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The first five episodes of Love Is Blind Season 11 hit Netflix on Wednesday, Oct. 14, and this time, we’re following 30 singles from the Boston area who are ready to find true love and settle down.
The fresh group of New Englanders is taking on the challenge of getting engaged without seeing their potential spouses. The season is hosted by married celebrity couple Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey, who have seen their fair share of engagements, marriages, and breakups across 10 prior seasons of Love Is Blind. Season 11 introduces us to 14 men and 16 women ages 28 to 40, from entrepreneurs and engineers to consultants and account executives.
Here’s the rundown on this season’s cast members, with biographical details from Netflix Tudum, including their Instagram handles (and astrological signs, if you’re curious).
Spoilers for the first five episodes of Love Is Blind Season 11 follow.
Blake Carver (@tropicanacoyote)
Blake, 38, is a Cancer – a fitting sign for someone who is also a yacht captain. The water sign is looking for someone who is open to being out on the open seas with him, which is why he was surprised to hit it off with Benita, who hasn’t spent that much time on a boat before.
The two bonded over Balkan culture, since Benita is Albanian and Blake briefly lived in Croatia. However, Blake also made a connection with Erika, and the two had some great banter talking about their favorite sleep practices and how they show up in relationships.
Credit: NetflixBenita Paloja (@benitapalo)
Credit: NetflixBenita is a 31-year-old insurance agent and Taurus from Kosovo, Albania. She immigrated with her family to the United States in 1999, which she says has made her extremely close with her family. She hit it off with both Blake and Morrey, but seemed to have a stronger connection with Blake.
However, after getting the sense that Blake had a stronger connection with Erika, Benita chose to walk away from their connection and said that Blake was making the "biggest mistake of his life."
Erika (@errrika1)
Credit: NetflixErika, 37, is a marketing director who loves her home just as much as she loves to travel. A Cancer like Blake, Erika said she feels grounded by the sea, with Blake suggesting that she join him on his yacht.
The pair hit it off after discovering that they had many similarities, like previously living in San Diego and starting beverage companies.
While Erika was uncomfortable that Blake had a connection with Benita, she decided to keep growing a connection with him, and the pair ended up getting engaged in the pods.
Morrey Eglin (@morrey__)
Credit: NetflixMorrey is a 32-year-old entrepreneur who is also a boxer, a part-time bouncer at a busy Boston bar, and a full-time Libra. He got to know both Benita and Sarah in the pods, but things got a little messy after he got into a tiff with Benita. He called off their connection, deciding that he didn’t want to rush into a commitment with her.
However, Sarah had already formed a stronger connection with John, and ended things with Morrey.
Sarah Williams (@swillyyyy)
Credit: NetflixSarah, 34, is a healthcare program manager and part-time bartender. Sarah, a Libra, said she has been single for six years and is hoping to make a connection built on friendship rather than looks.
She formed connections with both Morrey and John, but ended up choosing her connection with John.
John Shannon (@johnshannon_)
Credit: NetflixJohn is a 33-year-old account executive, Gemini, and most importantly, a dog dad. He recently found out he has multiple sclerosis (MS), and is looking for a lifelong partner with strong convictions.
John shared an awkward moment with Sarah after she overheard him calling her part of his “bottom two,” but the two were able to move past this and ultimately hit it off in the pods, ultimately getting engaged.
Cameron "Cam" Halloran (@cameronhalloran)
Credit: NetflixCam is a 29-year-old HR generalist and Scorpio who has spent some time in Ghana and India. During his time in India, he read a book called My Gita (based on the Hindu text The Bhagavad Gita) several times.
It’s no surprise that he hit it off with Aneha, who comes from a Hindu family. But he also hit it off Malaine, a breast cancer survivor who bonded with Cam after he confided that his mom survived cancer.
He ended up forming a stronger connection with Aneha, saying that she might be his person, and broke up with Malaine.
Aneha Singh (@anehahaha)
Credit: NetflixAneha, 28, is a principal engineer and Aquarius. She describes herself as "stubborn," and says that a surprising fact about her is that she’s never drunk alcohol. She’s passionate about her biotech research, and says that she’s looking for a "gentleman."
It looks like Aneha might’ve found that gentleman in Cam, who proposed to her in the pods.
Malaine Thorpe (@melinmotionxo)
Credit: NetflixMalaine, 33, is a senior portfolio analyst and Pisces who values self-improvement. She said her relationship goals are Barack and Michelle Obama, and that she’s looking for someone that could join her at the gym as a workout buddy.
Malaine connected with Cam and Wilson, but ended up leaving the experiment after Cam broke up with her.
Wilson (@willymilll)
Credit: NetflixWilson, 35, is a senior compliance manager and Gemini who likes to play recreational basketball in his free time. He said that he used to struggle with believing that he deserved love, but is ready for the experience of self-discovery in the pods, even if he doesn’t find a match.
Wilson made strong connections with both Malaine and Wilnie, but decided to focus on his connection with Wilnie after Malaine left.
Wilnie (@wilnie_)
Credit: NetflixWilnie is a 33-year-old mental health counselor and Aries. The youngest of her siblings, Wilnie is hoping to find a partner who gets along with her family.
She made it clear to Wilson that she was falling for him, and the pair ended up getting engaged in the pods.
Jacqueline "Jax" Guelli (@jacquelineguelli)
Credit: NetflixJax is a 31-year-old entrepreneur and Taurus who admits that she does care about looks, as someone who works in the beauty industry and owns a skincare line. She bonded with Scott, also known as "Stew," about their shared interest in saunas and design.
Despite things going well between the two, things hit a rough patch after Stew said that he’s never said "I love you" to a girlfriend before, souring their last meeting. Stew still proposed to Jax, who accepted, but the engagement didn’t work out after they met face-to-face.
Scott "Stew" (@scooterstew)
Credit: NetflixStew, 34, is a director of engineering, Gemini, and self-proclaimed "sauna aficionado." He bonded with Jax in the pods, even describing their dream weddings to each other.
However, Jax still had doubts about Stew, which were solidified after meeting him for the first time in-person. Jax ended up leaving the experiment shortly after.
Rob (@feels_3310)
Credit: NetflixRob, 40, is an Aquarius who works in AI infrastructure sales. He’s looking for a partner with traditional family values who is comfortable hanging out with his friends, and also joining him on the golf course.
Rob formed connections with both Michaella and Diana, and had a difficult time deciding which relationship to prioritize in the pods.
Diana (@diananicolep)
Credit: NetflixDiana, a 29-year-old nanny and Sagittarius, describes herself as an old soul who is "annoyingly traditional." A proud Sicilian, Diana bonded with Rob over their love of family.
However, things took a turn when Diana expressed her discomfort at Rob’s connection with Michaella, asking him to break up with her.
Michaella Giorgio (@michaellagiorgio)
Credit: NetflixMichaella, 35, is a retail consultant and Virgo who is looking for a partner that she can always laugh with. She found that in Rob, who she spent time bantering with in the pods, including a great Donald Trump impression (courtesy of Rob).
After struggling to decide between Diana and Michaella, Rob ultimately decided to focus on his connection with Michaella and proposed to her in the pods. He gifted her a bracelet that belonged to his late father, cementing their care for each other.
Amenawon "Iman" Johnson (@aggamenawon)
Credit: NetflixIman, 34, is a software engineer and Pisces who describes himself as a "geek at heart." Iman said that he’s previously put his partner’s needs above his own, and is afraid of falling in love with someone who takes advantage of this.
Jay Robinson (@jrobb__)
Credit: NetflixIn true Capricorn fashion, Jay, 36, says his career as a director of sales in the sports industry leaves him too busy to date. He’s looking for a partner with a similar drive and goals of her own (and someone who doesn’t mind his freestyle rapping).
