Category: Technologies

LastPass, one of the world’s most popular password managers, is yet again under the microscope after its latest security breach. In late December, LastPass CEO Karim Toubba revealed in a blog post that a security incident the company first disclosed in August had ultimately paved the way for an unauthorized party to steal customer account information and vault data. This is the latest in a lengthy string of security incidents involving LastPass that date back to 2011. It’s also the most alarming.

An unauthorized party now has access to unencrypted subscriber account information like LastPass usernames, company names, billing addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and IP addresses, according to Toubba. That same unauthorized party also has a copy of customer vault data, which includes unencrypted data like website URLs and encrypted data like the usernames and passwords for all the sites customers have saved in their vaults. If you’re a LastPass subscriber, the severity of this breach should have you looking for a different password manager because your passwords and personal data are at risk of being exposed.

What should LastPass subscribers do?

The company didn’t specify how many users were affected by the breach, and LastPass didn’t respond to CNET’s request for additional comment on the breach. But if you’re a LastPass subscriber, you need to operate under the assumption that your user and vault data are in the hands of an unauthorized party with ill intentions. Though the most sensitive data is encrypted, the problem is that the threat actor can run “brute force” attacks on those stolen local files. LastPass estimates it would take “millions of years” to guess your master password — if you’ve followed its best practices.

If you haven’t — or if you just want total peace of mind — you’ll need to spend some serious time and effort changing your individual passwords. And while you’re doing that, you’ll probably want to transition away from LastPass, too.

With that in mind, here’s what you need to do right now if you’re a LastPass subscriber:

1. Find a new password manager. Given LastPass’ history with security incidents and considering the severity of this latest breach, now’s a better time than ever to seek an alternative.

2. Change your most important site-level passwords immediately. This includes passwords for anything like online banking, financial records, internal company logins and medical information. Make sure these new passwords are strong and unique.

3. Change every single one of your other online passwords. It’s a good idea to change your passwords in order of importance here too. Start with changing the passwords to accounts like email and social media profiles, then you can start moving backward to other accounts that may not be as critical.

4. Enable two-factor authentication wherever possible. Once you’ve changed your passwords, make sure to enable 2FA on any online account that offers it. This will give you an added layer of protection by alerting you and requiring you to authorize each login attempt. That means even if someone ends up obtaining your new password, they shouldn’t be able to gain access to a given site without your secondary authenticating device (typically your phone).

5. Change your master password. Though this doesn’t change the threat level to the stolen vaults, it’s still prudent to help mitigate the threats of any potential future attack — that is, if you decide you want to stay with LastPass.

LastPass alternatives to consider

• Bitwarden: CNET’s top password manager is a highly secure and open-source LastPass alternative. Bitwarden’s free tier allows you to use the password manager across an unlimited number of devices across device types. Read our Bitwarden review.
• 1Password: Another excellent password manager that works seamlessly across platforms. 1Password doesn’t offer a free tier, but you can try it for free for 14 days.
• iCloud Keychain: Apple’s built-in password manager for iOS, iPadOS and MacOS devices is an excellent LastPass alternative available to Apple users at no additional cost. iCloud Keychain is secure and easy to set up and use across all of your Apple devices. It even offers a Windows client, too, with support for Chrome and Edge browsers.

How did it come to this?

In August 2022, LastPass published a blog post written by Toubba saying that the company “determined that an unauthorized party gained access to portions of the LastPass development environment through a single compromised developer account and took portions of source code and some proprietary LastPass technical information.”

At the time, Toubba said that the threat was contained after LastPass “engaged a leading cybersecurity and forensics firm” and implemented “enhanced security measures.” But that blog post would be updated several times over the following months as the scope of the breach gradually widened.

On Sept. 15, Toubba updated the blog post to notify customers that the company’s investigation into the incident had concluded.

