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Handing your phone over to a repair technician can be surprisingly uncomfortable. Even if you trust the person working on it, your Galaxy probably contains years' worth of photos, messages, accounts, documents, and other personal information that you don't want a stranger casually browsing. The problem is that a repair technician may need access to the device to diagnose or fix it, leaving you with an awkward choice between protecting your privacy and giving them the access they need.

The more you get into using Linux, the more likely you are to start using the Terminal for various tasks. Now, I'll admit that you don't need to do everything in the Terminal. But I truly believe knowing your way around it is pretty vital to the Linux experience (for me, anyway), whether it's learning basic short commands or playing video through the Terminal. Sometimes, though, it's nice to automate various Linux chores. So I use bash scripts to run commands for me, and to have a bit of fun along the way.

Receiving a power adapter with every tech purchase is a thing of the past, but the same can’t be said of cables (thankfully). With almost everything now charging via USB-C, you’ll quickly amass a collection of cables that have seemingly universal compatibility.

Some of us are still driving around in vehicles without fancy infotainment displays. There are several methods for bringing Android Auto into a car, but what if you just want to use your phone? I came up with a way to optimize my phone for the car without custom launchers or emulators.

Lots of people use Wi-Fi extenders, but is that truly the right thing to do? It's the easy way, that's for sure, but whether it's the right way is debatable.

It's now clear which Motorola phone will be the first to support GrapheneOS. The development team behind GrapheneOS has confirmed that the U.S.-bound Signature 27 can run its privacy-oriented take on Android.

There's no getting around the fact that modern flat-panel TV sound is usually pretty awful. The thin bodies of these devices don't leave much room for decent speakers and audio components, so many manufacturers do the bare minimum to avoid having the device classified as a computer monitor for lack of speakers.

I've lost count of how many times someone has sent me an Excel spreadsheet that technically contains everything I need, but makes me work far too hard to find it. Maybe the data is crammed into the wrong columns, duplicate records are lurking everywhere, or the formulas look like they were designed to confuse the next person who opens the file. Over the years, I've settled on a handful of Excel tools that help me turn someone else's mess into something I can actually work with.

Samsung is rolling out its One UI 9 update in earnest, if later than expected. The custom take on Android 17 is starting to reach Galaxy S26 devices in the U.S. roughly a week after the launch was supposed to start.

At Meta Connect on Wednesday night, Mark Zuckerberg unveiled what could be the next frontier of VR hardware for the company: the Meta VR glasses.

These new specs blend the form factor of regular smart glasses with the stereoscopic 3D and virtual reality capabilities of a Quest headset. But how, exactly, do these glasses compare with the Quest 3? We can't directly test the glasses just yet, but even on paper, there are some notable differences to consider.

SEE ALSO: Meta's new VR glasses: We tried them, plus Muse on Meta's AI glasses Meta VR Glasses vs. Quest 3: Price

The most obvious difference between these two devices, aside from the way they look, is the price. The VR Glasses, when they launch in 2027, will start at $1,299. The Quest 3, meanwhile, can currently be had for just $599. One of these VR devices costs literally more than twice as much as the other, so set your expectations accordingly.

Meta VR Glasses vs. Quest 3: Specs There's that puck. Credit: Meta

Despite the price difference, there are actually a couple of areas where the Quest 3 outperforms the VR Glasses on a specs level.

Here are the basic specs of the VR Glasses:

• Display: Micro-OLED display with 2412×2288 resolution per eye

• Field of view: 70 degrees by 66 degrees

• Processor: Snapdragon Reality Elite

• RAM: 12GB

• Starting storage: 128GB

• Controllers: Not included, but compatible

And here are the equivalent specs for the Quest 3:

• Display: LCD display with 2064×2208 resolution per eye

• Field of view: 110 degrees by 96 degrees

• Processor: Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2

• RAM: 8GB

• Starting storage: 512GB

• Controllers: Included

The VR Glasses have the Quest 3 beat on display resolution and RAM, as well as with a newer processor. But there are some areas in which the Quest 3 wins here, too. Its field of view is significantly larger, as you'd expect from something that completely covers your face. It also comes with significantly more starting storage and a pair of touch controllers. The VR Glasses have a microSD card slot for expandable storage, and the controllers are compatible, but not included.

