IT General

All the times Doctor Who broke the fourth wall

Mashable - Sat, 04/19/2025 - 09:00

Other TV shows may break the fourth wall by talking directly to the audience. Doctor Who just blew it to smithereens — and it's been a long time coming.

In "Lux," episode 2 of Ncuti Gatwa's second season as the Doctor, our time-traveling hero is trapped, along with companion Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu), in a cinematic universe created by an evil god (Alan Cumming). After failing to break out of the frame in other directions, the pair literally break the fourth wall — smashing a TV screen — and step into a living room containing three fans who were just watching them on Doctor Who.

SEE ALSO: Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu play 'Slash or Pass: Doctor Who Edition'

And what's the first reaction from the fans? Surprise, but not total surprise: "Oh my god, it happened," says one. Showrunner Russell T Davies, an old-school fan himself, nailed it: Doctor Who lovers have been primed to expect this sort of thing for 60 years.

So before you rush to the internet to vent your nerd rage using the hashtag favored by the more cynical fan — #RIPDoctorWho — let's take a quick trip through all the previous moments in the show's long history that suggest this mysterious Time Lord really knows his audience.

The first Doctor breaks the fourth wall

As stuffy as the BBC was in the 1960s, it could still let its hair down at Christmas. That's the reason for the seasonal chaos in the Doctor Who episode "The Feast of Steven," broadcast Dec. 25, 1966.

After capers that have little to do with the ongoing story ("The Daleks' Master Plan"), the Doctor (William Hartnell) pours drinks for his companions, then turns to toast the audience: "Incidentally, a very merry Christmas to you at home."

"Feast of Steven" is one of many lost Who episodes, so we can't see this seminal moment. But audiences may not have felt it was entirely out of character for the show; after all, in the earlier story "The Aztecs," an evil priest confides his plan to camera, Shakespeare villain-style.

As showrunner Davies put it in a 2024 interview, there has always been "something showy about Doctor Who, something proscenium arch about it. There's something arch about it, full stop."

Tom Baker, fourth-wall breaker The fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) was appropriately numbered. Credit: Anwar Hussein

Even the greatest fans of Tom Baker (the fourth Doctor, 1974-1981) find it hard to defend Baker's tendency to speak directly to viewers — IRL, the consequence of a new producer who couldn't rein in his overbearing star.

Baker did this for the first time in episode 1 of "The Face of Evil" (1977), when he was without a companion (and personally believed he didn't need one). Then he did it twice in "The Invasion of Time" (1978), along with a cringe-inducing ad-lib: "Even the sonic screwdriver can't save me this time."

It would never again be that obvious, but Baker's three successors in the role each had their sly winks. Peter Davison (1981-84) and Colin Baker (1984-86) both appeared to be talking to the audience while referencing their new faces post-regeneration. Sylvester McCoy (1987-89) seemed to tell viewers he'd "miscalculated" during "Remembrance of the Daleks."

That story, set in 1963, also had a scene with a TV set on which a BBC announcer is about to introduce the very first episode of "a new sci-fi series called Do—" before cutting away.

Even "Lux" couldn't get much more meta than that moment.

And the most fourth wall-breaking Doctor is ...

Given how much Davies (and fellow sometime showrunner Steven Moffat) loves getting meta, it's surprising that the show took as long as it did, after Davies brought it back in 2005, to turn its spotlight on the Doctor's relationship to viewers.

At the very end of his run, eleventh Doctor Matt Smith (2010-13) flicks his eyes to the camera while delivering the line, "I will always remember when the Doctor was me." But it was subtle enough, amidst the drama of a regeneration, to be missed at the time.

Everything changed with the arrival of Smith's successor, Peter Capaldi. "I'm nothing without an audience," Capaldi says in "Heaven Sent," with the cheekiest peek at us as he passes the camera. (That didn't stop "Heaven Sent" being voted the best Doctor Who story of all time by Doctor Who Magazine readers; perhaps it even helped.)

By that point, Capaldi had already delivered two Moffat-written monologues to camera. One explained the bootstrap paradox and told us to "Google it," in "Before the Flood." The other, in "Listen," asked "why we talk out loud when we know we're alone," before suggesting that it's "because we know we're not."

Both monologues were pre-title "cold opens", meaning they didn't cut into the action; plus, like the "Heaven Sent" moment, both could be explained in-universe as the Doctor needing to talk to himself.

Then came "The Church on Ruby Road," Gatwa's first story, and the still-mysterious Mrs. Flood (Anita Dobson): "Never seen a TARDIS before?" she says to camera in the closing seconds. She also closed Gatwa's first season by telling us the Doctor's story "ends in absolute terror."

SEE ALSO: 'Doctor Who' season premiere review: 'Robot Revolution' makes us reluctant companions

We don't yet know why or how she's doing this, but Mrs. Flood's brief appearance in "The Robot Revolution" continued the trend: "You ain't seen me," she warns the audience, ducking out of a scene before the Doctor arrives. Ironically, when she appears again at the close of "Lux," Mrs. Flood doesn't look at the camera while telling other characters the TARDIS is a "trick of the light."

And Davies had to work hard to get more meta in "Lux" than he did in last season's "Devil's Chord." A god named Maestro (Jinkx Monsoon) opens the story looking to camera, saying "let's begin," and playing the Doctor Who theme on her piano. Gatwa closes it by winking to camera — then we cut to him performing the intentionally meta song, "There's Always a Twist at the End."

