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Tecnos got the most modular phone ever

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 09:22

China's Tecno Mobile is known for some wild phone concepts, and the company took it to the next level this year at MWC Barcelona.

Case in point: Tecno's booth in Barcelona was chock-full of people trying to make sense of what the heck all those weird phones are about.

Actual neon gas inside. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Perhaps the weirdest of the bunch was the Tecno Pova Neon, a concept phone with actual ionized neon gas lighting up its rear panel. This result in a dynamic display of lightning-like lights; unlike some other phones with dynamic lighting in the back, Tecno's variant is truly random and probably won't get boring as fast. We're not sure how this makes the phone better, but it will definitely turn heads when you whip it out of your pocket at a business meeting.

That's a lot of gadgets, and they're all incredibly easy to connect with the phone, and each other. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Then there's the sexily-named Modular Magnetic Interconnection Technology, a concept that consists of an incredibly thin, fairly basic phone that can be expanded with magnetically attached modules.

It's hard to resist the temptation of just adding more stuff onto it. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

We've seen modular phones before, but never has attaching new stuff to a phone felt this easy or fun. You can attached modules onto modules, too. You can, for example, slap two batteries onto your phone; or a battery and an extra speaker; or a speaker and an improved camera; the possibilities are endless.

Some of the attachments are heavier and larger than the phone itself. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

It's unclear whether either of these are coming to market, but this may be the first time I'm actually interested in a modular phone.

SEE ALSO: Every major MWC 2026 announcement, including Xiaomi 17 Ultra and Honor Robot phone

If you prefer your futuristic phone branded with a familiar luxury brand, Tecno's got you covered, too. The company partnered with Lamborghini to create a bunch of Lamborghini-themed accessories, including a phone called The Tecno Pova Metal Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition. It, too, has a glowing thingy on the back; that's been a theme this year, as we've seen similar devices all over the show floor in Barcelona.

The Pentagon’s Favorite Tech Guy Is This Hawaiian Shirt-Wearing Founder

NYT Technology - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 09:00
Palmer Luckey, who founded the defense tech start-up Anduril, has become the It Guy as President Trump aims to modernize the U.S. military with autonomous weapons.

Hands-on: The irresistible cuteness of Pokémon Pokopia, my favorite Pokémon game in years

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 08:57

You can find plenty of doom-and-gloom takes about the Nintendo Switch 2. Many of them boil down to complaints about the lack of compelling exclusive games for the system.

The users making these complaints, however, have not yet played Pokémon Pokopia.

A combined effort from Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, Game Freak, and Koei Tecmo, Pokémon Pokopia launches exclusively on Switch 2 on March 5. More importantly, you may not be prepared for how big of a deal this game might be.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon Pokopia $69.99 at Amazon
  Pre-order Here

Essentially, the Nintendo team took Minecraft, stripped off the ugly art style, added social friendship mechanics a la Stardew Valley, and put a bunch of Pokémon in it.

Personally, I do not vibe with these types of games at all. But Pokopia combines player creativity, charming writing, a magnetic sense of progression that makes it hard to put down, and a downright shocking level of depth. It legitimately has me hooked. I want to keep digging away at Pokopia just to see what it has to offer, and it hasn't disappointed me yet.

SEE ALSO: Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen preorders go live — where to buy now for Nintendo Switch I just want to pick up Pokémon Pokopia and give it a hug Yep, that's what humans look like. Credit: Nintendo

I covered the basics of Pokopia in a hands-on preview. But here's the TL;DR. The easiest way to think of this game is that it takes elements of Minecraft, Animal Crossing, and Stardew Valley, all mixed in with an extremely potent dose of Pokémon creatures.

You start the game as a Ditto (a basic "normal" shapeshifting Pokémon) who wakes up in a world where all the humans are gone, leaving only ruined settlements. You take on the shape of a human (well, close enough) and set out to rebuild what once was, in the hope of attracting more Pokémon and eventually maybe some humans to come live with them.

Aesthetically, this means you play as a human child with a mildly creepy smiling Ditto face on it. Mechanically, this means all of your farming and town-building abilities include classic Pokémon moves such as Cut, Strength, and Surf, each learned from a different Pokémon and copied by the Ditto.

Bulbasaur is one of the best little guys we've got. Credit: Nintendo

The best part of Pokopia is that each Pokémon who settles in your towns — you'll actually build several across many different biomes as the game progresses — speaks your language and has a personality of its own. There's no combat in Pokopia. You endear yourself to Pokémon by giving them gifts and building homes for them.

