“Resident Evil 4 VR Mode supports the full main story campaign and delivers an added level of immersion to Leon S. Kennedy’s harrowing rescue mission,” read the press release. “The experience lets players see the terrifying world directly through Leon’s eyes and soak in his surroundings with the 4K HDR display of PlayStation VR2.”
If the prospect of gunning down zombies in VR feels a bit too challenging to you as it does to me, RE4VR will feature a shooting range game mode that lets you acclimate to the controls and test the kinds of weapons Leon will use. And if that still proves too much, the original Resident Evil 4 also has its own VR version available on the Meta Quest 2.
Tesla delivered the Cybertruck: here’s how to preorder one
A newer showcase model of the Cybertruck in New York City. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
The Cybertruck is here — for real this time — and for those who haven’t reserved one already, Tesla has a new ordering process. Today, you can preorder the visually perplexing, low-poly pickup truck on Tesla’s website with a refundable deposit of $250.
A small batch of early preorder holders took delivery of the first production Cybertruck models at an event in Texas. Since reservations went up on Tesla’s website in 2019, the automaker happily accepted $100 deposits to get in line to buy a non-configured Cybertruck model. During the last earnings call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed there were over 1 million preorders.
For a short while earlier this week, the price to hold a place in line for the Cybertruck went up to $250. Afterward, Tesla shut off preorders and added a countdown timer for the delivery event. Now, Tesla has reopened preorders and is inviting interested buyers to drop $250 to join the back of the line. It lets you choose between a rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive, and new high-end “Cyberbeast” version of the truck, with a new starting price of $60,990. The Cybertruck options are as follows:
Once you pay your “refundable” deposit, you’ll get an invitation when your Cybertruck is ready to be configured. It’s not confirmed if the Cyberbeast model carries the previously announced tri-motor setup.
Tesla originally promised a single-motor Cybertruck model with 250 miles of range on a single charge for $39,900, a dual-motor version capable of 300 miles for $49,900, and a top-tier triple-motor one with an almost unbelievable 500 miles of range for $69,900.
The Cybertruck has made its mark in 2019 as Tesla’s sixth production vehicle and one of the first announced all-electric pickup trucks for consumers. Since then, Ford released the F-150 Lightning and Rivian delivered the R1T, and people can actually buy them right now. But there’s a completely separate appeal to the Cybertruck, and it’s certainly looking better today than it did as a prototype on the road.
Windows 11 tests energy saver mode for both laptops and desktop PCs
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Microsoft is adding an energy saver mode for Windows 11 Insiders (Build 26002) that “extends and enhances” the existing battery saver option. The new mode doesn’t apply to just laptops like battery saver does — you can also use energy saver on a desktop computer if you want to conserve electricity, too.
Aside from availability on both desktop devices and laptops (even when they’re plugged in), energy saver works pretty much the same as battery saver mode. The new feature also helps save energy by “trading off some system performance,” so you might not want to use it if you’re gaming.
Image: Microsoft
You can enable energy saver from the Quick Settings menu, or you can configure it from the Settings menu by heading to System > Power > Energy saver. There, you can toggle on the feature or choose to run it automatically whenever your device reaches a certain battery percentage. Energy saver mode is rolling out now to Windows 11 Insiders in the Canary channel.
If you don’t have access to this build, you can still use the existing battery saver mode available to everyone with Windows 11. You can also optimize your power consumption with the system’s energy recommendations feature, which automatically adjusts certain settings, like screen brightness, to save power.
iPhone users in the US will also benefit from a new title suggestion feature that attempts to auto-generate a document title based on text it recognizes in the scan. The feature previously came to the Android version of Drive earlier this year. Google also says it’s improving document scanning on Android, adding similar features like the option to automatically capture documents when they’re in frame. 9to5Google spotted the rollout of this new Android interface last week.
Image: Google
The document scanning process on Android.
At this point, most of the major cloud storage providers now offer native scanning features to quickly capture documents using your phone’s camera. Microsoft launched its Office Lens (now Microsoft Lens) document scanning app in 2015, and Apple built a similar scanner into its Notes app in 2017.
Google says the new iOS features are rolling out now, and are already available on Android. Google’s scanner is accessible in the Drive app on iOS and Android either via the camera icon on the bottom right, or by tapping the “+” icon and selecting “Scan.”
