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"Bad on purpose" is a dangerous tightrope to walk. Usually, the end result is something that feels like it's trying too hard or thinks it's funnier than it actually is. Nintendo's new Virtual Boy accessory for the Switch and Switch 2 manages to pull it off, though.

That's because, rather than setting out to make something that sucks, Nintendo instead took something that sucked in the mid-90s and recreated it faithfully for the sake of artistic preservation. It's retro nerdiness purely for the love of the game.

In 1995, the Virtual Boy was (and remains) Nintendo's biggest hardware embarrassment. It was a way-too-early attempt at VR with stereoscopic 3D features that failed because it was neither a true console nor a true portable machine. Every game was displayed exclusively in red and black, and using it for more than a few minutes at a time will ruin your neck and eyes.

SEE ALSO: Nintendo's Virtual Boy replica for Switch 2 is finally available to buy

For $100 (and the cost of a Nintendo Switch Online subscription so you can actually play the games), you can almost perfectly recreate that retro experience on your Switch or Switch 2. This new accessory isn't a cleaned-up, refined, or redesigned take on the original idea; it just is the original idea, but with the ability to shove a portable Switch display inside of it. It still hurts to look at and play. The games aren't especially good or interesting, outside of Wario Land. You can't even output the games to a TV or any other external display, making it almost totally incompatible with today's "everything should be streamable" attitude in games.

And that's exactly why it rules. I love the Switch Virtual Boy accessory, and I will almost certainly not use it for any longer than it took to write this article and shoot the accompanying video because I value my eyesight. It reproduces the original artistic vision at the expense of user comfort and convenience, and thank God for that.

How to buy the Nintendo Switch Virtual Boy accessory

The new version of the Virtual Boy is an online Nintendo Store Exclusive. To try it yourself, head to the Nintendo store and sign into your account. There is one catch, however — you need a Nintendo Switch Online membership to purchase the device. It's priced at $99.99 and available for sale now.

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What Maggie Gyllenhaal has done in her reimaging of The Bride of Frankenstein is utterly deranged. And thank God. 

No shade to brilliant director James Whale, whose 1935 Universal sequel The Bride of Frankenstein is both exhilarating and cheekily queer. But — as Gyllenhaal has repeated frequently on The Bride!'s press tour — his titular monstress never speaks a word in her few short minutes of screen time. Still, as that original Bride, Elsa Lanchester made this she-beast an instantly compelling marvel who has become truly iconic, an intoxicating mix of high femme and the horrific. 

Gyllenhaal smartly pulls these stylistic elements into her Bride!, as her revived Bride coughs up black bile that stains her lips in a perfect Cupid's bow, with a chic and unnerving stain creeping up her high cheekbones. Gyllenhaal also borrows from Whale the inspired choice to have her lead actress play both the Monster's Mate (as Lanchester was originally credited) and the author who birthed her, Mary Shelley. However, far from the prim, giggling lady presented in The Bride of Frankenstein, Gyllenhaal's Shelley (played by Hamnet Academy Award nominee Jessie Buckley) is a yowling spirit from beyond the grave who is thoroughly mad, in both senses of the word. 

Presented in a suffocating black-and-white close-up, a heaving Mary Shelley introduces this story as the one she still wished to tell, even from the grave. Her rage of being silenced echoes across the ages, possessing a gangster's moll in 1930s Chicago. And from there, Gyllenhaal weaves in references to Whale's Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, Shelley's novel Frankenstein, as well as Mel Brooks' parody Young Frankenstein, Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde, and Lizzie Borden's 1983 dystopian classic, Born in Flames. 

It's a chaotic mix that is wild and messy, and utterly exciting. Through sputtering dialogue, propulsive and repulsive visuals, and even spirited dance numbers, The Bride! comes together into a dark, campy, and romantic tapestry. 

The Bride! slams Frankenstein's monster into 1930s Chicago gangland.  Jessie Buckley wields a gun in "The Bride!" Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

This Bride's story begins at a long table in a Chicago nightclub, where a moll called Ida (Buckley) is playing nice to a crude gangster (Our Flag Means Death's Matthew Maher). But something overtakes her, and its name is Mary Shelley. Possessed by the author, Ida drops her placating smiles and spits on this brute. Her American accent is shed for a snarling British voice that howls of the crimes of a local kingpin. Ida can't stop Mary from speaking from her mouth, and soon Ida will pay the price with a fatal fall.

Elsewhere in this bustling city, Frankenstein's monster (Christian Bale), who prefers to go by "Frank," has arrived at the door of Dr. Euphronious (Annette Bening), a mad scientist with an interest in raising the dead. Pointing to her published works, the century-old monster entreats her to take pity on him and build him a bride, meaning a resurrected dead girl who could end his lonely wandering. Reluctantly, Euphronious agrees, and after a bit of grave-robbing, Ida is reinvigorated with no memory of who she was before and an alt-girl glow-up.

Annette Bening as Dr. Euphronious in "The Bride!" Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

This radical experiment jolts Ida's bob all white, eradicating the previously dark roots. The bile she sputters stains not only her face, but leaves lines down her neck to her breasts, down her arm to her fingers. She is stained or tattooed, giving a constant reminder to the darkness within her, even as her burnt-orange silk dress flutters around teal tights. 

Within Ida lies a fire, which fuels her to drag Frank to an underground night spot for dancing and debauchery. But when two strangers reject Ida's refusal of their advances ("I prefer not to!" becomes her mantra), Frank steps in with a deadly chivalry. Now, these monsters must go on the run from the law. Like the legend of Bonnie and Clyde, they chase their bliss, busting heads along the way — while seeming doomed to a very violent end. But until then, female copycats emulate the Bride's look and itchy trigger finger, while she and her monster mate fall in love. 

Maggie Gyllenhaal fuses romance and rage. Penélope Cruz as Myrna Mallow and Peter Sarsgaard as Det. Jake Wiles in "The Bride!" Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

The politics of The Bride! are anything but subtle, as the speech of women is presented as a threat to a sordid status quo. From the start, Shelley reflects on how patriarchal society oppresses women's speech as a matter of course. Ida is a threat to gangsters because of what she could say to the cops. As the Bride, it's a furious speech she gives about "brain attack" that incites imitators who share her feminist fury. After that first attack, which Frank intervenes in, she'll use a gun to defend herself against another attempted sexual assault from a man. She'll sputter the phrase "me too" and speak of the "angry dead," indicating a legion of women who demand to be heard from beyond the grave. 

The genre leanings of The Bride! urge Buckley into a manic performance that is often over the top, but this is wisely constructed as Ida is a woman possessed by the mad dead. One moment, she's a good-time gal, joyous in dancing or watching a movie with Frank's favorite film star, the singing, tap-dancing Ronnie Reed (a slick Jake Gyllenhaal). Next, she's wrathful and ranting. And Frank is never thrown by her moods, instead swooning over her mind, even if he can't understand her tumult. Therein lies the romance; he doesn't love her despite her outrageous behavior, but for all of her.

Christian Bale and Jake Gyllenhaal in "The Bride!" Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

How many of us can feel divided, pressured to be pleasing and happy, but pulled by a fury at injustice that threatens to electrify us like a lightning bolt, ripping our flesh from our very bones? Through her Bride, Buckley embodies the stressful duality of being a woman in a world run by violent men.

In a cheeky B-plot, Gyllenhaal also critiques so-called allies through Detective Jake Wiles, who is played by her real-life husband, Peter Sarsgaard. It's Jake who's tasked with tracking down the monsters on a spree across state lines. But Jake is not much of a detective. He calls himself the "Gal Friday" to his "secretary" Myrna Mallow (a gloriously chic Penélope Cruz), who is the real brains behind his operation. While their relationship is playful and platonic, Jake is a charming fool who gets all the credit, while she does all the actual detective work and gets only condescending sneers from policemen. In this too, Gyllenhaal expresses a wail of frustration. And yet...