The writing in Pokopia is surprisingly funny; I was especially taken by a Magikarp who punctuates almost every sentence with the word "yo" for no good reason.

A big part of what makes Pokopia work for me, where games like Minecraft haven't, is that you spend as much time talking to NPCs and trying to figure out how to solve their problems as you do digging through rocks and placing structures.

The game has a really nice amount of player direction, so there's never any confusion as to what you can or should be doing at any point in time. Pokopia is also smart not to push the player too hard in any one direction. Even when you unlock new areas, the game explicitly encourages you to stick around the old ones and improve them before moving on.

The result is relaxing and peaceful, without ever really feeling like work.

But Pokopia also has so, so much more going on than you think This is where I want to be at all times. Credit: Nintendo

Having said that, there is a lot of work you can do in Pokopia. In the 10 to 15 hours I've played, I've been gobsmacked at the level of mechanical depth in this game. A lot of the things you can do are similar to activities in Minecraft and its many derivatives, but I expected a Pokémon-themed take on that kind of game to simplify things.

Pokopia does not dumb it down, however, and that's a good thing.

For instance, bodies of water have rudimentary physics. You can dig out creeks if you feel like it. Grass on either side of a creek will benefit accordingly, so that's a smart place to plant crops. Putting too much water in one area will increase its humidity, which might upset some Pokémon, but will please others. Yes, you can manage humidity in Pokémon Pokopia.

That's not all. Windmills and water wheels can be used to power electrical appliances, and you can string together utility poles to power a whole town. Materials like clay can be turned into necessities like bricks if you happen to know a guy who can smelt them for you.

Pokémon like to have their own homes — but if you build a big enough one for yourself, you can invite your favorites to move in with you. I became roommates with Scyther at the earliest opportunity, because Scyther is cool as hell.

Welcome to Homie House. Credit: Nintendo

Pokopia even has cooking mechanics, which I've barely touched because I've been so busy doing other stuff. And I haven't even had a chance to try the online multiplayer, which enables groups of friends to turn blank landmasses into the Pokémon paradises of their dreams through collaborative construction projects.

Each step of the way, Pokémon Pokopia will introduce some wild new idea or mechanic, which turns out to be a great way to keep someone who isn't especially keen on managing little towns invested in the proceedings.

In short, I am wildly impressed by what I've played of Pokémon Pokopia, and I'm not even the game's target audience. It may be the best Pokémon spin-off I've ever played, and easily one of the best games in the whole series in a long time, even including the RPGs.

I can't wait to see what people who get really into Pokopia do with its menagerie of systems once the game has been out for a few weeks.

Pokémon Pokopia launches exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 on March 5.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon Pokopia $69.99 at Amazon
  Pre-order Here

The Lego Icons Lord of The Rings Balrog Book Nook is over $20 off right now at Amazon

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 08:29

SAVE OVER $20: As of March 2, the Lego Icons The Lord of The Rings: Balrog Book Nook is on sale for $108.99 at Amazon. This deal saves you $21 off its list price of $129.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Icons The Lord of The Rings: Balrog Book Nook Kit (10367) $108.99 at Amazon
$129.99 Save $21.00   Get Deal

When it comes to the Mashable team's favorite Lego sets, the Lego Icons The Lord of The Rings: Balrog Book Nook (10367) has earned a special place on the list. If it's a set that's been on your radar but you've been waiting to see a price drop, you're in luck: Amazon has dropped its price down to $108.99.

This 16% discount saves you just over $20 on the Balrog Book Nook set, but what really makes this deal so appealing is it's just one dollar away from its lowest-ever price of $107.99 at the retailer. That's a pretty great deal to take advantage of, so why not take this opportunity to grab it for the Lord of The Rings fan in your life?

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It's certainly an eye-catching set to have up on display. Coming with 1,201 pieces, the Balrog Book Nook set features the fiery Balrog at its center and Gandalf the Grey facing off against it with his staff and sword. The coolest part is that it can be positioned in two different ways. It can either be slotted between books on your shelf as a little window into that moment on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, or opened up to reveal a bigger snapshot of the scene with even more flames and the Balrog’s big wings on display.

Of course, this comes with a mini plaque with the classic "You shall not pass!" quote. It's a truly excellent pick-up for Lord of The Rings fans, so why not grab the Lego Icons The Lord of The Rings: Balrog Book Nook (10367) while it's still on sale?

