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For anyone who wants to de-Google their phone, or at least limit how much data Google can collect on them, Google Maps is often the hardest app to replace. It's so slick and powerful that it's difficult for its rivals to match it. But I took the plunge with Magic Earth, a privacy-centric navigation app, and haven't looked back.

In the usual GPU release cycle, we're long overdue for a refresh. Nvidia's not released any new graphics cards since the RTX 50-series finished rolling out. Normally, we'd have expected to see the Super refresh at CES 2026 with a launch soon after ... so, now nearly eight months ago.

The OBD II port might seem like a convenient place to power a dash cam, especially with adapters that promise an easy, tool-free installation. But while it can work in some cases, it's generally not the best option for long-term use.

Save 14%: As of Aug. 3, you can pick up the Sony LinkBuds Clip on sale for $198 at Amazon and Sony, saving you $31.99 off their $229.99 list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony LinkBuds Clip $198 at Amazon
$229.99 Save $31.99   Get Deal

Open earbuds options have never been more abundant, but if you're in the market for a cuff-style pair, you've probably seen the Bose Ultra Open earbuds recommended over and over again.

Don't get me wrong, they're great earbuds. They're also a hefty investment, a couple of years old, and far from your only worthwhile pair to look at. One of my other favorite options, the Sony LinkBuds Clip, are on sale for $198 at Amazon and Sony, down from their usual price of $229.99.

SEE ALSO: The 6 best open earbuds stay put, sound great, and keep us aware of the world

Like the Bose buds, they wrap in a cuff around the ear, providing a comfortable all-day wear. In my direct comparison of the two earbuds, I found that while the Sony's tended to run a bit quieter, they excelled at offering more clarity and detail in the audio — a feat which isn't easy for open earbuds. The battery life is also great, offering nine hours of playback per charge and 37 hours with the case overall. The LinkBuds Clip are also IPX4 rated, meaning you're in the clear to take them to the gym without much worry.

At $229.99, they're a solid value. At $198, however, they're even more approachable. It's not quite the $178 low we saw over Prime Day, but if you've been looking for a reliable pair of earbuds to keep you aware of the world around you while providing a great audio experience, you don't need to look any further.

What do Olivia Rodrigo, Munchlax, classical art, and the X-Files have in common?

That's right, they're all inspirations behind the newest Lego sets, once again proving that if you're a fan of something, there's probably a Lego set to match.

SEE ALSO: Our 15 favorite Lego sets, sourced from actual Lego fans

The result is that Lego has quite the extensive catalog, even if you're just looking at the new releases, and even if you're just looking at Legos for adults. With the start of the new month, I did my due diligence to round up the best new Lego sets available. All told, I found 10 of the best new Lego sets for August, from a Botanicals pothos build and Pokémon you can actually battle with to Olivia Rodrigo flowers and a Jaguar E-Type. Check them out below.

Lego Minecraft Chicken Jockey

It's not just a phrase yelled by hordes of children during screenings of A Minecraft Movie — it's a Lego set, too. Most child fans of Minecraft are likely to appreciate this set, but I'm betting adult fans of the sandbox game will be at least a little tickled by what Lego has concocted.

Pieces: 344 Recommended age: 9+

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Minecraft Chicken Jockey $29.99 at Lego
  Shop Now Lego Creator 3-in-1 Floral Decor Perfume Bottle Nothing hits like a little perfume bottle decor. Credit: Lego

The fragrance industry is having a bit of a moment, so naturally, Lego needs to get in on the fun. This set dropped in June, so while it's not brand new, it's certainly worth a mention due to its popularity — at the time of writing, the set is currently on backorder, but will ship out by Aug. 15.

Pieces: 286 Recommended age: 8+

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Creator 3-in-1 Floral Decor Perfume Bottle $29.99 at Lego
  Shop Now Lego Botanicals Hanging Golden Pothos I promise you: this is a plant you can keep alive. Credit: Lego

Even for the least green of thumbs, a golden pothos is a near-unkillable plant, but if you really want a test run or the certainty that it will actually never die, this Lego is a good alternative. It's one of several recent Botanicals additions, and while it's hard to pick favorites, the hanging vines of this set are quite unique and impressively accurate in their appearance.

Pieces: 372 Recommended age: 18+

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Botanicals Hanging Golden Pothos $59.99 at Lego
  Shop Now Lego Olivia Rodrigo Flower Bouquet This set + you = <3 Credit: Lego

Can't get enough of crying listening to Olivia Rodrigo's latest album? Same! To keep the good times going, you can now listen and re-listen to Rodrigo's musical articulation of the blossoming and dissolution of a relationship while building a Lego bouquet inspired by her. The recommended age for this set is nine years plus, while the recommended age for experiencing the gut punch of familiarity on the song "Less" is never. If the flowers aren't your jam (or you need more bricks to put together while you go through her discography), there are four more Rodrigo-themed sets to check out.

