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In theory, wireless headphones are great for working out. But in reality, they often fall out, leak sound, or get damaged during heavy sweat sessions. The Anker Soundcore Sport X20 wireless earbuds are true wireless workout earbuds with ANC that are designed to stay put and deliver during exercise. Right now, they’re just $55.99 (originally $79.99), bringing them down to their lowest price ever, according to price-trackers. 

Soundcore Sport X20 by Anker

$55.99
at Amazon

$79.99
Save $24.00

$55.99
at Amazon

$79.99
Save $24.00

These tough sports earbuds are often considered a budget version of the Powerbeats Pro. They combine comfort and durability, with customizable sound and noise cancellation. They have an IP68 rating, meaning they’re dust-proof and can be immersed in 1.5 meters of water for up to 30 minutes, making them ideal for sweaty workouts. The earbuds come with ear hooks that rotate and extend by up to 4 mm. While this keeps them in place during vigorous movement, they aren’t exactly discreet or minimalist, and those with ear sensitivity might prefer in-ear buds, though they are more likely to fall out.

The feature-filled companion app allows users to adjust their EQ. While their default setting, Soundcore Signature, delivers solid sound most of the time, this is a helpful feature if you want to tweak bass or adjust ANC modes. The app also has HearID, which allows users to take a hearing test and customize listening based on their results. The adaptive ANC does a great job at tuning out background noise at the gym or on runs and performs well for under $100.  

Battery life lasts around 12 hours (this drops down to around seven with ANC on) and the carrying case carries 48 hours of battery on average. Charging them for five minutes provides two hours of listening time. For those who take calls, the X20s have six microphones, AI-enhancing tech, and Bluetooth 5.4 Multipoint, letting you seamlessly switch between audio sources. 

If you’re looking for athletic, durable ANC earbuds with a comfortable and durable design to power your workouts or accompany commutes, the Anker Soundcore Sport X20 wireless earbuds are an affordable, top-performing option for listening and taking calls, especially given their current $55.99 price tag.

As expected, iOS 26.1 is out now for all Apple smartphone users today, and it includes what is sure to be a popular feature from the beta. Once installed, this update lets people opt to give the Liquid Glass look a frostier, more opaque appearance. You can find the option to tint the screen behind notifications and tab bars within the Settings menu. It’s under Display & Brightness, then the Liquid Glass section. The feature is also present in iPadOS 26.1 and macOS 26.1, both of which also dropped today.

Ever since Apple unveiled the Liquid Glass design it had planned for the next versions of iOS, the aesthetic has been divisive. (We at Engadget have been pretty well split down the middle about it from the start.) The tinting of the newest operating systems joins a growing roster of accessibility and visibility options to customize how Liquid Glass looks, from the full-on transparent mode to a higher-contrast and higher-opacity approach. 

One other standout from the 26.1 OS releases is for the iPad users. Those of you who wanted the return of Slide Over for multitasking can breathe a sigh of relief: after appearing in the beta last month, the feature is back. Many iPad owners appreciated how Slide Over let them control screen real estate without constant rearranging of windows. The feature has been reimagined for the tablet’s current capabilities, essentially letting you pin a window to the top of your screen and hide it when you want. This window can also be resized and given your aspect ratio of choice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/ios-ipados-and-macos-now-let-you-frost-apples-liquid-glass-225513425.html?src=rss

Coca-Cola has doubled down on AI-generated holiday ads despite widespread criticism of last year’s uncanny results. This year the beverage company is replacing human actors with oddly animated animals in a visually inconsistent campaign. The Verge reports: There’s no consistent style, switching between attempted realism and a bug-eyed toony look, and the polar bears, panda, and sloth move unnaturally, like flat images that have been sloppily animated rather than rigged 3D models in CG. Compared to the convincing deepfake videos being generated by tools like OpenAI’s Sora 2 or Google’s Veo 3, the videos produced for this Coke ad feel extremely dated.

The only notable improvement to my eyes is that the wheels on the iconic Coke trucks are actually consistently turning this year, rather than gliding statically over snow-covered roads. The Wall Street Journal reports that Coca-Cola teamed up with Silverside and Secret Level on its latest holiday campaign, two of the AI studios that previously worked on the 2024 Coke Christmas ads.

Coca-Cola declined to comment on the cost of the new holiday campaign, according to The Wall Street Journal, but said that around 100 people were involved in the project — a figure comparable to the company’s older AI-free productions. That includes five “AI specialists” from Silverside who contributed by prompting and refining more than 70,000 AI video clips.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

This is a video of feline behaviorist Amanda Campion of Cats.com (I miss Cat Fancy magazine) discussing and demonstrating how to properly pick up a cat, which thankfully does not involve hanging out by their water dish or litter box and asking if they come here often. She also discusses how to hold a cat. Lots of valuable information here. Me? I’m a cat whisperer and have never had to pick up a cat, they jump in my arms by themselves. “It’s because you smell like cat food.” My natural musk is irresistible to all creatures — it’s a blessing and a curse. Mostly a curse when camping though.

