- Help
- Google+
Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.
Released in August 2025, Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.
Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move on to the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.
How to play PipsIf you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity with how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.
SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for July 1, 2026The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible — and common — for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.
Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:
Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.
Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.
Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.
Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.
Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.
If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.
SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for July 1, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for July 1 PipsNumber (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 6-2, placed vertically; 1-1, placed vertically.
Less Than (5): Everything in this space must be less than 5. The answer is 1-1, placed vertically.
Greater Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 4-5, placed vertically.
Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically.
Number (11): Everything in this space must add up to 11. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically; 0-5, placed vertically.
Medium difficulty hints, answers for July 1 PipsGreater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 5-4, placed vertically.
Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 3-5, placed horizontally.
Equal (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 4-0, placed vertically; 5-4, placed vertically; 4-2, placed horizontally.
Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 3-5, placed horizontally; 4-2, placed horizontally.
Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-6, placed vertically.
Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 4-0, placed vertically; 1-6, placed horizontally; 1-3, placed horizontally.
Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 1-6, placed horizontally; 6-6, placed vertically.
Hard difficulty hints, answers for July 1 PipsNumber (8): Everything in this space must add up to 8. The answer is 5-6, placed vertically; 3-4, placed horizontally.
Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 3-4, placed horizontally.
Number (9): Everything in this space must add up to 9. The answer is 5-6, placed vertically; 3-6, placed vertically.
Greater Than (9): Everything in this space must be greater than 9. The answer is 3-6, placed vertically; 6-0, placed vertically.
Greater Than (9): Everything in this space must be greater than 9. The answer is 6-6, placed horizontally.
Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 6-0, placed vertically; 2-0, placed horizontally.
Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 1-1, placed vertically.
Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 2-0, placed horizontally; 4-4, placed horizontally.
Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 4-4, placed horizontally.
Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 0-0, placed vertically.
Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 0-0, placed vertically; 2-5, placed horizontally.
Less Than (2): Everything in this space must be less than 2. The answer is 1-4, placed vertically.
Not Equal: Everything in this space must be different. The answer is 2-5, placed horizontally; 3-2, placed vertically; 1-4, placed vertically; 6-1, placed horizontally.
If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.
There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.
An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.
Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today
If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.
SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hintForeshadow.
SEE ALSO: Apple’s new M3 MacBook Air is $300 off at Amazon. And yes, I’m tempted. Hurdle Word 1 answerAUGUR
Hurdle Word 2 hintTo delete.
SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for Juy 1, 2026 Hurdle Word 2 AnswerERASE
Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today
Hurdle Word 3 hintA long, pointy weapon.
SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 1 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for June 30, 2026 Hurdle Word 3 answerSPEAR
Hurdle Word 4 hintLotion.
Hurdle Word 4 answerCREAM
Final Hurdle hintUnsectured.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable Hurdle Word 5 answerLOOSE
If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
It should come as no surprise, but modern Australian households have long evolved past the point of a ”family computer”. That relic of a bygone millennial era – the family’s sole access point to riding the information superhighway. Back when people used to say things like “surfing the web” and for that matter, the phrase “riding the information superhighway”. Today, your typical Australian family manages an entire ecosystem of connected infrastructure: smartphones, remote work laptops, school-issued tablets, gaming consoles, and an expanding list of smart home IoT (Internet of Things) devices. This can make creating watertight digital security for an entire household tricky. As these multi-device ecosystems scale, they introduce a wider attack surface for external threats while complicating internal privacy management.
This is why at PCMag, we recommend trying to consolidate your household’s digital security into a single suite as much as possible. Look for trusted security suites that offer specialised family plans. Something with parental controls, preferably a VPN, room to grow as new devices are added, and a tiered account system that allows administrator privileges. You want your entire family to have access to essential services such as antivirus, password managers, identity theft protection and encrypted backup. But you also need to be conscious of the dangers of a single access point holding the “keys to the kingdom” when it comes to your entire family's personal information. Having a single administrator avoids needing to leave passwords just laying around the house, and a high device-count limit means you don’t pay for countless different individual subscriptions for everyone.
Managing the multidevice household ecosystemOn top of your standard personal devices, as more and more smart home technology integrates into local networks, securing the whole home requires more than just antivirus on your laptop. In a modern home, every single device connected to your Wi-Fi is a door. Bitdefender handles this by providing high-volume licensing via their Family Plans — covering up to 15 or 25 devices under a single subscription, depending on the selected tier. Dedicated local clients provide automated threat detection across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android systems, preventing a compromise on a single mobile device from pivoting laterally across the home Wi-Fi network.
Maintaining individual digital spacesA common point of contention in shared household security plans is data overlap. When multiple family members share a single account configuration, personal data boundaries can become blurred. For this, we need security software that treats household members as distinct digital entities. Rather than forcing the family to share a single administrative profile or master password, each member should receive their own isolated digital space.
As an example, Bitdefender Family Plans generally handle this well. With a structural isolation ensures that a teenager's personal logs, search queries, and credentials remain private, utilising unique vaults within the Password Manager and separate Anti-Tracker configurations. Concurrently, parents can secure sensitive work emails, financial profiles, and banking credentials using the isolated, sandboxed Safepay browser environment without exposing administrative keys to the rest of the household.
Content and screen time managementThe modern internet can be a hostile environment for a child, filled with social media pressures, cyberbullying, explicit content, and algorithmically optimised apps designed to maximise screen time. No parent has the time or the energy to hover over their child’s shoulder every minute they are using a screen. It ruins the relationship and is practically impossible when kids need devices for schoolwork. Instead, modern digital parenting requires a shift toward automation—setting healthy, invisible boundaries that run passively in the background.
For example, Bitdefender integrates a Parental Control module directly into its central management console, Bitdefender Central, allowing parents to configure distinct rulesets customised to each child's age group. The objective is to create a safe digital playground. You want a system that automatically filters out explicit web categories, enforces a hard bedtime by pausing internet access, and flags suspicious links or phishing scams before a child can click them, all while giving them the freedom to explore the web safely within those borders.
Finding the right solutionWhen you look at this massive list of requirements—protecting smart TVs, isolating work from play, giving teens their privacy, and keeping children safe—doing it manually on a device-by-device basis is a recipe for burnout. This is exactly where a centralised system like what is found within the Bitdefender Family Plans comes into play.
Rather than buying individual antivirus licenses or trying to configure separate parental control apps, Bitdefender’s Family Plans (available across Total Security, Premium Security, and Ultimate Security tiers) scale up drastically, offering high-volume licensing that covers up to 15 or 25 devices under a single subscription. This allows you to protect the main computers, every family member's phone, the school tablets, and importantly, use Network Threat Prevention to stop threats trying to exploit unsecured smart home IoT hardware at the traffic level. A Bitdefender Ultimate Security Family plan gives your entire household access to:
Parental Controls
Scam Protection Pro
Unlimited VPN traffic
Encrypted Password Manager
Continuous Dark Web Monitoring
Security Advice from Bitdefender Experts
Licencing for up to 25 devices (Windows, macOS, Android and iOS)
Ultimately, securing a modern home in the digital age is about building a resilient infrastructure that silently handles the heavy lifting of network security and content filtering in the background, giving everyone in the household the freedom to navigate the digital world safely. As a PCMag Editors’ Choice, we can safely recommend Bitdefender to solve many of these key issues facing larger households. But for more information, check out our entire guide to the Best Security Suites in 2026.
