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  • Get Your Hands on a OnePlus Pad Tablet for Just $400 With This Black Friday Offer

    Get Your Hands on a OnePlus Pad Tablet for Just $400 With This Black Friday Offer

    You’ll find tons of Black Friday iPad deals available right now, but Apple isn’t the only brand with top-rated tablets on sale at the moment. The OnePlus Pad is our favorite tablet of 2023 for Android users on a budget, and right now, you can pick it up for even less. Both Amazon and OnePlus are offering an early Black Friday deal that knocks $80 off the starting price, so you can pick it up for just $400. There’s no set expiration for this offer, so you’ll want to get your order in sooner rather than later if you don’t want to miss out.

    The OnePlus Pad hit shelves just this spring, and CNET’s Scott Stein called it one of the best Android tablets in its price range, so it’s an even better value when you can pick it up on sale. It has an 11.6-inch LCD display as well as a powerful eight-core Dimensity 9000 CPU for smooth performance, and comes equipped with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It also measures just 6.5mm thick and weighs in at 552 grams (1.22 pounds), making it perfect for taking care of business while you’re on the go.

    There are also some discounted accessories that can help you make the most of this sleek OnePlus tablet. You can pick up the OnePlus magnetic stylus for $70 ($30 off), the magnetic keyboard for $100 ($50 off) and the folio case for $30 ($10 off), all at Amazon’s Black Friday sale.

  • AI Assistants Need to Know a Lot About You to Work Best. Is That OK?

    AI Assistants Need to Know a Lot About You to Work Best. Is That OK?

    Digital assistants have existed for years; after all, Siri debuted on the iPhone 4S in 2011. But early voice-enabled helpers were initially limited in their functionality, sometimes struggling to produce helpful answers even under ideal circumstances. The new wave of digital agents that began to crop up in late 2022 and 2023, however, can effortlessly do everything from creating recipes to summing up your emails to even writing social media captions for your photos.

    Virtual helpers took a leap forward this year thanks to the rise of generative AI, or AI that can create content based on prompts after being trained on data. OpenAI dazzled the world with ChatGPT roughly one year ago, and tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta nimbly wove generative AI into their chatbots, search engines and digital assistants throughout 2023.

    But the new cohort of high-tech digital butlers also requires trust in Big Tech, a sizable ask after data breaches, controversies like the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal and investigations into privacy practices have shaken our faith in tech companies. The past 10 years have raised big questions from regulators and the general public about how companies use the stream of data we feed them. Reaping the benefits of new AI could mean getting even more personal with the tech services we use every day.

    In some ways, chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot and Google Bard are just evolutions of how digital services already operate. Companies like Google parent Alphabet, Meta and Amazon already crunch data about our internet browsing habits to provide personalized content, ads and recommendations. New AI tools may not require more personal data, but it’s the new ways these tools connect the dots between different types of personal data, like our emails and texts, that raise fresh privacy concerns.

    “We can see how the pieces are put together now with these tools,” said Matthew Butkovic, technical director for the CERT cybersecurity division at Carnegie Mellon University. “We knew the data was out there, but now we’re seeing how it’s being used in combination.”

    The rise of new AI assistants

    Microsoft Copilot on the Windows 11 desktop.

    Throughout 2023, it became clear that virtual assistants are in the process of getting a major overhaul. While search engines, chatbots and image generators were the first online tools to get an AI glow up, companies like Microsoft and Google are now infusing the tech into full-fledged digital assistants.

    Microsoft Copilot, which the company detailed at its Sept. 21 event, is more sophisticated than Cortana, the PC giant’s now-shuttered previous personal assistant.

    Copilot doesn’t just answer questions and commands like “What will the weather be like in Spain next week?” or “What time is my next meeting?” It pulls information from your apps, the web and your devices to provide more specific and personalized responses.

    During the Sept. 21 keynote, Carmen Zlateff, vice president of Windows, showed an example of how Copilot on your Windows PC will be able to answer questions based on information found in your phone’s text messages, such as details about an upcoming flight. That example underscores how Copilot does more than just retrieve answers based on the web or data stored in your Microsoft account.

    Assistant with Bard

    It didn’t take long for Google to showcase how generative AI will play a role in its own helper, the Google Assistant. During an event on Oct. 4, Google unveiled Assistant with Bard, a new version of its virtual sidekick powered by the tech behind its conversational Bard chatbot.

