IT General

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. 

I've written extensively about how fragile our data storage technology is. So far, the most robust medium we've come up with are carvings in stone or clay tablets, which is why we can read a complaint about poor-quality copper written in 1750 BCE.

If you own a Windows PC or laptop, you’ve probably been told to avoid BIOS updates unless something is wrong, likely to prevent a catastrophic issue like bricking your motherboard. However, with security, performance, and compatibility all at stake, I think they're essential for all machines.

Modern TVs are smart, meaning all you need to do is plug them in and turn them on. Most of the setup involves downloading the streaming services you subscribe to and signing in to them.

The streaming industry is in its "nothing stays still" era. Catalogs continuously rotate, bundles get reshuffled and dropped, services rebrand, merge, and corporate consolidation keeps rewriting the map. The latest whiplash example is Paramount Skydance’s victory over Netflix to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, a reminder that the industry is still very volatile and that these corporate wars often come with a higher monthly bill for us.

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.

Lengthy software support has become one of the main selling points in modern smartphones. Manufacturers that offer only three or four years of updates are often criticized when competitors promise half a decade or more of support, even on mid-range phones.

You probably have a lot of old hardware that has outlived its usefulness. And if you're desperately looking for storage in these dire times of price hikes, you might be pleasantly surprised.

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.

Whether you're an Excel novice or a seasoned spreadsheet pro, we all share one dream: for our formulas to just... work. These five data integrity habits ensure your data stays clean, and your formulas stay functional, giving you more time to focus on the stuff that actually matters.

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.

I’m old enough to say that I’ve been a Sonos user pretty much since the start, and let’s be honest—the last couple of years have been tough on the brand. They’re still recovering from the app overhaul gaffe that frustrated a lot of customers (myself included), while competitors like Bluesound and Wiim have taken a few bites out of their lunch.

After months of rumors, leaks, and speculation, Apple has finally revealed its new affordable laptop: the MacBook Neo. There are some notable downgrades compared to the MacBook Air, but it looks like a fantastic computer for $599, and education customers can get it for just $499.

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
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TL;DR: Live stream Real Sociedad vs. Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey for free on ITVX. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The Copa del Rey semi finals were set up to be entertaining before a ball was kicked. Barcelona vs. Atlético Madrid is obviously a huge matchup, but the Basque Derby is one of the biggest games in football.

Real Sociedad won the first leg 1-0 at the San Mames Stadium. They now need to defend that lead at the Anoeta Stadium. Expect Athletic Bilbao to go on the offensive from the first whistle. It's going to be a fascinating contest between two extremely talented sides. The winner will book a spot in the showpiece event against Atlético Madrid after Diego Simeone's side survived a Barcelona comeback in the second leg.

If you want to watch Real Sociedad vs. Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Real Sociedad vs. Athletic Bilbao?

Real Sociedad vs. Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on March 4. This fixture takes place at the Anoeta Stadium.

How to watch Real Sociedad vs. Athletic Bilbao for free

Real Sociedad vs. Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey is available to live stream for free on ITVX.

ITVX is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can unblock ITVX to stream the Copa del Rey for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Real Sociedad vs. Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey for free by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK

4. Visit ITVX

5. Watch Real Sociedad vs. Athletic Bilbao for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access free live streams of the Copa del Rey without actually spending anything. This obviously isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream Real Sociedad vs. Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for ITVX?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on ITVX, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including the UK

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).

Live stream Real Sociedad vs. Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey for free with ExpressVPN.

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
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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.

Lossless Scaling often gets framed as cheap frame generation. It's true: It costs $7, and it can do incredible things, such as bringing your old Nvidia GTX 1060 GPU out of retirement for the purpose of being a second GPU.

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.

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