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SAVE $250: As of Jan. 22, get the Sonos Arc soundbar for $649 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $899. That's a discount of 28%. This is the lowest price we've seen so far.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Sonos Arc soundbar $649.00 at Amazon
$899.00 Save $250.00 Get Deal

Soundbars can completely change how you experience your favorite TV shows, movies, and games at home. If you're still relying on your TV's built-in audio, you're missing out on so much. It's high time you add a soundbar to your home entertainment center. Give your TV a chance to shine with a quality soundbar deal at Amazon.

As of Jan. 22, get the Sonos Arc soundbar at Amazon for $649, the lowest price we've seen yet. That's $250 off its normal price of $899 and 28% off.

SEE ALSO: This massive 85-inch Samsung QLED TV is on sale for over $400 off

This soundbar is a fantastic option to pair with your TV, as it can bring booming sound and crisp treble to just about any piece of media to make you feel like you're inside your favorite stories. While it's best used as a way to complement your TV's sound, you can also use it as a Bluetooth player to enjoy music or podcasts thanks to the Sonos app or devices powered by Apple AirPlay 2.

You can use the soundbar's on-board controls to adjust brightness, the LED light settings, and more. It's all about simplicity, and it's easy to set up and use.

If you're ready for a big change when it comes to sound, be sure to snag this Sonos soundbar while it's still on sale.

Southern states like Florida, Texas, and Tennessee are grappling with a historic winter storm that has brought record-breaking snowfall to millions and transformed typically mild regions into icy landscapes.

SEE ALSO: What are comets? The secret lives of space snowballs, explained.

If you're interested or eager to see just how bad it is around your area, you can head on over to the National Weather Service (NWS). Their snowfall map makes it’s easier than ever to check snow totals for any state online.

The NWS provides real-time updates through its interactive website and mobile platforms. Head to weather.gov and navigate to the “Winter Weather” section under "Weather Safety," where you’ll find snowfall analysis tools. The site features detailed maps, sortable state-by-state data, and even localized snowfall reports down to specific counties.

For a more dynamic experience, explore the NWS Snowfall Analysis page. It offers zoomable maps with overlays showing accumulation levels, letting you see how your area compares to others.

SAVE $100: The JBL Live 660NC headphones (black) are on sale for just $59.95, down from the list price of $159.95. That's a 63% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: JBL JBL Live 660NC headphones (black) $59.95 at JBL
$159.95 Save $100.00 Get Deal

Going about life while wearing a pair of comfortable, noise-cancelling headphones is a game-changer. You can tune out the odd conversation happening near you on the train and instead enjoy a few chapters of your audiobook. Then that same pair of headphones also makes washing the dishes an entirely different, much more enjoyable task. If you'd benefit from a headphones upgrade, check out this great deal from JBL.

As of Jan. 22, the JBL Live 660NC headphones are on sale for just $59.95, marked down from the list price of $159.95. That means you'll cash in on $100 in savings and score a 63% discount. Be sure to select the black colorway to get this sale price.

SEE ALSO: Rate your favorite smart home gear for a chance to win a $250 Amazon gift card

For under $60, the JBL Live 660NC offer a comfortable fit with an immersive sound experience. The wireless headphones come with 40mm drivers and impressive battery life that can offer up to 50 hours of playback time. Plus, a 10-minute quick-charge adds four hours of listening time. These headphones will go from empty battery to a 100% charge with just two hours of charging. Plus, these headphones automatically detect when you take them off, pausing your tunes and turning them back on when they're back in place.

Our favorite noise-cancelling headphones here at Mashable are the Bose QuietComfort Ultra, but they come with a noticeable downside: the $429 price tag. Is that worth it for some people? Absolutely. But if you'd rather save almost $400 and still get quality, comfortable audio, today's JBL deal is a steal.

If you're looking for a new pair of headphones at a rock-bottom price that comes with solid sound and performance, look no further than today's deal on the JBL Live 660NC headphones. For just $59.95, you'll be set to rock out during your commute, or while taking care of household chores, or slogging through the many hours of that trans-Atlantic flight.

