Latest Tech News

Stay updated with the latest in technology, AI, cybersecurity, and more

Filtered by: ds Clear Filter

Deals: M4 Mac mini $499 or $120 off 24GB model, 48GB MacBook Pro $300 off, more

Alongside a host of hangover Father’s Day deals, including $100 off iPad mini 7 and the lowest prices of the year on both AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4, today’s best discounts are headlined by the M4 Mac mini. The base model is now starting down at $499 with $100 in savings while upgraded models are as much as $120 off the list prices at Amazon. We also spotted a notable $300 price drop on the 48GB MacBook Pro with the M4 Pro chip as well as a host of charging gear and accessories waiting down bel

Your Passwords Are Lazy and Hackers Love It. CNET Survey Finds 49% of US Adults Have Risky Password Habits

It feels like I have a password for everything: my bank account, my Amazon Echo Show and even my Netflix app. With so many different devices and accounts, coming up with unique, strong passwords -- and remembering them -- can be overwhelming. It's tempting to get lazy and use the same password for multiple accounts. It's a relatable move, and it's one scammers are counting on. The risks of using old passwords or including personal information in a new one is a big risk to your data and identity

As grocery shortages persist, UNFI says it’s recovering from cyberattack

Food distribution giant United Natural Foods (UNFI) said it is making “significant progress” in recovering from a cyberattack that occurred almost two weeks ago, as grocery stores across North America reliant on the distributor continue to report food shortages. UNFI said in an update on Sunday that it was restoring its electronic ordering systems, which its customers use to place orders for their grocery stores and supermarkets. The company, which provides more than 30,000 stores across the U

Now it’s easier than ever to download Spotify playlists to your Apple Watch

If you’ve ever forgotten to download Spotify playlists to your Apple Watch before a walk, run, or cycle ride, a new feature should make life much easier. Instead of having to manually download to the Watch, you can use any Apple device to queue up playlist downloads, which will happen the next time you open Spotify on your Watch. The same feature also allows you to queue downloads for any other Apple device, like an iPad … Spotify lets you download playlists to up to five devices at a time, bu

WhatsApp is officially getting ads

is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO. WhatsApp is rolling out ads. In an update on Monday, Meta announced that it will now show ads from businesses through its Stories-like status feature. The status feature lives within WhatsApp’s “Updates” tab and allows users to share disappearing text, photo, voice notes, or video messages. But now, you might see sponsored content in addition to th

WhatsApp to start showing more adverts in messaging app

WhatsApp to start showing more adverts in messaging app 1 hour ago Share Save Zoe Kleinman • @zsk Technology editor Share Save Getty Images WhatsApp is launching three new ad features in a global roll-out across the messaging app. The Meta-owned platform says the new ads will not be shown in the same place as people's private chats, nor will the contents of their messages - which are encrypted - be used to decide which ads to display. WhatsApp will instead use the country, city and language o

Meta is finally bringing ads to WhatsApp

It took 11 years since Facebook acquired it for $19 billion, but Meta is finally bringing ads to WhatsApp, marking a major change for an app whose founders shunned advertising. Meta announced Monday that businesses will now be able to run so-called status ads on WhatsApp that prompt users to interact with the advertisers via the app's messaging features. The ads will only be shown to users within WhatsApp's "Updates" tab to separate the promotions from people's personal conversations. Additiona

Second analyst backs claim that AirPods Pro 3 won’t launch this year

It had been widely expected that AirPods Pro 3 would launch sometime in 2025, in part based on reports from reliable leakers, in part simply because an update is due. AirPods Pro 2 will be three years old by this year’s iPhone launch. But Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said last month that the new model won’t launch until next year, and that view has now reportedly been echoed in a new timeline … While 9to5Mac has not been able to independently verify the existence of the timeline, a Korean chip i

Acefast Acefit Air Review: Sleek Style, Solid Substance

In the swelling tide of open earbuds, it can be easy to overlook an underdog. When Acefast’s Acefit Air first came to my attention, they seemed like any other pair of budget ear hooks, the baseline design for buds that let you listen to tunes while keeping your ears open to the world. I was delightfully surprised once I got them out of the box, starting with their spyware-thin charging case harboring stylishly slim buds with a touch of metallic flair. The Acefit Air’s daily performance is simil

WhatsApp is adding ads to the Status screen

After years of providing free services without any bells attached, WhatsApp is now going to start showing ads on the popular chat app. To be clear, users will only see ads on the Status screen — the app’s take on Instagram’s Stories. So just like you see an ad after watching a few stories on Instagram, you will see ads on WhatsApp after you’ve scrolled through a few Status updates. The company said that its ad mechanism uses signals like users’ country or city, language, and the channels they’

