IT General

Keeping up with modern PCs means upgrading components fairly often, and it's easy to just throw away old hardware if you can't sell it to someone. For some components, like SSDs, there's no need to throw it away. There are plenty of easy ways to reuse them!

Spectrum just revealed its new 'Invincible Wi-Fi' system, combining a standard home internet router, battery backup, and 5G backup into one package. It's available to Spectrum customers starting today, and it might be cheaper than existing options.

PlayStation 5 owners might want to have YouTube open on Thursday afternoon.

As announced earlier this week, PlayStation is holding one of its State of Play livestreams on Thursday at 5 p.m. ET. These events are basically Nintendo Directs but for PlayStation, and this is a particularly beefy one at about 60 minutes in length. You can watch it on the PlayStation YouTube channel when the time is right.

SEE ALSO: The PlayStation DualSense Edge controller is still marked down to its best-ever price at Amazon

As for what to expect, it's difficult to say without diving into the realm of unsubstantiated internet rumors. Based on developer comments, it seems fairly certain that Marvel's Wolverine from Insomniac Games will not make an appearance, which is somewhat surprising for a game that is supposed to launch this year. Aside from that, it really is open season for PlayStation. The stream could showcase just about anything, which makes its 60-minute length particularly exciting.

If you're on the East Coast, this will be a great way to wind down the workday. If you're working a 9-to-5 anywhere else in the U.S., just make sure you switch to a different tab if anyone else walks by.

This weekend, I challenge you to try at least one of these homelab projects. You don’t have to deploy all three, but I’m sure you could benefit from a more private search engine, a “works anywhere” code server, or a self-hosted private budget system.

If you've been patiently awaiting Nintendo's pastel purple and green Switch 2 Joy-Con controllers since their unveiling last month, you can now officially add them to your cart.

Officially called "Light Purple" and "Light Green" — though the green is definitely more of a pastel teal — the new set is available for $99.99 as of Feb. 12. Aside from the color, the controllers are an exact match to the ones that come with the Switch 2. They feature the same magnetic connectors, wrist straps, HD rumble, C button for GameChat, and can be used as a mouse for compatible games.

Credit: Nintendo

Many are already criticizing the controller variant online, as the purple and green shades are only visible on the inner rails. In other words, you can't even see the colors when connected to a Switch 2 console, unlike previous Joy-Con variants that covered the whole shell. Still, if you have $100 to spare and want to give your Switch 2 some new life, the pastel controllers add a fun (yet subtle) pop of color. You can officially purchase them at Nintendo, Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and GameStop, as of Feb. 12.

Where to buy the Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con color variant: Nintendo Nintendo Joy-Con 2 Light Purple / Light Green $99.99 Shop Now Amazon Nintendo Joy-Con 2 Light Purple / Light Green $99.99 Shop Now Best Buy Nintendo Joy-Con 2 Light Purple / Light Green $99.99 Shop Now Target Nintendo Joy-Con 2 Light Purple / Light Green $99.99 Shop Now GameStop Nintendo Joy-Con 2 Light Purple / Light Green $99.99 Shop Now

It's been a big week for Sony. The brand just launched the new XM6 earbuds which have proven to be some of the most well-rounded noise-cancelling earbuds Mashable has ever tested. But if you're more of an over-the-ear headphones type of person, Sony has something exciting in store for you.

If you're a fan of pink, the new colorway can do no wrong. Credit: Sony

On Feb. 12, Sony introduced the Sand Pink colorway to the lineup of XM6 headphone options. Previous colorway options included Black, Midnight Blue, and Platinum Silver, so this pink addition adds nice variety to the much-adored headphones.

The Sand Pink stands out among the other options for the XM6 heaphones. Credit: Timothy Beck Werth / Mashable

In Mashable's testing, the Sony XM6 headphones got major points for overall sound quality and noise-cancellation. Plus, Sony added a foldable earcup designed to this model, making them more travel friendly compared to the previous XM5 headphones. The XM5 colorway options include a Smoky Pink, but the new Sand Pink XM6 has a warmer and brighter pink hue.

