Posts with «author_name|amy skorheim» label

Amazon's Fire Max 11 tablet drops to a record low of $140

Woot is selling Amazon's largest tablet, the Fire Max 11 for $140. That's $89 below the list price and $37 cheaper than it's selling for on Amazon right now. The price applies to the 64GB model with ads on the lockscreen and just the tablet alone — the magnetic case, stylus and keyboard case are all sold separately. The tablet hit $150 for the shopping holidays last year, so the Woot deal represents a $10 discount off the all-time low price. The sale should run through Sunday or until the tablet sells out. 

We had a chance to briefly check out a sample when the latest generation came out in May of last year and were impressed by how much you get for the money. There's an 11-inch LCD screen (Amazon's largest tablet screen) with a 2,000 x 1,000 resolution. Most of Amazon's Fire Tablets are built for casual use like browsing, streaming and for kids to play games on, but the Max 11 could be seen as the grown-up of the lineup. It's designed to handle a bit of work and multitasking with its octa-core MediaTek processor that Amazon says is 50 percent faster than the next fastest model. Just keep in mind that Fire Tablets rely on the Amazon Appstore, which does have Microsoft 365 apps, but you can't natively get Google's productivity apps without sideloading.  

Still, you get an aluminum build, support for Wi-Fi 6, 8-megapixel front and rear cameras, a fingerprint sensor and picture-in-picture capabilities. That last feature could be particularly useful for keeping tabs on your Alexa-enabled smart home cameras while you watch a show or flip through YouTube. In fact, when set up with a stand, it can go into "show mode" and act like one of Amazon's smart displays, providing you with Alexa's controls and interactivity. 

Even though it's perfectly suitable for adults who want to get some work done, Fire Max 11's claimed 14-hour battery life, comprehensive parental controls and access to an Amazon Kids+ subscription (currently $5 monthly) makes the tablet particularly well-suited for kids, too. Plus Amazon says the Max 11 is "three times as durable as the iPad 10.9 (10th generation)."  

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-fire-max-11-tablet-drops-to-a-record-low-of-140-171039269.html?src=rss

A year of NordVPN Plus is just $55 right now

If you work over public Wi-Fi, need to access geo-restricted content or just want to add an extra layer of privacy to your internet connection, you may want to use a VPN service. NordVPN is one of the most popular providers out there and right now, a digital code giving you a year of access to NordVPN Plus is going for $55 at Amazon. The plan also throws in one of our top password managers, NordPass. For comparison, right now a year of the Plus service is $72 directly from Nord. Of course, the best deals the company offers is on its two-year plans. Right now two years of the Plus service is $60 from Nord — so you're still saving $5 with Amazon's deal, plus you're not locked into a full two-year commitment. 

If you just want the VPN coverage without the password manager, you can get the standard service. It's $45 for a year of access, a savings of $15 over buying from Nord directly. And if you're just interested in the password manager, two-years of NordPass is down to $35, which is $5 less than going through Nord's site. 

We named Nord's password manager one of the best for cross-platform use in our guide to those services. The service keeps your credentials safe while making it easy to access your vault from whichever device or operating system you happen to be on. It also allows for biometric sign ins, making it even easier to get at your saved passwords. 

As for Nord's VPN, like all such services, it masks your IP address and encrypts your data to and from its destination. It also blocks your ISP from seeing data about your browsing. Just keep in mind that VPNs can't protect against other security risks like phishing and identity theft. Nord's VPN service didn't make the cut in our testing of such services, partly because we thought the price was a bit too high for the features provided. This deal removes some of the hesitation and we did find the service to be speedy and like that it's based on WireGuard, one of the more secure protocols. But the lack of open source software for most of its products and a less-than-stellar record of customer data privacy prevents it from being the best we can recommend. The service that did top our list was ProtonVPN. It's currently $72 for one year of the service alone. A bundle that includes a password manager, email and other services is currently $120 for the year. 

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-year-of-nordvpn-plus-is-just-55-right-now-165142120.html?src=rss

A two-pack of Google's Nest Wi-Fi Pro 6E mesh routers has dropped to $220

The Google Nest Wi-Fi Pro, which we named the best pick for people new to mesh Wi-Fi systems, is on sale for $220 for the two-pack. That's a 27 percent discount, which is the best price it's been all year and just $20 more than the all time low it hit for Black Friday last November. The set of two should provide coverage for 4,400 square feet. If you've got a particularly large home or tricky areas due to thick walls or other interference, you might want the three-pack. That set is down to $319 after a 20 percent discount.