    Sissie Hsiao, vice president and general manager for Google Assistant and Bard, demonstrated this at the event by showing how you’ll be able to recite a command like “Catch me up on any important emails I’ve missed this week.” That’s all it took for the Google Assistant to conjure up a bulleted list distilling emails like a child’s birthday party invitation and a notification about a collegiate career fair down to just a couple of sentences.

    “While Assistant is great at handling quick tasks like setting timers, giving weather updates and making quick calls, there is so much more that we’ve always envisioned a deeply capable personal assistant should be able to do,” she said during the presentation. “But the technology to deliver it didn’t exist until now.”

    ChatGPT

    Generative AI is influencing almost every aspect of how we interact with the internet — from retrieving search results to editing images. But Microsoft and Google’s announcements represent a radical shift in how these companies are thinking about AI helpers. It goes a step beyond making these virtual assistants better listeners and conversationalists, as Amazon did with the upgraded Alexa it unveiled in September.

    Microsoft and Google may be the biggest proponents of using generative AI to create smarter assistants, but they’re not the only ones. OpenAI, which kicked off the generative AI craze with ChatGPT last year, recently announced that users will be able to create custom versions of ChatGPT for specific tasks — like explaining board game rules and providing tech advice. That potentially opens the opportunity for anyone to create their own specialized digital helper, which OpenAI is calling GPTs. All you need to do is provide instructions, decide what you want your GPT to do, and of course, feed it some data.

    Trusting AI to use our data the right way

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    Generative AI could signal a turning point for virtual assistants, providing them with the contextual awareness and conversational comprehension they’ve lacked.

    But doing so also means giving these digital helpers a bigger window into our personal and professional lives. It requires trust in these AI systems to combine and crunch our emails, files, apps and texts in a way that feels helpful rather than disruptive or unsettling.

    Carnegie Mellon’s Butkovic provides a hypothetical example of how working with a generative AI assistant could potentially go awry. Let’s say you ask an AI helper to compile a report about a specific work-related topic. An AI helper could accidentally weave sensitive client data into its report if that data isn’t properly classified.

    “We may see potentially a new source of risk in combinations of information we didn’t anticipate,” he said. “Because we didn’t have the tools before, and we haven’t put safeguards in place to prevent it.”

    It’s not just about sensitive data. There are moments in our lives we might not want to be reminded of when asking a digital assistant to craft a report or draft an email. How can we trust that it won’t?

    Jen King, privacy and data fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, cites another hypothetical example. If you have lengthy email conversations with family members sitting in your inbox discussing arrangements for a deceased loved one, you probably wouldn’t want those communications pulled into certain answers or reports.

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    There’s already a precedent for this happening in social media and photo gallery apps. After receiving feedback, Facebook added more controls in 2019 to make it easier for those taking over an account for a deceased loved one. The company uses AI to stop profiles of deceased friends or family members from surfacing in birthday notifications and event invite recommendations, but acknowledged at the time that there was room for improvement.

    “We’re working to get better and faster at this,” the post read.

    Google also added more controls for managing which curated memories appear in its Photos app after Wired highlighted how painful looking back on certain photos stored on our phones can be and the lack of tools for managing them at the time.

    “The more data I can feed [it] about you, the more I’m going to be able to fill in the blanks,” King said. “And if you’re looking across like multiple facets of someone’s life, that’s a really risky strategy, because so much of our lives is not static.”

    That’s in addition to existing challenges generative AI-based apps and chatbots already face, such as the accuracy of the information they deliver and the potential for hackers to trick these systems. Tech companies are aware of these hurdles and are trying to address them.

    Google nudges you to double-check Bard’s responses and says the tool may provide incorrect information, for example. It also notes that Bard can only access personal data from Workspace, Google’s suite of productivity software that includes Gmail, with the user’s permission. It also doesn’t use that content to show ads or improve Bard. Google’s blog post about Assistant with Bard also mentions that users will be able to customize privacy settings.

    ChatGPT similarly encourages users to fact check answers and discloses that responses may not always be accurate. It also warns users not to input sensitive information into the tool.

    The frequently asked questions page for Microsoft Copilot notes that responses aren’t guaranteed to be right and says Copilot inherits the same security standards enterprise products, like Microsoft 365, are built on. It also says customer data isn’t used to train its large language models.

