Welcome back! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, we’re facing the annual torrent of Black Friday deals (and non-deals). I stand by $100 off the PS5 probably being the most intriguing discount this year, as it’s a rare one — and consoles have continued to get more expensive in the last few years.
There are other big discounts on more tech I personally bought (at full price, ugh), like Anker’s Laptop Power Bank, down from $135 to $88. I confess to giving a full show-and-tell performance when someone asks me about this giant battery pack, capable of charging laptops, Switch consoles and multiple phones. The best feature is the two built-in cables: one as a carrying strap, the other a retractable cable that is very satisfying to use. 25,000mAh is more than enough for multiple phone top-ups too.
Alongside small discounts on some Apple devices like the latest AirPods Pro, the iPad (A16) is down to $274. It’s the cheapest current-gen Apple tablet and more than enough for most. Sure, we wish the display were laminated and had some anti-glare coating, but a 21 percent discount? That mostly makes up for that.
Going on experience, most of the best deals have been announced by now, but a few surprises could pop up in the early hours of the morning. Keep an eye on our Black Friday 2025 deals page for the latest deals before they sell out.
Dyson’s Black Friday sale covers vacuums and related products, with a $600 discount on its 360 Vis Nav robot vacuum — the cheapest we’ve ever seen it. Stick vacs, what Dyson is best known for perhaps, are also discounted, with the Dyson V12 Detect Slim cordless vacuum down to $400 ($330 off) at Amazon and Dyson. (We loved the green laser beam feature for ensuring you’ve cleaned every inch of your floor.) The Dyson V9 Motorbar cordless vacuum is even cheaper at $270, more than half off.
When you have as many cameras as Sony, you can call something a flagship midrange.
Tech news is a little light, as most companies push their sales and stock-clearance offers. However, Sony appears to be ready to announce another addition to its Alpha camera lineup. The company shared an image on the Sony Alpha Instagram account with the text “Chase your dream” and the date December 2 at 9AM EST. The giant “V” is likely an unsubtle reference to a Sony A7 V, a follow-up to the Sony Alpha 7 IV. Rumors suggest the A7 V could feature a new 33MP “partially stacked sensor” designed by Sony. It might be able to capture 30 fps video in electronic shutter mode and 4K 60 fps video without cropping the sensor. That could make it more potent than Sony’s cinema cameras, like the FX2.
You may need to pay to stream from a friend’s server.
Some bad news for anyone who’s been using Plex to stream stuff from a buddy’s personal media server. The service is starting to enforce a paywall for remote streaming from an individual server to TV apps. Plex is rolling out the change on its Roku app this week, followed by its other TV apps (on the likes of Fire TV, Apple TV and Android TV) and third-party clients that use its remote streaming API in 2026.
The owner of a media server will need a Plex Pass subscription to grant other people remote access to it through the service. A Plex Pass now costs $7 per month, $70 per year or $250 for a lifetime membership. Yeah, it's the opposite of a deal.
Yes, it’s Tuesday, but the Black Friday sale bonanza continues to start earlier (wielded by even more retailers) each year. Our team was, is and will be curating the best Black Friday tech deals for this year’s retail push and with less than a week to go, plenty of the best offers are already live.
One surprise: PlayStation 5 discounts, with $100 off all the versions of the console . That brings the PS5 Digital Edition down to $399, the standard PS5 to $449 and the new PS5 Pro to $649.
In recent years, Black Friday sales have included even the most premium recent models, though the discounts are a little less remarkable. For example, the AirPods Pro 3 are currently on sale with a $29 discount on Amazon. Sadly, no discount for the iPhone Pocket.
Get the ad-supported plan for $3 per month for one year.
HBO Max has rolled out a limited-time one-year subscription for $3 per month, a total cost of $36 for a year. The deal’s Basic With Ads plan, which allows full HD streaming on two devices, costs $11 a month at full price.
The MasterClass Black Friday deal has up to 50 percent off subscriptions. Annual plans cost $120 to $240, so it’s a notable discount — and it works for returning users too.
