Category: Technologies

A federal appeals court reportedly ruled on Tuesday that Apple can’t keep selling its Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the US with the blood oxygen feature under a patent dispute, according to Bloomberg. The company had initially stopped selling the wearables because of an ongoing legal battle with health tech company Masimo over the blood oxygen detection feature in those watches and had resumed selling them over the holidays before this latest decision by the federal appeals court.

The US International Trade Commission, the federal agency that handles trade-related mandates, previously issued an order that would prohibit Apple from importing the Series 9 and Ultra 2. The decision came after a US judge ruled in January that Apple had infringed on Masimo patents related to the technology used in Apple’s blood oxygen sensing system. The order was under presidential review until Dec. 25 and became final on Dec. 26 after US Trade Representative Katherine Tai decided not to reverse the ITC’s decision.

Apple received a temporary win in December after an Appeals Court paused the ban, allowing Apple to resume selling the devices. While Apple waited for the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to weigh in on the issue, the company set up a plan to sell versions of the Apple Watch 9 and Ultra 2 that had pulled the blood oxygen monitoring features subject to the dispute, according to Bloomberg.

“Apple strongly disagrees with the ITC’s decision. In addition to the appeal at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Apple is vigorously pursuing legal and technical options to ensure that we can continue to provide consumers with Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, including having submitted a proposed redesigned Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 for US Customs approval,” Apple’s statement said.

The Apple Watch is one of Apple’s most important products and has helped make the company’s wearables, home and accessories business its second-largest product category, behind the iPhone. Apple has previously said the size of its wearables unit alone equals that of a Fortune 150 company. Smartwatches were also among the top products sold during the Black Friday period, according to holiday shopping data from Adobe.

Apple began pausing online sales of the affected watches on Dec. 21 and halted in-store sales on Dec. 24. The ITC order specifically applies to sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 through Apple in the US. The watches have remained on sale through Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart and Target. The Apple Watch SE, which doesn’t include a blood oxygen detection feature, is not affected.

Apple issued the following statement in response to the initial ITC decision.

“At Apple, we work tirelessly to create products and services that meaningfully impact users’ lives. It’s what drives our teams — Clinical, Design and Engineering — to dedicate years to developing scientifically validated health, fitness and wellness features for Apple Watch, and we are inspired that millions of people around the world have benefited greatly from this product. We strongly disagree with the USITC decision and resulting exclusion order, and are taking all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the U.S. as soon as possible.”

Masimo CEO Joe Kiani had said the January decision “should help restore fairness in the market.”

Can I buy the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 from other retailers?

The Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 are both on sale again at retailers in addition to Apple. The ITC order affected US sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 through Apple, but 9to5Mac points out that the order prohibited Apple from importing these watches and selling them to resellers, which could limit the watches’ availability should both watches become restricted from sale at a later date.

The order only applied to sales in the US, meaning the Series 9 and Ultra 2 were still available abroad.

Best Buy and Walmart both confirmed that they would continue selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. Amazon and Target did not respond to CNET’s question about whether the affected watches will continue to be sold, but all four retailers continued offering both watches through their websites.

Which Apple Watch models are affected?

The Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 are the only models affected. Since the legal dispute involves the blood oxygen sensing tech used in the Apple Watch, the Apple Watch SE continues to be sold as usual. The Apple Watch SE is the lower-end model in Apple’s lineup, meaning it’s missing some health tracking features like blood oxygen sensing and the ability to take an ECG.

Current Apple Watches with blood oxygen monitoring, which includes any non-SE models starting with the Series 6, also remain unaffected. There is no impact for those who already own the Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2.

What is Masimo and why did Apple halt sales?

Masimo is a medical technology company that creates professional and consumer health products, including a smartwatch called the Masimo W1. The ITC order is the latest development in an ongoing legal dispute between Apple and Masimo, in which the latter accused Apple of infringing on its pulse oximeter patents.

What happens next?