Sony XM5 on the left in Smoky Pink with the new Sand Pink XM6 on the right. Credit: Timothy Beck Werth / Mashable Sony XM5 on the left in Smoky Pink with the new Sand Pink XM6 on the right. Credit: Timothy Beck Werth / Mashable

Maybe best of all, the new Sand Pink is already on sale at Amazon. The XM6 headphones come with a list price of $459.99, but they're already on sale for $398, or a 13% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony XM6 headphones (Sand Pink) $398 at Amazon
$459.99 Save $61.99   Get Deal

If you're not one who likes to sport black or white headphones, this new Sand Pink option adds a major pop of color to the lineup. Plus, we're pretty obsessed with it as spring rolls around with Valentine's Day right around the corner.

The future is here for the Toyota Highlander, which made its original debut at the 2000 New York International Auto Show in April of that year. By 2005, the Highlander would debut again, this time as a hybrid for the 2006 model year. And now, 26 years later, the Highlander returns for another grand entrance, this time as Toyota’s first three‑row, battery‑electric vehicle.

Now would be a good time to ensure your Windows OS is up to date. Microsoft recently patched a serious vulnerability in Windows 11 related to Notepad, its text-editing tool.

The company said it fixed a "remote code execution" vulnerability. As technology website Techradar noted, the vulnerability had to do with Markdown — in which users can employ symbols to format text (e.g., asterisks to create italics) — which could allow bad actors to insert a dangerous link.

"An attacker could trick a user into clicking a malicious link inside a Markdown file opened in Notepad, causing the application to launch unverified protocols that load and execute remote files," Microsoft wrote in a security bulletin. "The malicious code would execute in the security context of the user who opened the Markdown file, giving the attacker the same permissions as that user."

Tech site Bleeping Computer tested the vulnerability and found that Microsoft now displays a warning before allowing such a link to be clicked. It's pretty much the standard "this link may be unsafe" message most users have seen before.

The vulnerability should have been automatically fixed via a patch, but it's worth double-checking to ensure Windows 11 has been updated recently on your device.

There are hundreds of cheap Bluetooth speakers on the market, but if you want one that's rugged, sounds good, and runs on your power tool battery pack, Milwaukee has you covered. Yes, the tool brand makes several excellent speakers, and having the logo and color that match all your gear is just icing on the cake.

It’s no secret that there are tons of settings on your phone. The question is, which ones are most important? One that you may have never heard about is called "DNS," and it’s not an exaggeration to say it can make a huge impact (for the better).

TL;DR: Live stream Atlético Madrid vs. Barcelona 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 final is calling for the four remaining teams in contention. Athletic Club and Real Sociedad have already met in the first leg of their semi-final matchup, and now it's the turn of Atlético Madrid and Barcelona. This fascinating game is the ultimate clash of cultures. Diego Simeone will relish the chance to stop the attacking talents of Barcelona.

The good news for fans of Spanish football is that it's possible to live stream this game without spending anything. If you want to watch Atlético Madrid vs. Barcelona in the Copa del Rey from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Atlético Madrid vs. Barcelona?

Atlético Madrid vs. Barcelona in the Copa del Rey kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on Feb. 12. This fixture takes place at the Metropolitano Stadium.

How to watch Atlético Madrid vs. Barcelona for free

Atlético Madrid vs. Barcelona 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 Atlético Madrid vs. Barcelona 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 Atlético Madrid vs. Barcelona 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 Atlético Madrid vs. Barcelona 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 Atlético Madrid vs. Barcelona in the Copa del Rey for free with ExpressVPN.

Focus Features is coming to freak you out. While Obsession doesn't hit theaters until May, the movie's promotional team is taking advantage of Valentine's Day fervor (or loathing) to zero in on the film's creepy premise.

Yesterday, Mashable shared in our Instagram stories the unnerving Valentine's Day surprises that Obsession sent our way, ranging from traditional gifts like roses, chocolates, and valentines, to less conventional romantic gifts, like a hank of hair and a brick. Just a real heavy brick. Today, we've got a new look at Obsession, and the twisted relationship at the heart of it.