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you love a good drink.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections?The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for July 1, 2026 Here's a hint for today's Connections categoriesWant a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Yellow: Found on a map
Green: Famous films
Blue: Drink up!
Purple: Nations
Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today
Here are today's Connections categoriesNeed a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:
Yellow: Things named after places
Green: Best Picture winners/nominees
Blue: Places in cocktail names
Purple: Starting with countries
Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today's Connections #1116 is...
What is the answer to Connections todayThings named after places: CHAMPAGNE, CHINA, COLOGNE, LIMERICK
Best Picture winners/nominees: CASABLANCA, CHICAGO, FARGO, MUNICH
Places in cocktail names: CUBA, LONG ISLAND, MOSCOW, SINGAPORE
Starting with countries: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, GUINEA-BISSAU, INDIANAPOLIS, NIGERIA
Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 1, 2026Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.
If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.
Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you have a hunch.
Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on MashableBy providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for July 1, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Not a red herringThe words are related to pointers.
Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explainedThese words describe tips.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.
Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today
NYT Strands spangram answer todayToday's spangram is Telltale sign.
NYT Strands word list for July 1Hint
Indication
Clue
Telltale Sign
Intimation
Evidence
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!
Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Strands.
Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're unsure.
If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for July 1, 2026 Where did Wordle come from?Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once.
Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.
What's the best Wordle starting word?The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.
What happened to the Wordle archive?The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.
Is Wordle getting harder?It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.
SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for July 1, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:To hesitate.
Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?There are no recurring letters.
Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today
Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...Today's Wordle starts with the letter D.
SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.
Drumroll please!
The solution to today's Wordle is...
DEMUR
Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.
Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.
If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Wordle.
Love Island USA may still be predominately a show about dating. But as Season 8 has unfolded, viewers have cared less about romantic pairings than usual. According to online chatter, they're invested in something that has long been controversial in the show: friendships.
We're not talking about a huge shift in the dynamic. Peacock's reality series, which airs every night except Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET, still has all the usual ingredients: bombshells, recouplings, public votes, and the kind of villa drama that turns one conversation into a full internet investigation.
And season 8's Casa Amor episode, where couples get the chance to cheat mid-season, did still revolve around couples drama. Cast member KC returned from Casa Amor with Tierra, a.k.a. “Titi” — leaving his previous partner Aniya single. Aniya broke down in front of the group, telling KC she had picked him every time, and he had not picked her back. KC's response was filled with attitude.
But the part of the confrontation fans remembered? How fellow islander Melanie stayed by Aniya’s side as she cried.
Melanie helped Aniya away from the fire pit, and tried to pull her out of the spiral. Melanie reminded Aniya that KC did not fit in the life she wanted.
Finally, Melanie told Aniya that even if they did not find love in the villa, they had found each other.
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. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Fans pointed to other heartwarming displays of female friendship. After the heart rate challenge, the women got a rare night and morning to themselves, and viewers noticed how much softer the villa felt without the men taking center stage.
Specific fan favorite moments: the women cooking grilled cheese together, practicing dances, and hyping each other up with confidence-boosting speeches.
And after the June 30 episode, in which Trinity and Bryce became boyfriend and girlfriend, the internet couldn't help but fall in love with how the other Girls reacted when Trinity shared the good news.
Melt!
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. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.These are the moments that stick, even after getting dumped. Former cast member Beatriz — booted off the island June 12 — has said that despite her earlier drama with Melanie (a scene that contained Melanie's iconic walking away line, "give me 10"), she saw the conflict as part of a real friendship.
“Friends go through their own little discussions or quarrels," Beatriz told Variety. "But at the end of day, we squash it."
She also added that viewers miss plenty of off-screen conversations and deeper connections because the show is edited down to one hour. Despite appearances, Trinity and Kayda were her closest friends in the villa, Beatriz explained. She was more sad about leaving them than leaving the show itself.
In short, female friendships feel like this season's more reliable love stories. Indeed, there's not much contest — given KC brushing off Aniya’s hurt via another hurtful reference to the "good family" he's been extra interested in (Aniya's father is former NBA player Donnell Harvey), Corbin describing the Girls team in the Casa “college Girls” while the Girls back in the villa are "high school," and Sincere continuing to test Melanie’s patience.
What about the bromance?It isn't just the Girls that are getting friendly. Season 8 has also had a bromance, one that social media adores.
After the Paradise Cove twist in episode 2 put Kayda, Zach, and Bryce in a separate hut for 24 hours, fans started paying just as much attention to Zach and Bryce as they did to the intended love triangle.
Viewers have compiled weeks worth of edits of the two — noting that the real chemistry in Paradise Cove might not have been between Kayda and either man, but between the Boys themselves.
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. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Their connection has since developed into one of the villa's most talked about storylines—whether romantic or platonic.
"Friendship Island" is not a new term. It has been a part of Love Island USA fandom since Season 6, when JaNa was saved from elimination by her friends despite not having one of the villa’s strongest romantic connections at the time. "This isn’t 'Friendship Island,' this is 'Love Island,'" fellow islander Aaron insisted at the time.
Since then, fans have used "Friendship Island” as both criticism and compliment. Sometimes the phrase is used the way Aaron used it, to argue that Islanders are playing it too safe because they do not want to step on their friends’ toes.
Sometimes, however, it is used to celebrate the friendships that make the show work even when the couples do not. And this season, friendship seems to be the highlight of each episode.
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. 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.The women are still competing within the structure of a dating show; navigating jealousy, rejection, and public judgment isn't easy. The scenes that resonate most with audiences are when islanders are honest about the difficulty of the show. They remind each other, and us, that Love Island (like life) isn't always about finding the right partner.
It could actually be about the friends we make along the way.
I've been tracking TV deals and new releases at Mashable for years. My friends and family have watched me scramble to compare the new models during CES in January, and then scramble to see which of those models got a big discount during Prime Day or Black Friday. And I always hear some iteration of this question: "How much can TVs possibly change over the years?"
That's a valid question most of the time. If you're not a serious gamer or someone who tests TV specs for a living, the difference between an OLED TV model from the current year vs. the same model from the year prior probably isn't all that riveting. But I promise you, the best TVs of 2026 so far are quite literally built different.
2026 is the year of the RGB TV. What is that?The conversation about the best TV for whatever situation has been a dichotomous battle between QLED and OLED forever. As a refresher, QLED TVs typically get brighter but sometimes struggle with black levels and blooming. OLED TVs rule the world of contrast and picture quality in dark rooms, but aren't as vibrant in bright rooms. RGB is kind of the best of both worlds, and it was easily the biggest TV trend at CES 2026.
RGB doesn't automatically knock OLED and QLED to second and third place. The big TV brands that dropped an RGB TV or two, like Samsung, LG, and Hisense, also unveiled new OLED or QLED models that are still highly competitive, depending on your typical streaming or gaming situation.
Halfway through the year, let's stop to organize all of the new models before even more come out. Whether you're watching the World Cup or a marathon of the best movies of 2026, these are the best TVs of 2026 so far that will truly do them justice.
Samsung R95H Credit: SamsungThe Samsung R95H is the best RGB TV of 2026 so far. No, this isn't the 115-inch Samsung RGB TV that costs $30,000. Samsung extended its Micro RGB technology into a much more palatable size and price range.
