Some companies have started requiring their employees to come into the office a few times a week now that most people have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Airbnb isn't one them. Company CEO Brian Chesky has informed employees in a letter that they have the option to work remotely forever. A "small number of roles" will be required to work in the office, but the majority of Airbnb employees don't have to come in if they don't want to. 

Chesky wrote:

"We want to hire and retain the best people in the world (like you). If we limited our talent pool to a commuting radius around our offices, we would be at a significant disadvantage. The best people live everywhere, not concentrated in one area. And by recruiting from a diverse set of communities, we will become a more diverse company. "

The CEO said that Airbnb had recovered quickly from the pandemic thanks to people booking listings to work remotely, proving that the world is now more open to flexible work arrangements. Apparently, in the second half of 2021, 20 percent of the nights booked on its website were for stays of longer than a month. 

Airbnb will pay employees the same salary wherever it is in their country they choose to work. It will implement pay tiers by country for both salary and equity starting in June, so those getting paid less based on their location could soon be earning more. International moves are much more complex, however, and the company said it won't be able to support employees who decide to live in another country this year.

That said, it will allow people to work in 170 countries for up to 90 days each starting in September. While employees still have to secure their own work authorization, the company is partnering with local governments to make the process easier. 

In comparison, Google and Apple employees are making a gradual return to office and are now required to work a few days a week on site as part of a hybrid work plan. Twitter opened some of its offices in late 2021 but also told employees that they can permanently work from home.

Akai's MPK Mini Play keyboard has a reputation as a solid portable music-making machine (Akai claims it's the best-selling mini keyboard), and the company appears keen to make the most of that perception. The brand has introduced an MPK Mini Play Mk3 that upgrades both the feel and longevity. You'll find a new keybed with greater "dynamic" performance and more accurate velocity response, while the eight drum pads are now true velocity-sensitive MPC units. You can lean more on the Mk3 as a serious production tool, then.

The four-battery design (the original used three) also promises a long 14-plus hours of playing to help with all-day creative sessions, and a larger speaker with better low-end output will help when you'd rather not plug in headphones. You'll find 100 built-in drum and instrument sounds, four customizable knobs and an equally flexible joystick. Akai includes its MPC Beats software to help you get started, but the new MPK Mini Play should work with any digital audio workstation that supports USB-based MIDI controllers.

The MPK Mini Play Mk3 sells for $150. That's about $20 more than the original, but it should still be easy to justify if you're either new to music production or want a compact keyboard for live gigs or on-the-spot composition.

Google delayed its employees' return to office a few times over the past year, but it looks like the tech giant is truly gearing up to welcome workers back this time. According to CNBC, the company is easing some of its COVID-related mandates as part of those efforts, including relaxing its vaccine requirements for employees. 

CNBCreported back in December that Google will place employees who don't comply with its vaccine mandate by January 18th on leave unless they secure a valid medical or religious exemption. The report also said that those employees will eventually be fired if they continue refusing to be inoculated against the virus. Google spokesperson Lora Lee Erickson told the news organization that the company dropped the requirement last month, though they refused to discuss the reason behind the decision. 

Based on an email from Google Real Estate and Workplace Services VP David Radcliffe that CNBC has obtained, the company is also dropping its testing requirements that also applied to vaccinated employees. It's lifting its mask and social distancing requirements for vaccinated employees, with the exception of its offices in Santa Clara County where its Mountain View headquarters are located, as well. That said, unvaccinated employees must still be approved to work in offices, and they'll still have to wear masks and get regularly tested if they're coming in. 

On top of easing up its COVID mandates, Google is also reopening its amenities for employees, including its fitness centers with massages, full shuttle service, more places to eat, as well as lounges and music rooms. Erickson told CNBC:

"We're giving employees who welcome the chance to come into the office the option to do that wherever we safely can, while allowing those who aren't ready to keep working from home. Based on current conditions in the Bay Area, we're pleased that our employees who choose to come in now have the ability to access more onsite spaces and services to work and connect with colleagues."

Google still doesn't have an exact date for its return to office, but Radcliffe's note reportedly said that the company will begin its 30-day transition to its hybrid work week plan if conditions continue to improve. Under the plan, employees will be required to physically come into the company's offices at least thrice a week.

