If you're an iPhone, Mac, iPad and/or Apple Watch user who's on the hunt for new earphones this Cyber Monday it's worth checking out deals on AirPods. The second-generation AirPods are currently on sale for $100 on Amazon, a saving of $59. The price is $115 on the product page, but a $15 coupon is applied at checkout.
We gave the second-gen AirPods a score of 84 in our review, giving them props for maintaining the same solid battery life as the first version and offering better wireless performance.
Elsewhere, you can also save on the most recent model. The third-gen Apple AirPods are currently $150 on Amazon, after a $20 coupon is applied. In total, Amazon has reduced the price by $29. We gave the third-gen AirPods a score of 88 in our review, in part due to the more comfortable design. The latest version offers better audio quality and a longer battery life.
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The holiday shopping season is one of the best times of year to look for a new vacuum — robotic or not. We've seen numerous models go on sale before and during Black Friday, and now a new Cyber Monday sale has knocked iRobot devices down to new record lows. Key among them are the new poop-detecting j7 duo of robot vacuums, both of which are $200 off. The Roomba j7 has dropped to $449 while the j7+, which comes with a clean base, is down to $649. Those prices are being matched at Best Buy and Wellbots, too.
"Poop-detecting" might sound gimmicky, but these robot vacuums have new AI-driven computer vision technology that helps them detect obstacles as they clean so they can move around them. That means, instead of bumping into chair legs and tables, these machines will do a better job of cleaning around those permanent fixtures in your home — and they'll more easily avoid surprise hazards like pet poop. And if your new robo-vac doesn't avoid your pet's latest mess, iRobot's Pet Owner Official Promise (yes, P.O.O.P.) ensures that you'll get a new vacuum if such a disaster happens within your first year of ownership.
Otherwise, the j7 devices are higher-end Roombas, so they have features like dual multi-surface rubber brushes and Imprint Smart Mapping, which lets you control which rooms the robot cleans. The biggest difference between the j7 and the j7+ is the inclusion of the clean base on the latter. When it returns home to charge, the j7+ will automatically empty its bin into the clean base and you'll only have to empty the base about once every two months.
A number of more affordable Roombas are included in the sale, too, like the Roomba 694, which remains on sale for $179. This is one of our favorite budget robot vacuums thanks to its good cleaning abilities and easy to use mobile app. You can also get the top-of-the-line Roomba, the s9+, with the Braava Jet mopping robot for over $450 off, bringing it down to $1,299.
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If you're still on the hunt for a good gift for the Android fan in your life, one of Samsung's latest smartwatches is a solid option. The Galaxy Watch 4 is our favorite smartwatch for Android users, and Amazon's Cyber Monday sale bundles the wearable with a speedy wireless charger while also knocking the price down to a record low. You can get the Galaxy Watch 4 with the charger for as low as $200, which is $110 off its normal price and the lowest we've seen it. The price will vary a bit depending on the specific size and model you choose, but overall, this one-day-only sale presents a good opportunity to pick up a new smartwatch and a key accessory for less.
We gave the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Watch 4 Classic a score of 85 when we reviewed them thanks in part to their attractive designs, bright screens and comprehensive health tracking. These devices are the first to run Wear OS with the new One UI, and thankfully those who liked Samsung's Tizen operating system will find that not much has changed here. But since it now has more Google support, you'll be able to do things like download apps directly from the Play Store and the watch has better third-party app support in general. And for those who want a wearable primarily for health tracking, you're getting the best Samsung has to offer here with a new 3-in-1 biometric sensor that enables bioelectrical impedance analysis, all-day heart rate monitoring, features like snore detection and more.
The biggest difference between the Watch 4 and the Watch 4 Classic is the rotating bezel on the latter and its stainless steel frame, making it a better option for those who want a more classic-timepiece look in their wearable. The bundled wireless charger can not only power up the watch, but it can also charge a smartphone or a pair of wireless earbuds at the same time thanks to its second, larger charging pad.
The Galaxy Watch discounts are part of a larger Cyber Monday Samsung sale on Amazon, which includes deals on wireless earbuds, too. The Galaxy Buds Pro are 33 percent off today only, bringing them down to $135, and the Galaxy Buds 2 with a Samsung SmartTag are 38 percent off, knocking the bundle down to $110.