It seems like anyone who has seen the Samsung R95H in person can agree on one thing: The color palette is so vivid and so realistic, it almost feels... unreal. The R95H covers between 95 and 100 percent of the BT.2020 color spectrum, reproducing more than 2,000 Pantone-validated colors. Samsung uses artificial intelligence to adjust shades scene by scene and manages to deliver very precise contrast with virtually no blooming.
Compared to the cheaper R85H RGB line from Samsung, the R95H dishes out a clearer, more responsive picture with a native refresh rate of 165Hz and support for Samsung's newest HDR format, HDR10+ advanced. The R95H adds to the premium experience with features like the Wireless One Connect Box and Samsung's phenomenal glare-free coating, plus an art TV-esque No Gap Wall Mount.
The Samsung R95H only comes in four sizes. Here's the price breakdown:
Samsung 65-inch R95H — $3,199.99
Samsung 75-inch R95H — $4,499.99
Samsung 85-inch R95H — $6,499.99
Need something smaller than 65 inches? Sony does get credit for extending its True RGB technology to some smaller sizes. You can grab the 2026 Sony Bravia 7 II in 55 inches, or 50 inches later this summer.
Samsung S95H Credit: SamsungThe Samsung S95H is the best OLED TV of 2026 so far. Though a single letter differentiates the S95H's title from the R95H, the S95H OLED serves a much different purpose. Due to its pixel-by-pixel dimming, OLED still provides the most elite contrast out of any type of TV backlighting.
The S95H's contrast ratio is as close to infinite as you could ask for. The black levels are deep and the shadows are sharp to the point of feeling lifelike. Naturally, this is a great option for cinephiles watching in dark rooms. In lit rooms, the S95H's peak brightness of up to 2,500 nits fares better than the vast majority of other OLEDs. (PCMag's Will Greenwald calls it "OLED's new benchmark breakthrough.")
When it was released in April, I referred to the S95H as a "curiously Frame Pro-like OLED TV." I mean, it checks off several art TV boxes: an anti-glare screen, a floating wall mount that lies flush with the wall, an artsy bezel that's silver instead of black... oh, and it's the first Samsung OLED to feature the Samsung Art Store.
The Samsung S95H comes in four sizes. Here's the price breakdown:
Samsung 55-inch S95H — $2,499.99
Samsung 65-inch S95H — $3,399.99
Samsung 77-inch S95H — $4,499.99
Samsung 83-inch S95H — $6,499.99
The TCL X11L Google TV is the brightest TV of 2026 so far. Released in January, TCL didn't take the RGB route that most of its competitors did. Instead, TCL's new SQD (Super Quantum Dot) backlight absolutely beams at up to 10,000 nits of peak brightness. That unprecedented number is fueled by thousands and thousands of acute local dimming zones: 11,520 zones in the smallest 75-inch model or up to 20,000 in the 100-inch model.
Such a high zone count allows for extremely precise darkening around bright objects, cushioning against haloing. If you don't mess around when it comes to HDR, the TCL X11L would be a supreme choice for a heavy-duty home theater. The X11L would also fare well in rooms where the TV will be competing with lots of windows and direct sunlight.
The X11L's size range is limited to just three options. Here's the price breakdown:
TCL 75-inch X11L — $4,999.99 ($3,999.99 on sale)
TCL 85-inch X11L — $7,999.99 ($5,999.99 on sale)
TCL 98-inch X11L — $9,999.99
If you need something smaller than 75 inches, TCL also dropped two more budget-friendly SQD TV tiers: The QM7L and QM8L.
Opens in a new window Credit: TCL TCL X11L SQD Mini LED QLED 4K TV starting at $3,999.99 Shop Now Hisense U6 Pro Credit: HisenseThe mini LED Hisense U6 Pro Fire TV is the best budget TV of 2026 so far. It was released in March, wedged comfortably between the entry-level Hisense U6 and the higher-tier Hisense U7.
The U6 Pro has quite a robust full-array local dimming setup for the price: the 65-inch model features 240 dimming zones and reaches 1,200 nits at peak brightness. Early reviewers note its vibrancy and deep black levels (for being a non-OLED TV, that is). Further adding to the U6 Pro's visibility in the daylight or in a lit room at night, the screen is coated with an anti-glare finish to minimize reflections and preserve shadows — a nice touch not often seen on the affordable end of the spectrum.
Its native 144Hz refresh rate, VRR, AMD FreeSync Premium, and two HDMI 2.1 ports make it an unbeatable choice for gaming or watching sports.
The U6 Pro also gets points for its size range. Here's the price breakdown:
Hisense 55-inch U6 Pro — $849.99 ($597.99 on sale)
Hisense 65-inch U6 Pro — $1,099.99 ($749.99 on sale)
Hisense 75-inch U6 Pro — $1,399.99 ($848.99 on sale)
Hisense 85-inch U6 Pro — $1,999.99 ($1,197.99 on sale)
Hisense 100-inch U6 Pro — $3,499.99 ($2,297.99 on sale)
The LG Gallery TV with Frame is the best art TV of 2026 so far. As a matte mini LED TV with interchangeable frames, this is the most direct competitor to The Frame or The Frame Pro that LG has ever released. If you're a fan of LG's Magic Remote, you finally have a true artsy non-OLED option that won't risk burn-in if left on all day.
Granted, the LG Gallery TV makes up most of the big art TV news of the year thus far. In the spring, Samsung made negligible updates to The Frame Pro, and Hisense added a 50-inch model to the CanvasTV lineup. We know that the TCL A400 Pro, a long-awaited update to the original NXTVISION TV, exists — it just hasn't been released in the U.S. yet.
It's a bummer that LG only offers the Gallery TV in two sizes as of June, but at least they're practical. Here's the price breakdown:
LG 55-inch Gallery TV with Frame — $1,299.99
LG 65-inch Gallery TV with Frame — $1,799.99
Sherlock Holmes' sharp, fearless sister Enola (Millie Bobby Brown) is all grown up and headed for sunnier European shores, as Enola Holmes 3 throws an international case on her desk and a wedding date on her calendar.
Based on Nancy Springer's The Enola Holmes Mysteries and adapted by Jack Thorne, the Netflix films have seen the British detective solve the case of the missing mum and the case of the missing sister. Now, with Adolescence director Philip Barantini on a much more upbeat project, Enola Holmes 3 sees her off to Malta. And Enola's got a lot on her plate: She's conflicted about tying the knot, and her famous brother Sherlock (Henry Cavill) has been kidnapped, leaving behind only cryptic notebooks for Enola to decipher.
SEE ALSO: 'Enola Holmes 2' includes a real historical event. Here's what happened.With another playful performance from Brown and her accomplished co-stars, and a Victorian narrative that surprisingly acknowledges Britain's bloody colonial legacy, Enola Holmes 3 files another satisfyingly twisty case for the franchise. And this time, we finally get to hang out properly with Dr. John Watson (Himesh Patel).
Enola Holmes 3 sends Victorian London's heroes to sunnier shores. Louis Partridge and Himesh Patel in "Enola Holmes 3." Credit: John Wilson / NetflixLeaving the perilous alleyways of Victorian England behind, Enola Holmes 3 sends our young sleuth to sun-drenched Malta, where another adventure awaits: marriage. Despite Sherlock's grumblings about losing that all-important Holmes name to an aristocrat, she's engaged to her dear Lord Ernest Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge). However, Enola's increasingly cold feet lead to something much more chilling: missing family members and a sinister plot.