Arguably, by putting its Doctor Who fans in a sequence that we are explicitly told is not real, "Lux" is not that important in solving the fourth-wall riddle posed by Mrs. Flood, Maestro, and the Doctor's wink.

But "Lux" does at least settle a longstanding fan debate prompted by all those decades of fourth-wall breaking: Does the Doctor know he's in a TV show? Answer: No, he definitely did not even imagine the possibility before. Now, however, he may increasingly suspect he's not alone even when he's alone.

Wink-wink.

Doctor Who Season 2 premiered Apr. 12 on Disney+ and BBC. New episodes air weekly on Saturdays at 3 a.m. ET.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Doctor Who Easter eggs: Everything you missed in Lux

Mashable - Sat, 04/19/2025 - 09:00

In dark times, you can count on Doctor Who to bring the light.

That's what happened in the madcap and meta "Lux," episode 2 of Season 2 (also known as Season 15 since showrunner Russell T Davies' Who reboot, or season 41 if you're classic). Not only does "Lux" manage an upbeat tone in a grim setting — the segregated American South, 1952 — but the episode is also Davies' love letter to light in all strange and miraculous forms, including the movie projector, the animation studio, and the TV screens on which Doctor Who itself has lit up audiences for 61 years.

Let's unpack all the references you may have missed, via your most flammable burning questions.

Where have I seen that clothes scene before?

"This is the fun part, honey," the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) tells reluctant companion Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) on arrival, before whisking her off to an unseen TARDIS wardrobe. The camera pans up to reveal their 1950s threads.

Indeed, it is fun — so nice they filmed the scene twice. The Doctor and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) had a very similar reveal for their 1963 outfits at the start of Season 1, episode 2, "The Devil's Chord." It has become traditional for the Doctor to go to the past in the second trip of a new season, after the far future; the wardrobe scene may now be part of that tradition.

The soundtrack behind the "Lux" version is a wee bit anachronistic for 1952. It's Chuck Berry singing "Roll Over Beethoven" and igniting the rock 'n' roll era... in 1956. But music slightly out of time in the TARDIS may be a new tradition too; the 1963 clothes scene was set to Marlena Shaw singing "California Soul" in 1969.

Are the segregation scenes accurate?

Not anachronistic, alas, is the racial segregation in 1952 Miami. This is two years before the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education kickstarted the Civil Rights movement and the slow process of desegregation across the South. You can still visit the city's formerly segregated movie houses and restaurants.

Doctor Who has already explored segregation in the deep South — specifically Montgomery, Alabama, in the well-received 2018 episode "Rosa" — as well as racism against Gatwa's incarnation in 2024's "Dot and Bubble." That may explain why this time around, Davies chooses to focus on characters who are happy to flout segregation laws.

The only actual racist encounter is fake, in a scene concocted by Mr. Ring-a-Ding. Call it cartoon racism.

Is Mr. Ring-a-Ding based on anything?

Before the god-infused, 3D version of Mr. Ring-a-Ding (Alan Cumming) is created via the accidental combination of moonlight, projector and cartoon, "Lux" opens with a fake newsreel that's very true to 1952. You can watch the actual 1952 newsreels online: British Pathé on that year's atomic bomb tests that the god later wants to replicate, as well as British Pathé on Queen Elizabeth II pre-coronation.

It wouldn't be unusual for a U.S. movie house to screen such reels from across the Atlantic in the early 1950s. British Pathé would find it increasingly hard to compete with TV by the end of the decade. A cartoon playing before the main feature, meanwhile, was a tradition that continued well into the 1970s. "Mr. Ring-a-Ding" may remind you of Looney Tunes or its sister series, Merrie Melodies. In 1952, both were in the midst of an Oscar–winning golden age.

The following year, 1953, saw Daffy Duck in "Duck Amuck," widely considered one of the best cartoon shorts of all time. It's also meta in the same way as "Lux." Daffy feuds with his animator and tries to escape the screen, playing with the frames of film itself — just like the Doctor and Belinda do in this episode.

As for the visual aesthetic of Mr. Ring-a-Ding, Davies says his influence was the late, great Fleischer Studios. Best known today for Betty Boop, plus the earliest Popeye and Superman cartoons, Fleischer was based in Miami — just like "Lux" — and tended towards the surreal.

Fleischer Studios' earliest black-and-white stars included the unintentionally creepy Koko the Clown and Betty's dog, Bimbo. Put those two together, add a splash of Looney Tunes color, and you've got something close to Mr. Ring-a-Ding.

But is there another, more modern audio influence? We're not talking about the voice of Cumming, who has appeared in Doctor Who once before as King James I in the Jodie Whittaker-era episode "The Witchfinders" (2018), that time using his native Scottish accent.

We're talking about Manchester's biggest superstars, Oasis, whose first hit "Supersonic" included the repeated couplet "You make me laugh / Give me your autograph." Did the Manchester-based Davies not know that when he wrote Ring-a-Ding's crucial repeated couplet, "Please don't make me laugh / Just take my autograph"?

As the god himself says, don't make me laugh ..

How do we know Mr. Ring-a-Ding is a god?