Meta VR Glasses vs. Quest 3: Design That's a lot more bulky than the glasses. Credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable

Well, this one's simple. One device is a pair of glasses, and the other is a full-on headset. Whichever you prefer is ultimately a matter of taste.

There are pros and cons to each. The VR Glasses allow the user a greater degree of spatial awareness because they don't cover as much of the face, but that might also make VR experiences less immersive. Meanwhile, the Quest 3 will probably be a bit more immersive, but it's heavier and more cumbersome because its computing hardware sits in the headset.

That last part is important, as the VR Glasses don't actually have any of the real computing hardware built into the glasses themselves. Instead, there's a computing puck attached to the device by wire, similar to the Apple Vision Pro. That's what allows the glasses to be as sleek as they are compared to the Quest 3, but it might also explain why the starting storage is so low in comparison.

Ultimately, the glasses weigh about 100 grams and the headset weighs 515 grams. That's a big enough difference to justify the use of a puck, but again, it's your call.

Meta VR Glasses vs. Quest 3: Software

There is some overlap in terms of available software features, but there are also some key differences between the VR Glasses and Quest 3. In general, it seems like the VR Glasses can do more.

Both devices run on the same operating system, and the glasses support all of the same content that is currently available on Quest 3. Things get more interesting when you look at what the VR Glasses can do that the Quest 3 can't. The glasses support eye tracking and face tracking in addition to hand tracking, while the headset supports hand tracking but not eye or face tracking.

As such, there are some VR Glasses-centric gaming experiences, like a new update to Beat Saber that allows the game to be played without controllers. Glasses owners will also be able to watch fully 3D movies from streaming services like Disney+, and the glasses are the first VR device to be IMAX certified, according to Meta. Meta also envisions the glasses being used as a work device, so they can connect to Macs or PCs using USB-C or wirelessly. That will give users the ability to create virtual displays for their workspace.

Last but not least is Hologram, a new method of video calling coming first to the VR Glasses. You'll be able to join WhatsApp video calls as a face-tracked avatar of yourself, appearing at true scale for the other participants. This feature won't fully render everyone in 3D at launch, but Meta says that's coming later. The metaverse is back, folks.

Given that the VR Glasses are newer and much more expensive, it's not surprising that they seem broadly more capable than the Quest 3. But, as you can tell, there might still be reasons to get a Quest 3 instead.

Many tech fiends, myself included, feel the urge to constantly upgrade our gear even when it doesn't make much sense, and I completely understand why you'd want to ditch your old Android tablet for something newer. But the reality of the Android tablet market is that Google — and most OEMs, for that matter — stopped prioritizing tablets a while ago. Whatever your trusted old tablet does for you, a new one might not be enough of an upgrade to topple it, and in many cases, keeping your veteran machine is the more sensible choice.

Your Google smartwatch is now better at flagging health issues before there's a crisis. The company is rolling out its promised Health Guardian, a proactive Google Health tool whose passive tracking alerts you to concerning trends.

I've used Windows as my primary operating system since the release of Windows 3.1, but in 2019 I got a gig writing for 9to5Mac, which meant I actually needed a Mac to do the job!

Gas, groceries, smartphones, and your favorite streaming platform. The cost of all those things just continues to go up.

The latest streamer to roll out a price hike? Disney+ and Hulu.

Just one year after Disney last raised the price of Disney+ and Hulu monthly subscriptions, they're doing it again. Disney+ and Hulu will now cost $21.49 each per month for the ad-free tier and $12.49 per month for the tier with ads. That's an increase of $2.50 and 50 cents per month, respectively.

The Disney+/Hulu bundle subscription continues to be a bargain when compared to the individual service subscriptions, but even those bundled plans are going up in price, too.

The ad-free Disney+/Hulu bundle will now cost $21.99 per month, and the ad-supported bundle will cost $12.99. That's a bump of $2 per month and 50 cents per month, respectively.