Apple said it’s pursuing a range of legal and technical options to permanently resume Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 sales.

Apple is awaiting the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to hear the company’s motion for a stay on the temporary lifting of the sales ban, which is expected to take place as early as Jan. 15. Apple is requesting that sales be allowed during the entire duration of the company’s appeal.

Apple is also working on a proposed redesign in an effort to no longer infringe on Masimo’s patents, about which the customs office will review and issue a ruling on Jan. 12, according to Reuters.

Apple didn’t provide details about what the proposed redesign entails. Ahead of the decision being finalized, Bloomberg reported that Apple was developing a software change that alters how the watches monitor and present blood oxygen levels as a workaround.

If I can’t buy an Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2, what are my alternatives?

Those with an iPhone who just want a smartwatch for tracking activity, workouts and sleep should consider the $249 Apple Watch SE. While it lacks ECG and blood oxygen monitoring, it can still provide notifications for high and low heart rates and irregular heart rhythms.

The Apple Watch SE is the best choice for those who are most comfortable in Apple’s ecosystem, but other options work across iPhone and Android, like the Fitbit Versa 4 and Garmin Venu 3.

Those who are specifically looking to monitor blood oxygen levels from home should consider buying a standalone pulse oximeter, said Jennifer Schrack, a professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“Consumer wearables are a great supplemental way for people to stay informed about their health, but they are subject to error,” Schrack said over email. “It is important to remember that they are measuring blood oxygen using PPG sensors, which can be affected by things like skin tone.”

Apple released the iOS 17.3 release candidate to public beta testers and developers on Wednesday, about a week after the tech giant released iOS 17.3 beta 3. The latest update brings a few new features, like Stolen Device Protection, as well as bug fixes to the iPhones of beta testers and developers.

We recommend downloading the RC only on something other than your primary device. Since this isn’t the final version of iOS 17.3, these features might be buggy and battery life may be short, and it’s best to keep those troubles on a secondary device.

If you’re a developer or public beta tester, here are some of the new features you can find in the iOS 17.3 RC. Note that the RC isn’t the final version of iOS 17.3, so these might not be the only new features to land on your iPhone when iOS 17.3 is released. There’s no word on the public release for iOS 17.3 just yet, but Apple could release the update to the general public next week.

Stolen Device Protection

Apple introduced Stolen Device Protection in iOS 17.3 beta 1, which aims to help protect you and the data on your iPhone. Here’s what Apple writes about the new feature:

Testing is now available for Stolen Device Protection. This new feature adds an additional layer of security in the unlikely case that someone has stolen your phone and also obtained your passcode.

• Accessing your saved passwords requires Face ID to be sure it’s you.

• Changing sensitive settings like your Apple ID password is protected by a security delay.

• No delay is required when iPhone is at familiar locations such as work and home.

According to CNET’s David Lumb, Stolen Device Protection requires you to enter your biometric authentication, like Face ID and Touch ID, multiple times to access some of your sensitive settings and information. This is an optional security feature, but Apple recommends everyone turn it on.

Once you’ve updated your iPhone, it should prompt you to enable Stolen Device Protection. If you didn’t see a prompt or you skipped it for later, you can turn the feature on by going to Settings > Face ID and Passcode and tapping Turn On Protection under Stolen Device Protection.

Read more: Apple’s New iOS 17 Security Feature Blocks Opportunistic iPhone Thieves

New Unity wallpaper

In honor of Black History Month, Apple is releasing a new wallpaper, called Unity Bloom, for all devices that run iOS 17.3. According to Apple, the wallpaper shows an outline of flowers that will fill with color once the display is active.

The return of Apple Music collaborative playlists

Apple announced collaborative playlists in Apple Music at WWDC 2023 in June, and the feature was included in some beta versions of iOS 17.2. Apple removed this feature from the final version of iOS 17.2. With iOS 17.3 beta 1, Apple brings collaborative playlists back, allowing multiple people to edit and control shared playlists in Apple Music.