Mark A. Colantonio (@markacolantonio)
Credit: NetflixMark, 37, is a wine sales consultant who hopes to find a partner that remains understanding even under times of stress. As a Taurus, Mark values acts of service as a love language, and his friends say that he’s the type of person who would give you the shirt off his back.
Matt Waldrip (@mattsmenu14)
Credit: NetflixMatt is a 37-year-old beekeeper, Capricorn, and father to an 8-year-old son. He says he’s looking for his “queen bee” in the pods, and is ready to impress with romantic dinners like his signature chicken parmesan.
Michael Arisco (@m_arisco)
Credit: NetflixMichael is a 35-year-old account executive and Leo from Connecticut. He values vulnerability, and is hoping that being open in the pods will allow him to find a genuine connection.
Scott Shuman (@scottshuman9)
Credit: NetflixScott, 38, is an Aries who doesn’t believe in astrology. He’s a former professional baseball player turned baseball coach who is looking for a woman who shares his Christian values (and hopefully doesn’t believe in astrology, either).
Tucker Myhre (@tmyhre802)
Credit: NetflixTucker is a senior solutions consultant who describes himself as a know-it-all who loves Wikipedia rabbit holes. The 35-year-old Aries is looking for a partner who shares his love for Boston sports teams, especially the Red Sox.
Brittany Bianco (@britt_catalina)
Credit: NetflixBrittany, a 34-year-old attorney from a "huge Italian family," says her love language is cooking (as long as her partner cleans up after). As an Aquarius, Brittany said she’s open to dating all astrology signs… except for Sagittarius men.
Jenn Mouser (@jennmouser)
Credit: NetflixJenn, 39, is a master hairstylist and mother to a 7-year-old son. She describes herself as a Pisces “through and through,” and is looking for a partner who is sensitive, open to children, and down to hit the beach with her every morning to watch the sunrise.
Kara Grumoli (@karagrumoli)
Credit: NetflixKara is a 32-year-old strategic account manager and Virgo. She’s hoping to find someone who can balance out her “calm, cool, and collected” personality, and maybe someone who can accompany her to her family’s annual trip to the Vineyard.
Kerry Cashman (@kerryc2)
Credit: NetflixKerry, 37, is an athletic director and Scorpio who is looking for a partner that can keep up with her extroverted, upbeat personality. She wants someone that she can be both deep and silly with.
Liz Rounds (@liz.rounds)
Credit: NetflixLiz is a 34-year-old NICU nurse who is looking for a "generous and committed" partner to enjoy her free time with. As an Aries, Liz is passionate about music and binge-watching TV on Sundays.
Rachel Aukema (@thatsaukward)
Credit: NetflixRachel, a 32-year-old academic advisor and Cancer who is looking for a partner who is a strong leader. Despite previously living in Spain, Rachel has decided to settle down in Boston permanently, and hopefully have “Bostonian babies” one day.
Sahar (@saharm11)
Credit: NetflixSahar is an orthodontist and proud Persian who immigrated to the US when she was 10 years old. The 34-year-old Scorpio says that while she’s gotten her life ruined by Leo men before, she doesn’t hate them (but is a little afraid of them). She wants to find a caring partner, one that she can possibly build a multicultural household with.
The first five episodes of Season 11 of Love is Blind were released to Netflix on October 14. New episodes are scheduled to air every Wednesday at 3 am ET, until the Episode 12 season finale on November 3.
SAVE UP TO 12%: As of Oct. 20, Amazon has select configurations of the M5 Apple MacBook Air on sale for $150 off, with prices starting at $1,149 (normally $1,299).
Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M5, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $1,149 at AmazonApple will probably announce its first MacBook Pro with an OLED touchscreen at a hardware event next week, and we expect it to be a pricey premium laptop geared toward power users. If you're more of a casual, everyday user who doesn't do a lot of video editing or programming, we highly recommend the existing M5 MacBook Air — which happens to be on sale right now.
Select configurations of Apple's ultraportable are $150 off on Amazon, including most variants of the 13-inch size and a silver 15-inch model with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Best Buy is matching Amazon's deals on the 13-inch ones, but not the 15-incher.
Credit: Joe Maldonado / MashableThis MacBook Air deal isn't quite as good as the one Amazon was offering during this month's Prime Big Deal Days sale, its "October Prime Day" event, which saved shoppers a full $200. Still, they're welcome in the wake of Apple's MacBook price hikes earlier this summer. (FWIW, that $200 discount probably won't return until Black Friday in late November.)
In his review of the M5 MacBook Air, Mashable tech editor Timothy Beck Werth said it offers "fantastic performance for the value" and has "all the premium features you expect in a modern MacBook." That includes a haptic touchpad, colorful display, sharp 12MP webcam, and superb speakers. Werth ultimately rated it at 4.6/5, which earned it a Mashable Choice Award.
Some iPhone Duo buyers who were told they’d have to wait until 2027 may be getting their phones much sooner.
Pre-orders for the Duo opened Friday, Oct. 16, and sold out almost immediately. Delivery estimates quickly slipped into late January 2027. Over the weekend, though, a number of customers began reporting that Apple had moved their delivery dates up, in some cases to the phone’s Friday, Oct. 23 launch.
SEE ALSO: iPhone Duo vs iPad: How they differGiven the rush on the Duo, Apple has capped purchases at two per order. According to a post from TechDroider on X, the company is also canceling suspicious orders to curb reselling. Apple hasn’t confirmed the cancellations.
The earlier dates first appeared for buyers in Japan, according to 9to5Mac, which rounded up several of the reports. One Japanese user posted that their Duo, originally scheduled to arrive in December, was now set for launch day. 9to5Mac also flagged the trend on Twitter, noting that shipping dates appeared to be getting bumped up in Japan.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.9to5Mac later updated its report to note that U.S. customers have started seeing earlier delivery windows, too. So far, the changes appear limited to orders placed directly through Apple, rather than through carriers or other retailers.
It’s not clear what changed. As 9to5Mac points out, Apple hasn’t publicly said why the estimates shifted, and it’s possible the new dates are a mistake that could be reversed. One possibility is that Apple padded its initial estimates as a precaution against the flood of orders. It’s also possible the original dates were a glitch, or that Apple’s supply simply improved. For now, it’s all speculation.
Mashable has reached out to Apple for comment and will update this story if we hear back.
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ORDER FOR FREE: Grab your copy of Amazon's Holiday Kids Gift Book 2026 for free delivery to your mailbox.
Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Kids Gift Book 2026 $0 at AmazonAmazon is already coming in hot with the early Black Friday discounts. While we still haven't filled up on Halloween's candy corn yet, it's time to order Advent Calendars and get shopping for the holiday season before the selection dwindles. If you love to browse holiday gift guides that appear in your mailbox, there's a special one you'll want to order.
If it hasn't shown up in your mailbox yet, you can order a copy of the Amazon Kids Gift Book 2026 for free as of Oct. 20.
SEE ALSO: Early Black Friday 2026 deals: See holiday gift guides from Amazon, The Home Depot, Nordstrom, Ulta, and moreAmazon included over 100 top toys of the year in this adorable catalogue any kid or grown up will enjoy browsing. There's even space to write out a personal wish list on a tear-out page. You can also shop easily thanks to the included product QR codes.
In addition to checking out this year's hottest toys, Amazon added in free stickers and activities for kids to enjoy as they check out the magazine. The gift guide features great options like Legos, Squishmallows, and ideas for gamers.
If the catalogue didn't already land in your mailbox, order your free copy from Amazon while they're still in stock.
SAVE $200.06: As of Oct. 20, a Philips Sonicare DiamondClean 9000 electric toothbrush bundle is on sale for the record-low price of $199.93 on Amazon (normally $399.99) — a 50% savings.
