Technology

It's Meta announcement season, and you can follow along for yourself at home by watching Mark Zuckerberg's kenote live.

Meta Connect, the annual conference and product showcase, starts on Wednesday evening with a big keynote address. Zuckerberg will take the stage at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday to show off Meta's latest hardware and services, with likely appearances from other leaders at Meta. If it's anything like last year, you'll be able to follow along live on Meta's official pages on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

SEE ALSO: Meta’s Muse reportedly has zero-day vulnerability that lets attackers take over your Mac

We don't know exactly what to expect from Meta Connect this year, but the company's recent smart glasses-heavy strategy suggests we'll see a pair of specs or two at the show. A recent report suggested the company is working on a camera-free pair of glasses, so maybe we'll see those on stage.

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

There's also the possibility that we could see Project Phoenix, a rumored new product that looks like a cross between smart glasses and a VR headset. A leaker recently shared a render found in Meta code that sure looks like Project Phoenix, so maybe it'll get fully unveiled on Wednesday. We'd also expect to see some updates on Muse, the popular new AI agent Meta just launched.

Finally, Meta could take the opportunity to launch new Meta Muse AI models.

Each streaming service has its own calling card. Netflix has exciting thrillers, while HBO Max owns prestige TV. At Prime Video, action is one of its best genres. Most subscribers know about the show's prominent action television slate, which includes Reacher, Neagley, and The Terminal List.

Everyone has those tasks they keep putting off because dealing with them sounds worse than living with the problem for another day. Maybe it’s chasing an airline credit, sitting on hold with customer service, or figuring out how you’re going to pack your entire apartment before the movers arrive.

That’s the pitch behind Meta Muse AI, the new agentic AI assistant that launched Sept. 8. It’s designed to carry out tasks on your behalf, from booking travel to sending emails, using the apps and accounts you choose to connect.

"Meet Muse, the personal agent that helps you get things done," Mark Zuckerberg wrote in an Instagram announcement.

People are already putting that promise to the test and have been "blown away." One traveler says Muse helped secure a $250 credit after a flight delay, while another had it wait on hold and call them once an actual person was ready to talk. Users online are sharing ways they've been "musemaxxing," delegating more and more to Meta's new AI. Tech creator Peter Yang even called it "the best personal agent I've tried to date." It's also been called OpenClaw for normies (OpenClaw is the AI agent that made waves in early 2026).

The excitement has spread far beyond social media. Muse has climbed to the top of Apple’s App Store, and Meta shares jumped more than 11 percent on Sept. 21 as Wells Fargo raised its price target.

People are collecting these experiments, too. For example, Use of Muse is a searchable directory of user-shared examples, from recovering money to handling everyday errands, with links back to the original posts. AI Agents Library’s guide to Muse also offers practical task ideas and sample prompts.

We've rounded up some standout stories and included suggested prompts to help you try similar tasks. The prompts are either from these directories or use the same approach as the prompt examples given.

Your to-do list had a good run!

A word of warning: All AI agents carry some security risks, including Meta Muse AI, so be thoughtful before turning over control of apps, devices, and financial information.

1. Getting compensation for a seriously delayed flight This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

After a seven-hour flight delay, investor and creator Ejaaz Ahamadeen said he asked Muse to file for compensation. Five minutes later, he reported having a $250 credit in his Delta account. He also said it found and rebooked a flight and replied to a support email. "it just figured everything out," he wrote, adding that Muse "feels like magic."

His screenshots show Muse AI checking alternative routes into Maui, prioritizing his preferred airlines, and gathering the details to submit a complaint.

If you’ve ever spent a flight delay wishing someone else would deal with the airline for you, you might finally be able to hand that headache over.

A prompt to try: "My flight [flight number] on [date] was delayed by [length of delay]. Check whether I qualify for compensation, a refund, or an airline credit, and prepare the request for my review. Also find alternative flights to [destination], prioritizing [preferred airlines]. Ask before submitting a claim or changing my booking."