How Disney+ and Hulu pricing compares to other streaming platforms

Virtually all streamers have raised prices in the last 12 months, but gas and groceries are necessities in a way that streaming platforms are not. (Well, maybe that's not the case for some binge watchers.) So, if one could only afford one or two streaming services per month, they may be wondering how they rank when it comes to affordability.

Netflix last raised its prices in March. Like Disney, Netflix also bumped the cost of its monthly subscription plans by $1 to $2. The price for a standard ad-free Netflix subscription is now $19.99 per month and $8.99 per month for the ad-supported plan. Netflix also offers a Premium subscription, which includes 4K and additional simultaneous viewing devices, for $26.99 per month.

Apple TV subscription prices just went up last month, but it still remains the lowest-priced ad-free offering if one opts for the annual plan. Apple bumped the price of its Apple TV streaming service from $12.99 to $14.99 per month. The annual plan went up as well, from $99 to $119 per year. Still, that annual price puts Apple TV at less than $10 per month.

HBO Max subscription last saw a price hike in October of last year, so it's very possible that we can see yet another increase next month for 2026. HBO Max's Standard ad-free plan went from $16.99 to $18.49 per month last time around. The annual plan also went up to $184.99 per year, which saved $36.89 from the monthly plan. HBO Max Basic with Ads went from $9.99 per month to $10.99 per month. The annual plan rose from $99.99 to $109.99, yet it remained the lowest cost ad-supported plan. The Premium tier of HBO Max rose from $20.99 per month to $22.99 per month, with the annual plan jumping to $229.99.

Disney will continue offering a Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max bundle option, which may be the best deal of all if you watch content on all three streaming platforms. The ad-supported Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max Bundle will cost $21.99 per month, and the ad-free bundle for all three services will cost $34.99 per month.

Before you hand over your inbox to an AI assistant, perhaps you’d like to meet a little guy.

His name is Jolly. He’s cute, cheerful-looking, and the default mascot for Meta’s Muse AI assistant. He also gives a friendly face to Meta’s much bigger ambition of making its AI part of your everyday life.

At Meta Connect on Sept. 23, Mark Zuckerberg showed off Muse and introduced Muse Charm, a Tamagotchi-like handheld device for interacting with the assistant on the go. With Jolly as its default avatar, it makes the idea of carrying around an AI assistant feel a little more like bringing along a tiny companion.

SEE ALSO: Meta gets metaphysical laying out vision for Muse AI assistant

Giving a product a cute face is a familiar move. Duolingo has an owl whose antics you can follow without ever finishing a Spanish lesson. LINE’s sticker characters became a brand people buy plush toys from. And Microsoft’s Clippy is still recognizable to anyone who remembers trying to get him to leave them alone. (Interestingly, Microsoft recently killed its newest mascot, Pico.)

Before Jolly settles onto anyone’s keychain, meet the other mascots that show what a little character can do for a big company.

Duo, Duolingo’s owl Credit: Noam Galai/Getty Images

You don’t have to be learning Spanish to know who Duo is. The green owl is the mascot of language-learning app Duolingo, where he encourages you to keep up with your lessons. But on social media, he’s better known for memes, petty feuds, and a willingness to make absolutely everything his business.

Duolingo has given its mascot plenty to do beyond reminding people to study. The brand is known to join in on trending conversations, joke with followers in social media comments, and once turned celebrity drama into a pretend feud with Google Translate. Following Duo has become its own form of entertainment, no vocabulary quiz required.

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In 2025, the company went so far as to announce his death. His eventual comeback was part of the "Dead Duo" campaign, which generated 1.7 billion organic impressions and brought a meaningful increase in new and returning users. For an owl employed by a language-learning app, he has a busy social life. That personality keeps people interested even when studying isn’t on their agenda.

Meet Brown from LINE Friends This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Brown has a lot to say for a bear whose expression barely changes. This straight-faced character is part of LINE Friends, the cast that started as stickers on the messaging app LINE in 2011. Alongside characters like Cony the rabbit, Brown gave people another way to express themselves in their chats.

