Author Archives: Sarah Fielding

Samsung Black Friday 2024 deals: Save up to $350 on Galaxy S24 smartphones

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Black Friday deals have arrived for Samsung smartphones, and now you can get a few of our favorites for a few hundred dollars less than usual. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is currently down to $950 from $1,300. The Ultra came out in early 2024 and quickly became our choice for best premium Android phone. It scored an 89 in our review thanks to features like its long battery life — we often had over 50 percent left after 24 hours.

It has a titanium frame and a 6.8-inch OLED panel that peaks at 2,600 nits, rather than the previous 1,750 nits. Plus, it has a slew of AI tools and utilizes Samsung's Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for fast performance. 

If $950 feels (understandably) a bit steep then check out the Samsung Galaxy S24+. The 256GB model is currently marked down from $1,000 to $770 — still a solid chunk of change, but a noticeable difference. The Samsung Galaxy S24+ garnered an 87 in our review, not far off from its sister device. It comes with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and features like Chat Assist and Live Translate. Its battery life impressed us, though its low-light photography performance left something to be desired. 

Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/samsung-black-friday-2024-deals-save-up-to-350-on-galaxy-s24-smartphones-150043358.html?src=rss

Apple Black Friday deals: The M4 Mac mini drops to a record low of $500

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Apple's new Mac mini hasn’t been available for that long yet, but you can already grab it at a discount. The M4-powered Mac mini has dropped to an all-time low of $500 thanks to a discount and an additional, clippable coupon that will bring the final price down to $500. That’s a total of $100 of savings off the original price.

The 2024 Mac Mini is available with an M4 or M4 Pro chip, both of which give the desktop computer a real boost from its previous version. We gave the upgrade a 90 in our review, in part due to the Pro's perks (which we'll get into later), but also general features like the base level being 16GB of RAM. This generation also offers front USB-C and headphone ports, as well as a design that's less than half the size of its predecessor.

The Mac Mini with M4 chip should be plenty of power for all your basic tasks. But, if you need a bigger boost, then check out Mac Mini with an M4 Pro chip. It's currently on sale for $1,349, down from $1,399. This deal is available on the model with 24GB of unified memory and 512GB of SSD storage. It's remarkably fast and offers Thunderbolt 5 support, rather than the M4's Thunderbolt 4. Thunderbolt 5 can triple data transfer speeds to 120GB/s, up from 40GB/s. 

Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apple-black-friday-deals-the-m4-mac-mini-drops-to-a-record-low-of-500-144307243.html?src=rss

DoorDash can import grocery lists from iOS’ Reminders app

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Though I do love walking through a supermarket and picking out my own foods, I will admit that, come winter, I often turn to delivery apps to get my products. DoorDash, one of the many delivery apps on the market, has launched a new feature that could make this process even more seamless, allowing iOS users import their grocery list from Reminders into the app. 

To take advantage of this, you can go to Reminders and copy your list or import it directly in the DoorDash app. An option should appear while you're shopping inside a store that says "Got a grocery list?" in a box on the page. From there you can click import and choose which list you want to sync based on the titles and a preview of the items. DoorDash will then show you options based on your list. So, for example, if you wrote onions, then it will let you scroll through different onions for sale and below it will have your next item with other options. 

DoorDash is also unveiling other changes, such as letting you add items from multiple stores to an order before placing it. The company has offered DoubleDash since 2021 but that only allowed you to include items from close stores after placing the original order. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/doordash-can-import-grocery-lists-from-ios-reminders-app-140020164.html?src=rss

It might be time to say goodbye to Apple’s lightning to 3.5mm jack adapter

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Once upon a time, in the year 2016 Apple completely disrupted our lives by removing the headphone jack. Starting with the iPhone 7, there was no port for your wired headphones, just a lightning charger. But, they did include one thing with the phone to soften the blow: a lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter that allowed up to use our wired headphones in peace. Well, as all good things come to an end so, it seems, is the adapter, MacRumors reports. 