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.

2. Outsourcing the hold music This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Entrepreneur Matt Van Horn described asking Muse to call Southwest, wait on hold, and call him once a representative was available.

"It worked! There was real human waiting for me," he wrote. "Grail I’ve been dying for unlocked."

Many X users replied, asking follow-up questions, like did he need a separate voice service? How did Muse know where to reach him? Van Horn said he was using Meta’s built-in calling feature and the callback setup was straightforward, "I gave it my number lol."

There is a catch: Van Horn said the built-in calling feature is still in beta, and not everyone has access. One commenter said they’d planned an entire call with Muse, only to learn when they said "go" that calling wasn’t enabled for their account. Van Horn replied, "Sorry!! Soon," though he didn’t offer a timeline.

If you do have access, getting on with your day while Muse waits for a representative sounds pretty appealing. As one commenter put it: "Normally we wait for the customer service rep. You had the rep wait for you."

A prompt to try: "If calling is enabled for my account, call [company] about [issue], wait on hold, and call me at [phone number] when a representative is ready. Let me know upfront if you can’t make the call or connect me."

3. Finding a bar that matches a very specific vibe This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Founder Millie Yang had a specific kind of night out in mind: trendy cocktail bars in New York City with a similar feel to Osamil Upstairs. She asked Muse to search Instagram for places that fit a group of five.

The screenshots she provided show Muse narrowing in on two options: Barbam, which it described as an intimate Korean speakeasy with jazz and elaborate cocktails, and Seoul Salon, a livelier, neon-lit Korean cocktail lounge. It explained why each might work, pointing to Barbam’s atmosphere as the closer match to Osamil and Seoul Salon’s reservation options as useful for her group.

Then Yang asked, "Show me vids," to which Muse returned links to reels featuring a basement tour, a walkthrough, and cocktail close-ups, giving her something to judge beyond its own descriptions. It also said it had added both venues to the evening’s availability check, bringing the search to eight spots.

The connection to Reels is what Yang found to be most helpful. If your usual planning process involves bouncing between Instagram, a map, and reservation sites while sending options to the group chat, this use case could be for you.

"Muse is IG search on steroids and soon people are going to realize how insanely useful this is," she writes on X. "It’s already got me spending more time on the app than I expected."

A prompt to try: "Search Instagram for cocktail bars in [neighborhood or city] with a similar atmosphere to [favorite bar]. Find options for [number of people] on [date and time], show me reels of the spaces and drinks, and check current opening hours and reservation availability. Let me choose before booking."

4. Making a move feel less overwhelming

CNN’s Lisa Eadicicco tested Muse on a task with plenty of moving parts, literally: packing for a new apartment.

"I told Muse what I still needed to pack, how much time I had before moving and that I wanted to pack in short spurts," she wrote.

Muse turned those constraints into a daily packing schedule, including estimates for how long to spend each day. It also suggested setting aside a bag of essentials for the first night.

Eadicicco’s broader test also exposed limitations. Muse recommended two date-night spots that had closed years earlier, and it told her it couldn’t directly message Marketplace sellers despite advertising that capability. Meta told CNN that Muse could negotiate with sellers within parameters set by the user.

A prompt to try: "I’m moving on [date] and still need to pack [rooms or belongings]. Make me a daily packing schedule with sessions of no more than [number] minutes. Start with things I won’t need before the move, and include a first-night essentials checklist."

5. Finding something to wear

Meta is pitching Muse as a shopping companion, too. An Instagram ad on my feed calls it "your style scout" and says it "watches trends, builds complete looks, and finds the pieces that fit your style and your budget."

An ad pop-up on my Instagram. Credit: Screenshot/Olivia Tauber

That could sound pretty appealing if you’ve ever opened a shopping app looking for one outfit and emerged an hour later with 23 tabs and no decisions. The ad promises to help narrow things down around what you like and what you want to spend, though it doesn’t show a completed shopping experience. (Amazon has banned Meta Muse AI from making purchases.)