The Bride! refuses to take itself or cinema too seriously.  Jessie Buckley is revived in "The Bride!" Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Some elements of Gyllenhaal's gender politics might feel distractingly sharp amid the genre richness, like a monologue from Sarsgaard about how women are used and overlooked by the men around them. However, The Bride! avoids feeling preachy by embracing the same level of earnestness for Gyllenhaal's stylistic big swings.

Colors switch from a gothic black-and-white to a grave-digging sequence flooded in a dreamy dark blue. A party sequence throbs with bisexual lighting, its dancers swirling in pinks, blues, and purples. Neon lights glitter in grimy cities, while the Bride's costume screams with colors bright yet dingy. Moods swirl with the flush of blues, yellows, reds, and greens. 

Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley play Frankenstein's Monster and his bride in "The Bride!" Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

It's not a bright, bubbly, or even joyous palette. These hues are a reflection of the Bride's need to be heard, to be seen. She will not be demure; she demands to stand out. This exhibitionism is further bolstered by the aforementioned dance numbers. The film is not just Frank and the Bride's story, but also their fantasy. Having long clung to Hollywood cinema for solace in a lonely existence (relatable!), Frank imagines meeting his bride as something out of a movie. He even mimics a Ronnie Reed dance move he saw on the silver screen to woo her. Later, they will envision themselves on the screen — as dancing lovers, as lurking monsters — and they will bring both of these fantasies into their journey, as they decide who they will be to each other. 

In one of the film's most shocking sequences, the pair cut loose at a posh party, upsetting the formal veneer with a furious explosion of movement. Others will be possessed by the Mary Shelley spirit, compelled to join in, creating a feral and fun flashmob. Yes, seeing Frankenstein's monster dancing is reminiscent of Young Frankenstein, but just when you think that might be a nod to the Mel Brooks' classic, Bale bellows out, "Putting on the ritz!" There is no doubt. Gyllenhaal isn't winking at her references; she's smirking at us with a wide-open mouth, ready to yawp. 

Gyllenhaal rejects fluidity or a staunch form that adheres to genre conventions. Instead, she boldly blends elements of horror with humor, romance with repulsion, creating an unapologetically wild and campy adventure. Some might call The Bride! messy or juvenile. I would call it alive and rebellious. 

Gyllenhaal and her cast don't just dust off a classic tale for a safe money grab. (Looking at you, Disney live-action remakes!) They tear various Frankenstein iterations to bits, then create an exquisite corpse of the pieces, festooning it with elements from other films about violence, revolt, and violation. The result is a film that is utterly electrifying, sure to spark something in hearts young and old. 

While I relished this movie's wild journey, I also grinned to imagine the girls who will watch this like I once did The Craft, appreciating its genre thrills and, beyond that, seeing myself in the furious and feminine at its core. 

The Bride! opens in theaters and IMAX on March 6. 

In today’s episode of f*ck the patriarchy, there’s a new website called “Check Her Body Count” that claims to use AI to calculate a woman’s “body count” using her Instagram profile. But it's both terribly inaccurate and misogynistic in nature — even if comparisons are being made to the whisper network site, Tea.

The website went viral on Feb. 26, after X user @weretuna shared an ad for Check Her Body Count on their feed. The post reads: “Suspicious that your girl has 10+ body count? Now you don’t have to guess. You paste her ig [sic] URL, and the app brutally estimates her body count by checking her followers, posts, and stories."

SEE ALSO: How AdultFriendFinder subscriptions appear on your bank statement

The post has amassed 6.1 million views as of this publication.

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

Before I go on an absolute rant, let’s just explain what “body count” is for the people who may not know: the number of sexual partners a person has had in their lifetime. Also, Mashable attempted to reach out to the Check Her Body Count contact email, but it bounced back.

OK, so here’s what I have to say about this.

1.) Obviously, this isn’t the most important point, but I just want everyone to understand that this site is completely inaccurate. There’s a little disclaimer at the bottom of the site that admits: "This tool does not access, connect to, or retrieve data from any third-party platform. All outputs are randomly generated for entertainment only and do not reflect real individuals."

Not only that, but a developer named Cappy (@CappyIshihara) reposted the viral post with his two cents, confirming that the site doesn't even access Instagram. It just validates the URL in your browser, spits out a random number, and caches it locally. In his words: “this sh*t is completely clientside, zero net, cache in localstorage."

My editor tried the site for herself, and it stated she had more "male followers" than actual total followers she has on Instagram.

2.) The idea of this is gross AF, and the fact that some commenters are saying that this site is no worse than the Tea App is exactly how and why tech is so dangerous today. The Tea App, which relaunched as a website after Apple's App Store booted it last year, is a safe space for women to discuss "red flags" and find info on potential suitors — it’s very “Are We Dating the Same Guy” — so that they can decide whether they're entering potentially dangerous situations.

Yet, here are just a few examples of what some men are saying about Check Her Body Count:

• "Nah, this stays up until [the] Tea App gets dumped."

• "Someone doesn't like the consequences of their actions?"

• "So women are upset at this, but find the Tea App, which berates men and tells other women how supposedly bad a guy is and ruins his dating reputation, okay? Yea, no. I fully support this website."

Comparing a whisper network meant to keep women physically safe to a tool designed to arbitrarily shame and surveil women for having sex is peak misogyny.

“Body count is a gross, inaccurate metric rooted in misogyny — period,” Angie Rowntree, founder and director of the porn site Sssh.com, tells Mashable. “It dehumanizes women and normalizes the surveillance and violation of women.”

And let’s just pause and talk about the exhausting double standard fueling all of this. If a guy has a lot of sex, he’s celebrated as "the man." But if a woman has the exact same amount of sex, she’s branded a "whore." And god forbid she chooses not to have sex, because then she’s instantly labeled "prudish" or a tease. It's a completely rigged game designed to make us apologize for our own bodies, no matter what we do.

As Rowntree notes, obsessing over this number "completely ignores context like consent and pleasure, and pretends that having sexual experience somehow diminishes a person's worth." In reality, having multiple partners may translate to greater confidence, better boundaries, and more fulfilling sex lives.

3.) We are seeing a terrifying trend where AI and tech are being weaponized by male-dominated online subcultures to enforce patriarchal control. If that sounds dramatic, let's look at the receipts. Deepfake technology gained notoriety through the creation of non-consensual sexual images of women. A recent investigation by the Tech Transparency Project found 102 "nudify" AI apps (which render people, often women, naked) hosted across Google Play and the Apple App Store. Those apps were downloaded more than 705 million times and generated $117 million in revenue. As the Tech Transparency Project wrote, "Because Google and Apple take a cut of that revenue, they are directly profiting from the activity of these apps" — meaning they are making money off the digital abuse and sexualization of women.

And have we forgotten about Grok? During an 11-day period between December 2025 and January 2026 alone, Elon Musk's chatbot produced an estimated three million sexualized images, including deepfakes of real, well-known women.

“The Grok scandal shows how fast 'fun' AI features can quickly turn toxic when they ignore users' rights (in this case, women's rights) to control their own public images and narratives," says Rowntree.

This is about so much more than a fake Instagram scraper — it's about an online ecosystem (often tied to anti-feminist "red-pilled" and incel communities) that actively pits men against women and uses tech as a tool for harassment. Dr. Mathilde Pavis, a leading adviser on AI regulation, told Newsweek that the concept behind Check Her Body Count reflects a deeper, dangerous cultural logic: "that women's bodies and private lives are subject to algorithmic judgment, sexual scoring and public evaluation."