Pieces: 400 Recommended age: 9+

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Olivia Rodrigo Flower Bouquet $49.99 at Lego
  Shop Now Lego Pokémon Munchlax A king upon his throne. Credit: Lego

We'll get to the Lego Pokémon Smart Play sets shortly, but Munchlax deserves a moment. Look at him! There is no, and will never be, a Pokémon more suited to a Lego makeover than Munchlax. Perfect execution, no notes.

Pieces: 757 Recommended age: 18+

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Pokémon Munchlax $69.99 at Lego
  Shop Now Lego Ideas E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial E.T. phone home? More like E.T. in your home. Credit: Lego

Maybe Elliot didn't get to keep E.T. close, but you certainly can. (Btw, does anyone else habitually watch Henry Thomas's E.T. audition at least a couple times a year?) The Lego E.T. isn't exactly true to size — he stands at nine-and-a-half inches tall, but Lego nailed the shape, the point, and made it so you can rotate his head 360 degrees. So the important bases are covered.

Pieces: 1,226 Recommended age: 18+

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Ideas E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial $139.99 at Lego
  Shop Now Lego Icons Jaguar E-Type That's class, baby. Credit: Lego

I used to drive a green Mini Cooper, so I will admit to some bias regarding green British cars. That said, this model is stunning, and a good deal cheaper than buying a real Jaguar E-Type. While (shockingly) you can't drive it around, like a real car, you can look under the hood, fold back the roof, and store an included five-piece building kit in the trunk.

Pieces: 1,673 Recommended age: 18+

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Icons Jaguar E-Type $139.99 at Lego
  Shop Now Lego Ideas 'The X-Files' The real Gillian Anderson is not included (unfortunately). Credit: Lego

Lego's site already features the copy, "The bricks are out there," so there's not much I can add to this conversation. What I will say is that this set features an alien, Scully, Mulder, a UFO, a spooky forest, and if you order between Aug. 1 and 10, a free mini set of Scully's lab. What more could an X-Files fan need?

Pieces: 1,478 Recommended age: 18+

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Ideas 'The X-Files' $199.99 at Lego
  Shop Now Lego Super Mario Donkey Kong Arcade A no brainer buy for DK fans. Credit: Lego

Nostalgia peaks on this Donkey Kong arcade set. From the iconic red lettering to the barrels found in the original arcade game, this is Lego and Donkey Kong working together in beautiful tandem. And yes, you can actually release barrels and use the joystick to move Jumpman.

Pieces: 1,371 Recommended age: 18+

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Super Mario Donkey Kong Arcade $199.99 at Lego
  Get Deal Lego Art Gustav Klimt 'The Kiss' Oil on canvas? No. Brick on brick. Credit: Lego

Will they hang Lego Art pieces in museums one day? Maybe they should, because the more releases from this brand, the more they make the case that the sets themselves are legitimate works of art. The latest addition, Gustav Klimt's The Kiss, is no departure. At $299.99, it's certainly an investment, but for a 4,000-piece set you can hang on the wall, you're getting a legitimate piece of decor. Unlike the rest of the August-release sets on this list, this one isn't available until Aug. 4, but man, does it look worth the wait.

Pieces: 4,000 Recommended age: 18+

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Art Gustav Klimt The Kiss $299.99 at Lego
  Shop Now Lego Smart Play Pokémon And with this we are one step closer to society's dream of Pokémon IRL. Credit: Lego

The Smart Play series has found its footing with the Pokémon sets. Though the Star Wars sets were interesting, Pokémon has breathed new life into the interactive design. There are plenty of sets to choose from: the Training House with Pikachu and Charizard vs. Jolteon Ultimate Battle sets are complete kits with Smart Bricks. There are six additional sets that are Smart Play compatible: Mewtwo's Lab Break, Eevee and Lapras's Treasure Hunt, Berry Bash with Bulbasaur and Bidoof, Trainer's Buggy Adventure with Squirtle, Charmander and Geodude's Cavern Clash, and Cubone and Gengar's Spooky Showdown. Mashable's Timothy Werth broke down all the new tech and got in some hands-on experience with the sets, but in short, the Smart Brick tech means the Pokémon make their signature noises (adorable), train, and battle your Pokémon.

Pieces: 88 to 831 Recommended age: 6+ to 10+

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Smart Play Pokémon sets From $14.99 to $119.99 Shop Now

TL;DR: Now through Aug. 9, Best Buy is bundling free Best Buy e-gift cards with select Apple Gift Cards.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Gift Card   Shop Now

If you regularly spend money in the Apple ecosystem (e.g., App Store purchases, Apple Music subscriptions, or hardware), Best Buy has a deal to get extra value out of that spending.

SEE ALSO: Apple said to delay smart glasses launch after Meta backlash

From Aug. 3 through Aug. 9, Best Buy is bundling free e-gift cards with select Apple Gift Cards. If you buy a $50 Apple Gift Card, you'll get a free $5 Best Buy e-gift card, and buying a $100 Apple Gift Card gets you a $10 bonus card. All you have to do is add the card to your cart and check out — the promo will auto-apply.

Best Buy will email you the e-gift card after your order is processed or picked up. As with most of these promos, it requires a valid email address, applies to in-stock items only, and excludes Marketplace products. If you already plan on paying for Apple services or saved-up app purchases, it's an easy way to pocket free store credit for your next tech purchase.