And with iOS 17.3 beta 2, Apple introduced the ability to react with an emoji to a song in a collaborative playlist that someone else added. That way you can let someone know instantly if you like a song or not in the playlist.

Here are the full release notes for the iOS 17.3 RC:

About This Update

Stolen Device Protection

Stolen Device Protection increases security of iPhone and Apple ID by requiring Face ID or Touch ID with no passcode fallback to perform certain actions.

Security Delay requires Face ID or Touch ID, an hour wait, and then an additional successful biometric authentication before sensitive operations like changing device passcode or Apple ID password can be performed.

Lock Screen

New Unity wallpaper honors Black history and culture in celebration of Black History Month.

Music

Collaborate on playlists allows you to invite friends to join your playlist and everyone can add, reorder, and remove songs.

Emoji reactions can be added to any track in a collaborative playlist.

This update also includes the following improvements:

AirPlay hotel support lets you stream content directly to the TV in your room in select hotels.

AppleCare & Warranty in Settings shows your coverage for all devices signed in with your Apple ID.

Crash detection optimizations (all iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 models).

Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222

Those are some of the new features developers and beta testers will see in the iOS 17.3 RC. That doesn’t mean these are the only features coming to the next iOS update, or that these changes will stick when iOS 17.3 is released to the public.

For more on iOS 17, check out what was included in iOS 17.2 and iOS 17.1. You can also check out our iOS 17 cheat sheet.

Google searches on your high-end Android phones are going to get substantively more powerful thanks to the new Circle to Search feature, the company said in a press release on Wednesday. The feature allows you to pull up Google while using any app, circle or highlight any text or object and, with the power of AI, get results instantly. This enhanced version of visual search will launch on the Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S24 line of phones on Jan. 31.

Circle to Search, as the name suggests, lets you circle any object to search for it. For example, if you see a TikTok featuring funky-looking corn dogs, you can swipe up to bring up the Google app and circle the food item with your finger. Using AI, Google will give you the brief on Korean corn dogs. The AI can also explain the cultural relevance of Korean food in the current gastronomical zeitgeist.

The power here isn’t only being able to search any object or text you see on your screen but doing so without having to fumble between multiple apps.

This announcement coincides with Samsung’s announcement today of the same feature coming to the new Galaxy S24 line of phones. At the moment, other phones with this more powerful in-app version of Google Search haven’t been announced.

Google’s continued love affair with AI comes after ChatGPT upended its Search mojo in late 2022. When ChatGPT launched, the AI chatbot could seemingly answer any question with unique answers. Compared with a standard Google search, which brings up lists of websites requiring you to filter and find relevant information, ChatGPT did that for you. Both Google and Microsoft were quick to introduce AI chatbots of their own to stay competitive.

Since then, Microsoft’s AI investments has catapulted the company into becoming the most valuable in the world, overtaking Apple earlier this month. Google is also integrating AI into more of its products, from Search itself with Search Generative Experience to the camera app on its Pixel devices. Considering that generative AI is estimated to bring in up to $4.4 trillion annually, according to McKinsey, companies are rushing to be at the cutting edge to maintain market dominance.

Along with Circle to Search, Google said that multisearch in Lens is also getting an AI-powered upgrade. In the past, if you saw a dress you liked, Google Lens would be able to identify that dress and you could then ask Google to search for variations in green. Now those visual matches will give AI-powered insights, allowing you to ask more nuanced questions. The example Google posits is seeing a board game at a yard sale without the box. Google Lens can soon identify the game and you can ask what that game is called and how it can be played.

Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create some stories. For more, see this post.

Android fans have long appreciated the top-tier quality of Samsung phones. They’re consistently ranked among the best phones you can get, and now devotees can preorder the latest Samsung Galaxy lineup. While Samsung had its own reservation deal for early birds, we’ve gathered all the best preorder deals you can currently take advantage of to help you get your hands on one without paying full price.