For years, Alienware eschewed thin-and-light gaming laptops, opting instead to make slightly bulkier systems with more affordable pricing. But all that changed last year with the introduction of its X-series notebooks. And now, Alienware is pushing its quest for sleekness even further with the new x14, the company's thinnest and lightest gaming laptop yet. To add even more rum to the punch, the x14 is also one of the first gaming laptops available featuring Intel's latest 12th-gen mobile CPUs. And while the x14 isn’t without its quirks, the result is a machine that makes me wish Alienware had gotten into portable gaming rigs years ago.

Design

Sporting Alienware's Legend 2.0 design language, the x14 is without a doubt a striking system, though ultimately you'll need to decide how much you fancy its sci-fi aesthetics. What's not in question is the laptop's thinness, which stands at just 0.57 inches thick while weighing barely more than four pounds. That’s even thinner and almost a pound lighter than the x15 (0.63 inches and 5 pounds), while making Alienware’s more mainstream M15 R7 seem almost bloated (0.8 inches and 5.3 pounds).

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Now I'm not normally the type to lust after a few ounces or tenths of an inch getting shaved off a device, but on the x14, every little reduction matters. That's because while most gaming laptops don't even come close to fitting in my everyday messenger bag that’s not meant to stash anything larger than a 13-inch ultraportable, the x14 actually fits, if just barely.

That means I'm much more likely to bring this thing with me on trips, which is kind of the whole point of a thin-and-light gaming notebook. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate beastly 17-inch gaming rigs, but when my back starts to hurt at the mere thought of carrying one around, in practice those systems often function more like mobile desktops than any sort of travel-friendly gaming machine.

Sam rutherford/Engadget

The main innovation on the x14 is Alienware's new dual-torque which adds strength and stability to the laptop's display, while once again reducing weight and thickness compared to previous X-series machines. And, as you'd expect from Alienware, the x14 comes with customizable RGB lighting on its lid and keyboard. That said, compared to its larger siblings you do lose the extra RGB light ring that would normally outline the system's rear ports. (Fun fact: That pill-like shape is actually called a stadium.) Inside, there's a lovely soft-touch finish on x14's wrist rest, which may feel a bit cramped for people with larger hands.

Display and sound

On the x14 there's only one display option, and it's a good one. The 144Hz 1,920 x 1,080 screen is plenty sharp, while support for NVIDIA's G-Sync helps prevent screen tearing while gaming. But the thing that impressed me most is the way colors pop. At first, I almost mistook the x14's display for an OLED panel. And while its black levels aren't quite deep enough for that, thanks in part to support for Dolby Vision HDR, colors look rich and vibrant regardless of whether you're gaming or watching a movie. And with a tested brightness of just under 400 nits, the x14's screen looks good in both dim and sun-filled rooms (though trying to game outside in direct sunlight is still a challenge).

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Dolby tech is also available on the x14's speakers thanks to support for Dolby Atmos, which adds an extra dimension to audio through the use of extra height channels. Unfortunately, I felt like the x14's audio sounded a bit distant, despite its upward-firing speakers being located right behind the laptop's keyboard. And even though the x14 had no issues turning up the volume, it's almost too much of a good thing, because in certain situations you can hear the x14's chassis rattle when the speakers are set above 80 percent.

Performance

While the x14 isn't quite as powerful as its larger siblings and doesn't have the space to accommodate beefier GPUs, Alienware's thinnest gaming laptop still punches well above its weight. I was able to easily hit 60 fps on high settings in a number of AAA games like Halo Infinite, and you can push things even higher if you don't mind fiddling with a game's graphics settings. And for people more focused on getting a competitive advantage, maxing out the x14's 144Hz display is a cinch in titles like CS:GO on lower settings (which is what you'd probably use anyway).

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

In Shadow of the Tomb Raider on the highest settings, the x14 averaged 102 frames per second, with similar results in Far Cry 5 of 96 fps on Ultra. And while the x14 posted a slightly lower average frame rate of 55 fps in Metro Exodus on ultra, lowering the game's texture settings a touch was more than enough to boost frame rates firmly back above 60 fps.