Curious what's new this month from Lego? Check out our breakdown of the best new Lego sets to see some of the latest drops.

John Oliver has a blunt response to Paramount buying Warner Bros.

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 08:26

Netflix and Paramount have spent the passed few months in a bidding war for Warner Bros., but it looks as though Paramount has finally emerged victorious after Netflix walked away from the deal last week.

As someone who has been vocal in the past about his business daddies, it was inevitable that John Oliver would weigh in — and on Sunday's episode of Last Week Tonight he made his feelings very clear.

SEE ALSO: John Oliver gleefully reacts to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest photo

"It turns out we might be getting a new business daddy," Oliver said at the start of the episode, before playing a clip of the announcement. "Yeah, not great news. In fact, if I may quote anyone who's ever accidentally sat on their Roku remote: 'Oh shit, I'm in Paramount now, how the fuck do I get out of this?'"

Oliver's feelings likely stem from the fact that he has long been a vocal critic of the Trump administration. Paramount, which owns CBS, was recently bought by Skydance's David Ellison, whose billionaire father Larry Ellison is a friend of President Donald Trump. Shortly before the merger was approved by the Trump administration, Stephen Colbert — another late night host critical of the president — accused Paramount of paying a "big fat bribe" to Trump during his CBS program, The Late Show, which was then canceled, much to Trump's glee.

Why is all this important? Paramount owning Warner Bros. would mean it also owns HBO, the home of Last Week Tonight. And while Oliver doesn't appear to have directly incurred the president's wrath in the same way that other late night hosts have, it's not such a stretch to imagine that his "new business daddy" may not feel quite as positive about his show as the current owners.

Claude is down: What we know about the Anthropic outage.

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 08:01

Claude, Anthropic's AI chatbot, is currently down, with the company confirming "elevated errors" on Monday.

At 11:49 a.m. GMT (6:49 a.m. ET), Anthropic posted on its Claude status page that it was "currently investigating this issue," with an update approximately 30 minutes later.

"We have identified that the Claude API is working as intended," the latest update reads. "The issues we are seeing are related to Claude.ai and with the login/logout paths."

Mashable has reached out to Anthropic for further information.

The errors are affecting the Claude chatbot, Claude Console (the Claude developer platform, and Claude Code (the company’s AI-powered coding assistant).

The last time Claude saw "elevated errors" was on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, with issues found and resolved affecting Claude Opus 4.6, its latest generation LLM (large language model)

Claude Credit: Mashable screenshot / Claude SEE ALSO: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responds to deal with Department of War

The outage came hours after Claude dethroned competitor OpenAI's ChatGPT in Apple's App Store, hitting number one as the most-downloaded free app in the U.S. (ChatGPT is second, Google's Gemini is fourth). The chart win came notably after President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. government would no longer use Anthropic tech including Claude, after which OpenAI entered into a deal with the U.S. Department of War to provide its AI technology for military use in "classified environments".

Yes, there are concerns.

Seth Rogen pays a moving tribute to Catherine OHara during Actor Awards

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 06:36

Seth Rogen accepted the award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series on behalf of Catherine O'Hara at the 32nd annual Actor Awards, after O'Hara passed away on Jan. 30 at the age of 71.

Rogen, who worked with O'Hara on The Studio, told a story of how she'd make the Apple TV show better by sending him and co-creator Evan Goldberg polite emailed notes the day before shoots.

"She really showed that you can be a genius, and be kind, and one of those things does not have to come at the expense of the other in any way, shape or form," says Rogen.

"So I guess I'll leave you with this: If you have people in your lives that don't know her work, if there are kids in your lives or just people who are out of touch or stupid or something, just show them O'Hara dancing to Harry Belafonte in Beetlejuice. Show them O'Hara hurting her knee in Best in Show, and doing that amazing thing where she hobbles around. And tell the people as they are laughing that that's Catherine O'Hara, and we were lucky that we got to live in a world where she so generously shared her talents with us."

The Fire TV Stick 4K Select is under $15 with this Amazon coupon code

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 06:29

SAVE $25: As of March 2, the Fire TV Stick 4K Select is $14.99 at Amazon with the coupon code FTVSELECT.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select $14.99 at Amazon
$39.99 Save $25 use code FTVSELECT Get Deal

March sees some exciting new shows arriving on streaming services, including season two of Daredevil: Born Again and season two of One Piece. If you feel like you're in need of a new setup for watching everything, now is the time to upgrade. Amazon has dropped the price of its streaming sticks, including the Fire TV Stick 4K Select.