Samsung launched the Galaxy S24 series at its Unpacked event on Wednesday. This new flagship comes with a number of solid upgrades over its predecessor, including bigger batteries and brighter screens and, most impressively, these phones are among some of the first smartphones to include generative AI capability directly on the device itself. That means users will be able to use generative AI anywhere, even when the device is offline. The new phones come equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which means performance for on-device AI should be speedy.

It’s worth noting that the gen AI features that will be available on the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus and S24 Ultra will also be coming to previous-gen phones in the S23 series along with the Z series later this year. That means you may still be able to take advantage of that particular upgrade for a bit less, with expected Galaxy S23 deals set to roll out as the latest models hit shelves.

Read more: Best Samsung Phones of 2024

How much does the Galaxy S24 cost?

The three models of the Galaxy S24 are available in various storage configurations. US pricing for each model is as follows:

• Samsung Galaxy S24 price: $800
• Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus price: $1,000
• Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra price: $1,300

That puts the Ultra at $100 more expensive than the S23 Ultra was at launch. However, it has a titanium frame this time around, which may account for the extra cost.

In terms of configuration upgrades, the S24 remains the same as its predecessor with 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage. The S24 Plus has 12GB of RAM, which is up from 8GB in the S23 Plus, and either 256GB or 512GB of storage. The Ultra is also sporting an upgraded 12GB of RAM and is available with 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of storage.

What colors does the Galaxy S24 come in?

The Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus come in yellow, violet, gray and black at retailers. However, if you order directly from Samsung, you will also be able to order green, blue and orange hues.

Best Galaxy S24 preorder deals

At its Galaxy Unpacked event Wednesday, Samsung rolled out its new Galaxy S24 and S24 Ultra phones along with a promise to support its phones for longer. Before it got into the AI features, bigger batteries and brighter screens of the S24 models, Samsung announced it has extended the OS and security updates for its phones. It will now offer seven years’ worth of security updates along with seven generations of Android upgrades.

Seven years of security and OS upgrades is a big jump up from the five years of security and four years of OS updates in last year’s Galaxy S23 models and puts Samsung on par with Google’s pledge of seven years of updates for its Pixel 8 phones.

Days after reviewing Meta’s newest VR headset, the Quest 3, last fall, I was hospitalized with high blood pressure. Although the two events were unrelated, the latter changed my life quite a bit. Besides needing to pay even more attention to my eating habits, and going on a lot of new meds, I was told to focus on getting regular cardio exercise. These were familiar reminders: I’ve faced this path before.

When I told a friend I needed to exercise more, she recommended a VR fitness app called Supernatural on the Quest. I laughed because I’d already tried it, but this time I was hearing a testimonial from someone I didn’t even know used VR. She got the Quest 2 as a gift earlier in the year and has been using it ever since. So I joined again too.

I’ve been doing daily VR workouts for months now. The Quest 3 headset is my purpose-based fitness device. Meanwhile, downstairs, my oldest son plays Beat Saber and The Walking Dead on Quest 2. For him, it’s his game console.

The future is now the present. Welcome to VR and AR, circa 2024. While Apple and its forthcoming Vision Pro, arriving in February, represent an exciting potential future for the technology, Meta’s Quest and headsets like it are the already real and sometimes functional present.

But can these devices do even more? Can they transcend being game consoles, fitness devices and experimental toys? Will VR and AR, in a sense, grow up? It’s something I’ve seen slowly emerging throughout the pandemic years and the obsession with the metaverse, but in 2024 we may finally see products and apps that bring virtual augmented reality into the same functional universe as our phones and computers, maybe finally leading to mass adoption like smartphones over a decade ago.

Apple Vision Pro: The device that could change the landscape

I’ve seen the immediate future of AR and VR. Apple’s Vision Pro headset, arriving Feb. 2, melds camera feeds of the real world with incredibly high-fidelity virtual visuals. It’s a technique previously used by Meta and in higher-end headsets like the Varjo XR-3 and XR-4, but Apple has refined the interface with hand and eye tracking that, at least in early demos I’ve had, feels remarkably easy and fluid.