The laugh that clues the Doctor into his foe being a member of a mysterious Pantheon of gods is the same one featured in the 2023 special "The Giggle." That's when we meet the first god-like Pantheon member to have crossed over from another universe, the Toymaker (Neil Patrick Harris), who was also bound by the rules of his games. The giggle returned in "The Devil's Chord," courtesy of Maestro (Jinkx Monsoon) — preceded by a young harbinger known as Harry Arbinger. Then Sutekh, preceded by Harriet Arbinger, shows up in "The Legend of Ruby Sunday."

In investigating the haunted movie theater, the Doctor compares himself to Scooby Doo character Velma. (Let's hope he's not referring to Velma, the spin-off canceled after two seasons on Max.) But even Shaggy could have told you the movie theater was inhabited by a god... if he'd been a Doctor Who fan on X in 2024.

That's where set photos leaked, including the awning where a fake Rock Hudson movie title, The Harvest Bringer, loses enough letters to become "Harbinger." When one of the ersatz Doctor Who fans later says, "I knew this was going to happen because it leaked online," it's art imitating life.

Doctor Who fans are real. Or are they?

There's plenty of fourth-wall-breaking in Doctor Who history. Nothing beats the scene where the Doctor and Belinda step out of the TV into what appears to be a room of Doctor Who fans, but we can go one meta step further by being Doctor Who fans who drop a bunch of nerdy Easter egg explainers about this supremely nerdy scene.

Let's take the Doctor's lead and start with the clothes. The fans are wearing: a scarf from Tom Baker's fourth Doctor era, a T-shirt with a 1970s logo for UNIT (the Doctor's former employer), a Beep the Meep T-shirt from "The Star Beast," a Matt Smith-era fez, and a Cyberman T-shirt that just names the Cyberman home planet (well, one of them, long story!) Telos — perhaps because Belinda and the Doctor keep saying, "Tell us."

One nerdy step down: The fans all describe "Blink," penned by Davies pal and former showrunner Steven Moffat, as their favorite episode, but Belinda fails to get excited by the premise (probably because the fans fail to mention the Weeping Angels). This is the second episode in a row where Davies has poked gentle fun at "Blink," since that script is also the origin of the phrase "timey-wimey." When the Doctor uttered that in "The Robot Revolution," Belinda deadpanned, "Am I six?"

It would be even more nerdy to point out that "Blink" is no longer the fans' favorite; recent polls in Doctor Who Magazine placed it below three other Moffat stories ("Heaven Sent," "Day of the Doctor," and "World Enough and Time"). Maybe that should have been the tip-off that the fans were fake.

Or are they? If you didn't stick around, you won't have noticed the fans returning for a mid-credits sequence in which they discover they still exist (while giving the episode a 7 out of 10). What that means is something Whovians will be debating as long as the TV lights shine.

Doctor Who Season 2 is now streaming on Disney+ and BBC.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Take AI-powered piano lessons for life for 50% off

Mashable - Sat, 04/19/2025 - 07:00

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Opens in a new window Credit: Skoove Skoove Premium Piano Lessons: Lifetime Subscription £113.07
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Categories: IT General, Technology

Hurdle hints and answers for April 19, 2025

Mashable - Sat, 04/19/2025 - 06:00

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hint

To happen.

SEE ALSO: Apple’s new M3 MacBook Air is $300 off at Amazon. And yes, I’m tempted. Hurdle Word 1 answer

OCCUR

Hurdle Word 2 hint

The edge.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 19, 2025 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

BRINK

Hurdle Word 3 hint

Grumpy or irritable.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 19 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 19, 2025 Hurdle Word 3 answer

POUTY

Hurdle Word 4 hint

The symbol of the US.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for April 19 Hurdle Word 4 answer

EAGLE

Final Hurdle hint

A conference or seminar.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable Hurdle Word 5 answer

FORUM

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Categories: IT General, Technology

NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 19

Mashable - Sat, 04/19/2025 - 04:00

Connections: Sports Edition is a new version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here's a hint for today's Connections Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

  • Yellow: What fighters do

  • Green: On the field for a kick

  • Blue: Basketball HOF players in Boston

  • Purple: Baseball stadiums that have closed

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

  • Yellow: Strike with the first

  • Green: Players involved in a field goal try

  • Blue: Celtics in the Hall of Fame

  • Purple: First words of former MLB ballparks

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections Sports Edition #208 is...

What is the answer to Connections Sports Edition today
  • Strike with the first - HIT, JAB, PUNCH, SOCK

  • Players involved in a field goal try - HOLDER, KICKER, LINEMEN, LONG SNAPPER

  • Celtics in the Hall of Fame - BIRD, PARISH, PIERCE, RUSSELL

  • First words of former MLB ballparks - CANDLESTICK, EBBETS, POLO, SHEA

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

Categories: IT General, Technology

NYT Strands hints, answers for April 19

Mashable - Sat, 04/19/2025 - 04:00

If you're reading this, you're looking for a little help playing Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game.

Strands requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferrined pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 19 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 19 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: ___ a ___

The words are common phrases.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words are three word phrases with a in the middle.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is TakeThat.

Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for April 19
  • Selfie

  • Breather

  • Hint

  • Chance

  • Number

  • Gander

  • Hike

  • TakeThat

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to the latest Strands.