Brown eventually outgrew the chat window. LINE Friends expanded into merchandise, stores, and collaborations, turning characters from a messaging app into a brand people could wear, collect, and give as gifts. With Muse Charm, Meta is also giving people a way to carry a digital character around. Brown offers a glimpse of what can happen when people get attached enough to want a company’s character in their lives beyond the screen.

Grimace, McDonald’s big purple mascot Credit: Jeff Schear/Getty Images

Grimace is the big purple, vaguely blob-shaped character from McDonald’s (canonically defined as a giant taste bud), recognizable enough that he doesn’t need to be holding a burger for you to know which company he belongs to. With his rounded shape and easy smile, he looks like something you’d win at a carnival and immediately want to hug.

He also gives McDonald’s a familiar face to bring back for new generations. In 2023, the company built an entire birthday promotion around Grimace, complete with his own meal and purple shake. That’s a pretty good gig for a character who doesn’t have much to say.

Yes, the shake inspired a bizarre TikTok horror trend, but the jokes also introduced him to people who hadn’t grown up with McDonald’s cast of characters, and gives new generations other reasons to connect with it (beyond the french fries).

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

Enterprise software might not sound like the natural habitat of an adorable character. Salesforce would disagree.

Its mascot, Astro, grew out of a 2014 developer-event T-shirt design and became a guide to the company’s world. Salesforce explicitly describes its characters as a way to make technology accessible, friendly, and fun. They give newcomers a welcoming presence as they learn their way around.

It’s an understandable approach. When you’re already trying to figure out unfamiliar software, a cheerful guide can make the whole thing feel a little less intimidating. Jolly could serve a similar purpose for Meta. "Personal superintelligence" is a lot to introduce to someone. A smiling character gives them somewhere to start.

Clippy, Microsoft’s assistant Credit: Pavlo Gonchar/Getty Images

If you used Microsoft Office during Clippy’s time, you may remember having a complicated relationship with an animated paperclip.

Clippy was an assistant with a face, popping up to offer help while people worked. Unfortunately, those interventions weren’t always welcome. A paper hosted by Microsoft Research described how earlier software agents, such as Clippy, became disliked for being intrusive and annoying. But still, the paperclip made an impression. Microsoft brought Clippy back as an emoji in 2021, giving people a way to enjoy the character without having him interrupt a document.

Microsoft has since tried another friendly face with Mico, an optional character for its Copilot AI assistant. Microsoft recently killed the Copilot mascot, shortly before it came out against anthropomorphizing AI technology.

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The company told the BBC that Mico was intended to make voice conversations feel more natural, and that users could turn it off. If Meta can learn anything from their experience, putting a face on an assistant gives people something to connect with, but it also gives their frustration somewhere to land. A character’s welcome depends on how helpful it actually is.

SEE ALSO: Microsoft ditches Copilot's mascot Mico (and cuts a few AI features) What does Meta want from Jolly?

There’s a reason companies keep hiring these little creatures. As marketing professor Anthony Patterson told the BBC, mascots give a company "a voice, a personality, a face even." Author and technology commentator Nathalie Nahai explained that big eyes and oversized heads tap into our instinctive responses to babies, while pointing out that their comeback coincides with growing mistrust of tech companies. It’s easier to warm up to a cuddly character than the enormous business behind it.

Of course, people can still recognize when they’re being sold something. A 2021 study found that cute characters could help when consumers felt a brand cared about them, but could backfire when they became more aware of its efforts to persuade them.

That matters for Meta, which wants Muse to handle shopping, email, and tasks on your computer. Those are fairly personal responsibilities to hand over to a product you’re still getting to know, so giving it a friendly face could make the prospect feel more comfortable. (Meta also outlined upcoming privacy protections, including Muse Confidential VM, which the company says will use encryption to prevent even Meta from accessing users’ data.)

Jolly could help get people interested enough to give Muse a try, but staying on their keychains will come down to whether they trust the assistant and find it useful once the novelty wears off.

Ryobi fans are a passionate bunch, and most of us own several of the company's tools. As many of you know, Ryobi products are sold almost exclusively at Home Depot in the U.S., but here are a few must-have tools you'll have to seek out elsewhere.