Repair technician finds three of four RTX 4090s were fakes packing RTX 3000-series GPUs

Why it matters: The surprisingly common practice of replacing a high-end graphics card's GPU with a different one from a cheaper card, borking it in the process, isn't going away. A Chinese repair technician uploaded a video to YouTube showing that of the four faulty RTX 4090 cards he recently received, three of them packed RTX 3090 or RTX 3080 dies. The YouTuber explains in the video that the customer in this case paid 10,000 yuan ($1,392) for each graphics card, which were purchased from an o

Topics: 4090 card cards fake rtx

You're Getting Lazy With Your Passwords and Hackers Love It. CNET Survey Finds 49% of US Adults Have Risky Password Habits

It feels like I have a password for everything: my bank account, my Amazon Echo Show and even my Netflix app. With so many different devices and accounts, coming up with unique, strong passwords -- and remembering them -- can be overwhelming. It's tempting to get lazy and use the same password for multiple accounts. It's a relatable move, and it's one scammers are counting on. The risks of using old passwords or including personal information in a new one is a big risk to your data and identity

OnePlus is readying 5 new devices for its July launch, including a smaller Watch 3 and Buds 4

TL;DR OnePlus has announced its Summer Launch event, which is set for July 8. The event will feature five new devices, though not all will be available in the US. The launch includes the OnePlus Buds 4 with dual drivers and low-latency features, and the smaller OnePlus Watch 3 (43mm). In addition to wearables and earbuds, OnePlus will also unveil the OnePlus Pad Lite tablet, the OnePlus Nord 5, and Nord CE 5. OnePlus has been making not just great phones, but also some great audio and wearabl

Got a new password manager? How to clean up the credential mess you left in the cloud

koyu/Getty Images Every modern web browser has tools for tracking the passwords you use with secure online services. Those features are often turned on by default, which means you probably have a random collection of passwords saved in the cloud along with your bookmarks and settings for your default browser. Also: The best password managers: Expert tested Those built-in utilities might have been good enough for an earlier era, but they aren't good enough for our complex, multi-platform wor

Best Wi-Fi Extenders of 2025

Editor's Note: We think you should be aware that TP-Link routers are under investigation by the US government over security concerns and could be banned in the US this year, according to multiple news reports. The TP-Link Archer RE605X was previously named our best overall choice for Wi-Fi extenders. While our evaluation of the hardware hasn't changed, out of extreme caution for our readers, we decided to pause it as our top recommendation until we learn more. Read CNET's reporting for more info

What Deep Learning Reveals About Consumer Engagement

Predicting how users will engage with ads can be challenging. Traditionally, advertising companies use cookies and embedded monitoring codes that produce a record of how users engage with ad content. But when it comes to predicting user engagement ahead of time, a novel approach is needed. Zhong Ding of Xinjiang University and Xing Feng Fan of Sichuan International Studies University demonstrated a new, unique approach to predicting user engagement in a paper written for the 2024 International

Topics: ad ads data ding fan

SEO for chatbots: How Adobe aims to help brands get noticed in the age of AI

Adobe For years, Google has effectively been the sole gatekeeper to online advertising, determining which brands get seen and which get lost in the noise. That paradigm is slowly but surely starting to shift, as people increasingly turn to AI chatbots like ChatGPT to find information online. Brands are having to adjust their marketing strategies in response. On Monday, Adobe introduced a platform designed to help advertisers capitalize on the wave of large language models (LLMs) that's been sw

Anker’s Soundcore Sleep earbuds finally feature active noise canceling

is a senior reporter who’s been covering and reviewing the latest gadgets and tech since 2006, but has loved all things electronic since he was a kid. Anker has announced a new version of its wireless sleep buds that could be even more effective at delivering a peaceful slumber by blocking out disturbing noises using active noise cancellation. Previous versions of the Soundcore Sleep earbuds blocked external sounds passively using just a snug fit inside the ear, but the new Sleep A30 finally ad

Today's NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for June 16, #470

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles. Today's NYT Strands puzzle will hit all the right notes with musicians. If you need hints and answers, read on. I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. If you're looking for today's Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET's NYT

