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Amazon has cut the price of Belkin's 16-in-1 Triple Display USB-C Dock to $199.99, down $50 from its $249.99 list price, a 20% discount. The dock supports up to three external displays via DisplayLink, offers 2.5Gb Ethernet, multiple USB-A/USB-C ports, dual DisplayPort outputs, and delivers up to 100W of power to a connected laptop. The discount requires an active Amazon Prime membership.
Amazon has started discounting several Alexa-powered Echo speakers and Fire TV sticks ahead of its fall Prime Big Deal Days sale scheduled for October 6-7. WIRED's testing notes that Amazon raised prices on these device categories by about $20 at the end of August, so current sale prices—some advertised as $40 off—represent smaller real savings than they appear. Most Kindles remain full price except the three Kindle Kids models, while Paperwhite, Scribe, and Eero routers are not yet discounted.
WIRED has released a gift guide aimed at new parents, organized into categories including parenting gadgets, smart home gear, small luxuries, and meal delivery services. The publication says all recommended products have been tested by its reviewers, many of whom are parents themselves. The guide also points readers to related WIRED content on gifts for moms and dads and broader baby gear recommendations.
A CNET reviewer spent several months testing Amazon's Alexa Plus, Google's Gemini for Home and Apple's Siri AI for weather forecasting accuracy in a high-desert city with microclimates. The test found Alexa Plus gives the longest, most detailed responses—including wind, air quality and 'feels like' temperatures—but occasionally mispredicted rain and tended to overestimate high temperatures.
Ali Alobaidly's composite of the Shark Nebula, built from 28 hours of observation in the Kuwait desert, won the 2025 ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. Category winners included Miguel Claro's sunspot image from Portugal, Stefano Pellegrini's star-trail shot from Botswana, Petr Horalek's Moon-Venus timelapse from the Czech Republic, and Radoslav Sviretsov's aurora photo over an Icelandic church.
Meta Platforms stock closed at $725.18 on Wednesday, up 27% from $572.34 at the end of August, marking its strongest monthly performance since November 2022. The rally followed the September 8 launch of Muse, Meta's personal AI agent app, which topped ChatGPT in Apple iOS downloads, and was reinforced by announcements at Meta's Connect conference and the hiring of former MongoDB CEO CJ Desai to lead a new enterprise AI unit.
WIRED's gaming router testing named the Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro, a quad-band Wi-Fi 7 router, as the fastest device it has tested. The guide also recommends Asus overall as the top gaming router brand, citing its ROG sub-brand, free security software, AiMesh compatibility and generous port selection.
WIRED evaluated children's mattresses over several months by having a toddler sleep on each one atop a Simply Sori Montessori twin bed frame. The reviewer tracked ease of climbing in, sleep quality, comfort during movement, spill and rough-play resistance, edge support, and how cool covers felt, selecting picks spanning different constructions, price points and features from brands including Saatva, Birch and Helix.
A review of the fourth-generation Apple Watch Ultra reports incremental upgrades over its predecessor, including more accurate health sensors and extended battery life. The reviewer notes the device doesn't introduce a radically new design or feature set but refines existing capabilities.
Apple TV released a trailer for Nocturne, a new thriller adapted from Lars Kepler's novel "The Sandman." The series stars Liev Schreiber and Zazie Beetz, with Stephen Graham playing the serial killer antagonist, and launches October 30 with two episodes before continuing weekly through December 25.
Tom's Hardware evaluated 13 portable chargers spanning 5,000 mAh single-port units at 22W up to 25,000 mAh multi-port models delivering 220W. Prices ranged from the Cuktech CP12 (10K/20W) at $24.99 to the Anker Prime (A110B) 20K/220W at $129.99, with some units charging fully in four to six hours and others faster. The units differed in included cables, displays versus simple LED indicators, and physical design.
WIRED's 2026 smartwatch guide picks the Apple Watch Series 12, priced at $399, as the best option for iPhone owners, and Google's $400 Pixel Watch 5 as the top choice for Android users. The review highlights the Series 12's new Health Sensing System, S11 chip, more frequent heart rate and HRV tracking, a new Readiness score, and faster charging, while noting battery life remains largely unchanged.