Shopping events like Prime Day are great times to find deals on larger electronic purchases, such as laptops or TVs. It's often when manufacturers heavily slash prices on last year's tech and that means you can find a real bargain. With only incremental changes in laptops year-on-year, the LG Gram 14 (2023) is still a great productivity machine while on the go. Usually priced at $1,700, this slim and sleek ultraportable is down to a more affordable $1,200. That's almost a third of one of the nicest-looking laptops you can get, and it won't stay at this price for long.

It's easy to get lost in the sea of Windows updates. With Windows 11 and 10 getting separate patches, and each operating system having different patches in different stages of testing, it can get really easy to get confused as to what's getting what features. Now, Microsoft has introduced another kind of Windows update, called "Windows 11 checkpoint cumulative updates," because things weren't tangled up enough as it is.

It's Prime Day, and Samsung fans have extra reasons to be thankful for the deep discounts on offer. That includes this deal, which trims the Galaxy Tab A9+ down to an astonishingly low $143the lowest price it's ever been. With a powerful Snapdragon chipset, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage, this is a multimedia-watching powerhouse. And with a microSD card slot that supports up to 1TB of removable storage, it's got what you need to load up on videos for the family while traveling. At this price, it might not last for long, so if you've been looking for an affordable, large tablet, this is the time to do so.

Steel in a scrapyard to be recycled into new steel.  | Photo by Roger Ball/Worldsteel via Getty Images The Biden administration announced $160 million in grants to projects meant to measure the climate impact of new-fangled construction materials. The grants cover a spectrum of potential alternatives from hemp-based products to bamboo, recycled steel, and more. Scientists and startups have proposed all sorts of new ways to cut down carbon dioxide emissions from building materials that have become a big climate problem. But it’s hard to suss out how effective proposed solutions are without metrics in place to compare products. There’s also potential for greenwashing, when companies make sustainability claims that they can’t back up with evidence.The grants cover a spectrum of potential alternatives from hemp-based products to bamboo,... Continue reading…

Prime Day is in full swing, which means we're getting deeply discounted deals on our favorite tech, such as laptops, CPUs, TVs, PC accessories, and more. Fans of PC gaming handhelds are in luck, with the MSI Claw slashing prices down to the lowest level ever. With powerful Intel Ultra processors, Thunderbolt 4, and Hall effect thumbsticks, the MSI Claw is an excellent Windows handheld console.

Prime Day is finally here and, as you might expect, there are tons of great deals on some of our favorite smartphones, SSDs, laptops, and so much more. Of course, there's too much to realistically list it all, but one that really stood out is this 1.5TB microSD card that's now just $84.

I don't like using Google Calendar, but it's the only thing I've found that makes it possible for me to keep on top of things throughout the day. However, I find Google Calendar a little bit clunky, especially if I'm using my computer to do it. There are other tools like Notion, Todoist, and more to help you organize your life, but Google Calendar is what works for me. I decided to take matters into my own hands and used Python to make my calendar a smart calendar instead.

Even some of Windows 11's biggest critics would agree that the latest version of Windows comes with better visuals along with advanced features Windows 10 lacks. Despite that, there are multiple reasons why many people still consider sticking to Windows 10. Surprisingly, Microsoft backported some Windows 11 features to Windows 10 PCs in the last few months, but we haven't seen the company doing much about making Windows 10 look more like Windows 11. While there are valid reasons for Microsoft not to go that path, someone just discovered a simple trick to bring some Windows 11 design elements to Windows 10.

Image: Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz and Starbucks are teaming up to install fast electric vehicle chargers at 100 coffee-slinging locations on Interstate 5, which runs along the West Coast from Canada to Mexico.The new stations will be part of the German automaker’s $1 billion plan to build 2,000 new EV charging hubs across the globe. Its first station, complete with a swanky waiting area and 400kW charging speeds courtesy of ChargePoint, opened in Atlanta last year. Now it looks like Mercedes is ready to embark on the next phase of its installations, with a primary focus on Starbucks locations along I-5. The two companies said in the announcement that they “share an ambition to identify additional opportunities in key markets, including core urban areas,... Continue reading…

Yes, folks, I am happy to report that the briefcase TV is on sale. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Conventional wisdom says that if you want the very lowest prices on a 4K TV, you wait until Black Friday / Cyber Monday in November, but Amazon’s Prime Day can offer some solid discounts during the dog days of summer. And what you plug into your TV is just as important, especially since many modern TVs have terrible built-in audio that sounds tinny or leaves spoken dialogue difficult to hear and app interfaces that are slow and annoying to use. Thankfully, some of these shortcomings can be countered by a decent soundbar or a streaming device from the likes of Amazon, Roku, and others.If you’re in the market right now for a big and flashy new TV, something modestly sized for a kitchen or bedroom, or some accessories that allow you to... Continue reading…

Image: Nintendo There are few things I know better than Super Mario Bros. 3. Over the last few decades, I’ve replayed the game across basically every Nintendo platform, exploring its levels over and over, searching out each and every secret. But there’s one thing I never paid attention to: the timer. I’ve always taken a slow, methodical approach to the game, ignoring the tiny countdown clock. That changed with Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, a collection of NES classics that have been chopped into pieces in the interest of pure speed. It showed me a new side to games I thought I knew intimately.Named after Nintendo’s occasional in-person esports competition, the collection takes 13 of the company’s most iconic titles and divides them into... Continue reading…

The Pixel 7a came out in 2023, and shook things up by bringing flagship silicon and camera prowess to the mid-range Pixel. It's still one of the best value phones you can get, and it looks gorgeous with a design almost identical to the flagship Pixel 7. The hardware is great, the software gets better every update, and additions like wireless charging for the first time on an A-series Pixel is great. Now, for Prime Day, it's at its lowest price ever, and it's almost a steal at this price.