Meanwhile, Audible is offering three months for $3, with access to Audible’s enormous library of published audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals. Sadly, it’ll then revert to the usual $15 a month.
Deactivating Facebook may lessen depression, anxiety and loneliness.
Meta allegedly suspended internal research into the mental health effects of its products after it showed that people who stopped using Facebook experienced less depression, anxiety and loneliness. This comes from unredacted court filings in a lawsuit filed by multiple US school districts against major social media companies. According to Reuters, the filings also showed internal research staff expressing the findings had merit. One compared the findings to the tobacco industry “doing research and knowing cigs were bad and then keeping that info to themselves.”
Yesterday, Malaysia announced it plans to ban social media for young people, like Denmark and Australia.
Dell’s 16 Premium looks as beautiful as ever, but the company’s usability issues from the XPS lineup remain. It’s kept the invisible trackpad, and the keyboard’s function keys disappear under sunlight. It’s gorgeous and fast, but as a premium device, we want more functionality, more battery life, more ports. Just… more.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-the-best-early-black-friday-2025-deals-121500600.html?src=rss
Air fryers have gone from novelty appliances to everyday kitchen staples surprisingly fast. They’re quick to heat up, easy to use and well suited to everything from frozen snacks to roasted vegetables and simple desserts. For many people, they’ve replaced the oven for smaller meals, cutting down on cook time without adding extra cleanup.
The category has also expanded well beyond basic basket-style models. Some air fryers are designed for small kitchens or single servings, while others offer larger capacities and preset cooking modes for roasting, reheating or dehydrating. After testing a wide range of machines, the Instant Vortex Plus continues to stand out for its reliable performance, straightforward controls and consistently good results.
Below, we’ve gathered the best air fryers you can buy right now across different sizes and price points. Whether you’re replacing an older unit or trying one for the first time, these picks focus on appliances that are easy to live with and deliver crisp food without the need for deep frying.
Best air fryers for 2026
What does an air fryer do?
Let’s clear one thing up first: it’s not frying. Not really. Air fryers are more like smaller convection bake ovens, ones that are often pod-shaped. Most work by combining a heating element and fan, which means the hot air can usually better crisp the outside of food than other methods. They often reach higher top temperatures than toaster ovens – which is part of the appeal.
For most recipes, a thin layer of oil (usually sprayed) helps to replicate that fried look and feel better. However, it will rarely taste precisely like the deep-fried or pan frying version when it comes out of the air fryer basket. Don’t let that put you off, though, because the air fryer, in its many forms, combines some of the best parts of other cooking processes and brings them together into an energy-efficient way of air fryer cooking dinner. Or breakfast. Or lunch.
Buying guide for air fryers
Convection ovens
You can separate most of these machines into two types of air fryers, and each has different pros and cons. Convection ovens are usually ovens with air fryer functions and features. They might have higher temperature settings to ensure that food crisps and cooks more like actually fried food. Most convection ovens are larger than dedicated air fryers, defeating some of the purpose of those looking to shrink cooking appliance surface area. Still, they are often more versatile with multiple cooking functions, and most have finer controls for temperatures, timings and even fan speed.
You may never need a built-in oven if you have a decent convection oven. They often have the volume to handle roasts, entire chickens or tray bakes, and simply cook more, capacity-wise, making them more versatile than the pod-shaped competition.
The flip side of that is that you’ll need counter space in the kitchen to house them. It also means you can use traditional oven accessories, like baking trays or cake tins, that you might already own.
Pod-shaped air fryers
Pod-shaped air fryers are what you imagine when you think “air fryer.” They look like a cool, space-age kitchen gadget, bigger than a kettle but smaller than a toaster oven. Many use a drawer to hold ingredients while cooking, usually a mesh sheet or a more solid, non-stick tray with holes to allow the hot air to circulate. With a few exceptions, most require you to open the drawer while things cook and flip or shake half-cooked items to ensure the even distribution of heat and airflow to everything.
