers began making their voices heard. The idea was that, if they showed enough support, Sony might rethink its strategy and roll back its decision. Unfortunately for fans of physical libraries, it seems that Sony has already doubled...
After Sony revealed that it would ramp down disc production in 2028, gamers began making their voices heard. The idea was that, if they showed enough support, Sony might rethink its strategy and roll back its decision. Unfortunately for fans of physical libraries, it seems that Sony has already doubled down on its plan, as new PS5s now show a warning about going digital-only.
William Garcia Boston
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Nintendo beats earnings thanks to US tariff refunds it won’t share with gamers
Nintendo has smashed its first-quarter earnings estimates for the fiscal year, bolstered by strong games sales and US tariff refunds, though its customers likely won't receive anything from the latter. In its latest financial results, Nintendo reports that operating profits soared to 142.5 billion yen (about $902 million) between April...
Nintendo has smashed its first-quarter earnings estimates for the fiscal year, bolstered by strong games sales and US tariff refunds, though its customers likely won't receive anything from the latter. In its latest financial results, Nintendo reports that operating profits soared to 142.5 billion yen (about $902 million) between April 1st and June 30th, compared to 56.9 billion yen (about $360 million) for the same quarter last year - an increase of 150.5 percent.This spike is partially attributed to a boom in game sales, with Switch 2 software sales increasing by 9.2 percent compared to the previous year, and software for the original Sw …Read the full story at The Verge.
Jane Smith Los Angeles
Published by: aplhsindia.in
That old tablet in your drawer is the smart home dashboard you keep meaning to buy
Having smart devices in your home can make life a lot easier, but once you have a few, you may start wishing you had a dedicated device to control them. And there are some devices out there that sell themselves as just that — dashboards for your smart home.
Having smart devices in your home can make life a lot easier, but once you have a few, you may start wishing you had a dedicated device to control them. And there are some devices out there that sell themselves as just that — dashboards for your smart home.
William Garcia Boston
Published by: aplhsindia.in
4 Android widgets I use every day on my Pixel that aren’t from Google
When you buy a new Pixel phone, you are likely — or even pushed — to install and/or use preinstalled Google apps and widgets. However, there are several widgets that I use nearly every day that are not created by Google. In many cases, they work better than the typical...
When you buy a new Pixel phone, you are likely — or even pushed — to install and/or use preinstalled Google apps and widgets. However, there are several widgets that I use nearly every day that are not created by Google. In many cases, they work better than the typical Google ones you are expected to use.
Vanessa Crawford Ireland
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Someone made a system that loads their Steam games using floppy disks, and it’s pretty genius
As everyone debates Sony's recent decision to go digital-only, people have been finding fun ways to turn their Steam library into a physical form. We've already seen someone turn SSDs into Game Boy cartridges that load a game when plugged in, which was pretty wild by itself. Now, someone has...
As everyone debates Sony's recent decision to go digital-only, people have been finding fun ways to turn their Steam library into a physical form. We've already seen someone turn SSDs into Game Boy cartridges that load a game when plugged in, which was pretty wild by itself. Now, someone has devised a system where you can load a Steam game with its corresponding floppy disk, and as you may have guessed by now, it uses a bit of trickery to get everything working.
