Category: Technologies

Over two years after its release, it’s finally becoming easier to find Sony’s popular PlayStation 5 in stock. If you’ve picked up one of these sleek, next-gen consoles, there are also tons of accessories out there that can help take your gaming experience to the next level. And you don’t need to break the bank to get your hands on them. From headsets for online gaming to aftermarket SSDs to increase the storage, we’ve rounded up some of the best bargains available on a variety of PlayStation accessories below.

You can even pick up a refurbished PlayStation 4 at a decent price if you don’t want to spring for Sony’s latest and greatest console. And if you’re looking to add some new games to your library, we’ve also rounded a few titles that you can snag at a discount.

We’ll continue to update this page as offers come and go, so be sure to check back often for the best prices available.

PlayStation game deals

Whether you’ve just picked up your new PlayStation console and are ready to jump into the action, or you’re just looking to add a few more games to your collection, there are plenty of great games you can pick up on sale right now. We’ve gathered up some of the best recent titles that you can snag at a discount below.

• Horizon: Forbidden West: $46 (save $24)
• Madden 23: $40 (save $30)
• Dead Space (remastered): $50 (save $20)
• Sonic Frontiers: $38 (save $22)
• Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Ultimate Edition): $44 (save $26)
• Gotham Knights: $43 (save $27)
• NBA 2K23: $25 (save $45)
• Call of Duty: Vanguard: $50 (save $20)

PlayStation console and accessory deals

Sony

PlayStation 4 (refurbished): $260

Save $100 vs. new

Plenty of PS5 games are still available for the PlayStation 4, too, and if you’re looking for a good price on a console, your best bet is to shop refurbished. GameStop currently has a selection of used 1TB slim models available for less than $300. That’s around $100 less than the limited quantity of new consoles that are still floating around out there. This refurb model also includes a DualShock Wireless controller.

$260 at GameStop

Turtle Beach

Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2: $110

Save $40

Turtle Beach is one of the top brands out there when it comes to gaming headsets, and the second-gen Stealth 700 is one of our favorite PlayStation headsets on the market. These headphones are compatible with both the PS4 and PS5, and are equipped with 50mm speakers for clear, immersive sound so you can hear every step and shot. They’re totally wireless thanks to the use of a Mini-USB transmitter, and the mic arm folds up into the headset so it’s out of your way when you’re not using it for voice chats.

$110 at Amazon

HyperX

HyperX Cloud: $61

Save $19

If you don’t want to spend over $100 on a headset, there are plenty of more affordable options out there. The HyperX Cloud is a slight step down from the Cloud Alpha that made our list of the best PS5 headsets for 2023, and has plenty to offer for around $60. It’s Hi-Fi capable with 53mm drivers, is equipped with in-line audio controls for easy adjustments on the fly and has memory foam ear pads so it’s comfortable to wear during long gaming sessions.

$61 at Amazon

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Sarah Tew/CNET

WD Black D30 1TB Game Drive: $110

Save $40

When it comes to game consoles, 500GB or even a full 1TB of storage can fill up pretty quickly. While you can certainly delete games and download them again later, an external storage drive is a much more efficient solution. This 1TB WD drive is compatible with the PS4 and PS5, but it can only store PS4 games. And with optimized speeds of up to 900Mbps, you can skip those loading screens and get right to the action.

$110 at Amazon

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Samsung

Samsung 980 Pro 1TB Internal SSD: $120

Save $110

If you have managed to score yourself a PlayStation 5, you may be looking to beef up the storage a bit to get the most out of your next-gen console. Fortunately, the PS5 has an extra internal storage drive slot, so you can easily expand it with an M.2 SSD. The Samsung 980 Pro is our overall favorite model on the market, and right now you can even pick it up on sale — impressive, considering that it is sometimes difficult to even find in stock. This model also features a built-in heatsink, which was missing on previous generations.

$120 at Amazon

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Sony

DualSense Edge: $200

Out now

While this isn’t a deal, it’s worth noting that the new high-performance DualSense Edge PS5 controller is now available for purchase. This customizable controller allows you to fine-tune your playing style with mappable buttons and swappable stick caps. You can even create multiple control profiles so you can easily switch between different players or games.

Read our DualSense Edge review.