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The British Fashion Council (BFC) has handed out an award in a brand new category called Metaverse Design created in collaboration with Roblox. Five Roblox creators were nominated, with the in-app clothing store cSapphire coming out the winner.
The presentation of the award will play out inside a Roblox experience (from November 29th until December 7th 2021), with a virtual representation of Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele (above) doing the honors. If you're interested in watching, you'll be able to do so inside a virtual Roblox recreation of Albert Hall — and even roleplay as a high-profile red carpet guest.
Companies like Roblox have been doing a metaverse long before Facebook decided to jump in. With the award, the BFC has acknowledged that virtual spaces can be a fun way for both consumers and designers to explore fashion ideas. Roblox previously worked with Gucci on a collection, and we've seen labels like Moncler Louis Vuitton inside Fortnite and other games.
It's a fun addition to the show, but the BFC is taking it fairly seriously. The Metaverse judging panel includes some high-profile folks, including fashion model Karlie Kloss along with editors from fashion sites and magazines like W and Highsnobiety.
"By awarding the platform’s creators, we are recognizing the powerful global impact of digital fashion on communities around the world, its ability to create new trends in fashion, as well as the incredible opportunities it provides for talented young creators," said BFC chief executive Caroline Rush in a statement.
Sony's excellent WF-1000XM4 wireless ANC earphones came out just this summer, so we've only seen mild discounts so far — even during Black Friday. For Cyber Monday, however, Amazon has reduced them to just $218, for a savings of $62 or 22 percent — a great price for some of the highest-rated wireless earbuds available.
The WF-1000XM4s are a sequel to the much-lauded WF-1000XM3 model, and improve on them in nearly every way, as we detailed in our Engadget review. They deliver balanced sound quality across lows, mids and highs, with no heavy-handed bass or overly shrill treble. Active noise cancellation (ANC) is also improved, blocking more noise across all frequencies while using less power, to boot.
As a result, battery life is up to eight hours with the ANC turned on, or 12 hours with it disabled — up about 25 percent over the previous model. Other nice features include Qi-certified wireless charging (with a quick-charge feature that gives you an hour of use in five minutes), customizable sound controls, Sony's "precise voice pickup" tech to improve call quality, and 360 and high-res audio support.
The biggest downside is the comfort and fit, as Sony's foam (rather than silicone) tips might not work for all ears. That's a small complaint considering that the WF-1000XM4s top a lot of lists for the best wireless ANC earphones, including our own. You're not likely to find them at a better price anytime soon, so if you've been eyeing a pair, now's the time to act.
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As you might have suspected this Cyber Monday morning, the big stories on Engadget involve good deals or even an all-time low price on gadgets, accessories for said gadgets or services to run on them. (We’ve linked to the best deals we’ve found down below, but stock and prices may have changed since the time of writing.)
That said, according to early figures, it might have been a more muted Black Friday online than in previous years. Adobe estimates its combined Black Friday and Thanksgiving Day internet sales were less than last year, for the first time ever — even if it was only a mere dip from $9 billion in 2020 to $8.9 billion last week.
Adobe thinks the dip reflected the multitude of internet deals out there that began ahead of Black Friday — some as early as October.
A team of scientists have created the first detailed image of what lies right underneath the planet's surface, showing three billion years of its history, by listening to Martian winds.
More precisely, they analyzed the ambient noise (in the absence of marsquakes) collected by the seismometer that was installed by the InSight lander. On Earth, that kind of ambient seismic noise is generated by the ocean, human activity and winds, but only the last one is present on Mars.
AMC is extending its fondness for the blockchain to the freebies you get with ticket pre-orders. The theater chain and Sony Pictures are giving away 86,000 NFTs to Stubs Premiere, A-List and Investor Connect members who buy or reserve tickets for Spider-Man: No Way Home showings on December 16th. Redeem a code through a special website and you'll get one of 100 designs. Will it be worth millions? My limited-edition Jurassic Park cup I got from a movie theater in the ‘90s suggests not.
The Financial Times reports the country's electrical grid operator KEGOC said it would start rationing electricity for 50 registered miners after their demand reportedly invoked an emergency shutdown mode at three power plants in October. They'll also be the first users disconnected if there are grid failures. The energy ministry estimated electricity demand has jumped by eight percent so far in 2021 versus the more typical one or two percent. There have been blackouts in six regions since October.
