IT General

I have just about every type of display device in my house other than a projector (for now!), but I've rarely used any of my TVs for computer monitor duty.

TP-Link is one of the best-known Wi-Fi router makers for a reason. It was one of the first companies to go all-in on Wi-Fi 7, and now, it's launching a new router as part of its gaming router range.

Do you even have good taste in music if you can't share it online?

If you're a Spotify user, of course, that's not really a concern: It's become a yearly tradition to share your music taste with Spotify Wrapped. As we inch toward the end of October, Wrapped should be coming soon. That means you'll be able to share your taste, top songs, favorite albums, and most beloved artists with all of your friends, whether they want to see it or not.

To be clear, the 2025 version of Wrapped hasn't been released yet, but the wait shouldn't be too long. Here's what we know.

When will Spotify Wrapped be released?

The short answer is: We don't know, exactly. The slightly longer answer is: We don't know, but we have an educated guess when it will be.

Last year, Wrapped dropped on Wednesday, Dec. 4. That was the first Wednesday after Thanksgiving. In 2023, it was released on Wednesday, Nov. 29. That was — you guessed it — the first Wednesday after Thanksgiving.

Should the pattern hold, that means 2025 Spotify Wrapped would be released on Wednesday, Dec. 3. That's not a guarantee, by any means, but you can likely expect Wrapped to drop around that time, at the very least.

SEE ALSO: Why artists are leaving Spotify — and how you can, too How to view Spotify Wrapped

It shouldn't be difficult to find your Wrapped on the day it releases.

You'll likely get a notification letting you know it's ready. The Spotify app, typically speaking, also places a banner or section within your homepage that is hard to miss. Should all that fail, you can also head to the Wrapped section on Spotify's website.

The internet will certainly love the day Wrapped drops, but for now, we're still left waiting.

Spotify Free and Premium users across the globe are constantly seeing changes to their app: from new and updated buttons to experimental features that aim to customize your listening experience on the music streaming platform.

Microsoft has just revealed a new expressive avatar for Copilot, and it's called Mico. This is a digital helper that finally replaces the spirit of the well-loved Clippy in a way we never saw Cortana take on. This new pet admittedly makes Copilot much more approachable, and it's hard not to like it.

Symbolic links are a great way to organize your files, but they’re not perfect. Symlinks are pretty fragile, and it’s easy to end up with links that point to non-existent files. The find program can help you tackle this problem, but there’s a third-party tool that does the job even better.

When compared to the overall terrible year Tesla has experienced, the company actually had a decent third quarter.

However, a decent quarter in 2025 for Tesla still means that the company's profits fell by 37 percent, despite the company's revenue growing by 12 percent in that time.

Elon Musk's EV company reported $28.1 billion in revenue for the third quarter that ended in September. However, the company's operating costs skyrocketed by 50 percent. So, even with a rise in revenue thanks to a spike in sales, Tesla reported just $1.4 billion in profit in Q3 2025. 

That's out of $25.2 billion in revenue and down from last year's $2.2 billion in income.

Tesla's woes don't stop there. Even the major positive for the company — a sales boost in the third quarter, when the company sold a record number of EVs — has a major asterisk.

Tesla's problems are just beginning

For years, Tesla has been buoyed by tax credits and regulatory carbon credits, but it can't rely on either going forward.

In fact, the Q3 sales bump Tesla reported appears to be the result of consumers rushing to purchase an EV before the $7,500 federal EV tax credit program expired on September 30. Instead of a turnaround, this was a one-time event driven by last-minute buyers who were already planning to purchase a vehicle and wanted to take the last opportunity to save money with the EV tax credit.

Tesla delivered 497,099 vehicles in Q3. However, it looks unlikely that the company will be able to replicate those sales numbers without the tax credit that gave buyers a push to make their purchase.

But there's more to Tesla's problems, too. Of the company's third-quarter profits, $417 million came from Tesla selling regulatory carbon credits to other automakers. These regulatory credits have long been a significant chunk of the EV company's revenue. However, as part of President Donald Trump's budget bill, the U.S. government is set to end the carbon credit program, thus cutting Tesla off from a major source of revenue.

Musk himself is a major contributor to Tesla's problems. The company's revenue troubles began shortly after Musk made himself and the Tesla brand a pariah to liberal-leaning customers as a result of his connections to President Trump and Musk's involvement in DOGE.