U.S. Debates How Much to Sever Electric Car Industry’s Ties to China Some firms argue that a law aimed at popularizing electric vehicles risks turning the United States into an assembly shop for Chinese-made technology.
The service won’t roll out until early 2024, but some London cabbies have already begun to sign up. Uber says all 15,000 of London’s cab drivers “will now have the opportunity” to sign up for Uber trip referrals. The company recently brokered deals with taxi fleet owners in New York City, Paris, Rome, and Los Angeles to list drivers in its app.
Next to New York’s yellow cabs, the black cabbies of London are arguably the most iconic taxis in the world. Not only is this a symbolic victory for Uber but also it could help build trust with taxi owners who may still be wary of Uber’s motives.
Indeed, not everyone is happy about Uber’s attempts to bring cabbies into its app. The Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA), a trade group that represents 10,000 drivers, cast doubt over whether drivers would flock to the app.
“There is no demand for this partnership from the London licensed taxi drivers we represent or our passengers,” LTDA general secretary Steve McNamara said in a statement. “Neither the LTDA nor any other taxi trade groups were consulted in advance of this unilateral announcement. We are not aware of any drivers having been recruited and don’t believe our members will even consider joining the app, given its well-documented, poor record on everything from passenger safety to workers’ rights in London.”
McNamara noted that riders can already hail a ride in a London black cab through numerous apps, including Gett, Taxiapp, FreeNow, and ComCab. “We have no interest in sullying the name of London’s iconic, world-renowned black cab trade by aligning it with Uber, it’s poor safety record and everything else that comes with it,” he added.
Uber has long been at odds with the taxi industry. In the early days, the company’s habit of playing fast and loose with the rules irked taxi owners, who accused the company of ignoring local regulations when moving into new markets. Uber retorted that the taxi business had many flaws before it arrived, including predatory loans.
But after it failed to completely wipe out and replace the taxi business, Uber instead turned to taxis to help fuel its next stage of growth. The company has said that, by 2025, it hopes to list every taxi in the world on its app. And for once, taxi owners are eager to be involved.
Taxis are featured in the Uber app in 33 countries around the world, with “hundreds of thousands” of taxi drivers receiving trip referrals from the company. Some of the largest markets by volume include Hong Kong, Poland, South Korea, Sweden, and Turkey. Last year, Uber struck a deal to include around 14,000 of New York City’s iconic yellow taxis in its app.
When a taxi is hailed through Uber, the company gets a cut. Uber’s average global take rate (also known as its revenue margin) for rides in the third quarter of this year was 28.3 percent, up from 27.9 percent in Q3 2022. Uber said it would waive its commission on trips for London cabbies for the first six months.
London cabbies are known for their adherence to “the Knowledge,” a seemingly uncanny ability to locate thousands of landmarks within the greater London area with precision. Cabbies study for up to three years and spend around £10,000 (about $12,707) to memorize all the details.
Amazon’s Q AI assistant lets users ask questions about their company’s data
AWS CEO Adam Selipsky | Noah Berger
Amazon’s cloud business AWS launched a chat tool called Amazon Q, where businesses can ask questions specific to their companies.
Announced during a keynote speech by AWS CEO Adam Selipsky at AWS re:Invent, Amazon Q acts like an AI assistant where users can ask questions about their businesses using their data. For example, employees can query Amazon Q on the company’s latest guidelines for logo usage or understand another engineer’s code to maintain an app. Q can surface the information instead of the employee sifting through dozens of documents.
Users can access Amazon Q through the AWS Management Console or individual companies’ documentation pages, developer environments like Slack, and other third-party apps.
Selipsky noted that questions asked on Amazon Q “will not be used to train any foundation models.”
Amazon Q can work with any of the models found on Amazon Bedrock, AWS’s repository of AI models, which includes Meta’s Llama 2 and Anthropic’s Claude 2. The company said customers who use Q often choose which model works best for them; connect to the Bedrock API for the model; use that to learn their data, policies, and workflow; and then deploy Amazon Q.
AWS said Amazon Q was trained on 17 years’ worth of AWS knowledge and can be used to ask questions specific to AWS use. It can suggest the best AWS services for a project.
Currently, Amazon Q is available only for users of Amazon Connect, AWS’s service for contact centers. Eventually, it will be available on other services like Amazon Supply Chain, which helps customers track their supply chain management, and Amazon QuickSight, its platform for business intelligence. Amazon Q for supply chain and business intelligence is available on preview.
