Technology

The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, is the biggest tech showcase in the world, and Mashable reporters are on the ground reporting live from the event all week long.

Every year at CES, tech giants like Samsung, LG, Sony, and Lenovo preview their latest innovations, as well as futuristic concept products unlike anything you'll find in stores. CES is also a hub for ambitious startups, electric vehicle brands, and robotics companies. You never know what bizarre new gadgets (or laundry-folding robots) you'll find on the convention floor.

As part of the CNET Group, Mashable reporters will help select the winners for the official Best of CES 2026 Awards, so follow along as we cover the event in real-time. Keep checking back as we provide live updates, photos, and videos directly from the show floor.

Luxury plug-in SUVs sound like the perfect compromise—quiet electric driving during the week, long-range comfort on road trips, and a premium badge in the driveway. The problem is that all that tech also means more parts that can go wrong once the warranty runs out.

MrBeast's latest video pins 30 celebrities against one another, with the celebs battling over $1 million.

If you're wondering, yes, Kevin Hart was there. Because, well, of course he was. Also among the famous folks: Jackass' Steve-O, DJ Diplo, Howie Mandel, and more. And, yes, the celebrities were competing for charity.

There are a number of games and eliminations along the way, and, yes, more giveaways. We don't want to spoil who ends up winning the cash — but it's good to know a charity out there made $1 million.

SAVE $100.01: As of Jan. 8. get the bmani ANC Headphones for $99.98 at Amazon using the on-page coupon. That's a discount of 50%.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon bmani ANC Headphones $49.99 at Amazon
$199.99 Save $150 Clip on-page coupon Get Deal

Looking for a new pair of headphones? You've got tons of options out there, but if you want to save some serious money and try something new, this Amazon deal has you covered.

As of Jan. 8. get the bmani ANC Headphones for $99.98 at Amazon using the on-page coupon. That's $100.01 off and a discount of 50%.

SEE ALSO: I tried Razer's Project Motoko AI headphones at CES 2026. Move over, smart glasses.

These headphones boast hybrid active noise cancelling that block up to 95% of ambient noise with a 4-layer system. They claim to use an ANC chip that can cut up to 45dB in just 0.02 seconds. And if you prefer to use Transparency Mode, you can open things up to make sure you can still hear what's going on around you.

They offer 120 hours of playback on just one charge, and you can get up to 2 hours of additional battery power when you charge them for just 10 minutes. Check how much battery you have left with their digital battery display. And with 6 mics as well spatial sound, you get excellent call quality that picks up your voice well so you don't have to be the one people keep asking what you said when you don these headphones.

If you're looking for something a little different that can still save you some serious cash, these headphones are well worth looking into. Just make sure you clip the coupon to scoop up this deal while it's still available.

We've all suffered through unskippable, annoying ads online. YouTube watchers, especially, know the struggle.

But Vietnam is working to ease that annoyance. The country has reportedly issued new rules that ban long, unskippable ads, instead limiting the portion you cannot skip to just five seconds, according to tech site Android Authority. The website Vietnam News reported that the new regulations are scheduled to go into effect on Feb. 15.

Wrote Vietnam News: "Under the new rules, viewers must be able to skip video advertisements and moving image sequences within five seconds."

Obviously, YouTube isn't the only platform that relies on unskippable ads, but it might be the largest platform and most common example. Advertising accounts for a significant portion of YouTube's business and is a primary source of revenue for creators. Google said last year it had paid about $100 billion to creators, artists, and media companies over the previous four years.

But users have complained about ads getting worse and more obtrusive. Vietnam moving to limit that pain could prove popular among folks who use YouTube.

This week, influencer Trisha Paytas teased a potential congressional run in a TikTok video with over five million views. (She also mentioned it in a YouTube video titled "2026 MANIFESTATIONS.")

The idea for her to be a California representative came to her in a dream, she said. "My main goal is to make it...adult work, not be legal until you're 25," she continued. (Paytas has posted content to OnlyFans in the past.) She has many other "agendas" too.

SEE ALSO: ICE is spending millions to use influencers as recruitment tools

"I never thought of myself as a political person until I started having kids," Paytas said, and realized the world can be "dystopian." She said her campaign slogan would be "California could be good."