Categories: IT General, Technology

NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 19, 2025

Mashable - Sat, 04/19/2025 - 04:00

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for April 19 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

  • Yellow: Commonly given in schools or colleges

  • Green: Used to describe the Sahara

  • Blue: Common pets

  • Purple: Coded by numbers

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

  • Yellow: Spoken presentation

  • Green: Adjectives for a desert

  • Blue: Dog breeds, informally

  • Purple: Represented by three-digit numbers

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #678 is...

What is the answer to Connections today
  • Spoken presentation: ADDRESS, LECTURE, SPEECH, TALK

  • Adjectives for a desert: DRY, HOT, SANDY, VAST

  • Dog breeds, informally: BULLY, CHOW, GOLDEN, LAB

  • Represented by three-digit numbers: CANNABIS, DEVIL, INTRO CLASS, JAMES BOND

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 19

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 19, 2025

Mashable - Sat, 04/19/2025 - 04:00

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: Hints and answers for April 19 Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for April 19, 2025 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A folder where digital messages are held.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter I.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

INBOX.

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 19

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Wordle.

Categories: IT General, Technology

You've Read Misinformation About the Switch 2, Here Are the Facts

How-To Geek - Sat, 04/19/2025 - 00:00

The absence of any money talk during the Switch 2 Direct ended up backfiring on Nintendo as it caused the rampant spread of misinformation. It’s possible you’ve unknowingly come across some of this yourself. Here are the facts about the Switch 2’s pricing, cartridges, and compatibilities.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Joe Wright reveals much-memed Pride and Prejudice line came from Emma Thompson

Mashable - Fri, 04/18/2025 - 23:43

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Pride and Prejudice, directed by Joe Wright, and starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen as will-they-won't-they lovers Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. In the two decades since its 2005 debut, this glorious film adaptation of Jane Austen's novel has forged a rich internet legacy, birthing memes, thirst posts, and more.

To toast Pride and Prejudice's re-release in theaters, Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko interviewed Wright over Zoom, looking to discover not only what he makes of the movie's online popularity but also to uncover the origins of these much-memed moments.

SEE ALSO: 11 Jane Austen movie and TV adaptations we ardently admire and love

In the video above, Wright reveals how Darcy's truly iconic hand flex came to be a part of cinema history and how Emma Thompson wrote some of the movie's most frequently quoted lines.

You know, you love it. It’s the Charlotte Lucas speech, performed here by Claudie Blakley. 

"I'm 27 years old. I've no money and no prospects. I'm already a burden to my parents, and I'm frightened."

The audio clip is all over TikTok. Charlotte's words have been iced onto birthday cakes. And while some have erroneously credited Austen with these unforgettable lines, what Charlotte actually said in the book was more elaborate: "I am not romantic, you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and, considering Mr. Collins's character, connections, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state."

In Mashable's interview, Wright revealed that while screenwriter Deborah Moggach wrote much of Pride and Prejudice’s screenplay, it was Emma Thompson who wrote Charlotte's beloved lines. Ten years before this Austen adaptation, Thompson adapted and starred in the Ang Lee-directed Sense and Sensibility, earning Oscar nominations for both her performance and script. (She took home the Oscar for the latter.) So, Wright welcoming Thompson into the cinematic collaboration was a no-brainer. 

Wright also recalled how Thompson led him to Hampstead Heath, where she improvised dialogue for Pride and Prejudice scenes, directing him to take notes. "That was one of the things she improvised on that hill on Hampstead Heath," Wright said of Charlotte's declaration. Thompson's inspired interpretation ends with, "Don't you judge me, Lizzy. Don't you dare judge me."

Wright remembered he found Thompson’s ability to come up with such dialogue "miraculous." 

As to why it's still so relevant to audiences today, the director mused, "I think it's because it's true. There's a truth to it all."

Pride and Prejudice returns to theaters for a special event on April 20 and April 23.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Google Pixel 9a early reviews: Is this the new mid-range mobile to beat?

Mashable - Fri, 04/18/2025 - 23:31

We've been waiting for this one: The new Google Pixel 9a smartphone has officially landed, and early reviewers are (mostly) praising this affordable smartphone.

Mashable's own review will be going online early next week (we're still evaluating the phone's feature set and cameras), but we wanted to round up the early reviews for early adopters who just can't wait.

With tariffs predicted to lead to higher prices for electronics like mobile phones, we wouldn't be surprised if mid-range smartphones like this become more popular in the months ahead. Sure, the teens may be addicted to their iPhones, but in Android land, you can find quite a few affordable smartphones.

So, let's recap the phone's specs and then dive into the Google Pixel 9a early reviews...

Opens in a new window Credit: Google Google Pixel 9a $499 at Google
Shop Now Google Pixel 9a specs: No more camera bump... Credit: Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
  • Display: 6.3-inch scratch-resistant Actua display

  • Processor: Google Tensor G4 processor

  • Resolution: 1080 x 2424 pOLED, HDR support

  • Camera: 48 MP main camera, 13 MP ultra-wide camera

  • Colors: Iris, Peony, Porcelain, Obsidian

  • Battery life: 30 hours

  • Storage: 128-256GB

  • Size: 6.1 x 2.9 x 0.4 inches

Google Pixel 9a: The early reviews

What are the early reviewers saying so far? Over at Tom's Guide, reviewer John Velasco calls this the new phone to beat for $500. Overall, most reviews agree with that assessment, though some reviewers do complain about a wonky zoom and average camera quality. On the plus side, the new Pixel 9a has an improved design, battery, and display. Plus, most reviewers confirm the camera is good enough for the $499 price tag.