Obsession begins with a lonely guy (Michael Johnston) who's crushing hard on his friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette). Dare we say he's obsessed? So, when he gets his hands on a "One Wish Willow" that promises to make one dream come true, he wishes for her to love him more than anyone in the entire world. But be careful what you wish for. Based on the love tokens we got and the latest trailer, Obsession doesn't seem like the kind of love story most couples will want to revisit on Valentine's Day. But horror fans may fall hard for this twisted tale.

Obsession opens nationwide on May 15.

SAVE $100: As of Feb. 12, get the iPad mini (A17 Pro) for $399 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $499. That's a discount of 20%.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon iPad mini (A17 Pro) $399 at Amazon
$499 Save $100   Get Deal

Time to pick up a new tablet? You've got plenty to choose from out there, especially with President's Day around the corner. But as you're probably well aware by now, iPads are sometimes your best options, depending on what you want to get done. And even better than that is the fun little iPad mini, which gives you what you like in the iPad in a smaller form factor.

As of Feb. 12, get the iPad mini (A17 Pro) for $399 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $499. That's $100 off and a discount of 20%.

SEE ALSO: The best Presidents' Day Apple deals — huge discounts on AirPods, iPads, Apple Watches, and more

This iPad mini comes packing the A17 Pro chip, so it gives you plenty of power in a smaller package. Not only can you work or play on the go, but it suppors multitasking and gives you the ability to get a lot done at once, all on a great-looking screen. The 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display has plenty of real estate, and more than your phone, so you've got a ton of room to utilize.

Additionally, it has a 12MP Ultra Wide front camera with CenterStage, WiFi 6E compatibility, and USB-C connectivity. If you have an Apple Pencil and want to doodle or take notes, you can do that with this smaller form factor iPad as well. It makes a great tablet for doing all that on the go, especially for creative types.

If all that sounds up your alley, go ahead and pick up your iPad mini while it's on sale now. Saving $100 is a great reason to lock in.

SAVE $550: The Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller robot vacuum and mop is on sale at Amazon for $1,049.99, down from the normal price of $1,599.99. That's a 34% discount and the lowest we've ever seen at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: Dreame Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller $1,049.99 at Amazon
$1,599.99 Save $550   Get Deal

It used to be that robot vacuums got lost with every cleaning session. Even worse, some of them tumbled down stairs. But we now have little cleaning helpers that are super smart, and more and more models are coming with the ability to both vacuum and mop. If you're hoping to grab a combo model and don't want to mess around with lesser-than models, check out this deal at Amazon.

As of Feb. 12, the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller robot vacuum and mop is on sale at Amazon for $1,049.99, down from the normal price of $1,599.99. Today's sale shaves $550 off the price thanks to a 34% discount. It's also the lowest we've ever seen at Amazon.

Presidents' Day sales are notorious for being a great time to make home upgrades. From espresso machines to mattresses, it's an ideal time to snag sale prices that co-inside with the beginning of spring cleaning season. Amazon's Presidents' Day sale is loaded with home improvements and the all-time low price on the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller is especially exciting.

Mashable's resident vacuum tester Leah Stodart has tested dozens of models and says the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller is her current top recommendation. For starters, it comes with 30,000 Pa of suction power which is the highest in the industry, for now.

SEE ALSO: The Eufy X10 Pro Omni robot vacuum has dropped to its lowest-ever price — save $250 at Amazon

When putting the Dreame to the test, Stodart wrote, "The Aqua10 Ultra Roller's strength has really translated to pet hair pickup, large crumb pickup, and even fine powder pickup across various rugs in my apartment," she said. "It fully cleared a mess I made on purpose on my plush Tumble fur rug involving crushed Goldfish crackers, spilled dry rice, and tough tufts of cat hair collected from the cat tree. I think the parallel spinning roller brushes underneath really help its efficacy on dry debris."

Stodart also gives the Dreame points for having relatively quiet cleaning and self-emptying noise levels. There's also the 3.15-inch threshold level which means it shouldn't have issues getting over taller thresholds in your home.