Opens in a new window Credit: Philips Philips Sonicare DiamondClean 9000 Electric Toothbrush Bundle $199.93 at AmazonAmazon's sixth annual Holiday Beauty Event kicked off on Oct. 19, and I've been scouting out the best deals from the sale. If you and your roommate or live-in partner need new toothbrushes, you're especially in luck: A bundle of two Philips Sonicare DiamondClean 9000s is on sale for half off as part of the event.
These smart electric toothbrushes usually sell for $399.99 as a pair (or $199.96 on their own), but right now, you'll only pay $199.93 total. That's a record-low price, according to the Amazon price-tracking site camelcamelcamel.
Rated highly by Amazon reviewers for its cleaning performance and value, the Sonicare DiamondClean 9000 has four adjustable brushing modes and a built-in pressure sensor. (It'll vibrate if it thinks you're brushing too hard.) If you're really trying to optimize your dental health — teeth-maxxing? — you can track your brushing habits using its companion mobile app. Philips says it can last up to 14 days on a single charge.
Amazon's BOGO offer applies to the bundle that includes rose (light pink) and white variants of the Sonicare DiamondClean 9000. Both come with their own travel cases.
If there's a shelf that still needs hanging or a deck repair you've been ignoring since spring, a good cordless tool can make the job a little more palatable. Buying one before the holidays is a great idea, especially since retailers have already started rolling out early Black Friday deals ahead of the actual sale. Cordless tools are one of the categories where prices drop first. There's no reason to wait until the end of November when the discounts are already here, so we've done our homework to bring you some of the best and earliest to choose from.
Some of the best early Black Friday deals we've found so far are on cordless drills, impact drivers, and combo kits from brands like DeWalt, Milwaukee, Makita, and Ryobi, with battery-and-charger bundles among the most heavily marked down.
If you've been waiting for the right moment to build out your garage or workshop setup, this is a good week to start adding things to your cart. Check out some of our top picks below.
Best early Black Friday cordless tool deal Opens in a new window Credit: The Home Depot DeWalt 20V Max Cordless Drill and Impact Driver Combo Kit $239 at The Home DepotThe drill/driver and impact driver in this DeWalt kit are both compact enough to fit between studs and under cabinets, so it can handle a variety of jobs. It has an LED light that illuminates whatever you’re working on as well, so you don't have to struggle with visibility when handling each project. The drill uses a 1/2-inch ratcheting chuck that holds bits tight without a key, while the impact driver’s hex chuck lets you load and swap bits with one hand. You also get two 20V Max batteries, a charger, and a carrying bag to make a complete tool kit that's perfect for DIY jobs or handing over to repair enthusiasts.
Best early Black Friday cordless tool combo kit deal Opens in a new window Credit: The Home Depot Ryobi ONE+ 18V Cordless 4-Tool Combo Kit with Compact Battery $199 at The Home DepotRyobi’s four-tool ONE+ kit pairs a 1/2-inch drill/driver and a 1/4-inch impact driver with a 5-1/2-inch circular saw. It also comes with an LED work light with a pivoting head that should make visibility a bit less of a concern when working in hard-to-reach places. Two 18V batteries come in the bag, a compact one for lighter jobs and a 4.0 Ah pack for longer runtime, and both work with every tool in Ryobi’s ONE+ lineup if you decide to add on later. The battery is a great addition to give you some extra oomph as well.
Best early Black Friday cordless ratchet deal Opens in a new window Credit: The Home Depot Milwaukee M12 F12V Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless Ratchet $299 at The Home DepotGet in there and get things done with this cordless ratchet. It has a brushless motor that gives you air-ratchet speed without the hose or the compressor, so you can get into an engine bay or under a sink and finish those frustrating jobs. Its slim in-line body is balanced for one-handed use, and an LED near the head lights up fasteners in tight spots. Plus, its onboard fuel gauge shows how much charge is left so you know how much longer you have to work at a glance.
Best early Black Friday BOGO cordless tool deal Opens in a new window Credit: The Home Depot Makita 18V LXT Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless Drive Impact Wrench Kit $539 at The Home DepotThis BOGO deal nets you two tools instead of one. This impact wrench puts out 430 ft-lbs of nut-busting torque from a brushless motor, which is enough to break loose over-tightened lug nuts. A four-speed selector lets you dial the power down for smaller fasteners, and the auto-stop modes cut the motor once a nut comes loose so it doesn’t spin off the socket. The kit comes with two 5.0Ah batteries, a rapid charger, and a bag, and the whole thing weighs about four pounds with a battery attached. Twice is always nice.
More cordless tool dealsRyobi ONE+ 18V Starter Kit with 4.0 Ah Battery and Charger — $129 $159 (save $30)
DeWalt 20V MAX XR Cordless 1/4 in. 3-Speed Impact Driver (Tool Only) — $129 $169 (save $110)
Milwaukee M18 18V Lith-Ion Cordless Compact Blower w/ 2.0 Ah Battery — $129 $239 (save $40)
DeWalt 20V MAX Cordless Brushless Screw Gun (Tool Only) — $149 $199 (save $50)
DeWalt 20V MAX XR Cordless 1/2 in. Impact Wrench (Tool Only) — $199 $279 (save $80)
DeWalt 20V XR Battery Starter Pack (8.0Ah + 4.0Ah with Charger) — $199 $329 (save $130)
Milwaukee M12 12V Cordless Green 250 ft. 3-Plane Laser Level Kit — $599 $649 (save $50)
Milwaukee M18 18V Cordless Combo Kit (8-Tool) with (2) Batteries and Charger — $649 $1,298 (save $649)
If you’re still on your parents' Spotify Family plan after moving out of the house, keeping your share of the subscription could be getting harder.
Spotify is now asking some Premium Family members to scan a changing QR code on their plan manager’s phone to verify that they live together, according to Spotify's support page. Members have seven days from the date of notification to complete the check. Miss the deadline or fail verification, and they cannot join a different Family or Duo plan for 12 months.
That could put a sizable dent in the savings from sharing. In the U.S., Premium Family costs $21.99 a month for up to six accounts — roughly $3.67 each if everyone splits the bill equally. Premium Individual costs $12.99 a month, more than three times that amount.
SEE ALSO: How much is Spotify Premium in the U.S.? Spotify's household rule goes back yearsDespite the name, Spotify's Family subscription doesn't cover relatives living wherever they please.
The company originally introduced its Family plan in October 2014 for five accounts, touting a $4.99 per-month subscription in the U.S. for each additional family member, on top of the main subscriber’s $9.99 subscription. (They expanded to 6 accounts in 2016.)
In a 2019 newsroom post, Spotify announced updates to the Family plan and described it as for family members "living under one roof." They are clearly starting to take that terminology more seriously.
As of an Oct. 19 report by 9to5Google, Family plan members must share an address and allow the company to request verification again to confirm it. Rumors about this feature also predate this week's coverage: A Reddit post from December 2025 describes the same rotating-code verification.
Spotify's support page says it may ask "some" Family members to complete the scan, without specifying how widely the checks are being used.
What members need to do Credit: Screenshot: Spotify Support PageIf Spotify asks you to verify through a QR code, you'll have seven days from the notification to complete the scan with your plan manager — the person who manages and pays for the subscription.
The manager opens Spotify on their phone and taps their profile picture, then Your Premium → Manage. You scan the code with your phone's camera. Spotify says both people must be in the same place and have the latest version of the mobile app installed. The code changes every few seconds, so a screenshot could expire before you use it.
If you're having trouble, Spotify recommends checking the date and time settings on both phones and restarting the app. If you miss the deadline or can’t complete verification, you cannot join a different Family or Duo plan for 12 whole months, but you can still subscribe to another option, such as Premium Individual (which costs $12.99 a month in the U.S.).