For a limited time, the Fire TV Stick 4K Select has dropped to $14.99 at Amazon with the coupon code FTVSELECT. Only some of the Mashable team have been able to access this code. If you're lucky, you'll see this code, alongside a "redeem" button, on the store page.

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At this point, Amazon has a few different 4K models of streaming stick to choose from, so what makes the Fire TV Stick 4K Select different? Well, it allows you to stream in 4K Ultra HD with High Dynamic Range 10+, but it doesn't support Dolby Vision like its more expensive counterparts. It also supports WiFi 5 — whereas pricier models support WiFi 6 or WiFi 6E — for improved streaming quality. If you don't mind these aspects, this is a great way to score higher picture quality for less.

On top of that, the Fire TV Stick 4K Select comes with 8GB of storage for holding all of your favorite apps. If it sounds like the upgrade you've been searching for, act fast to take advantage of this great deal at Amazon.

Check out these great deals on the Fire Stick 4K Plus and Fire Stick 4K Max to see some alternatives.

Every major MWC 2026 announcement, including Xiaomi 17 Ultra and Honor Robot phone

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 06:08

Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is fully underway, and it's been a busy one.

Well, perhaps it only feels busier than normal, as both Samsung and Apple decided to squeeze in their major product unveilings just before and just after MWC.

Even without those MWC-adjacent news, though, it's been a fun couple of days here in Barcelona. We saw robots, robotic phones, and phones that can take photos of robots from a mile away. And yes, every other word of every announcement is still AI, but this year the AI features are really starting to make sense. Let's take a look at every major announcement we saw at MWC this year.

Xiaomi 17 Ultra The optional photography kits essentially turn this phone into a camera. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Xiaomi's got a new Ultra phone, and it didn't disappoint. It is, once again, a powerful cameraphone, with massive zoom capabilities, top-notch specs, and a bunch of accessories for photography enthusiasts.

The company also launched a special, Leica-branded variant called the Leica Leitzphone; essentially the same as the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, but with a cool retro design, and a rotating ring around the camera bump that you can use to control zoom.

SEE ALSO: Xiaomi 17 Ultra hands-on: The cameraphone with a monstrous zoom

The Xiaomi 17 Ultra is just one part of the mountain of new gadgets Xiaomi brought to Barcelona, including the Xiaomi Watch 5, Xiaomi Tag, and more.

Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo You should see my other car. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Xiaomi's phones were cool, but the real surprise was the Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo, a concept hypercar made for the Vision Gran Turismo Program, in which car manufacturers create no-holds-bar cars for the legendary Gran Turismo game.

SEE ALSO: Xiaomi's new hyper car concept has the strangest cockpit we've ever seen

The car is precisely what you'd expect: Quick-looking, slightly nutty, and probably not something you'll ever see on the street. We'll see how much of its tech will turn into real products (we're especially interested in those floating wheel covers).

Honor Robot phone and its humanoid friend It can track you, and nod at you when you do something right, but this one was asleep. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Honor announced its Robot Phone back in 2025, but this was the first time the company actually brought it to an exhibition, giving us a chance to see it up close (no touching, though). We're still not quite sure how useful that robotic arm/gimbal carrying the camera will be in real life, but it's very cool to look at.

SEE ALSO: Honor's Robot Phone hand-on: It's wild, and it's weird

Not content with bringing just one robot thing to MWC, Honor also brought a humanoid robot that danced on the stage in Barcelona, before meeting its tiny Robot Phone counterpart, and then marching out.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Honor's main announcement in Barcelona, however, was the Honor Magic V6, and incredibly thin foldable with an even thinner battery that doesn't mind water.

This story will be updated over the course of MWC to ensure you don't miss the best the show has to offer.

Mashable is reporting live from Barcelona at Mobile World Congress 2026. Follow the latest updates as we reveal the latest tech reveals from the show.

The EF EcoFlow Delta 3 Max power station is $400 off at Amazon — shop now for $799

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 06:06

SAVE $400: As of March. 2, the EF EcoFlow Delta 3 Max is on sale for $799 at Amazon. That's a 33% discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: EcoFlow EF Ecoflow Delta 3 Max $799 at Amazon
$1,199 Save $400   Get Deal

The EcoFlow Delta 3 Max is back on sale at Amazon, so if you've been on the lookout for a reliable power source, now is the time to buy. As of March 2, this portable power station has been reduced from $1,199 to $799, a saving of $400. This price is for the unit only, but you can upgrade to add solar panels.