But while Sherlock's sister may be in a completely new setting, the elements of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work have followed her to Malta — as have the charming Enola Holmes-style collage animations and sketches. Though it's not set on Baker Street, watching Enola teaming up with Watson or in hand-to-hand combat with Moriarty is a pure Sherlockian delight, with the young heroine really getting to step into her brother's shoes this time around — with hand-drawn CSI effects highlighting clues and forensic detail.
Sharon Duncan-Brewster is truly chilling in her unnerving interpretation of the villainous Moriarty. Henry Cavill ruffles his debonair version of the famous detective. And Helena Bonham Carter seems to have a ball as Enola's vigilante mother, Eudoria. Thankfully, we get much more time with Patel as the Watson, as the actor brings charm, elegance, and care to Sherlock's future companion — and watching Enola and Watson bitch about Sherlock's worst habits is long overdue.
Millie Bobby Brown's Enola remains on the case. Millie Bobby Brown in "Enola Homes 3." Credit: John Wilson / NetflixAs the titular heroine, Brown has plenty to balance. While bringing that Holmes-style energy, wit, and curiosity to her investigative side, the star also embraces Enola's struggle with societal expectations, of choosing her now-established career as a Holmes or her marriage as the future Lady Tewkesbury. Enola's Fleabag-style fourth-wall breaking remains an engaging tool for Brown to lean on, though it does have a cheesy "you're probably wondering how I got here" effect at times. Nonetheless, she also kicks ass with impressive stunt sequences, jumping across balconies in burning buildings, firing guns from speeding carriages, and doling out some brutal hand-to-hand combat.
Brown also makes a sweet pair with Partridge, as the film crafts an adorable grown-up romance for the detective and the viscount. And Brown and Cavill's now worn-in relationship as the Detectives Holmes feels authentic, as Enola relies on her brother's teachings to track him down.
Barantini and editor Tommy Boulding weave Enola's memories from the first two films into her present, providing a handy recap of character bonds. But there's still plenty to reveal, secrets which lead Enola Holmes 3 into delicate territory.
Enola Holmes 3 acknowledges British colonialism within its twisty mystery. Henry Cavill in "Enola Holmes 3." Credit: John Wilson / NetflixIt's not the first thing you'd expect in a teen adventure movie, but as an adaptation of Victorian literature, Enola Holmes 3 acknowledges the painful legacy of British colonialism in theme and narrative.
Set within the late 1880s in the Victorian era, the Enola Holmes series has already successfully dabbled in real events, with the Matchgirls Strike fuelling the narrative of Enola Holmes 2. In the third film, the reach of Empire is no abstract concept and instead a present reality, with the Anglo-Afghan Wars factoring into the storyline, and the film's Malta setting as a Crown Colony proving loaded territory for the characters.
The Malta we watch Enola in — as she trawls through crime scenes and chases leads through a carnival — is one of beauty, but also British sovereignty. Maltese characters are openly deemed second-class citizens, and Enola becomes enlightened, especially when she teams up with Mikiel Mizzi (a great Joe Azzopardi) of the real Partito Anti-Riformista, who resist the Crown. This does hinge on virtue-signalling for the heroine, but it's an acknowledgment by the franchise of the realities of the romanticised period.
Exactly how far characters would go "for queen and country" becomes an underlying consideration. Watson reflects on his father's role during British Raj, and Enola realises her wealthy British privilege. However, Enola Holmes 3 is not a history lesson, merely a reflection of the context it's set within.
As the third chapter in this mystery history trilogy, Enola Homes 3 gives our young detective a high stakes case to crack, a sweet, enduring love story, and real-world context to consider.
TL;DR: Luminar Neo is part photo editing app, part quick AI editor, and it’s only $79.99 for life.
Opens in a new window Credit: Luminar Neo The Award-Winning Luminar Neo Lifetime Bundle $79.99Good photo editing software usually means a monthly subscription that never stops, even in the months you barely shoot. Luminar Neo works differently. It’s a full photo editor for Windows and Mac, the kind you’d use to retouch portraits, fix landscapes, or clean up a busy shot, except it leans on AI to do the slow parts for you. You pay one time instead of every month, and right now this bundle pairs the editor with a course and a stack of add-ons for $79.99 (reg. $332).
What can you do with Luminar Neo?The AI tools are the reason people switch to Luminar Neo. SkyAI detects the sky in your photo and replaces it in a couple of clicks, so a washed-out gray afternoon becomes a sunset without any masking. RelightAI separates the foreground and background so you can brighten a face without blowing out everything behind it. The Erase tool removes a stray tourist or a power line and fills the gap automatically, and SkinAI smooths and retouches a portrait without making anyone look plastic. If you don’t know where to start, the built-in AI Assistant reads the image and recommends edits based on the objects and colors it finds.
You’ll also be getting a landscape editing course with 20 lessons and nearly three hours of video, plus 35 practice photos to edit along with. On top of that are eight creative packs: Wanderfilm and Fujinon Says presets for film color, Blue Mood and Minimal Nature LUTs for grading, and four sky and overlay sets.
Right now, it’s only $79.99 to get the full Luminar Neo Lifetime Bundle, but it won’t stay that way.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
We're just a few days away from July which means it's time for summer travel. From a (warm) trip to Europe, a road trip through national parks, or a weekend away at an Airbnb, it's time to think about how you'll capture the highlights of summer vacations.
Prime Day ended last week, but deals on travel-worthy cameras are still going strong. These compact cameras come packed with features that make them ideal for carrying on a day of adventure, leaving your phone's battery topped up.
SEE ALSO: The 4 best power stations for camping keep you both online and off-gridIf you could use a travel-worthy camera before departure, check out these deals at Amazon.
Best Insta360 deal Opens in a new window Credit: Insta360 Insta360 X4 Air Travel Bundle $416.49 at AmazonIf you're looking for a frustration-free travel camera, the Insta360 X4 Air is an excellent choice. And the travel bundle adds to the convenience. For starters, the camera itself weighs only 165 grams, and it records in 8K with a 360-degree view. The travel bundle adds in an invisible selfie stick for extra easy filming.
Best GoPro deal Opens in a new window Credit: GoPro GoPro Max 2 $299 at AmazonOn sale for only $299, the GoPro MAX2 is ready to come along on vacation. It's capable of filming a 360-degree view in 8K resolution. From the app, you'll be able to edit footage to find the best angle. Plus, selfie mode automatically does the technical work of capturing a 180-degree view. If you travels will take you near water, the GoPro MAX2 has a durable design and it's waterproof up to 5 meters.
More travel camera deals at AmazonDJI Osmo Action 5 Pro Essential Combo — $288 $339 (save $51)
Insta360 X4 Air Starter Bundle — $324.99 $439.99 (save $115)
DJI Osmo 360 Essential Combo — $389.35 $479 (save $89.65)
Anthropic released Claude Sonnet 5 on Tuesday, confirming months of speculation about an upgrade to its mid-tier AI model.
According to the company's official announcement, the new model is designed to be its "most agentic Sonnet model yet." Meaning it is capable of planning, using tools like browsers and terminals, and operating autonomously — all at a level previously reserved for larger, pricier systems.