“Our investigation revealed that the threat actor’s activity was limited to a four-day period in August 2022. During this timeframe, the LastPass security team detected the threat actor’s activity and then contained the incident,” Toubba said. “There is no evidence of any threat actor activity beyond the established timeline. We can also confirm that there is no evidence that this incident involved any access to customer data or encrypted password vaults.”

Toubba assured customers at the time that their passwords and personal data were safe in LastPass’s care.

However, it turned out that the unauthorized party was indeed ultimately able to access customer data. On Nov. 30, Toubba updated the blog post once again to alert customers that the company “determined that an unauthorized party, using information obtained in the August 2022 incident, was able to gain access to certain elements of our customers’ information.”

Then, on Dec. 22, Toubba issued a lengthy update to the blog post outlining the unnerving details regarding precisely what customer data the hackers were able to access in the breach. It was then that the full severity of the situation finally came to light and the public found out that LastPass customers’ personal data was in the hands of a threat actor and all of their passwords were at serious risk of being exposed.

Still, Toubba assured customers who follow LastPass’s best practices for passwords and have the latest default settings enabled that no further action on their part is recommended at this time since their “sensitive vault data, such as usernames and passwords, secure notes, attachments, and form-fill fields, remain safely encrypted based on LastPass’ Zero Knowledge architecture.”

However, Toubba warned that those who don’t have LastPass’s default settings enabled and don’t follow the password manager’s best practices are at greater risk of having their master passwords cracked. Toubba suggested that those users should consider changing the passwords of the websites they have stored.

What does all of this mean for LastPass subscribers?

The initial breach ended up allowing the unauthorized party to access sensitive user account data as well as vault data, which means that LastPass subscribers should be extremely concerned for the integrity of the data they have stored in their vaults and should be questioning LastPass’s capacity to keep their data safe.

If you’re a LastPass subscriber, an unauthorized party may have access to personal information like your LastPass username, email address, phone number, name and billing address. IP addresses used when accessing LastPass were also exposed in the breach, which means that the unauthorized party could also see the locations from which you used your account. And because LastPass doesn’t encrypt users’ stored website URLs, the unauthorized party can see all of the websites for which you have login information saved with the password manager (even if the passwords themselves are encrypted).

Information like this gives a potential attacker plenty of ammunition for launching a phishing attack and socially engineering their way to your account passwords. And if you have any password reset links stored that may still be active, an attacker can easily go ahead and create a new password for themselves.

LastPass says that encrypted vault data like usernames and passwords, secure notes and form-filled data that was stolen remains secured. However, if an attacker were to crack your master password at the time of the breach, they would be able to access all of that information, including all the usernames and passwords to your online accounts. If your master password wasn’t strong enough at the time of the breach, your passwords are especially at risk of being exposed.

Changing your master password now will, unfortunately, not help solve the issue because the attackers already have a copy of your vault that was encrypted using the master password you had in place at the time of the breach. This means the attackers essentially have an unlimited amount of time to crack that master password. That’s why the safest course of action is a site-by-site password reset for all of your LastPass-stored accounts. Once changed at the site level, that would mean the attackers would be getting your old, outdated passwords if they managed to crack the stolen encrypted vaults.

For more on staying secure online, here are data privacy tips digital security experts wish you knew and browser settings to change to better guard your information.

Going into 2023, you don’t have to spend a fortune for a decent set of noise-canceling earbuds. With solid sound quality, active noise cancelation and a transparency mode, the Beats Studio Buds are a great option to consider. And right now, they are back down to their best-ever price of $90 at Amazon. That’s $60 off the suggested retail price, though the discount only applies to gray color at present, with other options seeing a $50 price break.

Beats Studio Buds are small, lightweight, comfortable to wear and fit most ears securely. Despite being made by Apple these days, Beats products work great with both iPhones and Android phones and there are plenty of features to love, including quick pairing and sound quality that CNET’s David Carnoy said beats out AirPods Pro and Powerbeats Pro in his review.