Remarkably, despite limited space inside for cooling, Alienware's proprietary Element 31 thermal paste and vapor chamber (which only come on systems with RTX 3060 graphics) did a good job of preventing throttling from becoming a major issue. The downside is that the x14's fans are quite aggressive, often spinning up the instant you launch a game, while producing a somewhat high-pitched whine that you can't really escape unless you put on some headphones. Thankfully, Alienware's Command Center app supports a number of thermal profiles including a Quiet setting to help reduce fan noise, though depending on the game, that might cause your frame rate to dip a bit.

Keyboard, touchpad and ports

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Trying to cram a full-size keyboard with media controls on a 14-inch laptop is always a bit of a challenge, and while the x14 generally makes good use of space, it ain't perfect. The function keys are half-sized, and even the x14's keycaps are a touch smaller than what you'd get on Dell's non-gaming systems like an XPS 15.

It's a similar situation for things like the Windows key, the Function button, and the Shift key, all of which are smaller than normal. And for those who use the Delete key a lot, watch out, because it's a little too close to the laptop's power button for my liking. On the flip side, I do appreciate the extra row of media control keys on the right, which includes an always useful mic mute button. In short, I wouldn't go as far to say the x14's keyboard is a dealbreaker, it just requires more adjustment time than usual.

As for the touchpad, at 4.5 x 2.15 inches it's definitely on the small side. Though on gaming laptops, having a less roomy touchpad is a bit more forgivable as the vast majority of gamers typically prefer to use an external mouse, even when they're using the laptop's built-in keyboard.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Meanwhile, when it comes to connectivity, Alienware definitely didn't skimp on ports. The x14 features three USB-C connections (two of which support Thunderbolt 4), one USB 3.2 Type-A socket, HDMI 2.1, a combo audio jack, and even a microSD card slot. While I would have liked to see an Ethernet jack too, my only real gripe with the x14's ports is that they are located around back. Putting all the ports in the rear of the system helps cut down on clutter, but when you just want to quickly insert something like a thumb drive, spinning the laptop around to do so feels clunky (especially if you have any other peripherals plugged in).

Note: Just don't expect much from the x14's 720p webcam. It's fine in a pinch, but the fairly low resolution combined with mediocre image quality means you'll likely want to use an external camera if you plan to show your face while livestreaming.

Battery life and charging

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

The x14's battery life varies a ton depending on how you use it. If you're just browsing the web or streaming video, the x14's battery life won't quite last through a full workday, but it's more than serviceable. On our local video rundown test, the x14 lasted just short of eight hours. The bigger issue is that if you have any dreams of gaming without plugging in, you might want to squash those now. I found that while playing Teamfight Tactics (which isn't a demanding game), the x14 conked out after about an hour and 15 minutes.

That said, I do want to credit Alienware for equipping the x14 with a 130-watt USB-C power cable instead of a proprietary charger like so many gaming laptops. Because the x14's power cable is USB-C, you can use it to charge other USB-C devices like a phone or tablet, potentially reducing the number of cords you need to carry around while traveling, Alternatively, you could use a universal USB-PD charger instead, though you'll want to make sure that charger has the required power output and an appropriate cable to properly juice up the x14, as many of Dell's systems can be picky about USB-C charging if you're using old or out of spec accessories.

Configurations

The x14 starts at $1,650 for an Intel Core i7-12700 CPU, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of NVMe storage and an NVIDIA RTX 3050 GPU, with fully loaded systems like our review unit topping out at around $2,300 with 32GB of RAM, 2TB of storage and an NVIDIA RTX 3060. In my opinion, the sweet spot is around $1,800, which gets you 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and an RTX 3060. Though I should mention that while you can upgrade storage post-purchase, you won't be able to upgrade your RAM as it's soldered onto the laptop's motherboard.

Wrap-up

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

The x14 might not be quite as powerful as its bigger siblings, but given its even more portable dimensions, there's a lot to like. When compared to a $1,800 x14 with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and an RTX 3060, a similarly equipped x15 costs just $50 less. The main trade-offs being a little less thermal headroom, a more cramped keyboard and a slightly slower 144Hz screen (instead of 165Hz on the x15). That's not a lot to sacrifice for an even more travel-friendly thin-and-light design.