That’s one of a few caveats. This type of air fryer typically doesn't have a window to see how things are cooking (with only a few exceptions), so you’ll need to closely scrutinize things as they cook, opening the device to check progress. Basket-style air fryers also generally use less energy – there’s less space to heat – and many have parts that can be put directly into a dishwasher.
Some of the larger pod-shaped air fryers offer two separate compartments, which is especially useful for anyone planning to cook an entire meal with the appliance. You could cook a couple of tasty chicken wings or tenders while simultaneously rustling up enough frozen fries or veggies for everyone. Naturally, those options take up more space, and they’re usually heavy enough to stop you from storing them in cupboards or shelves elsewhere.
As mentioned earlier, you might have to buy extra things to make these pod fryers work the way you want them to. Some of the bigger manufacturers, like Philips and Ninja, offer convenient additions, but you’ll have to pay for them.
Air fryer pros and cons
Beyond the strengths and weaknesses of individual models, air fryers are pretty easy to use from the outset. Most models come with a convenient cooking time booklet covering most of the major foods you’ll be air frying, so even beginners can master these machines.
One of the early selling points is the ability to cook fries, wings, frozen foods and other delights with less fat than other methods like deep frying, which gets foods the crispiest. As air fryers work by circulating heated air, the trays and cooking plates have holes that can also let oil and fat drain out of meats, meaning less fat and crisper food when you finally plate things up. For most cooking situations, you will likely need to lightly spray food with vegetable oil. If you don’t, there’s the chance that things will burn or char. The oil will keep things moist on the surface, and we advise refreshing things with a dash of oil spray when you turn items during cooking.
Most air fryers are easy to clean – especially in comparison to a shallow or deep fryer. We’ll get into cleaning guidance a little later.
With a smaller space to heat, air fryers are generally more energy-efficient for cooking food than larger appliances like ovens. And if you don’t have an oven, air fryers are much more affordable – especially the pod options.
There are, however, some drawbacks. While air fryers are easy enough to use, they take time to master. You will adjust cooking times for even the simplest types of food – like chicken nuggets, frozen French fries or brussels sprouts. If you’re the kind of person that loves to find inspiration from the internet, in our experience, you can pretty much throw their timings out of the window. There are a lot of air fryer options, and factors like how fast they heat and how well distributed that heat is can – and will – affect cooking.
There’s also a space limitation to air fryers. This is not a TARDIS – there’s simply less space than most traditional ovens and many deep fat fryers. If you have a bigger family, you’ll probably want to go for a large capacity air fryer – possibly one that has multiple cooking areas. You also might want to consider a different kitchen appliance, like a multicooker, sous vide or slow cooker to meet your specific cooking needs.
You may also struggle to cook many items through as the heat settings will cook the surface of dishes long before it’s cooked right through. If you’re planning to cook a whole chicken or a roast, please get a meat thermometer!
Best air fryer accessories
Beyond official accessories from the manufacturer, try to pick up silicone-tipped tools. Tongs are ideal, as is a silicon spatula to gently loosen food that might get stuck on the sides of the air fryer. These silicone mats will also help stop things from sticking to the wire racks on some air fryers. They have holes to ensure the heated air is still able to circulate around the food.
Silicone trivets are also useful for resting any cooked food on while you sort out the rest of the meal. And if you find yourself needing oil spray, but don’t feel like repeatedly buying tiny bottles, you can decant your favorite vegetable oil into a permanent mister like this.
How to clean an air fryer
We’re keeping clean up simple here. Yes, you could use power cleaners from the grocery store, they could damage the surface of your air fryer. Likewise, metal scourers or brushes could strip away the non-stick coating. Remember to unplug the device and let it cool completely.
Remove the trays, baskets and everything else from inside. If the manufacturer says the parts are dishwasher safe – and you have a dishwasher – the job is pretty much done.
Otherwise, hand wash each part in a mixture of warm water, with a splash of Dawn or another strong dish soap. Use a soft-bristled brush to pull away any crumbs, greasy deposits or bits of food stuck to any surfaces. Remember to rinse everything. Otherwise, your next batch of wings could have a mild Dawn aftertaste. Trust us.