Delightfully irreverent Underdogs isn’t your parents’ nature docuseries

National Geographic/Eleanor Paish Madagascar's aye-aye: "as if fear and panic had a baby and rolled it in dog hair" Madagascar's aye-aye: "as if fear and panic had a baby and rolled it in dog hair" National Geographic/Eleanor Paish National Geographic/Simon De Glanville An emerald jewel wasp emerges from a cockroach. An emerald jewel wasp emerges from a cockroach. National Geographic/Simon De Glanville National Geographic/Tom Walker A pack of African hunting dogs is no match for the honey badger

How to build the best keyboard in the world

The term “endgame,” among keyboard enthusiasts, is sort of a running gag. Endgame is when you finally dial in your perfect layout, case, features, switches, and keycaps, so you can stop noodling around with parts and get on with whatever it is you actually use the keyboard for — work, presumably. Then a few months later you see something shiny and start over. In the search for endgame, most of us have to compromise somewhere — usually time or money. Sometimes the thing you’re looking for just d

Norbauer Seneca review: a $3,600 luxury keyboard for the keyboard obsessed

Some people can tell great wine from okay wine. They go on wine tastings, take wine tours. They tend to spend more money on wine than most. I am not one of those people. I can tell wine from vinegar if you show me the bottle. I am just a little bit obsessed with keyboards, though. I have spent the past couple of months typing on the Seneca, a fully custom capacitive keyboard that starts at $3,600 and might be the best computer keyboard ever built. I’ve also made a bunch of other people type on

Bioprospectors mine microbial genomes for antibiotic gold

In brief The discovery of penicillin nearly 100 years ago started a gold rush to find new antimicrobials. Scientists mined microscopic bacteria and fungi for compounds that could help fight off infection. But over time the rate of antimicrobial discoveries slowed to a crawl. Now, modern-day bioprospectors are using genomics, synthetic biology, and AI to dig deeper than they ever have before. A new golden age of antibiotics may be upon us, say some on the hunt, though getting a drug candidate int

Fixing the mechanics of my bullet chess

I’ve been playing chess a long time now, and I’ve always been a good deal better (maybe a couple hundred ELO points) at blitz (3+0 or 5+0) than bullet (1+0). Well, I may have just fixed that. I changed how I move pieces this afternoon and have gained about 100 ELO already. When I play on a computer, I usually drag-and-drop pieces. But it turns out you can also move pieces by clicking first on your piece and then the target square. An analysis of my recent games indicates this shift saved me abou

Do these nine things to protect yourself against hackers and scammers

Scammers are using AI tools to create increasingly convincing ways to trick victims into sending money, and to access the personal information needed to commit identity theft. Deepfakes mean they can impersonate the voice of a friend or family member, and even fake a video call with them! The result can be criminals taking out thousands of dollars worth of loans or credit card debt in your name. Fortunately there are steps you can take to protect yourself against even the most sophisticated sca

The Best Water Filter Pitcher for 2025

As mentioned earlier in this article, there are quite a variety of contaminants worth removing from your tap water. The team here at our lab settled on three primary tests to benchmark the efficacy of these filters: TDS, pH and chlorine. Before we began the actual testing process, each pitcher was removed from the packaging, cleaned and then prepared per the manufacturer's instructions. This is very important, as most of these filters utilize activated carbon filtration, which will deposit sedim

Starlink Speeds Are Improving, But Only 17% of Customers Get the FCC’s Minimum

Starlink speeds have doubled in the past two years, according to a new report from the speed test site Ookla. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) Median download speeds from the satellite internet provider have steadily ticked up over the past few years, going from 53.95 megabits per second in 2022 to 104.71Mbps today. That’s an impressive feat considering Starlink added about 5 million customers over the same period and recently passed the 6 million mar

Best Internet Providers in Madison, Wisconsin

What is the best internet provider in Madison? CNET's top pick for the best internet provider in Madison is AT&T Fiber. The provider offers a wide variety of plan options, transparent pricing and the fastest internet in the area with speeds of up to 5,000Mbps. If AT&T Fiber isn't available at your address, Spectrum is another reliable choice with citywide coverage and plans starting at $30 per month. Be warned, however, that Spectrum's prices increase after the first year. But Spectrum isn't t

Today's NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for June 15, #735

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles. Today's NYT Connections puzzle has one mention of Father's Day to mark the holiday. It's not super tough -- maybe race Dad to see who can complete it fastest. Read on for clues and today's Connections answers. The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle.

Today's NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for June 15, #469

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles. Today's NYT Strands puzzle celebrates Father's Day, but in kind of an oddball way. If you need hints and answers, read on. I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. If you're looking for today's Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit