Apple is cutting App Store developer fees in China from March 15th, dropping its typical commission on purchases from 30 percent down to 25 percent. The decision was made following "discussions with the Chinese regulator," according to Apple's announcement, suggesting that the reduction aims to avoid regulatory intervention after China reportedly considered opening a formal investigation into the iPhone maker's App Store fees and policies in early February.The fee updates will apply to the App Store on both iOS and iPadOS. The commission rate for small businesses and mini app developers will also fall from 15 percent to 12 percent. This is …Read the full story at The Verge.

There's nothing wrong with wireless networks. They're convenient when you just need to get connected or to let people connect to your network. But, if you're looking to get the best performance, we recommend sticking with a wired connection if that's an option.

Ninja’s Creami 5‑in‑1 Ice Cream lets you make everything from sorbet to smoothie bowls. | Image: Ninja If you’ve ever wanted more control over what goes into your ice cream, the Ninja Creami 5‑in‑1 Ice Cream Maker makes it easy. The ice cream maker lets you whip up dessert exactly as you want it from the comfort of your home, and right now it’s on sale for $169 ($30 off) at Walmart. Ninja Creami 5-in-1 Ice Cream MakerWhere to Buy: $199 $169 at WalmartThe machine can make a range of frozen treats in just a few easy steps. You simply pour your ingredients into the included pint container, freeze it overnight, and then pop it into the machine. From there, you can choose from five preset programs, letting you make ice cream, sorbet, gelato, milkshakes, or even a smoothie bowl with the press of a button. You can also customize your dessert before freezing, whether that means using keto, vegan, or dairy-free ingredients or simply adding extra chocolate chips. After the first spin, you can add extra toppings like fruit or cookie pieces and spin it up again with the press of a button to make it creamier. Once you’re done experimenting, it’s pretty convenient to clean up as well. The container, lid, and paddle are all dishwasher safe, so you just need to rinse everything off then let the dishwasher take care of the rest. It’s worth noting Ninja now sells a newer 7-in-1 model with more presets, but the 5-in-1 still covers the essentials and is about $60 cheaper.

I’m late to the Claude party. I stayed loyal to my old habits long after they stopped being efficient. Most AI tools feel like a calculator – precise, but cold. You put data in, you get a result, and then you spend ten minutes sounding like a person.

One of the worst things to happen to your network-attached storage (NAS) enclosure, aside from a failing drive, is ransomware. It's the evil of all evils when it comes to data storage, threatening the security of your personal information. Over the recent years, enterprise and consumers alike have become increasingly aware (and concerned) about NAS and ransomware, which has evolved into one of the more devastating cyber threats. It's a horrific ordeal that sees files encrypted and ransom demands published for their release. The issue is there's no guarantee you'll get your data back.