Despite all of this though, Musk still made the case for a $1 trillion compensation package during the quarterly earnings call so that he could control Tesla's "robot army."

The Toyobaru Twins—Subaru BRZ and Toyota GR86—have been shaking up the sports car scene since 2022. Affordable, fun, and built for driving enthusiasts, they’ve quickly earned a loyal following.

You can now buy Pixel Bud replacement parts, specifically charging cases, eartips, and individual earbuds, through the Google Store. These replacement parts are slightly overpriced—maybe $5 or $10 more than what you'd hope to pay—but hey, it's better than buying a brand new set of earbuds.

I’m an Android guy, and have been since the mobile operating system came into existence. That doesn’t mean I’m fully committed to Google’s ecosystem. Like most consumers, I appreciate a good tech product, no matter the manufacturer or platform. Enter Apple.

The MacBook Pro serves as my work machine. An Apple TV media player is set up in my living room. I’m also an AirPods Pro owner. However, pairing the AirPods Pro buds with my Android phone has always been impractical. They work for listening to music and noise cancellation, but that’s all.

When the AirPods Pro 3 were announced, I figured Apple might just be ready to develop flagship buds that played nicely with Google hardware. The company has Beats’ platform-neutral technology at its disposal. Furthermore, the AirPods Pro 3 are designed to share biometric data with third-party workout apps. 

So, are these buds a solid match for Android users?

Let’s just say that while some things changed, others certainly didn’t. Here are my thoughts on the AirPods Pro 3 after testing them for three weeks on an Android device.

I can’t deny their sonic greatness Credit: Alex Bracetti / Mashable

These are easily the best-sounding AirPods to date. They have a more refined soundstage with deeper bass response. 

The drums and synths of contemporary bangers like Kaytranada’s "Drip Sweat" sound prominent. I always felt these elements were tame on the AirPods Pro 2. You can hear how well-balanced the low end is once the bouncy bassline and monstrous drums come on. R&B bops like Shalamar’s "A Night to Remember" showcase the AirPods Pro 3’s frequency range. The track’s crystal-clear mids and sharp highs blend beautifully with punchy bass. 

Despite the AirPods Pro 3’s lack of hi-res audio codecs, they produce satisfying sound quality when streaming music over Bluetooth via an Android device. I could hear the details and subtle nuances on most recordings.

Personalized Spatial Audio hasn’t changed much. It remains a terrific feature for lively listens. The results show when watching live-action movies and performances. Sound effects are more immersive and properly placed in the soundscape when moving your head. 

Apple’s active noise cancellation has improved. It is supposed to be twice as strong as the previous version on the AirPods Pro 2. I don’t believe that. Nonetheless, these buds neutralize ambient noise at a surprisingly high level. Nearly all low- and mid-frequency sounds are muted. Many high-frequency sounds are either silenced or greatly minimized. Occasional disruptors such as crying babies and emergency vehicle sirens are audible, but they won’t break your concentration. The updated Transparency mode is just as effective for increasing ambient awareness without compromising sound quality.

Why can’t Apple just embrace Android optimization? Credit: Alex Bracetti / Mashable

Every new AirPods launch infuriates me more. How is Apple seven models in and can’t make its wireless earbuds easily pairable with Android devices? Seriously. The company has Beats’ proprietary chipset, which integrates native Android features like Google Fast Pair and Find My Device, while also granting access to 80 percent of the features tied to Apple’s H2 processor. The Powerbeats Pro 2, Fit Pro, and all other current Beats releases employ this technology. It is the simplest fix for what has felt like an infinite inconvenience. 

Some Apple fans will argue that the company has made attempts to simplify Android pairing, such as replacing the setup button from the charging case with a touch pad on the front that enables pairing mode when tapped twice. Here’s the problem: the touch pad is finicky. It takes multiple attempts to activate the feature. Once you get it working, you still have to enter the Bluetooth settings to manually pair the buds.

Fast Pair would get the AirPods Pro 3 running on an Android phone in less than 3 seconds. 

Are Android users really losing out on Apple’s true wireless audio experience?

Simply put, yes. That’s because many of the AirPods Pro 3’s best features are kept exclusive to iOS. These include all-new additions like heart rate monitoring and real-time Live Translation, along with standard H2 perks (like auto switch, Conversation Boost, and “Hey Siri” voice activation). Some of these may not seem like deal-breakers. At the same time, you’re not splurging to settle on hallmarks such as adaptive noise cancellation and high-quality sound, which you can get from other similarly priced rivals, even the less expensive AirPods Pro 2.