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If you’re in the market for a new pair of on-ear ANC headphones from a premium brand, here’s a deal to check out: The Bose QuietComfort Headphones are currently $199 (originally $359) in every color. This represents a 45% discount and the lowest price ever for these well-reviewed headphones, according to price tracking tools.

Bose QuietComfort Headphones

$199.00
at Amazo

$359.00
Save $160.00

$199.00
at Amazo

$359.00
Save $160.00

These wireless Bluetooth headphones from Bose have plush ear cushions that make them great for long-term wear. They offer automatic noise cancellation with both “Quiet” and “Aware” modes that let you switch between isolated sound and hearing your surroundings, while adjustable EQ lets you fine-tune the sound to your liking. They will last up to 24 hours on a single charge, with quick charge giving you around 2.5 to 4 hours after 15 minutes. While they’re wireless, they also come with an audio cable for wired listening if the battery dies. 

Per this “excellent” PCMag review, the on-ear control buttons are well-placed and easy to operate, and that the QuietComfort headphones have  “rich, crisp audio” and fantastic ANC. Compared to their predecessors, they have a more refined sound signature but don’t have the immersive audio or updated Bluetooth specs of the pricier Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones(they’re compatible with Bluetooth 5.1 but don’t support Bluetooth 5.3 or use the Snapdragon Sound Platform). They also lack the over-ear design and faster charging of the Ultra, but the tradeoff is a $130 price difference and a lighter, more travel-friendly build.

If you’re looking for a pair of comfy, lightweight on-ear headphones with strong ANC performance, and the lack of future-proofing features like high-end codec and Bluetooth support isn’t a dealbreaker, these Bose QuietComfort Headphones are a reliable choice, and a good value at their current $199 price point. 

A pathfinder mission for Vast’s privately owned space station launched into orbit Sunday and promptly extended its solar panel, kicking off a shakedown cruise to prove the company’s designs can meet the demands of spaceflight.

Vast’s Haven Demo mission lifted off just after midnight Sunday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, and rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit. Haven Demo was one of 18 satellites sharing a ride on SpaceX’s Bandwagon 4 mission, launching alongside a South Korean spy satellite and a small testbed for Starcloud, a startup working with Nvidia to build an orbital data center.

After release from the Falcon 9, the half-ton Haven Demo spacecraft stabilized itself and extended its power-generating solar array. The satellite captured 4K video of the solar array deployment, and Vast shared the beauty shot on social media.

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Computers are supposed to be unambiguous. When you click a function, that function is supposed to do what it says it does. So, when you click “Update and shut down” on your PC, you assume your PC will install any available updates, then shut down. Simple.

As you might expect from this headline, that isn’t actually the case. For some reason, when you choose “Update and shut down,” Windows only listens to the first half of the command. Sure, your updates will download and install, but if you watch your computer, you’ll see that it doesn’t shut down, but restarts instead. That might come as a surprise, especially if you walked away from your PC under the assumption that it would power down completely. After all, that’s what Microsoft, and the rest of the computing industry, usually means by “shut down.”

The implications can range from annoying to detrimental. If you don’t want your computer running, you’ll likely be frustrated to find your PC still on when you return to it. But if you have a Windows laptop, perhaps this quirk ends up draining your battery. You assumed your PC would shut down, and your battery would be about the same as when you left it. But now, you have a dead or dying PC, and you have to worry about how to get it charged—all because you trusted a function when it said it would shut down your computer.

A bug long in the making

Interestingly, this is an issue that Microsoft has avoided fixing for quite a while now. According to Windows Latest, the problem is caused by is a bug that originated with Windows 10. Microsoft just never fixed the glitch, and, as such, it carried over to Windows 11. If you’re a long-time Windows user, you might have been dealing with this odd situation for years.

Luckily, this is changing. Microsoft added a fix for this bug as part of the October 2025 optional update (KB5067036). For the rest of us, the company is including the patch as part of Microsoft’s November Patch Tuesday update. That update is set to arrive on Nov. 11, as Patch Tuesday updates drop on the second Tuesday of each month.

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Windows Latest asked Microsoft what exactly caused this bug, but didn’t receive an answer. The outlet theorizes that the issue is probably related the Windows’ servicing stack, the part of the OS responsible for installing Windows updates. For some reason, the “power off” task doesn’t carry over after Windows finishes installing updates.

If you want to fix this problem now, install either the October update, or wait for the Nov. 11 update. Either way, you can install the updates from Start > Settings > Windows Update—or, of course, use the “Update and shut down” function. With any luck, that should be the last time your PC restarts when it’s supposed to shut down.