The start of a new month means major streaming services, including Netflix and HBO Max, are adding new movies to their libraries. Speaking of streamers, Netflix will be the home of my top choice of the week—a supernatural sci-fi thriller about a family stuck inside their home.

SAVE $70: The DJI Mini 3 Fly More Combo is on sale at Amazon for $649, down from the list price of $719. That's a 10% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: DJI DJI Mini 3 Fly More Combo $649 at Amazon
$719 Save $70   Get Deal

You don't always have to board an airplane to fly. With two feet firmly planted on the ground, you can take off with a drone to explore the skies. If you've been considering buying a DJI drone but have been waiting for the right deal, today might be your day.

As of Aug. 3, the DJI Mini 3 Fly More Combo is on sale at Amazon for $649, marked down from the normal price of $719. That's a 10% discount that shaves $70 off the price.

Before the summer is over, take to the skies with a new DJI Mini 3. It comes packed with DJI drone features that are great for all skill levels, even complete beginners. In no time, you'll be capturing pro-level footage in 4K HDR, taking true vertical shots, and doing boomerang maneuvers with one touch.

In terms of functionality, the DJI Mini 3 can transmit video from almost 33,000 feet away, and it has level 5 wind resistance which can handle a bit over 23-mile-per-hour winds. The auto-take off and auto-land function allow you to do both with just one single tap.

SEE ALSO: Beat the next blackout: Save on Anker’s fast-charging Solix C1000 power station at Amazon

The Fly More Combo puts you in line for tons of accessories to enhance the flying experience. For starters, there are three DJI Intelligent Flight batteries for a total of 114 minutes of flight time. There's also the DJI RC for easy navigation, spare propellers, a two-way charging hub, gimbal protector, shoulder bag, and more.

DJI makes some of the most reliable creator gadgets, like the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 and the DJI Mic Mini. The DJI Mini 3 drone comes with the same top-tier specs for creators, and it's on sale for $70 off.

Apple's newly launched leasing program, Apple Upgrade, is drawing attention from tech commentators like Max Tech YouTuber Vadim Yuryev, who says the plan can leave consumers better off financially than paying full price up front, provided they understand the fine print.

Apple introduced the program on July 28, allowing customers to lease an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch for a low monthly fee instead of paying the full retail price. The service is administered through Klarna and requires a soft credit check for approval. It should also be noted that once a lease ends, customers can upgrade, pay a one-time fee to keep the device, or return it. So far, Apple has not disclosed how the buyout fee will be calculated.

We asked you to predict what Apple will do next. See the results and find out how to get a shot at winning an Apple Watch!

In a post on X in response to Bloomberg's Apple expert Mark Gurman, Yuryev walked through the math, using a $2,999 MacBook Pro as an example.

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

He said a 36-month lease would run $58 per month, leaving a $911 balance due at the end — though Apple gives lessees six additional months to decide, during which payments drop to $53 per month. Yuryev argued that paying off that final balance makes sense because the device could then be resold for "$1,500+ on eBay or Facebook marketplace," rather than the customer simply losing the amount paid in over the life of the lease.

Yuryev emphasized that "you never pay more" than the device's MSRP, since Apple Upgrade carries no interest or lease fees. He added that the primary risk is failing to keep up with payments or falling short on the final balance, and noted that once a device is paid off, users can start a new lease while keeping the original one.

Gurman, whose original post Yuryev was replying to, had cautioned that comparing outright purchases, financing, and resale value requires shoppers to run their own numbers — something he suggested most buyers are unlikely to do.

Of course, potential buyers (or, in this case, renters) should have a healthy skepticism of any kind of leasing arrangement, even Apple Upgrade.

The math only favors the consumer under fairly specific conditions. As discussed, the program doesn't lower the actual price of a device — it simply spreads the cost into smaller, easier-to-swallow payments, and the best-case scenario Yuryev outlined requires a lessee to save up several hundred dollars for a lump-sum payoff at the end of the term, then successfully resell the device for its full resale value. And that's assuming the used market isn't overrun with other used lease devices, which would further lower the potential resale price.

So, maybe the real strategy here is to pull a patient gamer and wait a couple of years to get an M5 MacBook for half the price. Then, you'll actually own the device outright, with no extra math required.

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

Modern cars are packed with more technology than ever before, but that doesn't always translate into better long-term ownership. As vehicles become increasingly complex, finding one built to last has become more difficult.

Rumor has it that Apple has been hard at work on AirPods with built-in cameras for a while now. But, apparently, they might come out even sooner than expected.

This information comes courtesy of Mark Gurman's Power On newsletter over at Bloomberg. According to Gurman, Apple has been internally testing two versions of AirPods with cameras, one codenamed B798 and another codenamed B790. The former is the one we've known about for a while, but the latter was spotted more recently and is reportedly coming along more quickly, Gurman reported.