Dilip Kumar, vice president for AWS Applications, told The Verge in an interview that each instance of Amazon Q on AWS services will look different. On Amazon Connect, Q is deployed in real time and essentially listens in on a customer call to get information like account details. It gives the contact center agent the relevant answers to questions without the agent needing to find it themselves.
“We wanted to pair the technology with the services that make the most sense first, and for contact centers, supply chain, and business intelligence, AI is a natural fit,” Kumar said.
Pricing for Amazon Q in Connect starts at $40 per agent per month. According to AWS’s Connect website, users can try Amazon Q in Connect “for no charge until March 1, 2024.”
Selipsky said Amazon Q recognizes security parameters set up by customers, so employees without access to some information cannot use the query system to get data they’re not allowed to see.
Other companies have built similar products. Microsoft’s Copilot does something similar for Windows users, Dropbox’s Dash lets people query their stored documents, and Notion announced an AI-powered notes search feature this month.
Along with the launch of Amazon Q, Selipsky also said AWS would offer Bedrock users the ability to put guardrails around models they use to build AI-powered apps. Now on preview, the guardrails let companies ensure their applications and the models they use to power them follow their data privacy and responsible AI standards.
Companies, particularly those in highly regulated industries like finance and healthcare, often point to their inability to fence off their data and make sure their information is not used to train future versions of the model. AWS said the ability to redact the personally identifiable information of their customers’ end users will also be part of the guardrails, but it is not immediately available yet.
AWS’ transcription platform is now powered by generative AI
Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images
AWS added new languages to its Amazon Transcribe product, offering generative AI-based transcription for 100 languages and a slew of new AI capabilities for customers.
Announced during the AWS re: Invent event, Amazon Transcribe can now recognize more spoken languages and spin up a call transcription. AWS customers use Transcribe to add speech-to-text capabilities to their apps on the AWS Cloud.
The company said in a blog post that Transcribe trained on “millions of hours of unlabeled audio data from over 100 languages” and uses self-supervised algorithms to learn patterns of human speech in different languages and accents. AWS said it ensured that some languages were not over-represented in the training data to ensure that lesser-used languages could be as accurate as more frequently spoken ones.
In late 2022, Amazon Transcribe supported 79 languages.
Amazon Transcribe has 20 percent to 50 percent accuracy across many languages, according to AWS. It also offers automatic punctuation, custom vocabulary, automatic language identification, and custom vocabulary filters. It can recognize speech in audio and video formats and noisy environments.
The Verge reached out to AWS for information on previous accuracy and which foundation models it used for Amazon Transcribe.
With better language recognition, AWS said advances with Amazon Transcribe also bleed into better accuracy with its Call Analytics platform, which its contact center customers often use. Amazon Transcribe Call Analytics, now also powered by generative AI models, summarizes interactions between an agent and a customer. AWS said this cuts down on after-call work creating reports, and managers can quickly read information without needing to go through the entire transcript.
Of course, AWS is not the only company offering AI-powered transcription services. Otter has been providing AI transcriptions to consumers and enterprises for a while and released a summarization tool in June. While not exactly the same, Meta announced it is working on a generative AI-powered translation model that recognizes nearly 100 spoken languages.
AWS also announced additional capabilities to its Amazon Personalization product, which allows clients to offer products or show recommendations to customers, like how streaming services can suggest new shows based on previous activity. AWS added Content Generation, which will write titles or email subject lines to thematically connect recommendation lists.
YouTube is getting into games, too
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
YouTube is branching out into games — at least for its paid subscribers. The platform is giving Premium users access to a set of online games that can be directly played on either the mobile app or desktop app. Known as “Playables,” the company first debuted the experimental feature to select users in September. As noted by Droid-Life, YouTube sent a notification last week to Premium subscribers informing them of Playables and allowing them to try it out. Those who opt in will be able to play a total of 37 mini-games that effectively live inside YouTube — there’s no need to download or install them.
The selection of games isn’t too challenging or “out there” — they include crowd-pleasers like Angry Birds Showdown, Brain Out, Daily Solitaire, The Daily Crossword, and a number of arcade games. And they may not be here to stay. YouTube Premium’s notification stated that the games would be available until March 28th, 2024. For now, Premium members can find the full library of games under the “Playables” section in the Explore tab.