Unlike some other Apple-made Beats products, the Studio Buds lack a few of the fanciest features like in-ear detection and the ability to pair to all of your Apple devices via iCloud and switch between them automatically. That probably won’t be a deal breaker for most folks, especially given the price differential between the Studio Buds and something like the AirPods Pro.

The Beats Studio Buds provide up to 8 hours of listening time on a single charge, with up to 24 hours when combined with the charging case. They are also IPX4-rated sweat and water-resistant, so they’re a solid option to use on your commute or at the gym.

And if the Studio Buds aren’t quite the right fit for you, check out the other Beats headphones deals currently available.

Apple’s 5K monitor, the Apple Studio Display, debuted in March last year. It’s currently the most budget-friendly external display in Apple’s lineup, and while Apple rarely discounts its own products, there have been a few deals on this display at some third-party retailers.

Right now Amazon has discounted the standard glass version of the Apple Studio Display by $100 and the nano-texture glass version by $150 for a limited time, bringing the cost to $1,499 and $1,749, respectively. Both discounted displays are the models with the tilt-adjustable stand.

Each of these monitors feature a 27-inch 5K Retina screen, an A13 chip, a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera with Center Stage and a high-fidelity, six-speaker sound system. Their three-mic array makes for clear audio on calls and voice recordings. More than 14 million pixels and 1 billion colors at 600 nits of brightness make for a phenomenal display. And an antireflective coating also ensures better readability, while the nano-texture glass option further minimizes glare.

They each have one Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) port with 96-watt charging capability to connect your Mac, and three standard USB-C ports. Plus, you can pair your Studio Display with Mac notebooks and desktops, as well as Magic accessories (sold separately).

It’s important to note that this monitor doesn’t play nice with Windows computers — but if you’re already an avid Mac user, these deals at Amazon can help you score a solid monitor for less than you’d pay at the Apple Store.

My iPhone‘s flashlight isn’t just a tool I casually fire up if something accidentally rolls under the couch, it’s a feature I use daily to light up the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night, scan my backyard when animals make weird sounds and… OK, yeah, find something I’ve lost under my couch. And since I use the iPhone flashlight so often, I’ve turned on a tool deep in the iOS settings menu that makes it faster to light up the torch — no more fumbling with the lock screen for the flashlight icon or unlocking the phone first.

I don’t exaggerate when I say this hidden iPhone feature has changed the flashlight for me.

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Back Tap for the iPhone is an accessibility feature that Apple introduced with iOS 14,. It lets you quickly perform certain actions — say, taking a screenshot or launching your camera — by simply tapping the back of your phone. Essentially, it turns the entire back of your iPhone into a button.

This is an important benefit for all kinds of people, and for me, enabling Back Tap has let me turn it into a customizable button to quickly trigger the iPhone flashlight. I’ll tell you exactly how to set it up for yourself, and you can of course customize Back Tap to trigger other actions.

Also, if you want to learn more about other iPhone and iOS features, check out these 10 next-level iOS 16 features and how to find the “secret” iPhone trackpad.

How to set up Back Tap on iPhone

Whether you want to link Back Tap with your flashlight, camera or launch a different iPhone app, the path through your iPhone settings begins the same way.

On your compatible iPhone (iPhone 8 or later), launch the Settings application and go to Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap. Now you have the option to launch your action (in this case, your flashlight) with either two or three taps. Although two taps is obviously faster, I would suggest three taps because if you fidget with your phone, it’s easy to accidentally trigger the accessibility feature.

Once you choose a tap option, select the Flashlight option — or a different action if you prefer. You’ll see over 30 options to choose from, including system options like Siri or taking a screenshot, to accessibility-specific functions like opening a magnifier or turning on real-time live captions. You can also set up Back Tap to open the Control Center, go back home, mute your audio, turn the volume up and down and run any shortcuts you’ve downloaded or created.

You’ll know you’ve successfully selected your choice when a blue checkmark appears to the right of the action. You could actually set up two shortcuts this way — one that’s triggered by two taps and one that’s triggered by three taps to the iPhone’s back cover.