However, if you don't need a new gaming laptop right now, the smart move would be to wait a month or two for some of Alienware's competitors to release updated systems for 2022. Both Razer and ASUS are coming out with refreshed versions of their 14-inch gaming laptops later this spring, and once those become available, we'll have a much better idea of how the x14 fares against its biggest rivals. But if you like the x14’s combination of style and sleekness, this is a slick gaming laptop that’s made to move.

Superstition schmuperstition. Google is unveiling the first Android 13 developer preview today and it's clear the company is not going to avoid the "unlucky" number. After all, Apple made a massive amount of money from iPhone 13s. The Android 13 preview is a glimpse of things we can expect from the next generation of Google's mobile OS, and developers can test their apps using the Android emulator or flashing a system image to the Pixel 4 or newer Pixel phones. Based on today's announcement, it looks like we can expect the next version of Android to at least offer finer privacy controls and more of Android 12's Material You design throughout the system.

One of the things this preview brings is a new system photo picker, which can let you share specific local or cloud-based photos more securely. It builds on the existing document picker function with lets you share specific files with an app without having to grant it permission to all media files on your device. The updated photo picker "extends this capability with a dedicated experience for picking photos and videos," Google's vice president of engineering Dave Burke wrote in an announcement post. Developers will need to use the photo picker APIs to enable this feature.

Google

Android 13 also adds a "nearby WiFi devices" permission, which will be required for apps that look for the available WiFi devices in your surroundings. This will allow them to "discover and connect to nearby devices over WiFi without needing location permission." It should let apps that need to find WiFi devices in the area that don't need to know where you are get connected without asking for access to your GPS, which is better for your privacy.

Google is also expanding the Material You adaptive color palette beyond its own apps to all app icons. You'll be able to opt in and have the system apply colors it generated from your wallpaper onto your icons. Developers will need to submit monochrome versions of their app icons and tweak some code. This feature will roll out first on Pixels and Burke said "we’re working with our device manufacturer partners to bring them to more devices."

The developer preview also offers a new tile placement API that lets developers prompt users to add their custom tiles to the Quick Settings panel in the notification shade. With that, users don't have to hunt for these app-specific shortcuts by editing the Quick Settings shade and won't have to leave the app

Google

Other features in this developer preview include a way for apps to more easily set a different language from the system default, improved animations and effects, as well as more feature updates through Google Play. That last one will let Google "push new features like photo picker... directly to users on older versions of Android." Burke also gave a shoutout to Android 12L and devices of varying display sizes and form factors, saying "We’ll also build on some of the newer updates we made in 12L to help you take advantage of the 250+ million large screen Android devices currently running."

Google also shared a release timeline that shows the first beta release is expected around April, with platform stability targeted for June to July. That's in line with how previous versions of Android rolled out, and we're likely to keep hearing about Android 13 in the coming months.

Unpacking is a lovely, relaxing puzzle game made by a small team. It's beautifully designed and manages to tell a compelling story with very little text. Unfortunately, its core mechanic — unpacking boxes and placing items in a new home — isn't exactly difficult to copy. One clone quickly found an audience on iOS and Android before it was removed.

Unpacking Master, which was published by a company called SayGames, was said to be a near-identical copy of Witch Beam Games' title. It adopted a freemium model (users could pay a one-time fee to remove ads) and it briefly topped App Store charts less than a week after it was released. As Game Developer notes, Unpacking Master is no longer available on Apple's App Store or the Google Play Store.

Earlier this month, a spate of Wordle clones barged onto the App Store with copycat developers looking to cash in on the success of the viral hit word game. Those apps were removed as well. These incidents highlight a long-running problem that studios behind popular games (particularly indies) have grappled with.

Knockoff games have plagued mobile app stores for years. For instance, the developers of 2048 made some minor changes to the formula of puzzle game Threes and became a hit. In 2018, publisher Voodoo adopted the central idea of the quirky Donut County (players move around a hole in the ground and swallow up objects) with Hole.io, which soared to the top of App Store and Google Play charts.

In the case of Unpacking, Witch Beam suggested SayGames' clone used almost identical items and very similar level layouts. It said that while other clones failed to find much success, Unpacking Master took off in the wake of an ad campaign on TikTok and Instagram.