$200 at PlayStation

Over the past decade, we’ve slowly moved from paper to digital documents. Whether you’re signing a lease, doing your taxes or filling out a contract, you can do it all from your computer. And if you’re a Mac owner, signing these documents is easier than you think.

You might be using third-party software like Adobe Acrobat Reader to fill out your docs, but there’s another way to do it that doesn’t involve downloading anything. Using the Preview app, which comes built in to MacOS, you can sign pretty much any document in seconds.

Here’s how.

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How to input your digital signature on your Mac

The first thing you’ll need to do is add your signature to your Mac, which you can do within Preview. To start:

1. Open the document you want to sign in Preview.
2. Now, click on the Markup icon.
3. Next, click the Signature button.
4. Select Create Signature.

Apple will sync your signature with your iCloud account, making it available in Preview on any Mac you’ve signed in to with your Apple ID.

You have three options to create a digital version of your signature:

• Trackpad: Select this option if you want to write your signature on your Mac’s trackpad using your finger.
• Camera: Sign a piece of paper and then hold it up to your Mac’s camera. Preview will recognize your writing, then digitize it.
• iPhone/iPad: Select this option to write your signature on a connected device.

How to add your signature to a PDF

Now that setup is done, your signature is in the system and you’ll see just how fast it is to sign documents in Preview.

With your document open in Preview, follow the same process we just outlined, except that after clicking on the signature button, click on your signature.

A small box that includes your signature will show up in the document, which you can then drag around and resize. After you’ve lined up your signature, you can save the document and then share it.

I timed how long it takes me to open a document and click the appropriate buttons to add a signature, and I was able to get it done in under a minute, and that includes adding the date by clicking on the add text button in Preview.

Now that you’ve mastered signing documents at record speed, make sure to check out even more hidden Mac tips and this hidden MacOS feature that lets you use your voice to quickly type on your Mac.

Google will immediately stop selling its augmented reality glasses, the Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2, the company announced on a support page Wednesday. The announcement marks the second time in the past 10 years that Google has discontinued the head-mounted optical display.

Google has been active in VR and AR for years, making its first foray into sales of smart glasses in April 2013 with the release of Google Glass. However, the $1,500 headset was largely seen as expensive and invasive, and Google stopped selling its first Glass edition in January 2015.

Two years later, Google re-entered the market with a hardware revamp of Glass in a similar design. Instead of pursuing the consumer market, Google aimed the customizable Glass Enterprise Edition at the business sector, specifically factories and surgeons. The latest edition got a speed boost in 2019 with the addition of a faster Qualcomm XR1 chip, a low-power processor designed for lightweight AR and VR devices.

Though Google said it would stop selling the headset as of Wednesday, it plans to continue supporting the glasses until Sept. 15. Google said the glasses will continue to work after Sept. 15, but it doesn’t plan to issue any software updates and its preinstalled Meet the Glass app may stop working after that date.

The support page didn’t give a reason for the discontinuation, nor did a Google representative when asked. “For years, we’ve been building AR into many Google products and we’ll continue to look at ways to bring new, innovative AR experiences across our product portfolio,” the Google spokesman said.

Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo has a new optional artificial intelligence feature called DuckAssist. Users of DuckDuckGo’s browser apps or extensions can access a beta version of the feature now, for free.

Unlike ChatGPT or Microsoft’s Bing AI, DuckAssist isn’t a chatbot, DuckDuckGo says. Instead, it’s an addition to the search engine’s existing Instant Answers feature. Instant Answers taps various online sources to give you a quick answer to your query without you having to click one of the links in the search results. Now DuckAssist can lend a hand, but it pulls from a smaller set of sources.

Enter a question into the DuckDuckGo search bar and DuckAssist scans Wikipedia, and occasionally Britannica, to generate an answer. DuckAssist uses technology from ChatGPT creator OpenAI and Anthropic to summarize the answer and make the response more conversational. When DuckAssist answers, it also links to the Wikipedia or Britannica article it pulled its answer from.

For now, the best way to use DuckAssist is to ask questions with straightforward answers, Gabriel Weinberg, DuckDuckGo’s founder and CEO, wrote in a blog post. That means DuckAssist can answer questions like, “What is the capital of Nigeria?” better than questions with qualitative elements like, “What is the best Legend of Zelda game?” (But this writer says Majora’s Mask.)