"The body count website did not happen in a vacuum," says Rowntree. "There are men (and entire cultures) in 2026 who still think a hymen is a 'freshness seal' and virginity is the sum total of a woman's worth." Whether it's deepfaking women's bodies or creating fake algorithms to publicly score their sexual history, the goal is the exact same: policing women.

“Women are not property; we are human beings,” Rowntree adds. “As such, our bodies are also not public property to be exploited without consent, including for algorithmic judgment or AI manipulation."

Apple has had an unusually busy week — no keynote required.

In a flurry of press releases, the Cupertino company unveiled a new iPhone, a refreshed MacBook Air, a new MacBook Pro, a pair of new desktop displays, and the chips that power it all.

If you're just getting up to speed, here's every major product Apple announced — and more importantly, what you need to know about each one.

iPhone 17e Credit: Mashable/Apple

The iPhone 17e, announced March 2, is built around Apple's latest-generation A19 chip — the same processor powering the flagship iPhone 17 lineup. It also adds C1X, a next-generation cellular modem the company says is roughly twice as fast as the modem in the iPhone 16e.

The 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display on the 17e now features Ceramic Shield 2, which Apple says offers three times the scratch resistance of the previous generation.

SEE ALSO: Comparing iPhone 17e vs. iPhone 17: Is the new $599 phone good enough?

The 17e's camera system has been overhauled with a 48MP Fusion lens that Apple says can function like two cameras in one — offering an optical-quality 2x telephoto crop in addition to the standard wide angle. Portrait mode has been improved with a smarter image pipeline that can automatically detect people, dogs, and cats and save depth data in the background, so you can apply bokeh after the fact.

The most consumer-friendly change: iPhone 17e now ships with MagSafe, Apple's magnetic wireless charging ecosystem, supporting up to 15W. The iPhone 16e topped out at 7.5W over standard Qi. Baseline storage has also doubled, to 256GB, at the same $599 starting price.

iPhone 17e comes in black, white, and a new soft pink color. Pre-orders open March 4; the phone is officially available on March 11.

MacBook Air with M5

Apple refreshed the MacBook Air laptop with its M5 chip. The result is up to four times faster for AI tasks than the MacBook Air with M4, the company says, and up to 9.5 times faster than the M1 model. The new chip features a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, with a Neural Accelerator built into each core.

Storage gets a meaningful upgrade too. The new MacBook Air now starts at 512GB — double the previous standard — and can be configured up to 4TB for the first time. Apple claims the new SSD also delivers read/write speeds that are twice as fast as those in the M4 MacBook Air.

The new Apple N1 wireless chip brings Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 to the Air, delivering improved performance and reliability. Battery life is unchanged, promising up to 18 hours on a charge. The design — a fanless aluminum chassis in 13- and 15-inch options — is unchanged too. Colors include sky blue, midnight, starlight, and silver.

The 13-inch MacBook Air with M5 starts at $1,099 (or $999 for education). The 15-inch starts at $1,299 ($1,199 for education). Pre-orders open March 4, and the laptop ships March 11.

Macbook Neo

Apple also unveiled the MacBook Neo, a brand-new entry-level laptop starting at $599 — or $499 for students and educators — marking the company's most affordable Mac ever.

The 13-inch machine runs on Apple's A18 Pro chip, the same processor found in the iPhone 16 Pro lineup, paired with 8GB of unified memory that cannot be upgraded. It features a Liquid Retina display, up to 16 hours of battery life, and comes in four colors: blush, indigo, silver, and citrus.

But as Mashable's Stan Schroeder noted in an early spec breakdown, the low price comes with tradeoffs — Touch ID costs an extra $100, the battery is considerably smaller than the one in the MacBook Air, and prospective buyers who need more than 8GB of RAM are simply out of luck. MacBook Neo is available for pre-order now, and ships on March 11.

MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max

The new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are powered by M5 Pro and M5 Max, which Apple says deliver up to four times the AI performance of the M4 Pro and M4 Max, and up to eight times the AI performance of M1-era models. Both chips are built on a new "Fusion Architecture" that combines two dies into a single system-on-a-chip, enabling performance gains that Apple says wouldn't be possible with a traditional single-die design.

SEE ALSO: How to preorder the new Apple MacBook Pros with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips — preorders now live

MacBook Pro with M5 Pro is aimed at data modelers, sound designers, and complex coders. It pairs an up to 18-core CPU with an up to 20-core GPU and supports up to 64GB of unified memory. The M5 Max doubles down with an up-to 40-core GPU and up to 128GB of unified memory — a figure Apple says meaningfully improves token-generation speeds for Large Language Models (LLMs) running locally.

Storage starts at 1TB for the M5 Pro models, and 2TB for the M5 Max. Apple says SSD speeds have roughly doubled over the previous generation, reaching up to 14.5GB/s read/write. The MacBook Pro also adds the N1 chip for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, and ships with three Thunderbolt 5 ports. Battery life is rated at up to 24 hours.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro starts at $2,199; the 16-inch version starts at $2,699. M5 Max configurations start at $3,599 for the 14-inch model and $3,899 for the 16-inch model.

All models come in space black and silver. Pre-orders open March 4; availability March 11.

iPad Air M4

Apple also refreshed the iPad Air lineup, bumping it to the M4 chip with 12GB of unified memory — a 50 percent increase over the previous generation. The tablet is available in 11- and 13-inch sizes and, according to Apple, delivers performance up to 30 percent faster than the M3 model and more than twice as fast as the M1 version.

SEE ALSO: The new Apple iPad Air is live on Walmart: Pre-order now to save up to $60

Both the N1 wireless chip for Wi-Fi 7 and the C1X cellular modem make their iPad debut here, with Apple claiming the latter cuts modem power consumption by roughly 30 percent compared to the M3 model.

Pricing holds steady at $599 for the 11-inch Wi-Fi model and $799 for the 13-inch. Pre-orders open March 4; availability starts March 11.

Studio Display and Studio Display XDR

Apple announced a refresh of its external display lineup, introducing both a new Studio Display and an entirely new Studio Display XDR. The Studio Display gets a notable upgrade in the form of Thunderbolt 5 connectivity — two ports that support daisy-chaining up to four displays — and a new 12MP Center Stage camera that now includes support for Desk View, which simultaneously shows the caller and a top-down view of their workspace.

The core display panel remains a 27-inch 5K Retina panel at 600 nits, with P3 wide color.

The Studio Display XDR is a bigger story. Apple is positioning it as a replacement for the Pro Display XDR at a significantly lower price. It features the same 27-inch 5K Retina canvas, but with a mini-LED backlight system using over 2,000 local dimming zones, up to 2,000 nits of peak HDR brightness, a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and a 120Hz refresh rate with Adaptive Sync.

The XDR display adds support for the Adobe RGB color gamut alongside P3 and introduces new DICOM medical imaging presets — pending FDA clearance — that's aimed at radiologists who want to use the display for diagnostic work.

The new Studio Display with a tilt-adjustable stand starts at $1,599. Studio Display XDR with a tilt- and height-adjustable stand starts at $3,299 — that's $2,700 less than the original Pro Display XDR at launch.

As with everything else on Apple's list, pre-orders for the displays open March 4, with availability on March 11.

Before the dust had settled on the ruins of the Shajareh Tayyebeh school — a casualty of the recent U.S.-Israel military strikes against Iran, and one which resulted in the deaths of up to 168 adults and children — people were already engagement-farming online. Clips of digital flight simulators were passed off as real-time ops footage, while out-of-context images of battleships and old videos of aerial missile attacks were repurposed to sell users a tale of Iranian dominance. AI-edited content proliferated.