Right now, the $9 adapter is listed as sold out in the US and most other countries, with it for sale only a few places in Europe. The same pattern occurred earlier this year to the SuperDrive, with it selling out around the world before being discontinued. 

It's not a big shock if the adapter is no more, with wireless headphones and earbuds becoming such mainstays over the last decade (remember 2016 is also when Apple released its first generation of AirPods). Plus, you can't even use this adapter on the iPhone 15 or 16 series thanks to their USB-C port. Notably, the USB-C to headphone jack adapter is still available, also for $9. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/it-might-be-time-to-say-goodbye-to-apples-lightning-to-35mm-jack-adapter-133014701.html?src=rss

Black Friday deals include three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for only $30

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Yes, it's already the middle of November which means it's about to be "Oh, no what should I buy the people in my life for the holidays" freak out time. Thankfully, it's also sale season, with deals popping up all over the place ahead of Black Friday. Today's big discount is a great one for checking off gifts for the gamer in your life.

Right now, the three month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is down to about $29 from $45 on Woot. This deal comes courtesy of a 19 percent sale on the pass coupled with an additional 20 percent off when you use the code TWENTY at checkout. The only catch: the deal is just available for today or until its sold out. 

The Xbox Game Pass gives the recipient access to hundreds of Xbox and PC games — with lots of titles becoming available the day they're released. It also includes online multiplayer through an Xbox console, PC or cloud. Overall, this is a great deal for anyone who loves gaming and sure to get you a big thank you at the holidays. 

Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/black-friday-deals-include-three-months-of-xbox-game-pass-ultimate-for-only-30-145739491.html?src=rss

YouTube creators can now make AI song remixes for Shorts

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Select YouTube creators can now produce their own remixes of existing songs. YouTube has announced a new feature for its AI-powered Dream Track tool that allows individuals to "restyle" a song and create a 30-second tune to use in a Short. 

Creators in the experiment group for this feature can choose from eligible songs and then give an explanation to AI about how they want to remix it. These changes could focus on giving the song a different genre or mood — whatever twist they're imagining. From there a new song gets produced "that reimagines the music while maintaining the essence of the original song’s vocals and lyrics," YouTube's announcement states. "These restyled soundtracks will have clear attribution to the original song through the Short itself and the Shorts audio pivot page, and will also clearly indicate that the track was restyled with AI."

YouTube rolled out Dream Track in November 2023, powered by Google DeepMind's Lyria model. It allowed a select group of US creators to make songs using the AI-generated voices of participating artists. The feature included a deal with Universal Music Group and partnerships with a slew of musicians, including John Legend, Charli XCX and Troye Sivan. It has expanded its availability to all US creators in the year since. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/youtube-creators-can-now-make-ai-song-remixes-for-shorts-143015775.html?src=rss

Amazon Black Friday sale discounts the Fire TV Stick 4K Max to a record low of $33

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Amazon has already started to mark down its in-house made gear for Black Friday, and some of the best deals so far are on its streaming devices. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max, the company's most powerful streaming dongle, has dropped to a new low of $33. That's a 45 percent discount off its original $60 price tag. This compact streamer supports 4K content and comes with an enhanced Alexa Voice Remote and Wi-Fi 6E support. You can, of course, use it to access Amazon Prime Video, along with Netflix, Disney+ and all your favorite services.

While the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max is a good option for streaming, we also use it for something a bit different: playing retro games. Our senior reporter Jeff Dunn bought one to play games from the PS1, Game Boy, Genesis, old arcade games and more. He finds it works much better than having to lug around any bigger devices. However, using your Fire TV Stick 4K Max to play old games requires a bit of setup so, if you're interested in trying it, may I direct you to Dunn's helpful guide here. 

Amazon's Fire TV Cube is also discounted as part of a larger sale on Fire TV devices for Black Friday. Right now, you can pick up the streaming device for 29 percent off, dropping to $100 from $140. The Cube is your pick if you want access to ethernet and hands-free use with Alexa. It's more powerful than the 4K Max, but, for the price difference, it's a tough call if it's worth it. 

Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazon-black-friday-sale-discounts-the-fire-tv-stick-4k-max-to-a-record-low-of-33-140334734.html?src=rss

Strava’s new Night Heatmaps look to make subscribers safer after dark

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Wouldn't it be nice if you could go out for a run without fear of being harmed? Technology has a way of making us both safer and at greater risk while out and about, but a new tool from Strava might help with the former. Strava has announced Night Heatmaps, a feature that shows which areas have more activity — or "heat" — between sunset and sunrise. Yes, Heatmaps is the feature that accidentally revealed the location of US military bases. 

The update is a welcome one with sunset getting very early in some areas of the world, while night seems to last late into the morning. It also comes alongside a new Weekly Heatmap, which shows heat levels in an area over the last seven days. Again, this can help you know which paths will have the most people, but at all times of the day. While this added awareness is great for knowing where to go, some people might also purposely choose to avoid the busiest times, for fear of unwanted attention (there's no winning here). 

In either case, the Night and Weekly Heatmaps are only available on subscriber accounts (a membership will cost you $12 monthly or $80 annually). It's also worth noting that Heatmaps pull solely from public activities on Strava, so you're not getting the full story of how many people go where. 

Night and Weekly Heatmaps join the Global Heatmaps (also subscriber exclusive) and your Personal Heatmap. You can access any of them through the Map tab and filter the Heatmap by activity type. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/stravas-new-night-heatmaps-look-to-make-subscribers-safer-after-dark-140011174.html?src=rss

Black Friday Anker deals: One of our favorite Anker power banks is 41 percent off

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Anker makes a lot of our favorite charging gear, not only because their products tend to perform quite well, but also because there are options for all kinds of budgets. Black Friday tech deals can present good opportunities to get some of Anker's more expensive gear for less, and we're already starting to see solid Black Friday Anker deals. For example, the 200W Prime Power Bank is 41 percent off right now and down to $110 — and this includes the power brick and its dedicated charging base.

Anker's 200W portable charger is our choice for best premium power bank thanks to features like charging an iPhone in an average of one hour and 48 minutes. One of the best parts of the power bank is its sleek screen, which shows the power coming in or out and how much battery the accessory is holding. This feature is much more exact than the four dots on my cheaper (but still loved) Anker Nano Power Bank. 

The power bank and charging base both offer one USB port and two USB-C ports so there's plenty of ways to charge your devices. The base also uses magnets to secure its pins to the power bank and charge it upright. Our biggest quip with the power bank was its high price, but with this sale it's definitely worth looking into. 

Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/black-friday-anker-deals-one-of-our-favorite-anker-power-banks-is-41-percent-off-161543343.html?src=rss

A Wicked 4DX ad is now playing in select theaters

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As someone who gets motion sick easily and doesn't love unexpected things coming at me, 4DX has never been my cup of tea. However, as a long time fan of Wicked, that could change as Xfinity has released a new 4DX ad ahead of Wicked the movie's November 22 release date. 

The ad is a short film titled Stay Connected to Your Dreams and was directed by Alice Brooks, Wicked's director of photography. It centers on Wicked's leads Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who play Elphaba and Glinda, respectively. The short film shows viewers Erivo and Grande's childhoods and their love of Wicked, Grande's decade and a half old tweet wishing she'd one day play Glinda and the calls when each actor learned they'd been cast in the movie. 

According to Xfinity, the 4DX film will allow the audience to "feel the magic of Oz" and includes synchronized motion seats, wind, lightning and, of course, bubbles (IYKYK). The company also claims it's the first 4DX spot to be played nationwide. While we've not always been fans of 4DX, Wicked lovers might enjoy the slightly more immersive experience. 

You can experience the short film in select 4DX Regal theaters before the movie premieres or sans-4DX here. The second part of Wicked should arrive next year, on November 21, 2025. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a-wicked-4dx-ad-is-now-playing-in-select-theaters-134004270.html?src=rss