YouTube joins a long list of non-gaming tech companies that are trying to expand into games — often with mixed results. After years of hype, Google officially axed its Stadia service in January. Just a couple of weeks ago, Amazon cut over 130 jobs in its free games division and announced it would “refocus” its efforts. In 2021, TikTok teased what it called a “major push” in gaming, only for owner ByteDance to announce on Monday that it would be laying off around 1,000 workers in its gaming unit.
But a less than stellar track record hasn’t stopped other tech companies from pushing forward into gaming. Meta’s experiment with Instant Games has been roughly seven years in the making; the platform this month launched a new distribution model that lets developers publish beta versions of their games directly on Facebook. Netflix has been releasing games exclusively on mobile (the reviews of which are prettymixed), and wants to expand into cloud games — though it’ll likely be a while until they’re available to the public.
Great to see Phaser games as YouTube Playables. Worked flawlessly, nice integration (only tested on desktop) pic.twitter.com/hzuNHgWmV5
YouTube’s experiments are nothing new; the platform often tests features on its paid subscribers before deciding whether to add them permanently. In addition to Playables, Premium members can also sign up to try out YouTube’s conversational AI feature that lets users ask questions about videos they’re viewing.
YouTube’s Playables seems less of an appeal to serious gamers than a way to sweeten the pot for its paid subscribers. The company raised the price of its Premium plan by $2 this summer, and there have been similar streaming subscription price increases by Netflix, Apple, Amazon, and others. As these services get pricier, some users will naturally cancel their subscriptions. While it’s hard to imagine someone explicitly signing up for YouTube Premium solely for the Playables games, they may convince some on-the-fence users to stay for longer.
This company just put the air in Apple’s MacBook Air
A pair of 15-inch M2 MacBook Air laptops at Frore Systems’ HQ in San Jose, California. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
Two Fridays ago, I drove down to a squat single-story Silicon Valley office building to see a MacBook Air. There was no security guard, no need to badge in, not even a PR person in my demo room. That’s because I wasn’t visiting Apple headquarters for an unannounced laptop. Instead, I went to San Jose to see an existing MacBook — one surgically modified to prove how far an exotic cooling tech has come.
Frore Systems is a startup with $116 million in funding, and I’ve shown you its first product before: the AirJet Mini is a piezoelectric cooling chip that weighs just nine grams and is thinner than two US quarters stacked together. Each nominally consumes one watt and can remove 4.25 additional watts of heat. Here’s the question: what would happen if Frore used those AirJets to cool a laptop that normally doesn’t have a fan at all?
What the company discovered — and I saw firsthand — is that Apple’s M2 chip can run faster, for longer, with Frore’s tech on board. Without it, a 15-inch M2 MacBook Air was like a runner that can’t sprint indefinitely without running out of breath. But with three AirJet Minis, the same laptop got a permanent second wind.
Here’s the bottom line: the longer I ran an intensive benchmark on Frore’s modified and unmodified pair of 15-inch MacBook Airs, the bigger a difference I saw.
Even during the very first of a multi-minute benchmark like Cinebench R23 or Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the AirJet version pulled out slightly ahead, though perhaps within the margin of error at, say, 29 frames per second with AirJet versus 28 frames per second without. The Xcode benchmark finished in 172.7 seconds with AirJet versus 178.2 seconds without the first time around.
Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
Three AirJet Minis and a custom heatsink inside a 15-inch M2 MacBook Pro. Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
The reverse of that heatsink — the AirJets strongly suck air through a stack of copper fins atop a custom heat spreader that screws down onto Apple’s logic board.
But after half an hour of back-to-back Shadow of the Tomb Raider gaming benches, scores had dipped to an unplayable 22fps on the stock Mac versus 27fps on the AirJet version. I started to see massive stutter on the stock Mac at the 40-minute mark — while Frore’s AirJets just kept breezing on.
With Cinebench R23, a video editing benchmark, multicore scores seriously dipped after just a few repeat benches — from 8775 with AirJet to 8380 without. According to a Frore-provided overlay that I watched like a hawk, the stock Mac simply wasn’t able to maintain the same CPU clocks. Both clock speed and wattage plummeted on occasion, presumably because a fanless computer has no other good way to cool itself.