This model uses X-Stream technology to help make charging faster. With this, it can recharge from 0 to 80% in just over an hour, so you don't need hours of prep to get it ready for use. It can give you up to 3,400W output in X-Boost mode, so it can run most household appliances, including high-demand devices like refrigerators and microwaves.

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If you have devices or medical equipment you can't have turning off, this unit also offers a fast sub-10ms transfer time for backup use. And this device is an investment, thanks to its durable LiFePO4 battery, it’s designed for long-term use, with EcoFlow saying it should last for 10 years of daily use. You can monitor things like power consumption, settings, and find out how to optimize use in the EcoFlow app.

Get this portable power station deal from Amazon.

The best dating apps for gay men

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 06:02

This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for the UK audience.

Online dating as a gay man is almost rite of passage in this day and age. But it’s never as simple as just installing a dating app and swiping through all those guys. Dating apps come with a unique set of challenges for gay men: Ghosting, catfishing, straight guys in your feed, and overly forward DMs. It's a lot to wrestle with when you’re just trying to find a genuine connection. 

Despite those drawbacks, dating apps are still one of the best ways to meet new people, especially if you're gay or bisexual. Pew Research found that about one in four LGBTQ+ adults met their partner online, which is significantly more than straight people. 

You almost certainly know Grindr. It's still undefeated as the king of gay dating apps, even with reports that the user experience isn’t quite what it used to be — largely thanks to ads clogging up the free version. It’s a top tier hookup app, but not necessarily the best for potential long-term relationship connections. There are plenty of gay guys looking for alternative option. If you’re one of them, we’re here to help with some recommendations. 

Sure, you could follow the straight dating scene and try mainstream apps such Hinge and OkCupid, which to their credit have taken big steps forward in inclusivity. But we’d also point you towards more niche apps like Scruff and Feeld, which cater to specific communities, kinks, and desires. The key is figuring out which one is actually worth your time. And that includes Grindr.

Here's our authoritative guide to the best dating apps for gay men in 2026.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms blooper reel is hilariously sweary and chaotic

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 05:46

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is almost certainly the funniest show in the Game of Thrones universe, so it's really only fitting that the blooper reel would be just as silly.

In the clip above we see Dunk (Peter Claffey) and the gang flubbing lines, struggling to make eye contact after particularly intense moments, and generally having what appears to be a lovely time.

Any Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) fans out there will be pleased to see he pops up quite a bit, too.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is streaming on HBO Max.

The EcoVacs Deebot X11 robot vacuum is on sale for its lowest price this year — save over $500 right now

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 05:43

SAVE $501: As of March 2, the EcoVacs Deebot X11 robot vacuum is on sale for $998.99 at Amazon. That's a 33% discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: EcoVacs EcoVacs Deebot X11 Robot Vacuum $998.99 at Amazon
$1,499.99 Save $501   Get Deal

Are you fed up with manual vacuuming and mopping? Well, it sounds like it's time to invest in a robot vacuum. And as of March 2, you can find a great deal on a great model at Amazon. Right now, the EcoVacs Deebot X11 robot vacuum has a hefty discount, down from $1,499.99 to $998.99. That's a saving of $501.

And it's a great choice if you no longer want to pick up all the chores associated with keeping your floors clean. For picking up dirt and dust, it uses a high-powered motor and airflow-optimised suction that can reach up to 19,500Pa. Not even pet hair stands a chance thanks to the anti-tangle brushes.

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The mop is powerful too, and even benefits from a Triple Lift System so that it automatically raises the mop on carpets and adjusts brushes to handle both wet and dry messes. The OZMO Roller 2.0 system uses a high-density nylon roller to give you seriously strong floor scrubbing, so even the toughest stains won't be a problem.

The docking station handles its own emptying, hot water mop washing, drying, and refilling. And it has a bagless design so if you want to make greener choices, this robot vacuum assists.

Ready to give up vacuuming cold turkey? Find this robot vacuum deal online at Amazon now.

