While they're slated to arrive after Christmas, Apple's second-generation AirPods have returned to a record-low price. Amazon has the earbuds for $90, which is only one dollar more than they were on Black Friday. If you can wait until after December 25th to get them, you'll get one of the best deals on these earbuds that we've seen all year.

These are the classic AirPods most people are familiar with by now. They have a similar design to Apple's old EarPods and they have the H1 chip inside that helps them quickly pair with iOS devices as well as switch in between devices like iPhones, iPads and Macs. While you can get better sounding earbuds at a similar price, AirPods remain one of the best options for those who primarily use Apple devices because they conveniently pair and switch between them. You'll also be able to monitor each buds' battery life, as well as the case's charge, from your iPhone. You'll get roughly five hours of use before needing to power up again, and the case provides more than 24 hours of total listening time.

While they don't have many of the new features that the latest, 3rd-generation AirPods have, the second-gen models remain a good option if you're on a budget and want those signature Apple perks. The latest AirPods are on sale for $150 right now, or about $30 off their normal price, and we'd recommend springing for those if you have the extra cash. We gave them a score of 88 for their more comfortable design, improved audio quality and longer battery life.

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Twenty-eight years after the original Windjammers hit the Neo Geo, the sequel will finally arrive on modern platforms. Windjammers 2 will land on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Stadia on January 20th. It'll be available on Xbox Game Pass and the newly renamed PC Game Pass, as well as PS5 and Xbox Series X/S via backward compatibility.

Windjammers is a souped-up take on Pong in which you try to send a disc past your opponent to score. But as well as simply tossing the disc along a predictable path toward the goal, you can harness curved shots, lobs and character-specific power moves — there's a reason the original was called Flying Power Disc in Japan.

We got some hands-on time with Windjammers 2 a couple of years back and it promises more of the same, albeit modernized for a current-day audience. Developer Dotemu has freshened up the graphics and peppered in some extra mechanics, including dropshots and slapshots. It's the kind of game that'll be easy to pick up and difficult to master.

It's probably just as well that Elden Ring has been delayed from its original release date of January 22nd. I'm not sure how it would be able to compete with the mighty Windjammers 2.

The US' Emergency Alert System often relies on audio to grab your attention, but what if you have hearing issues? The FCC hopes to fix that. The Commission has proposed rules that would make the alerts more accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing. Most notably, the move would require partners to use internet-based alerts when possible — this would offer "superior" visuals to the old version meant for over-the-air TV.

Another potential rule would demand clearer, more descriptive TV alerts. The FCC is also exploring ways to upgrade the legacy emergency alert system to display "more visual information" alongside the warning message.

Chairwoman Rosenworcel and all FCC commissioners support the three proposals. In that light, it's less a question of whether they'll move forward as how well they'll work. Ideally, you won't have to worry about missing useful information in an alert if you can't listen in. It's just not certain how the system will evolve, or how well online messaging will hold up in the event of crises that disrupt internet access.

iFixit announced today it will join forces with Microsoft to manufacture and sell official repair tools for some Surface models. The partnership will kick off with a display debonder, a display rebonder, and a battery cover.

The models these Microsoft-sanctioned tools are designed for aren't the friendliest to at-home tinkering. Many — like the Surface Laptop Go and Surface Pro 7+ — have neither guides nor repairability scores from the iFixit. This might explain why, at least for now, these pro-grade tools aren't being offered to consumers. 

"iFixit Pro independent repairers, Microsoft Authorized Service Providers, Microsoft Experience Centers, and Microsoft Commercial customers," will be the only entities allowed to use these new devices, according to iFixit. "While not necessary to complete a DIY repair, these new tools are designed to prevent damage and will help technicians performing a high volume of repairs, and assist in improving accuracy and matching factory-level adhesion."

According to The Verge, it was Microsoft that approached iFixit about joining forces, despite (and because of) iFixit's vocal criticism of the Surface line's poor repairability. Wider availability of official repair tools, and the development of new ones, could be on the horizon if both companies see positive results.

Microsoft is the latest company to partner with iFixit. Previously the right-to-repair advocate has worked with HTC and Motorola as an official parts source for Vive headsets and smartphones, respectively. 