What’s happening here is fairly well understood: today’s processors are only as fast as they can be cooled, with many advertising “turbo” modes that the thinnest computers can only maintain for a short time. For example: Apple’s Air can run the M2 chip at 3.2GHz but throttles down to 2.8GHz after 30 minutes of Cinebench R23, says Frore.
Image: Frore
A chart from Frore showing how the Apple M2’s megahertz and processor power can take a dive during sustained tasks.
But as neat as it was to see the AirJets give Apple’s M2 a second wind, I also walked away a tad underwhelmed. Tomb Raider stutter aside, we’re mostly talking about an already capable computer simply taking a bit longer to perform the most intensive tasks, with less demanding benchmarks (like single-core Cinebench, where I saw identical scores) not stressing the chip enough to make a real difference.
More importantly, we already know what Apple’s M2 chip can do when you add airflow — it’s called a 13-inch MacBook Pro!
Frore knows this and brought a 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro for me to test alongside the Airs — but it’s not really an apples-to-apples test if I’m comparing them to a 15-inch MacBook Air with a wider chassis and more thermal headroom. Even so, Frore’s modified 15-inch Air was mostly neck and neck with the 13-inch Pro, rather than regularly beating it. (The Pro did take four seconds longer to complete a run of Xcode.)
Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
Frore carved out a little extra space in the 15-inch MacBook Air’s lid.
But there is one good reason Frore picked the 15-inch MacBook Air — at 0.45 inches (11.5mm) thick, it’s one of the thinnest laptops ever made. It’s not clear Apple could fit the fan from its 13-inch MacBook Pro in there — or any fan, for that matter. Even Frore had to painstakingly mill 0.3mm out of the laptop’s lid to give the AirJets a big enough air gap to do their thing, and the company wound up removing the speakers, Wi-Fi antenna, and even the Mac’s internal keyboard connector along the way.
But Frore did it, and engineering chief Prabhu Sathyamurthy tells me laptops can get even thinner if they’re designed with AirJet in mind — they could reach 9.5mm in thickness simply by substituting a thinner keyboard and a thin OLED display, the company claims.
Image: Frore
Click to enhanceand maybe make those numbers large enough to read.
There is one thing I didn’t see accounted for in Frore’s proposal, though, and didn’t get to satisfactorily test at Frore’s offices: the all-important battery.
While Frore says each of its AirJet Mini chips require one watt of power, I saw three of them consume over five watts from the MacBook’s USB-C port, and the AirJet-equipped MacBook Air (obviously) drained far faster than the power-throttled fanless one did during my tests.
Mind you, Frore’s been clear since the beginning that its chips need to be integrated into a device for them to work optimally, and the MacBook demo is anything but where power is concerned. Sathyamurthy says you can expect the AirJet part of a complete system to draw as little as 0.1W or 0.2W when idle, with the AirJet Minis themselves staying turned off until or unless they need to blow. He thinks the average user will see them kick on 10 to 15 percent of the time and not at all for “emails and web surfing.” We’re talking a Zoom call or worse.
Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
For demo purposes only: a USB-C power cable for the AirJets where the MacBook’s speaker used to be.
And when they do blow, they blow far quieter than a fan, I can confirm. I had to bend down next to the laptop to hear them at all. The modified laptop also seems a tad cooler than Apple’s fanless MacBook Air — a thermal camera showed me a wider, cooler region instead of a hotspot near the chip.
I can’t say this demo convinced me that Frore can make the fan obsolete. I mostly saw it meeting the performance of a fan, with less noise in a tighter space. But that could mean a lot to the right company trying to push the envelope in portability or — pretty please! — using those space savings for additional batteries.
I’d love to try a battery-powered system where we can fully see the AirJet way is better. And I’ll let you know as soon as I do. Frore says the AirJet Mini is in mass production now, with larger and smaller versions in development.
The best Cyber Monday deals
Illustration by Aaron Fernandez for The Verge
The Monday after a long holiday weekend is no fun, unless you like to save money. If you missed out on all the great Black Friday deals, Cyber Monday offers one more chance to save some serious cash before the holidays.
Just as we did during Black Friday, we’ve highlighted all the best Cyber Monday deals here to make sorting through them easier. In case you’re on a budget, we’ve also published guides to the best deals under $100, under $50, and under $25. And if you’re looking for something specific, we also have guides focused on everything from streaming and Apple devices to headphones.
Now, let’s dig into the deals.