"It's demoralizing for a small team like ours to see content we spent literally years planning, refining and handcrafting be hastily reproduced in an opportunistic ad-riddled app a mere 3 months after our launch," the team wrote on Twitter. "We're a tiny indie team and even with the success we have achieved, we still don't have the resources to pursue companies trying to use our game's distinct look and feel to make a quick buck. We have to rely on storefronts like the App Store to better curate their content."

At least for now, the original Unpacking isn't available via mobile app stores, though you can pick it up on PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch and Xbox. It's on Game Pass as well, so you can play over the cloud if you're eager to check it out on a phone or tablet.

Samsung's handy T7 Touch portable SSD is cheaper right now than it was during the holiday shopping season just a couple of months ago. The 1TB black model is down to a new low of $140, which is $50 off and the best price we've seen it. Most other versions are also discounted, including the 500GB model for $105, but you'll get the best deal if you go for the black 1TB drive.

Storage gadgets are some that are useful to keep around, but often expensive to get your hands on. That's why we recommend waiting for a sale like this one to pick up an extra drive, SD card and the like while you can get them for less. Samsung's T7 Touch is a palm-sized portable SSD with read speeds up to 1,050 MB/s and write speeds up to 1,000 MB/s, plus features like Dynamic Thermal Guard to control heat levels. While the drive supports optional password protection, the kicker here is its built-in fingerprint reader that you can use as an extra layer of security.

The T7 Touch's compact design helps it fit into nearly any bag you may be carrying, plus its shock- and drop-resistant aluminum unibody should protect it from too much damage if it accidentally takes a tumble. We also appreciate that it comes with both USB-C to C and USB-C to A cables, allowing you to use the drive with most laptops, smartphones, tablets and even some game consoles.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Folks in the US can now order free, at-home COVID-19 tests from a United States Postal Service website, one day earlier than expected. Last week, the Biden administration said people would be able to place orders starting on Wednesday. At the time of the announcement, COVIDtests.gov was a placeholder site, but it now directs users to the USPS to place an order.

Households can each request one set of four rapid antigen tests. USPS will start shipping the kits later this month and usually within seven to 12 days of ordering. 

The administration says the site went live one day early as part of its beta phase, according toCNN chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins. Officials are hoping to troubleshoot the site and ensure the official launch goes smoothly on Wednesday. Sure enough, at the time of writing, some people were having trouble loading the site, so you might not be able to place an order right away.

The COVIDtests.gov site provides some more information about the tests. You should see results within 30 minutes and can be taken anywhere. It provides guidance on when to take a test, as well as directions on what to do based on the results. The site also has resources about testing sites and insurance reimbursement for at-home tests.

The Biden administration said it was buying a billion rapid, at-home COVID-19 tests to distribute to Americans. Half of those are expected to be available for order this week. The White House said its goal was to make sure everyone has a test available when they need one, especially given that tests are in high demand and are often difficult to find in stores.

Regardless of how 2021 went for you, 2022 is another chance for all of us to make the new year better than those that came before it. We set New Year’s resolutions with the best of intentions, but it’s no wonder that so many people fail after just a few weeks – old habits die hard. Just as it’s important to have a supportive group of people cheering you on during those particularly hard days, it’s also important to have tools that make it easier to achieve your goals. Whether you’re trying to get healthy, be more organized, or read more, there are tech tools that can make your journey a bit easier (and maybe even more enjoyable).

Fitness tracker

Fitbit

A fitness tracker can help kickstart your exercise journey by passively monitoring your wins and showing you daily data about your steps, sleep patterns and more. Fitbit’s Inspire 2 is an all-around good option, not only because it’s fairly affordable at $100, but because it does pretty much everything a beginner would need a fitness tracker to do. It tracks daily steps, calories, heart rate, sleep and more, and it comes with 20 goal-based exercises that you can manually track or let the device’s automatic SmartTrack feature monitor for you. It also has 10-day battery life, so you rarely have to take it off to charge it. And with built-in Tile functionality, you’ll be able to more easily find the device if you do misplace it.

Smartwatch

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

If you’d rather invest in an all-purpose wearable that also has serious fitness chops, the Apple Watch SE is a good choice. While it doesn’t include some of the bells and whistles that the Series 7 does, it still fferes the same core experience as any Apple Watch. It tracks all-day activity and heart rate, and watchOS finally does basic sleep tracking, too. In addition to built-in GPS for outdoor workouts, it supports dozens of trackable exercises along with fall detection and high and low heart rate notifications. The Apple Watch also excels over basic fitness trackers when it comes to table-stakes smartwatch features: You’ll be able to send and receive text messages from the device, as well as control music playback, smart home devices and more.