Save $30 on our favorite Kindle for kids at Amazon — act fast to save

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 05:40

SAVE $30: As of March 2, the Kindle Paperwhite Kids is on sale for $149.99 at Amazon. This deal saves you $30 off its list price of $179.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids (16GB) $149.99 at Amazon
$179.99 Save $30   Get Deal

If your child, or a younger person you know, has expressed an interest in reading, it's worth thinking about picking them up a Kindle. The Kindle Paperwhite Kids is our top pick for kids, and what's even better, it's currently on sale at Amazon. If you've had your eye on it, now is the time to add it to your online shopping cart.

As of March 2, the 16GB Kindle Paperwhite Kids has dropped to $149.99 at Amazon. Usually its price tag is up to $179.99, so this is a great opportunity to scoop up this e-reader for $30 off.

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If you're wondering what it is about the Kindle Paperwhite Kids that makes it our favorite pick for youngsters, Mashable's Samantha Mangino says in our roundup of the best Kindles that "More than anything else, a Kindle for kids has to be waterproof, which is why the Kindle Paperwhite Kids is the best choice." That's certainly not all, though. Mangino also notes that, "what makes it great for kids is that it's a distraction-free device. It doesn't come with ads, notifications, or the temptation of games or video."

This model also comes with 16GB of storage, which is plenty of space for a younger reader to start loading up their favorite digital books. And alongside its waterproof build and distraction-free design, its 7-inch Paperwhite display is also glare-free and comes with an adjustable warm light. So, no matter if they're reading outside or before bed, the screen won't be hard on their eyes.

This offer is currently listed as a "limited time deal" at Amazon. So if the 16GB Kindle Paperwhite Kids has caught your attention, this is your chance to pick it up and save.

Xiaomis Vision GT hypercar looks even faster in person

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 05:34

Xiaomi made true on its promise: The company brought the freshly announced Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo hypercar concept to its booth at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

SEE ALSO: MWC 2026 live updates: Announcements from Honor, Xiaomi, more I'd recognize that light signature anywhere. Credit: Stan Schroeder / Mashable

Having seen it in person at MWC, let me tell you, this is not your average electric family sedan, as fast as those are these days. The Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo is a futuristic supercar that sits very low to the ground and has apparently been designed with one thing in mind: to defeat the wind.

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We weren't allowed to peek inside, unfortunately, and see that snazzy, "cocoon-shaped" interior.

Those are some huge wind tunnels. Credit: Stan Schroeder / Mashable

We still don't know much about the Xiaomi Vision GT. We don't know the details on its powertrain or battery, how fast it goes, or even how much it costs. In its presentation on Sunday, Xiaomi focused on the car's low drag coefficient and how connected it is to the other devices in the company's ecosystem.

The tire covers supposedly do not rotate while the car moves, which lowers drag. No, we don't know how it works. Credit: Stan Schroeder / Mashable

The Vision Gran Turismo name is not accidental; it means the concept car is part of the Vision Gran Turismo Program, a project led by Polyphony Digital's Kazunori Yamauchi involving a series of (mostly virtual) vehicles developed by car manufacturers for the Gran Turismo racing game franchise. What's new is that these cars are typically designed by renowned car companies including Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Honda; now, Xiaomi — primarily a consumer electronics company — has joined the program as well.

OK, when can we order one? Hint: Probably never. Credit: Stan Schroeder / Mashable

As such, the Xiaomi Vision GT probably won't be a car you can actually purchase, but it's a cool exercise for Xiaomi. Gamers should soon be able to drive the car in Gran Turismo 7 and Xiaomi can now add "hypercar maker" to the ever-growing list of things it does.

The latest Stuff Your Kindle Day is ending soon — score young adult fiction books for free

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 05:34

FREE BOOKS: The latest Stuff Your Kindle Day takes place on March 1-2. Young Adult and Coming-of-Age Picks, hosted by Book Below, is offering young adult fiction for your e-reader.

The Stuff Your Kindle Day schedule has been wild over the last week or so. First we had the Sapphic Shelf Explosion. That was quickly followed by Indulge in the Darkness. And now, without much time to physically or mentally recover, we've got Young Adult and Coming-of-Age Picks. Too many Stuff Your Kindle Days is not a thing. More free books is always a good thing.

Young Adult and Coming-of-Age Picks, hosted by Book Below, is offering participants the chance to download young adult fiction for free. And everything that you download is yours to keep forever, so please don't hold back. Go wild and stock up for the summer. You know you're going to need plenty of material for vacations, warm nights, and weekends spent outside.