Every time a headline goes around that a small Italian town wants foreigners to buy up property for a measly sum, everyone hits the pub with their friends and dreams the DIY dream.

And some people — namely Mean Girls director Mark Waters and A Perfect Pairing writers Elizabeth Hackett and Hilary Galanoy — make an entire Netflix movie out of it. With a Parmigiano Reggiano-topped trailer out today, La Dolce Villa feels like a Netflix Christmas movie without the Christmas part, all shot in Rome, eastern Lazio, and Tuscany.

Scandal and Felicity star Scott Foley plays Eric, a man whose daughter Olivia (Maia Reficco, Do Revenge) buys a crumbling Italian villa for €1 (yep, she did the thing). He's mad, until he meets the stunning mayor who sold it to her (Violante Placido). Plus, as his daughter reminds him, he used to be a chef and what he's in Italy? Sounds like Eric will be eat, pray, loving his way to finding himself in no time.

La Dolce Villa is streaming on Netflix Feb. 13.

SAVE 30%: Now through Jan. 24, you can get up to 30% off regular-priced adult fares on select Amtrak trains traveling between Virginia and Boston.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amtrak 30% off regular-priced adult fares Get Deal

If you missed the fall foliage of the Northeast last year, you can still enjoy the crisp air and picturesque landscapes by booking a train trip to the region now and saving 30% on your ticket.

SEE ALSO: Plan your dream 2025 trip for less with this AI-powered travel tool

Now through Jan. 24, you can get 30% off regular-priced adult fares on Acela Business Class, Northeast Regional Coach Class, and Coach Class on select Amtrak trains traveling between Virginia and Boston, including destinations like New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia. Sale fares start from just $22 from Charlottesville to Washington, DC. You’ll need to book by Jan. 24 for travel dates between Feb. 1 and March 31 to get the deal.

With downtown-to-downtown service and connections with local transport, you won’t have to get out in the cold or deal with traffic, parking, or the airport — just hop on and enjoy the ride.

SAVE $300: The unlocked Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (256GB) is on sale at Best Buy for $999.99, down from the list price of $1,299.99. That's a 23% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (256GB, unlocked) $999.99 at Best Buy
$1,299.99 Save $300.00 Get Deal

January is a big month for tech news. First, we got an overload of announcements from CES, including plenty of new robot vacuums and the first-ever third-party SteamOS handheld. But now, we're all eyes on Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2025. And that can only mean one thing — the 2024 Samsung lineup is seeing some sweet discounts.

As of Jan. 22, the unlocked Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (256GB) is on sale at Best Buy for $999.99, marked down from the standard price of $1,299.99. That's a 23% discount that'll save you $300.

Mashable's Tech Editor Kimberly Gedeon considers the Galaxy S24 Ultra to be the best Android phone around. Sure, that could change once we get the full specs on the S25 Ultra, but for now it stands. In Gedeon's review of the S24 Ultra, she highlights the awesome chat translation and the impressive battery life.

SEE ALSO: Rate your favorite smart home gear for a chance to win a $250 Amazon gift card

Gedeon also loves the included S Pen. "It can, indeed, 'read' my chicken scratch, allowing me to search through documents inside the Notes app — even if it was written with the S Pen," writes Gedeon.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra also comes with bragging rights of the Circle to Search function. This allows you to circle anything on your screen and instantly search it with Google.

We're likely to see some upgrades with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but undoubtedly it'll come with a steeper price compared to the S24. Thanks to today's sale price, the (current) best Android phone can be yours for just $999.99.

SAVE $60: As of Jan. 22, this 27-inch ASUS TUF gaming monitor is just $189 at Amazon. That's 24% off the list price of $249 and the lowest price we've seen on this model yet.

Opens in a new window Credit: ASUS 27-inch ASUS TUF gaming monitor (VG27AQ1A) $189.00 at Amazon
$249.00 Save $60.00 Get Deal

If you’re looking for a new gaming monitor that’ll help you level up without breaking the bank, we found a solid deal on an ASUS model that’s perfect for any setup.