Once you exit the Settings application, you can try out the newly enabled Back Tap feature by tapping the back of your iPhone — in my case, to turn on the flashlight. To turn off the flashlight, you can tap on the back of your iPhone as well, but you can also just turn it off from your lock screen if that’s easier.

For more great iPhone tips, here’s how to keep your iPhone screen from dimming all the time and cancelling all those subscriptions you don’t want or need.

Your computer’s mouse and keyboard are packed full of hidden features that make it faster and easier to perform tasks. Even if you’ve been using these devices for years, there may still be functions you weren’t aware of. Whether it’s reopening a closed tab or permanently deleting a file without ever hitting the recycle bin, there are plenty of tricks to help you be a little more efficient on your computer.

But in my personal experience, the one computer trick people are most consistently surprised about is an action you can do with your scroll wheel.

Scroll wheel’s hidden function

The internet is a great place to collect random tidbits of information, but sometimes you see something you want to investigate later. You don’t want to click on the link and have to go back to the previous page, because it would interrupt your current read. But you want to keep the trail open for later.

What do you do? You have a variety of options here, but this is the slickest and most efficient: If you’re using a mouse, just use your scroll wheel to click on the link. It’s not the most intuitive motion, but if you push your scroll wheel down while hovering over the link, you’ll automatically open that link in a new tab.

This little trick is great for when you’re reading something that links out to other interesting stories — just scroll-wheel click to open new tabs and check them out after you finish reading the current story.

If you want other ways of opening new tabs, we’ll walk you through it. We also have tips on keyboard shortcuts, like Ctrl + Shift + T, and taking Windows screenshots (which you can open in new tabs with a scroll-wheel click).

How to open links in new tabs

Opening pages in new tabs is a convenient browsing technique, and there are a few different ways of doing it.

• Click with your scroll wheel to automatically open the link in a new tab.
• Or right-click a link and choose “open in new tab.”
• You can also hold down Ctrl (or command on Mac) when you click the link and it will open in a new tab.

Opening things in a new tab means you don’t have to interrupt your current read, and you don’t have to wait for pages to load as you bounce back and forth. I use it all the time for comparison shopping — just pull up the things I’m considering in a few different tabs and quickly compare by tabbing through my browser. It’s also good for when you’re reading a story that references another story that you want to check out without interrupting your current read. Just click the link with your scroll wheel and check it out when you’re done with this story.

Bonus tip: You can use Ctrl + Tab to move forward and Ctrl + Shift + Tab to move backward through your open tabs.

For more computer tips, check out how to factory reset a laptop before gifting it, and essential settings for your MacBook.

Having a VR headset is hardly a necessity in life. But it can be a useful luxury and a comforting way to escape the feeling of being trapped at home during the winter months.

I’ve found myself escaping into VR a little more often, but it’s not easy. Family responsibilities and real-world obligations make it hard to find time to put on a headset. It’s not a social activity I can share with anyone else in the house. It’s total me time, but sometimes I need that.

If you’re lucky enough to have a VR headset (and these are some of the best ones), there are some great games worth your time right now. Here are some of my favorites. Also, be sure to check out some other great VR game suggestions.

Valve

Half-Life: Alyx

Valve’s long-awaited epic is a spectacularly produced Half-Life game made entirely for VR. It works with a large number of PC-connected VR headsets, too. It’s single-player only, and its dystopian horror might not be a great fit for everyone right now, but it’s the must-play VR game this year and a sign of where VR could be heading next.

Read the review.

See at Steam

Fireproof Games

The Room VR: A Dark Matter

It’s an escape room brought into VR, with a ton of mysterious puzzles to solve and a creepy Lovecraft vibe. This VR-only entry in the long-running “The Room” series of games is a special gift right now. It’s available for multiple platforms, including the stand-alone Oculus Quest.

Read the review.

