With the recent release of the Apple Watch Ultra 2, it’s gotten easier to find discounts on its predecessor, the Apple Watch Ultra. It remains an impressive smartwatch, and right now you can score a grade A refurbished model for just $530 at Woot. That’s saves you a whopping $269 versus buying a new model at list price. This offer is available now through Dec. 20 while supplies last. However, supplies are limited, so we recommend making your purchase sooner rather than later to ensure you get one at this price.
The Apple Watch Ultra is designed to help you keep up with your health and wellness and stay connected on the go. It comes equipped with a large 49mm titanium case, an always-on display, plenty of GPS features for when you’re off the grid and this model has cellular compatibility as well. You’ll get up to 36 hours of battery life per charge and be able to track your activity, heart rate, sleep and more. It even has fall and crash detection for when emergencies arise. And of course you’ll be able to take calls, send messages, access Apple Pay and more, right from your wrist.
Refurbished products are a great way to save some cash, and grade A refurbished items have been returned, inspected and restored to fully working condition, with minimal signs of wear. Woot has The Apple Watch Ultra available with an Ocean band in yellow, white or midnight right now, so you can choose the color that best matches your style. Your purchase also comes with a 90-day warranty from Woot, just in case.
Not a fan of refurbished items? Be sure to check out our roundup of other Apple Watch deals happening now to find the best deals on a variety of new models.
Read more: Apple Watch Ultra 2 vs. Apple Watch Ultra: Comparing Each Rugged Watch
Google Play Movies & TV won’t be available on Android TV devices and the Google Play website for much longer. Last week, the company announced a final cutoff date along with other ways to buy movies and shows through Google and access your previous purchases.
The company has already done much to move away from Google Play Movies & TV. In 2022, it announced that Google TV would become the default destination for buying, renting and watching titles on Android mobile devices and tablets instead of Movies & TV in the Google Play app. In September, the company said that the shop tab would similarly fulfill the role of the Google Play Movies & TV app on Android TV devices starting Oct. 5.
In a recent blog post, the company said that over the next few weeks, Google Play Movies & TV will wrap up its run on the Google Play website and Android TV devices (given you have had access since Oct. 5). But you’ll still be able to view your purchases and active rentals on Android TV or Google TV devices, YouTube and the Google TV mobile app for Android and iOS. When you lose access to Google Play Movies & TV depends on your country and location, according to the company.
Where to find your purchases
Beginning Jan. 17, If you have a TV or streaming device powered by Android TV, the shop tab will be the main way to buy, rent and find previously purchased titles. Your purchases will appear in the “Your Library” row in the tab. If you have a cable box or set-top box powered by Android TV, you can buy, rent and locate your purchased titles through the YouTube app, per Google.
The Vikings’ and Bengals’ respective 2023 seasons have had plenty of similarities. After rough starts, both squads began to show signs of their playoff-hopeful selves before key injuries knocked them back down.
On Saturday, the two 7-6 teams meet in Cincinnati for a game that should be crucial for both groups’ playoff hopes. The Vikings outlasted the Raiders 3-0 in Week 14, while the Bengals had a much more impressive 34-14 victory over the Colts.
Kickoff is called for 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) on NFL Network and local channels in the two teams areas. Here is how you can watch, even if the game isn’t available on a local channel or if you don’t have cable or a streaming service with NFL Network.
Keep reading to see your options for watching Vikings vs. Bengals on live TV streaming services, and check out our full guide to streaming the NFL in 2023 for more viewing options.
Vikings vs. Bengals: When and where?
For Week 15 of the NFL season, the Bengals host the Vikings at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) on Saturday, Dec. 16. The game is set to take place at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, home of the Bengals.
How to watch, livestream Vikings vs. Bengals
This fixture is one of three games this Saturday that is exclusive to NFL Network. There are numerous options for accessing NFL Network, which we’ve listed below, but the most cost-effective way is via NFL Plus.
All the live TV streaming services above offer free trials, allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live TV streaming services guide.
Years after rival web browsers made the move, Google Chrome on Jan. 4 will begin blocking websites from using third-party cookies, the easiest way to track our online behavior as we move around the web.
The browser will block third-party cookies for 1% of users on computers and Android phones, said Anthony Chavez, leader of Google’s Privacy Sandbox project, in a blog post. Google will extend the block to all Chrome users by the end of 2024 under a schedule that has been pushed back several times in recent years.