SEE ALSO: Survey says: Here are the Apple products readers still expect this year

Gurman said references to the B790 model are already appearing in iOS 27 beta code, and Apple could launch the product as soon as this year. Given that there isn't all that much of "this year" left, we could see these new AirPods sooner rather than later. If Apple sticks to its usual schedule, new AirPods could arrive at the September iPhone launch event alongside the iPhone 18; the Apple AirPods Pro 3 were unveiled on Sept. 9, at last year's iPhone 17 launch event.

As for the name, rumors suggest AI-powered AirPods could be launched under a name like AirPods Pro Ultra.

Gurman didn't share any specifics about what makes the B790 different from the other previously reported model, but older news reports about the camera-equipped AirPods suggested Apple is aiming more for a wearable AI assistant than a surveillance or content-creation device. The cameras will not capture photos or videos; rather, they will analyze what they see to support an onboard assistant like, say, the new Siri AI. There would also be a small onboard LED privacy indicator to let other people know the cameras are at work, similar to smart glasses.

Speaking of smart glasses and privacy, Gurman recently reported that Apple may delay the launch of its rumored smart glasses after a backlash to Meta Ray-Ban glasses and inappropriate and harassing behavior by some users.

Presumably, Apple will also keep selling AirPods that are only useful for listening to podcasts and music, too.

Furious has introduced Catherine (Lola Petticrew) through her kills and the manipulative strategies she's undertaken to achieve them. But in episode 4 of Elizabeth Meriwether's new crime drama, FBI agent Alice Black (Emmy Rossum) uncovers the past of this mysterious killer, including her name, the meaning of her memory box, and her motive.

In "Flash Flood," a trip to a group home for children reveals the that Catherine was besotted with Isabel, who died under mysterious circumstances years ago. Catherine is on a murder-fueled quest to find out what happened, and make anyone involved with Isabel's death pay.

SEE ALSO: How 'Furious' delves into a world of sex and violence without being exploitative

In an interview with Petticrew, they said of Catherine's relationship with Isabel, "She's absolutely head over heels in love with Isabel. I mean, that's her total motivation... She was totally and utterly in love with her, and she was her best friend."

Petticrew also spoke to the meaning of the memory box, which a social worker tells Alice was encouraged to give the foster kids hope for their futures.

"That box of memories and those couple of bags are all that she has," Petticrew said. "She has difficulty remembering a lot of things, and so I think it's her attempt to try to map things out, in a way. And she's a magpie; she's attracted to shiny things. That's just kind of who she is. She likes the garish and the big."

They also reflected on the dance scene, where Catherine dances in Alden's mother's bedroom to Rihanna's "We Found Love."

"When she dances to that Rihanna song, for me, that felt like," Pettigrew mused, "she was constantly forced from being a child to use her body in a way that is for the eyes of men. And in the performance of that dance, I wanted it to be animalistic in the sense that this is her moving her body in the way that she wants it to move, in the way that she feels comfortable with. It is an exercise to let go and feel like herself. And so that sequence was actually really important."

Furious is now streaming on Hulu, with a new episode each Monday.

At a glance

• Orchard is an open-source framework for scalable and cost-effective agentic AI research, built around Orchard Env, a reusable environment service for training and evaluating agents across task domains.
• The same Orchard infrastructure supports software-engineering, web-navigation, and personal-assistant agents, and can train them directly inside real deployment harnesses such as Codex, OpenClaw, and ZeroClaw—letting researchers reuse environments, data pipelines, and evaluation workflows across tasks. 
• Orchard-SWE, Orchard-GUI, and Orchard-Claw demonstrate that relatively small open-weight models can achieve strong results on complex real-world tasks. For example, Orchard-SWE reaches 69.7% on SWE-bench Verified—73.0% with value-model reranking—using only about 3 billion active parameters, approaching frontier systems using more than 10 times larger models. 

Alongside the models and workflows, the project releases training data and evaluation methods intended to help the broader research community build and study open agentic systems. Artificial intelligence is rapidly moving beyond static question-answering toward autonomous agents that can plan, reason, and act across complex, multistep environments. These systems can fix bugs in complex codebases, navigate the web on a user’s behalf, and manage workflows involving calendars and email.  

While there is excitement around agentic AI’s capabilities, the research community faces a persistent bottleneck. Building state-of-the-art agentic systems often requires proprietary infrastructure, including custom sandboxes, closed training pipelines, and proprietary datasets that most researchers and practitioners cannot access or reproduce.

To address this gap, we introduce Orchard (opens in new tab), an open-source framework for scalable agentic modeling. At the center of Orchard is Orchard Env, a lightweight, Kubernetes environment that provides reusable isolated components for running and building agents at scale—from collecting training data to reinforcement learning rollouts and evaluation.  

Unlike many existing frameworks, Orchard Env is designed to support different agent systems and task types without modification. The same service can support software-engineering agents, web-browsing agents, and personal-assistant agents across domains. 

To demonstrate this approach, we are releasing three domain-specific training recipes—Orchard-SWE, Orchard-GUI, and Orchard-Claw. (opens in new tab) We are also releasing the training data and evaluation methods used to build them.