    But Irina Raicu, the Internet ethics program director at Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, is concerned about new privacy vulnerabilities that are specific to generated AI that haven’t been resolved yet. One such example is prompt injection, an exploit that lets attackers take advantage of large language learning models by hiding malicious instructions.

    Unlocked padlock and fencing on a phone screen, with a computer keyboard in the background

    In a blog post from August, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre described an example of what a potential prompt injection attack could look like. A hacker could theoretically hide malicious code in a transaction request sent to a user via a banking app. If the person asks the bank’s chatbot about its spending habits for the month, the large language model could end up analyzing that code from the attacker while looking through the person’s transactions to answer the question. That, in turn, could trigger money to be sent to the attacker’s account.

    Raicu is concerned that cybersecurity isn’t keeping up with these new threats. She points to the rise of ransomware attacks in recent years as an example of what can happen when cybersecurity solutions don’t evolve quickly enough.

    “Imagine that, but with a new layer of challenges that we don’t understand yet,” she said.

    However, there are some reasons to be hopeful that the AI boom won’t result in the privacy mishaps that followed the proliferation of new tech platforms in the past. There’s already a push for AI regulation in the White House and the EU, for example. Tech companies are generally under more scrutiny when it comes to privacy, security, and their size and influence than they were when platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Google Search emerged.

    But in the end, we’re still going to have to contend with the potential risks and trade-offs that come with the benefits of new technologies.

    “There’s going to be no absolutes in this,” Butkovic said. “We’re going to live in this gray space where you need to make personal decisions about your comfort with these sorts of systems culling through the artifacts of your digital life.”

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

  • Take $200 Off These Rugged Garmin Smartwatches

    Take $200 Off These Rugged Garmin Smartwatches

    Smartwatches with fitness tracking capabilities are a great way to stay informed about your health and overall wellness routine while staying connected on the go. For adventurers or workout enthusiasts who need a rugged smartwatch that can handle almost anything, Garmin wearables are hard to beat. But that durability doesn’t come cheap. But with just ten days left until Black Friday, loads of retailers have dropped deals on hundreds of items — and right now Amazon has slashed the price on select Garmin smartwatches by $200, making it more affordable to grab one.

    If you’re looking for a stellar deal, the Garmin Fenix 7 Sapphire multisport GPS solar edition smartwatchis discounted by 25% right now, bringing the price to $600. It boasts 1.3-inch screen and a whopping 18 days of battery life in smartwatch mode — and with solar charging, you can get up to 22 days. For GPS mode, that number shifts to 57 hours or 73 hours with solar in direct sunlight, both of which are impressive. You’ll also get access to over 30 built-in sports apps, wellness monitoring, GPS and TopoActive maps and more. And when you pair it with a smartphone, you’ll get notifications and have access to contactless payment from your wrist.

    If you’re willing to spend a little more, the Fenix 7X Pro Sapphire Solar is also available at a $200 discount, which means you can snag one for $800 right now. It’s a little larger, at 1.4 inches — or 51mm — and it can get up to 37 days of battery life in smartwatch mode with solar charging. It also has a built-in LED flashlight for when you’re in low-light conditions or training at night. It also has some additional fitness features.

    For $900, you can score the 2nd-gen Epix Pro Sapphire edition. The Epix 2 is our favorite smartwatch for athletes, thanks to its mapping capabilities, AMOLED display and battery life, and the Pro edition just adds to the list of assets this smartwatch option can provide.

    And for specialized tactical features like Jumpmaster mode, waypoint projection, stealth mode and more — including a kill switch to erase user data and location, you may want to splurge on the Tactix 7 Pro, which is down to $1,100 right now.

    There are other models up for grabs as well, so be sure to check out the entire sale selection to find the right Garmin option for you. And for even more Garmin deals, shop the Best Buy Black Friday sale, which has hundreds of discounts on top tech, including wearables. We’ve also rounded up Black Friday Apple Watch deals if you already have an iPhone and prefer to stay within the Apple ecosystem.

  • Need to Make an Amazon Return After Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Check Out These Tips

    Need to Make an Amazon Return After Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Check Out These Tips

    Between competitive deals and all of the extra shopping perks you get with Prime, lots of people opt to take care of their Holiday shopping on Amazon Prime. However, every once in a while, you may need to make a few returns. This could be because the product you ordered is incorrect or broken, or it could just be that you’re not satisfied with what you received.