Take a microfiber cloth and tackle the outer parts and handles that might also get a little messy after repeated uses. This is especially useful for oven-style air fryers – use the cloth to wipe down the inner sides.
If Dawn isn’t shifting oily stains, try mixing a small amount of baking soda with enough water to make a paste, and apply that so that it doesn’t seep into any electrical parts or the heating element. Leave it to work for a few seconds before using a damp cloth to pull any greasy spots away. Rinse out the cloth and wipe everything down again, and you should be ready for the next time you need to air fry.
How to find air fryer recipes
Beyond fries, nuggets and – a revelation – frozen gyoza, there are a few ways to find recipes for air-fried foods. First, we found that the air fryer instruction manuals often have cooking guides and recipe suggestions for you to test out in your new kitchen gadget. The good thing with these is that they were made for your air fryer model, meaning success should be all but guaranteed. They are often a little unimaginative, however.
Many of the top recipe sites and portals have no shortage of air fryer recipes, and there’s no harm in googling your favorite cuisine and adding the words “air fryer” on the end of the search string. We’ve picked up some reliable options from Delish, which also has a handy air fryer time converter for changing oven and traditional fryer recipes. BBC Good Food is also worth browsing for some simple ideas, as is NYT Cooking, with the ability to directly search for air fryer suggestions. Aside from that, you can also grab plenty of cookbooks from your local bookshop with lots of recipes that you can use in your favorite air fryer.
And if you have a killer recipe or unique use for your air fryer, let us know in the comments. What’s the air fryer equivalent of the Instant Pot cheesecake? We’re ready to try it.
How we test air fryers
We put each air fryer we test through its paces by cooking a variety of foods in it including raw proteins like fish and chicken, raw vegetables like potatoes and cauliflower and frozen snacks like mozzarella sticks. We attempt to use each cooking method that the machine has pre-programmed, and when possible, follow a couple of recipes in any provided recipe booklets that come with the air fryer. We also clean the cooking basket and all other removable components as many times as possible, and will put those components into a dishwasher if they claim to be dishwasher-safe. We also make note of how loud the machine is when using different cooking settings and how warm the surrounding area becomes.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/best-air-fryers-133047180.html?src=rss
Square Enix loves to remaster, remake and reheat its RPGs. The latest title to get the treatment is the critically acclaimed Final Fantasy spin-off, Final Fantasy Tactics.
Tactics has undergone its own remakes before, with War of the Lions bringing the game to the PlayStation Portable and, eventually, iOS and Android. However, now across all the major consoles, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is a different remake again – and even dismisses some of the characters and additions in War of the Lions. I never finished either version, and two things are apparent: I have missed out, and this is hard.
Originally released just a few months after Final Fantasy VII, which introduced polygon characters, FMV and more, Tactics’ sprite aesthetic seemed quaint in comparison. With compact isometric levels, turn-based battles are closer to Tactics Ogre and Disgaea than the lineup and strike battles of mainline Final Fantasy games of the time. The game was a critical hit, even if it didn’t match the popularity of Cloud et al.
Tactics is far less forgiving. Battle dynamics lean heavily on random number generation; your squad is often outnumbered, and you can easily be undone when resurrection spells and defensive magic fail to land. The first time my revival spell failed, I audibly swore at my Switch 2. But the taste of defeat? It’s usually seasoned just right. It’s gaming umami.
I wanted more, even at the notorious difficulty spike in a battle against knight-gone-wrong Wiegraf. In this fight, I faced him, a far more powerful fighter, solo, and proceeded to die roughly 20 times in a row. On standard difficulty, you rarely have to do this, but I had to craft a specialized version of the protagonist that could hit hard, heal himself, and generally just stay alive long enough for the second stage of this fight.
The Ivalice Chronicles can be played in two ways. The modern version features high-resolution sprites, backgrounds, and effects, while retaining the original’s isometric view, which can be rotated and tilted for the best view of the action. There’s an HD-2D nod with a thick depth of field blur to add a more modern feel.