SEE ALSO: Claude Mythos 5 is back, but only for a select group of US institutionsAnthropic says Sonnet 5 is a substantial improvement on its predecessor, Sonnet 4.6, across reasoning, coding, and knowledge-work benchmarks, and performs close to the company's flagship Opus 4.8 model while costing significantly less to run.
And in an industry increasingly plagued by sticker shock over the price tokens, Sonnet offers a brief respite. The model launches with introductory pricing of $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens through August 31, after which the standard pricing of $3 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens takes effect.
On safety, Anthropic reports Sonnet 5 shows lower rates of hallucination, sycophancy, and other undesirable behaviors than its predecessor, along with improved resistance to prompt-injection attacks. The company noted the model's cybersecurity capabilities remain well below those of its Opus-class and Mythos-class systems, and Sonnet 5 has launched with cyber safeguards enabled by default as a precaution.
Notably absent from Anthropic's announcement: specific figures on those improvements in hallucination rates. The company offers only a general claim of "lower rates" compared to Sonnet 4.6, rather than benchmark data.
The release also made no mention of the model's energy consumption or environmental footprint, a real problem for the AI industry as models grow more capable and computationally intensive.
SEE ALSO: AI data centers could be wrecking the environment faster than we thoughtSonnet 5 is now available across all Claude plans, including Free, Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise tiers, as well as via Claude Code and the Claude Platform via the API under the model name claude-sonnet-5.
The release follows weeks of anticipation in the tech press. As we reported in February, reports have been circulating for some time that Anthropic was preparing a Sonnet update positioned to rival Opus-tier performance at a steep discount — a forecast that tracks with Tuesday's official rollout.
It doesn't matter if Prime Day runs for a singular day or nearly 100 hours like the 2026 sale last week — it's easy to get overwhelmed and forget to buy something. Luckily, Prime Day 2026's unusual timing means we get to flow directly into 4th of July sales.
If there are any items still lingering on your summer shopping list, you have quite the host of July 4th sales to shop in the days preceding July 4th on Saturday. As always, home gear like bedding and mattresses, countertop appliances, and tools are major 4th of July themes, as well as the outdoor items that come to mind when you think "fun in the sun": inflatables, kayaks, fire pits, and more are on sale.
Below, we're tracking the best 4th of July deals through the holiday weekend. More will be added to the list as sales go live, so check back before your festivities start.
Home dealsAirDoctor: Save up to $709 on air purifier bundles
Buffy: Save up to 25% sitewide
Caraway Home: Save up to 15% on cookware and bakeware
Cozy Earth: Save 20% when you buy three or more items
Crate & Barrel: Save up to 60% on dinnerware and drinkware, 35% on kitchen brands, and 30% on furniture
Ecobee: Save 25% on smart home thermostats
Home Depot: Save up to 30% on home appliances, living room and patio furniture, up to $165 on power tools, and up to $250 on grills
IKEA: Save up to 50% on furniture and storage, home textiles, pillows, and more
Joybird: Save up to 45% off on bestselling furniture and 35% sitewide
KitchenAid: Save up to 25% on select countertop appliances
Lovesac: Save 40% sitewide
Lowe's: Save up to 45% on select major appliances, up to 40% on lighting and ceiling fans, up to 30% on gardening products, and more
Mellow Sleep: Save up to 50% sitewide
Michael's: Save 50% on all red, white, and blue party decor, up to 60% on summer party and craft supplies, BOGO frames and shadow boxes, plus save 30% on all regular price purchases
Nest New York: Save 25% sitewide on Limited Editions
Nutribullet: Save up to 44% on blenders and ice cream makers
Pluto Pillow: Save $25 on a custom pillow + pillow case set
Pottery Barn: Save up to 70% on select outdoor furniture, bathroom accessories, quilts, and more, plus an extra 20% on select styles
Revival Rugs: Save 20% sitewide
Rugs Direct: Save up to 80% sitewide on brands like Safavieh, Chris Loves Julia, Loloi, Rifle Paper Co., and Rugs USA
SharkNinja: Save up to 30% on Ninja kitchen appliances and Shark vacuums, hair tools, and fans
Target: Save up to 25% on sunscreen, up to 20% on inflatable pools and water toys, and more
Wayfair: Save up to 70% on indoor and outdoor rugs, umbrellas, gazebos, mattresses, pillows, and more
Avocado: Save up to 15% on organic mattresses
Bear: Save 35% sitewide
Brooklyn Bedding: Save 30% sitewide
DreamCloud: Save up to 60% on mattresses and 66% on bundles
Eight Sleep: Save up to $500 on Pods and accessories
Tuft & Needle: Save 25% on all bundles
Purple: Save up to $800 on a mattress and base
Saatva: Save up to $650 on mattresses or up to $750 on bundles
Zinus: Save up to 60% off, plus get an additional 20% off
Baloo: Save $30 on weighted throw blanket + cotton duvet cover bundle
Brooklinen: Save 25% sitewide
Coyuchi: Save up to 40% sitewide
Cozy Earth: Save 20% on bedding bundles
Ettitude: Save up to 25% sitewide and up to 70% on final sale
Naturepedic: Save 20% on organic bedding + get a free muslin blanket
Silk & Snow: Save 20% on all sheets
For even more 4th of July TV deals, check out our story of the best Prime Day TV deals — almost every model is still at its Prime Day price as of June 30.
Insignia 55-inch F50 Series 4K TV — $179.99 $349.99 (save $170)
LG 55-inch 75B QNED 4K TV — $379.99 $599.99 (save $220)
Hisense 50-inch E7 Cinema Mini LED QLED 4K Fire TV — $398.99 $699 (save $300.01)
Hisense 55-inch U6 Pro Mini LED QLED 4K Fire TV — $529.99 $849.99 (save $320)
Hisense 50-inch S7N Canvas QLED 4K Art TV — $649.99 $1,299.99 (save $650)
Samsung 55-inch S90F OLED 4K TV — $997.99 $1,397.99 (save $400)
Hisense 65-inch U6 Pro Mini LED QLED 4K Fire TV — $698.99 $1,099.99 (save $401)
Hisense 65-inch S7N Canvas QLED 4K Art TV — $799.99 $1,299.99 (save $500)
TCL 65-inch QM8K Mini LED QLED 4K TV — $997.99 $1,499.99 (save $502)
Samsung 65-inch S90F OLED 4K TV — $1,199.99 $2,499.99 (save $1,300)
Hisense 65-inch UR8 RGB Mini LED 4K TV — $1,299.99 $1,999.99 (save $700)
LG 75-inch 75B QNED 4K TV — $699.99 $999.99 (save $300)
Hisense 75-inch U6 Pro Mini LED QLED 4K TV — $848.99 $1,399.99 (save $249.01)
TCL 75-inch QM8K Mini LED QLED 4K TV — $1,397.99 $1,999.99 (save $602)
Hisense 75-inch S7N Canvas QLED 4K Art TV — $1,398.99 $2,499.99 (save $1,101)
Hisense 75-inch UR8 RGB Mini LED 4K TV — $1,699.99 $2,499.99 (save $800)
LG 77-inch C5 OLED 4K TV — $1,999.99 $3,699.99 (save $1,700)
Insignia 85-inch QF QLED 4K TV — $659.99 $1,099.99 (save $440)
Hisense 85-inch QD6 Mini LED QLED 4K TV — $749.99 $1,099.99 (save $350)
Dyson: Save up to $130 on the Dyson Airwrap i.d., Airstrait, and Supersonic Nural
FabFitFun: Get a free Bonus Box worth $250 when you sign up for a membership
L'ange: Save up to 50% sitewide
Bote: Save up to 20% on Hangout inflatables, kayaks and paddle boards, and more
Diadem Sports: Save up to 50% sitewide on pickleball paddles, grips, and more
Dick's Sporting Goods: Save up to 50% on bikes, running shoes, kayaks, swimsuits and swim trunks, and more
Funboy: Save 25% sitewide
HOVERAir: Save up to 50% sitewide
Oru Kayak: Save 20% sitewide
Solo Stove: Save 20% on select fire pits and pizza ovens
TGW: Save up to 50% on select golf cart bags, golf stands, clothing and shoes, and drivers
Garmin: Save $50 on the Venu 4, $100 on the Forerunner 70, $40 on the Vívofit Jr. 3, $100 on the Tread 2 Overland Edition, and more
Best Buy: Save up to 45% on select TVs, up to $400 on select MacBooks and iPads, up to $600 on select Windows devices, and more
HP: Save up to 72% on OmniBook laptops, Omen gaming PCs, All-in-One desktops, and more
LG: Save up $1,300 on wall ovens, washers and dryers, and more
Tile: Save up to 30% on trackers
The House passed sweeping kids' online safety legislation Monday night in a 267-117 vote (with 47 members abstaining), but the bill's path forward is far from settled.