Mesh Wi-Fi systems let you add a distributed set of smaller nodes around your home, solving a lot of connectivity problems including sub-par ISP-provided equipment and dead zones in far off or awkward corners. The Wi-Fi 7 standard was just released, but few devices support it just yet, and the speeds the protocol can potentially deliver (along with the price tag) are likely overkill for the average household. Wi-Fi 6E, on the other hand, is mature and much more affordable. It's plenty capable of giving a home superior wireless performance for those coming from prior Wi-Fi generations. 

In our review, Engadget's Daniel Cooper noted that the Nest Pro system is neither faster (though it's plenty fast) nor more customizable than its competitors, but its one of the more affordable Wi-Fi 6E systems out there. It's also terribly simple to use, even for those who've never worked with mesh routers before. The Nest Pro should particularly appeal to anyone who has already bought into Google's smart home ecosystem, as it makes good use of the Home app, where many of your automated controls may already be living.

One of the bigger selling points is Google's promise of regular software updates, which means you should be able to set the system up and not have to think about your Wi-Fi configurations for several years. 

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-two-pack-of-googles-nest-wi-fi-pro-6e-mesh-routers-has-dropped-to-220-180024047.html?src=rss

Xbox controllers are on sale for $44 each, plus the rest of the week's best tech deals

The end of another week is upon us, which means it's time for another round up of the best deals on some of the tech we've tested and recommend. A few discounts are still around from last week's President's Day sale, and new savings have popped up as well. If you're in the market for Apple gadgets, quite a few are seeing decent discounts, including the iPad Mini, iPad Air and the 15-inch MacBook Air. Multiple Anker charging accessories are on sale, as are a few of our favorite Logitech peripherals. We got an exclusive $30 discount from Thermoworks on their popular instant-read thermometer, and 8BitDo's Famicom-inspired keyboard is 20 percent off at Woot. Here are the best deals from this week that you can still get today.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/xbox-controllers-are-on-sale-for-44-each-plus-the-rest-of-the-weeks-best-tech-deals-181825056.html?src=rss

Logitech keyboards, mice and webcams are up to 25 percent off

We often recommend Logitech gear in our guides and right now, a number of the brand's keyboards, webcams and mice are discounted up to 25 percent. The sale puts the Pebble 2 Combo keyboard and mouse at $50, which is $10 off and matches its all time low. You can get the deal from Amazon or directly from Logitech. The Pebble mouse is the newer model of a recommendation in our guide to productivity mice and the keyboard is the next generation of a callout from our MacBook accessories article. Both Bluetooth accessories are compact, portable and quickly swap between devices with a button press. Plus this new generation is made from around 50 percent recycled plastic. 

Elsewhere in the Logitech sale, the Brio 301 webcam is down to $45, which is a 25 percent discount and matches the low it hit a few times over the past few months. We named it a less-expensive alternative to our overall pick in our guide to webcams. It shoots 1080p video, has a noise cancelling mic and uses auto light correction to make up for a dimly lit room. It doesn't support HDR or have an adjustable field of view, but at just $45, it offers a lot of features at a low price. 

The Signature M650 mouse, which we recommend in our gift guide, is down to $35 (instead of the $40 list price) for a few different configurations, including a left-handed version. Logitech is running the same sale price. The mouse is lightweight, made from recycled materials, and has a SmartWheel that lets you swap between precision and super fast scrolling, depending on what you're working on. And it'll run for two years on a single AA battery.  

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/logitech-keyboards-mice-and-webcams-are-up-to-25-percent-off-165536053.html?src=rss

Get a two-pack of Sonos Era 100 smart speakers for $88 off

We named the Sonos Era 100 the best midrange option in our guide to smart speakers and right now, Woot is selling a two-pack for $410. That amounts to an 18 percent discount or $88 less than buying them at full price from Sonos. This isn't the lowest price we've seen — that happened during Black Friday last year, when a single unit sold for $199 directly from Sonos. Still, if you want a smart speaker capable of delivering good audio, the deal is worth considering as Sonos speakers aren't often on sale. 

The Sonos Era 100 earned an 88 in our review, with Engadget's Nathan Ingraham calling it "affordable multi-room audio that actually sounds good." This is the replacement for the popular Sonos One and improves upon its predecessor in both sound quality and features. It has a new speaker array with two tweeters and a larger woofer. Combined, the improvements add up to better clarity and impressive bass. 