Are the AirPods Pro 3 worth it?

As an Apple user — iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, MacBook, iMac, whatever — the AirPods Pro 3 are absolutely worth the investment. Android users must look elsewhere for a premium true wireless experience. 

Apple’s restricted feature set makes these buds less appealing to Android device owners. It’s a shame, too, considering how great they sound, both from an audio and noise-canceling perspective.

The better value lies in Beats wireless earbuds, which are ideal options for those who constantly swap between iOS/macOS and Android devices, such as yours truly. Consider looking over the best Beats headphones if you need recommendations. If not Beats, then Sony’s most popular earbuds are the way to go, specifically the class-leading WF-1000xM5, which deliver excellent sound, powerful ANC, and versatile multiplatform support.

Checkboxes in Microsoft Excel are a great way to simplify data entry and track task psrogress, and they can be used alongside formulas and conditional formatting to automate spreadsheet processes. Here's everything you need to know about this versatile Excel tool.

Canonical, the developer of Ubuntu, just launched Canonical Academy, a new platform that lets both individuals and companies officially validate their open-source and Linux skills qualifications. These tests were designed by the same engineers who created Ubuntu.

If you've heard the five words, "Hey guys, Mr. Taylor here," and thought, "No, no, that's everyman comedic actor Kevin James, star of the classic '90s sitcom The King of Queens," then welcome.

You may also have a question: What's going on?

A week ago, Matt Taylor, aka @thisismatttaylor, posted a TikTok video about how much he loves being an art teacher. That's a normal thing an art teacher might post, sure, but Matt Taylor looks very much like James. That might lead you to ask another important question, "Why is Kevin James pretending to be an art teacher named Matt Taylor on TikTok?"

"Could we all just imagine Kevin James has a 'day job' teaching young kids under an alias and they have no idea who he is because they’re too young. Parents show up for conferences looking hella confused because their kids never told them Kevin James was their teacher," one commenter wrote on the first video.

"We are witnessing a good prank," another commenter wrote on a later video.

In total, Taylor has uploaded five videos, which have garnered between 700,000 and 2.4 million views.

Taylor didn't respond to a request for comment from Mashable, and neither did James's representatives, but there are three main theories floating around the internet:

1. Matt Taylor happens to be Kevin James' doppelgänger. They are two different people.

2. Kevin James is pulling a KJ Apa.

3. This is promotion for Kevin James' new movie.

The first option strikes me as wrong because I spent many hours watching The King of Queens after school and I still have 20/20 eyesight.

The second option has some legs to it. KJ Apa has a viral TikTok persona called Mr. Fantasy in which he wears a wig and fake teeth and makes me uncomfortable, and this James role isn't that far off.

The third option feels most realistic to me. It looks like a significant amount of effort is going into these videos — he has an entire classroom in one, he's in an art supply closet in another video, and a third video features a timelapse of him painting. He's following one person — Ed Sheeran — but he has nearly 115,000 followers. And he has a new movie coming out, Playdate.

In the end, I agree with this creator, who wrote: "I don’t care if he’s Kevin James, I like Matt Taylor’s vibe!"

I’ve been a fan of mini PCs for some time, and I love how much performance they can pack into an enclosure small enough to fit into the palm of your hand. They’re quiet, efficient, and work as a home server, a travel PC or even a full-on desktop replacement, if you don’t need a dedicated GPU.

Anthropic announces today that all paid Claude users will now have memory.

In September, the AI company announced that Claude memory was available to some paid users — those on Team and Enterprise plans. Now, Claude will be able to "remember" for individual Max and Pro users.

SEE ALSO: ChatGPT vs Claude vs Grok: Best vibe-coding platform for beginners

Max subscribers can enable Memory in Settings today, while Pro users will see it roll out in the coming days. When turning on the feature, you give Claude a starting point and it starts building context from there. You can also import memory from ChatGPT or Gemini by copy and pasting — and you can export memory out of Claude, as well.

Memory is optional and can be toggled on or off. Users can also delete specific memories or use Claude incognito (which the company also introduced recently).

In a press release shared with Mashable, Anthropic claims that it conducted safety tests with memory, such as whether Claude would recall conversations with harmful language or become overly accommodating with potentially harmful user requests (an issue that has been observed in other LLMs like ChatGPT, which has been criticized for feeding into some users' delusional thinking). Anthropic states that it made adjustments to how memory functions, based on these tests.