The legislation, known as the KIDS Act (Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act), emerged as a bipartisan compromise out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, according to POLITICO. It would, among other policies, restrict minors' use of disappearing messages, require AI chatbots to disclose that they aren't human, and mandate age verification for platforms hosting pornographic content. Age-verification mandates typically require proof of age, such as submitting one's government ID or a facial scan.
SEE ALSO: Roblox launches accounts for kids and teens globallyThe KIDS Act packages portions from 14 digital safety bills, The Hill reported, including the long-debated Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). This version of KOSA omits the "duty of care" provision central to the Senate's version, which would require platforms to actively prevent and mitigate harm to minors related to issues like self-harm, eating disorders, and substance abuse. Child safety advocates and senators from both parties are critiquing the absence, including the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, and the original KOSA co-sponsor, Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn, POLITICO reported.
KOSA itself has long been a flashpoint. In 2023, Blackburn said in an interview that protecting children from "the transgender [sic] in this culture and that influence" should be a top conservative priority, comments made shortly before she discussed KOSA — fueling concerns from LGBTQ advocates that the bill could be used to target queer content online even without saying so explicitly. Digital civil liberty groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, have also argued for years that KOSA endangers online rights. EFF's Jason Kelley called KOSA's age-verification mechanism a "giant censorship machine that also is privacy invasive" at the time.
In May 2026, a coalition of 45 state attorneys general also warned that the broader House package could limit states' authority to enact stronger child safety protections of their own, a concern that "weighed heavily" on Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who ultimately voted against the bill, according to POLITICO.
Age verification in the KIDS ActBeyond the political fight over KOSA's text, the KIDS Act's reliance on age verification faces a more fundamental challenge.
Initial data suggest that age-verification laws simply don't accomplish what lawmakers intend. In a 2025 working paper (since published in the Journal of Law & Empirical Analysis), researchers analyzed Google Trends data across several states with age-verification laws already in effect. Researchers found a 51 percent drop in searches for Pornhub, the largest platform complying with such regulations. But that decline didn't reflect reduced demand — it reflected migration. Searches for XVideos, a major non-compliant platform, rose 48.1 percent in those same states, while searches for VPNs, commonly used to bypass geographic restrictions, climbed 23.6 percent.
Pornhub's parent company, Aylo, told Mashable at the time that traffic in Louisiana, one of the few states where it still operates while complying with verification rules, dropped roughly 80 percent. "These people did not stop looking for porn," the company stated. "They just migrated to darker corners of the internet that don't ask users to verify age, that don't follow the law, that don't take user safety seriously, and that often don't even moderate content."
Its authors acknowledged limitations, including an inability to isolate the search behavior of minors specifically — the population the laws are actually meant to protect — but another study published in Nov. 2025 reached similar conclusions.
As POLITICO notes, with the House and Senate still divided over which kids' safety proposal to advance, and Aug. recess narrowing the legislative window, it remains unclear whether the KIDS Act will pass in the Senate in its current form — or if concerns over its missing duty-of-care provision and its age-verification approach will force further changes.
The most acclaimed LGBTQ movies of the 2020s — All of Us Strangers, I Saw the TV Glow, Fire Island, Leviticus, even Tár — have little in common with Blue Film. Yet writer/director Elliott Tuttle’s Blue Film holds a 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, even with two very flawed characters and a subject matter most audiences would run from.
Unlike most of the aforementioned films, Blue Film contains no romance or sweetness. While Blue Film's characters are as complicated as Lydia Tár, they are not exceptional performers like she is, nor do they have any of the trappings of success, like money, partners, or kids. Blue Film is about one person who has done unspeakable things and another who humiliates lonely people for cash. Not only are the characters difficult to identify with, but their disclosures and interactions throughout the movie make it intentionally uncomfortable for the audience.
While Blue Film was adored by critics, it hasn't yet found a wide audience. Now that it's been released on streaming, it may find more people willing to confront its difficult story.
I recently connected with Tuttle and the movie's stars, Reed Birney and Kieron Moore, about Blue Film. One thing I wanted to know was what Birney and Moore thought of Tuttle's script. Both actors said they were fascinated by the characters, thought of them as challenges, but weren't sure anyone would actually see such a movie.
"What are the odds of a low-budget movie about a pedophile having an audience?," Birney, a Tony winner who also executive produced Blue Film, said. "For it to come out and be greeted so rapturously and so seriously, I'm still in complete disbelief... even when people don't like it, I understand why they don't like it."
SEE ALSO: The big question LGBTQ daters are asking, according to Hinge What's Blue Film about?The movie's protagonist, Aaron Eagle (Moore), is an LA-based queer camboy who performs for a gay male audience. He’s hostile to his online audience, peppering them with slurs, which seems to be what they want. A pathological liar, Aaron refuses to be honest about his life before he became a cam boy. He's also insecure, posturing an extreme version of masculinity by taking up as much space as possible and using his formidable size to intimidate. He’s pretty hard to like, at least in his current incarnation.
Aaron may have been more endearing before heartbreak — and life in LA — hardened him. The movie’s plot kicks into gear when Aaron heads to the home of a fan who's offered $50,000 for a night with him. Answering the door in a ski mask is Hank (Birney), and just like that Blue Film shifts into horror-thriller territory. The shocks will soon arrive, but there are no weapons, per se.
See, Hank is no stranger. He was one of his teachers back in Maine. Recently released from prison for trying to sexually assault one of his students, Hank is now in Los Angeles specifically to see Aaron, whom he believes he was in love with. That's news to Aaron.
What follows is an all-night conversation between the two men as Hank works to break down Aaron’s defenses and extract some truths from him. Hank is hiding a lot, too, but he seems more adept at opening up and offering up some version of his past, even if it’s filled with delusional thinking and bullshit justifications. Hank is a pedophile, and he seems too oddly comfortable with that fact. Some viewers will recoil at that, others will stay to see what happens.