If you want your Tactics pixelated, you can play the original version, although you can’t transition between the two, which seems like a missed opportunity. (You can toggle your saves across the versions in other RPGs with similar dual versions, like Dragon Quest XI S.)
More than the graphical downgrade, though, you’re missing out on polished voice acting, which not only elevates the diorama cutscenes and political intrigue but also peppers battles when you field main characters and they unleash certain job class attacks.
Talking of jobs, Tactics’ system remains the same, with base jobs like knight, white knight and freelancer giving way to dragoons, summoners and, much later, bizarre-but-powerful roles like arithmetician (the power of math!) and ninja.
The difficulty curve of Tactics is very much here. It was embarrassing how much I struggled to overcome spikes in difficulty, but then again, I never finished the original. (And, like a true hero, I refused to research broken job builds or easy grind spots.)
A crystalline attack hits an enemy in an isometric battle.
Square Enix
You can grind, raise levels of your characters, rake in money, and pick up crucial job points. But the wiser method is figuring a battle loop where your characters repeat actions. When the character attacks, heals, steals and generally does anything besides just moving or staying put, it earns Job Points. These are the most crucial parts of growing your squad, as abilities and passive skills can be ported between jobs; it’s how you can customize your entire party to demolish certain kinds of enemies. Lots of archers? A skill called archer’s bane means they’ll struggle to get a hit. Lots of slow-moving enemies in a tight space, rain hell with your summoner, but with an ability to regain MP as they move around.
At times, it still feels like a slog to repeat battles and garner enough JP for that skill you know will turn the tide of a challenging fight. Fortunately, a new battle speed toggle makes them a little less dull.
It's funny to feel nostalgic about a game I never played the first time around. But there’s something familiar and cosy to Final Fantasy Tactics. I’m surprised at the depth of what seems at first to be a pretty simple fighting system.
While the voice acting and additional quality-of-life upgrades are great, it’s a shame that Square Enix didn’t include extra jobs (and characters) introduced in other iterations, like the PSP version. Still, it's another great tactical RPG for the Nintendo Switch, increasingly the best place to play the genre. Fortunately, however, it's available across PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and PC as well.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/final-fantasy-tactics-ivalice-chronicles-review-140000972.html?src=rss
Happy Friday! As the annual tech discount chaos of Black Friday approaches (good deal here and here and several more here), European policymakers have proposed easing some of the EU’s strictest regulations on artificial intelligence and data privacy. The move aims to remove roadblocks for tech companies and stimulate business growth in the region, potentially marking a major pivot away from the bloc’s reputation as the industry’s toughest regulator.
Changes would allow AI companies to access shared personal data to train their models, while also overhauling GDPR cookie rules. Instead of constant pop-ups, users could set preferences once in their browser and give consent with a single click. (OK, I’m onboard with that.)
Strict rules for “high-risk” AI applications, originally set for next summer, may be delayed until proper support tools are in place. Critics are warning this could be seen as Europe bowing to pressure from Big Tech and political shifts in the US. The proposal now heads to the European Parliament.
A company selling AI-enabled toys suspended sales after a consumer safety report found few restrictions on what its toys would say. The report, by the US Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, found FoloToy’s products would discuss everything from sexually explicit topics, like BDSM, to “advice on where a child can find matches or knives.” The toys all appear to use OpenAI’s GPT-4o model to respond naturally to children’s questions and comments. Missing from that setup was apparently hard limits on subjects the toys would respond to.
FoloToy has opted to suspend sales of its products while it conducts “a company-wide, end-to-end safety audit across all products.”
xAI appears to be nuking posts claiming its CEO is fitter than LeBron James.
xAI is once again nuking a bunch of posts from Grok on X after the chatbot made a series of outrageous claims. The company isn’t only cleaning up a bunch of pro-Hitler posts but also a bout of cringe-inducing sycophantic praise for its CEO, Elon Musk. Over the last couple of days, Grok began offering extremely over-the-top opinions about Musk. The bot claimed Musk is the “undisputed pinnacle of holistic fitness” and that he is fitter than LeBron James (hah!). It also said he is smarter than Einstein and would win a fight against Mike Tyson.