According to experts, the posts had accumulated hundreds of millions of views in just a handful of days.

SEE ALSO: AI has made us all surveillance targets. This tool helps you fight back.

The growing number of viral posts — and the potential for even more to pop up as users earned cash for the viral falsehoods — was alarming enough to prompt X to edit its policies on misinformation. As of yesterday, X says it will suspend users from its Creator Revenue Sharing program if they post AI-generated content depicting armed conflict without labeling it as such.  

And not even Google searches are safe from misinformation these days. 

The proliferation of digital misinformation is the product of a web of bots and engagement farming accounts, all with the shared goal of being the loudest, most clicked-on account in the room. 

Some hope to win political and social influence, others just want the money. Meanwhile, users, prone to confirmation bias and a reliance on digital news sources, repeatedly fall victim to their racket. Engagement farming, no longer just exchanging the currency of memes and clickbait, has become a dangerous, politically fraught game.

What users are seeing as the U.S.-Iran conflict rages

Recent posts engaging in active disinformation about the conflict in Iran primarily involve exaggerating the scale and success of Iranian counterattacks, experts explain. 

A recent investigation by Wired documented hundreds of posts across Elon Musk's X that included misleading footage and photos — including AI-manipulated content — or promoted false claims about the scale of the attacks, many of which were posted in the immediate aftermath of missile strikes. A post with more than 4 million views claimed to show ballistic missiles sailing over Dubai, but actually depicted an Iranian attack on Tel Aviv in Oct. 2024. Another with more than 375,000 impressions shows a fictitious before-and-after image of the shelled compound of assassinated Iranian leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei. 

According to Wired, nearly all of the posts were shared by premium subscriber accounts with blue checkmarks, including state-funded media outlets in Iran. 

As in previous military conflicts, accounts have also attempted to pass off video game footage as verified news clips, including AI-manipulated images of downed F-35 fighter jets ripped from flight simulator games. The images have been shared across TikTok, some with links to Russian influence operations, the BBC reported. 

In addition to out-of-context footage and misleading content, the BBC also documented a handful of completely AI-generated videos that had amassed nearly 100 million total views, shared by what the outlet calls notorious "super-spreaders" of disinformation. 

Visuals are a good way for us to process what is going on in war when we can't comprehend the scale of these conflicts. - Sofia Rubinson, NewsGuard

A report from misinformation watchdog NewsGuard also chronicled a cadre of users sharing viral posts circulating false claims of targeted military strikes against U.S. and Israeli strongholds, predominately using repurposed video footage and out of context or completely recontextualized images of destruction. 

"[These videos] are posted by anonymous accounts that tend to report on geopolitical conflicts. These are accounts that are known to NewsGuard for spreading exaggerated claims, usually from a pro-Iran perspective," said Sofia Rubinson, senior editor of NewsGuard's Reality Check newsletter and co-author of the report. From there, Rubinson explains, other accounts with larger followings pick up and spread the false claims. 

For example, hours after initial reports of the U.S.'s military strikes in Iran, users on X began reposting an image of a sinking naval aircraft carrier. Users claimed that it showed a recent attack on the battleship USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. The U.S. military's Central Command issued a statement refuting the claim that same day. NewsGuard confirmed the image actually showed the intentional sinking of the USS Oriskany that took place nearly 20 years ago. The claim was shared by unverified "news" accounts and even Kenyan parliamentary member Peter Salasya. Salasya's post has been viewed more than 6 million times. 

Multiple accounts, including Salasya's, shared another video allegedly showing Israel's Dimona nuclear power plant under siege by air. The video racked up hundreds of thousands of impressions across anti-Israel and pro-Iran pages — an X Community Note now appears below the video on Salasya's page, clarifying the images are of a March 2017 attack in Balaklia, Ukraine.

NewsGuard found that such posts have already garnered at least 21.9 million views across X. 

Posts inducing fear of domestic retaliatory attacks have also circulated online, including an unverified list of U.S. cities alleged to be top targets for Iranian sleeper cells — the list appears to have been written in Apple's Notes app.

Disinformation is only going to get worse

The acceleration of advanced generative AI and relaxed moderation policies across social media platforms has exacerbated an online misinformation crisis, experts have warned. 

Particularly over recent months, including during the U.S.-led capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, NewsGuard researchers have noticed a pattern in online disinformation emerging over periods of breaking news.

"People now have a shorter window for the lapse between an event occurring and authentic visuals coming out of the media," explained Rubinson. To put it more bluntly: Users are losing their patience, used to an online environment where information is usually right at your fingertips. 

These brief periods, or voids, between breaking news reports and confirmed video or photos become fertile ground for disinformation bots and engagement farmers, Rubinson says. They also threaten to reinforce conspiratorial thinking — that mainstream news outlets are keeping information from the public, for example — and lend themselves to a user's own confirmation bias.

Political conflict is particularly rife for the spreading of such misinformation, which is in turn strengthened by active disinformation campaigns from both sides of armed conflict. Researchers have found that a lack of proximity to events makes it easier to believe out of context or exaggerated information. 

"It's an attempt to fill this fog of war," said Rubsinson. "It can be very overwhelming for people. They want to make sense of it, and visuals are a good way for us to process what is going on in war when we can't comprehend the scale of these conflicts." 

This becomes a greater problem as individuals increasingly use social media platforms as sole sources for news and as previously reliable fact-checking tools, including straightforward Google searches, become more unreliable.

SEE ALSO: U.S. government creates website to get around European content bans AI is harming more than helping 

AI chatbots and search have become embedded into the very fiber of real world crisis events, as users turn to them real time fact checkers. Rubinson said that nearly every X post NewsGuard analyzed included the same reply: "@Grok is this true?"

But AI assistants and platform chatbots, including X's Grok, are notoriously unreliable at disseminating and verifying breaking news. They are also inconsistent at applying their own platforms' moderation policies. The BBC found that Grok erroneously verified recent AI-generated images depicting Iranian military movements, for example. 

According to a second report by NewsGuard published March 3, Google AI-powered Search Summaries have repeated misleading claims about the U.S.-Iran conflict when prompted with reverse image searches. For example, NewsGuard researchers uploaded a frame from a video shared online claiming to show the destruction of a CIA outpost in Dubai. Google's AI summary verified the story, writing: "The image shows a fire at a high-rise residential building in Dubai, UAE, reportedly occurring on March 1, 2026, following regional tensions. … Conflicting reports emerged regarding the cause, with some sources mentioning a drone strike and others referring to the building as a specific intelligence facility." 

The video actually depicts a 2015 residential fire in the city of Sharjah.     

Security experts have sounded alarm bells over such "AI information threats," including AI tools used to generate and amplify misleading content. A report by the UK Centre for Emerging Technology and Security suggests the worsening information environment may pose existential threats to public safety, national security, and democracy without direct intervention. 

Meanwhile, civilians and journalists on the ground in Iran are fighting back against a near total internet blackout, following a massive push by the Trump administration and its ally Elon Musk to get Starlink internet connections to those on the ground. Bad actors, on the other hand, are still finding their way through the block and back onto sites like X.

SAVE $400.01: As of March 4, get the Mova Z60 Ultra Roller Complete Robot Vacuum and Mop for $1,098.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $1,499. That's a discount of 27%.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Mova Z60 Ultra Roller Complete Robot Vacuum and Mop $1,098.99 at Amazn
$1,499 Save $400.01   Get Deal

Tired of spending all your extra time vacuuming and mopping your home? It's 2026, and you've got better things to do. You can offload those tasks to a robot vacuum and recoup that lost time doing things you actually like. And we've found a great model that can both save you time and money, so you can get back to living your life instead of doing menial tasks.