The Chrome change, even though it so far only affects a small portion of people, is a momentous change for the web. Cookies, small text files that websites store on phones and PCs, have been used nearly since the dawn of the web, and ejecting them has been tough despite a growing effort to protect privacy online. Chrome is the dominant browser, accounting for 63% of web usage, according to analytics firm StatCounter.
Major browser competitors, including Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Brave, began blocking cookies years ago, and Microsoft Edge offers the same with a “strict” privacy setting, but Google moved more slowly. It was more cautious about undermining the online advertising industry, which supports many websites as well as advertisers. And the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority intervened in 2021 with concerns that Chrome blocking third-party cookies would give an unfair advantage to Google’s advertising business by letting the company track behavior on its own websites without third-party cookies.
Cookies have plenty of benign uses, like remembering your language preferences, protecting against fraud or making it easier to return to a site without having to log in again. Many of those uses involve first-party cookies, though, not third-party cookies that can be set by advertisers showing ads or social networks adding share buttons. And worse things can happen than seeing an ad for a particular shoe on Amazon after you looked at the product elsewhere on the web.
“In the worst cases, third-party cookies are used to track users around the web, building up a detailed profile of them that could include not only interests but also deeply personal information such as gender, sexuality, religion, political affiliation, etc.,” said Chris Mills, a technical writer who previously worked at Mozilla, in a post on the MDN site for web developers. “This information can be used to build creepy, invasive online experiences and is also sold to other third parties.”
Without cookies, some have employed tracking technologies that are more surreptitious and harder to block, like fingerprinting that identifies characteristics of your computing device. Now Google and others are working on replacements for at least some of what cookies offered, for example, helping advertisers know if their ads have been seen. Finding a way to help advertisers while protecting privacy has been tough, but Google believes it’s possible.
“As we work to make the web more private, we’ll provide businesses with tools to succeed online so that high quality content remains freely accessible — whether that’s news articles, videos, educational information, community sites or other forms of web content,” Chavez said.
Google has worked to build new tools to substitute for third-party cookies. For example, a programming interface called Topics is designed to help with targeted advertising without tracking your website activity. But even when that’s added to Chrome and other browsers like Edge based on its Chromium open-source foundation, other browsers like Safari and Firefox don’t support it.
Correction, Dec. 15: This story initially misstated the time when Google will start blocking third-party cookies for 1% of users. It plans to start Jan. 4.
Intel’s latest generation of its Meteor Lake mobile chip architecture has been trundling down the road for so long that the announcement of the actual chips has been somewhat anticlimactic — especially since it doesn’t offer much reason for most consumers to use AI. (The goal is still selling it to software makers.)
My colleague Stephen Shankland and I have already covered the new low-power E-core, which is intended to run light sustained workloads (think video streaming) without hitting the battery as much as the regular old E-cores. We understand why this AI push is so important to Intel’s business. We know how Intel rebranded the Meteor Lake chips as Core Ultra. The chips are made using the company’s latest Intel 4 process. And Intel is last to the announcement party; AMD and Qualcomm have already planted their flags.
While the new chips have a small, two-core neural processing unit, or NPU, for AI acceleration, Intel’s AI Boost uses the CPU and GPU as well, depending upon the type of workload: The CPU is used when speed is needed and the GPU for help with generative AI workloads.
Read more: AI Helps Chipmakers Design the Very Processors That Speed Up AI
That’s why you’ll hear Intel and AMD talk about AI performance metrics — TOPS, sometimes referred to as TeraOPS, or trillion operations per second — for the combined system rather than just the NPU. For the Ultra 7 165H chip, you get roughly up to 34 TOPS with 11 TOPS for the NPU, 18 TOPS for the GPU and the rest for the CPU.
In comparison, AMD says its XDNA in the new Ryzen 8040 series performs at 39 TOPS, attributing 16 TOPS to the NPU and the remainder to the CPU and GPU. So even though NPUs are getting big buzz, they actually only carry a small part of the AI workload in these chips.
But these numbers also only paint a part of the performance picture for AI because there’s no “typical” AI workload, and at the moment, no consistent methods of implementing it — there’s still a lot of shakin’ going on in the software.
The Ultra chips inside
Today’s chips will be shipping in a lot of laptops by the end of the month, with preorders starting today. Their specs and positioning will make way for a different class of chip and laptop announcements at CES.
The usual cavalcade of companies are on board, so be ready for new and refreshed laptops from Intel’s partners, including the Acer Swift Go 14 (starting at $800 with a Core Ultra 5 and up to an Ultra 7) and the Predator Triton Neo 16 gaming laptop (with up to a Core Ultra 9 and GeForce RTX 4070, starting at $1,500). The top end of each line of the Ultra 9, Ultra 7 and Ultra 5 will ship a little later: Laptops with those chips should be available around March.