PODCAST SERIES

AI Testing and Evaluation: Learnings from Science and Industry

Discover how Microsoft is learning from other domains to advance evaluation and testing as a pillar of AI governance.

Listen now Opens in a new tab Environment layer that scales across types of tasks

The central idea behind Orchard is that the runtime environment should be a standalone, reusable service rather than infrastructure embedded inside a specific training framework. Orchard Env’s Kubernetes foundation enables it to create, manage, and remove thousands of isolated components in parallel.

The system is designed to work across tasks like coding, web browsing, using tools. It is also designed to work across different agent systems, along with stages of the training and evaluation process, including data distillation and reinforcement learning rollouts.

This flexibility makes Orchard practical at a research scale. Teams can introduce new benchmarks, agent systems, or training algorithms without rebuilding the underlying infrastructure from scratch.

Orchard also makes it possible to train agents inside any harness. Today’s most capable agents rarely run as a bare model. They operate through sophisticated harnesses—such as Claude Code, Codex, and OpenClaw—that manage multi-turn reasoning, tool use, and connections to external systems. Open training tools usually cannot handle these stateful, multi-process harnesses, forcing researchers to train on a simplified stand-in and then deploy in the real setting, which creates a mismatch. Orchard closes this gap: a lightweight proxy records the harness’s own model calls as training data while each rollout runs in its own container, so an agent can be trained end-to-end directly in the harness that it will be deployed with—OpenClaw, Codex, ZeroClaw, or others—and across several harnesses.

Orchard-SWE: Advancing open-source software engineering agents

Software engineering is one of the most demanding settings for autonomous agents. It requires multi-step reasoning over real codebases, tool use, and the ability to recover from mistakes. Orchard-SWE is our training workflow for this domain. It is built using the Mini-SWE-Agent framework, designed to autonomously solve software engineering tasks, and evaluated on the widely used SWE-bench Verified benchmark, which tests a model’s ability to navigate, diagnose, and repair real-world codebases.

To train the system, we distilled 107,000 agent interactions from two advanced open-weight models (MiniMax-M2.5 and Qwen3.5-397B) covering a broad range of GitHub Issues. The training process uses credit-assignment supervised fine-tuning: rather than discarding attempts where the agent failed to fully resolve an issue, the system learns from the productive portions of those partial attempts, expanding the amount of useful training data available to the model.

Reinforcement learning comes next, but its feedback is sparse—an agent usually learns only whether its final patch passed or failed the hidden tests. We start with Balanced Adaptive Rollout, designed to make the most of these infrequent success signals, and then add two “dense reward” techniques for richer guidance: on-policy distillation, in which a stronger teacher model scores the agent’s decisions step by step, and a process reward model, in which an AI judge rewards sound problem-solving process—writing tests that reproduce the bug, verifying the fix, and checking that existing behavior still works—independent of whether the final tests passed. 

Finally, we train a value model on past rollouts to rerank candidate solutions. Reinforcement learning generates many practice trajectories that are normally discarded; instead, trajectories from 20 prior experiments train a compact 4-billion-parameter value model that recognizes high-quality solutions, and at problem-solving time it scores several candidate answers and picks the best one. Together, these techniques take Orchard-SWE from a 61.4% baseline on SWE-bench Verified to 69.1% with Balanced Adaptive Rollout and 69.7% with the dense-reward techniques—a new state of the art among open-source models of comparable size (roughly 3 billion active parameters)—rising to 73% with value-model reranking, approaching frontier systems more than 10 times larger, as shown in Figure 1. 

Orchard-GUI: A lightweight browser agent for real-world web tasks

Web navigation presents a different set of challenges. Agents must interpret visual layouts, interact with dynamic interfaces, and complete open-ended tasks described only in natural language.

Orchard-GUI trains a 4-billion-parameter vision-language model as a browser agent using a relatively small amount of supervision: 400 distilled demonstrations combined with 2,200 open-ended training tasks. Despite this limited training data, the resulting model achieves strong results across several web-navigation benchmarks: 74.1% on WebVoyager, 67.0% on Online-Mind2Web, and 64.0% on DeepShop, for an average of 68.4%, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Performance comparison. Left: Orchard-SWE (35B-A3B, ~3B active) reaches 69.7% on SWE-bench Verified—73% with value-model reranking—matching frontier systems more than 10x larger. Right: Orchard-GUI (4B) achieves 68.4% average success across WebVoyager, Online-Mind2web, and DeepShop, making it the strongest open-source GUI agent while staying on par with proprietary systems from OpenAI and Google.

These results place Orchard-GUI among the strongest open-source web agents to date while remaining competitive with larger proprietary models. The results also suggest that with the right training approach and environment, small open models can perform well on real-world web tasks.

Orchard-Claw: Personal assistant agents for everyday productivity

Many of the most impactful agentic applications involve everyday productivity tasks, including reading and drafting emails, managing calendars, searching for information, and coordinating across tools. Orchard-Claw focuses on personal-assistant tasks by training an agent on just 200 synthetic tasks. Evaluated on Claw-Eval, a benchmark covering realistic productivity workflows, it successfully completes 59.6% of tasks when given up to three attempts. That increases to 73.9% when paired with the stronger ZeroClaw agent system.