A prompt to try: "Help me put together an outfit for [occasion] with a total budget of [amount]. I like [styles or brands] and already own [pieces]. Find options in my size, check availability, and show me the complete looks and prices before I buy anything."

6. Figuring out which subscriptions are still taking your money This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Nicolas Bustamante from Microsoft reported that Meta's Muse AI has already saved him $200 by canceling subscriptions and services he no longer needed. Podcaster Armand Domalewski used it for the same thing, adding "muse is genuinely magic."

If you’ve ever spotted a charge and thought, “Wait, I’m still paying for that?” you already have a starting point. Those free trials and subscriptions you meant to cancel can add up, especially when you keep putting off going through them.

A prompt to try: "Review the statements I provide for recurring subscriptions. List the amounts and renewal dates, flag possible duplicates, and ask me which ones I want to cancel."

7. Getting your personal information off data-broker sites

Ever searched your name and found your address on a website you’ve never heard of? Threads user @andru had Muse complete 90 data-broker opt-outs.

Doing that yourself can mean working through dozens of sites, each with its own removal process. It’s the kind of project you might start enthusiastically and abandon around website number four. (Completing an opt-out doesn’t guarantee the information is gone permanently.)

"It books, buys, tracks your spending, and files the boring stuff while you just...live!"

A prompt to try: "Find data-broker sites listing my personal information and help me request its removal. Show me the matches first, ask before sharing any additional personal information, and track which requests are submitted, confirmed, or need follow-up."

8. Watching for price drops after you book a trip

You’ve booked the flight and hotel, closed the tabs, and moved on—only to wonder later whether the price has dropped. According to the Use of Muse directory, Threads user @adambader reported saving $600 by using Muse to monitor booked flights and hotels for lower prices.

It’s a convenient idea for anyone who likes getting a deal but doesn’t want checking prices to become a daily habit. Whether changing a booking actually saves money depends on cancellation rules and fees, so those need to be part of the comparison.

A prompt to try: "Monitor the flights and hotels in my bookings for price drops. Check whether I can get the lower rate under each booking’s terms, including any change or cancellation fees. Alert me when there’s a real saving, and ask before changing anything."

8. Watching for price drops after you book a trip

You’ve booked the flight and hotel, closed the tabs, and moved on—only to wonder later whether the price has dropped. According to the Use of Muse directory, Threads user @adambader reported saving $600 by using Muse to monitor booked flights and hotels for lower prices.

It’s a convenient idea for anyone who likes getting a deal but doesn’t want checking prices to become a daily habit. Whether changing a booking actually saves money depends on cancellation rules and fees, so those need to be part of the comparison.

A prompt to try: “Monitor the flights and hotels in my bookings for price drops. Check whether I can get the lower rate under each booking’s terms, including any change or cancellation fees. Alert me when there’s a real saving, and ask before changing anything.”

10. Comparing insurance without spending your evening gathering quotes

Founder Joseph Devoy reported that switching auto insurance with Muse saved $3,500 a year.

If you’ve been renewing the same policy because shopping around sounds like a project, that’s a reason to take another look. The important part is comparing what each policy covers alongside the price.

A prompt to try: "Compare my current auto insurance policy with quotes for equivalent coverage. Show me the annual premiums, deductibles, coverage limits, and exclusions side by side. Ask before submitting my personal information, and wait for my approval before switching or canceling anything."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. There are still some closed doors

Before you hand over your entire shopping list, there’s a catch: the websites Muse visits don’t always welcome it.

Mashable reported on Sept. 22 that Amazon was blocking Muse from shopping, with users seeing warnings that access by an unauthorized AI agent violated its terms. Amazon told the publication it had asked Meta to remove Amazon from the experience. It also alleged that Muse failed to identify itself and collect users’ credentials and account data, raising security concerns.