Workout classes

If running isn’t your thing, or it’s just inconvenient to do it where you live, finding exercise classes that you enjoy can make working out a habit you’re more likely to stick with for the long haul. You may prefer to do this through your local gym — that push to get out of the house and into a dedicated exercise space can be really effective for some — but there are plenty of online fitness classes as well that you can participate in from the comfort of your living room. I’ve tried my fair share of these services and my favorite has been Peloton. No, you don’t need one of the company’s expensive bikes or treadmills to take advantage of their classes. Access to the app-only version of the subscription costs $13 per month and it lets you take HIIT, strength, yoga and even outdoor running classes, many of which require little to no equipment at all.

If you can’t afford another monthly subscription fee, the internet has tons of free exercise resources — you just have to work a little harder to find the ones you jive with most. I highly recommend Fitness Blender, a free website where you can watch hundreds of workout videos and even set a schedule for yourself, assigning videos to specific days of the week. I like the quality and consistency of their videos, but you may connect more to YouTube workout videos if they’re taught by instructors you like; Heather Robertson and Move with Nicole are two personal favorites.

Habit tracker

Forest

At least in the beginning, keeping track of new habits you’re trying to build can help you stick to them. While you can get deep into this subject if you wander down the bullet-journal rabbit hole, a habit-tracking app is probably the easier option. Done and Strides are two iOS options that let you log when you’ve completed a new habit you’re trying to build or when you avoided a bad habit that you’re trying to break. You can get pretty granular, customizing how often you want to do a task, setting reminders to log, reviewing stats and more. However, both apps have paid tiers to which you’ll be asked to subscribe after you create a few trackable habits.

If you’d rather avoid yet another subscription, consider an app like Streaks, which can be all yours for a one-time fee of $5. As for Android, Grow is a free app that takes a similar approach to habit tracking that Forest takes with time management. Plant a virtual tree for each new habit tracked and watch it grow every time you log a completion. There’s also Habitica, which turns habit tracking to an 8-bit RPG game in which your custom avatar levels up every time you log a task.

To-do and note-taking apps

The new year provides an opportunity to get back on track, and one way to do that is by finding organizational tools that work for you — and making sure those tools are as uncomplicated as possible. The worst thing that could happen is that your to-do list or note-taking system ends up being so cumbersome that you avoid using it. Keeping all of your necessary tasks in your head may work on easy days, but it can quickly get overwhelming when you have a million things to handle in both your personal and professional life. I’m a fan of Things for iOS and macOS because it’s detailed enough for big work projects, but simple enough for casual personal tasks. I also love the Today view, which shows me everything across all of my projects that requires immediate attention.

However, you’ll spend $80 to get Things for iOS, iPadOS and macOS — and it’s only available for Apple devices. Microsoft’s To Do is an alternative that, while less involved than Things 3, is free and works on almost every platform including iOS, Android and Windows, among others. You can keep it simple and just have a task list and a grocery list, or you can go deeper and add due dates, sub-tasks and even share lists with family members. And if you don’t want to bother with an extraneous app, you can always opt for the reminders app that (most likely) came preinstalled on your phone. That would be Reminders for iOS users and Google Keep for Android users.

Google Keep also doubles as a note-taking app, which will be a better solution if you’ve been constantly jotting down ideas for new projects on Post-It notes or scraps of paper that you eventually lose. Apple Notes is the default option for this on iOS devices, and there are plenty of other note-taking apps out there as well. I’m partial to Evernote simply because it’s become my digital file box of sorts. I take notes in it almost every day, but tons of things like online order receipts, messages from my doctor’s office and e-signed contracts all come to me through my email and eventually get saved and tagged in Evernote so I can easily find them in the future.

Password manager

If you’re looking to up your organization game in the new year, a password manager is a great place to start. I’m partial to 1Password, but there are plenty of other options including LastPass (which has a free version), Bitwarden and Dashlane. After saving all of your passwords for various accounts, you only need to remember one (hence the name) to log in to your 1Password account and access all of the others. The service has browser extensions Chrome, Edge and others that will let you seamlessly log in with the proper credentials with just a few clicks, and 1Password has apps for most platforms including iOS and Android, so you can use it on all of your devices.