See at Oculus

Tender Claws

The Under Presents

The immersive theater-meets-game universe of The Under Presents mixes live actors, who are performing through the end of May, with recorded cabaret and storytelling elements. Time bends, stories loop. It’s a place to get lost in with others, and it’s worth a dive right now. There’s even a Discord group where communities are discussing the game’s deepest secrets. It’s now available on Steam, too.

Read the review.

See at Oculus

Oculus

Eleven Table Tennis VR

Ping-pong, in VR. It’s my favorite way to transform my room into a way to play surprisingly real table tennis, and it works with AI or against online opponents. It’s close enough to the real thing to border on practice.

See at Oculus

Enhance, Inc/PlayStation

Tetris Effect

The hypnotic VR-optional puzzle game has been around for a while, but it’s a great way to focus, meditate on blocks and feel yourself surrounded by landscapes and lush soundtracks. It’s like taking a musical bath. Available on PSVR and PC.

See at GameStop

Sony

Astro Bot: Rescue Mission

If you haven’t played Sony’s stellar VR take on Mario-style platforming, now’s the time to find out what it’s all about. Each level has tons of secrets to uncover, which makes for some replay value too.

See at Amazon

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Beat Games/PlayStation

Beat Saber

This has been VR’s killer app for years, but now it’s also a great stay-at-home exercise game. The music-rhythm-dance-with-lightsabers levels are a helpful way to blow off steam, and it’s infinitely replayable.

See at Steam

Steam

Down the Rabbit Hole

One of the best little VR games, Moss, lets you explore little worlds as a mouse. The new Alice in Wonderland-themed Down the Rabbit Hole has a similar feeling of visiting tiny worlds, but laid out as you’re moving down a hole in the ground. Leaning into each room is magic. (Available on Quest, Oculus Rift, Steam, PSVR)

See at Steam

PlayStation

Paper Beast

I was late to discover this recent, beautiful game, and it’s hard to describe: It’s an alien odyssey in a minimalist world where you have to figure out what things do. It feels like art, and almost like a VR version of the classic game Journey. It’s a PlayStation exclusive for VR.

See at PlayStation

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The 51 Best VR Games

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When I was a kid, my parents used those Thomas Guides street maps to navigate us around Los Angeles and Orange County. My dad would drive, while my mom would flip through the spiral-bound book and yell out exactly where to turn to get us to our destination.

Now, we all have Google Maps on our smartphones. It’s so much more convenient to get directions from the palm of our hands, but as is the case with technology sometimes, there are certain aspects of it that can be a bit invasive of our privacy.

If you’ve ever used Street View, you know that you can enter almost any address into Google Maps and look at a recent image of that location, whether it’s a business, government land or a residence. And it’s useful for knowing what building or landmark to look for when you arrive, but this same feature also makes it easier for stalkers or criminals to plan their way inside your home.

Street View gives anyone a free ticket to examine your home on the internet — maybe they want to look for any cameras or even find a side window to pry open. And sure, anyone can walk or drive by your home and do this in person, but Google Maps makes this process much simpler. Anyone with a phone or computer can do it.

Fortunately, there is an easy way to blur your home on Google Maps and help prevent others from seeing too many details of where you live. Here’s how to do it.

For more, here are seven essential Google Maps tips for the holidays and how Google Maps can help you figure out dinner.

How to blur your home on Google Maps

You’ll need to do this on your computer, as the blurring feature isn’t available in the Google Maps application on iOS or Android, and while it is accessible through the web browser on your mobile device, it’s rather difficult to use, so use a trusted web browser on your Mac or PC instead.

At maps.google.com, enter your home address in the search bar at the top-right, hit return, then click the photo of your home that appears.

Next, you’ll see the Street View of your location. Click Report a Problem at the bottom-right. The text is super tiny, but it’s there.

Now, it’s up to you to choose what you want Google to blur. Using your mouse, adjust the view of the image so that your home and anything else you want to blur is all contained within the red and black box. Use your cursor to move around and the plus and minus buttons to zoom in and out, respectively.