    Amazon returns (or exchanges) can be quick and easy or free in many cases, but not always. We’ll tell you everything you need to know if you want to make your returns for free this year. We cover everything from how to provide valid reasons for returns, returning products you purchased with Alexa, having USPS pick up your package from your home for free and other aspects of Amazon returns.

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    Also, you can learn more about the perks that come with an Amazon Prime membership, find out how to get the most out of Amazon subscribe and save and how to send gifts to people secretly via Amazon.

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    Give a reason, not an excuse

    Try to be honest and precise about why you’re returning the product. If possible, Amazon and third-party sellers want to resell the merchandise (like through Amazon Warehouse Deals), so they’ll check your items against your justification once the package is received.

    Some reasons for returns qualify for free shipping and some do not: For example, if you select “No longer needed,” you may be charged for the return.

    Misclassifying a return can not only result in negative repercussions to your account (Amazon has been known to ban shoppers who misuse the return process) but it can also mean you’ll have to fork over shipping costs later anyway.

    Here are all the various return reasons Amazon gives you to choose from:

    1. No longer needed: You changed your mind and don’t want the item anymore.
    2. Inaccurate website description: For example, the photo shows a royal blue, but the item is a light sky-blue color. Similar to, but different from, “Wrong item was sent” (see below).
    3. Item defective or doesn’t work: It could be broken or simply doesn’t do what it’s designed to do (for example, a power bank with a broken USB-C port).
    4. Bought by mistake: You accidentally hit Buy Now or forgot to delete an item from your cart before checking out.
    5. Better price available: You’ve found the same thing at Walmart, for example, for less than you paid for it at Amazon.
    6. Product damaged, but shipping box OK: The box isn’t dented, cut or scratched, but the item inside has cosmetic or mechanical damage.
    7. Item arrived too late: The item was delivered past the guaranteed delivery and missed, for example, a birthday or holiday.
    8. Missing or broken parts: Similar to “Item was defective or doesn’t work” but applies specifically to the attachments or other items that come with a purchase.
    9. Product and shipping box both damaged: Somewhere between being boxed up and arriving at your door the package was mishandled, and the product arrived broken.
    10. The wrong item was sent: If you received a completely different item from the one ordered.
    11. Received extra item I didn’t buy (no refund needed): Something extra got packaged with your order, and you feel obliged to return it.
    12. Didn’t approve purchase: Someone, perhaps a child or friend, ordered something on your account without asking and you got charged for it.
    Amazon Echo

    Items ordered via Alexa always come with free returns, regardless of the reason

    If you’re considering a purchase but are really worried it won’t qualify for free return shipping if it doesn’t work out, order it through Alexa. Physical merchandise ordered through voice-shopping with Amazon’s digital assistant always comes with free returns, regardless of the reason. The only exception is Amazon Pharmacy purchases.

    To return a product purchased using Alexa, process your return as normal in the Returns Center and Amazon will automatically refund any applied shipping charges. You should see your refund within seven days of Amazon getting the merchandise back.

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    Don’t just accept the default return shipping method

    When Amazon asks you to select a return shipping method, Kohl’s Drop off may be the default preselected option, but it’s not necessarily the one you want.

    To get to the UPS Pick-up option, here’s the only way to return items without leaving home:

    1. Scroll down and possibly even click a link that reads something like “See more return options.”
    2. When you finally see the option for UPS Pick-up, it should also show the cost as $0.00 (unless you’ve chosen one of the few reasons for a return that Amazon charges for, in which case Amazon will deduct about $6 from your refund).
    3. Tap or click UPS Pick-up and select Confirm Your Return.

    Tell Amazon where to send your refund

    You’ll have to choose how you want to get your money back: The quickest way is to request a credit to your Amazon account, which the company will issue as soon as UPS scans your return into its system. You are then restricted to spending the money at Amazon, however.

    You can also have the funds put back on your debit or credit card. But even though Amazon will issue the refund as soon as UPS takes possession of your return package, it still could take another three to five business days to show up in your account.

    Whether you choose a credit or a refund, you’ll still need to decide how you want to send the item back.

    All that’s left is packing everything up and sending it out

    Follow whatever instructions Amazon gives, which probably are just to print out a packing slip and place it in the package with your return.