There's no word on a corresponding upgrade elsewhere.
Electrek has learned Tesla is shipping the electric crossover in China with an AMD Ryzen processor running the infotainment system instead of the usual Intel CPU. Performance variant owners have noticed the swap so far, but Tesla has historically used the same computing platform for all trim levels of a given model.
Just in time for Cyber Monday, you can pick up Williams Sonoma's Star Wars-branded Instant Pots at some of the steepest discounts we've seen. The 3-quart BB-8 themed version is matching its all-time low price of $60, a 25 percent discount off the regular $80 price. Other Star Wars-branded models are also on sale alongside regular Instant Pots, still discounted from Black Friday.
Instant Pots are some of the most popular cooking gadgets out there, as they can replace a rice cooker, yogurt maker, slow-cooker and pressure cooker. The latter function lets you cook at an accelerated rate for foods like pulled pork and chicken curry. At the same time, it's fully automated so you just need to add the ingredients, push a few buttons and walk away.
The Star Wars themed models are identical to the classic Instant Pot models, but add fun branding across Star Wars franchises. Suffice to say, they could make great gifts (including for yourself), but it's best to act quick, as Cyber Monday sales expire today.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
If you didn't cross off everything on your gift list on Black Friday, you're still in luck. Cyber Monday has brought a host of tech deals this year, and some of the best deals from a few days ago are still available. You can still find some of the best headphones, streaming devices, SD cards and other gadgets for less today, but we recommend buying what you need fairly quickly to avoid items selling out as well as excessively delayed shipping times. To make things easier, we gathered the best Cyber Monday tech deals here so you don't have to go searching for them.
Sony WH-1000XM4
Our favorite pair of Sony headphones, the WH-1000XM4, are down to $248 right now, which is just about $100 off their regular price. We gave these cans a score of 94 for their powerful ANC, immersive sound quality and multi-device connectivity.
The updated AirPods Pro with the MagSafe case are on sale for $179 at Amazon. These offer the best sound quality and fit of any of Apple's earbuds, and now they have a magnetic wireless charging case that's compatible with MagSafe accessories.
Apple's latest AirPods are down to $150, or $30 off their normal price, thanks to a voucher applied at checkout. We gave them a score of 88 for their more comfortable design, much improved audio quality and longer battery life.
The Apple Watch SE has been knocked down to $220, or about $60 off its normal price. This is the best Watch for wearable newbies as well as those with tight budgets. We gave it a score of 88 for its responsive performance, comfortable design and solid feature set for the price.
The Roomba 694 is $95 off, bringing it down to $179. This model came out earlier this year and works well on both hard and carpeted floors, supports WiFi connectivity for Alexa and Google Assistant commands and can be controlled via the iRobot mobile app.
The Beats Studio Buds have been discounted to $100, but also come with $10 if you use the code BYZPPJADUODB at checkout. These are some of the best Beats buds for most people and we gave them a score of 84 for their balanced sound, hands-free Siri controls and quick pairing with both iOS and Android.
Bose's new QuietComfort 45 headphones remain on sale for $279 right now, or $50 off their normal price. We gave them a score of 86 for their clear, balanced audio, improved ANC and long battery life.
Sony's excellent WF-1000XM4 earbuds are down to $218. We gave them a score of 86 for their great sound quality, powerful ANC and improved battery life.
Elgato's Streamdeck is on sale right now for $100, or $50 off its normal price. If you or someone who know wants to break into the game-streaming world, the Streamdeck is one of those gadgets that can make it much easier to do so. It's a small desktop controller with 15 LCD keys that you can customize to manage programs like OBS, Twitch and others. It makes multitasking while on stream much easier and it'll make your entire setup feel more professional, too.
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 smartphone is on sale for $850 right now, and you can get a free pair of Galaxy Buds 2 when you buy. This was the most impressive Samsung foldable to come out this year and we gave it a score of 82 for its striking, flexible screen, attractive build and water-resistant design.
The new Kindle Paperwhite is still on sale for $105, or $35 off its normal price. The updated model has 17 front lights, a sleeker design, an adjustable warm light, weeks of battery life and Audible support. You can also still get Amazon's standard Kindle for $50, or for $40 when you buy two of them.