Once you’re finished adjusting the image, choose what you’re requesting to blur underneath:

• A face
• Your home
• Your car/license plate
• A different object

You’ll be asked to give a bit more detail as to what exactly you want blurred, in case the image is busy with several cars, people and other objects.

Also, be completely sure that what you select is exactly what you want blurred. Google mentions that once you blur something on Street View, it’s blurred permanently.

Finally, enter your email (this is required), verify the captcha (if needed) and click Submit.

You should then receive an email from Google that says it’ll review your report and get back to you once the request is either denied or approved. You may receive more emails from Google asking for more information regarding your request. Google doesn’t offer any information on how long your request will take to process, so just keep an eye out for any further emails.

For more, here’s how Google Maps can help you avoid crowded public transit.

MoviePass, which once dominated the movie ticket subscription industry, announced Thursday it had secured seed funding to help its beta relaunch. The funding will also help MoviePass develop and implement new technology, like virtual reality cinema experiences.

Animoca Brands, a game software, blockchain and venture capital company, led the financing efforts, but MoviePass didn’t say how much funding it secured.

This story is being updated.

If you already use Google as your primary email, calendar and cloud storage service, it just makes sense to get a Google phone. And if you want the latest and greatest it has to offer, you’ll want to pick a Pixel 7 series. There are two models in the lineup — the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro — which feature a new second-gen Tensor Chip, Google’s in-house silicon and improved cameras compared to the previous-gen Pixel 6. You’ll find these new Pixel phones in stock and available at most major retailers and carriers, and thanks to wide range of incredible offers, you can even get one of these sleek new Google devices in your hand for less. So whether you’re an Android user looking to upgrade to the latest model, or a lifelong Apple fan looking to make the switch, read on for the very best Pixel 7 deals you can shop right now.

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The smaller Pixel 7 has a more compact 6.3-inch display, down from the 6.4 inches of its predecessor, though still a touch larger than the budget Pixel 6A. The resolution has remained the same, though, meaning slightly more pixels per inch (416 ppi versus 411 ppi). The Pixel 7 Pro retains a 6.7-inch display.

Particular attention has been paid to the cameras in the Pixel 7 series devices, especially when it comes to zooming and low-light performance. The Pixel 7 Pro is getting a new macro photography mode not found on the regular Pixel 7. The Pixel 7 has, however, seen its camera upgraded to an 11-megapixel sensor, up from the 8 megapixels of the Pixel 6, bringing it in line with its larger counterpart.

What colors do the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro come in?

The Pixel 7 comes in three color variants: snow (white), obsidian (black) and lemongrass (yellow). The larger Pixel 7 Pro is available in snow, obsidian, and hazel (green).

How much do the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro cost?

The Pixel 7 series retains the same retail price points that the departing Pixel 6 series held with a $599 starting price. Here’s how US pricing breaks down in full:

• Pixel 7 (128 GB): $599
• Pixel 7 (256GB): $699
• Pixel 7 Pro (128GB): $899
• Pixel 7 Pro (256GB): $999
• Pixel 7 Pro (512GB): $1,099

Best Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro deals

Google

Pixel 7 and 7 Pro at Google

Up to $150 off, more with trade-in

There are a few benefits that come with buying your Pixel 7 from Google directly. For one, all models and colors are in stock, so you don’t have to worry about getting your ideal configuration, and Google allows you to buy your phone outright, as opposed to an installment plan required by some retailers and carriers.

And right now, Google is even offering a no-strings-attached discount on both models, saving you $100 on the Pixel 7 and $150 on the Pixel 7 Pro. Google also has its own trade-in program, so you can save even more by trading in your old device from Apple, Samsung, Google and even smaller brands like Motorola and OnePlus.