Other companies are moving toward partnerships. Alongside Instacart’s announcement, Expedia described forthcoming support for travel planning through Muse, while PayPal announced plans to enable shopping and checkout through the agent across its merchants.

For now, what you can hand over depends on the features available to your account and the services involved. Start with one task you’d be happy to stop doing yourself — and see how far Muse gets.

OpenAI has been busy courting creators, and its latest hire suggests it wants to give them more reasons to stick around. The company behind ChatGPT is bringing in Patreon co-founder Sam Yam to lead its Creator Product division, recruiting someone who has spent more than a decade helping creators build businesses around their audiences.

Yam is joining alongside two former Patreon executives: Drew Rowny, who led product, and Shannon Ma, who led engineering, as Yam announced on his X account.

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

Together, the three execs bring experience building tools for people whose livelihoods depend on making things and persuading fans to support them. Yam co-founded Patreon with musician Jack Conte in 2013, helping popularize memberships that let creators earn money directly from their communities.

That makes the move interesting beyond the usual executive shuffle. OpenAI is hiring people who understand what creators need to run a business, from developing paid offerings to maintaining relationships with fans. Their arrival raises questions about how those ideas might show up in OpenAI’s products.

SEE ALSO: Why is OpenAI losing so many executives?

We may not have to wait long for a clearer picture of what's in store. Yam pointed to OpenAI’s upcoming DevDay for a preview of its creator products. The event takes place Sept. 29 in San Francisco.

The hire fits into a broader effort to get closer to creators and the audiences they influence. In February, OpenAI hired Charles Porch, Instagram’s longtime global partnerships executive, to lead global creative partnerships. In April, it acquired tech talk show TBPN, a deal I explored in my newsletter, Fan Mail, as an example of the value companies place on access to influential audiences. Then came this summer’s luxury influencer retreat in New York’s Hudson Valley.

As Mashable reported, that trip also showed how quickly creator outreach can become contentious. Attendees faced questions about AI’s environmental footprint, its effect on creative work, and why they had agreed to promote the company. Some defended the opportunity to speak with the people developing the technology; others seemed surprised by the backlash.

SEE ALSO: OpenAI’s first brand trip puts influencers in the hot seat

That’s part of the challenge awaiting Yam and his colleagues. Creators are potential customers for AI tools, but they’re also among the people asking what the technology means for the value of their work. A useful product could make a stronger case than a polished brand trip. We’ll get a better sense of what that looks like next week.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

One of the tech industry's worst-kept secrets is that smart TVs spy on us. There are countless articles and videos online discussing it, as well as plenty of guides on how to fix it while maintaining the smart functionality of your TV.

SAVE $400.01: As of Sept. 23, the Bluetti Elite 300 Portable Power Station is on sale at Amazon for $1,098.99. That's down 27% from its original $1,499 list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Bluetti Bluetti Elite 300 Portable Power Station $1,098.99 at Amazon
$1,499 Save $400.01   Get Deal

If you’ve been eyeing a heavy-duty battery generator for storm season or road trips, this is easily one of the best prices we’ve seen on this unit. Amazon just knocked $400 off the Bluetti Elite 300 portable power station, bringing it down from its usual $1,499 list price to a far more palatable $1,098.99.

Most power stations packing over 3,000 watt-hours of capacity look like miniature refrigerators and weigh a ton. The Elite 300 shrinks that footprint by about 59%, fitting 3,014Wh of juice into a frame that’s closer in size to standard 2kWh units. It’s built around long-lasting LiFePO4 battery tech and delivers 2,400 watts of continuous output, with headroom for up to 4,800-watt power surges.

SEE ALSO: Prime Day deals on power stations are already live: Shop the best deals on Jackery, Anker, Bluetti, and more

If you’re taking it on the road, it’s RV-ready right out of the box. Instead of making you mess with clunky adapters, it features a built-in TT-30 RV plug and a heavy-duty 12V/30A DC outlet. That lets you run your camper's 12V fridge, water pump, and diesel heater directly off the generator while you're off-grid.