Intel continues its recent tradition of planting the H series flag in the middle of the road. It’s for when you need a little more power than you can get with the U series, which is built for the thinnest designs. H series chips are for systems where you want discrete-ish graphics and are willing to trade off power for a little more weight.
In order to qualify for Evo Edition branding — Intel’s don’t-bother-thinking-before-you-buy imprimatur for systems that use lots of the latest technologies — the systems will need to incorporate a Core Ultra.
Intel has been pretty low-key about its battery-life discussions, but the gist seems to be that it’s seeing up to a 25% increase. More battery life is always better, but that probably still leaves Intel-based laptops lagging MacBooks. Sigh.
One of the more compelling reasons to look for the new Core Ultra H or U series in your next laptop is the updated integrated graphics engine. The H series will incorporate Intel’s latest generation of Arc graphics, which finally brings the company’s integrated graphics into the 2020s, and means it might be able to take on AMD’s Radeon integrated graphics. (They’ll hopefully get faster thanks to the new 700M used in the just-announced Ryzen 8040 series laptop processors.)
Both the Arc graphics and the updated (but even more generically dubbed) “Intel Graphics” based on the next generation of Xe GPU cores, LPG, improve support for the Endurance Gaming mode. That’s Intel’s way of making you think the performance is better by using AI-augmented upscaling (XeSS, similar to Nvidia’s DLSS) to reduce the amount of power gaming takes at the expense of quality. It upscales starting at a particularly low resolution.
The new iGPUs also add support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, which means they support modern technologies like raytracing and mesh shaders — in other words, higher-quality graphics. The Xe cores also have a faster version of its DP4A engine, which helps with GPU acceleration of AI for certain types of calculation.
Mobile H- and U-series processors
P-Cores/ max boost (GHz)
E-cores/ max boost (GHz)
LP E-cores
Total threads
Power class(base/boost watts)
GPU
GPU cores/ max boost (GHz)
Available
Core Ultra 9 185H
6/5.1
8/3.8
2
22
45/115
Arc Xe
8/2.35
Q1 2024
Core Ultra 7 165U
2/4.9
8/3.8
2
14
15-57
Xe
4/2.00
Q4 2023
Core Ultra 7 165H
6/5.0
8/3.8
2
22
28/64-115
Arc Xe
8/2.30
Q4 2023
Core Ultra 7 164U
2/4.8
8/3.8
2
14
9/30
Xe
4/1.80
Q1 2024
Core Ultra 7 155U
2/4.8
8/3.8
2
14
15-57
Xe
4/1.95
Q4 2023
Core Ultra 7 155H
6/5.0
8/3.8
2
22
28/64-115
Arc Xe
8/2.25
Q4 2023
Core Ultra 5 135U
2/4.4
8/3.6
2
14
15-57
Xe
4/1.90
Q4 2023
Core Ultra 5 135H
4/4.6
8/2.2
2
18
28/64-115
Arc Xe
7/2.20
Q4 2023
Core Ultra 5 134U
2/4.4
8/3.6
2
14
9/30
Xe
4/1.75
Q1 2024
Core Ultra 5 125U
2/4.3
8/3.6
2
14
15-57
Xe
4/1.85
Q4 2023
Core Ultra 5 125H
4/4.5
8/2.2
2
18
28/64-115
Arc Xe
7/2.20
Q4 2023
The more powerful Arc GPUs require systems with a minimum of 16GB memory, which may put a lower limit on prices. Intel makes a big deal about how much better the Arc performance is than its older GPU, but really, there’s no way it couldn’t improve on the previous generation.
Every generation brings new related capabilities. Not all laptops will support all the new features in this case, but they change the specs you should be looking for.
Core Ultra laptops should have Wi-Fi 6E support, for instance. That’s integrated into the silicon, but only a handful will offer Wi-Fi 7 at launch. Wi-Fi 7 is brand new, but it promises more stability and bandwidth, plus less channel crowding, using the 5 and 6MHz bands typical of 6E. I’ve had some problems with 6E signal detection, but when it works it’s faster than Wi-Fi 6/5, so I’m looking forward to Wi-Fi 7.
The new networking also includes support for Bluetooth 5.4, which has some new features over 5.3 — the most notable is bidirectional communications, which gives Bluetooth the potential for more sophisticated device-to-device interactions.
We’re already working on our review of an Acer Swift Go, so we’ll be back with more about how this year’s options compare to their predecessors.