Weinberg wrote that wording a query in the form of a question will make it more likely that DuckAssist will generate a response. He also wrote that if you’re pretty sure Wikipedia has the answer to your question, adding “wiki” to any question also makes it more likely that DuckAssist will appear.

DuckAssist won’t always generate the correct answer, according to Weinberg. The tool might struggle to correctly answer complex questions, too.

“There’s a limit to the amount of information the feature can summarize,” Weinberg wrote. “Inaccuracies can happen if our relevancy function is off, unintentionally omitting key sentences, or if there’s an underlying error in the source material given.”

DuckDuckGo said DuckAssist is anonymous, doesn’t use queries to train its AI model and doesn’t share personally identifiable information with third parties.

Though DuckAssist is being released in beta, DuckDuckGo said that if the beta goes well, it plans to release DuckAssist to all search users in the weeks ahead. DuckDuckGo also plans to release other AI-enhanced search and browsing features in the near future.

You can also disable DuckAssist in search settings if you don’t want to use the tool. Disabling DuckAssist will also disable all Instant Answers outside of DuckAssist, too.

DuckDuckGo joins other tech companies, like Microsoft and Google, that have introduced their own AI tools to the public in the last few months.

Many of these other tools are chatbots based on, or developed in opposition to, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and they let you carry on a conversation with an AI, to a limited degree.

Despite the buzz around such tools, AI is still a work in progress. In December, OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, said users of ChatGPT should be careful.

“ChatGPT is incredibly limited, but good enough at some things to create a misleading impression of greatness,” Altman tweeted. “It’s a mistake to be relying on it for anything important right now. It’s a preview of progress; we have lots of work to do on robustness and truthfulness.”

In February, Microsoft began limiting the number of responses that its Bing AI can send, to stop conversations from getting weird and confusing the chatbot. It later relaxed the restriction, but only slightly.

Some AI tools, like Google’s Bard and Microsoft’s Bing AI, have also included inaccurate information in their responses. DuckDuckGo said that because DuckAssist draws from a limited number of sources, the chance of the tool generating incorrect information is reduced.

For more, check out how Microsoft has limited Bing’s AI chatbot, what to know about Google’s chatbot Bard and what to know about Snapchat’s AI chatbot.

Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to create some personal finance explainers that are edited and fact-checked by our editors. For more, see this post.

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It’s almost hard to believe that it wasn’t all that long ago that even the most expensive memory cards on the market could only handle a few gigabytes of data. These days, you can fit an entire terabyte of storage in card that’s no bigger than the tip of your finger, and pick smaller-capacity cards for just a few bucks apiece.

As you can probably tell from the name, microSD cards are an even smaller version of the standard SD cards used by most digital cameras. They’re primarily used in phones and tablets, where size is a major factor, and it never hurts to have a few extras on hand. And right now, you’ll find plenty of these tiny memory cards on sale with big discounts. We’ve rounded up some of the best deals on microSD cards out there below, and we’ll continue to update this page as offers come and go. Be sure to check back often to make sure you’re getting the best price available.

Read more: How to Choose the Right MicroSD Card for Your Android

SanDisk

SanDisk 512GB Extreme: $68

Save $182

SanDisk’s Extreme series is built to withstand harsh conditions, so they’re ideal if you’re looking for a memory card for your GoPro or another action camera. This card is resistant to water, shock, extreme temperatures and even X-rays. Beyond its durability, this card boasts some impressive specs. It has read speeds of up to 160 megabytes per second, and write speeds of up to 90MBps for fast shooting, plus a respectable 512GB of storage. This is one of the best overall values you’ll find out there at the moment.

$68 at Adorama

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

SanDisk 1TB Extreme: $130

Save $170

With a substantial 1TB of storage, this SanDisk microSD has the largest capacity you’ll find on this list. It has all the same specs of the 512GB model above, but with double the storage, and is a solid value at over half off its usual price. It also comes with standard SD card adapter.

$130 at Adorama

SanDisk

SanDisk 256GB for Nintendo Switch: $28

Save $25

Whether you have the original Switch, the Lite version or the new OLED, you’re going to want some extra storage for your console.SanDisk makes microSD cards licensed by Nintendo specifically for the Switch, and you can pick up this 256GB Super Mario-themed one for just $28 right now at Amazon.