SEE ALSO: Spotify hits 300 million Premium subscribersFor members who live together but are temporarily apart, that leaves a practical problem: Your household may qualify, but you still need to coordinate an in-person scan before the clock runs out. Let the panic commence!
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It's not often walk to the mailbox and find something inside we're excited about. Amidst the bills and junk mail, top brands launch their Black Friday gift guides, and some might be landing in your mailbox.
The official Black Friday date is Nov. 27 this year, the day after Thanksgiving. But you don't need to wait for deals to drop then. Amazon, The Home Depot, and Target all have Black Friday sales underway right now.
Browsing the deals is half the fun of shopping during Black Friday. And if you're trending toward Analog life, you can request a free physical copy of some gift guides including Amazon's Holiday Kids Gift Book 2026. But you have plenty of other browsing to do, too.
The Home Depot Black Friday Gift Guide is packed with cordless power tools, holiday decor, and gifts for the gardener in your life. Walmart has conveniently broken down the top 100 gifts including Apple Airpods Pro 3 and the Nintendo Switch 2.
SEE ALSO: Early Black Friday kitchen deals from Ninja, De'Longhi, and Viking are already liveUlta's Black Friday Gift Guide is the perfect cheat-sheet for buying beauty gifts for your friends, and Costco has excellent deals on artificial Christmas trees and laptops if you're a member. Nordstrom is a great place to grab stocking stuffers and gifts are already up to 40% off.
If toys are on your shopping list, be sure to peek the Target Black Friday Gift Guide, as well as the Meijer Toy Book and the Fleet Farm's Toyland which opened earlier in October. Remember if you're shopping for tech deals, sometimes Target offers better discounts than Amazon's Black Friday offerings.
Below, we've rounded up some of our favorite early Black Friday deals from the top gift guides.
Best Walmart deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Airpods Pro 3 $199 at WalmartA classic sale on some of the best Airpods, you can already snag them for $199 at Walmart. The Airpods Pro 3 come with great sound, exceptional noise cancellation, good battery life, and even a heart-rate monitor. On Mashable's list of the best earbuds, the Airpods Pro 3 earn the top spot as the best option for Apple users. While the $199 sale price isn't unheard of, they do tend to sell out during busy sale seasons, so shop early to avoid the stress.
Best Amazon deal Opens in a new window Credit: Hisense Hisense 85-inch E6 Hi-QLED 4K TV $797.97 at AmazonThe holidays are a time for relaxing and what better to do so than with a massive TV to watch romantic Christmas movies? The giant 85-inch Hisense E6 QLED 4K TV is already on sale at Amazon well before Black Friday and it's under $800. Plus, it's the perfect early holiday gift for anyone who's recently moved into a bigger place.
Best Target deal Opens in a new window Credit: Tineco Tineco Go HammerHead Cordless Wet/Dry Mop & Vacuum $149.99 at TargetNo one likes to spend the holidays cleaning the house. Keep the task of cleaning the floors as quick and painless as possible with the Tineco Go HammerHead Cordless Mop and Vacuum. All in one go, you'll be able to vacuum and mop, and maneuvering is made easy thanks to Tineco's swivel steering.
Best Ulta deal Opens in a new window Credit: Conair Conair InfinitiPRO DigitalAIRE Drying Wand $90.99 at UltaBlack Friday sales is one of the best times of the year to shop for beauty deals. Instead of paying big time for a Dyson hair dryer, Ulta has great deals in store on Conair beauty tech including the InfintiPro Drying Wand, which is on sale for under $100.
Aiming for a faster drying experience, the Conair detangles, smooths, and adds volume. It'll be a staple for getting ready for holiday parties this season.
Download the Ulta app and you'll be in line for special daily savings you won't find online. Today's mobile app deals include saving 20% on CeraVe products, makeup from Smashbox, and free gifts with purchase.
Best Home Depot deal Opens in a new window Credit: Milwaukee Milwaukee M18 18-Volt Lithium-Ion Cordless Combo Kit $649 at The Home DepotWith eight cordless power tools and two batteries, the Milwaukee M18 18-Volt Lithium-Ion Cordless Combo Kit is the ultimate gift for anyone in your life who could use a tool upgrade. Winter is the perfect time for garage and home renovation projects, so this deal couldn't come at a better time.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Pokémon trading card game, Pokémon is dropping a massive wave of free digital loot for Pokémon TCG Pocket players.
Starting Oct. 20, players who log into the mobile card game can participate in the Pika Pika! Pikachu event, where logging in for just 10 days unlocks a free, exclusive Pikachu ex immersive card designed by Japanese graphic artist YOSHIROTTEN.
How to claim your free Pikachu ex card and event lootThe first step you need to take is to open Pokémon TCG Pocket on iOS or Android on any 10 separate days between Oct. 20 and Oct. 19 of next year. That's not going to be particularly challenging for dedicated players. Logging in during the event awards special Pika Pika! Pikachu booster packs, containing Pikachu cards across various rarities.
The event also includes a guaranteed Pika Pika! Pikachu Pack ex, which promises either a 2-star rarity card or a Shiny Pikachu ex. Players can also unlock matching Pikachu-themed playmats, card sleeves, and digital coins to customize their in-game battle decks.
We want to be very clear that this is a digital card inside a mobile app, not a physical piece of cardboard you can sell for a lot of money on eBay.
It's a refreshingly player-friendly move from Pokémon TCG Pocket, offering a full year-long claim window with zero microtransaction requirements. If you already play Pokémon TCG Pocket during your daily commute, taking 30 seconds to log in for 10 days gets you one of the highest-value digital collectibles in the game for free. That kind of promo doesn't come around too often.
Microsoft may have borked Outlook for some folks with a new Windows update.
Specifically, a Windows Server security update has caused access issues for Outlook on some Exchange Server systems, according to a Microsoft security note (cited by BleepingComputer). This is specifically affecting systems running Windows Server 2019 and later, per Microsoft. As a result, users may not be able to access Outlook, or sent messages might just remain in the Outlook outbox without actually going anywhere.
SEE ALSO: Microsoft president warns AI is less regulated than milk and washing machinesThere is no firm fix for this problem just yet. Microsoft says that the severity of the problem will differ from server to server, with some not encountering any problems at all. In a different post, Microsoft urged users not to uninstall the problematic update, instead offering a workaround:
Open an elevated Command Prompt on an Exchange Server
Enter the following as a command: "reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Rpc" /v EpmapSavedContextCap /t REG_DWORD /d 65536 /f"
Reboot the server
That should help alleviate the issue until Microsoft offers a long-term fix for it.
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Amazon's official Black Friday sale technically doesn't kick off until next month, but time means nothing to retailers in 2026. The actual dates of Black Friday have been blurred beyond recognition and deals start popping up in October and last well into December. That's good news for anyone looking to save some cash and spread out their holiday shopping.
If there's an Amazon device on your list, there are already quite a few live deals floating around on Fire tablets, Fire TV Sticks, and Echo devices. Whether they're lingering discounts from October Prime Day or early Black Friday deals doesn't really matter. What matters is you can score an Amazon device for cheaper than usual — especially since many of these devices saw price increases in 2026 (thanks, RAMageddon). Other devices like Kindles, Fire TVs, Blink cameras, and more are still at full price, but we're keeping an eye out for any drops.
We'll be tracking all of the best Amazon device deals leading up to, during, and post-Black Friday below. For early deals beyond Amazon devices, be sure to follow along with all of Mashable's coverage in our Black Friday hub.