As of Jan. 22, the 27-inch ASUS TUF gaming monitor (VG27AQ1A) is on sale for $189 at Amazon. That’s $60 off the list price of $249 and the lowest price we’ve seen on this model to date.

SEE ALSO: I bent LG's new 5K2K bendable gaming monitor at CES 2025

This monitor features Extreme Low Blur (ELMB) and G-SYNC compatibility for a tear-free gaming experience, along with a 170Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time. Plus, with Shadow Boost, you’ll be able to see into dark areas that are typically hard to see in games, so you'll have an edge over the competition.

Gamers who spend longer sessions at their desks will appreciate the TÜV Rheinland-certified flicker-free and blue-light filter technology (it’s designed to reduce eye fatigue).

Robert De Niro is a former U.S. president tracking down the villains behind a massive cyberattack in Zero Day, Netflix's upcoming limited series that feels a little too real.

The screen legend plays former POTUS George Mullen, now head of the so-called Zero Day Commission, a task force racing to find those responsible for the attack. He's dragging civilians off the street without a warrant under the current president's (Angela Bassett) orders. He's being attacked by dodgy misinformation-spreading YouTubers (Dan Stevens). He's trying to keep secrets from his past good and buried. It's a lot for Mullen, and he could crack at any moment.

Written and executive produced by Narcos' Eric Newman and former NBC News president Noah Oppenheim, Zero Day promises a political thriller with an outrageously awarded cast: De Niro, Bassett, and Stevens are joined by Jesse Plemons, Connie Britton, Lizzy Caplan, Bill Camp, Matthew Modine, Joan Allen, Gaby Hoffmann, and Clark Gregg.

Zero Day is streaming on Netflix on Feb. 20.

There's a new AI player in town, and you might want to pay attention to this one.

On Monday, Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek launched a new, open-source large language model called DeepSeek R1.

According to DeepSeek, R1 wins over other popular LLMs (large language models) such as OpenAI in several important benchmarks, and it's especially good with mathematical, coding, and reasoning tasks.

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DeepSeek R1 is actually a refinement of DeepSeek R1 Zero, which is an LLM that was trained without a conventionally used method called supervised fine-tuning. This made it very capable in certain tasks, but as DeepSeek itself puts it, Zero had "poor readability and language mixing." Enter R1, which fixes these issues by incorporating "multi-stage training and cold-start data" before it was trained with reinforcement learning.

Arcane technical language aside (the details are online if you're interested), there are several key things you should know about DeepSeek R1. First, it's open source, meaning it's up for scrutiny from experts, which should alleviate concerns about privacy and security. Second, it's free to use as a web app, while API access is very cheap ($0.14 for one million input tokens, compared to OpenAI's $7.5 for its most powerful reasoning model, o1).

SEE ALSO: OpenAI could release agentic AI tool Operator soon

Most importantly, this thing is very, very capable. To test it out, I immediately threw it into deep waters, asking it to code a fairly complex web app which needed to parse publicly available data, and create a dynamic website with travel and weather information for tourists. Amazingly, DeepSeek produced completely acceptable HTML code right away, and was able to further refine the site based on my input while improving and optimizing the code on its own along the way.

I'll do all of that...tomorrow. Credit: Stan Schroeder / Mashable / DeepSeek

I also asked it to improve my chess skills in five minutes, to which it replied with a number of neatly organized and very useful tips (my chess skills did not improve, but only because I was too lazy to actually go through with DeepSeek's suggestions).

I then asked DeepSeek to prove how smart it is in exactly three sentences. Bad move by me, as I, the human, am not nearly smart enough to verify or even fully understand any of the three sentences. Notice, in the screenshot below, that you can see DeepSeek's "thought process" as it figures out the answer, which is perhaps even more fascinating than the answer itself.

We get it, you're smart. Credit: Stan Schroeder / Mashable / DeepSeek

It's impressive to use. But as ZDnet noted, in the background of all this are training costs which are orders of magnitude lower than for some competing models, as well as chips which aren't as powerful as the chips that are on disposal for U.S. AI companies. DeepSeek thus shows that extremely clever AI with reasoning ability doesn't have to be extremely expensive to train — or to use.