Cyber Monday deals spotlight
Apple is offering up to $200 in gift cards when you buy select devices, with the exact amount depending on the item. Big-ticket items like the MacBook Air and Mac Mini are eligible for up to $200 in credit, while iPads are entitled to up to $100. The promo also applies to AirPods, Apple Watches, older iPhone models, and accessories like the second-gen Apple Pencil.
Apple’s luxe AirPods Max are back down to $449.99 ($100 off) at Amazon (only green and blue) and Best Buy, which remains their second-best price to date. The noise-canceling headphones are getting a little long in the tooth — blame Apple’s aging H1 chip — but they still offer great controls, deep integration with Apple products, and terrific sound quality. Read our review.
Apple’s third-gen AirPods are matching their all-time low of $139.99 ($30 off) at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy with a Lightning-only charging case; they’re also on sale at Costco with a MagSafe charging case for the same price if you’re a member. The third-gen earbuds are similar to the prior model in many ways, only they now feature an IPX4 water resistance rating, shorter stems, and better sound. Read our review.
Sony’s last-gen WH-1000XM4s are on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target for around $230 ($120 off), which is one of their best prices to date. The noise-canceling headphones still sound great today, and have a handy feature the current-gen XM5 model does not: the ability to fold down for easier storage and travel. Read our review.
Normally $179.99, you can currently buy Sony’s unique LinkBuds for $128 at Amazon and Best Buy. The earbuds offer crisp sound quality, great voice call performance, and use an “open-style” design that allows for better spatial awareness. Read our review.
If you don’t like wearing earbuds in your ears while working out, you can pick up a pair of the wraparound Shokz OpenRun Pro for $99.95 ($80 off) at Best Buy. They’re a good pair of open-ear headphones that leave your ears exposed, allowing you to listen to music without sacrificing your safety.
The Pixel Buds A-Series are on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart for around $59 ($40 off), an all-time low. The simple earbuds remain an appealing pair of earbuds for Android users despite their age, especially if you can do without noise cancellation and some of the more premium features found on the Pixel Buds Pro. Read our review.
Google’s Pixel 8 phone is on sale for $549 ($150 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target. The new Pixel is slightly smaller than last year’s at 6.1 inches but it packs a new Tensor G3 processor. Read our review.
Maybe you heard, but Apple’s new FineWoven case isn’t our favorite. Consider a Moment case instead for your new iPhone 15 — they’re $34.99 right now, which is $15 off the full MSRP. Another option: Nomad is offering 30 percent off sitewide, so its $50 leather iPhone 15 case is $35 right now.
EWA’s MagOne magnetic phone grip is on sale for $15.99 ($4 off) at Amazon. It’s a grip and a kickstand in one, making bigger phones a little more wieldy without getting in the way of MagSafe charging.
The best charger deals
Nomad’s Stand, a magnetic Qi charger that tops out at 7.5W when charging MagSafe-compatible phones, is on sale at Nomad in white for $56 ($24 off). Also, the matching Base charger does the same thing while holding your phone flat and it’s just $35 (half off).
You can buy the Anker 637 Magnetic Charging Station (MagGo) for $69.99 ($30 off) at Amazon. The orb-like magnetic Qi charger doubles as a power strip with multiple USB-C, USB-A, and AC ports, which allow it to deliver up to 65 watts of combined power.
The best tablet and e-reader deals
The eight-inch Kobo Sage — a newer, non-Amazon alternative to the Kindle Oasis — is on sale for $239.99 ($30 off) directly from Rakuten’s Kobo online store. The high-end e-reader features physical page-turning buttons and USB-C, along with stylus support so you can take notes. Its eight-inch display is relatively cramped compared to the Kobo Elipsa 2E’s, however, so we wouldn’t recommend it as a primary note-taking device.
Speaking of the iPad, both the ninth-gen and 10th-gen models are only compatible with the first-gen Apple Pencil, which is also on sale for $79 (about $20 off) at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy. Unlike the second-gen Apple Pencil, you’ll need to charge it by plugging the stylus directly into the iPad’s Lightning port.
The best laptop and computing deals
The new 2023 entry-level MacBook Pro with a 14-inch display, M3 processor, 8GB of RAM, and (most) of the good port selection is selling for $1,449 ($150 off) at Best Buy. It may be a bit of an “enigma” for a base model entry in Apple’s MacBook Pro line, but think of it more as a souped-up MacBook Air.