Best early Black Friday Fire TV Stick deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K $15.96 at AmazonSadly, the whole lineup of Fire TV Sticks was hit with a price increase back in August. But that doesn't seem to affect how impressive the discounts are. Prime members can grab the brand-new Fire TV Stick 4K, which was released in September, for just $19.99 with the on-page coupon code FTV4K. That's its best price so far on record.
The 4K Select was only released last year, but the 4K has officially replaced it. It features the Vega 2.0 operating system for even speedier navigation and a more robust app store. Amazon listened to customer qualms with the 4K Select and added over 2,000 more apps to the 4K, including Spotify, Xbox, VLC, and a range of VPNs. The all-new 4K also comes with 8GB of storage, a quad-core 1.7GHz processor, support for WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, HDR10+, HLG, and Alexa+. It also features an all-new Fire TV remote.
More Fire TV Stick dealsFire TV Stick deals
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select — $14.99 $49.99 (save $35 with on-page code SELECT4K)
Amazon Fire TV Stick HD — $17.99 $39.99 (save $22 with on-page code HDFTV)
One of Amazon's most popular speakers got a refresh last year specifically with Alexa+ in mind. The Echo Dot Max is a super-powered speaker that's just slightly bigger than the Echo Dot, but features nearly three times the bass and can fill up large spaces with lossless, high-definition audio. It can also adapt to its environment to offer the best sound possible, have more natural conversations via Alexa+, double as a mesh WiFi extender, and seamlessly control all of your smart devices.
The Echo Dot Max got a $20 price increase back in August, so we're glad to see an early Black Friday discount that negates the price hike and then some. While we have seen it cheaper in the past, this is still a pretty solid deal if you don't want to wait.
More Echo dealsAmazon Echo Show 8 — $149.99 $199.99 (save $50)
Amazon Echo Show 11 — $199.99 $249.99 (save $50)
Amazon surprise-released a new line of tablets earlier this month, so it only makes sense for its older tablets to see huge discounts. We're certainly not complaining. The Fire HD 10 tablet, while several years old, still serves as a solid pick for anyone who just wants a tablet to stream shows, check emails, and browse socials. It won't wow you like a speedy new iPad, but it'll get the job done without breaking the bank — especially since it's on sale for just $72.99. That's more than 50% off its list price. For what it's worth, I bought this exact tablet for my dad last Christmas and it's well-loved.
More Fire tablet dealsAmazon Fire HD 8 tablet — $79.99 $129.99 (save $50)
Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids tablet — $94.99 $169.99 (save $75)
Harry Potter Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet (limited edition) — $132.99 $189.99 (save $57)
When it comes to Halloween decorating, Arby's just raised the steaks.
The fast-food chain is launching a limited-edition "Meat Sweats" tracksuit ahead of the spooky holiday, but not just any tracksuit: one "made specifically for 12-foot skeletons," according to an email sent to press.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.That could only refer to "Skelly," the viral giant skeleton animatronic that The Home Depot has sold since 2020; this year, it was updated with app controls. The tracksuit doesn't appear to be an official collaboration between the two brands, though they had an exchange about it on social media this week. (Mashable has reached out to The Home Depot for comment.)
"things get spooky Wednesday," Arby's captioned a picture of the tracksuit on Instagram Monday, adding, "be afraid @homedepot." In the comments, the home improvement retailer replied: "That's one way to beef up your Halloween decor 👀"
View this post on InstagramThe Meat Sweats suit features an all-over print of folded roast beef and an Arby's logo on its chest. Priced at $46.66, it will be available exclusively in Arby's online merch store starting this Wednesday, Oct. 21 at noon ET.
Skelly has built up quite the wardrobe over the years. The Home Depot released Santa, scarecrow, and witch costumes for the oversized animatronic in 2021, and many Skelly owners have DIYed their own outfits for it.
Opens in a new window Credit: Arby's Arby's Skeleton Sweat Set $46.66 at ArbysShop.comThe Moon is more than half illuminated, which means we're getting closer to the Full Moon. Each night the Moon will appear bigger in the sky, with lots of opportunity to spot some features on its surface.
What is today's Moon phase?As of Tuesday, Oct. 20, NASA's Daily Moon Guide tracker tells us the Moon is in the Waxing Gibbous phase, with 65% of its surface visible.
Tonight, you should be able to spot the Mare Crisium, the Tycho Crater, and Mare Fecunditatis without any visual aids. If you have binoculars you'll also see the Endymion Crater, the Alphonsus Crater, and the Appenine Mountains. Plus, if you have a telescope, you'll also see the Apollo 15 and 16 landing spots, plus the Rima Hyginus.
When is the next Full Moon?The next Full Moon will take place on October 25 or 26, depending on your timezone.
What are Moon phases?The Moon takes around 29.5 days to travel around Earth, and its appearance changes throughout the month. As it moves around our planet, we see different amounts of its sunlit side, from a slim crescent to the quarter phases and eventually a Full Moon. It then begins the cycle again. As NASA explains, these phases are caused by the Moon's changing position relative to Earth and the Sun.
The eight phases are:
New Moon - The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye).
Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).
First Quarter - Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.
Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it's not quite full yet.
Full Moon - The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.
Waning Gibbous - The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)
Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) - Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.
Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.
There's so much to want to love in Canadian series Yaga, from its small-town mystery to its hints of folklore and witchcraft. But the biggest draw of all is undoubtedly its cast, which includes Carrie-Anne Moss, Noah Reid, Clark Backo, and Heated Rivalry breakout Hudson Williams.
SEE ALSO: 2026 fall TV preview: Every show you should know aboutYaga is Williams' first major project to come out since the runaway success of Heated Rivalry catapulted him and co-star Connor Storrie to stardom. With that comes an opportunity for Williams to further showcase his range beyond his Canadian Screen Award-winning work as Shane Hollander. It's a shame, then, that Yaga gives Williams and his co-stars so little to latch onto, in a dark feminist fable that feels more hollow than revelatory.
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What's Yaga about? Noah Reid and Clark Backo in "Yaga." Credit: Crave / Christopher LawrenceBased on the play by Kat Sandler, who also serves as showrunner, Yaga invites us to the small town of Whittock, where Henry Park (Williams), heir to a powerful fishery owner, has gone missing. Enter private investigator Rapp (Reid) and local police detective Carson (Backo), who are paired — reluctantly, on Carson's end — to get to the bottom of this mystery.
What begins as a standard missing persons investigation soon becomes something darker and stranger. Chicken carcasses hang menacingly on doors. Bloody symbols mar crime scenes. Through it all, Rapp hears whispers of Baba Yaga, a legendary witch from Slavic folklore known for living in a house on chicken legs and flying around in a mortar and pestle. Could Henry's disappearance be tied to the occult? Given that the whole series opens with images of an unknown figure being burned at the stake, and that each episode opens and closes with a voiceover monologue from a wizened witchy figure, the answer appears to be an unequivocal "yes."
SEE ALSO: 'Crystal Lake' review: Linda Cardellini slashes her way through this bloody Friday the 13th prequelSo the stage is set for a strange, folkloric mystery. Yet Yaga's witchiness never truly sings. Too often, the show resorts to the same style of surreal fakeout dream sequences, where a stream of bloody feathers and foreboding masks blends into a shorthand for horror without truly scaring. The voiceovers, presented as coming from Baba Yaga herself, offer up platitudes about women who have been othered as witches, but they feel familiar to anyone who's ever read a "we are the granddaughters of the witches you couldn't burn" bumper sticker.
Hudson Williams pulls double duty in Yaga. Hudson Williams in "Yaga." Credit: Crave / Christopher LawrenceAt the center of this witchy vortex is Williams' Henry, who mostly haunts Rapp and Carson's investigation in flashbacks, including a steamy podcast recording with him and intriguing professor Katherine (Moss), an expert in all things bone. Henry's not alone: Williams also plays Logan, Henry's roommate, podcasting partner, and doppelganger. (Yaga sticks Williams in a prosthetic nose and fake acne for the Logan role, and the result is a jarring trip to the uncanny valley.)