The six-quart Instant Pot Duo Plus remains on sale for $60, which is half off its normal price. This model supports pressure cook, warm, sauté, rice cook, sous vide and more modes, and its mid-size capacity makes it good for preparing food for many people.
The Echo Show 8 smart display is on sale for $90. It earned a score of 87 from us for its attractive design, stellar audio quality and improved camera for video calls. Both the first- and second-gen Show 8s have discounted bundles that include a Blink Mini camera for only $5 extra, too.
Both the Galaxy S7 and S7+ tablets have been discounted, down to $499 and $699, respectively. Either would be good options for Android lovers looking for a new tablet — we were impressed by their beautiful build, vibrant 120Hz displays, long battery lives and S Pen support.
Jabra's Elite 85t earbuds are on sale for $150, which is $80 off its normal price. These earbuds impressed us with their strong ANC, comfortable size and wireless charging case.
You can pick up the Fitbit Charge 5 for $130, or $50 less than usual. This is Fitbit's most comprehensive fitness band and it earned a score of 82 from us for its full-color touchscreen, built-in GPS, onboard EDA sensors for stress tracking and multi-day battery life.
The Chromecast with Google TV has dropped to $40, which is $10 cheaper than usual. We gave the device a score of 86 for its 4K HDR streaming capabilities, Dolby Vision and Atmos support plus its much needed and very handy new remote.
The Roku Streambar is down to $80 right now, or $50 off its normal price. It's a compact soundbar that will upgrade any living room relying on an old TV with weak audio. We gave it a score of 86 for its solid audio quality, Dolby Audio support and built-in 4K streaming technology.
NVIDIA's Shield TV has dropped to $129, or $20 cheaper than usual. This is one of the more powerful streaming devices available today thanks to its Tegra X1+ processor, support for Dolby Vision HDR, Dolby Atmos, Chromecast 4K and AI-powered 4K upscaling.
The Samsung T7 SSD in 1TB is down to a record low of $110, which is 35 percent off and the best price we've seen. You can also get the 1TB T7 Touch with a built-in fingerprint reader for 21 percent off, or $150. It has reads speeds up to 1,050 MB/s and write speeds up to 1,000 MB/s, plus it has a shock-resistant unibody and support for Dynamic Thermal Guard to control heat levels.
The compact Crucial MX500 internal drive in 1TB is down to $85, which is just a couple of dollars shy of its all-time-low price. We like its sequential read speeds of up to 560 MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 510 MB/s, along with its standard 2.5-inch design and integrated power loss immunity feature.
Vizio's 55-inch H1 OLED TV is $300 off right now, bringing it down to $1,000. This is a solid price for a mid-sized OLED set that supports Dolby Vision HDR, Vizio's IQ Ultra processor, 120Hz gaming with VRR and built-in AirPlay and Chromecast technology.
A three-pack of Philips Hue White and Color smart lights is on sale for $100, or about $30 off its normal price. While not a record low, it's a good sale price on smart bulbs that rarely see deep discounts. These can be controlled via the Philips Hue app and almost any voice assistant including Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri, and they support thousands of colors as well as 50,000 shares of warm and cool white light.
First-time subscribers to Adobe CC can get the All Apps plan for 40 percent off right now, bringing the monthly charge down to $30. If you're a student, it's even cheaper — just $16 per month for first-time customers. These programs are considered standard in most creative fields, so it's worth grabbing this deal if you know you'll be using things like Photoshop or Illustrator in the future.
The meditation app Headspace is down to $5 per month for new and returning customers. That's 60 percent off the normal price, and those who want to pay for a year upfront will get 50 percent off and pay only $35 for the year. Headspace has a bunch of guided meditation sessions along with sleep stories, calming ambient music, guided yoga sessions for stress management and more.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Nissan will invest 2 trillion yen ($17.6 billion) over the next five years developing new EVs and battery technology as part of a grand plan it calls "Ambition 2030," the company announced. It aims to release 15 new EVs total by 2030, with electrified vehicles making up half its vehicle lineup at that point.
The automaker said it will develop 23 electrified vehicles in total over the next eight years, with 20 of those coming in the next five years alone. It's shooting for a market mix of 75 percent electrified (EV and e-Power PHEV/hybrids) in Europe, 55 percent in Japan and 40 percent in the US and China by 2030.