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Promising to “level up your vision,” rapper/entrepreneur Soulja Boy recently launched a pair of so-called “AI Smart Glasses.” For $64.50, you can own a pair that offers “hands-free music control, live performance enhancements, and seamless social media connectivity.” And if a stylish, inexpensive pair of AI smart glasses for $64.50 sounds too good to be true to you, it almost definitively is.

I’m not knocking Soulja Boy’s hustle, and “Crank That” is an all-time banger, but I am an expert on smart glasses, and I would not recommend that anyone buy these glasses.

Credit: Souljaboy.net

No so smart

Judging from the vague product listing and stock photos, Soulja Boy is likely selling one of the many “AI smart glasses” out there that are essentially cheap bluetooth headsets packed into glasses. Consider these $37 specials from Amazon, or these AI glasses that cost less than ten bucks. Heck, you can even get a pair of glasses with a camera for $55 at Walmart.

Soulja Boy has a history of selling tech products that are less than what they seem, from the Soulja Boy Bluetooth Headphones, to a handheld game console, and more. The (now unavailable) $300 Soulja Phone, for instance, was apparently a Chinese Android phone that retailed for $200. Past Soulja Boy game consoles were actually emulators that could be purchased for less elsewhere.

In other words, Soulja Boy is using his brand to promote products that already exist, drop-shipping them to buyers, and jacking up the price for being the middleman. Past Soulja Boy products haven’t even had his name emblazoned on them, which seems like the only reason to buy a product from Soulja Boy instead of buying it from Amazon for significantly less money.

A long-simmering battle over who controls credit scoring in America has erupted into open warfare. Fair Isaac, whose FICO score is used in about 90% of consumer-lending decisions in the U.S., announced it will double the price of its mortgage credit score to $10 next year. The company also said it will bypass the three credit-reporting firms that have supplied the data feeding into its algorithm for decades.

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion created VantageScore in 2006 as an alternative to FICO and collectively own the scoring system. The move came months after Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would allow lenders to use VantageScore for mortgage approvals. The three credit-reporting firms responded by offering VantageScore free for many loans. Fair Isaac had charged a few cents per score for decades before chief executive Will Lansing began raising prices several years ago. Revenue from selling credit scores reached $920 million in fiscal 2024, nearly five times what it was a decade earlier.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Spotify profits off fake Drake streams that rob other artists of perhaps hundreds of millions in revenue shares, a lawsuit filed Sunday alleged—hoping to force Spotify to reimburse every artist impacted.

The lawsuit was filed by an American rapper known as RBX, who may be best known for cameos on two of the 1990s’ biggest hip-hop records, Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle.

The problem goes beyond Drake, RBX alleged. It claims Spotify ignores “billions of fraudulent streams” each month, selfishly benefiting from bot networks that artificially inflate user numbers to help Spotify attract significantly higher ad revenue.

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Panic is ready to show off some new games for its delightful Playdate. The company will run a Playdate Update showcase on November 6 at 1PM ET on its YouTube channel and website. The stream will include a look at some upcoming games for the system as well as highlights from this year that are included in the Playdate Catalog Fall Sale, which runs until November 13 at 1PM ET.

One of the items that’s on sale is Playdate Season 2, a run of weekly drops of neat games, including Fulcrum Defender (from Into The Breach developer Subset Games), puzzle platformer Taria & Como and roguelike CatchaDiablos. The wonderfully strange cable TV simulator Blippo+ is part of Season 2 as well. The season is on sale for the first time at $31. It typically costs $39. 

Panic noted that Season 2 has sold more than 15,000 units, which surpassed the company’s expectations. Here’s hoping Panic announces Season 3 during the showcase. I have my fingers crossed that the company will reveal a version of the tragicomic adventure Time Flies (which it brought to Steam and PS5 this year) for the Playdate as well.

Meanwhile, Panic said the Playdate is in stock and available to buy for the holidays. Anyone in the US who snaps up the $229 console before November 30 will get free shipping, while tariff fees will be waived — the teeny yellow console should arrive in time for Christmas too.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/a-playdate-showcase-is-set-for-november-6-210034162.html?src=rss

Apple is paying Google to create a custom Gemini-based model that will run on the company’s private cloud servers and power the next version of Siri, according to Bloomberg. The decision marks a departure from Apple’s tradition of building core technologies in-house. The arrangement follows a competition Apple held this year between Anthropic and Google, the report said. Anthropic offered a superior model, but Google made more financial sense because of the tech giants’ existing search relationship. Neither company is expected to discuss the partnership publicly, the report added.

The new Siri will introduce AI-powered web search and other features users have come to expect from voice assistants. The custom model will not flood Siri with Google services or Gemini features already available on Android devices. Instead, it will provide the underlying AI capabilities through an Apple user interface. The company is betting heavily on the revamped Siri to undo years of brand damage.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.