If you’re shopping for a convertible, the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 starts at around $799.99 ($100 off) at Amazon and Best Buy with a 12th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. The powerful laptop offers a 120Hz screen and is a stunner available in various colors, ranging from green to blue. Read our review.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for a laptop that can handle heavier graphics, the creator-focused Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio is available with an Intel Core i5 processor, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage for $1,399.99 ($200 off) at Best Buy and the Microsoft Store. The laptop sports a terrific keyboard/trackpad combo, as well as a 120Hz screen, one that’s capable of pivoting so you can lay it flat to write or draw on it. Read our review.
Elgato’s Stream Deck Plus has fallen to an all-time low of $169.99 ($30 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and B&H Photo. The well-built peripheral functions in a similar fashion to Elgato’s other macro controllers in that it provides you with a selection of programmable keys, only the Deck Plus also features four knobs with their own set of apps and an LED touchscreen. Read our review.
The last-gen Echo Show 8 is available for $54.99 at Amazon and Best Buy, down from $129.99. Although it’s not a full smart home hub like the newer third-gen model, it’s still a good smart display for making Zoom calls, controlling smart home gadgets, watching videos, and carrying out a range of other Alexa-enabled tasks. Read our review.
Sony’s SRS-XB100 speaker is on sale at Amazon and Best Buy for $38 ($22 off), a new low pricew. Despite the fact it’s tiny, the Bluetooth speaker delivers crisp, clear sound along with up to 16 hours of continuous battery life. It also sports IP67 dust and water resistance, so you can take it to pool parties or on hikes without worrying. Read our review.
Grid Studio is running a Black Friday sale through Cyber Monday, knocking an additional 15 percent off its various dissected tech pieces, all of which are framed in shadow boxes. This includes a selection of framed game consoles, including the Game Boy Color and the original PlayStation Portable, both of which are going for $169.15 instead of $249. These frames make for excellent wall decor that’s geeky yet refined, and they make for great gifts.
In addition to the Split Pad Pro, Hori’s Split Pad Compact handheld controller in its cute Gengar Pokémon design for $39.99 ($20 off) at Amazon.
If you enjoyed HBO’s fantastic adaptation of The Last of Us, The Last of Us Part I is on sale for the PS5 at Best Buy, and GameStop for $39.99 ($30 off). It’s a remarkable remake of the classic title from 2013, with faster load times, better visuals, and other welcome tweaks. Read our review.
Walmart is selling the Xbox Series S 512GB console in white with an extra matching controller for $289.99 (about $80 off). That’s less than the regular cost of the $299.99 console alone, and you get a spare controller for local multiplayer or backup duties. Read our review.
The Roborock S7, the S8’s predecessor, is also on sale at Walmart for $285. This was our former pick for the best robot vacuum/mop combo before the S8 took its place. The impressive robovac lacks some newer bells and whistles, including AI-obstacle avoidance, but it keeps carpets dry thanks to the mop’s unique lifting mechanism. Read our review.
The brand new iRobot Roomba j9 is seeing its first-ever discount, down to $599 from $899 at Amazon. This bot features an auto-empty dock, higher suction power than the j7, and a new Dirt Detective feature that learns which rooms are dirtiest in your home and cleans them first. The Roomba Combo j9 Plus mopping version is also on sale for $999, down from $1,399. This is the first Roomba that can refill its own mop as well as empty its bin, and the new self-empty/fill dock has a stylish design that can also act as a side table.
Amazon is discounting the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 (also known as the Shark Matrix) to $249.99 ($200 off), which is the lowest price we’ve seen on the budget-friendly robot vacuum/mop hybrid. This is just the robot without the auto-empty base. It’s a little loud but has good suction, a great app, and a laundry list of features (including mapping).
The Roborock Q5 Pro is $319.98, down from $429.99 at Amazon. An excellent mid-range vacuum, it packs 5,200 Pa suction power and two rubber roller brushes that are great at picking up pet hair. It’s not fancy, but with a huge 770ml bin with big wheels to get up on higher-pile carpets, it’s a good option for families with pets. The Plus version is also on sale for $479.98 and adds a self-empty dock that automatically empties the robot’s bin when it’s full. Read our review.