As of March 4, get the Mova Z60 Ultra Roller Complete Robot Vacuum and Mop for $1,098.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $1,499. That's a discount of 27%.

SEE ALSO: The Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 robot vacuum is down to a record-low $299.99 at Amazon

This powerful robot vacuum and mop combo can handle all the dirty work you don't want to do. It has 28,000Pa of suction combined with a tangle-free brush, so it can not only cut through dirt and debris while capturing up to 99% of large dirt particles, but it can pick up human and pet hair without tangling. Its TurboForce 8 high-speed motor ensures it does all this without any hiccups.

After you've had the robovac go over your home with a fine-toothed comb to pick up the dirt, you can return with the mop, which uses real-time clean water spray to rinse the mop as it cleans to avoid cross-contamination. It also uses smart fluffing to better help maintain the mop, so it doesn't get dingy and old as time wears on to ruin its performance.

If you're ready to turn your cleaning routine over to the robots, this is an excellent option to rely on that can pretty much handle itself. And with $400 off, now's the perfect time to buy it, too.

The things you record with your AI-powered Meta Ray-Ban glasses — yes, even those intimate moments where you think you're alone — are probably being seen by strangers.

An investigation by Swedish outlets Svenska Dagbladet and Göteborgs-Posten found that offshore Meta workers in Kenya were asked to analyze intimate and even "disturbing" videos taken by glasses wearers, including videos taken in bathrooms, footage featuring nudity and sexual content, and images showing personal information like bank accounts. It's part of a process known as data labeling, used to train AI models with footage first reviewed and annotated by humans so that the AI can understand what it's "looking" at.

SEE ALSO: TikTok won't encrypt your DMs

Workers told the publication that many of the videos appear to be moments captured when users weren't aware they were being recorded. The group works under Sama, the same Meta contractor facing a class action lawsuit on behalf of content moderators who allege they have been exploited and forced to review traumatic content without proper working conditions.

"You understand that it is someone’s private life you are looking at, but at the same time you are just expected to carry out the work. You are not supposed to question it. If you start asking questions, you are gone," one employee told the publications.

Meta's Terms of Service reserves the right to send users' interactions with its AI services, including its always-on live AI features, to human moderators — the company referred to this policy when asked for comment by the news outlets.

The Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses collaboration initially launched in 2023 to mixed reviews about its photo and video capabilities and AI features. Meta released the upgraded AI-powered Meta Ray-Ban Display model in September, complete with a new Neural Band interface and promises of AI assistant integrations that would turn them into glasses of the future.

Sales of the glasses tripled in 2025, CNBC reported, with more than 7 million units sold.

But in the months since, Meta's wearable eye camera device has received widespread blowback, following a rise in influencer content depicting Meta glasses wearers secretly recording and even harassing unsuspecting strangers. Wearers have deduced ways to obscure the glasses' always-on recording light, intended to alert the public when a user is taking video, and instead turned the smart device into a tool for viral pickup artists and pranksters.

In addition to concerns about personal consent, the device has prompted worries about a fast-growing web of surveillance and facial recognition tech, which Meta has previously come under fire for. The company later said it was moving ahead with live AI features, including potential facial recognition, in 2025 — with the upgrade, a device "always keep its cameras and sensors turned on and use AI to remember what its wearer encountered throughout a day." Privacy advocates also warn the technology could one day be harnessed by third parties, including the federal government's own militarized police forces.

SAVE $50 + GET A FREE $15 AMAZON CREDIT: The Ninja Slushi is on sale at Amazon for $299.99, down from the normal price of $349.99. That's a 14% discount and it comes with a free $15 Amazon credit.

Opens in a new window Credit: Ninja Ninja Slushi $299.99 at Amazon
$349.99 Save $50 get a free $15 Amazon credit Get Deal

We move the clocks forward by one hour this weekend. Yes, that means we all lose an hour of sleep. But it also means that long summer nights are coming. Soon we'll all be outside in the backyard until sunset at 8 p.m. If you're planning epic parties for the summer, check out this deal at Amazon.

As of March 4, the Ninja Slushi is on sale at Amazon for $299.99, down from the normal price of $349.99. That's a 14% discount, and it comes with a free $15 Amazon credit.

With an 88-ounce capacity, the Ninja Slushi is ready to party. It has five pre-set programs that include slush, spiked slush, frappe, milkshake, and frozen juice. That means the Ninja Slushi can get invited to every party from the kids' end-of-school celebration to the 4th of July barbecue.

Depending on your ingredients, you can whip up frozen drinks in as little as 15 minutes with the Ninja Slushi. Others will take up to one hour, but that's still acceptable for party prep. Plus, the Slushi can keep drinks properly chilled and slush-ified to the perfect texture for up to 12 hours.

SEE ALSO: The Dreame L10s Ultra robot vacuum is under $300 at Amazon — save over $40

When it comes time to clean up, the Slushi has a rinse cycle that'll get it prepped and many of the parts are safe to clean in the dishwasher. On Mashable's list of the best Ninja appliances, the Slushi earns the top spot as the best for making frozen drinks.

Mashable Senior Shopping Reporter Leah Stoddart tested out the Ninja Slushi and wrote, "The refreshing spin on mundane bevs is a serotonin booster worth trying." She also mentioned it's quiet while operating and she enjoyed slushing everything from frosé to Pepsi and even a pre-workout electrolyte drink.

While the Ninja Slushi is on sale for under $300 at Amazon, make the upgrade to a more hydrated summer. Amazon is also tossing in a free $15 credit so you can grab some fancy glasses for your frozen bevvies.

Google's new Pixel 10a lacks novelty, but for a budget phone, that's not such a bad thing.

The Android maker's $500 handset walks the same road that its predecessors have for several years now: It's a slightly downgraded version of last year's Pixel 10.

So, what's new this time around? Besides the lower price and slightly downgraded specs, the camera array is now completely flush with the rest of the phone, eliminating the camera bump entirely (take notes, Samsung and Apple). The end result is a phone that's a lot like the more expensive Pixel 10 and still $100 less than the new budget iPhone 17e Apple just announced.

The Pixel 10a may not be a conversation starter, but not every phone needs to be one, and it's a good smartphone nonetheless.

At launch, you can buy the Google Pixel 10a at Amazon and choose from either a free $100 gift card or a free pair of the Pixel Buds 2a.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Google Pixel 10a (128 GB) $499 at Amazon
$599 Save $100 Get $100 Amazon Gift Card with Purchase Get Deal SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy S26 vs. Google Pixel 10: Comparing specs, prices Google Pixel 10a: Specs Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

Without wasting too much time, here's what you can expect specs-wise from the Pixel 10a:

• 6.3-inch display with 1080x2424 resolution and 60-120Hz adaptive refresh rate

• Up to 3,000 nits peak brightness

• Google Tensor G4 processor

• 5,100mAh battery

• 8GB RAM

• 128/256GB storage

The two most important points of comparison here are going to be the Pixel 9a and Pixel 10. Let's start with the former. The display size and specs are nearly identical, though the new Pixel 10a sports 3,000 nits of peak brightness, making it the brightest A-series Pixel phone to date. Google kept the processor and battery size the same, and didn't mess with RAM or storage, either. You're not getting less with Pixel 10a than you got with Pixel 9a, but you're not really getting much more, either.

Perhaps more crucially, the Pixel 10a is very similar specs-wise to the Pixel 10, a phone that starts at $800. The display is basically identical, the storage options are too, and the battery cell is actually slightly bigger in Pixel 10a than Pixel 10.