Google Chrome turned 15 in September, and it is by far the most popular web browser, with 61% of market share as of November. But it’s fair to say that it’s a little boring right out of the box.
Thankfully, you don’t have to stick with the standard look. You can customize Chrome to be more colorful and useful, adjusting it to your tastes. Here’s how to change your theme, shortcuts and cards so it’s a little more fun to stare at all day.
And for more on Chrome, here’s how to copy a frame from a video without taking a screenshot, how to use all the new mobile features on Chrome and how to save your Gmail account from being deleted by Google
How to change your Chrome theme
Google’s latest update for Chrome makes it simpler to change your default desktop design from the standard white and gray color scheme. A new side panel enables you to access customization features and preview your browser design in real time, the company said Tuesday.
Here’s how you can now switch colors, background themes or other settings:
In the Chrome browser, open a new tab.
Click the Customize Chrome icon at the bottom of your screen.
The side menu will then pop up and present color options and the ability to upload your own image or change the theme.
Roughly 13 theme collections show up in the sidebar, allowing you to select options such as “Seascapes,” “Life” and “Latino Artists Collection.”
It’s a slight change. Previously you had to visit the Chrome Web Store to choose from a series of themes. However, you can still hop over to the web store to view a variety of options not shown in the side panel.
You can also swap out different color schemes within themes, adjusting it to your taste. Additionally, Google says you don’t have to stick to just one theme. After making your selection, toggle “Refresh daily” to set up a revolving queue of backdrops.
To make the customization process even more streamlined, Chrome automatically saves your edits, eliminating the need to click Done to apply your changes. Once you’ve modified your design, just close the side panel. You can always change it back to the flagship version of Chrome if you prefer.
Changing shortcuts on Chrome
Psst, there are some simple shortcuts that allow you to do some pretty handy things in Chrome. Google has both address bar and webpage shortcuts.
Address bar shortcuts
Address-bar shortcuts let you define something in the bar at the top of your browser window, such as perform an immediate Google search, open search in a new tab or even move your cursor to the address bar.
Note that Windows and Linux machines have different shortcuts than Macs. Here’s a list of some you may want to try.
Webpage shortcuts
Webpage shortcuts, on the other hand, allow you to visit your favorite websites from your Chrome homepage:
From your homepage, select the Customize Chrome button from the bottom of the page.
Toggle on the Show Shortcuts option.
Then you can choose between My Shortcuts and Most Visited Sites.
My Shortcuts lets you create your own shortcuts by hitting Add Shortcut on the Google homepage and saving the ones you want.
Most Visited Sites displays shortcuts to eight of your most frequently visited sites. You can edit those choices — click the X to delete a shortcut you don’t want, and another frequently visited site will show up instead.
You can also turn off Show Shortcuts entirely. (I rely heavily on my Bookmarks Bar.)
Google Cards
No, not playing cards: Google Cards are elements you can see on your New Tab page that are related to your past searches. They’re boxed items, usually with art, that include recently visited and related content. So if you searched for a pasta recipe, you might see more of those, and if you were shopping for a chair, you might see different chairs for sale online.
You can turn Cards on or off:
Click Customize Chrome.
Scroll down the side panel and select Cards, and next Customize Cards.
From there, select the Cards you want to see or hide.
Google’s explanation is that Cards will help you jump back into a search you may not be done with, perhaps gift shopping or recipe hunting.
OnePlus isn’t making us wait long for the OnePlus 12. The smartphone-maker announced on Friday that the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R will launch globally on Jan. 23, coming after the OnePlus 12’s previous launch in China.
It’s the first time OnePlus is bringing its R-branded line of more affordable phones to markets outside of India and China, although it didn’t specify exactly where the phone will be available. OnePlus will reveal more details about both phones at its event on Jan. 23.
Read more: OnePlus 12: What to Expect With the Next OnePlus Flagship
The OnePlus 12 is the company’s newest flagship phone designed to compete with other top-tier Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S23 and Google Pixel 8. It will be among the first devices to run on Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, which was announced in October and brings improvements to AI processing, among other tasks. The OnePlus 12 will also have a 64-megapixel telephoto camera with a 3x optical zoom (the same one found on the OnePlus Open foldable) compared to the 32-megapixel zoom camera in the OnePlus 11. That’s along with the 50-megapixel main camera and a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera.
Previous models in OnePlus’ R-line have typically been value-priced, with the OnePlus 11R costing the equivalent of roughly $480. If OnePlus follows the same strategy with the new OnePlus 12R, it could be a promising option for those who want more than the $300 OnePlus Nord N30 5G has to offer while being cheaper than the OnePlus 12.