The official trailer for Musk, filmmaker Alex Gibney's documentary on Elon Musk, has arrived.

The two-minute and 24-second trailer was released today and, like the teaser from earlier this month, sets the tone for what to expect when the movie hits theaters next month.

"Elon Musk is one of the most controversial figures in the world," says Gibney in a voiceover that kicks off the trailer. "So, I decided to make him a subject of my next film."

"But it soon became clear, Elon would not participate," the filmmaker continues as posts from Elon Musk appear on the screen, calling Gibney a "douche" and declaring that the film is a "hit piece."

The trailer continues by touching on critiques of SpaceX, Tesla, Musk's acquisition of Twitter, his personal life and entrance into politics, DOGE, and much more. It truly looks like it's going to be a brutal exposé on Musk.

Musk hits select theaters in New York and Los Angeles on Oct. 9 and opens nationwide on Oct. 16.

Apple has a new iOS beta out for anyone who wants to test new iPhone features early.

This time, it's a public beta for iOS 27.2. You might be wondering: Where is iOS 27.1? The answer is a bit odd: Apple is launching the first big iOS 27 update with the iPhone Duo in October, so to keep iPhone Duo-specific features under wraps, the company is beta testing iOS 27.2 first. That means you're unlikely to find any nuggets of info about the iPhone Duo in the iOS 27.2 beta, but fret not, as there is still plenty to chew on.

SEE ALSO: If you have an iPhone, Apple might owe you money. Here's how to claim it. How to install iOS 27.2 beta

As always, Apple's beta process is pretty simple and requires only a modicum of effort on your part. Before getting started, though, make sure you have a recent device backup saved in the cloud. You never know what could happen with beta software.

Here's a basic rundown of how it works:

1. Go to Apple's beta software program page, sign up with your Apple account, and register whichever device you want to install the beta on.

2. On the device, go to Settings, then General, then Software Update.

3. Choose the iOS 27.2 beta as the software version you want to upgrade to.

After that, just wait for the update to download and install.

iOS 27.2 beta: What's up with the Health app? There's the new app. Credit: Apple

Earlier in September, Apple announced a revamped Health app coming to iPhones later this year. It's not actually going to launch with iOS 27.2, but you can test it out in the beta now to help Apple get it into shape for an eventual launch later this year.

Apple has redesigned the app so everything is sorted into three tabs: Insights, Longevity, and Browse. Insights will give you a broad overview of all your metrics in one place, updated throughout the day. There's also a For You section that'll recommend articles you might be interested in.

Longevity, meanwhile, includes a metric called Health Age that will analyze your health metrics relative to your actual age. The Longevity tab also tracks your health over long periods of time and provides insights based on that data. Lastly, Browse is most likely a way to find specific things within the app that might not be easy to find in the other tabs.

There are other odds and ends in the iOS 27.2 beta, like individual profiles in the mobile Apple TV app, but the upgraded Health app is the big headliner here.

TL;DR: Dunkin' is giving away 1 million free drinks on Sept. 24. The promo code has now dropped — use code JUST4U to claim.

Dunkin' is giving away 1 million free drinks, again. That seems like an absolutely wild promotion, but Dunkin' actually does this kind of thing fairly regularly. That doesn't make it any less exciting, and the process of claiming remains the same.

The code JUST4U went live on Sept. 24, and now everyone will rush to claim one of the free drinks. These freebies go quickly, but if you're one of the first million, you will get a free medium hot or iced coffee that's good through Sept. 27.

SEE ALSO: Starbucks just dropped a Snoopy cup for fall, and yes, I'm taking the bait

You'll need to enter the code in the "Offers & Rewards" section of your app. Yes, that does mean you need to be a Dunkin' Rewards member, but it's free to sign up, and this type of giveaway comes around pretty often. It's worth the hassle.

Did a fresh Linux install? You're not done yet. Whether you're new to Linux or a seasoned user, there are certain things you should do to configure your new Linux system. As a long-time Linux user myself, these are the 12 things I always do on my new Linux system to get a head start.