Paytas hasn't yet filed paperwork to run as of this writing, according to a search on the Federal Election Commission website. However, she mentioned important deadlines in her video, such as the need to formally declare her candidacy by March 6 (which appears correct according to the qualification requirements on California's government website).

Paytas didn't elaborate on her political leanings, nor has she posted about it on TikTok in the days following (though commenters are already saying they'll vote for her). She also didn't respond to my request for an interview.

Given that our president is a literal reality TV star, we shouldn't dismiss Paytas. With that in mind, I have some questions for her, in no particular order:

• What political party are you joining, if any?

• Why limit adult work to people 25 and up?

• What qualifies as "adult work," exactly?

• How do you feel about age-verification laws (which typically require visitors to websites that host explicit content to input personal data like a government ID or facial scan)?

• What are the other bills you want to present, as you mentioned in your YouTube video?

• Will you continue your podcast, Just Trish, if you win?

• Do you have any other political aspirations?

If Paytas is interested in responding, my inbox is always open.

SAVE $200: As of Jan. 8, the Ecovacs Deebot T50 Omni robot vacuum and mop is down to just $449 at Amazon. That's over 30% in savings and its best price on record.

Opens in a new window Credit: Ecovacs Ecovacs Deebot T50 Omni robot vacuum and mop $449 at Amazon
$649 Save $200   Get Deal

Having a hard time deciding which robot vacuum to buy? With a severely oversaturated market and tons of different features to choose from, we totally understand the dilemma. If you want something that can vacuum and mop your floors without breaking the bank, this deal on the Ecovacs Deebot T50 Omni might be the factor that finally helps you decide.

As of Jan. 8, the Ecovacs Deebot T50 Omni robot vacuum and mop is down to only $449 at Amazon — $200 off its list price. That's over 30% in savings and its lowest price on record. Yes, even cheaper than it was during Cyber Week.

The thing with mopping robot vacuums is that not all of them can wash and dry their own mop pads. This is a total deal breaker in our eyes. Not only does that mean you have to do extra work yourself, but it can also translate to a smelly, mildewy mess. Fortunately, the T50 Omni does it all for you with its 10-in-1 hands-free Omni station. The Omni station essentially handles all the maintenance, thanks to 167°F hot water mop washing, 113°F hot air drying, auto dustbin emptying, water refilling, dirt detection, and cleaning solution auto-dispensing.

Other dealbreakers (in our eyes) are robot vacuums with less than 10,000 Pa suction power and no small obstacle avoidance and smart mapping on board. The T50 Omni checks all the right boxes, with 15,000 Pa suction power, AIVI 3D 3.0 smart navigation, and smart control with YIKO-GPT AI assistant.

A robot vacuum should make your life easier, not harder. The Deebot T50 Omni from Ecovacs is a solid pick for taking vacuuming and mopping off your hands. Plus, at over 30% off, it's easy on your wallet, too.

Another year has arrived and that means there's no longer any need to stick to some seasonal-mandated viewing list. You will likely have your own methods for achieving this, be it in the form of seeing what these early months of 2026 has to offer theatrically or catching up on what you missed out on in 2025. For me, I like to use these cold winter months to indulge in some side-splittingly funny stand-up comedy.

SAVE $325: As of Jan. 8, get the DJI Osmo 3 Pocket Creator Combo for its lowest price ever. Shop the vlogging camera for $654 at Amazon and save $325 for 33% off.

Opens in a new window Credit: DJI DJI Osmo 3 Pocket Creator Combo $654 at Amazon
$979 Save $325   Get Deal

Looking to document 2026 in 4K? Whether you're looking to record your adventures for the memories or try your hand at vlogging, a good camera makes all the difference. Sure, you could just use your phone, but why not invest in your hobbies this year. If you're ready to do just that, we've found the lowest price ever on a creator-favorite camera.

As of Jan. 8, the DJI Osmo 3 Pocket Creator Combo is down to $654. That saves you $325 off its is $979 list price. That saves you 33% off and brings the camera down to its lowest price ever.

At VidCon 2025, we spotted the DJI Osmo 3 Pocket vlogging camera everywhere. It's for good reason, too. This compact camera records in vivid 4K, able to capture scenic moments both day and night. It has impressive stabilization so you can record on the go without capturing shaky footage. With the creator combo the DJI Osmo 3 Pocket comes with a mini tripod and the DJI Mic 2 transmitter.