A dual role should be rich territory for any actor to mine, yet neither Henry nor Logan get enough screen time for Williams' double turn to truly sink in. Henry is primarily a confident, if sleazy, charmer, while Logan is mostly presented as an awkward, almost wooden foil to that charm. Logan was not a character in the original stage play, and it shows in his thinness here.
Yaga introduces a fascinating thread about Logan perhaps wanting to be (or maybe be with) Henry, but it rarely pulls it beyond the occasional unsettling sex scene. While onscreen intimacy can often be a great showcase of character dynamics, here, these scenes are often over too fast or accompanied by a voiceover that explains said dynamics without letting the actual performances breathe.
As Yaga unfurls, Henry and Logan become much more sinister figures. While the thought of Williams taking a villainous turn is an exciting one, his Henry and Logan don't make particularly compelling villains because we know so little of them. Yaga's leads don't tend to fare much better. Moss is slippery fun as Katherine, but too often she remains on the margins. Backo and Reid's buddy cop dynamic is punchy, yet often dragged down by Rapp's incessant flirting. That most of the women in Whittock practically throw themselves at him is one of Yaga's most infuriating features. As it happens again and again and again, these women's advances bypass sexual empowerment and move straight into bewilderment.
Yaga gestures out to interesting concepts, but ultimately, it never dives deep enough. As an examination of witchcraft as a conduit for female rage, it's not angry enough. As an erotic thriller, it's not titillating enough. As a mystery, its twists and turns are intriguing, but never quite captivating. The ingredients for success are there, but they never quite come together to cast the right spell.
PowerA and Pokémon have come together once again, this time with a new hardware drop celebrating the franchise's 30th anniversary.
The Pokémon Plantopia collection is officially live and available exclusively through the Pokémon Center. The botanical aesthetic features fan favorites like Bulbasaur, Leafeon, Rowlet, and Sprigatito, plus a certain Pikachu.
We like everything in this limited-edition drop, but the star is undoubtedly the Advantage Wireless Controller. PowerA didn't just slap a sticker on a cheap gamepad. This officially licensed controller packs up to 30 hours of battery life, two mappable advanced gaming buttons on the back, and a solid two-year warranty.
There's no pressure to invest in the whole collection, but pairing the controller with matching travel accessories is seriously tempting. The crossbody travel bag is designed to hold your Switch 2 console, cables, and power bank. The Pikachu storage case holds up to 12 Switch game cards with dedicated slots for matching microSD cards.
We're honestly a little surprised to still see stock for this collection. This is one of the cleanest 30th-anniversary drops you can buy directly at retail price without paying inflated reseller rates (for now).
My first exposure to a certain type of Final Fantasy fan occurred in 2006, when a friend of mine angrily insisted that a game can't be Final Fantasy if it doesn't have turn-based combat.
This was in response to the hybrid real-time combat of Final Fantasy XII, and series developer Square Enix has been forsaking that kind of guy in the two decades since. There hasn't been a traditionally turn-based mainline Final Fantasy in 25 years, which makes Final Fantasy Resonance exciting. A new title assembled using assets from the mobile title Brave Exvius, Resonance follows in the footsteps of last year's Octopath Traveler 0 in turning a phone game into a console experience that will live after its predecessor's servers are inevitably shut down.
Resonance is not as large or audacious as Octopath was, and its main story relies a bit too much on tropes and concepts from previous Final Fantasy stories to stand on its own. Thanks to pleasurable combat that's wonderfully easy to bust wide open and a solid sense of exploration, this throwback RPG was worth the 40 or so hours it took me to finish.
SEE ALSO: 'Zelda: Ocarina of Time' is my favorite video game ever. After playing the remake, I get the vision. Final Fantasy Resonance is full of ideas you've heard beforeThe best Final Fantasy games have some of the most emotionally affecting and thought-provoking stories you'll find in any big-budget RPG. I often put Final Fantasy X, in particular, on a pedestal thanks to its compelling combination of gut-wrenching romance and an examination of how theocracy can take hold over a society.
All of that is to say that Resonance doesn't reach those heights. Its story concerns a ragtag group of adventurers traveling around the world to stop some evil dudes in cool armor from destroying elementally attuned crystals, in hopes of preventing a global catastrophe. Resonance occasionally hints at greater storytelling ambitions in some of the areas you travel to, such as the desert nation of Zoldaad, which is embroiled in a tense revolutionary fervor against a despotic king. Generally, though, you don't spend enough time in these areas for their individual plotlines to carry much weight, and the game thematically falls back on basic ideas like "the power of the human spirit" too often.
This over-reliance on well-trodden concepts extends to the primary cast of characters. They're endearing enough thanks to decent English voice acting and some solid character-specific sidequests, but for the most part, they adhere to archetypes you've probably seen before. Rain, the protagonist, is a blonde guy with a big sword. His friend Lasswell is a brooding katana wielder, Nichol is a stern, strategic mage, and Sakura is a centuries-old sorceress who has the appearance of a child.
I don't dislike any of these people, and I'll admit that by the very end, Resonance crossed the low bar of making me care about what happened to them. But all of it goes in the exact "let's go save the world" direction that you think it will, and the final villain was kind of a nothingburger for me.
The combat always kept me guessing, even with awkward menus Expect to see this a lot. Credit: Square Enix/SteamWhile Resonance never reaches the narrative heights of its predecessors, the turn-based combat is pretty excellent. It's exactly what you'd want out of an old-school-style Final Fantasy experience: Enemies on the left, party on the right, and every offensive or healing spell can either be cast on a single unit or on multiple units, just like the classics. Enemies have elemental weaknesses, everyone is susceptible to all sorts of negative status effects, and smart use of buffs can win the day for you. It's good stuff.
To its credit, Resonance blends retro-style design with more modern ideas. There's a visible turn order on screen (really stretching the definition of "modern" there), you can optionally adjust the speed of battle, and every enemy has a stagger meter underneath their health bar that, when depleted, paralyzes them for a turn and makes them highly vulnerable to damage. Stagger every enemy onscreen in one turn, and you get a bonus phase where every character gets to act, and you get to unleash a huge, flashy super attack.
The menus are a little overbearing. Credit: Square Enix/SteamThose super attacks come from "visions," ghostly spirits that you equip to a party member, whom the visions hang out behind during fights. I am a huge fan of the vision system's gameplay ramifications, as it acts as a sort of soft class system. Each vision imbues its attached party member with a new moveset of unique, upgradable moves tied to specific elements, giving each vision a defined role in combat.
And yes, these visions are mostly cameo characters from previous Final Fantasy games. Cloud, Terra, Squall, Tidus, and other assorted protagonists from past titles are all here, with one representative from each mainline game. This is sort of a double-edged sword; I appreciate this system as a clever way to reuse assets from the mobile game, but it also means Resonance occasionally hinges too much of its excitement on making you do the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at the screen meme because you saw a guy you recognized from another game.
This guy will show up in anything. Credit: Square Enix/SteamSquare is lucky that Resonance is a pretty good game in its own right, as all these cameos otherwise just remind you of games with better characters and stories.
Even with too much weight placed on references, Resonance consistently whetted my appetite for this style of combat thanks to smart encounter design that encourages regularly switching visions in and out of different situations. The only issue here is that the menu design makes that kind of a chore. It just takes one or two extra button presses to get to a full list of your visions, and figuring out who is best for each situation is a slower process than it should be as a result.