Because Orchard can train agents directly inside real deployment harnesses, Orchard-Claw is trained across several of them—including ReACT, ZeroClaw, OpenClaw, and Codex—rather than a single simplified loop. Training inside these real harnesses substantially improves the agent’s reliability; under the Codex harness, for example, its success rate rises from 18.6% for the untrained model to 51.5% after Orchard training. 

Figure 2. Overview of the Orchard framework. Orchard Env (center) is a lightweight, Kubernetes-native environment service that provides shared capabilities such as sandbox management, command execution, file access, network controls, a REST API, and agent integration. It supports a range of task environments (bottom row) and is used across three task domains (top row): Orchard-SWE (software engineering), Orchard-GUI (browser navigation), and Orchard-Claw (AI personal assistant). Implications and the road ahead

Orchard’s results reinforce a broader point: the environment layer matters. By making the underlying infrastructure open, lightweight, and reusable, Orchard lowers the cost of agentic AI research. Teams no longer need to build custom isolated environments from scratch or depend on proprietary cloud services. The same Orchard Env can be used to generate training data, run reinforcement learning rollouts, and evaluate final models without rebuilding the system each time.

Looking ahead, we see reusing training experience as a promising direction toward cumulative agent learning. Instead of discarding trajectories once a training run finishes, we treat them as persistent assets—for example, distilling them into reusable value models. This enables agentic experience to accumulate over time, allowing each new generation of agents to inherit and extend the knowledge acquired by previous ones, rather than starting from scratch. 

The data efficiency demonstrated by Orchard-GUI suggests that larger-scale web agents could be trained without requiring large amounts of manually created training data. By releasing the complete Orchard stack, including the environment service, training pipelines, and training datasets, we hope to help the broader research community build more capable open agents more quickly. 

Acknowledgements

We thank the teams at Microsoft Research and collaborating institutions for their contributions to Orchard, as well as the open-source community whose benchmarks and tools made this research possible.

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The post Orchard: An open framework for scalable agentic AI appeared first on Microsoft Research.

Save 35%: Woot's offering a hefty discount on the international version of the Samsung Galaxy Buds4 Pro as of Aug. 3, putting them at just $161.99. Usually, the earbuds go for $249.99, meaning you'll save $88.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung Galaxy Buds4 Pro (international version) $161.99 at Woot
$249.99 Save $88   Get Deal

While it's not impossible to see noise cancelling earbuds drop down to impressively low prices, it is much more rare to see those price drops happen outside of a major sale.

That's why I perked up when I saw the Samsung Galaxy Buds4 Pro on sale at Woot for $161.99. Typically, their list price is $249.99, so this deal saves you 35% (or $88). It should be noted that this deal is on the international version of the earbuds, which feature the exact same design and functionality as the U.S. version. Unlike the U.S. version, Samsung will not accept any warranty claims on these earbuds, so you'll want to make sure you're okay with a 90-day limited warranty from Woot instead.

The Buds4 Pro released just this past spring, bringing with them upgrades in the form of a a wider woofer for improved audio performance, the ability to use AI features like Bixby and Gemini hands-free, and a smaller earbud head than its predecessor for improved comfort.

You'll also get six hours of listening time per charge (with ANC on), and 26 hours total in the charging case. They also feature spatial audio, an equalizer for adjusting your sound, and an IP57 dust and sweat-resistance rating. At $161.99, they're at a pretty unbeatable price, especially if you're an Android user in the market for a new pair of earbuds.

SAVE 11%: As of Aug. 3, you can get Sony's 480Hz Inzone M10S gaming monitor for $798 at Amazon, down from $899.99. That's an 11% discount or $101.99 in savings.

Sony Inzone M10S gaming monitor $798 at Amazon
$899.99 Save $101.99   Get Deal at Amazon Get Deal at Walmart Get Deal at Best Buy

The Sony Inzone M10S is a 27-inch 1440p OLED monitor built specifically for competitive players, and right now you can get it for under $800.

As of Aug. 3, Sony's 480Hz Inzone M10S gaming monitor is $798 at Amazon, down from $899.99. That's an 11% discount or $101.99 in savings. High-refresh OLED monitors are usually pretty expensive, so bringing a 480Hz QHD panel under the $800 mark makes this a much more competitive price point compared to standard 240Hz OLED options.

SEE ALSO: The best gaming chair for dedicated players

Co-developed with the esports team Fnatic, it combines a 480Hz refresh rate with a 0.03ms response time to deliver exceptional motion clarity in fast-paced shooters. One Amazon reviewer says it's "a complete game changer; the input lag is literally non-existent, and the colors and brightness are truly beautiful."

If you spend most of your time in games like Valorant or Counter-Strike 2 and want ultra-smooth motion handling without sacrificing 1440p visual sharpness, now's the time to upgrade.

SAVE $452: As of Aug. 3, the Hisense 65-inch E7 Mini LED Hi-QLED 4K TV is on sale at Amazon for just $547.99 instead of $999.99. That's a savings of 45% and its lowest price on record.