Apple is also changing the sales pitch by replacing the terms “VR” and “AR” with its own phrase: “spatial computing.” Instead of focusing on games or fitness or even social connection to start, the company’s marketing discusses how the Vision Pro can run all sorts of iOS apps and connect with Macs. Apple also emphasized a wearable display that’s good enough for viewing movies and photos in fantastic quality. In my demos, that’s actually what impressed me most. Apple’s going big on supporting 3D movies and immersive videos in Vision Pro right out of the gate.

The Vision Pro headset is Apple’s first major new product since the Apple Watch and is the most anticipated new piece of hardware in the VR/AR space since the original Oculus Rift. Despite its high price ($3,499) and likely limited availability, the Vision Pro could completely redefine virtual and augmented reality devices for the next decade. Or it could be another product blip in a landscape of forgotten headsets. Based on Apple’s history of successful products, the former seems more likely to me.

However, Apple’s starting out from the beginning and with likely missing features that VR veterans might have expected. It’s Apple’s style to launch products with limited features at first and gradually add more over time. It means that the Vision Pro is emphasizing visual quality and working with iOS apps at launch instead of gaming and fitness, which means Apple and Meta are, for the moment, pursuing different paths.

Will app compatibility with mixed reality become a larger trend after Vision Pro? It needs to be. Will Apple’s controller-free design push other manufacturers to think of their own hand-and-eye interfaces, too? It seems likely. Meta already wants to eventually sell its VR headsets without controllers.

Mixed reality at large

Everyday AR glasses, where virtual images and information appear in the lenses alongside the reality you see, aren’t a thing yet. There are many roadblocks: prescription concerns, safety, social acceptance, app compatibility, gesture interfaces, and also just keeping them running for more than an hour on a charge.

In the meantime, VR with mixed reality has become the stand-in. Meta’s Quest headsets, Apple’s Vision Pro, Varjo’s industrial headsets and likely every VR headset going forward will have capabilities to blend virtual things with the real world using depth sensors and improved headset cameras. Sony’s recently announced business-focused mixed reality headset, announced at CES and arriving in 2024, is yet another entry with its own flip-up visor.

The concept is still new, and so far, limited. Meta’s Quest 3 relegates mixed reality to being a gimmick in a few games right now. The Vision Pro, as we’ve seen so far, mostly uses mixed reality to float 2D displays over the real world.

In 2024, the door seems wide open for developers to figure out ways to apply toolkits used today in phone- and tablet-based AR apps like Pokemon Go. While we think of VR at the moment as being “Hey look at me, I’m in another world,” the experiential shift could move quickly to pockets of immersion embedded in real-world environments. The Quest 3 is a device I expect to lead that change.

Expect a new wave of apps

Apple won’t be the only new VR/AR platform in the picture. Samsung and Google and Qualcomm are about to debut their own mixed reality headset in 2024, likely offering another high-end alternative to the Vision Pro with a high-end display, but in a way that opens up development via Google’s software. It sounds like a return to Google’s long-dead Daydream dreams, but it’ll likely mean a whole new set of worlds opens up: Apple’s App Store, and very likely Google Play as well.

For Apple, it starts with familiar 2D iOS apps translated to a mixed reality interface, but the possibilities beyond that could get vast. Apple could add 3D movie support to Photos, for instance, or the Persona avatars to FaceTime. App developers already working with the VisionOS software are going to have to solve for different ideas than on the Quest’s hardware, which could also change the type of apps offered on each device. Games, for instance, won’t be able to use standard VR controllers on the Vision Pro: instead, we’ll have a lot of hand- and eye-tracking-driven apps.