The main things Google cut to get the price down to $500 are the RAM (Pixel 10 has 12GB) and the processor. Pixel 10a uses the comparatively old Tensor G4 chip rather than the Tensor G5 introduced with the Pixel 10 lineup last year. This is a little strange and a departure from how Google usually handles the A-series phones, but it doesn't actually affect practical, daily use much.

Finally, there's also one notable camera downgrade from Pixel 10 to 10a, but we'll get to that later.

Google Pixel 10a: Design No more camera bump. Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

Pixel 10a comes in four colors: Lavender, Berry, Fog, and Obsidian. Our review unit is the Lavender model, and I think it looks lovely. That said, for once, the colors aren't the most interesting part of the redesign.

Last year, with the Pixel 9a, Google removed the iconic horizontal camera bar that adorns regular Pixel phones, in favor of something much less visible and intrusive. Pixel 10a maintains the same basic look, but the camera has been sanded down even more, so it's completely flush with the backside of the device.

Yes, unlike most other modern smartphones, you can lay the Pixel 10a down on its back on a flat surface and there will be no wobble whatsoever. Your expensive Samsung Galaxy or iPhone 17 could never.

It's not a huge change, but it's welcome, nonetheless. I was at first opposed to making Pixel A-series phones look different, but thanks to this alteration, I think I now prefer the way they look over the big boy phones.

For what it's worth, Google also slimmed down the bezels, which is always nice. The new phone also uses Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, as opposed to Gorilla Glass 3 on Pixel 9a. It should be more durable now, but frankly, I'm not going to do a bunch of violent drop tests with a review unit phone to find out. That's what JerryRigEverything is for.

Google Pixel 10a: Software Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

This is really the only somewhat sketchy part of the Pixel 10a. Remember earlier when I mentioned that Google didn't bring forward the Tensor 5 chipset from last year? It turns out this decision had some consequences in terms of which flashy AI features are and aren't available on Pixel 10a.

Put simply, this phone does not have complete AI parity with the Pixel 10. Perhaps the biggest missing feature is Magic Cue, a context-dependent assistant that brings up relevant information based on what's happening on your screen. On Pixel 10, if someone texted you to ask about an event in your calendar, Magic Cue would automatically surface the calendar entry for your convenience. That will not happen on Pixel 10a, because Magic Cue just isn't available here.

Credit: Google

The same goes for Daily Hub, a Pixel 10 feature that would act as a, well, hub for news, sports information, and YouTube videos based on your personal interests. To be fair, though, this may not be a chipset problem; Google removed Daily Hub from Pixel 10 to iron out some kinks, and as of January, it's still not back. Automatic voice translation in phone calls is also missing, which is unfortunate because that was probably the best AI feature of the bunch last year.

While the Pixel 10a can't fully replicate the Pixel 10's AI portfolio, it does bring forward Camera Coach, an AI feature from the Pixel 10 that uses AI to assist amateur photographers in finding the best shot composition for whatever photo they're taking. That's kind of it, though. The other noteworthy AI features, like Best Take (which can combine several shots to produce a perfect take), Circle to Search, and Gemini support, were already present in the Pixel 9a and don't seem to work any differently here.

Google Pixel 10a: Performance and battery life Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

For as much as it kinda stinks that Google maintained the older Tensor G4 chip from a software availability perspective, it doesn't affect day-to-day performance that much. Apps load quickly, everything works smoothly, and generally speaking, I can't think of anything performance-wise that went horribly wrong in my time with the Pixel 10a. I can't provide Geekbench benchmarking metrics because that app isn't compatible with the Pixel 10a at the time of writing, but trust me, the phone works fine.

Bringing along the newer Tensor G5 processor might have potentially helped with battery life, though. The battery life on Pixel 10a isn't bad by any means, but it isn't noticeably better than Pixel 9a, either. The cell size is the same, and Google still rates it for about 30 hours of usage, which you can easily get as long as you don't do too much YouTubing or other battery-intensive activities. My charges lasted closer to 24 hours, which is acceptable for a $500 phone but not remarkable.

The good news is that Pixel 10a now supports 30W fast wired charging and 10W wireless charging, so if you have compatible adapters or chargers, you won't need to wait too long for the Pixel 10a to fill up on juice. I wish Google had improved the battery more, but giving users more charging options is nice, at any rate.

Google Pixel 10a: Cameras Credit: Google

Aside from Camera Coach, Google doesn't seem to have added any fun new photography features to Pixel 10a. The camera specs themselves are also identical to Pixel 9a:

• 48MP wide

• 13MP ultra-wide

• 13MP selfie

One major thing that's missing from the Pixel 10a is a third telephoto lens. That was one of the biggest and best additions to the Pixel 10 family last year, and it's not included here, presumably to keep costs down. Still, the digital zoom does a decent enough job by itself.

No zoom. Credit: Alex Perry/Mashable Max zoom. Credit: Alex Perry/Mashable

While the camera setup here isn't any better than Pixel 9a, it's also not any worse. Colors pop and images look sharp, as you can see in the photographs I took while testing the Pixel 10a.

Feeling blue? Credit: Alex Perry/Mashable

Last year, Google brought Macro Focus to Pixel 9a, enabling up-close shots of tiny objects. It's still here, and it still works fine.

Macro-licious. Credit: Alex Perry/Mashable

And Night Sight continues to do its thing, enabling nice shots of things taken in the dark.

Spring hasn't sprung yet in New York. Credit: Alex Perry/Mashable Google Pixel 10a: Final thoughts

The Google Pixel 10a is a perfectly usable phone that doesn't cost too much money. That's really all you can say about it; these mid-range spin-off phones seem to get less and less interesting every year.

Its cameras are fine, but they're not any different from the Pixel 9a. The same goes for the processor and most of the software. It is really disappointing that Google couldn't give the Pixel 10a more AI software parity with Pixel 10, though. This really feels like a slightly more souped-up Pixel 9a with a flatter backside and some nice charging options.

Hopefully, Google can make the Pixel 11a a little more wow-worthy next year.

Opens in a new window Credit: Google Google Pixel 10a (128 GB) $499 at Amazon
  Shop Now Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Google Pixel 10a (128 GB) $499 at Amazon
$599 Save $100 Get $100 Amazon Gift Card with Purchase Get Deal

Apple's budget laptop, the MacBook Neo, is here. There has been lots of hype around Apple's cheapest ever MacBook and its price point starting at $599. At that price range, it finally puts Apple's MacBook line into financial reach for many potential users who just couldn't see themselves spending $1,000 or more for a laptop.

While $599 is a pretty affordable deal for a MacBook, knocking off another $100 would really give the budget PC laptop market some stiff competition. And, that's exactly what Apple has done with its education pricing.

If you go to Apple's Education Store for students and education professionals, Apple is selling the base MacBook Neo which comes with 256GB of storage for a discounted price of $499. If you want to double the storage to 512GB and add Touch ID, then the education price is only $599 or the exact same price as the 256GB base model without the education discount.

SEE ALSO: Apple's MacBook Neo comes in citrus yellow and blush pink. The internet has thoughts.

This is the real killer deal that makes the MacBook Neo a real problem for Windows laptop manufacturers. In fact, looking at Apple's MacBook Neo announcement, it is the only new product the company announced where Apple mentions the $499 education pricing in its announcement and not just in its pricing bullet points.

A $599 MacBook is certainly cheap, but a sub-$500 one, even just psychologically puts it within reach for way more potential buyers.

Credit: Mashable

At $499, Apple opens the door for a whole new user base of students and other first-time Mac owners who aren't necessarily in creative industries or art schools and don't require a super powerful laptop to handle 3D modeling, video editing, or graphic design work.