Resonance will do until the next proper FF comes around The cutscenes are excellent. Credit: Square Enix/SteamWe don't know when the seventeenth (!!!) mainline Final Fantasy is coming, nor what form it will take. Until then, Resonance is a satisfying appetizer of sorts.
Aside from the quality combat, Resonance kept me going by giving me an airship relatively early and letting me explore the world as I saw fit. Of course, the story progresses in a linear fashion, and lots of areas are inaccessible until you see a certain cutscene, but there are lots of little islands, caves, and other fun things to discover if you take the time to explore. By the end of the game, my party was overpowered as hell because I had put the effort in to find things that would give me advantages in fights.
That sort of thing was missing from the last mainline title, Final Fantasy XVI, so I appreciate its inclusion here.
Love this stuff. Credit: Square Enix/SteamIts soundtrack also deserves a shout-out. Composer Noriyasu Agematsu channels the classics reasonably well with battle themes that drive up the adrenaline, overworld themes that set an appropriate mood for each area, and cutscene tracks that make the otherwise middling story developments feel emotional.
As a fun bonus, Resonance also looks and runs great on Switch 2. It's probably the best-looking game in the "HD-2D" style yet, and the cinematic pixel art cutscenes are especially jaw-dropping at times. The frame rate drops a little bit here and there, but not enough to appreciably distract from the experience.
Final Fantasy Resonance often feels more like a really good cover band than a member of the original act, but that's OK. The end result serves as a reminder that Square Enix is still perfectly capable of making games in this style. Hopefully it's a sign of better things to come for the mainline series.
Drone company Antigravity has launched new wrist- and finger-mounted remote controls for the Antigravity A1, allowing users to fly the 360-degree video drone without a headset. These more subtle control options mean users can now capture some very impressive selfie footage without goggles getting in the way.
SEE ALSO: Review: Is the Antigravity A1 drone the DJI replacement we've been hoping for?Introduced in December last year, the Antigravity A1 aims to offer high-quality 360-degree video while still being easy for amateurs to pilot. At the time, the A1 could only be flown using Antigravity's Vision goggles and Grip controller, both of which came bundled with the drone.
However, while this control scheme offered an immersive and intuitive experience, the Vision goggles prevented drone pilots from seeing what was around them. This limited A1 users' situational awareness, meaning they needed a spotter to watch both the drone and its pilot when flying. The FAA requires recreational pilots to maintain visual line of sight with their drone, or else have an observer watching who is in direct communication with them.
Credit: AntigravityThe Antigravity A1 Follow Me Bundle has now addressed such limitations with its Watch and Ring Remotes, new control options that allow users to use their drone without the Vision goggles. This means Antigravity A1 users can film themselves without their faces obscured as well as fly it solo, making the drone much more versatile.
The Watch is the undisputed star of the Antigravity A1 Follow Me Bundle. Drone pilots can use the Watch's 1.72-inch touchscreen to manually control the A1, or capture quick cinematic shots by selecting from preset movements such as Arc Out and Spiral Ascent. They can also use it to circle a subject on the move with Orbit Follow, choosing between clockwise and counterclockwise.
In addition to this, the Watch Remote's arguably most useful function is its ability to easily set up the Antigravity A1's Deep Track feature, including to track the drone pilot themselves. Simply select a subject, and the A1 drone will automatically follow and film them as they move at a maximum pace of around 22.4 mph (11 m/s). Users can choose where the drone is in relation to their subject (behind, ahead, or to the sides), as well as its elevation, and adjust these settings during flight.
As such, the Watch is a great accessory if you want to capture hikes, cycling, skiing, or other adventures where you're on the move. All you need to do is set up tracking and let the Antigravity A1 take care of the filming while you monitor its flight. The 360-degree footage means you'll have plenty of framing options afterward as well.
Though the Watch can be used to operate the A1 on its own, the Ring must be used in conjunction with the Watch. After using the Watch to select a tracking subject, users can press and hold the Ring's single button to control the A1 drone with hand gestures. This new Drag-To-Fly feature allows you to move your arm up and down or left to right to move the drone in that direction, as well as rotate your arm toward or away from you to change its distance (though you can only move it along one plane at a time unless in Orbit Follow mode).
Mashable's first impressions found that the Ring Remote doesn't feel as easy or precise as the Watch's manual touchscreen sliders, and can get uncomfortable if you're constantly changing your drone's position. Still, users may find it handy for quick adjustments, and the Watch Remote alone makes the Follow Me Bundle an incredibly handy investment for Antigravity A1 owners.
Credit: AntigravityAlongside the Watch and Ring remotes, the Follow Me Bundle also introduces new Full-Coverage Propeller Guards that can be snapped onto the A1's arms, fully encasing its four propellers in lightweight plastic cages. While the A1's obstacle avoidance system is intended to prevent any collisions, it's still reassuring to have that extra security for peace of mind.
The Propeller Guards do need to be detached and reattached every time you want to fly, and add some extra bulk you need to consider when carrying your A1 to your launch site. Fortunately, the Follow Me Bundle comes with a crossbody bag to help you keep things organized.
The Antigravity A1 Follow Me Bundle includes the A1 drone, and is available now for $799 through the Antigravity website and Best Buy. The Follow Me Accessory Kit without the A1 drone is $339.99, while the Full-Coverage Propeller Guards are $39.99. However, existing A1 owners can get a 20 percent discount on the Accessory Kit and Guards, bringing them down to $271.99 and $31.99, respectively.
There may not have ever been a darker time to like and care about Nintendo games than the late 2000s into the early 2010s.
By that point, the shine on the Wii had dulled, and the Wii U was not the savior many of us had hoped for. Even the 3DS launch in 2011 was relatively weak, prompting a price drop and a series of make-good programs within six months. But throughout all of that, one little place managed to penetrate through the darkness: Wuhu Island, the tropical setting of games like Wii Sports Resort and Pilotwings Resort.
Nintendo has opted to resurrect Wuhu Island in a new game for the first time in more than a decade with Nintendo Switch Sports Resort for Switch 2, an expanded sequel to 2022's Nintendo Switch Sports and a far-off successor to Wii Sports. A lot of the Wii Sports greatness is still intact, with fun motion-controlled minigames to keep you engaged, but easily my favorite part of the game is Wuhu Island itself.
SEE ALSO: Save $10 on preorders for Nintendo's 'The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time' remake Yes, the minigames are good Sadly, I don't think you can recreate O.G. Anunoby's game 4 tip-in here. Credit: NintendoI want to be very clear before I mostly talk about the environment this game is set in — the minigames themselves are pretty good.
There are a dozen of them this time around, almost double the number in Nintendo Switch Sports. You've got classic Wii Sports mainstays like tennis, bowling, and boxing, to go along with newer entrants like thumb wrestling, basketball, volleyball, and archery. All of them are controlled exclusively by motion inputs with Joy-Con controllers, and for the most part, they work fine.
I especially dig thumb wrestling, which requires you to place your thumb down (and thus make yourself momentarily vulnerable) in order to charge up a powerful attack later on. There's something psychologically thrilling about it, and winning that one against another person is particularly satisfying. Skateboarding, which uses mouse controls to accelerate, steer, and jump, also works surprisingly well, even without a proper flat surface.
Getting a strike still feels great. Credit: NintendoAnd yes, bowling and golf are probably still the highlights 20 years later. Both are impressively motion-accurate and just about as easy to pick up and play regardless of your experience level with video games as they've ever been.
I have some gripes here and there. Boxing was stupid in Wii Sports back in the day and hasn't improved much since, feeling awkward, messy, and never quite as responsive as you'd like. Regular tennis also doesn't feel like it's changed much since 2006, but that's somewhat alleviated by the inclusion of table tennis, which I find more accurate and easier to play.