I also appreciate the Password Generator feature, which helps you create a new, secure password whenever one of yours has expired. LassPass has this too, and Dashlane even has a free tool that anyone can use to make more secure passwords. Not only does this take the onus of coming up with a strong key off your shoulders, but it also makes it easy to override old credentials with new ones.

Travel tech organizer

Bellroy

One of the consequences of the past two is the dual-office life. Many of us now work both from home and from an office, and the last thing you want to do when you arrive in either place is rummage around your backpack only to realize that you’ve left your mouse, charging cable or dongle at your other desk.

An organizer bag can prevent this before it happens – we’re partial to BagSmart tech organizers thanks to their utilitarian, water-repellent designs and their multiple pockets and dividers. They also come in different sizes, so you can pick the best one for your commuter bag. If you want something a bit more elevated, Bellroy’s Desk Pouch is a good option. It’s pricier but for the money you get a more elegant design, with a higher-quality material (recycled nylon, weave or ripstop, depending on the color you choose) and a structured base that keeps the bag upright on your desk.

Computer docking station

CalDigit

It’s all too easy for your work-from-home setup to get really messy really quickly. When you’re going through your busiest times at work, the last thing you’re thinking about is cable management, but dedicating a bit more effort into tidying up your workspace can make your day to day more efficient and more enjoyable.

We recommend some sort of docking station to keep your laptop, monitors, accessories and the like in check. A couple good options are CalDigit’s TS3 Plus and Plugable’s Universal Docking Station. The former has a compact, rectangular design with a total of 16 different ports on it, including a Gigabit Ethernet jack, five USB-A connections, two Thunderbolt 3 sockets and analog audio in/out ports. The latter stands up vertically on your desk and has 13 connectors, including HDMI and DVI ports, six USB-A connections and a Gigabit Ethernet jack. That DVI port may be a deciding factor for you depending on which monitor you have, and Plugable’s device comes with both DVI to HDMI and DVI to VGA adapters.

While both of those options are stationary, there are plenty of adapters out there that can give you similar organization while on the go, albeit in a less elegant package. Anker’s USB-C hub is an affordable solution that includes an HDMI port, microSD and SD card readers, two USB-C connections and two USB-A ports. It also supports 100W power pass-through, so you can charge your laptop through the hub while using it.

Instant Pot

Eating healthier — or even just avoiding takeout multiple times a week — can be challenging in part because it usually means cooking more at home. Not only is that hard to do when you’re starting from zero, but it’s especially tough because it takes more time than ordering in from your phone. But tools like an Instant Pot can make the process easier because it cuts your active cooking time down drastically. You can find a plethora of recipes in which you simply throw a bunch of ingredients into the pot, set it and forget it until it’s time to eat.

We recommend the Instant Pot Duo for beginners because it’s relatively affordable and combines seven different cooking methods into one appliance, including rice cooking, steaming, pressure cooking, slow cooking and more. If you’re primarily cooking for yourself and a partner, the three-quart model will serve you just fine, but we recommend the six-quart model if you’re routinely cooking for four or more. If the thought of cooking at home actually excites you rather than fills you with anxiety, consider the Instant Pot Ultra, which includes a few extra modes like cake maker and egg cooker, or the Instant Pot Duo Crisp, which includes an air-fry lid.

Recipe organization

One of the best things about cooking at home is finding recipes that you love so much that you want to make over and over again. You’ll want to keep those recipes safe and readily available so you can refer to them when you need a quick weeknight meal or a dish to bring to your next family reunion. Recipe cards are a great way to do this, and you’ll build up your rolodex of delicious meals over time. If you’d rather have a cookbook of sorts that you fill in yourself over time, opt for a recipe book instead.

If you’d rather keep your arsenal of recipes accessible at any time, anywhere from your phone, Paprika’s recipe management app is the best solution I’ve tried. The $5 app basically acts as your digital recipe box, allowing you to enter recipes of your own as well as download them from the internet. You know those hundreds of words that precede online recipes, in which the author divulges their entire life story before telling you their secret to making deliciously moist cornbread? Paprika strips all of those unnecessary bits out and only saves the ingredient list and the instructions. You can also make grocery lists and keep track of pantry staples in the app, so don’t be surprised if it quickly becomes one of your most-used kitchen tools.