Meta’s CTO, Andrew Bosworth, has already welcomed 2D apps onto the Quest platform, and told me that Google moving Play onto Quest would be “trivial.” It hasn’t happened yet. Google could open up Android into mixed reality as Apple opens iOS, both of these moves possibly opening the floodgates to developers who may not have been tempted by more limited Quest, PlayStation, Vive or SteamVR avenues. VR’s pipeline of new games and apps has slowed down over the past few years. Will Apple, Google and Samsung spark a new movement?

AI enters the mix

After a year entirely defined by AI, it’s no surprise that AI would somehow find its way into VR and AR. Especially for Meta, that’ll be a big part of 2024’s plans. Meta’s Bosworth and CEO Mark Zuckerberg already laid out AI-infused plans for their metaverse dreams at the last Meta Connect developer conference, and both the Quest 3 and Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses have new chipsets with more robust AI processing capabilities.

Wearables like Humane’s Ai Pin and Meta’s new Ray-Ban glasses will both use cameras to fuel AI on-device. Camera-driven AI, which should work in a similar spirit to how Google Lens “sees” the world to interpret the environment, objects and text, would make a ton of sense in camera-studded mixed reality headsets. There could be assistive uses, safety features or just better ways that software could recognize the world and fold augmented reality into it.

The greatest immediate movement in this space could come in smart glasses instead of VR headsets.

What about glasses? Or other wearables?

Qualcomm, and a number of other companies, are actively exploring ways to make glasses even smarter and more phone-connected. In the short term, glasses like Meta’s latest pair of Ray-Bans focus on being camera-enabled, microphone- and speaker-connected phone peripherals. In 2024, expect more layers of AI to help these devices listen and use camera data more intelligently, and maybe act more like wearable assistants.

Glasses with displays already exist from a number of companies including XReal, Lenovo and TCL. Expect more plug-in, monitor-on-your-face solutions in glasses form, especially since more devices are friendlier to USB-C connections and the display tech is improving constantly. I’ve already tried using an AR glasses-based “laptop,” so the idea is possible. Now they need to work better with regular glasses and feel less clunky.

We may even see some AR glasses that aim to do (in smaller forms) what mixed-reality VR headsets are doing. Still, the signs are clear that the progress in that zone has slowed down. Until mixed reality software improves, and phone manufacturers — namely, Apple and Google — find ways to dovetail glasses seamlessly as everyday phone peripherals, AR glasses won’t become a truly everyday thing for anyone.

Would I make my next pair of glasses a set of smart Ray-Bans? I’m already test-driving a prescription pair, and the experience is already sometimes profound. Smarter glasses will figure out the territory as VR headsets improve, and someday they’ll meet in the middle. That someday isn’t this year, and it won’t be the year after. In 2024, all VR and AR need to solve is finding a few more ways to be really useful. My family and I have already found a couple in fitness and gaming. I bet 2024 finds a few more.

There’s also the possibility that wrist accessories and other peripherals finally start entering the mix more for both VR and AR. Meta’s working to develop its own neural input-based wristband for AR glasses, and could be working on its own watch — possibly a device that does fitness tracking to work with its already-popular VR fitness apps like Supernatural. The Apple Watch already works with Supernatural for heart rate tracking, but the company hasn’t announced any watch-to-Vision Pro compatibility yet… although the Apple Watch is already adding hand gestures. Sony’s recently announced mixed reality headset includes a ring with gesture tracking, along with a handheld stylus, and Sony already has a content creator-focused full-body tracking system called Mocopi. Hand tracking may become the norm for headsets, but more wrist and body wearables are bound to emerge soon.

On Wednesday, LinkedIn rolled out some new job search features that the company hopes will make finding your next career move easier. The features are designed to help you find jobs that better align with your skills, values and your experience.

According to the personal finance publication GOBankingRates, more than 50% of adults are planning a major job shift this year. While everyone has different reasons for wanting to change careers, like balancing in-office and remote work needs, finding the right job can be stressful for almost everyone. LinkedIn’s new features hope to make the search easier and less stressful for all.