The Era 100 can now tune itself based on where you put the speaker thanks to the built-in mics (previously you had to manually optimize it using your phone). Unlike the Sonos One, this generation does have line-in capabilities, but you'll need an adapter to hook up a turntable. The multi-room audio feature is simple to set up, as is pairing the speakers to work in stereo — that means if you go for this offer, it'll be easy to get the most out of the set.  

As a smart speaker, Alexa comes standard so you can get help with questions, smart home control and other tasks like setting reminders or managing your smart home devices. There's also the Sonos assistant, which lets you control your music just by asking. Unfortunately, the Google Assistant is no longer supported through Sonos speakers. The Era 100 does support Apple AirPlay 2, but you'll need to access Siri through your phone, not the speaker. 

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/get-a-two-pack-of-sonos-era-100-smart-speakers-for-88-off-162558229.html?src=rss

Two of our favorite Anker power banks are on sale, plus the rest of this week's best tech deals

We've spent another week keeping an eye on the worthwhile tech deals out there. Unfortunately, if you're looking for a discount on the brand new Apple Vision Pro, those headsets are firmly sticking to their $3,499 price tag. But plenty of other devices that we've tested and recommend are on sale this week. Anker accessories, including two of our favorite power banks, the Prime and the Nano are on sale. A few different retailers are offering a $400 discount on the Google Pixel Fold. And our favorite Bluetooth trackers for iPhone users are just $79 for a four-pack. If you do pony up for Apple's spatial computing wonder, note that the compatible AirPods Pro are still within a dollar of their all time low. Here are the best deals from this week that you can still get today. 

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/two-of-our-favorite-anker-power-banks-are-on-sale-plus-the-rest-of-this-weeks-best-tech-deals-175259103.html?src=rss

Blink Mini security cameras are only $20 each right now

Amazon's Blink Mini security cameras are down to $20 each right now, as part of a larger sale on security devices from the brand. That's $2.50 above the lowest price we've seen and amounts to a 33 percent discount. The small, plug-in camera takes 1080p video during the day and infrared footage at night while the built-in mic and speaker let you hear and talk with whomever is in the room. You can set it to send notifications to your phone when motion is detected so you can view a live feed. If you connect it to a compatible smart display, like an Echo Show or Fire TV, you can view footage from those screens too. Keep in mind that Blink cameras only work with Alexa-enabled products. 

Elsewhere in the Blink sale, you can get a single Blink Outdoor 4 for $65, which is a record low price and $35 percent off its full $100 price tag. We named the Blink Outdoor 4 camera the best wireless security camera in our guide to smart home devices. The weather-proof camera can run for a claimed two years on a set of AA batteries (which are included). It also comes with a screw-in mounting kit so you can attach it to your house or a fence. The field of view was increased to 143 degrees for the latest generation and it has the ability to differentiate between human and non-person movement — though you'll need to pay for Blink’s add-on subscription plan to enable that feature. The plan is currently $30 a year for one device or $100 a year for multiple cameras. The subscription also enables cloud storage of clips and dual-zone motion detection. Like the Blink Mini, the Outdoor 4 offers two-way audio, 1080p daylight footage and infrared video at night. 

The Blink Video Doorbell system is down to $45, which is 36 percent off the $70 list price and also a record low. This one also runs on two AA cells so you don't have to hook into your doorbell wires, but the option is there if you want the doorbell to activate your existing chimes when someone pushes the button. The Blink Video Doorbell also offers day and night video capture, two-way audio and motion detection. This set includes a Sync Module 2 which lets you store clips locally. 

Cameras like these can be a good way to keep tabs on your home and offer peace of mind when you're not there, but it's important to keep in mind that Amazon, mostly through it's other security brand, Ring, has not always had the best privacy record. Though a recent announcement suggests they may rethink at least some of those practices. 

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/blink-mini-security-cameras-are-only-20-each-right-now-170958462.html?src=rss

Amazon Fire tablets are up to 35 percent off right now

This may be a good time to buy one of Amazon's latest tablets as many of them are on sale, with discounts of up to 35 percent. The sale brings the 2023 Fire HD 10 down to $95, which is only $15 more than its record low and 32 percent off the $140 list price. This model comes with 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage and a speedier processor than the last time around. The 1080p HD screen is touch- and stylus-compatible and there's a 5 megapixel camera up front and another in back. Note that this model displays ads on the lockscreen. If you'd rather not see those promos, the ad-free version is also on sale and currently $15 more at $110. 