You don't have to sit around all day waiting for it to charge, either. It plugs into a standard wall outlet, solar panels, or your car, and can charge up to 80% in just 78 minutes. You can also track your battery life, toggle outputs, and change settings right from your phone via the Bluetti app over WiFi or Bluetooth. And if the power grid goes down, it switches over to battery backup in 10 milliseconds. That’s fast enough that your WiFi router, laptop, or CPAP machine won't even reboot when the lights flicker.

If you want a portable generator that can run essential home appliances through a multi-day power outage without taking up your entire trunk, this is a steal. Grab the Bluetti Elite 300 for $1,098.99 on Amazon before this deal disappears.

TL;DR: Get 20TB of end-to-end encrypted Scramble Cloud storage for $349.95, with lifetime access, private sharing, WebDAV, and CLI support.

Opens in a new window Credit: Scramble Cloud Scramble Cloud Storage Lifetime Subscription (20TB) $349.95
$1,440 Save $1,090.05   Get Deal

The best cloud storage might be the kind you barely have to think about. Scramble Cloud gives you 20TB of storage for life for $349.95 (reg. $1,440), so you can give a seriously large collection of photos, videos, backups, and work files a long-term home.

And 20TB is a lot of breathing room. Scramble is designed for people with serious storage needs, whether you’re backing up family memories, keeping a growing video collection, or simply someone who believes deleting files is a problem for Future You. You can use it on desktop or mobile device.

Your files are protected with end-to-end encryption and encrypted before leaving your device. Its zero-knowledge architecture keeps you in control of access, while encrypted private links let you share selected files with other people.

Scramble also gives you several ways to reach all that storage. Use the web app from virtually any device, mount Scramble Drive in your operating system’s file explorer with WebDAV, or manage files using its command-line tool. You can preview files, stream encrypted videos, and view Word and Excel files from your browser.

For collaboration, you can create encrypted groups with permissions or use Team Link to share files with internal or external partners without requiring registration.

There are two limits worth considering before committing 20TB worth of your digital life: individual files can’t exceed 5GB, and uploads are capped at 70GB per day. Those restrictions make this better suited to steadily building a large archive than dumping massive files into the cloud all at once.

Get 20TB of Scramble Cloud without another recurring storage bill to remember for just $349.95 (reg. $1,440).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Learn new things in your spare time with this five-year subscription to Nibble All-Around Knowledge App, on sale for just $49.99 (reg. $449.95).

Opens in a new window Credit: Nibble Nibble All-Around Knowledge App (5-Year Subscription) $49.99
$449.95 Save $399.96   Get Deal

Your phone doesn’t have to be a black hole of time-wasting. If you’ve got the right apps, you can turn your spare time into something way more productive. The Nibble All-Around Knowledge App serves up bite-sized lessons that help you learn something new during your morning commute, on your lunch break, or in line at the grocery store.

Right now, you can snag a five-year subscription to Nibble All-Around Knowledge App for just $49.99.

Make your phone time more productive

If you think you don’t have time to learn something new, think again. The Nibble All-Around Knowledge app was designed for today’s busy schedules, offering bite-sized lessons that teach you new things in just ten minutes.

Work on your self-improvement on the go with these handy audio episodes you can listen to anytime. The app is filled with lessons on over 20 topics, from art and AI to history and personal finance, so you can pick something you’ve been meaning to dive into.

Nibble’s flexible learning paths let you choose between a guided learning journey or hopping around depending on your mood. After you listen to lessons, explore the topic further with interactive AI experiences, such as chatting with historical figures. There are also learning games to see how much you’ve retained.

Nibble offers app and web access, and your account tracks your progress so you can access it easily across devices. This five-year subscription gives you unlimited library access, and you’ll never run out of lessons thanks to new content being added every month.

Snag a five-year subscription to Nibble All-Around Knowledge App for just $49.99.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Qualcomm flew us out to Snapdragon Summit 2026 for a hands-on experience with the all-new, cutting-edge Googlebooks and Microsoft Surface laptops. And although the event has been relatively predictable, Wednesday's briefing closed out with a big surprise—Qualcomm is officially working to support Linux on Snapdragon X2 laptops, brands like ASUS have already committed to offer Linux-flavored versions of their X2-powered devices, and a developer preview is available today for those with the hardware to test it.

My Mini PC hosts several homelab services, including Home Assistant, Jellyfin, Audiobookshelf, Calibre, Uptime Kuma, and more. It also hosts some local LLMs, and in recent weeks, one of these has been hogging so much RAM that it's brought down other services. I decided to set up a fun way to monitor my homelab using a cheap ESP32 board.

Microsoft is giving its compact Surface devices a subtle refresh. Today at Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, the U.S. tech giant announced the Surface Laptop 13-inch (2nd edition) and Surface Pro 12-inch (2nd edition) with the Snapdragon X2 Plus chip. The latter will support a new AI-powered drawing and annotating tool called Microsoft Ink Canvas.

Externally, both new Surface devices gain 25 percent brighter touchscreen displays and new black color options. They're otherwise identical to their predecessors from spring 2025.

The updated Surface Laptop 13-inch and Surface Pro 12-inch will hit the market on Oct. 13, starting at $1,199.99 and $1,149.99, respectively. (Preorders are now live at Best Buy, B&H Photo, and the Microsoft Store.) They'll be joined by a redesigned Surface Mouse with built-in haptic feedback and a customizable action button, which will start at $79.99.

Microsoft Surface Laptop, 13-inch (Snapdragon X2 Plus, 16GB RAM, 256GB UFS) $1,199.99 at Best Buy
  Pre-order Here at Best Buy Pre-order Here at B&H Photo Video Pre-order Here at Microsoft Store US Microsoft Surface Pro, 12-inch (Snapdragon X2 Plus, 16GB RAM, 256GB UFS) $1,149.99 at Best Buy
  Pre-order Here at Best Buy Pre-order Here at B&H Photo Video Pre-order Here at Microsoft Store US

Notably, both new Surface devices start with 16GB of RAM. This summer, Microsoft downgraded the base configurations of their first-gen counterparts to 8GB of RAM to lower their prices under $1,000 amid the global memory shortage.

SEE ALSO: Memory wars: Microsoft announces big price increases for Surface laptops

When asked by Mashable whether the company will continue to sell those older models as budget options, a Microsoft rep declined to comment on the record. They were no longer available for purchase through the Microsoft Store at the time of writing, but third-party retailers like Amazon and Best Buy still had them in stock.

The Surface Laptop 13-inch and Surface Pro 12-inch are smaller, lighter, and more affordable versions of Microsoft's flagship Surface devices. In June, the company introduced the Surface Laptop 8 and Surface Pro 12 with Snapdragon X2 Plus and X2 Elite chips.

Same look, new chip The Surface Pro 12-inch (2nd edition) will come pre-loaded with Microsoft's new "Ink Canvas" AI feature. Credit: Microsoft

The X2 Plus is a mid-range processor that will give the new compact Surface devices "18 percent more efficient battery performance, over 60 percent faster graphics, and 95 percent faster on-device AI" than their predecessors, said Brett Ostrum, corporate vice president of Surface devices, in a blog post. For reference, last year's inaugural Surface Laptop 13-inch and Surface Pro 12-inch ran on the original Snapdragon X Plus chip from 2024.

The X2 Plus will also power Ink Canvas on the Surface Pro 12-inch. Users will be able to handwrite prompts for Windows 11's Copilot assistant directly on the device's touchscreen with a Surface Slim Pen (sold separately for $129.99). Ostrum described Ink Canvas as "a pen-first experience for sketching, annotating, generating images, and summarizing text."