$28 at Amazon

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Lexar

Lexar 32GB 3-pack: $14

Save $16

Considering how many devices can be improved with a microSD, there’s a good chance you’ll want to pick up more than one. Right now at Amazon, you can get this three-pack of 32GB Lexar cards for just under $5 per card. True, 32GB isn’t a lot of storage in this day and age, but that’s still enough to hold about 1,500 pictures or about three and a half hours of HD video.

$14 at Amazon

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SanDisk

SanDisk 512GB Ultra: $48

Save $45

The SanDisk Ultra is a less expensive alternative to the more rugged Extreme series listed above. It boasts read and transfer speeds of up to 120MBps and can capture and store full HD video.

$48 at Adorama

SanDisk

SanDisk 128GB Max Endurance: $24

Save $19

Sometimes it makes more sense to invest in a single microSD card that you can reuse over and over, rather than several different cards. This 128GB SanDisk is designed for maximum longevity, and can record and re-record for up to 120,000 hours. It’s also fairly durable with protection against extremes, water, shock, and x-rays, and boasts read speeds of up to 100MBps.

$24 at Amazon

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Samsung

Samsung 256GB Evo Select: $30

Save $10

This Samsung microSD only has half the storage capacity of the 512GB SanDisk Extreme listed above, but it also costs less than half the price, and is more durable. This 256GB chip is protected against water, shock, drops and temperatures, as well as magnets and X-rays. It’s designed to capture 4K UHD video and boasts transfer speeds of up to 130MBps.

$30 at Amazon

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Samsung/CNET

Samsung 512GB Pro Plus: $60

Save $23

With read/write speeds up to 160/120MB/s and 512GB of storage, you’ll have plenty of space for 4K video, high-performance games and other files on this card. Plus, it’s protected from water, extreme temps, x-rays and magnets, making it durable enough for all of your adventures.

$60 at Best Buy

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Grammarly, the company behind the digital writing assistant of the same name, is expanding its artificial intelligence resources with a new generative AI tool called GrammarlyGo. The company said the new tool is intended to improve communication, and most Grammarly users will be able to use it starting in April.

“Poor communication erodes relationships, stifles business growth and results, and slows feedback loops that devour our time, just to name a few effects,” Rahul Roy-Chowdhury, Grammarly’s global head of product, wrote in a blog post. “In research we conducted with The Harris Poll last year, we established that poor communication costs US businesses up to $1.2 trillion annually — or $12,506 per employee.” You can read the full report here.

According to Grammarly, GrammarlyGo will use personal, organizational and situational context to help craft messages for email, social media and long-form communication. That means if you use GrammarlyGo to write an interoffice message to your work team, the tool could help make your message sound more professional.

Grammarly

Grammarly has multiple subscription tiers, starting with free and laddering up to Premium and Business plans for $12 and $15 per month, respectively.

See at Grammarly

GrammarlyGo will give you prompts to improve, simplify or shorten a message, as well as a prompt to adjust the message’s tone for different scenarios. You’ll also be able to enter your own prompt to fit your needs.

GrammarlyGo can also be used to generate outlines or ideas, which can be added to messages or used as references. The tool will also have one-click prompts to help you get over writer’s block.

“By embracing new technologies like generative AI, we can advance our vision of supporting the entire process — from conception to comprehension,” Roy-Chowdhury wrote.

Grammarly is the latest tech company to announce an AI tool in the wake of OpenAI’s ChatGPT bursting onto the scene at the end of 2022. Other companies, like Microsoft, Google and Snapchat, have announced AI chatbot tools that a person can seemingly carry on a conversation with and that are poised to remake internet search and other familiar online activities, from writing essays to planning a week’s vacation to a new destination. These tools can also generate messages and ideas but don’t appear to take context into account when generating content.

GrammarlyGo’s ability to understand context and tone to a limited degree implies this AI tool is not only a generative AI but a very basic contextual AI, as well.

According to Techopedia, generative AI is an umbrella term that can apply to any type of AI that can be used to create things like text, images, video, audio and code. The technology company Symbl.ai writes that contextual AI can analyze cultural, historical and situational aspects of data to make the best decision.

According to Grammalry, GrammarlyGo can understand situational context enough to create tailored communication for different scenarios. You still need to input certain data, like the level of formality and tone, into GrammarlyGo in order for it to create the right message. Although the tool may not intuitively be able to respond appropriately, it can differentiate between crafting a casual and formal response if it’s given the data.

