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If there’s one mobile trend in the past decade that I’ll proudly stand by, it’s the fact that cheap phones are getting good. Really good. In today’s market, buying a phone that costs a fraction of the latest flagship iPhone or Samsung Galaxy doesn’t mean settling for a noticeably inferior experience. Instead, manufacturers have begun to bring core features such as wireless charging, 5G, and high-performance processors downmarket, making the more accessible tier of handsets…

Segway/ZDNET The Segway Max G2 is an electric, kick-style scooter that’s a great, eco-friendly way to commute to work or school, run errands, or visit friends. During Best Buy’s lead-up to their official Black Friday sale, you can save $600 on one, bringing the price down to $800. Also: October Prime Day: Here’s everything you need to know The Segway Max G2 has a maximum range of 43 miles (69 kilometers) and a top speed…

Don’t forget credit/ZDNET Right now at Amazon, you can pick up this Nintendo Switch bundle for just $360 ahead of Black Friday. Which means you can beat the day-of rush of like-minded shoppers. Along with the standard Switch console and neon red/blue Joy-Con controllers, you’ll also get a digital download code for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and a redemption code for 3 months of Nintendo Online (a $60 total value). Also: Nintendo Switch OLED vs…

Screenshot by Jason Perlow/ZDNET For decades, the friendship between Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock symbolized Star Trek’s core message of unity and hope. But for fans like me, their story felt unfinished — until now. As a lifelong Star Trek fan, I have always cherished the bond between Kirk and Spock. Their friendship was the heartbeat of the original series, embodying humanity’s best ideals by transcending logic and emotion. This is why Star Trek: Generations …

Kulpreya Chaichatpornsuk/Getty Images Most people are keeping a close eye out for online scams these days, but if you’re not careful, you might do the scammers’ work for them. A new study from Gen, the company behind cybersecurity brands like Norton, Avast, LifeLock, AVG, ReputationDefender, and CCleaner, shines some light on “scam yourself” attacks that are on the rise dramatically. Instead of using other nefarious methods, these scams rely on social engineering to get people…

If someone was trying to send a message, there can be little doubt that it has been received: undersea cables are incredibly vulnerable, and can be cut at any time. While the cables are expected to be repaired within a matter of days, and alternative connections exist in the Baltic Sea, attention has already turned to who was behind the apparent attack. On that score, the foreign ministers of Germany and Finland, Annalena Baerbock and…

Existing support for Nvidia and Intel chips The AMD partnership is just the latest effort by IBM to expand its AI accelerator options for cloud users. In October, it announced that IBM Cloud users could access Nvidia H100 Tensor Core GPU instances in virtual private cloud and managed Red Hat OpenShift environments. The H100 Tensor Core GPUs were added to a family of Nvidia GPUs and software that IBM already supported. At the time, IBM…

Volha Yemialyantsava/Getty Images If you rely on ChatGPT for your everyday workflow, you are likely used to having a tab open with the chatbot on your desktop at all times. Now, right from your desktop, you’ll have the chance to access OpenAI’s Advanced Voice Mode — and you’ll want to.  Also: Google’s Gemini Advanced gets a very useful ChatGPT feature – but how does it compare? On Tuesday, OpenAI announced — via an X post — that…

Kerry Wan/ZDNET All of the major AI chatbots are updated regularly with new features to better compete in the saturated and always-evolving chatbot market. Many times, this means taking inspiration from each other, and Google just took a page out of ChatGPT’s book with this latest feature.  Also: Microsoft makes it easier for users to create AI agents in Copilot Studio On Tuesday, Google shared via an X post that Gemini will now be able…

The holiday shopping season is almost here, which means it’s the perfect time to save big on gaming PCs, laptops, and accessories. Retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart are running early Black Friday discounts and deals on everything from high-end content creation laptops to external SSDs and gaming monitors.  Also: The best Black Friday deals live now I test gaming PCs and laptops at ZDNET, and am an avid gamer myself. To help you…