Ink Canvas will come pre-installed on the new Surface Pro 12-inch and be available for download on other compatible Windows devices starting Oct. 13.

Microsoft Surface Laptop, 13-inch (2nd edition) specs Credit: Microsoft

• CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Plus

• GPU: Qualcomm Adreno

• Battery life: Up to 22.5 hours of video playback

• Memory: 16GB or 24GB RAM

• Storage: 256GB or 512GB UFS

• Screen size and tech: 13-inch touchscreen display with 1,920 x 1,280 resolution, 500 nits of brightness, and 60Hz refresh rate

• Webcam: 1080p

• Ports: Two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, and a headphone jack

• Wireless connectivity: WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4

• Dimensions: 11.25 x 8.43 x 0.61 inches

• Weight: 2.7 pounds

• Chassis material: Aluminum

• Colors: Violet, platinum, and black

• Full-sized backlit keyboard and Precision touchpad

Microsoft Surface Pro, 12-inch (2nd edition) specs Credit: Microsoft

• CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Plus

• GPU: Qualcomm Adreno

• Battery life: Up to 15.5 hours of video playback

• Memory: 16GB or 24GB RAM

• Storage: 256GB or 512GB UFS

• Screen size and tech: 12-inch touchscreen display with 2,196 x 1,464 resolution, 500 nits of brightness, and 90Hz refresh rate

• Cameras: 1080p front camera and 10MP rear camera

• Ports: Two USB-C ports and Surface Pro 12-inch Keyboard connector port

• Wireless connectivity: WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4

• Dimensions: 10.8 x 7.47 x 0.3 inches

• Weight: 1.5 pounds

• Chassis material: Aluminum

• Colors: Violet, platinum, and black

• Stylus and keyboard sold separately; has built-in storage for Surface Slim Pen

Microsoft Surface Mouse specs Credit: Microsoft

• Inputs: Left, right, and middle click support with customizable action button and mechanical scroll wheel

• Wireless connectivity: Bluetooth 6.0; up to three devices

• Wireless range: 32.8 feet in open area and 16.4 feet in office setting

• Sensor: 1,000dpi (400dpi to 2,400dpi adjustable)

• Exterior material: Silicone

• Colors: Platinum and black

UPDATE: Sep. 23, 2026, 5:24 p.m. EDT This story was updated with a response from Microsoft and links to the new Surface devices' preorder listings.

Android phones have come a long way when it comes to privacy. Private Space on Pixels and Secure Folder on Samsung phones are really handy. Android's permission system has also become very granular in recent years, giving you a high level of control over what apps can access on your phone, and the Privacy Dashboard is a solid way to audit what your installed apps have been up to. But there's always room to grow, and some third-party apps offer privacy controls Google doesn't match yet, and in some cases probably never will. The only downside is that you have to sideload them.

Disney+ has rolled out its second price increase in as many months. Its standalone and Hulu bundle subscriptions now cost slightly more, with a notable exception.

If you use Spotify for streaming music, podcasts, and audiobooks, you may have noticed that your phone’s storage gets filled up too quickly. The streaming service quietly eats up gigabytes of storage space in the form of temporary cache. But now, the streaming service appears to be working on a new feature that would limit the cache, allowing better optimization of storage.

Thanks to Snapdragon for covering a trip to Snapdragon Summit. All experiences were hosted, but we received no extra compensation. The company did not influence editorial output.

One of the biggest benefits of Home Assistant is that it offers local control, so your smart home doesn't stop working when the internet is down. If you're away from home when the internet connection dies, however, then you may be unable to reach your Home Assistant server even if it's still working fine. These projects offer some alternative ways to communicate with your smart home without relying on the internet.

The nightlife minutiae of a small town in Massachusetts may not seem like traditional fodder for a 24-hour news cycle. But turn that drama into a more-than-1,500-word Boston Globe article, sprinkled with apéritifs for online discourse? Well, that's a recipe for virality.