CNN Underscored’s Mike Andronico has a rave review, with a headline that states, “I used the Google Pixel 9a for a week and I’m shocked how good this $500 phone is.” CNN Underscored can be a bit… overenthusiastic in its product assessments, so we might take that headline with a grain of salt. Still, it’s a very positive review of a mid-range smartphone (though, they note the camera leaves something to be desired).

Over in Australia, Channel News praises the Pixel 9a for offering flagship features at a more affordable price. The outlet reports that the phone’s standout features include a good-quality camera and a “stunning display.” In particular, they praise the phone for its 120hz refresh rate and 2,700 nits of brightness.

The Guardian and Consumer Technology Editor Samuel Gibbs have another very positive review, claiming this is the “best bang for your buck in Android phones.” Gibbs says it compares favorably to Google’s flagship Pixel smartphones, as well as the Samsung Galaxy A56 and Nothing Phone 3a Pro.

IGN has one of the few negative reviews of the Pixel 9a, and even “negative” is a bit of a stretch. Neutral, might be a better adjective here, as their reviewer calls it “Not bad. Not the best value either. Ultimately, IGN states the phone isn’t much better than similarly priced alternatives like the OnePlus 13R

Business Standard says the Pixel 9a strikes the right balance “between flagship-grade features and an accessible price point.” The review praised its impressive battery and the new redesign — and the accessible price, of course.

What are customers saying? On the Ars Technica OpenForum, one user calls out the phone for being “light on AI” features. And over on Reddit, one of the most popular user reviews concludes that the new phone really does feel more like a flagship than a middle-of-the-road phone. It has the same processor as the pricier Pixel 9, and the performance offers a much better overall value in this price range.

Once again, check back next week for Mashable's in-depth review of the new Pixel 9a smartphone from Google. In the meantime, you can purchase the new phone from the Google Store.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Everything we know about the new Motorola Razr: Leaks, launch date, price

Mashable - Fri, 04/18/2025 - 22:40

It feels like a lifetime ago now that Motorola rebooted the Razr as a foldable device, reimagining the classic flip-phone for the modern era.

Motorola has been iterating on the foldable Razr concept since its inauspicious 2020 debut, eventually settling on something popular enough to warrant annual updates. Now, the next generation of Razr foldable smartphones is almost upon us, with a launch date set for next week. Here's everything we know about the new Razr and Razr Plus, including the latest leaks and when and where you'll be able to get one.

SEE ALSO: New foldable iPhone specs leaked, including alleged details on the camera and Touch ID Motorola Razr 2025: Everything we know

Lucky for us, there have been some pretty extensive leaks about the new generation of Motorola phones.

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Fortunately, we needn't rely on leaks for this part. Motorola itself has teased the launch of its next foldable on social media, confirming a launch date of April 24. Based on the short video in the post, it seems like Motorola is gearing up to announce both a new Razr and a new regular-style Edge phone. However, the foldables seem to be the point of emphasis here; you can see three Razr phones in different colors in the video. That doesn't necessarily mean there will be three new models of Razr, though, as Motorola has been rolling with a default model and an upgraded "Plus" (or "Ultra" internationally) model for the past couple of years.

Specs

While precedent suggests there will be a base Razr 2025 model, all of the spec leaks so far have concerned the Razr Plus 2025 model (or Razr+, if you prefer). 91mobiles, with the help of leaker OnLeaks, got the scoop on the phone's specs, which are reportedly as follows:

  • 7-inch internal 1440p AMOLED display with 165Hz refresh rate

  • 4-inch pOLED cover display with a 165Hz refresh rate

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor

  • 16GB RAM

  • 512GB storage

  • 50MP wide and ultra-wide rear camera lenses

  • 50MP selfie cam

  • 4,700mAh battery

Some of those specs are big upgrades over last year's Razr Plus model. The Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset would potentially provide a big boost in power, while the battery is substantially larger than the 4,000mAh cell found in the Razr Plus 2024. The 50MP selfie cam would be an upgrade over last year's 32MP lens, while 68W fast charging would be a boon to anyone who needs to juice up real quick.

Unfortunately, info on the supposed entry-level Razr 2025 model is harder to come by. But at the very least, the Plus model seems to offer a pretty big upgrade over its predecessor.

Price

This is obviously not set in stone until Motorola tells us the official price next week. That said, 91mobiles spotted some prices from European retailers online that could give us an idea of what to expect.

The answer is...not pretty. The European version of the premium Razr is expected to cost around €1,346, which is almost $1,500 USD. (The 2024 version is priced at $1,199.99.) That's also before potential tariff price increases come into play, though it's impossible to say what tariffs will even look like a week from now. For now, you can buy the previous generation Motorola Razr (2024) starting at $699.99.

Regardless, the new Razr Plus phone looks to be a big step up from the one before it. Hopefully, it doesn't make weird, disconcerting noises like that first 2020 model did for us.