Pretty much everything can be played in online lobbies with friends, and that works about as well as one could expect. Mastering each sport rewards you with achievements and points that you can use to purchase cosmetic items for your characters, giving each game a nice little incentive to keep you going. You get points for playing offline now, too, fixing one of the biggest problems with Nintendo Switch Sports.
All in all, it's a solid collection of sports minigames, with boxing being the only one I really don't care for. But who cares about that? Let's go on vacation.
But Wuhu Island is what it's all about This is just fun. Credit: NintendoNintendo Switch Sports Resort also introduces three of what the game calls "leisure sports," which are less about strenuous physical activity and more about cruising around Wuhu Island on a jet ski, a skateboard, or in a prop plane. These are the real winners to me because they put Wuhu Island front and center.
As you cruise, skate, or fly around the island, you can find sightseeing spots, landmarks, and even all of the places where the other minigames happen. There is something a tiny bit magical about soaring over Wuhu and stumbling upon the table tennis area. This version of Wuhu is much larger than it was back in the day, which, to me, only enhances the joy of realizing that every minigame in Nintendo Switch Sports Resort takes place in one big, contiguous space, rather than a series of contextless arenas.
It's such a simple, small thing, but it really does help give Nintendo Switch Sports Resort an identity that the last game didn't have. Nintendo also packed the game with goofy little descriptions of each landmark you can discover, injecting some much-needed personality into something that could have been sterile.
I should note that, despite a relatively simple art style that harkens back to the Mii days (you can optionally play as a Mii, even), Nintendo Switch Sports Resort leverages the power of the Switch 2 to create a visual experience that's sharp, clean, colorful, and smooth all the way through, even while power cruising around the honestly pretty large locale it's set in.
Wuhu Island really is the ultimate vacation destination for your Switch 2, and I hope Nintendo keeps it alive in further family-friendly games like this one.
Sometimes it's fun to see an old homie you haven't seen in a while. Final Fantasy Resonance understands that, to great effect.
The new throwback-style RPG from Square Enix remixes assets from the mobile game Brave Exvius into a single-player console and PC adventure, complete with turn-based combat inspired by the classics. "Visions," ghostly apparitions of characters from previous Final Fantasy games, are a big part of the combat, with each one imbuing their associated main party member with new powers and powerful special moves that can turn the tide of any fight.
With that in mind, I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about my six favorite visions in Final Fantasy Resonance. Some are here just because I think they're cool, and others because of their role in combat. Let's get into it.
SEE ALSO: Save $10 on preorders for Nintendo's 'The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time' remake Cloud We all know this dude. Credit: Square Enix/SteamThis is sort of like including water on a list of best beverages, but I had to do it anyway. Cloud, the protagonist of Final Fantasy VII, is a pretty good Final Fantasy protagonist in his own right, thanks to a compelling case of mistaken identity and a very cool, very big sword.
But what makes him great in Resonance is that, as a vision, he can break the combat wide open. He grants whichever character equips him huge bonuses to critical hit rate and damage. If you play your cards right over the course of the game, you can use Cloud to do unbelievable amounts of damage and end boss fights shockingly quickly. His elemental combination of water and lightning is also useful in many different situations.
Vaan Ugh. Credit: Square EnixI should make something clear: I really don't like Vaan, who is technically the main character of Final Fantasy XII. I say "technically" because his inclusion in that game feels like a mistake. He doesn't have much to contribute to the proceedings and is, charitably, like the fifth most interesting character in that game's party. He's also just kind of annoying.
But I'm not here to talk about Final Fantasy XII. I'm here to talk about Resonance, and in Resonance, Vaan can do some incredible things. His vision can automatically jack huge amounts of money and even items from defeated enemies, making it nearly impossible to run out of cash on your adventures. He also has the ability to grant fellow party members more actions per turn. Seriously, Vaan is kind of broken in Resonance, and it has made me respect him more.
Terra 'FFVI' rocks. Credit: Square EnixTerra is included on this list for a couple of reasons. First, I just love Final Fantasy VI. It's one of the very best games in the series, and her role in the story is a big part of that. Her journey over the course of that game gives it a solid emotional core and makes her feel like the closest thing its sprawling ensemble cast has to a real protagonist.
She also happens to kick ass as a vision in Resonance. Her loadout is complete with several different kinds of magic and, eventually, an extremely important ability that gives party members the ability to do more than 9,999 damage in one hit. She's arguably the most important vision in the entire game for breaking combat.
Tidus This isn't his story, but he's in it. Credit: Square Enix/SteamThis is mostly a sentimental inclusion because Final Fantasy X is my favorite game in the series. Tidus is an effective fish-out-of-water protagonist in that game, and his ultimate fate is one of the most heartbreaking moments in video game history.
SEE ALSO: 25 years later, the 'Final Fantasy X' opening song still rocksHe's also, as it turns out, a pretty effective vision in Resonance. His elemental affinities for water and wind come in handy in lots of encounters, and his associated party member gets a passive damage bonus just for having any kind of buffs applied to them. Some of his abilities were key to my playthrough, and maybe they can be for yours, too.
Lightning She's so cool. Credit: Square Enix/SteamLightning is so cool, man. Final Fantasy XIII rocks. The haters can get lost. It's got one of the best combat systems in any RPG, and she's a great protagonist.
She's good in Resonance, too, but that's sort of beside the point. I like the big special move she does when you stagger every enemy onscreen. Check it out when you get the chance.
Gilgamesh That's a big bridge. Credit: Square EnixGilgamesh is not, to the best of my knowledge, actually a vision in Resonance. This pompous, eccentric weapon collector debuted in Final Fantasy V and has made a series of appearances in other FF games since then, usually accompanied by one of the best boss fight songs in the history of the medium.
That is exactly how it goes when you encounter Gilgamesh early in Resonance's main story, and later in some side quests. He shows up, acts like kind of a buffoon, and you hear the song. It's perfect. That's all you need from Gilgamesh.
TL;DR: Sony is giving away custom XM6 headphones for five teams (Cowboys, Broncos, Patriots, Steelers, and Seahawks). They aren't available in stores, but fans can enter the online sweepstakes through Nov. 30 for a chance to win a pair.
Sony is bringing game-day style straight to your ears with a brand new lineup of limited-edition XM6 wireless noise-canceling headphones. Clad in custom NFL team designs for five iconic franchises, these custom cans give football fans a fresh way to rep their squad on and off the field.
There is just one catch: you cannot actually buy these. Sony isn't putting these on store shelves, instead making them available exclusively through an official, limited-time giveaway running from Oct. 19 through Nov. 30.
Which teams are included?The custom collection covers five major NFL franchises: the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Seattle Seahawks. Each pair wraps Sony's top-tier active noise cancellation and high-resolution sound quality in official franchise graphics and colors.
Credit: SonyAs the Official Headphones of the NFL, Sony builds the sideline coach headsets used during games — which are inspired directly by its flagship 1000X series. This drop brings that exact sideline connection to fans. Since Sony makes some of the best noise-canceling headphones you can buy, adding custom team gear turns a great pair of cans into an awesome collectible.
How to score a pair for freeThe best part is that entering takes less than two minutes, costs absolutely nothing, and requires no qualifying purchase. You literally have nothing to lose and a flagship pair of custom wireless headphones to gain, so you might as well throw your name in the hat.
The sweepstakes is open to legal U.S. residents across all 50 states and D.C. who are 18 or older (19+ in Alabama and Nebraska; 21+ in Mississippi). There is a strict limit of one entry per person or email address. You can sign up directly by visiting Sony's main program page or via team-specific landing pages before the entry window closes on Nov. 30 at 11:59:59 p.m. ET.
Free flagship headphones decked out in your team's gear? Signing up is a no-brainer.
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