Arturia has been relentless over the last few year with updating and improving its instruments. Whether that's firmware upgrades for its hardware or feature dumps for its plugins. Pigments, the company's all original virtual synth (as opposed to its meticulous emulations of classic hardware), has been one of the biggest benefactors of these free updates. Today the company is launching Pigments 3.5 another significant upgrade to what I have said repeatedly is my favorite soft synth at the moment. 

While this isn't quite as large an update as 3.0, it still brings a lot of new features to the table. One of the one most important is that Pigments 3.5 adds compatibility with Apple's M1 chips. This isn't exactly a flashy new feature, but it will make many producers very happy who have already jumped on the hype train for the latest MacBooks.

The biggest change to the synth engine itself is probably the addition of a cross modulation feature. You can use either engine one or two as the mod source and dial in results that range from subtle weirdness to full on sonic freak outs. Arturia also fleshed out its comb filter which has three new modes (LP6, BP6 and HP6) that cleans up certain frequencies excelling at plucks and bowed sounds. 

Arturia also added a new distortion module to the effects section. While there have been options for adding dirt in Pigments before, this is a lot more versatile of an option. It has 16 different modes with built-in filtering for creating everything from the germanium fuzz of classic guitar pedals, to extreme digital wavefolding or even the soft saturation you'd get from a vintage preamp. 

And if that's not enough new sound design options for you, there are dozens of new wavetables being added too, plus over 150 new presets that show off the power of the new features.

Lastly, Arturia made some tweaks to the UI that should streamline the workflow, including one-click sample preview. 

Pigments 3.5 is available now as a free upgrade for current owners. If you haven't picked up Pigments yet, now is a pretty good time to, since it's on sale for $99 until January 6th. And Arturia is even including three new sound banks for free — Bass Thermal, Trap Chemical and EDM Kinetic.

Mobile voting hasn't had much traction in the US, but that apparently isn't for a lack of trying. The US Postal Service has confirmed to The Washington Post that it secretly developed and tested a blockchain-based mobile voting system ahead of the 2020 election. The project was purely "exploratory" and was abandoned in 2019 after University of Colorado researchers discovered security flaws, including the risks of impersonation, denial of service attacks and "techniques" that compromised privacy.

However, it might be the lack of transparency that raises the most concern. The USPS didn't coordinate with other federal agencies, and it asked the university to sign a non-disclosure deal that prevented them from naming the institution involved. Election security officials just learning of the blockchain voting project were worried it might erode trust in the democratic system already hurt by unsupported claims of significant fraud during the 2020 vote.

The Postal Service has considered electronic voting before, but centered its attention on those who can't easily vote, such as soldiers and people with disabilities. This was a practical exercise that could have applied to a large swath of voters, not just a small group that can't realistically use mail or in-person balloting.

The end result was the same with or without the test: the 2020 election continued to rely on paper ballots, and federal agencies focused more on establishing a paper trail to reduce the chances of Russia and other actors from tampering with the vote. The revelation shows there wasn't a completely united front, though, and suggests vote-by-smartphone efforts aren't about to take off any time soon.

Working with Intel, Dell has created a new laptop called Concept Luna with the aim of making future PCs easier to repair, reuse and recycle. Dell said that if it incorporated all the design ideas, it could reduce a computer's carbon footprint by up to 50 percent compared to current laptop models.

A key feature of Concept Luna is the redesigned components and a new, more efficient layout. To start with, the motherboard is 75 percent smaller at just 5,580 square millimeters and has a 20 percent lower component count. Everything is rearranged, with the motherboard close to the top cover to expose it to a larger cooling area. It's also separated from the battery charging unit in the base, allowing better passive cooling that could eliminate the need for a fan. 

Dell

The extra efficiencies also reduce power requirements, allowing the designers to use a smaller battery with deep-cycle cells that offer a "long charge that can be maintained across many years of use, increasing refurbishment and reuse beyond the first product life it services," Dell said. 

On top of making the design more power efficient, Dell designers used less energy-intensive materials that are easier to recycle. The aluminum body, for instance, was processed using hydro power and a more efficient stamped construction. Dell also reduced the number of screws by tenfold, "with just four needed to access internal components." That not only reduces material count, but repair time (to disassemble, repair and reassemble key components) by around 1.5 hours. 