Opens in a new window Credit: Motorola Motorola Razr (2024) $699.99 at Motorola
256GB, Unlocked Shop Now
Categories: IT General, Technology

Ryan Coogler and Sinners cast on their vampire musical being genre-fluid

Mashable - Fri, 04/18/2025 - 21:24

Writer/director Ryan Coogler has previously awed audiences with Black Panther and Creed. For Sinners, he's reunited with longtime collaborator Michael B. Jordan, who plays twins in the critically heralded vampire flick.

Set in Clarksdale, Mississippi circa 1932, where the blues was born, Sinners stars Jordan as the SmokeStack Twins, two debonair rogues who, after years up north in Chicago, are fixing to start a juke joint in their hometown. Helping them along the way is a smooth-talking bluesman (Delroy Lindo), the no-nonsense local grocer (Li Jun Li), old friends (Omar Miller), former lovers (Wunmi Mosaku and Hailee Steinfeld), a sultry singer (Jayme Lawson), and their young cousin Sammie (Miles Caton), who aspires to be a professional musician. But Sammie’s soulful music attracts more than revelers — it also attracts a prowling vampire (Jack O’Connell), determined to turn their juke joint into an all-you-can-eat buffet.

SEE ALSO: 'Sinners' review: Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan deliver a vampire movie for the ages

This mix of sensational song numbers and vampire-led violence means Sinners is a film that might have some calling it a horror musical. But do Coogler and his cast agree? Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko sat down with Coogler and his Sinners ensemble to discuss the matter, and to explore how making a “genre-fluid” film so physically demanding worked for the cast. 

Sinners is now in theaters.

Categories: IT General, Technology

We tried the ChatGPT reverse location search trend, and its scary

Mashable - Fri, 04/18/2025 - 21:12

ChatGPT users have discovered that the popular AI chatbot can serve as a reverse-location search tool. In other words, you can show ChatGPT a picture, and it can pretty reliably tell you where it was taken. The trend is inspired by the online game Geoguessr, where folks try to figure out a location from a simple web image.

We decided to put this new ChatGPT trend to the test, and the results were downright scary. Mashable tech reporters prompted ChatGPT to play a geo-guessing game and uploaded a series of photos. Even when ChatGPT identified the wrong location, it still got pretty close (such as identifying a rooftop hotel in Buffalo instead of Rochester). In other cases, it suggested specific addresses.

ChatGPT's new reasoning models are getting smarter

This week, OpenAI introduced its newest ChatGPT reasoning models, o3 and o4-mini, with improved visual reasoning. OpenAI also recently made its image generator available to free users. That's led to a number of ChatGPT-based viral trends. People have used it to turn their pets into humans or themselves into action figures, for instance. The reverse location trend, however, is a bit more complicated — and concerning from a privacy standpoint.

The trend started when folks online realized that ChatGPT has become proficient at guessing a location just by analyzing a photo. Ethan Mollick, a professor who researches AI, posted an example on X where ChatGPT was able to correctly guess where he was driving despite the fact that he stripped the image of location info. (Images often contain metadata that includes precise location data.)

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Mollick noted that this ability also shows off the capabilities of agentic AI, which allows AI models to reason out answers in multiple steps and perform more complicated tasks such as web searches.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. Putting ChatGPT's visual reasoning to the test

We tested ChatGPT on these new abilities, and it did a decent, if imperfect, job. First, we uploaded a recent photo of a flower shop taken in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. ChatGPT was able to deduce the photo was taken in Brooklyn. It incorrectly thought the image was of a specific flower shop about seven miles away from the true location.

We then uploaded a photo taken from a car on a recent trip to Japan, and ChatGPT's new o3 model was able to identify the exact location. "Final answer:📍 Arashiyama, Kyoto, Japan, near the Togetsukyo Bridge, looking across the Katsura River."

The prompt... Credit: Screenshot courtesy of OpenAI ...and the correct answer. Credit: Screenshot courtesy of ChatGPT

When we ran the same prompt with an older reasoning model, the results were much more general: "Given the combination of mountainous terrain, the style of the guardrail, the road, and the overall setting, this looks very much like it could be Japan...The scenery is reminiscent of the areas around Kyoto or Nara, where the countryside meets historic and cultural sites."

We then took things a step further. We uploaded screenshots from the profile of a popular Instagram model — the type of person who would have genuine concerns about privacy and stalkers. With the latest reasoning models, ChatGPT correctly identified the general location, even suggesting specific high-rise apartments, and in one case, a specific home address.

Now, to be fair, the address in question is a home popular among influencers and TV productions, but the specificity was impressive. And a bit scary. It's yet another reason to be careful about what you post online — AI can now help folks deduce where you're located.

OpenAI has said ChatGPT's reverse location abilities could prove helpful, while also acknowledging privacy concerns.

"OpenAI o3 and o4-mini bring visual reasoning to ChatGPT, making it more helpful in areas like accessibility, research, or identifying locations in emergency response," an OpenAI spokesperson wrote in an email to Mashable. "We’ve worked to train our models to refuse requests for private or sensitive information, added safeguards intended to prohibit the model from identifying private individuals in images, and actively monitor for and take action against abuse of our usage policies on privacy.”