Here are the new job search features you can find on LinkedIn now.

New Collections feature

If you’re looking for a job related to one of your interests, like sports or gaming, but aren’t sure where to start, the new Collections feature could help you out.

According to LinkedIn, the Collections feature houses jobs from different categories, like clean energy and fashion, that match your interests, job preferences and values. That way you can find a relevant job you might not have thought of. You can find this feature under the Jobs tab.

More control over preferences

Have you ever found a job posting that sounds just right, only to scroll through the post and find the pay isn’t great, it’s a seasonal position or something else doesn’t work for you? LinkedIn hopes to cut back on this by giving you more control over your job preferences.

Now, you can set your job preferences based on things like employment type, pay preference and location type — remote, hybrid or on-site. Preference matches will be highlighted in green, so you don’t have to waste time reading through jobs that don’t fit what you’re looking for.

For more career help, here’s how to use a career break to your benefit and how to better showcase your individuality on LinkedIn.

The majority of laptops or PCs come with Windows preinstalled, but that’s not always the case, and procuring a Windows license from Microsoft is typically a massive extra expense for those building or upgrading a computer. The same is true when it comes to getting your hands on essential Microsoft Office applications. However, you can avoid paying full price with the bundle deal happening at StackSocial right now, which will snag you both Windows 11 Pro and Office Pro Plus 2019 for just $50. That’s an 87% discount on the $408 combined retail price, and both are lifetime licenses (for a single device). This offer is only available now through Jan. 22, so we recommend getting your order in sooner rather than later.

Windows 11 Pro is the most advanced Microsoft OS out there at the moment, and includes some exclusive features that you don’t get with the base version. That includes Microsoft Remote Desktop, BitLocker device encryption, Windows Sandbox, Hyper-V, Azure Active Directory and more. This offer includes lifetime access for up to three devices, but not all PCs will be compatible, so be sure to check it yours meets the system requirements before you purchase.

And this bundle also includes lifetime access to Office Pro Plus apps, which are used by schools and businesses around the world. The 2019 version is now a generation old and doesn’t include Microsoft Teams, but will still allow you to access popular programs like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and more. And this one-time purchase is a serious bargain compared with the usual subscription price for Microsoft 365, which starts at $7 per month or $70 for the year. Just note this deal includes lifetime access for only a single device, and Microsoft’s extended support for Office 2019 will end on Oct. 14, 2025.

Even so, this is a solid way to upgrade a laptop that doesn’t come with Windows 11 Pro or to gain access to Microsoft’s apps without signing up for a monthly payment. And if you’re in the market for new hardware too, be sure to check out our list of the best laptop deals available right now.

For Android fans looking to snag a new phone while keeping more cash in your pocket, Amazon has some serious deals that can help. Today is Samsung’s Unpacked event, and with Samsung’s new Galaxy S24 lineup set to hit shelves soon, you can score some substantial savings on the already budget-friendly Galaxy S23 FE. Right now you can get your hands on one of these devices for just $500, which cuts the cost by $100. Or snag a bundle with both the phone and a pair of Galaxy Buds FE earbuds for just $50 more — that’s a savings of $150 when compared to buying each at list price.

This device gets you all the most essential higher-end features without the price tag beefier phones in the lineup carry. It has a 6.4-inch AMOLED display, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, a 4,500-mAh battery capacity and 128GB of storage (though you can opt for the 256GB for $60 more). While those specs may not be the most advanced on the market, that’s still decent hardware that should meet the needs of the average user just fine. It also comes equipped with a 50-megapixel wide camera that can record 4K video at 60 frames per second and 8K at 24fps. It also delivers impressive low-light performance.

If you decide to pass on this model, be sure to check out our roundup of all the best phone deals happening now for savings on other models from Samsung, Google, Apple and more. We’ve also gathered earbuds and headphones deals so you can snag a new pair without paying full price.