    Tape up the box good and tight — even over the return label so it won’t get damaged — and put the package near your front door so you won’t forget to set it out on the next business day.

    You might even want to set a reminder on your phone or with Alexa or Google Assistant so you don’t forget.

    If you schedule a pickup but forget to leave your return outside, UPS will hopefully leave a note and attempt pickup two more times. Worst case scenario, the UPS driver will leave a prepaid mailing label that you’ll have to apply to the package yourself, and then you’ll have to cart the thing to the nearest UPS Store or UPS Dropoff location.

    Good luck, and many happy returns.

    For more, here’s how you can save using Amazon hidden coupons and hidden warehouse sections online.

  • Only a Few Weeks Before Your Old Google Account is Deleted. Here’s How to Save It

    Only a Few Weeks Before Your Old Google Account is Deleted. Here’s How to Save It

    In just a few weeks — on Dec. 1, to be precise — Google has said it will start deleting inactive Google accounts and their contents, including Gmail messages, Photos images, Calendar appointments, Contacts records, YouTube videos and Drive documents.

    That inactive Google account may be a Gmail box you set up for a newsletter you subscribe to or an online forum you read or a shopping site you buy from — somewhere you’d like to not use your primary email to remain anonymous or avoid spammy messages.

    If you’ve got old Google accounts you’d like to hold on to, here’s how to keep Google from deleting them starting in December. For more, check out how to log in to Google with a passkey and discover 10 Gmail tips and tools to use daily.

    Why is Google deleting inactive accounts?

    If an account hasn’t been used for awhile, Google said, it’s more likely to be compromised: “This is because forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised, haven’t had two factor authentication set up, and receive fewer security checks by the user,” Google said.

    To reduce this risk, Google said, starting in December, if an account hasn’t been used or signed into for at least two years, it may delete the account and its contents. That means if you’ve not logged into an account since 2021, Google may get rid of it.

    If you’re worried about someone grabbing your old, deleted account, Google said if it deletes an inactive account, the Gmail address for the deleted account cannot be used again when creating a new Google account.

    How to keep your Google accounts

    It’s not difficult to preserve your older Google accounts. You need to sign in at least once every two years, so if you can’t remember if you’ve done that, now’s the time.

    Reading or sending an email, using Google Drive, watching a YouTube video, downloading an app on the Google Play Store, using Google search or using Google to sign in to a third-party app or service all count as an activity that will keep your account active. And if you have a subscription set up through your Google account, to Google One, a news publication or to an app, that’s also considered activity.

    Furthermore, this account reaping applies just to personal Google accounts, and not business or school accounts.

    When will Google start deleting accounts?

    Soon. Starting Dec. 1, Google will start deleting accounts. While that’s just a few weeks away, Google said it will send reminder emails to both the primary and recovery emails at least eight months before it takes action alerting you about the possible deletion.

    What if you forget your Google account username or password?

    If you know you have an old Google account but can’t remember its details, you may be able to recover it, depending on what you can’t remember. I recovered two old accounts this way.

    If you forgot your password, for example, you may be able to recover it using this Google password recovery tool. You’ll need to answer questions to confirm it’s your account.

    If you forgot your email address, you may be able to recover it using this Google account recovery tool. You’ll need a phone number or the recovery email address for the account. If you run into trouble, Google has advice on what to do.

    Read more: The Google Pixel 8 is Unlike Any Other Phone You Can Buy Today

  • Keep Your Devices Charged With $20 Off Jackery’s New Ultraportable Power Station

    Keep Your Devices Charged With $20 Off Jackery’s New Ultraportable Power Station

    If you travel a lot, you know the value of having a good power bank, especially if you don’t regularly have access to an outlet or the time to sit somewhere and let something charge. The new Jackery Explorer 100 Plus portable power station is a solid option because it’s not only lightweight, sitting at a little over two pounds, but it has an impressive 99-watt-hour capacity, so it offers a ton of recharging. Even better, there’s a pre-Black Friday deal to celebrate its launch with a $20 coupon on Amazon, bringing the price down to $129.

    Unlike some of the bigger Jackery chargers, this one is much smaller and can fit in the palm of your hand, and also only has three ports, two USB-C and one USB-A. The USB-C ports can pump out an impressive 100 watts, meaning you could potentially charge a laptop or fast charge a phone if you have one of either that’s compatible. The USB-C can only handle 18 watts, which isn’t too bad, but on the bright side, you can use all three ports to charge devices at a max of 128 watts.