Categories: IT General, Technology

Top 10 2025 Crossovers With the Most Advanced Safety Features

How-To Geek - Fri, 04/18/2025 - 20:15

Technology in cars is becoming incredibly advanced, with driver assists and safety features making vehicles safer than ever before. However, not everyone is on an equal playing field and there are certain crossovers that have more advanced safety features than their rivals.

Categories: IT General, Technology

8 Ways to Clear the Clipboard on Windows 11

How-To Geek - Fri, 04/18/2025 - 20:00

Your clipboard saves the items you copy on your computer. This includes text, images, videos, and any other items. If you don’t want someone pasting these items from your clipboard, you can clear all the clipboard contents. Here’s how to do that on Windows 11.

Categories: IT General, Technology

This Fun Activity Got My Kids Interested in Astronomy

How-To Geek - Fri, 04/18/2025 - 20:00

I've been fascinated by eclipses ever since reading the classic Tintin comic Prisoners of the Sun. In the story, Tintin escapes death by convincing his captors that he can command the Sun, ordering it to disappear at the exact time that a solar eclipse is about to happen.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The first foldable e-reader reminds me of an ancient technology — books

Mashable - Fri, 04/18/2025 - 18:45

Among the eerie, slow-moving horrors of the 2014 film It Follows, the image I can't stop thinking about years later is that famous seashell e-reader. Unfortunately, its genius design was made just for the movie, but a new e-reader just debuted that may get us one step closer.

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This week, Taiwan-based company Readmoo debuted its latest color e-reader at the 2025 Touch Taiwan Exhibition. The mooInk V is a color e-reader that has a center hinge (à la the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7) so it folds in half. This reminds us of another innovative technology — something called a book.

While specific dimensions of the e-reader have yet to be revealed, based on images released from the event, it appears to fold up smaller than a paperback book. However, it is slightly heavier than a Kindle at 225 grams, likely due to the mechanics of its hinged aluminum-magnesium alloy build. While we can't testify to its durability, the company claims it can handle more than 200,000 bends.

The mooInk V can bend at a 90-degree angle or lay flat. Credit: Readmoo

Press photos from the mooInk V's debut show an ultra-saturated color screen, but I'm cautiously optimistic about just how bright it will actually be. So far, the color e-readers on the market don't quite live up to their vibrant hype.

Current color e-reader models like the Kobo Libra Colour and Kindle Colorsoft use a Kaleido 3 display, which is a color filter layered on top of a black and white E-Ink panel. That limits the shades that those e-readers can display, usually resulting in slightly muted tones.

Another look at the mooInk V from Readmoo Credit: Readmoo

The mooInk V will instead feature E Ink's Gallery 3 display, which contains colored ink capsules to produce up to 50,000 shades. Like Kindle and Kobo e-readers, the mooInk V will have a screen resolution of 300ppi.

There's still a lot we don't know about the mooInk V, like its specific dimensions, cost, and release date, but we're curious about its promises.

Categories: IT General, Technology

All the tariff price increases in the tech world so far (updated)

Mashable - Fri, 04/18/2025 - 18:34

UPDATE: Apr. 18, 2025, 12:15 p.m. EDT This post has been updated with additional information on tariff-related price hikes from Nintendo and Loftie.

President Donald Trump's tariff policies are causing chaos. Last week, the White House announced steep new tariffs, announced an exemption for some electronics, and then walked back the exemption almost immediately. Despite the uncertainty, we're already seeing some price hikes across consumer tech.

President Trump has imposed a huge reciprocal tariff on China, where many tech products are manufactured. Some Chinese goods may face a levy of 245 percent, and smaller global tariffs on most other countries remain in effect. That means importing goods to the United States is now much more expensive than it was two weeks ago. Several companies across multiple product categories, from laptops to GPUs and TVs and even toilet paper, have announced higher-than-normal prices.

Without wasting any more time, here are the confirmed tariff price increases in the tech world so far.

SEE ALSO: Nintendo Switch 2 tariff impacts: What we know so far Nintendo Switch 2 accessories

In an April 18 press release, Nintendo announced that while the Nintendo Switch 2 console itself and a handful of launch titles won't receive any price increases, the same can't be said for the new handheld's accessories. In particular, the Joy-Con controllers and Switch Camera will see small price increases. The statement reads, "Nintendo Switch 2 accessories will experience price adjustments from those announced on April 2 due to changes in market conditions...Other adjustments to the price of any Nintendo product are also possible in the future depending on market conditions."

This news comes after a temporary pre-order delay for the Switch 2, which the company implemented in response to the volatile tariff situation. The console was originally supposed to go up for preorder on April 9, but Nintendo paused U.S. orders just days after the Switch 2's official announcement. At the time of this writing, preorders for the console are back on — you can secure yours beginning on April 24.

SEE ALSO: Nintendo confirms Switch 2 pre-orders are back on, and the price is unchanged Loftie Lamp

Lofite announced that its award-winning smart Lamp will experience a price increase due to tariffs. At the time of writing, Loftie's popular alarm clock has not been affected.

"The U.S. is imposing steep new taxes on products made in China—including ours. Starting May 1, the tariff on each Loftie Lamp will increase to 175%. That means we’ll need to raise prices to account for the new taxes. We have fewer than 900 lamps left in inventory, and once they’re gone—or once May arrives—our pricing will reflect this new reality. Future production is on hold while we wait for clarity on what comes next," the company wrote on the Loftie Lamp product page.