If you've been thinking about getting a robot vacuum and mop, today's sale price on the only model to come with 30,000 Pa of suction power is surely a sign that it's time to make the upgrade. You'll be saving a hefty $550 by snagging today's deal on the Dream Aqua10 Ultra Roller at Amazon.

When I was writing an article on tiny Linux distros, I needed one to try out. Instead of having to hunt for one, the best solution I thought would be one that I already had.

Apple's big Gemini-powered upgrade for Siri won't be ready for the next iOS update.

According to a new report from Bloomberg, Apple may have internally pushed back the release of the AI-enhanced Siri, which was supposed to at least partially launch with iOS 26.4 in March. This is a bit of a surprise because, as recently as a couple of weeks ago, Bloomberg also reported that Apple would reveal the new Siri in February. Per the newest report, we might have to wait until May or September to see the beginnings of Siri's AI journey.

SEE ALSO: Siri might become an AI chatbot in iOS 27

This is all apparently due to problems that keep occurring in internal testing. The new Siri is supposed to be able to use personal data like text messages to answer queries from users, but, per Bloomberg, Apple is running into issues with that. It is supposedly sometimes slow to respond or doesn't respond properly, and it can even run into problems when a query is spoken too quickly. Sometimes it even falls back on Siri's existing ChatGPT integration, which it is not supposed to do in these circumstances.

SEE ALSO: Amazon's Presidents' Day sale is live — score huge deals on Apple, Lego, Roborock, and more

Apple's struggles with making an AI-enhanced Siri work are a bit surprising given that this initiative was announced almost two years ago, in the summer of 2024.

It's not typical of Apple to publicly announce a product or service that then undergoes significant delays; there's an AirPower every now and then, but for the most part, when Apple reveals something, that means it's going to happen on something resembling a normal schedule.

SAVE $150: As of Feb. 12, the base model Apple M5 MacBook Pro with 16GB RAM and 512GB of storage is on sale for $1,449 instead of $1,599. That's just shy of 10% off.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple MacBook Pro (M5, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $1,449 at Amazon
$1,599 Save $150   Get Deal

Apple's M5 chip arrived in all its glory towards the end of 2025 and we're still reeling over its speed and performance. Where it really shines is the MacBook Pro, which Mashable's tech editor says "doesn't just surpass the competition; it actually laps the competition." Even at full price, we think it's worth it for the right user, but on sale, it's an even better value.

As of Feb. 12, you can upgrade to the base model 2025 Apple MacBook Pro (M5, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) for just $1,449 instead of $1,599. That's $150 or just shy of 10% in savings.

Yes, the M5 MacBook Pro is a whole lot like its predecessor (that's the case with most upgrades in recent years). It features the same 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display, 24-hour battery life, 12MP Center Stage camera, and six-speaker sound system. Its only major upgrade is, of course, the super-charged M5 chip, which absolutely dazzles in performance. In its Geekbench GPU test, it scored a 17,470 compared to the M4's 15,199 and the Surface Laptop 7's 14,548. As Mashable's laptop specialist noted, "The only models in our database that outperform it are the 16-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro and a few gaming laptops."

If you're a more casual laptop user looking to save money, we'd personally recommend the M4 MacBook Air, but for power users looking for the best laptop Apple has to offer, there's no denying the M5 MacBook Pro is it.

The 2026 Oscar nominations have been unveiled, and Netflix has emerged as one of the strongest competing companies this year. Despite being behind two of the most talked-about movies of 2025, the streaming company shouldn't take this recognition for granted, especially as it sets its sights on becoming one of the biggest entertainment entities in the world.

The Sony WF-1000XM5 is one of the best pairs of wireless earbuds around, especially for ANC and cross-platform support. Now, Sony has introduced a sequel with a redesigned case and sound quality improvements.

Are you ready for another few Raspberry Pi projects to tackle? From making wired USB devices wireless to building your own Cyberdeck, and even automatically archiving your favorite YouTube channels, here are three Raspberry Pi projects for you to try this weekend.