SEE ALSO: How to preorder the 2026 Apple Studio Display, including the mini-LED Studio Display XDR

There's also that not-so-secret "loophole" that many will undoubtedly take advantage of when buying the MacBook Neo: Apple does not check or verify whether consumers are eligible for the education discount. Technically, anyone can order the $499 MacBook Neo in Apple's Education Store.

By mentioning that $499 education pricing in their announcement though, maybe Apple doesn't even mind in exchange for taking over the budget laptop market with the MacBook Neo, the company's most affordable MacBook yet.

SAVE 57%: As of March 4, the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 robot vacuum-mop is on sale for $299.99, down from $699.99, at Amazon. That's a 57% discount or $400 in savings.

Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 robot vacuum-mop $299.99 at Amazon
$699.99 Save $400   Get Deal at Amazon

If you're sick of vacuuming and mopping your floors but refuse to pay $1,000 to have a robot do it for you, it’s time to look past Roomba (they filed for bankruptcy for a reason!). Shark makes some of the best hybrid vacuums on the market, and one of our favorite models is currently on sale for less than $300.

As of March 4, the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 robot vacuum-mop is on sale for $299.99, down from $699.99, at Amazon. That's a 57% discount or $400 in savings. Plus, if you happen to get approved for an Amazon Business Prime Card, you can knock another $125 off the total.

SEE ALSO: Review: I can't believe how much I loved the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 robot vacuum

Our vacuum expert, Leah Stodart, tested this exact model and named it the "Best Budget Shark Robot Vacuum and Mop Combo," mostly because it actually mops. While most budget hybrids just drag a wet rag across your floor, the Matrix Plus uses sonic mopping that scrubs 100 times per minute to lift dried stains.

"In my testing, I watched the Matrix Plus 2-in-1 successfully clear crumbs near the kitchen counter, kitty litter in my bathroom, and minor drops on hardwood or tile several times — messes that similarly-priced Roombas I tested couldn't conquer in one pass," Stodart writes.

It also features a self-cleaning brushroll that won't get tangled with pet hair, and a bagless, self-emptying base that holds up to 60 days of dirt.

For years, Apple laptops have lived in a world of tasteful restraint: silver, space gray, maybe the occasional muted gold Apple calls starlight. Functional, sleek, and, depending on who you ask, a little boring.

So when Apple unveiled the new MacBook Neo, a lighter, more budget-friendly addition to its laptop lineup, it wasn't just the $599 price tag that caught people's attention. It was the colors.

Do you want a yellow laptop? Apple is banking on it.

SEE ALSO: How to preorder the $599 MacBook Neo, Apple's new budget MacBook

The Neo arrives in four shades (blush, indigo, silver, and citrus), turning a category long dominated by neutral tones into something closer to a personality statement. Online, many viewers immediately seized on the shift, celebrating the return of brighter, more playful hardware — even if the yellow-hued citrus option left some people a little divided.

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Mashable's tech editor Timothy Beck Werth saw the colors in person at Apple's launch event in New York City. The blush model reads as an extremely subtle pink, he said, while the citrus version is much brighter in person and "really pops."

According to Werth, the citrus color "looks really good in person." Credit: Mashable via Timothy Beck Werth The blush MacBook Neo is less bubblegum and more barely-there. Credit: Mashable via Timothy Beck Werth 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 excitement around the Neo's colors also taps into a broader shift in consumer tech. In an era when phones, laptops, and earbuds increasingly look the same, color has become one of the few ways companies can inject personality into otherwise standardized devices.

SEE ALSO: MacBook Neo: Great price, but you need to take a close look at those specs

Apple, notably, used to excel at this. The company's late-'90s and early-2000s lineup — from the candy-colored iMac G3 to the translucent iBook — treated computers less like office equipment and more like personal objects. With the Neo's playful palette and lower price point, the strategy feels familiar: Make the laptop feel approachable, expressive, and especially appealing to students.

The internet doesn't just want faster chips or longer battery life. Sometimes it just wants a laptop that looks fun on a desk.

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.

SAVE $20: As of March 4, get the DJI Mic Mini (2 TX + 1 RX + Charging Case) for $79 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $99. That's a discount of 20% and the lowest price we've seen.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon DJI Mic Mini (2 TX + 1 RX + Charging Case) $79 at Amazon
$99 Save $20   Get Deal

Whether you're an aspiring creator or just want better audio for what you're already making, the DJI Mic Mini is a fantastic pick when it comes to microphones. This tiny model can already be seen all over the likes of TikTok, and for good reason: it's affordable, reliable, and high-quality. And if you don't have one just yet, now's the time to buy.

As of March 4, get the DJI Mic Mini (2 TX + 1 RX + Charging Case) for $79 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $99. That's $20 off and a discount of 20%. It's also the lowest price we've seen.

SEE ALSO: Beginners can capture 360° video footage in 4K with this DJI Mini 5 Pro drone — and it’s on sale right now

This bundle comes with everything you need to start recording better audio while staying as minimal with the tech as possible. It comes with the DJI Mic Mini receiver, two transmitters, a charging cable, phone adapter, four windscreens, two magnetic clips, and a case to keep it all in.

The charging case nets you up to 48 hours of recording time, and you can use it with a variety of other tech you've probably already got, like one of DJI's cameras. That gives you a complete content creation setup. But most importantly, you save a ton on pricier equipment that might not even be able to match what DJI has achieved here.

If you're ready to add a new mic to your tech arsenal that's already well-loved in the content creator sphere, this is the one to get, especially while it's still discounted.

GET 1 MONTH FREE: Through March 10, Taco Bell rewards members can get one free month of Peacock Select. That's $7.99 in savings.

Opens in a new window Credit: Peacock Peacock Select free for one month with Taco Bell rewards (save $7.99) Learn More

I don't know about you, but any chance I have to score a streaming service for free in 2026, I'm taking. If you haven't redeemed a Peacock streaming deal in the last year, you can score a free month through a rewards program you may already be a part of: Taco Bell.

Taco Bell's annual Live Más Live event kicks off March 10 and will be streaming only on Peacock. Thus, your favorite fast food chain is offering free one-month subscriptions to Peacock Select ($7.99 value) to new subscribers leading up to the event. The limited time offer is available through March 10 or when the supply of codes is depleted, and you'll have to redeem the code by March 17 or else it will no longer work. In other words, take advantage of this deal sooner rather than later.

Credit: Peacock / Taco Bell

Taped live from the Hollywood Palladium, Live Más Live returns for its third year of shenanigans. It's essentially a Hollywood-inspired variety show featuring guest appearances, original music, comedic bits, fan moments, and more to reveal the Taco Bell menu innovations for the year. Vince Staples will host the one-night special on March 10 and special guests will include Ariana Madix, Benson Boone, Doja Cat, Fernando Mendoza, and more.

Head to the Taco Bell app and sign up for the rewards program to claim your free Peacock subscription. Once claimed, you'll receive an email with a unique redemption code to use on the Peacock website or app when you sign up.

Peacock's Select tier typically costs $7.99 per month or $79.99 per year and unlocks access to the streamer's ad-supported TV library (minus Peacock Originals). Once your free month is up, you'll automatically be charged full price unless you cancel.

SAVE $200 + GET A FREE $200 GIFT CARD: Pre-order the new Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra from Amazon and get a free $200 Amazon gift card. Plus, Amazon is offering a free storage upgrade, making the 512GB version cost $1,299 — the same price as the 256GB model.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung / Amazon Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra (512GB) $1,299 at Amazon
$1,499 Save $200 Get a free $200 Amazon gift card Get Deal

Ready to upgrade your phone? If you prefer Android devices, Samsung is launching new models shortly. Last week at Samsung Unpacked, the brand announced the Galaxy S26 Ultra. If you're in need of a new phone, now might be a perfect time thanks to pre-order deals. Check out this great offer today from Amazon.