Opens in a new window Credit: Hisense Hisense 65-inch E7 Mini LED Hi-QLED 4K TV $547.99 at Amazon
$999.99 Save $452   Get Deal

Need a new TV, but don't want to spend a fortune? The Hisense E7 Mini LED should get the job done — and then some. While the 65-inch model is typically just shy of $1,000, you can take it home today for only $547.99.

As of Aug. 3, the Hisense 65-inch E7 Mini LED Hi-QLED 4K TV has reached a record-low price at Amazon. At 45% off, the $547.99 price tag actually surpasses its previous low price by $1.

The E7 is illuminated by Mini LED backlighting, which means it uses thousands of tiny LEDs to deliver a brighter, more accurate picture with cinematic contrast. Paired with quantum-dot color, a native refresh rate of 144Hz, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos audio, and AI-driven processing, it'll bring more depth and vibrance to your everyday viewing experience. Additional features include AMD Freesync Premium for gaming and Filmmaker mode for cinephiles.

If you're already a Fire TV user, your profile will be personalized how you like it when you sign in. If not, you'll be able to customize your experience, seamlessly access all of your favorite apps, and more. You'll also get access to Alexa+, so you can use your voice to navigate and discover new content instantly.

Hisense is known for its budget-friendly TVs that don't skimp on quality, and the E7 Mini LED is no exception. Grab the 65-inch model for its best price ever.

GET A FREE DUNKIN' REFRESHERS DRINK: For today only, Aug. 3, Dunkin' Donuts is giving away 1 million free Refreshers drinks. Here's how to score your own free drink today.

Opens in a new window Credit: Dunkin' Donuts Free Dunkin' Donuts Refresher   Get Deal

It's hot out there. Cool off with a free drink thanks to Dunkin' Donuts. Here's how to cash in on the savings.

On Aug. 3, Dunkin' Donuts is giving away 1 million free Refresher drinks to Dunkin' Rewards members with a yet-to-be-released promo code. To get your free drink, you'll need to sign up for a free Dunkin' Rewards account and download the app. We don't yet know how or when Dunkin' will be dropping the promo code, but keep an eye on the brand's Instagram page.

Refreshers are a non-coffee Dunkin' treat. The current lineup includes mango pineapple and strawberry dragon fruit, both of which contain green tea and B vitamins.

SEE ALSO: The Owala FreeSip water bottle is back down to the lowest price ever

If you're in the mood for a free treat, be sure you're signed up for a Dunkin' Rewards membership and keep an eye on the Dunkin' Instagram account. Get ready for fast fingers once the promo code drops today.

Who says the meet cute is dead? According to Eventbrite, it's facing a revival.

As a platform for facilitating IRL happenings, Eventbrite has a stake in that being the case, but other factors indicate that this is indeed true. Tinder just expanded its Events feature, while Bumble is also investing in its own dating events this summer. For years now, dating app users have been complaining about fatigue and longing to meet someone in-person.

SEE ALSO: Is Myspace coming back? Owners confirm relaunch plans

Now, Eventbrite reports that experiences explicitly using "meet cute" language have grown 117 percent this year compared to last year (in an analysis of its data in the first half of 2026 compared to that of 2025). Hobby-based events using language like "singles," "come solo," and "find your people" are also on the rise.

And the hobbies that Eventbrite is seeing take off are pretty wholesome. Mahjong events are up 235 percent, and attendance is up 272 percent. Trivia night events have skyrocketed 403 percent, with a 388 percent increase in attendance. Bird watching, Pilates socials, plant swaps and workshops, and pottery and craft circles are among the events people are flocking to.

In its blog post about the findings, Eventbrite theorizes that singles are craving spontaneous connections in our algorithmically driven world, and that niche hobbies are what stand out today.

And Eventbrite's recent Social Study found that 58 percent of young adults want socializing to be a secondary part of an experience, not the main draw, hinting that activity-based events are the way to get them in the door. Sixty-nine percent want events that combine different interests.

"For a long time, people kept dating in one box and hobbies in another," Andrea Parodi, Eventbrite General Manager, said in the blog. "What we’re seeing is that line starting to dissolve."

People are starting with what they love — or exploring something new — and staying open for what it could turn into, Parodi continued. "When you remove the pressure of a forced introduction, there's less chance the night feels like a letdown, and more room for an organic spark to happen."

TL;DR: As of Aug. 3, you can get the Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolution — Pitch Black booster bundle for $42.99 at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: Pokémon Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolution — Pitch Black $42.99 at Amazon
$50.65 Save $7.66   Get Deal

If you're looking to rip open packs from the Mega Evolution — Pitch Black expansion, booster bundles are one of the most cost-effective ways to do it. Instead of paying extra for the dice, sleeves, and play accessories stuffed inside an Elite Trainer Box, the booster bundle gives you straight pack value.