Blue Film is a dark movie, with a hopeful ending.Hank is a deeply damaged man who has hurt children, but is superficially a much nicer person than Aaron — while Aaron broods and deflects, Hanks smiles and inquires. Thanks to Aaron's youth and the fact that he’s never done anything remotely as evil as Hank, the younger man seems salvageable in comparison. Because the movie is bookended with Aaron, Tuttle seems to indicate his Blue Film is not about redeeming Hank or making the audience sympathize with a pedophile. Yet Hank is an unexpected force for good to grown Aaron.
At one point, Hank talks about the two men as children and asks Aaron if he ever feels pity for his younger self. It’s a question at the heart of the film — do we ever offer compassion to our earlier versions, our innocent childhood selves eventually beaten into cynicism by life? Can we ever drop our adult armor and get back some of that joy and wonder? Hank reminds Aaron of the earlier self he's discarded; a likable kid who loved to sing. At the end of the encounter, Aaron is humming to himself in the shower and then napping peacefully, with the weight of his double identities seemingly sloughing off his shoulders. This suggests Aaron may have a chance at reclaiming some of his more innocent, joyful self.
Tuttle says he began journaling before the script came together. He was writing about his own adolescent sexuality and the story "became this whole other thing about loneliness and the way we explain ourselves to ourselves," he told Mashable.
Blue Film offers no easy answers.The conversation that constitutes the majority of Blue Film is occasionally interrupted by beer guzzling, weed smoking, and flashes of sex that end almost as fast as they begin; in that regard, there are some similarities between Blue Film and the 2011 gay classic Weekend, which explored how a short, chance encounter between two men can lead to a deep connection; maybe even a relationship. But, unlike Weekend, there is no climactic kiss in Blue Film, or even an indication its characters will ever see each other again.
Still, both movies speak to the queer experience of adopting personas to shed identities that no longer suit us. While Weekend used a sexy, confident twink as a foil for its repressed/depressed protagonist, Tuttle utilizes a pedophile to the same end. It’s a bold choice, and certainly not for everyone.
"It gave me a great reassurance of how intelligent audiences are," Moore said of the response to his film debut. "People want to watch things and pick them apart and decide how it makes them feel rather than being told how to feel."
Blue Film is available to stream on Apple TV and Prime Video.
Google has some new AI tools for users to mess around with.
The company announced in a blog post on Tuesday that Nano Banana 2 Lite and Gemini Omni Flash are now available. These are a couple of new toys that live within Google's suddenly very expansive AI ecosystem, both serving a different purpose.
SEE ALSO: Google confirms death of its Nest speaker lineupFor starters, Nano Banana 2 Lite is a speedy, cost-effective image generator that Google says is designed for people who currently use the original Nano Banana model. It can apparently spit out images four seconds after text inputs, making it ideal for prototyping. According to Google, this model is now available in Google AI Studio, other developer-centric tools like Gemini API, and consumer-facing places like the Gemini app and AI Mode in Google Search.
On top of that, Gemini Omni Flash is now available in a public preview in Google AI Studio and Gemini API, as well as in the Gemini app and Google Flow. This tool is designed for video generation and editing, allowing users to use natural language, video, and text inputs to get the results they want with Omni Flash. However, there are limitations: Videos can only be 10 seconds long, and Google says character consistency in scene changes is problematic at the moment.
Feel free to go check these out whenever you have a moment.
The U.S. has gone wild for Obsession. Writer/director Curry Barker's twisted horror movie about a wish gone wrong is not only a box office hit, but also the highest-grossing Focus Features release of all time. Audiences have screamed, critics have raved — especially over the impeccable performance of leading lady Inde Navarrette.
While the film centers on an aimless young man called Bear (Michael Johnston), it's Navarrette's cursed girl Nikki who's become the internet's obsession. When Bear wishes for his crush to love him more than anyone else, Nikki becomes a horrifically distorted version of herself, who lives only for his attention.
Today, Obsession comes to digital, and with it comes a featurette clip, in which the film's cast looks back on how Navarrette brought this harrowing portrait of being trapped by male desire to such vivid life.
SEE ALSO: Stephen King posts his 2-line review of 'Obsession'As seen above, Johnston and fellow castmates Cooper Tomlinson and Megan Lawless share what it was like to be on set as Navarrette created Nikki. For her part, the heralded actress credits Barker with helping her work on finding the physicality for Nikki and her "uncanny valley" look. And he marvels that this scream queen was new to letting loose with a good yell.
Obsession is available for now available for purchase on digital. Obsession will be released on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack, Blu-Ray and DVD on July 14. These options include more behind-the-scenes footage and a commentary track from Barker.
After a tough 2025, the news about the U.S. labor market has been trending positive, at least for the second quarter of 2026. The number of people applying for unemployment benefits in the week ending June 20 fell by 12,000 to 215,000, the Labor Department reported recently. That number beat analyst expectations of around 225,000 new applications, according to the Associated Press.
Even with the good news, around 7.3 million are still looking for work, according to May numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For many, the hunt for work begins with polishing one's resume and cover letter — and using AI to do so.
Employers and HR directors are also using AI to screen their large piles of CVs. So, what does AI want to see on your resume and cover letter? In the second edition of our series on making AI love your resume (check out the first story here), we connected with Shaun Pichler, Ph.D., a professor at the Department of Management at the College of Business & Economics at California State University, Fullerton. Pichler, also the senior editor of the Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology and co-editor-in-chief of Human Resource Management, walked us through the realities of the modern job search.
Many people assume AI does the first pass on most resumes and applications. Have you found that to be true?Pichler: This really depends on the type of job and the employer. AI screening is more likely among entry-to mid-level roles as compared to, for instance, executive roles. It is also more commonly used among large employers of choice that receive high volumes of applications per vacancy. I wouldn’t say that AI does the first pass on most resumes and applications because recent survey data indicates that a little less than half of responding organizations use AI for recruiting in general. And it is common for recruiters to selectively review applications from referrals and other priority applicants without using AI whatsoever.
Does AI have a bias against AI-constructed CVs/resumes/cover letters?This is an interesting empirical question. Since LLMs tend to prefer self-generated content, there is reason to posit that AI actually has a positive bias in favor of AI-constructed resumes. While there is one conference paper that found large language models prefer resumes created by themselves, there just haven’t been enough studies done on this topic to draw any meaningful conclusions, at least not yet — but give it a couple of years.
There are many websites that claim to help job seekers optimize their CVs for AI. With AI changing and adapting so quickly, can those sites still be trusted to know what AI wants?There is very little verifiable evidence to suggest that a third-party vendor can meaningfully help a candidate optimize their resume for AI. My suggestion to job candidates is to use multiple LLMs, like ChatGPT and Claude, to help them with their resumes instead of paying money to a third-party vendor. My personal opinion is that this is a waste of money in most cases.
Any tips for people trying to retrofit their resumes for AI and make them stand out within the algorithm?Yes, but my suggestions apply whether the resume is being reviewed by AI, a human, or both, which are to mirror the language of the job posting/description, highlight important keywords, quantify one’s experience when possible, and focus on job-relevant information. The key here is tailoring the resume to the job posting, something that can take a lot of time and can be streamlined by using AI, so long as the applicant gives an LLM adequate information, such as their resume alongside a narrative of their accomplishments, as well as the job posting.