Musk is blaming “adversarial prompting” for Grok going off the rails. “Earlier today, Grok was unfortunately manipulated by adversarial prompting into saying absurdly positive things about me,” he wrote. He did not explain how straightforward questions could be considered “adversarial.”
Two years ago, Ooni attempted the indoor pizza-making party with the Volt 12. It had its flaws, but there were enough redeeming features (and interest) to warrant a follow up. The Volt 2 ($699) is a complete overhaul, with a slicker design, which is slightly smaller than the first generation. It’s also cheaper than the original. Read on for the full review.
The Chrono Divide project (via PC Gamer) lets you play the 2000 RTS Red Alert 2 in Chrome, Edge or Safari. It even works in mobile browsers. It supports cross-platform multiplayer using all the original maps. Red Alert 2’s single-player campaign modes are still a work in progress for now. The project’s website said: “The end-goal is reaching feature parity with the original vanilla Red Alert 2 engine.”
While unofficial videos from filming The Legend of Zelda hit the internet first, Nintendo also unveiled the first images of its live-action project. One photo shows Link and Zelda amid the hills of New Zealand — if you’ve got characters with Elven ears, you have to film in NZ.
As Engadget’s Nathan Ingraham notes, Zelda appears with a bow and quiver, so hopefully it’s a more modern spin than the damsel-in-distress original. I mean, the game is named for her. Filming has just started, so this is all we have until a proper trailer arrives.
DJI’s latest drone — and it’s hard to keep track — is the Neo 2. It’s a relatively inexpensive, lightweight model for creators and hobbyists, and it’s loaded with new features, like LiDAR obstacle detection, improved video quality, and longer battery life. Gesture control is a major new Neo 2 feature that isn’t on other DJI drones. Wave a hand up, down or sideways to climb and bank, move two hands apart or together to make it approach or move away, clench a fist to stop it and hold out your palm to land. Like a bird! Manual flight controls on your smartphone is another new feature not on other DJI drones. It’s also only slightly more expensive than its predecessor.
There have never been more remote workers in my life, so finding a sweet present to improve their nine-to-five has often been my approach. We’ve rounded up a few techy ideas that should make their days a little more delightful — and we didn’t even suggest noise-cancelling headphones. Because they probably already have them.
Meta and Google are facing delays with long-promised undersea cable projects, according to a report by Bloomberg. A Meta spokesperson blames the delays on a “range of operational factors, regulatory concerns and geopolitical risk.” Meta’s 2Africa subsea cable system is designed to give fiber internet to the African continent. It’s also intended to connect Europe with Asia and Africa. The Google-backed Blue-Raman intercontinental cable system in the region has also been delayed, following its initial announcement in 2021. The company has not provided an updated timeline.
Apple’s entry-level smartwatch has improved so much it delivers an experience comparable to pricier Apple Watches. The most important upgrades in the SE 3 are the always-on display, faster charging speeds and on-device Siri. This brings a lot of parity to other Apple Watch devices in the most crucial areas.
It doesn’t have everything: The SE 3’s optical sensor is older and lacks the capabilities of Series 10 and 11 smartwatches, which feature electrical heart rate sensors. You’ll still get notifications for irregular rhythms and low cardio fitness as well as high and low heart rate notifications. All of this for $259? (Or $200 if you’re quick.) It’s the most tempting first step into Apple’s wearable yet. It might be time for me to upgrade from my Series 8.
The Nintendo Switch 2 is the console launch of 2025, and it will undoubtedly be at the top of many wish lists for both kids and adults. If you were hoping to save a bit on the console during Black Friday, you may be disappointed. However, the marquee Nintendo deals for the holidays come as console bundles. When the Switch 2 launched earlier this year, it was available as just the console only for $449 or bundled with Mario Kart World for $499. Both options are still available, but there’s a new bundle to consider as well, the console with the new Pokémon Legends: Z-A game, which also costs $499.