The other part of that mix, would presumably be internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. It's worth noting that in early 2021, Nissan said that it planned to electrify every all-new car it launches by the early 2030s. Presumably, then, any ICE vehicles still available would be legacy models.
Nissan will launch EVs with all-solid-state batteries (ASSB) by 2028 and ready a pilot plant in Yokohama as early as 2024, it said. That technology promises benefits like reduced charging times, but has yet to arrive to market as expected. The company also wants to bring the cost of battery packs down to $75 per kWh by 2028 with a reduction to $65 kWh further down the road. That would be about half of what EV batteries cost last year, according to Bloomberg. By 2030, Nissan hopes to be producing 130 GWh of batteries.
The company said it plans to expand its ProPilot driver assistance technology to over 2.5 million Nissan and Infiniti vehicles by 2026. It will also incorporate next-generation LIDAR systems "on virtually every new model by fiscal year 2030."
Nissan
As part of Ambition 2030, Nissan also unveiled no less than four concept cars: the Chill-Out, Surf-Out, Hang-Out and Max-Out. Like most concepts, they're meant to give a taste of Nissan's future technology including self-driving, interior features and just far-out designs. However, Nissan has only shown images of the Chill-Out as a real vehicle, with renders of the other three vehicles.
The Chill-Out (top and above) is a smallish crossover that could be an early preview of the next-generation Leaf, which Nissan previously confirmed would move from a hatch to a crossover style body. It will use the Ariya's CMF-EV platform and e-4orce electric all-wheel drive system, and could arrive by 2025.
Nissan
The Surf-Out, meanwhile, is a small electric single cab pickup with a decent-sized bed and removable canopy. It would come with a dual-motor AWD setup and a variety of power outputs, offering off-road performance, utility power and extended cargo space.
Nissan
Then there's the Hang-Out, which is more like a small camper van/SUV designed to "provide a new way of spending time on the move." It has a completely flat floor and movable, theater-like seats, offering "the comfort of your living room in a mobile space" — something we've seen with other recent EV concepts. It also offers e-4orce and advanced ProPilot features.
Nissan
Finally, the Max-Out is a concept convertible sports car that offers "superlative stability and comfort." Body roll is limited to deliver "dynamic cornering and steering response" to optimize handling and occupant comfort. It's supposedly lightweight with a very low center of gravity, and also offers advanced e-4orce.
Nissan's new plan comes as the company has grappled with internal problems, including the arrest and subsequent flight of former CEO Carlos Ghosn. In the short term, the company plans to cut 300 billion yen ($2.65 billion) in fixed costs and reduce production capacity by 20 percent as part of its "Nissan Next" plan unveiled last year.
Cryptocurrency mining consumes a massive amount of energy, and that's prompting a crisis in Kazakhstan. The Financial Timesreports the country's electrical grid operator KEGOC said it would start rationing electricity for 50 registered miners after their demand reportedly invoked an emergency shutdown mode at three power plants in October. They'll also be the first disconnected if there are grid failures, the quasi-public company said.
The energy ministry estimated that electricity demand has jumped by eight percent so far in 2021 versus the more typical one or two percent. There have been blackouts in six regions since October.
Officials and observers have pinned the power cuts on climbing numbers of unregistered crypto miners illegally generating currency from their homes or even factories. China's war against cryptocurrency may be partly responsible. Energy demand started climbing when mining firms moved from China in early 2021, and it jumped again when China made mining illegal this May. Electricity has been relatively inexpensive in Kazakhstan, making it a haven for companies hoping to make larger profits from crypto operations.
Kazakhstan is trying to compensate for the power shortages. It's asking a Russian energy company to supplement the national power grid, and it will charge registered miners a compensation fee of 1 tenge (about $0.0023) for every kilowatt-hour starting in 2022. Both efforts will take time, however, and this is forcing miners to either scale back or move equipment.
There are also worries the government isn't being honest about its problems. The University of Glasgow's Luca Anceshi argued to The Times that Kazakhstan was scapegoating miners for reliability problems with the country's electrical grid. Whether or not that's true, it's safe to say the mining demand hints at the potential problems for other countries if their local crypto production takes off.