Mobile gaming has come a long way over the course of the last decade or so, but we all know that smartphones simply can’t match the visceral, tactile feel you get while playing with a dedicated controller. Luckily, Backbone makes some excellent mobile options — including last year’s Backbone Pro, which is on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target right now for $139.99 ($30 off), its second-best price to date.Backbone Pro mobile controllerThe Backbone Pro is an excellent mobile controller that retains the same overall design and feel as the company’s cheaper model, only with some comfort-boosting improvements. It features a built-in battery and Bluetooth support, so you can use it for gaming on the TV, computer, VR headset, or handheld PC.Where to Buy: $169.99 $139.99 at Amazon $169.99 $139.99 at Best Buy $169.99 $139.99 at TargetIn many ways, Backbone’s latest mobile controller is merely an updated take on what came before. The handheld device consists of two oblong halves with an extendable strip of plastic in the middle, allowing you to use it with Android devices and iPhone 15, 16, and 17 series phones. It plugs into your phone’s USB-C port and, once connected, you can game with two full-sized ALPs thumbsticks, a responsive D-pad, and A, B, X, and Y buttons. It also features two programmable back buttons, a 3.5mm headphone jack, better ergonomics than your phone, and averages up to 40 hours of battery life on a single charge.The hardware is only part of the equation, though. Backbone’s intent with the Pro is for it to function as a more universal gamepad, and as such, the company’s software pulls together games from Apple Arcade, Netflix, Google Play, and other services into a singular app, allowing you to discover and launch games with little fuss. What’s more, you can use it to stream Xbox or PlayStation games — either from your console or the cloud —and connect it to a wealth of other devices via Bluetooth, including your PC, Steam Deck, and Apple devices like the iPad and Mac. Sure, the beefy controller looks a little awkward when you’re using it without a phone, but it’s a small price to pay for its added versatility.More ways to save todayNothing’s latest CMF smartwatch, the CMF Watch 3 Pro, is still available from Amazon and Nothing in a multitude of colors for $79 ($20 off), which is about $5 shy of its best price to date. It’s pretty slick-looking for a budget watch, with a 1.43-inch OLED display, 131 sports modes, dual-band GPS, and a four-channel heart rate sensor. It also delivers up to 13 days of battery life under normal use and supports all your typical app integrations (Strava, Apple Health, etc.), though the lack of customizable bezels — a hallmark of the Watch Pro 2 — certainly does sting a bit.If you missed your chance to play Hogwarts Legacy upon its debut in 2023, Amazon and Walmart are both offering the Nintendo Switch 2 version for $29.99 ($20 off), an all-time low. The Switch 2 version is a substantially better port than the original in terms of performance, and while I found the open-world RPG to be a little generic / dated at times, diehard Harry Potter fans will surely appreciate the ability to roam around Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and all the fan-favorite locales from the landmark book series.Govee’s quirky Outdoor Garden Lights are currently on sale at Amazon and Govee’s online storefront for $99.99 ($70 off), matching the all-time low we last saw during Christmas. The stemmed, color-changing smart lights support 64 preset RGBIC scenes and carry a robust IP66 rating, meaning you shouldn’t have to worry about using them outside year-round. Plus, they support the newer Matter standard, allowing you to control them with smart home platforms like Amazon Alexa and Google Home.

Password managers are an essential tool these days, but if you want something that's reliable, trustworthy, and unlimited, you typically have to pay up. Bitwarden is an example of a great solution for a password manager, and it actually has a free tier that's fairly functional, but there's also a premium subscription that gets you extra features like an authenticator, the ability to send files securely to other devices, and more.

If you're a Microsoft 365 user, you can do a lot worse than check out the official roadmap for the software. It's especially useful for looking into what Microsoft is planning for the productivity suite, what stage each feature is at, and when we can expect them on our own PCs. Microsoft has just added two more entries to its roadmap, and not only are they both for Microsoft Teams, but they're looking like they'd be highly useful tools for any professional.

One of the most persistent myths in 3D printing is the idea that stronger parts require more plastic. New users often assume that cranking infill to 100% automatically produces tougher prints, so slicers are pushed to their limits, and filament vanishes at an alarming rate. It feels logical at first glance. More material should mean more strength.

We've spent a lot of time talking about Microsoft's plan to bring Windows 11 to its newest console. The company recently revealed Project Helix, which will reportedly run Windows 11 in Xbox mode instead of using a dedicated Xbox OS and can play PC games. However, what we haven't heard a lot about is Microsoft bringing its Xbox offerings to PC. After all, if Project Helix ends up being a Windows 11 PC in disguise, what's stopping developments in Microsoft's newest console from going back upstream to Windows 11?

Adobe says it will pay $75 million to resolve a lawsuit filed by the US government alleging that the creative software giant harmed consumers by making its subscriptions intentionally hard to cancel and concealing termination fees.The payment aims to resolve the complaint raised in June 2024, in which the US Justice Department accused Adobe of breaking federal consumer protection laws by failing to properly disclose important terms for its "annual paid monthly" plans, and forcing Creative Cloud subscribers through an "onerous and complicated" cancellation process. The lawsuit said that customers would then be "ambushed" with early terminat …Read the full story at The Verge.

This thing is poised to eat their lunch. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The MacBook Neo is here, and it took no time at all for an executive from a major PC manufacturer to put their foot in their mouth trying to discuss this new competition from Apple's $600 laptop. On Asus' latest earnings call, CFO Nick Wu said that the Neo and its aggressive entry-level pricing were "certainly a shock to the entire market." Wu also disclosed that Asus had some knowledge of Apple developing the Neo back in 2025, much as many of us had heard rumors of a MacBook with an iPhone chip for months - and yet, Asus and other PC makers seem to have been caught flat-footed. What's worse is these company executives don't even seem to r …Read the full story at The Verge.