GrammarlyGo will be available across other Grammarly products, like Grammarly Premium, Business, Education and Grammarly for Developers. Some Grammarly Free users in select markets will also be able to access GrammarlyGo.

For more, check out what to know about Google’s AI chatbot Bard, Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing and Snapchat’s MyAI.

Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to create some personal finance explainers that are edited and fact-checked by our editors. For more, see this post.

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Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to headphones, but if comfort and sound quality are your top priorities, you’ll most likely want to go with an over-ear pair. And right now, you’ve got a chance to get your hands on a high-end pair at an almost unbelievable price. These AKG Y600NC wireless headphones typically list for a pricey $350, but right now at Harman Audio, you can get your hands on a pair for just $60. This deal has also been matched at Walmart and eBay. There’s no set expiration, but we don’t expect a discount this good to last for long. Get your order in soon if you don’t want to miss out on these savings.

These AKG headphones are packed full of high-end features, making them just about the best pair you’ll find in the under $100 price range at the moment. They boast impressive noise-cancelling capabilities, plus an aware mode for when you need to be able to hear your surroundings. And with an ergonomic design and memory foam ear cushions, they’re designed for premium comfort. They also feature impressive audio quality, especially for Samsung users thanks to UHQ codec support, and you can even fine tune your audio using the AKG companion app. Other features include an auto play/pause function that stops your music when you remove the headphones, multipoint Bluetooth connectivity and an impressive 25-hour battery life on a single charge.

This is definitely a great value, but if you’re in the market for a different pair, you can check out our roundup of all the best earbuds and headphones deals for even more bargains.

Microsoft/CNET

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate: $5

Save $25

Calling all gamers! This deal is for you. If you’ve never tried out Xbox Game Pass, you can score two months of the Ultimate plan for just $5 — an 83% saving.

$5 at StackSocial

If you regularly play Xbox or Windows PC games and want to expand the number of games you have access to, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is worth considering. It’s typically $15 a month, but right now you can get two months for just $5 at StackSocial, which is one of the best Game Pass deals we’ve seen to date.

Despite the Xbox branding, Game Pass Ultimate offers over 100 games for Xbox consoles — Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S — as well as Windows PCs. New titles are added often so you’ll always have something new to play. The Ultimate membership includes Xbox Live Gold, Games with Gold and console multiplayer, as well as access to EA Play, which offers several dozen additional games from the Electronic Arts catalog. Other free perks include in-game content and being able to play games on your phone and tablet from the cloud (on compatible titles and devices).

Read more: Best Cloud Gaming Services: Xbox Game Pass, GeForce Now and More

There are two big things to keep in mind before you take the plunge on this deal, though. First off, this offer is not stackable or combinable with other deals or codes, and it’s good only for new Game Pass users. If you have an active Game Pass subscription or you’ve signed up for Game Pass in the past, this deal is not for you. It’s also worth noting that, after the promotional period of two months, the subscription will continue at the regular price of $15 per month unless you opt to cancel. Be sure to keep your renewal date in mind and cancel your account before it ticks over if you don’t want to keep the service.

Apple’s MacBook Air has regularly held down a spot on our list of the best laptops and the now previous-gen MacBook Air M1 is still our top pick for a laptop for basic everyday use. And today only, B&H is giving you a rare chance to save $450 on one with a high-spec configuration, dropping it down to $1,199.

Though it’s possible to find the base-spec MacBook Air M1 for around $800 these days, that model is equipped with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of internal storage and a slightly lesser M1 chip with a seven-core GPU. However, the version on sale at B&H sees that RAM doubled to 16GB, allowing for more apps to be running at once, and the storage is boosted to 1TB which means there will be plenty of space for files, photos and videos. The M1 chip it is powered by also has an 8-core GPU for improved graphics performance.

For similar specs in the current-gen MacBook Air M2, you’d need to spend close to $1,800. If you don’t need the slight performance boost of the M2 chip or the larger display of the newer model, you can save yourself some cash by going for the older version today and snag yourself a machine with some futureproofed specs.

The MacBook Air M1 is compatible with Apple’s latest MacOS Ventura software and features a 13.3-inch Retina display, two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports and Touch ID sensor. It lasts for up to 18 hours per charge and weighs just 2.8 pounds, making it an ideal machine for taking on the go.