Reading app

Scribd

Don’t take your habit of doom-scrolling on Twitter for hours every day into the new year. You could instead use the internet to find other things to read and the free Libby app is a good place to start. Powered by Overdrive, it connects you with your local library’s digital collection, allowing you to borrow and download all kinds of e-books, audiobooks, magazines, graphic novels and more. Libby also has a tag system that you can use to “save” titles for later without actually putting a hold on them (although you can do that in the app, too). If you find a bunch of audiobooks you eventually want to get to, you can give them all a “TBR” tag so you can quickly find them and borrow one when you need new reading/listening material.

As someone who uses Libby on a regular basis, I love how easy it is to borrow from my local library without leaving my home. However, there have been numerous times in which my library doesn’t have a title I’m looking for. If that happens to you often, you may want to consider a subscription service like Kindle Unlimited or Scribd, both of which give you unlimited access to a wide library of e-books for $10 per month. And for audiobook lovers, your options are Amazon’s Audible or Libro.fm, the latter of which lets you choose the local bookstore you want to support with your purchases.

E-reader

Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

E-readers are still around because so many people recognize how much better it can be to read e-books on a dedicated device — especially one with an e-paper display. Sure, you could read on your smartphone or a tablet, but staring at those screens all day long can be tiring for your eyes. An e-reader like Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite or Kobo’s Clara HD is a better choice not only for its more comfortable display, but also because it focuses your attention on reading. (If you’ve ever picked up your smartphone intending to finish a chapter only to be distracted by email or Twitter, you know how crucial this is.)

The new Kindle Paperwhite has a 6.8-inch display with adjustable warm lights, 20 percent faster page turns and weeks of battery life. The Clara HD is similar, with a 6-inch E-Ink display, adjustable brightness and color temperature, along with weeks of battery life. If you already get most of your e-books through Amazon, the Paperwhite is the best option. You can listen to Audible audiobooks, too, if you connect a pair of wireless earbuds to the e-reader. Kobo’s device primarily gets books via the Kobo Store, but it also supports various file types like EPUB, PDF and MOBI. Plus, it has on-device integration with Overdrive, allowing you to borrow library books directly from the e-reader.

Telegram is squeezing in one last major update before 2021 wraps up. Among the new features is hidden text to mask spoilers. So, if you can't wait to blab about what happens in Spider-Man: No Way Home before everyone in the chat has seen it, you can select any section of your text and use the Spoiler formatting. This will hide the text in the chat, notifications and chat list. When your friends are ready to read what you think about [redacted] showing up, they can tap the spoiler text to read it.

Also new are iMessage-style reactions. You can double tap any message to send a thumbs-up reaction. Tapping once (or tapping and holding on iOS) will let you select other emoji, such as a grin, fire, a shocked face or a thumbs down. You can change the default double-tap emoji in the Chat Settings on Android, and under the Stickers and Emoji section in iOS settings.

In private chats, reactions are always enabled. Channel and group admins can decide whether to switch them on and what reactions the other members can choose from.

Elsewhere, Telegram now has a useful translation option. Through the Language section in Settings, you can enable translation, which adds a Translate button to the context menu. You can nix languages you're able to understand and the Translate button won't be available on messages you receive in those languages. Translation is available on all Android devices, but iPhone and iPad users will need to be running iOS 15 or later. The number of languages Telegram supports depends on your operating system.

In addition, users can generate QR codes for anyone with a public username, as well as bots, groups and channels. You can tap the QR code icon next to their username and select the colors and pattern before sharing it elsewhere. You can find your own QR code in Settings.

The Telegram team redesigned the context menus on macOS with new shortcut hints and animated icons. The app will display a full-screen effect in one-on-one chats when you send certain emoji too.

Earlier this year, Telegram added group video calls and other features, including a way to block others in group chats from taking screenshots and saving shared media, as well as live streams with unlimited viewers. There's been some blowback against Telegram this year, however, with reports suggesting there has been a significant uptick in the level of cybercriminal activity taking place on the encrypted messaging app.