The Nintendo eShop will have cyber deals on games November 20 through December 3. The shop will feature “holiday offers on select games,” but we don’t know which games they will be. Meanwhile, other retailers will have discounts on some physical Switch games, including Princess Peach: Showtime!, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe. Those will each be $40, while other games like Super Mario Odyssey, Nintendo Switch Sports, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Splatoon 3 will be $30.
Kojima Productions has a new collaboration for anyone who wishes to enhance their lower-body strength and stability — or simply prepare for cosplay in 2026. The studio has teamed up with exoskeleton maker Dnsys for a limited run of a model based on Death Stranding 2: On The Beach. It’s said to mimic the game’s load-balancing system by offloading up to 200 percent of the wearer’s body weight from their knees to help protect the joints. Dnsys said it adds 50 percent more power to steps and “intelligent gait control” to improve balance on stairs and uneven terrain.
According to a report from Android Headlines, Samsung may stick with its Plus models of Galaxy phone — and ditch the just-got-here Edge line. A leaker has given us a glimpse at the forthcoming S26+, and it looks similar to the company’s other smartphones. The small, raised camera island has been tweaked a bit, and the report suggests the S26+ will be 7.35mm thick, which is in line with the S25+. It also seems to be decidedly chunkier than the S25 Edge, so this is likely not a swap: The next Plus device won’t be the Edge.
Rockstar Games has announced Grand Theft Auto VI 's launch is being delayed once again to November 19, 2026. That’s roughly a year from now. It was previously delayed from its 2025 launch window to May 26, 2026. And now again.
If you have the feeling it’s been a while since the last GTA game, you’d be right. GTA V was originally released in 2013 and has been re-released multiple times since then. In fact, it’s a rare game that’s spanned PS3, PS4 and PS5.
Rockstar is likely self-assured that the game will do fine. Grand Theft Auto Online, a multiplayer mode for GTA V that can also be downloaded as a standalone game, remains a hit.
“We continue to supply content to GTA Online, and in fact we’ve had terrific results there. And GTA+ continues to grow its membership. In fact, it’s had 20 percent growth year-over-year. And GTA V has sold more than 220 million units,” said Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick in an interview with The Game Business.
The budget-friendly system is in early production.
Apple may debut a low-cost Mac laptop in the first half of 2026. According to a Bloomberg report, it’s in early production, and Apple is testing the devices internally. The idea may be to create a rival to cheap Chromebooks and Windows PCs, nudging folks into that money-spinning ecosystem. The company is said to be making the system with casual users, students and businesses in mind. (I’d guess many of those users are paying more for MacBooks with power they’ll never really tap into.)
The report suggests it’ll have a “lower-end LCD display,” and it’s expected to run on an A-series iPhone processor that would still, apparently, deliver better performance than the M1.
Everything you need to know about the Chinese company’s future in America.
DJI drones still face a potential US ban, due to national security concerns. It’s a combination of the company’s Chinese origins and laws compelling cooperation with state intelligence services. It’s also a very visible, notable drone maker — and flying robots understandably make folks nervous. After losing a recent lawsuit and an appeal, DJI is nearing a key December 23, 2025, deadline under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which could trigger an automatic ban. A recent FCC vote and pending legislation could also block sales and even theoretically prevent people from using already-purchased drones by cutting off radio access.
DJI might have to hope a ban will create enough customer outcry to stimulate a political response in its favor.
Honda revealed its new hybrid car tech, and it’s lighter, faster and… actually fun. That’s accomplished by massive weight savings and a surprising S+ Shift mode, which simulates an eight-speed transmission for manual driving fans. We got a first look at the platform that will transform the next-gen Civic and Prelude, officially, hopefully marking the end of the slow, droning hybrid car.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-gta-6-is-delayed-until-november-2026-121525547.html?src=rss
Elon Musk told Joe Rogan on his podcast he hopes to unveil a flying car “before the end of the year.” It was an interesting announcement to make, as Rogan also asked Musk about the long-delayed second-gen Tesla Roadster. Tesla unveiled a new Roadster in 2017 and had plans to start deliveries in 2020, but production was delayed several times.