Loftie has the remainder of its lamp inventory listed at just $274.99 right now, which is $175 off the original price.

Asus laptops

Taiwanese tech giant Asus announced price hikes on several of its Zenbook and Vivobook laptops back in March, before Trump's "Liberation Day" shenanigans set most of these other price hikes in motion. So far, these price increases aren't massive, per se; they range between 5 and 10 percent for each affected laptop. For instance, the Zenbook A14 went from $1,099 to $1,199.

Asus told Mashable at the time that more Asus products could receive tariff-related price increases as the situation evolves. Since the tariffs on China are now substantially larger than they were in late March, don't be surprised if some prices go up even further.

Dame

Sexual wellness brand Dame is calling out President Trump directly with its price increases. In an Instagram post, the company announced that it will be adding a $5 "Trump Tariff Surcharge" on all of its products made in China. "Yes, that’s a “Trump Tariff Surcharge” in your cart. We’re sorry, really. But a 54% tariff on goods made in China is hitting us hard. So we’ve made the tough call to adjust prices," the Instagram caption reads. Dame also added artwork of the president's signature hairstyle to its shopping cart.

View this post on Instagram Framework laptops

Framework may not be as big of a name as Sony or Asus, but tech enthusiasts should know it as the maker of uniquely easy-to-repair laptops. They're designed to be taken apart, even by the hands of a casual user, with intuitive repair/replacement instructions baked into the machines themselves.

On Wednesday, Framework announced a flat 10 percent increase on laptop prices... and then Trump instituted a 90-day pause on all non-China tariffs. Since Framework manufactures its devices in Taiwan, prices were then reduced back to their normal states. However, Framework indicated in a company blog post that some components like bezels and expansion cards are made in China, so there will be price increases on those.

GPUs

Rather than going company-by-company, it's easiest to just say that graphics cards for PCs could see blanket price increases across the board, according to our friends at PCMag.

Since they're largely made in China, the 145 percent tariff on that country could hit the GPU import market very hard. One online retailer, Newegg, hiked prices on certain Nvidia GPUs by as much as $400 because of the Trump tariffs. While this will be an inconvenience (to put it lightly) for anyone building a custom PC, these kinds of GPUs are also necessary for the development of generative AI on an enterprise level. This will affect both consumers and businesses, in other words.

Anker products

Anker, a Chinese company that makes a lot of different electronics, including phone cases, charging cables, and portable chargers, has instituted a tariff price hike on many of its products on Amazon. So far, 127 different Anker products have been affected, with average price increases of 18 percent.

Since Anker's portable power banks are generally of pretty high quality and (until now) fairly affordable, this one hurts. Now might be the time to get a smartphone with a longer-lasting battery...if you can, at least, until tariffs affect those, too.

Sony TVs

This is a bit of an odd one in that the company hasn't confirmed that tariffs are responsible for the price increase, but it sure seems that way.

To be more specific, The Verge found that some of Sony's new Bravia OLED TV models have had around $500 tacked onto their U.S. prices, compared to a currency conversion of the Canadian prices. To be clear, even before tariff increases, these TVs weren't cheap. The 65-inch Bravia 8 II TV costs $3,999 in the United States; at Canadian outlets, the price converts to about $3,500 in U.S. dollars. It's hard to imagine Sony plopping $500 onto the price of a TV in the U.S. for any reason other than increased import costs.

Foreo

Foreo is a Swedish beauty company that makes a popular line of facial massagers and brushes. We've seen multiple reports that Foreo plans to increase its prices by 20 to 30 percent beginning April 22. At this time, we haven't been able to independently confirm this increase, and we've reached out to Foreo for comment. We'll update this story if we learn anything new.

Jolie

Jolie, the maker of a filtered showerhead, is one of the first companies to confirm the addition of a line item for tariffs during the customer checkout process. First reported by The Information, the DTC brand will soon add a "Trump liberation tariff" surcharge to its bills.

In a statement posted to LinkedIn, Jolie Skin Co. CEO Ryan Babenzien said, "We think transparency is the way to go here and I am giving Trump full credit for his decision to add this Tariff to all US consumers."

Combustion Inc.

Combustion Inc. announced on its Instagram that tariffs would impact the pricing of its Predictive Thermometer, its accessories, and the Giant Grill Gauge. The company says that it has a limited inventory of Predictive Thermometer products that will continue to be offered at pre-tariff pricing. Once the inventory is depleted, the restock will reflect a new, increased price.

The Giant Grill Gauge will also remain at the same price until the closing of its preorder window in May. After that, a new price will be implemented.

We'll continue updating this post as new tariff price changes are confirmed.

Keep checking Mashable for our latest tariff news and explainers, from delayed Nintendo Switch 2 preorders to reports of iPhone 16 panic buying.

Categories: IT General, Technology

As a Massive Minecraft Fan, I'm Obsessed With This Crafting Game

How-To Geek - Fri, 04/18/2025 - 18:30

I'm a huge Minecraft fan, but lately I've been trying out other games that scratch the exploration and crafting itch. Satisfactory by Coffee Stain Studios is my latest obsession—here's why.

Categories: IT General, Technology
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