Read more: Best Android Phone of 2023
OnePlus’ launch comes around the same time Samsung is rumored to launch its expected Galaxy S24 series. Korean news outlets SBS Biz and The Elec report that Samsung could introduce its new phone lineup on Jan. 17, indicating it will be a busy month for the Android world. The Galaxy S24 family is expected to run on Qualcomm’s latest chip like the OnePlus 12, along with routine camera upgrades and some new AI features.
OnePlus 11 Flaunts Its Curving Glass and Metal Body
If you’ve ever looked at our list of best headsets for working from home, you may have noticed that most of the headsets, especially the premium models, are pretty pricey. The most affordable model is around $50. That’s what the Belkin SoundForm Adapt wireless over-ear headset lists for, which puts it in budget headset territory. But from now until Dec. 24, if you add it to your cart on Amazon, the price should automatically drop to $25 (apply the code 500FFADAPT at checkout if it doesn’t). The math here is pretty easy: That’s 50% off. And it’s a good deal at the price.
The Belkin SoundForm Adapt has a retractable microphone that can be flipped up to mute yourself. It doesn’t have plush memory-foam ear cups or active noise canceling. But it seems well built — it folds up — is relatively comfortable to wear and offers decent all-around performance, with strong battery life: up to 45 hours at moderate volume levels. While its sound quality for music listening can’t compete with more expensive headsets, it’s decent enough, though the bass lacks a bit of punch, and callers said they could hear me well.
Read more: 22 Great Gifts for $50 or Less
I’m not going to sit here and tell you it’s the greatest headset in the world, but for the money, it exceeded my expectations and is a decent choice for someone who’s on a tight budget or just doesn’t want to spend much on a headset. Belkin isn’t marketing it toward kids, but it does make for a good headset for younger users. At this price, you won’t mind too much if your kid beats it up or loses it (though no carrying case is included).
Back in July, Sony’s new CH-720N headphones were on sale for $98 for Amazon’s summer Prime Day event. I thought they were a really good deal at that price, as they list for $150 and tend to sell for around $130. Now they’re down to $90 for the black version (the white version is $98). That’s the lowest price we’ve seen to date for them, making them one of best full-size headphones bargains. And, if you order them now, they’ll arrive before Christmas.
Read more: Best noise-canceling headphones
The CH-720Ns have a bit of a plasticky budget vibe and don’t come with a carrying case, but they’re lightweight and comfortable. As I mentioned in my Sony CH-720N review, I was expecting them to sound pretty mediocre, but I was pleasantly surprised.
They don’t sound as good as Sony’s flagship WH-1000XM5s, but they sound more premium than they look (and feel), and their overall performance is a step up from their predecessor — the CH-710Ns. Are they worth $150? It depends on your priorities of budget versus quality, but they’re a sweet deal at $98.
Apple released iOS 17 in September, and the latest OS brings new features and improvements to your iPhone, like Live Stickers and offline maps. The OS also updates your Photos app, allowing you to tag and add your pets to your “People & Pets” album — previously called the “People” album.
According to a survey from the Pew Research Center, 97% of pet owners consider their pets part of the family, and Apple agrees. The company wrote online that “cats and dogs … are part of your family too.” (As a lifelong dog owner, I couldn’t agree more.)
Here’s how to tag your pets in the new People & Pets album.
Tagging your pets in the People & Pets album
1. Open your Photos app. 2. Tap Albums. 3. Tap the People & Pets album. 4. Tap a picture of your pet. 5. Tap Add name to enter your pet’s name. 6. Tap Next.
Your phone might ask you to Review the photos of your pet to make sure they’re being identified correctly. After you’ve reviewed the photos of your pet, you can add them to your favorites by tapping the heart next to your pet’s picture in the People & Pets album. Your pet should now appear at the top of the album.
Now, your iPhone with iOS 17 should recognize your pet and add pictures of them to the People & Pets on its own.
Your iPhone isn’t perfect and might misidentify your pet. If it does, here’s how to untag your pet from a photo.
1. Open your Photos app. 2. Tap Albums. 3. Tap the People & Pets album. 4. Tap your pet. 5. Long press on the misidentified photo of your pet. 6. Tap This is Not [Your Pet’s Name].
The misidentified photos will be removed from the album, leaving nothing but the cutest, best photos of your pet.
For more iOS 17 tips, check out what’s new in iOS 17.2, what was included in iOS 17.1 and our iOS 17 cheat sheet.
17 Hidden iOS 17 Features and Settings on Your iPhone