If you're planning to upgrade your computer's memory or buy a new device soon, now may be the time to do it.
That's according to tech analysts who are sounding the alarm: RAM prices are about to rise by nearly 50 percent in the coming weeks.
According to a report from Jefferies Equity Research analysts, memory chip pricing is expected to rise between 40 and 50 percent in the third quarter of 2026 — between July 1 and September 30, in other words.
SEE ALSO: Thank the AI industry for tech price increases: See the full listHoping that relief is on the horizon, in the form of increased supply to meet the demand? Alas, that doesn't seem likely anytime soon either.
Memory prices are expected to rise even further, between 30 and 40 percent more, in the fourth quarter (October through December). And it only gets worse next year; analysts project memory price hikes will continue with a year-on-year increase of 40 to 45 percent in 2027.
Memory chip manufacturers, like Samsung and Micron, have already sold a good portion of their output to companies building out AI data centers. That means fewer chips for consumers in the form of PCs, smartphones, and video game consoles. Demand from AI companies is skyrocketing, going far and beyond what the manufacturers can keep up with.
As Mashable previously reported, Micron has warned that RAM shortages could last into 2028. In February, hard drive manufacturer Western Digital shared that its "top 7 customers" had bought out all of its storage supply for the year. In addition, the company said that these companies were already buying up its supply into 2028.
As a result of AI-driven shortages, consumer products have skyrocketed in price. Apple recently raised the price of its MacBooks by as much as $500. Gaming companies have also struggled with the shortages. Microsoft recently raised Xbox gaming console prices by as much as $150.
Recent leaks suggest that Sony will either have to sell its upcoming PlayStation 6 console at a minimum of $960 or push the launch date back into 2028 or even beyond that.
In short, RAMaggedon is well and truly here.
Love Island USA has become one of the internet's biggest reality TV obsessions over the past couple of summers, and its fans are doing a lot more than watching hot twenty-somethings couple up.
The reality dating show, which airs every night except Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Peacock, gives viewers a near-daily stream of developments to analyze, from bombshell arrivals and public votes to recouplings, shifting loyalties, and the small villa moments that can turn one Islander into a fan favorite or send another into the internet's crosshairs. Fans track, post, and debate every change in the villa like it is a sport (with better swimwear).
So maybe it was only a matter of time before someone tried to put a market around all that forecasting.
Kalshi, the prediction market platform, has been offering Love Island USA contracts this season, giving users a way to trade on outcomes connected to the show, including which couple will win, which Islanders might be eliminated next, and which couples could finish in second or third place. They have also partnered with creators to launch a breadth of TikTok and Instagram ads.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed."Because the fandom around Love Island is so popular, we knew our traders would be excited about getting in on the action," Kalshi spokesperson Laura Frank tells Mashable. "Trading on the outcome of shows like Love Island allows fans to feel like they're part of these moments."
According to Kalshi, Love Island USA markets brought in more than $20 million in trading volume across the first two weeks of the season, a major figure for an entertainment market. For comparison, the most recent Oscars race for Best Picture, one of the biggest awards-season betting events, drew about $25 million in volume. Kalshi’s Week 2 elimination market closed with $3.3 million traded, more than the $2.8 million traded on the winning couple market at the time.
The demand was not limited to an early burst of curiosity. Frank said trading has been "exceptionally popular," with total trading volume for Love Island U.S. and UK markets reaching nearly $40 million as of Monday, June 29. She said trades crossed $1 million in cumulative volume within the first week around the premieres and reached a single-day peak of nearly $3 million traded on June 11.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Currently, Kalshi's winning couple market has Trinity Tatum and Bryce Dettloff as heavy favorites, with an 80 percent chance of winning (both Melanie and Sincere and Zach and Kayda have a 33 percent chance of landing in the top three). There are also weekly elimination contracts — Amora and Kenzie were both priced around 56 and 37 percent in the Week 5 market.
Kalshi is not the only prediction market platform turning Love Island USA into something tradable. On Polymarket, users have also been able to trade on Season 8 outcomes, down to even what might be said during a specific episode (for example, the word "red flag"). A spokesperson from Polymarket declined to comment on their Love Island trading platform.
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.Love Island is different from a traditional awards show or sporting event, though, because fans are not only watching from the outside. Sometimes, they shape what happens next.
Often, the producers prompt fans to vote for their favorite (or least favorite) cast members on the Love Island app, and each time, the fandom certainly mobilizes: The Love Island USA app crashed during both a June 9 and June 16 vote and later climbed to the top of the App Store.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.When asked about the ethics and integrity of markets where users can influence outcomes through public voting, Frank says, "We draw a hard line against insider trading — it's prohibited on Kalshi."
She also says it has safeguards in place to detect suspicious activity on its platform. Kalshi uses Know Your Customer checks for everyone who trades on the platform, which Frank describes as "very similar (and more extensive) than signing up for a bank."
"When people trade, we use advanced AI surveillance technology that tracks for any irregular trading and investigates suspicious trading activity," Frank adds. "We go beyond looking at individual households and look at people’s social connections as well."
Prediction markets are expanding just as sports betting has become a massive part of American digital life. Americans legally wagered nearly $167 billion on sports in 2025, according to the American Gaming Association, and online betting has transformed how many fans experience games. Some states — like Illinois, Nevada, and most recently Michigan (as of June 29) — have placed bans or taxes on prediction markets as state governments debate whether to classify them as financial exchanges, gambling platforms, or something in between.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.The sports gambling world has been built, for the most part, around men. Men are nearly twice as likely as women to report gambling-related problems, and sports betting has become one of the clearest examples of how quickly gambling products can move from occasional entertainment to an everyday phone habit.
So when prediction market companies start using pop culture, influencers, and reality TV to reach more women, it raises a question: Is this just another way for fans to engage with the shows they love, or is it opening a new pathway to betting addiction for an untapped market?
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. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.According to Frank, there are "3x more female traders" in Love Island markets compared with other Kalshi markets, and "2/3 of new Love Island traders are women."
Kalshi and Polymarket have both experimented with pop-culture contracts and social media strategies that look different from a sportsbook ad during a football game, setting wagers on — for example — Taylor Swift's wedding venue, Dancing with the Stars cast members, or the Bachelor drama.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.It doesn't mean every fan trading on these outcomes is treating Kalshi and Polymarket like a sportsbook. Prediction markets differ from betting platforms; their contracts are described as "event-based trading," where users buy and sell positions against each other rather than placing bets against the house. In that framing, a Love Island contract is less like a traditional sportsbook wager and more like a stock price fluctuating around a future event.
But for users, the actual experience can still feel familiar, potentially hooking a new prediction-market audience one recoupling at a time.
Take a New York Minute to Review Your Recovery Plan Don Henley is right: everything can change in a New York...
I Lost all of my Photos In every disaster I have ever responded to from here to...
Boston's most important responders: Bostonians The people of Boston are to be congratulated for being...
3 Values Your Business Continuity Plan Should Have Your business lives with risk every day from competitors...
Take a New York Minute to Review Your Recovery Plan Don Henley is right: everything can change in a New York...
Digital Privacy: A Catch 22 Mobility, convenience, accessibility and real-...
3 Values Your Business Continuity Plan Should Have Your business lives with risk every day from competitors...
I Lost all of my Photos In every disaster I have ever responded to from here to...