Shop this deal on the DJI Osmo 3 Pocket Creator Combo at Amazon and save $325.

Do you think an empty desktop is a wasted desktop? Do you love decorating your workspace with widgets to make your desktop more useful? Well, here’s how I used KDE Plasma widgets to turn my Linux desktop into a functional project management dashboard—no extra apps required.

Picture this: A man wrapped in wires strolls into your diner, claims he's from an apocalyptic future, and asks for your help in saving the world. What do you do?

That's the bizarro situation that kicks off Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die, an upcoming sci-fi adventure from director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean, Rango) and writer Matthew Robinson (The Invention of Lying).

SEE ALSO: 'Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die' trailer makes an apocalyptic villain of AI

Sam Rockwell stars as Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die's man from the future, who comes bearing terrible news of the end of the world. The film's latest trailer hints at the AI nature of this apocalypse, from sinister VR headsets to children staring mindlessly at their phone screens.

What can stop the fast-approaching end times? According to Rockwell's character, the answer lies in a Los Angeles diner, which holds the "perfect configuration" of people who can save humanity. Played by the likes of Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, Asim Chaudhry, and Juno Temple, can this crew of unlikely heroes truly bring the world back from the brink of destruction?

Jury's still out on that question, but there's no denying that Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die looks suitably bonkers. Shootouts with bad guys in pig masks, writhing masses of wires, a terrifying baby doll robot... These are just some of the wacky sights that await in the film's newest trailer. Check out the full chaos for yourself above.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die hits theaters Feb. 13.

Reinstalling Windows is sometimes unavoidable. I’ve done it plenty of times when a system was truly beyond saving. But it is also one of the most disruptive fixes you can choose. You lose time reinstalling apps, reconfiguring settings, and chasing down little tweaks you forgot you ever made. In many cases, Windows is not actually broken beyond repair. It is just confused, partially corrupted, or stuck after a failed update.

Ubuntu has long been the face of Linux. For many of us, it was the first distro that we ever tried. But sometimes you outgrow your first love. That's what happened to me and Ubuntu. Here are five key reasons I decided to move on.

Many people say they would switch to Linux if it weren't for the lack of some Windows-exclusive apps. In my case, it’s the opposite. There are quite a few Linux-only apps that I love, and more are popping up now than at any time in recent memory. Whenever I use anything other than Linux, these are the apps that I miss.

USB-C is finally making its way into everything, and I'm all for it. It's no longer just a cable for phones and laptops. There are all sorts of wild things you can power with a USB-C cable, and I recently bought three items that I never knew I needed.

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolutions Phantasmal Flames Booster Display Box is on sale for $254.67 at Amazon. That's down to market value compared to TCGplayer's listings.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolutions Phantasmal Flames Booster Display Box $254.67 at Amazon
$299 Save $44.33   Get Deal

The trading card market has exploded in recent years. We're seeing unprecedented interest in Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, One Piece, and a lot of other trading card categories. With the market in a constant state on flux, finding genuinely good deals on Amazon is a tough ask. More often than not, we're content with finding something at market value.

The Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolutions Phantasmal Flames Booster Display Box is on sale for $254.67 at Amazon, down from $299. That's close to market value when compared to listings on TCGplayer, especially when you factor in free shipping and convenience (for Prime members).

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The super popular Phantasmal Flames expansion has over 120 cards to collect and includes new Mega Evolution Pokémon ex. This Phantasmal Flames Booster Display Box comes with 36 booster packs, making it a great option for anyone looking to deep dive into the collection.

Get the Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolutions Phantasmal Flames Booster Display Box for under $260 at Amazon.

Are you in the market for an ice maker? Even if not, you should be. It’s all too easy to see how quickly ice can disappear from the ice trays during a meal or get-together, and it’s not exactly easy to replace it.

Throughout the 2010s, The Hunger Games dominated pop culture, as Suzanne Collins' dystopian tale of teens forced to fight to the death for entertainment made the leap to the big screen and became one of the most successful movie adaptations of a book.

Sporty sedans are perfect for gearheads who still need a bit of practicality. They pack powerful engines, handle corners with confidence, and still have room for four people plus a decent trunk.

Maybe you've seen a bunch of BookTok recommendations fly by without saving them, madly scribbled down titles talked about in your go-to podcasts, or have tried to remember the book your friend recommended over that third glass of Bourgogne aligoté? Sure, you could write them down in a notebook, but there's also a bunch of apps that let you track books you'd like to read, are currently reading, or want to read in the future.