SEE ALSO: I tested the best Kindles to help you find the perfect e-reader

Looking to make the most of the latest Stuff Your Kindle Day? We've lined up everything you need to know about this popular event.

When is Stuff Your Kindle Day?

Young Adult and Coming-of-Age Picks takes place onMarch 1-2. This free giveaway runs for two days, but the clock is ticking on this limited-time event.

Which ebooks are free?

Young Adult and Coming-of-Age Picks doesn't have links to sub-genres like a lot of these free giveaways, but there's still a helpful hub page on Book Below. Everything is 100% free, with multiple genres available and books for all Kindle devices. The only catch is that you will need to scroll to find exactly what you want to read, but that's small price to pay for free reads.

Anyone can participate in Stuff Your Kindle Day. Kindle and Kobo readers can download these young adult books for free.

Is Stuff Your Kindle Day the same as Amazon Kindle Unlimited?

Everything you download on Stuff Your Kindle Day is yours to keep, and there's no limit on the number of books you can download. Stuff Your Kindle Day downloads don't count towards the 20 books that Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscribers can borrow at the same time.

The best Stuff Your Kindle Day deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Kindle (16GB) + Kindle Unlimited (3 Months) $109.99 at Amazon
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These popular e-readers let you take your entire library on the go. With weeks of battery life and an anti-glare display, you can read anywhere and anytime with the Kindle. Plus, you can get three months of Kindle Unlimited for free with your purchase.

Is Gen Z driving a return to the cinema?

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 05:10

In the years since the COVID-19 pandemic, cinemas have been closing across countries including U.S. and the UK. As streaming giants prioritize online releases, the trend has seemingly continued. However, there may be hope for the future of cinemagoing.

It might surprise you, but last year, U.S. theaters actually saw an eight percent increase in habitual moviegoers, and a 10 percent increase in Gen Z audiences, compared to 2022. That's according to a 2025 report by Cinema United, formerly known as National Association of Theatre Owners.

So, what's behind these numbers? Mashable producer Teodosia Dobriyanova takes a look in the video above.

Free Lego Star Wars Lightsabers? Yes, really — how to claim yours this week.

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 05:03

TL;DR: Lego is running Star Wars make and take events on March 8. A limited quantity of Lego Star Wars Lightsabers will be available for free at participating stores.

Lego regularly runs make and take events in which participants can walk away with an exclusive set without spending anything. These free giveaways always cause a stir, but nothing gets the people going quite like Star Wars.

Visitors to select Lego Stores on March 8 (from 12-2 p.m. GMT) can participate in an awesome Lego Star Wars Lightsaber make and take event. This free giveaway is intended for children aged 10+, and the model is available on a first-come-first-serve basis, at participating locations in the U.S., while supplies last. At one stage it looked like this event wasn't coming to the U.S., but we've been spared that crushing disappointment.

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This Lego Star Wars Lightsaber is not available for purchase. By taking part in this special event, Star Wars fans can take home something that money literally cannot buy. The only catch is that you're limited to one build per participant, but come on — you can't just turn up and stock up on these exclusive Star Wars sets for free. That would be nice, but that's not the Way of the Force.

Score this free Lego Star Wars Lightsaber at your nearest participating store on March 8.

Paramount Won Over Warner Bros. Now for the Regulators.

NYT Technology - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 05:02
Global officials are expected to closely examine the $111 billion deal, which ties together two entertainment powerhouses, over potential competition issues.

You vibe-coded an app, now what?

Mashable - Mon, 03/02/2026 - 05:01

Vibe coding may seem intimidating, but it's actually really easy to get started. There are tons of tools and guides all over the internet that teach you which tools work best and explain the basics of vibe coding for beginners. So, let’s say you've already reviewed all of that, gone through the process, and out popped an app that you’re really proud to have made. What on Earth are you supposed to do with it? 

Most vibe coding projects start the same way. You start making code with AI, test it, fix it, and repeat until the app works. The overwhelming majority of stories on Reddit start this way, and so that seems to be the most popular process. However, doing it this way has its problems, and since vibe coding is quickly becoming so popular, many of the same mistakes keep appearing. 

So, for this guide, we’ll assume you’ve already vibe coded your app and are looking for the next steps. For instance, now that you have an app, how do you actually get it into the app stores?