See at Google Store

Google

Pixel 7 at Best Buy

Up to $900 off carrier models, $150 off unlocked

If you’re after an unlocked model, Best Buy is offering the same deal as Google right now — $100 off the Pixel 7 and $150 off the Pixel 7 Pro. Best Buy claims you’ll need to choose same-day activation to get the discount, but you get the same price when you select the activate later option.

Best Buy has also partnered with several mobile carriers, and is offering some carrier-exclusive discounts as well. Verizon customers can save up to $900 with an eligible trade-in, which even includes old and damaged phones. T-Mobile is offering its customers up to $800 off with an eligible trade-in, but you’ll need to sign up on a qualifying Magenta Max plan as well to get the discount. And at the moment, Best Buy isn’t even carrying any models for AT&T customers, so they’ll have to look elsewhere for discounts (see below).

See at Best Buy

CNET

Pixel 7 at AT&T

Up to $800 off with trade-in

AT&T’s offers vary a bit depending on which Pixel 7 model you’re looking at. If you want the base model Pixel 7, you can save up to $380 with a new line of service on an eligible plan with no trade-in required (though you still can trade in a device for a bigger discount). For the Pixel 7 Pro, AT&T is offering up to $800 in enhanced trade-in credit (meaning you’ll earn more credit for trading in the same devices), with no new line required. And both phones qualify you for 50% off a pair of Google Pixel Buds when you add them to your cart with the purchase.

See at AT&T

Screenshot by CNET

Pixel 7 at Verizon

Up to $900 off with new line, $800 off with trade-in

Like AT&T, Verizon’s offers vary a bit between the two different models. New customers who want the base model Pixel 7 can save $520 with a new line on a qualifying service plan, which drops the price down to just $5 per month. And existing customers can get it for free with a qualifying trade-in.

Though if you’re adding a new line of service, you’re better off with the Pixel 7 Pro, which you can get for free with a new line on a qualifying plan. Existing customers can pick it up for as much as $800 off when trading in an eligible device.

And no matter which phone you’re buying, you can get a free $200 Verizon gift card when you switch your existing number over from another carrier. Verizon is also offering some other bonuses, including a free Pixel Watch and $490 off a Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE, but you’ll need a service plan for the new device as well.

See at Verizon

CNET

Pixel 7 at T-Mobile

Up to $600 off with trade-in

T-Mobile is offering up to $600 off the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro when you trade-in a qualifying device and have or switch to a Magenta Max Plan. If you don’t have a Magenta Max plan, you can still save up to $300 with a qualifying trade-in.

New customers can save $501 when adding a new line of service on an eligible plan. And if you’re on a Magenta Max plan you can get a free pair of Google Pixel Buds A-Series or up to $100 off Google Pixel Buds Pro with the purchase.

See at T-Mobile

Congress rejected the US Army’s request for funding to purchase more combat goggles from Microsoft, according to a report Thursday from Bloomberg.

The report says Congress rejected the Army’s request of $400 million to purchase about 6,900 goggles, which are based on Microsoft’s HoloLens Headset. Congress reportedly rejected the funding because field tests showed the headsets caused “mission-affecting physical impairments,” like headaches and nausea.

Lawmakers did approve $40 million in funding to develop a new goggles model, Army spokesman David Patterson said in an email, according to Bloomberg.

In December, the Army awarded a “task order” to Microsoft to develop a new variant of combat goggles, called version 1.2. The money for this order came from funding acquired in 2021.

The Army wrote that the new variant will address “physiological” issues identified during testing. Field testing for version 1.2 of the goggles is supposed to begin in September.

“Microsoft is committed to working with the Army to further develop [Integrated Visual Augmentation System] technology,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in an email to CNET. “The regular cadence of building and testing IVAS… will help us refine and improve the technology to ensure it brings unparalleled protection and capabilities to America’s Soldiers.”

For more, check out the US Army’s $21.88 billion deal to produce the combat goggles and CNET’s hands-on review of Microsoft’s HoloLens 2.

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