    As for the 99-watt-hour capacity, that’s roughly 27,000-mAh of charge, or about six to seven full charges of a phone, so it’s has a lot of capacity. It’s also just below the maximum battery capacity that you can take with you on a flight without approval, at least in most places, making it an ideal travel charger. And if you tend to camp a lot, you can use Jackery’s SolarSaga solar panel to charge the power station in about two hours which is a unique feature for a portable power bank of this size.

    While the Jackery Explorer 100 Plus is a great little power station, if you’re looking for something a little bit different, check out some of the other Amazon Black Friday deals available this fall.

  • Windows 11 Pro Falls to Its Lowest Price of $23 in This Early Black Friday Deal

    Windows 11 Pro Falls to Its Lowest Price of $23 in This Early Black Friday Deal

    Windows 11 is probably one of the most popular operating systems around, but grabbing from Microsoft will set you back a massive $200. That’s a lot of money, especially if you want to set up more than one device, such as a desktop and laptop, and it can add up really quickly. Thankfully, you can save on Windows 11 if you know where to look, and with Black Friday approaching, now is a great time to be looking. Right now at StackSocial you can get a Windows 11 Pro license for just $23, a new record low for the OS.

    This is a great price, but it’s important to note that not every computer out there is able to run Windows 11, so before you buy it, you’re going to want to ensure that your computer will meet the requirements for the operating system. Additionally, the listing says that if you have a PC that’s already running Windows 10, and Windows Update doesn’t let you install the free Windows 11 upgrade, your computer won’t be compatible with this version either.

    The activation key that’s provided following your purchase can be used to install and activate Windows 11 Pro on one computer. To be clear, purchases like this are generally intended for advanced users — those who are building a new computer or who want to dual-boot an existing computer with a second OS. If you’re doing that, you will need a secondary PC to access and download the files, so be sure you can access everything from another computer in your home or you have a friend’s machine that you can use temporarily. You’ll also want to have a USB thumb drive on hand to transfer the file, but with plenty of Amazon Black Friday deals going on right now you won’t have a problem finding an affordable one.

  • Amazon Black Friday Deals: Shop Early Savings on Tech, Kitchen Appliances and More

    Amazon Black Friday Deals: Shop Early Savings on Tech, Kitchen Appliances and More

    Though Black Friday is officially the day after Thanksgiving (Nov. 24) Amazon has its own Black Friday sale kicking off even earlier than last year. This year, holiday deals will launch on Nov. 17, though you don’t even have to wait that long. We’re seeing hundreds of deals already live on Amazon across a wide range of product categories.

    You can always check out Amazon’s own dedicated deals page, but rather than sift through everything, save yourself some time and have a look at our top picks across popular categories below. And for even more savings, be sure to check out our roundup of the top Best Buy Black Friday deals as well.

    We’re updating this article regularly to make sure the best deals come right to you, but please note that while prices were accurate as of this article’s most recent publish time, pricing and availability are subject to change without notice.

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    Amazon Black Friday tech and smart home deals

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    When is Amazon’s Black Friday 2023 sale?

    While Amazon has already dropped the prices on many items as early Black Friday deals, Amazon’s official dates for the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals will take place Nov. 17-27. Prices have been slashed on all kinds of goods, such as the 9th Gen iPad, currently at an all-time low of $249, and the Echo Buds are just $35.

    What kind of Black Friday deals will be on Amazon for 2023?

    Steep discounts are expected on pretty much every category on Amazon, including deals on toys, home goods, fashion, electronics, tech, fitness equipment and, of course, Amazon’s devices like the Echo, Kindle and more. We’ll update this post regularly with the best deals available.

  • ‘Indiana Jones 5’ Streaming on Disney Plus: Release Date and Time

    ‘Indiana Jones 5’ Streaming on Disney Plus: Release Date and Time

    Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in a poster for the movie.

    Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the fifth movie in the franchise, is joining the four earlier films on Disney Plus in December, offering fans some potential binge-watching over the holidays.

    The globe-trotting flick, which premiered in theaters in June and stars Harrison Ford, presents a new challenge for Jones involving an ancient dial that could change the course of history, per a synopsis from Disney Plus. It’s directed by James Mangold and also stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Jones’ goddaughter, Helena.