Make your developer accounts 

Every app platform has a developer account, and you’ll need to learn how to make one, the process involved, and the cost. For example, an Apple Developer account costs $99 per year, and a Google Play Developer account costs $25 one time. If you build a PC game, Steam charges you $100 per game that you want to upload. This isn’t about which one you choose, but more about expectations. 

You should also set yourself up properly to avoid worst-case scenarios. For example, you can create a Steam developer account with your normal account. However, if you get caught in a ban wave, you’ll lose access to your games as well, causing a serious problem. Always use a separate email for your developer accounts to avoid these kinds of problems. 

When you're confident your app is ready, you can submit it for approval. Before you do, check the app stores' terms of service and app policies.

Decide how much effort you want to put in

This one seems silly, but it’s one of the most important. People who give their apps away for free don’t have the same expectations from users as someone who sells their apps for money. Selling your app for money means you’ll be expected to maintain it, fix bugs, add features, and continually improve the app. After all, it is now a product with a revenue stream, and products with revenue streams rarely retain a user base if they make no upward movement. 

Sharing your app for free is much easier. There is virtually no expectation for upgrades or bug fixes, although you may still get requests for updates. You should also prepare for some negative feedback, as developing apps with AI seems to bring out the worst kinds of critics. Before you do anything else, decide how much of your time you want to dedicate to the app going forward.

Know when to clean up and ship

Vibe coding is addictive in the same way that mobile games are. You get that quick dopamine drip by asking the AI to add something, and immediately watching it add the thing. Then, you think of another feature, and it adds that too. What was once a day or two of polish and adding a few extra features turns into weeks of getting stuck in the weeds with various additions to the project (a phenomenon called feature creep). You have to stop coding and start using the app at some point. Remember: You can always add more updates later. 

When you do decide the app is ready, don't forget about documentation. A lot of your ideas probably live in your chat logs and in your head, and when you come back to a project after a couple of weeks of not working on it, you may have forgotten how each element works. So, once your app is complete, go through and document everything. If you do, you’ll be much more ready to find a broken module and fix it that much faster.

Begin market research for your app

If you do decide to monetize your new app, your work is cut out for you. You can easily find in-depth guides and videos with tips on selling your app, but you'll want to do some market research first, including your target demographics, competitor apps, and the price you should charge. One common piece of advice is to go to related subreddits and ask people to test out your app, tell you how much they’d pay for it, and give feedback. Any advantage over existing products is a plus. 

Luckily, the same AI tools that helped you build your app can also help you draft a business plan, write marketing copy, and come up with a logo.

Shape up your design

The app works, and that’s great, but does it look good? That’s a question you should answer. There are tons of vibe coded apps on the Internet that work fine but look like something you’d see in a programming class in 2015. Spend some time refining your UI and making sure all the functions are logically placed where the user expects them to be. If the overall flow doesn’t make sense, your users will quickly get frustrated and head for the exit.

This is especially important if you want your AI vibe coding project to live on a website. Poorly designed websites can chase people away, either because they look bad, don’t work properly, or both. Once you have your UI built, whether it’s on a website or in an app, test it to make sure it works as expected. You’ll be glad you did when you don’t get flooded with criticism over a small, accidentally overlooked mistake. 

Be patient

Everything above takes time to do. Shipping an app, making it better, creating a UX that people actually want to use and pay for, and getting out into the world are all monumental tasks for first-timers. It’s important to go into these tasks with a realistic mindset. While vibe coding tools are getting a lot better, you can’t simply select same-day shipping like you would when buying headphones online. It takes time to create a functioning product that is available on an app store, generates revenue, and has a user base.

You will have setbacks and get stuck on obstacles. It’s all part of the coding process, whether you're writing code by hand or creating an app with vibes. You can do a lot of amazing things as a vibe coder, but AI tools can’t turn your app into a finished consumer product, at least not yet. 

Have fun with it

Creating a mobile app is a process that used to require years of school, practice, and specialized expertise. The fact that your favorite AI chatbot can now help you whip up a custom app in minutes is incredibly cool. While researching this article, I found many examples of full-stack developers with well over a decade of experience who now use Vibe Coding. Often, these professionals use an AI coding agent to create the groundwork, and then they go to clean up the code afterward with their experience and skill. 

Remember to take a moment to appreciate the fact that you talked to a robot — and the robot built an app for you. Modern technology is incredible like that. If all you need is an app for personal use, you don’t even have to do any of the stuff I described if you don't want to. But, if you’re looking to make this a career or side hustle, then your work is just getting started.

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