All Fire tablets are budget slates that let you browse the web, watch shows and play casual games; They probably aren't the best pick if you're looking for a workhorse productivity tablet, which tend to cost significantly more. You won't be able to run Apple apps, which seems obvious, but Fire tablets also don't natively support the Google Play store — even though Fire OS is a fork of Android. Readily available apps come from the Amazon app store, which include most major streamers like Netflix, Max, Peacock, social apps like TikTok and Instagram, and plenty of casual games. If you're just looking for a way to entertain yourself after a day of being productive, Fire tablets offer one of the few ways to do so for under $100. And like all Amazon devices, Alexa is built in to answer questions and control your smart home lights, cameras and doorbells. 

Elsewhere in the sale, the Fire HD 8 is down to $65, which is 35 percent off and around $10 more than its record low. This is an 8-inch version of Amazon's tablet, with 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage and a 1280 x 800 screen at 189 ppi. There's a 2MP front camera and a claimed battery life of 13 hours. This is also a model with lockscreen promos, the ad-free version is $80. 

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-fire-tablets-are-up-to-35-percent-off-right-now-181542666.html?src=rss

How to watch Super Bowl 2024

Las Vegas will host Super Bowl 58 in its new billion-dollar, sustainably powered Allegiant Stadium. The venue holds 70,000 people, but if you’re not one of them and American football is your thing (or you just like the buzzy commercials and want to see Usher perform at halftime) you’ll need a way to watch at home. Luckily, there are a multitude of ways to do so — and one of them is nearly free. Kick off happens Sunday, February 11, at 3:30pm Pacific (6:30pm Eastern) so you have some more time to decide how you want to watch the big game. Here are all the ways to watch Super Bowl 2024.

How to watch Super Bowl 58

This year, the rights to air the biggest annual sporting event in the US goes to CBS… and Nickelodeon. Yep, the kids channel is hosting a live, family-friendly version of the event, complete with helpful thematic graphics and the cast of SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer hosting, providing commentary and explaining the rules to the youngest NFL fans. If you don’t need sideline reports from Sandy Cheeks, regular versions of the game will appear on CBS, CBS Sports Network, Paramount+ and on the NFL+ mobile app.

How to watch the Super Bowl with cable or satellite TV

Cable and satellite subscribers can tune into their local CBS station. If your plan includes CBS Sports Network (or Nickelodeon), you can go that route, too. Here’s a list of local CBS stations and affiliates so you can find your channel.

How to stream Super Bowl 2024

Last year, the Super Bowl was a little more complicated to stream since the broadcaster (Fox) didn’t have an over-the-top streaming app. It’s easier this year: the standalone Paramount+ app lets subscribers watch the game live. Plans start at $6 per month and there’s currently a free seven-day trial, but there’s no telling if that deal will still be live right before the big event. Of course, most live TV streaming services will also have the game, either on your local CBS station or via CBSSN. Here are the providers that will show Super Bowl LVIII:

If you’re willing to pay, Paramount+ is the cheapest way to stream the Super Bowl this year, plus you’ll get other shows to watch when the game’s over.

Can I watch the 2024 Super Bowl for free?

Almost. If you buy an indoor digital antenna, which hooks up to the coaxial port on your TV set, you can grab the game broadcast from your local CBS affiliate at no extra cost. It’ll let you watch your local NBC, ABC, PBS and FOX networks, too.

Can I watch the 2024 Super Bowl on mobile?

The NFL+ mobile app is airing the Super Bowl, but only on your smartphone or tablet (PC access and casting isn’t supported for primetime games, which includes the Super Bowl). So if you’re watching solo, this could be a good option. A subscription goes for $7 per month and it also provides NFL Network content with 24/7 football news.

Who is performing at the Super Bowl 2024 halftime show?

For some, the action in between the two halves of the game is what really matters. Mega stars have headlined the halftime show for decades now, with performances by Rihanna, Shakira, Lady Gaga, Prince, The Rolling Stones and Beyonce garnering almost as many headlines as the game itself. This year, Usher, who's timing the release of his latest album to drop just two days before the game, will light up the stadium with a set. Before the game, Reba McEntire will sing the national anthem and Post Malone will follow that up with a rendition of "America the Beautiful."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/how-to-watch-super-bowl-2024-how-to-stream-super-bowl-133039040.html?src=rss