Dell

Other features include a palm rest that's easy to repair and reuse, a keyboard mechanism that can be easily separated for replacement and recycling, and a bio-based printed circuit board (PCB) made with flax fiber in the base and water-soluble polymer as glue. "What's notable here is that the flax fiber replaces traditional plastic laminates... [and] the water-soluble polymer can 'dissolve,'" making for easier recycling. 

Concept Luna is far from the first green laptop concept. Framework, for example, recently demonstrated an easy-to-repair laptop with features like removable ports and components that are labeled so you can repair it yourself. 

Dell might not be the most-loved PC company in terms of customer service, but it frequently tops corporate charts for environmentally-friendly initiatives. Creating a concept that points the way to easy-to-fix, more recyclable PCs is a solid step toward reducing plastic waste and pollution in the PC industry. Now, Dell plans to take the best ideas from Concept Luna "and evaluate which have the greatest potential to scale across our product portfolio," the company wrote. 

Nintendo is squeezing in one more indie game showcase before the end of the year. The next Indie World Showcase will take place on December 15th at noon ET.

As has been the case for the last fewof these events, the stream will run for around 20 minutes. Given what we've seen from these showcases in the past, you can probably expect to learn about indie hits from other platforms that are coming to Nintendo Switch. After a couple of years without much news about the game, here's hoping for more details about Hollow Knight: Silksong too.

You can watch Nintendo's December Indie World Showcase below.

Toyota now aims to roll out 30 electric vehicles by 2030, expanding on its plan to sell 15 fully electric models by 2025. It gave a taste of the future by previewing a broad range of EV concepts during a presentation.

Among those is a pickup, which could compete with the likes of Ford's F-150 Lightning and Rivian's R1T. As Autoblog notes, the Toyota Pickup EV looks very much like the Toyota Tacoma. As such, there could be an electric option for the next version of that pickup.

Toyota

Other models include a Sports EV and an FJ Cruiser-style Compact Cruiser EV. There are commercial models too, such as the Micro Box and Mid Box. Toyota once again showed off the self-driving e-Palette, which was used to transport athletes during this year's Summer Olympic and Paralympic games. The company pulled them from use at the Paralympics after the EV hit a visually impaired athlete. 

At the higher end of the spectrum, Toyota also revealed a lineup of Lexus electric EV concepts. It said the Electrified Sport should be able to go from 0-60 MPH in just over two seconds and have a range of about 435 miles. The brand also showed off an Electrified Sedan and Electrified SUV.

Toyota

Although Toyota has now committed to spend around $70 billion on electrifying its vehicles, its medium-term projections for EVs are relatively conservative. It expects to sell around 3.5 million EVs per year by 2030, which is around a third of its current volume of vehicle sales. 

By contrast, Volkswagen estimates that, by that time, half of its vehicle sales will be electric models, and by 2040, the majority of its sales in major markets will be EVs. After becoming an early leader in hybrid vehicle tech, Toyota is playing catchup with other automakers in the EV market, so making comparatively muted projections shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.

Meanwhile, Toyota recently announced plans to build a $1.29 billion EV battery factory in North Carolina by 2025. The company last month declined to join other automakers, including GM and Ford, in pledging to phase out fossil fuel-powered cars by 2040. However, Lexus plans to only sell EVs by 2035.

LastPass has been sitting under LogMeIn's wing for six years, but it won't be for much longer. LogMeIn has revealed plans to once again make LastPass a standalone company. The move is meant to "accelerate" growth in password management and secure sign-ins by providing more dedicated resources to LastPass. That includes a faster rollout of 2022 features, LogMeIn said.

The full extent of those features wasn't clear, but LastPass hinted at "faster, seamless" password filling, an improved mobile app and more third-party tie-ins for corporate customers. You should also see more support channels and a website redesign.

LogMeIn saw itself taking advantage of good timing. Its entire brand has thrived during the pandemic, with LastPass in particular seeing "tremendous" growth from its mostly business-focused audience. Ideally, this helps LastPass preserve that momentum and compete against rivals like Dashlane, AgileBits' 1Password and Zoho. Whatever happens, it's safe to say LastPass is headed in a new direction that could affect how you use it.