    Indiana Jones 5 will be the last time fans see Ford as the legendary adventurer, according to an interview with the actor earlier this year. Here’s precisely when you’ll be able to watch it on Disney Plus, as well as how a VPN could potentially assist you with streaming.

    How to watch Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny on Disney Plus

    Indiana Jones 5 will be released globally on Dec. 1 at 12:01 a.m. PT (3:01 a.m. ET), unless you’re in Europe, the Middle East or Africa. In that case, one of three things is true: If you’re in Turkey, you can watch it on Jan. 3, if you’re in France, you can watch it on a yet-to-be-determined date, and everyone else can stream the film on Dec. 13.

    There are two main Disney Plus plans you can subscribe to: ad-supported Disney Plus Basic, and ad-free Disney Plus Premium. Basic costs $8 a month, and the premium plan costs $14 a month or $140 a year (a yearly savings of $28). Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), The Temple of Doom (1984), The Last Crusade (1989) and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) are currently streaming on Disney Plus, and that’ll still be the case in December, according to Disney.

    Want to know more about Disney Plus? Here’s our review of the streaming service and coverage of the latest price hike. We’ve also looked at how the streamer’s ad-based tier compares to similar ones offered by its rivals.

    How to watch Indiana Jones 5 from anywhere with a VPN

    Perhaps you’re traveling abroad and want to stream Disney Plus while away from home. With a VPN, you’re able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the movie from anywhere in the world. There are other good reasons to use a VPN for streaming, too.

    A VPN is the best way to encrypt your traffic to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds. Using a VPN is also a great idea if you’re traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network and want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins. Streaming TV can be a bit smoother with a reliable, quality VPN that’s passed our tests and security standards.

    You can use a VPN to stream content legally as long as VPNs are allowed in your country and you have a valid subscription to the streaming service you’re using. The US and Canada are among the countries where VPNs are legal, but we advise against streaming or downloading content on illegal torrent sites. We recommend ExpressVPN, but you may opt for another provider from our best list, such as Surfshark or NordVPN.

    Follow the VPN provider’s instructions for installation, and choose a country where Indiana Jones 5 will be streaming on Disney Plus. Before you open the streaming app, make sure you’re connected to your VPN using your selected region. If you want to stream Indiana Jones 5 on more than one device, it’s possible you’ll need to configure each one to ensure you’re signed in. Go to settings and check your network connections to verify you’re logged in and connected to your VPN account. Now you’re ready to open Disney Plus to stream.

    If you run into issues with streaming, first make sure your VPN is up and running on its encrypted IP address. Double-check that you’ve followed installation instructions correctly and you’ve picked the right geographical area for viewing. If you still encounter connection problems, you may need to reboot your device. Close all apps and windows, restart your device and connect to your VPN first. Note that some streaming services have restrictions on VPN access.

  • Best Black Friday Apple Watch Deals: Save Up to $109 Right Now

    Best Black Friday Apple Watch Deals: Save Up to $109 Right Now

    The next few weeks are an opportune moment to treat yourself to that new Apple Watch you’ve had your eye on. Discounts are available across multiple Apple Watch models as part of this year’s Black Friday extravaganza.

    The Apple Watch lineup as a whole includes some of the very best smartwatches on the market, but they can also be among some of the most costly. That’s definitely something Black Friday can help with, and we’ll be doing all of the deal hunting so you don’t have to. Whether it’s a budget option you’re looking for or just a way to make a saving on the epic Apple Watch Ultra, we’ve got a deal for you.

    Black Friday Apple Watch deals

    2023 Apple Watches

    Will the Apple Watch go on sale for Black Friday?

    Unlike most Apple products, pricing on the Apple Watch has been known to fluctuate throughout the year and it’s especially prone to price drops during major shopping events. For that reason, we expect some significant Apple Watch Black Friday deals this year.

    Where’s the best place to buy an Apple Watch on Black Friday?

    While Apple won’t be offering direct discounts on the Apple Watch directly, the wearable device is available to purchase at third-party retailers like Amazon and Best Buy. Those two have offered some steep Apple Watch savings in the past and will likely be among the best places to buy one ahead of the holidays. Other retailers to keep tabs on include Walmart and Target — plus, don’t shy away from carrier deals if you’re in the market for a cellular-enabled model and don’t mind opening a new line of service.