As of March 4, pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra from Amazon come with a free $200 Amazon gift card and a free storage upgrade. In total, you'll be paying $1,299 for the 512GB version, which is the list price for the 256GB model. That's a $200 discount compared to the normal $1,499 price for the 512GB model.

Something for free in this economy? Yes, please. How about two free things? Amazon is treating us to not only a free storage upgrade with this Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra deal, but they're also throwing in a free $200 gift card.

SEE ALSO: Apple announces new Studio Display and Studio Display XDR — preorders now live

The new Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra isn't massively different compared to the S25 Ultra, but it does come with some fresh updates. Maybe the biggest and most exciting is the Privacy Display. "Advertised as a world first, the S26 Ultra's Privacy display reduces its screen's viewing angle so that curious bystanders will have a harder time seeing which part of Heated Rivalry you're rewatching," wrote Mashable Assistant Editor Amanda Yeo in her review.

If you've been considering an upgrade for your Android phone, today's deal at Amazon makes for a convincing case to make the move to the new Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. For the price of the 256GB model, you'll get the 512GB version and score a free $200 Amazon gift card. It's a win-win.

SAVE 35%: As of March 4, the Apple AirTag (1st Gen) four-pack is on sale for $64, down from $99, at Amazon. That's a 35% discount, or $35 in savings.

Apple AirTag (1st Gen) $64 at Amazon
$99 Save $35   Get Deal at Amazon Get Deal at Walmart Get Deal at Best Buy

I actually use Apple AirTags to keep tabs on my dogs when I'm visiting my mom's house, but they're just as handy for tracking your keys, wallet, luggage, or backpack. If you've been waiting for a price drop to buy a few, Amazon's got a four-pack on sale for $64 right now.

SEE ALSO: How to preorder the $599 MacBook Neo, Apple's new budget MacBook

As of March 4, the Apple AirTag (1st Gen) four-pack is on sale for $64 (just $1.01 away from its record-low price), down from $99, at Amazon. That's around $16 per tracker, which is a pretty good deal for some peace of mind.

AirTags are super easy to use — they feature a simple one-tap setup that connects them to your iPhone or iPad. From there, you can track your items alongside your other Apple devices in the Find My app. They feature a built-in speaker so you can play a sound to locate items lost in the couch cushions, and select iPhone models can even use Precision Finding with Ultra Wideband technology to lead you right to your nearby tag. They also have an IP67 water- and dust-resistant rating and use a standard, easily replaceable CR2032 coin cell battery, so you won't have to throw them away when they eventually die.

SAVE $500: As of March 4, get the 55-inch Samsung S90F OLED 4K Smart TV for $1,097.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $1,597.99. That's a discount of 31% and the lowest price we've seen.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon 55-inch Samsung S90F OLED 4K Smart TV $1,097.99 at Amazon
$1,597.99 Save $500   Get Deal

Ready for a bigger and better TV? These days, you don't have to spend an arm and a leg to get a decent model. In fact, you can get some excellent displays for less, as evidenced by this Samsung deal. We're heading into spring, so if your spring cleaning plans include doing some tech swapping, this discounted TV might very well become a staple of your living room since you can get it for significantly less right now.

As of March 4, get the 55-inch Samsung S90F OLED 4K Smart TV for $1,097.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $1,597.99. That's $500 off and a discount of 31%. It's also the lowest price we've seen.

SEE ALSO: Best TVs under $500: Low-budget, high-quality TVs in every size

This 55-inch OLED 4K TV is all about serving up a great picture, powered by the brand's most advanced 4K AI processor. It uses 128 neural networks to give you a picture that's improved by AI, wth better sound and an optimized 4K experience. It can upscale everything you watch to make sure you get the best picture possible.

With intelligently upscaled picture that comes in HDR-like quality, you get deeper dark hues, brighter colors, and sharper details. It also gives gamers plenty to be happy about with smoother motion, reduced tearing, and higher speeds for VRR gaming at 4K 144Hz.

There's a lot to love about this TV, whether you're a casual watcher or you want something a little more advanced as the showpiece of your living room. But if you want to get it for this little cash, you'll have to jump on it before the sale ends.

PREORDER NOW: Today is your last chance to preorder Pokémon Pokopia for the Nintendo Switch 2 before its March 5 release, and you can get a free canvas tote at Best Buy or an in-game gift at Amazon.

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

The highly anticipated Pokémon Pokopia officially launches tomorrow for the Nintendo Switch 2, which means today is your last chance to score a preorder bonus. Whether you want a physical freebie or an exclusive in-game perk, you have two options for grabbing the game before release day.

SEE ALSO: 'Pokémon Pokopia' is 'Minecraft' for Pokémon, and fans will lose hundreds of hours to it

As of March 4, you can preorder Pokémon Pokopia for $69.99 at both Best Buy and Amazon. Here are the deets:

• Best Buy ($69.99): Preordering here gets you a free canvas tote bag to carry around your real-world items. This is only valid while in-stock supplies last and excludes prior purchases.

• Amazon ($69.99): Preordering here scores you an exclusive in-game gift. More importantly, it qualifies for Amazon's Pre-order Price Guarantee — if the price drops before the end of release day, you automatically pay the lowest amount. (Just keep in mind this promotion expires tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT, and the game must be listed as "sold by Amazon.com").

As for the game itself, our own Tech Reporter Alex Perry recently went hands-on and called it the "best Pokémon spin-off I've ever played." Perry describes Pokopia as a mashup of Minecraft, Animal Crossing, and Stardew Valley. You play as a human-like Ditto tasked with rebuilding ruined settlements using the abilities of the Pokémon you befriend. The amount of mechanical depth is genuinely impressive — you can dig out creeks, power an entire town with utility poles, or just focus on becoming roommates with a Scyther (something Perry says he did at the "earliest opportunity, because Scyther is cool as hell.")

SAVE $600: As of March 4, Amazon has the Bluetti Elite 400 portable power station on sale for $1,298.98. That's 32% off its list price of $1,899 and its lowest price on record.

Opens in a new window Credit: Bluetti Bluetti Elite 400 portable power station $1,298.98 at Amazon
$1,899 Save $600.02   Get Deal

Between off-grid adventures and unexpected power outages, portable power stations have become must-have gadgets. But they're definitely not cheap. So any chance you have to sweeten the deal, we recommend jumping on. For instance, Amazon has one of Bluetti's most premium power stations on sale for $600 off right now — its best price on record.

As of March 4, you can invest in the Bluetti Elite 400 portable power station for $1,298.98 at Amazon instead of dropping the usual $1,899. That's 32% in savings and the cheapest this particular model has ever been, according to our favorite price-tracking tool.

While the Elite 400 is technically considered "portable," thanks to its telescopic handle and wheels, it weighs over 80 pounds. So it's more like toting around a hefty suitcase. But there's a reason for that bulk; this baby is hella powerful. It has a 3840Wh capacity and 2600W output (3900W surge power), so it can reliably keep everything from a refrigerator to power tools to coffee makers up and running. It packs nine versatile ports, including four AC outlets, two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, and a DC port.

You can bring the Bluetti Elite 400 back up to a full charge in just 2.5 hours using a regular outlet. If you're living off-grid, a solar panel or car port can also give you a power boost.

It may not be the most portable amongst power stations, but the Bluetti Elite 400 packs a huge punch. And at $600 off, it's a pretty stellar value.