That's what happened when the Globe reported on a recent public skirmish between community members and the owners of Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue, a lesbian bar and event space in Greenfield, a town of just 17,000 people.

SEE ALSO: YouTube's microdrama boom is getting bigger

The Last Ditch is one of just 36 lesbian bars in the U.S., as chronicled by the Lesbian Bar Project. It's a nightlife outlier amid a post-COVID bar and club scene that has had to reckon with a decline in public socialization — let alone one that has addressed the alarming decline of number of lesbian bars across the country long before the global pandemic.

But the bar's reputation as a gathering place for Greenfield's sapphic community is now marred by a dramatic series of events that started with a single Instagram post.

The Aug. 31 alert to customers began as an explanation of the venue's updated mask policy. Where the space used to require KN-95 masks at all times, Last Ditch was moving towards more mask-less events — specifically opening up Saturday nights to maskless customers. The response from commenters online was a no-holds-barred flurry of irate messages, accusations of ableism and racism, and even calls for violence from former customers who said their previously safe space had been compromised.

View this post on Instagram

From there, the situation spun out of control, chronicled by the Globe as a series of apologies, retractions, public meetings, and online debates that set a group of COVID-conscious collectives against a fractured bar leadership.

The quotes and comments referenced in the article were sure to get attention: Some Last Ditch patrons referred to the Saturday night change as a "mass disabling event" and a "eugenicist" attack. "People like you kill disabled people in the name of your own leisure and convenience," wrote another commenter.

The internet responds to the Last Ditch effort

Like the rabid commenters and enraged community the feature profiles, the internet couldn't be normal about the story's increasingly bizarre anecdotes and comments from the Last Ditch's opposition.

Users called it possibly the best reporting of the year, some of their lives. Screenshots of users' favorite enraged comments — like "one had enrolled in clown school" (a Last Ditch owner is currently enrolled in clown school) and "I hope your venue gets firebombed" — have proliferated online.

Within 24 hours, the story had become 2026's "Cat Person" or "Bad Art Friend."

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

But percolating throughout the humor-filled posts is unabashed, homophobic commentary on queer and disabled communities. Quotes of the Globe's reporting included images of staff and customers ripped from the bar's social media pages, posted alongside unwarranted commentary on their appearances. Some took the opportunity to attack liberal and leftist ideologies at large, with one user calling the Last Ditch's initial Instagram post — not the response it engendered — an example of "intergalactic woke batcrapitude."

It's not the first time a lesbian space has been turned into fodder for a bored internet intent on turning LGBTQ people into the butt of the joke or a vessel for a larger social reckoning. In 2024, for example, the saga of a TikTok influencer and New York City's Cubbyhole ignited a widespread debate about the sanctity of queer spaces.

Regardless, the Globe has benefited from its viral tale, allegedly gaining more than 1,000 subscribers after it went live. The Last Ditch may also capture some new customers thanks to its newfound notoriety.

"We started this project as a small group of friends with a burning desire to keep unapologetically queer spaces alive in Western Mass," wrote Last Ditch leadership in an Instagram plea from April 20. "Not to make money, not to garner notoriety. Just to maintain, expand, and serve our queer community."

I’m a Pixel person through and through and have been daily driving one since I bought my Pixel 6a. And, for what it’s worth, I’ve had plenty of time with Samsung phones because I review them, so my preference is an informed choice. However, that’s only when it comes to smartphones. I don’t get many smartwatches sent my way, so I wasn’t very familiar with the hands-on differences until I bought a few with my own money — and boy, was I shocked.

There's nothing worse than a laptop that overheats. I've been there; the last two decades are lined with less-than-stellar laptops for me, actually. One was so bad that it'd turn off within 45 seconds if it didn't have a hair dryer on the cold setting constantly blowing into its vents. Yes, I've tried to fix it. But when you're a broke college student, you make do with what you have.