Avoiding that conversation, the Tesla CEO suddenly started talking about wanting the vehicle to fly. After vague answers and musing, he eventually said: “My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars.”
He claimed the vehicle Tesla is supposedly working on contains “crazy, crazy technology.” Musk said he wasn’t sure it’s technically a car but that “it looks like a car.”
Musk has been talking about flying cars since 2014. Given his optimistic take on development timelines, that’s a good 10 years of talk so far. Give it perhaps another 10?
Creator Mel Bouzad is suing Meta for over $115,000 on his and other creators’ behalf. He alleges that Meta’s broken AI and vague “monetization policy violations” led to the wrongful demonetization of high-earning pages and the withholding of tens of thousands of dollars in payments. Can multiple small claims court fights force Meta to provide human support and fix its system? Read the full story on the volatile world of viral content.
SpaceX could build up to 600 satellites for a new defense system.
SpaceX will reportedly receive a $2 billion contract to develop satellites for the US government, according to sources talking to The Wall Street Journal. SpaceX will reportedly be tasked with developing up to 600 satellites that can track missiles and aircraft and will be used for President Trump’s proposed Golden Dome project.
The president introduced the project earlier this year as an anti-missile defense system, designed to intercept missile attacks before they reach their target.
Apple surprised many by announcing an upgraded Vision Pro with its latest M5 chip. It’s still largely the same device. The revamped Apple Vision Pro is faster and more comfortable than the original, but its limited ecosystem still makes it better suited to developers than consumers.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-musk-talks-flying-teslas-on-joe-rogans-show-120438841.html?src=rss
Microsoft’s latest earnings report for the quarter ending on September 30 revealed that revenue from the Xbox hardware fell 30 percent year over year.
Worse, in a way, this revenue decline doesn’t reflect any dip in sales caused by the console’s $20 to $70 price hike, since that took effect on October 3 — after this earnings report. (Oh, and Microsoft raised the price for its Game Pass Ultimate subscription from $20 to $30 in October.)
Fortunately, revenue from Xbox content and services, specifically, remained relatively unchanged from the same period last year. That’s the Game Pass component of Microsoft’s gaming business.
When Microsoft started cutting down its global workforce earlier this year, Xbox was hit hard, with the company canceling games, like a modern reimagining of Perfect Dark, and even shutting the Xbox studio working on it.
More broadly, Microsoft’s revenue is up, with CEO Satya Nadella posting a few highlights about the company’s earnings call on X, which mostly focused on AI. He said the company will increase its AI capacity by 80 percent this year.
Just in time for your Halloween nightmares, here comes Neo. From California-based AI and robotics company 1X, it’s designed to deal with everyday chores and tasks.
But not out of the box. At launch, it’ll be able to open doors, fetch items and turn lights on and off. More complicated tasks will require a human teleoperator to control the robot remotely, training the Neo to repeat the task. Horror movie premise? Tick.
1X CEO Bernt Børnich explained that the AI neural network inside the Neo has to learn from more real-world experiences. To do so, buyers will have to agree to a human operator seeing their houses through the robot’s camera, judging their cleanliness levels and interior decor decisions. (Probably.)
Three and a half years since season four of Stranger Things premiered, we get a true trailer for the fifth and final season. As Lawrence Bonk notes, it appears that the conclusion of the series will be an action-packed affair, heavy on emotion and light on the type of ’80s humor the show became known for. Poor Will, he’s getting some of the worst of it, again.
The highest-rated devices we reviewed this year in a variety of categories.
Halloween is almost over, so it’s time to assess the entire year, buy holiday presents and generally pretend there aren’t two whole months before the end of 2025. So we have compiled a list of the best gear we reviewed this year based on the highest review scores in each category. From Pixel to iPad and Switch 2 to Sony WH-1000XM6, our reviews team has spent thousands of hours testing new products this year to discover the best of the best. These are those! I ended up buying five of them — is that enough to keep my job?
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