SEE ALSO: New Lego Pokémon sets are about to be released into the wild: Pre-order Arcanine, Munchlax, and more

Right now, you can get the six-pack bundle at Amazon for $42.99. If you're willing to look outside of Amazon to stretch your dollar even further, Galactic Toys currently has it on sale for $34.95 (and TCGplayer listings are sitting around $38.70 shipped). While Amazon offers fast shipping, ordering through Galactic Toys drops your per-pack price from over $7.25 down to under $5.85, putting about $8.60 back in your pocket.

Either way, inside the box you get six sealed booster packs featuring the set's top hits like Mega Darkrai ex, Mega Zeraora ex, and Mega Chandelure ex. If you value Prime shipping and easy returns, Amazon is the convenient pick — but if you want the lowest cost per pack, Galactic Toys is the better option.

Home Depot Free Battery Deals Best DeWalt Flexvolt free battery deal DeWalt Flexvolt 20V/60V MAX 9.0Ah Battery Free with the purchase of select DeWalt Flexvolt 60V tools Get Deal Best Milwaukee M18 free battery deal Milwaukee M18 5.0 Ah XC Battery Free with the purchase of select Milwaukee M18 tools Get Deal Best Ridgid free battery deal Ridgid 18V Output Battery Free with the purchase of select Ridgid 18V Nuke tools Get Deal

If you're eyeing a new tool from Ridgid, Milwaukee, or DeWalt, now's a good time to buy — Home Depot's running a free battery promo across all three brands. Pick up a qualifying tool, and a battery gets tossed in at no extra cost, whether that's Ridgid's 18V 4.0 Ah pack, Milwaukee's M18 5.0 Ah pack, or DeWalt's Flexvolt 9.0Ah battery. Here's a deeper look at the tools that can get you free batteries:

DeWalt Flexvolt 20V/60V MAX Battery Opens in a new window Credit: DeWalt DeWalt Flexvolt 20V/60V MAX 9.0Ah Battery Free with the purchase of select DeWalt Flexvolt 60V tools Get Deal

The DeWalt Flexvolt battery pack automatically changes voltage depending on which tool it's plugged into. It powers DeWalt's 60V MAX Brushless line and 120V MAX Brushless tools, and it's also backward compatible with 20V MAX tools and chargers, so it's not locked into just one tool category.

Get it free with:

• DeWalt Flexvolt 60V MAX Brushless Concrete Mud Mixer/Drill with E-Clutch — $299

• DeWalt Flexvolt 60V MAX Brushless 7-1/4 in. Circular Saw with Brake — $299

• DeWalt Flexvolt 60V MAX Brushless Reciprocating Saw — $299

• DeWalt Flexvolt 60V MAX Brushless Small Angle Grinder with Kickback Brake — $299

• DeWalt Flexvolt 60V Angle Grinder — $299

• DeWalt Flexvolt 60V MAX Brushless 7-1/4 in. Wormdrive Circular Saw — $329

• DeWalt Flexvolt 60V MAX SDS Plus Rotary Hammer — $499 $549 (save $50)

Milwaukee M18 5.0 Ah XC Battery Opens in a new window Credit: Milwaukee Milwaukee M18 5.0 Ah XC Battery Free with the purchase of select Milwaukee M18 tools Get Deal

The Milwaukee M18 5.0 Ah XC Battery is compatible with any M18 cordless power tool in Milwaukee's lineup, and it's rated to deliver 2 x more runtime than a standard lithium battery. It also recharges fully in 90 minutes or less, so you're not stuck waiting around if you're mid-project and need to swap in a fresh charge.

Some of the M18 tools that qualify for the deal are:

• Milwaukee M18 Fuel Hackzall Reciprocating Saw — $199

• Milwaukee M18 Fuel Compact Router — $229

• Milwaukee M18 Redlithium Forge Starter Kit with 8.0Ah Battery — $279

• Milwaukee M18 18-Gauge Double Cut Metal Shear — $299

• Milwaukee M18 Fuel 1/2 in. Impact Wrench with Friction Ring — $299

• Milwaukee M18 Fuel Hammer Drill and Impact Driver Combo Kit with 2 Batteries — $399

Ridgid 18V Output Battery Opens in a new window Credit: Ridgid Ridgid 18V Output Battery Free with the purchase of select Ridgid 18V Nuke tools Get Deal

The Ridgid 18V 4.0 Ah MAX Output battery gives you more power and runtime out of any Ridgid 18V Brushless tool — up to 3 x longer than Ridgid's older 1.5 Ah battery. It's also compact and light, so it won't wear out your arm over a long day. Register it within 90 days of buying, and you get free parts and service for life.

Get it free with:

• Ridgid 18V Nuke SubCompact One-Handed Reciprocating Saw — $139 $149 (save $10)

• Ridgid 18V Nuke SubCompact Cordless Drill/Driver Kit — $139

• Ridgid 18V Nuke SubCompact Cordless Multi-Tool — $149

• Ridgid 18V Nuke Cordless 4-1/2 in. Circular Saw — $149

• Ridgid 18V Nuke SubCompact Cordless 2-Tool Combo Kit — $219

Whichever brand you're loyal to, this is basically free money — grab your tool at Home Depot before the deal ends.