When Anthropic released its latest lightweight model, Claude Haiku 4.5, it claimed it was its safest yet, and the company reiterated that its latest LLMs are safer than their predecessors.

In terms of memory specifically, the release states that Claude provides "complete transparency," in that users can see the "actual synthesis, not vague summaries" of what the model stores.

Anthropic has released several updates to Claude in the past few months, including a new code model, the compact Haiku 4.5 model, a Chrome extension, and the ability to make spreadsheets and decks. Memory is powered by the Claude 4 model family, the company stated.

"We're building toward Claude understanding your complete work context and adapting automatically," Anthropic chief product officer Mike Krieger said in the press release. "Memory starts with project continuity, but it's really about creating sustained thinking partnerships that evolve over weeks and months."

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

It's no secret that TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram Reels want you to watch endless videos on each respective platform. Social media can be quite addictive, but now YouTube has a new feature to help prevent doomscrolling and endless YouTube Shorts playback.

For years, Spotify teased listeners with promises of higher-quality audio to its users. Back in 2021, the world’s most popular music streaming service first announced its “HiFi” tier, and then went radio silent, while competitors like Apple Music and Tidal rolled out lossless, CD-quality, and even hi-res streams—Tidal built its whole brand around it. Still, Spotify users waited.

SAVE $150: As of Oct. 23, get the Hisense 55-inch E6 Series QLED 4K Fire TV for $279.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $429.99. That's a discount of 35%.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Hisense 55-inch E6 Series QLED 4K Fire TV $279.99 at Amazon
$429.99 Save $150   Get Deal

Want a new and improved way to enjoy all your favorite shows and movies at home? Now's the time to start looiking into a new TV. If you're ready to take the plunge, you can scoop up a great Hisense model now that can get you and your family and loved ones together when it comes to visual quality. All you have to do is head to Amazon.

As of Oct. 23, get the Hisense 55-inch E6 Series QLED 4K Fire TV for $279.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $429.99. That's $150 off and a discount of 35%.

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

This QLED TV punches far above its weight class for the price. It offers bright lighting and reduces glare better than traditional LED TVs, and this one has a special AI Light Sensor as part of the line that can automatically adjust the TV's brightness based on the lighting in your room, much like a phone does.

Other than that, it offers Fire TV integration, which means you can watch shows and movies from a variety of streamers without having to install their respective apps on a streaming stick or device. It has a Game Mode Plus feature to help reduce input lag for gaming as well, if you're interested in using it for that purpose.

Overall, it's a great budget TV if you want a QLED model that acts as an all-rounder for whatever purposes you're looking to use it for. Grabbing it for under $300 is a great idea, so don't miss it while it's up at this price.

The mid-size luxury SUV segment has long been dominated by European heavyweights, but a bold contender from Korea is challenging the status quo. This refined SUV blends premium design, cutting-edge technology, and commanding performance, all at a price that undercuts its German rivals.

SAVE $250: As of Oct. 23, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 wireless headphones are on sale for just $199.95 at Amazon. That's a savings of 56% and their lowest price since Black Friday 2024.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sennheiser Sennheiser Momentum 4 $199.95 at Amazon
$449.95 Save $250   Get Deal

Black Friday pricing in October? Yes, please.

As of Oct. 23, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 are just $199.95 at Amazon in black, which is 56% off their usual list price of $449.95. That's the lowest price we've seen on these noise-cancelling headphones all year — and we're still a month away from Black Friday.

The Momentum 4s earned a spot on our list of the best noise-cancelling headphones for flying and the best headphones for 2025, mostly thanks to their outstanding battery life. On a full charge, these babies will last you 60 hours with ANC turned on. That's significantly longer than all of our other top picks and is more than enough to last you through several long-haul flights.

They also sound excellent right out of the box, no EQ adjustments necessary. Our reviewer said they made the bass on specific tracks stand out in ways they'd never heard before without losing the other complexities of the sound. In other words, audiophiles will definitely appreciate the Sennheiser Momentum 4 headphones. The two drawbacks we found were that the ANC is just slightly worse than our other top picks from Sony and Bose (but not enough that you'll notice a huge difference) and the touch controls are a little inconvenient. Otherwise, we'd go to war for these noise cancellers — especially at the impressively low price of $199.95.