The Nanoleaf Shapes Ultra Black Triangles Smarter Kit is available for $131.99 ($88 off) at Nanoleaf or $189.99 ($30 off) at Amazon and Best Buy. The nine customizable light panels, which appear black when turned off, are capable of showcasing 16 million colors and support smart home platforms like Apple Home.
Nanoleaf’s Shapes Mini Triangles Smarter Kit is on sale for $79.99 ($20 off) at Nanoleaf. The 10 modular light panels can display millions of colors and can sync with music, much like the aforementioned black panels, however, they’re much smaller and appear white when turned off.
Regularly $94.48, you can currently buy the Blink Video Doorbell with a Blink Sync Module 2 (which allows for local storage) for $47.49 at Amazon. If you’re looking for a basic buzzer, the 1080p video doorbell is a good option with support for motion-activated recording and alerts, night vision, and two-way audio.
If you want gigabit-capable mesh Wi-Fi covering your home but don’t want to pay top dollar, you can get a three-pack of the midrange Eero 6 Plus routers for $194.99 ($105 off) at Amazon.
Vornado’s 660 AE, a large whole-room fan that circulates a lot of air and connects to Alexa for smart functionality, is on sale right now at Amazon for around $114 (normally $129.99).
The best deals Legos, Nerf blasters, and other toys
Lego’s Optimus Prime is down to $151.99 ($28 off) at Amazon and Target, which matches its second-best price to date. It’s an excellent build, even if our Sean Hollister felt it was a little fragile while transforming. You can even watch him build it here.
Lego’s colorful Tales of the Space Age set is down to $42.49 (about $8 off) at Best Buy — matching its best to date. The minimalist 688-piece kit consists of four space-themed “postcards,” which depict shooting stars, a space shuttle, and other celestial bodies, all of which can be mounted or displayed standing up.
If you’re into Lego Star Wars kits, the BD-1 Droid (of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor) is on sale for $79.99 ($19 off) at Target. If online orders are unavailable, you might have better luck with in-store pickup.
Lego’s 1,222-piece Horizon Forbidden West Tallneck is on sale for $73.99 (about $16 off) at Amazon and Best Buy, one of its better prices to date. It’s a great set if you’re a fan of the Horizon series from Guerrilla Games, one that stands over 13 inches tall and also comes with a brick-ified version of the velociraptor-like Watcher robot.
Lego is selling its Star Wars Razor Crest starship from The Mandalorian series for $419.99 ($180 off). The 6187-piece building kit is from Lego’s Ultimate Collector Series and includes four minifigs to display alongside its small decorative placard.
The Nerf N-Strike Mastodon blaster is on sale at Amazon for half off at $49.99, which matches its all-time low price. The motorized, mega-dart firing blaster comes with 24 darts included along with a shoulder strap.
Nothing beats a family Nerf war, and the best way to do it is with a six-pack of single-shot Nerf MicroShot blasters — which are just $19.99 ($13 off) at Amazon. Each Derringer-style blaster loads and fires one dart, requiring you to pick your shots carefully before having to reload.
Love Letter is on sale at Amazon for $6.29 (around $9 off). The fairly simple card game for two to six players is easy to get into and acts as a great intro to more elaborate tabletop games.
The 2022Tile Mate is also on sale for $16.49 ($8.50 off) at Amazon and Best Buy. The Bluetooth tracker is platform-agnostic like the Tile Pro, but can only keep tabs on items up to 250 feet away, as opposed to 400.
The staff-favorite Breville Barista Express home espresso machine is $559.95 at Amazon, down from its usual $699.95. It’s a reliable and approachable machine ideal for someone looking to get into home espresso without making too much of a commitment. You’ll never want to be apart from it — trust us.
The ultra-portable AeroPress Original is currently available for around $31.95 (about $15 off) from Amazon, Target, and AeroPress, which is a great price for the single-serve coffee maker.
TP-Link’s RE315 Wi-Fi extender is on sale for just $24.99 ($25 off), matching its best price to date. It’s a good option if you’re looking to extend network coverage in your home or add ethernet connectivity to another room.
Feeling a little overwhelmed on what deals to pounce on? Need some tech buying advice? Our Verge Deals team is here for your retail therapy, and we’ll be answering your burning shopping questions for Cyber Monday live on November 27th (today) at 11AM ET.Leave a question here.
Update November 27th, 8:40AM ET:Added additional deals.
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