And, maybe you'll find like-minded book pals on there too.

SEE ALSO: The 16 best fiction books of 2025, according to BookTok

Here's a bunch of apps I regularly use that track your TBR (to be read) pile, the books you DNFed (did not finish), and offer suggestions for your next read. Some are prettier than others, and most will allow you to import your Goodreads data.

Fable Credit: Fable / Mashable

Probably the most social-friendly and elegantly-designed of the book-tracking apps, Fable is for readers who want to connect with other like-minded book lovers. Or those who enjoy very lovely UX. Launched in 2023 by Padmasree Warrior, the app lets you join book clubs, post your reviews to the main feed, generate cute round-ups of your monthly and annual titles with Pedro Pascal stickers, and keep track of what you're currently reading, want to read, finished, and DNF. The book clubs are extremely popular and fit every niche, from clubs based around Taylor Swift lyrics to those for people who've never read the classics (and you might even get a free ebook for these ones).

There's a premium subscription called Fable Plus, which costs $5.99 a month or $49.99 for the year, gives you weekly and monthly goal-setting and progress-tracking tools, and provides deeper reading data insights if you're a Wrapped fiend. The only tiny downside of Fable? The app hasn't yet introduced the ability to switch edition of the book you're reading, like other apps such as Goodreads, Storygraph, and Margins.

Pagebound Credit: Pagebound / Mashable

Founded by Lucy Zhao and Jennifer Dobak and launched in 2025, Pagebound is a pro-indie, anti-AI platform that describes itself as "if Goodreads and Reddit had a baby" — and they’re not wrong. Probably the prettiest of the book tracking apps, Pagebound puts a modern spin on Y2K internet aesthetic. Some neat features here alongside the regular book app requisites are the ability to plan your TBR pile by month, Reddit-style upvoting on posts, half-stars and sub ratings for reviews, and they’re passionate about indie publishers, so you might find more of your favourite independent titles on here.

Like Fable, Pagebound has discussion groups so if you’re one for an online book club, this is a good option. Plus there's a $10 per month premium version called Pagebound Royalty, which gives you a little crown on your avatar, priority customer support, and more perks to be added.

Storygraph Credit: Storygraph / Mashable

If you're a fiend for data, check out Storygraph. Founded by in 2019 by Nadia Odunayo, the app started as a book-tracker and has evolved into an online community. Operating the same way as a Goodreads or a Fable with TBR, DNF lists etc., the app visualises your reading habits into visually satisfying graphs — your go-to genres and moods, your pace, how many pages you regularly read. The app's Reading Goal will motivate you to read a certain number of books in a year and track your progress. Plus, Storygraph's buddy reads feature lets you add up to eight friends to the same book to read and comment as you go, or you can make a public readalong to engage a broader range of users.

Storygraph's premium version, Storygraph Plus, is $4.99 per month and gives you the ability to create your own custom pie and bar charts with tags and labels — a win for genre readers — extra stats filters and comparison options, additional year-on-year charts, and priority customer support.

Margins Credit: Margins / Mashable

Launched in 2024 by Paul Warren and Nick Punt, Margins is similar to its peers in a lot of ways (want to read, currently reading, finished reading, stopped reading piles). However, it sets itself apart with very slick design (those fonts!) and its "Search by vibe" feature. The latter allows you to type in exactly what you're looking for and generate a carousel of suggestions — I typed in "summer horror by the sea" and it suggested Daphne Du Maurier's The House on the Strand and Alma Katsu's The Deep, a pretty good outcome. The library also has the option to add series and authors to your lists, and it has the all-important Reading Recap tool with templates to let you create pretty social-friendly lay-ups of your monthly reads.

Libby Credit: Libby / Mashable

Launched in 2017 by OverDrive, Libby is the best way to borrow e-books and audiobooks for free from your local library (shoutout to BorrowBox too). All you need to do is sign up with your library card, as the app has thousands of global library partners. Your loans and holds appear in the app's Shelf tab, but it's also got great reading tracking functionality, through the app's tag system. When you find a title you want to read, you can save it with a tag with whatever name you like, whether you want to categorise your reads by genre, emoji, or go with the traditional TBR, DNF etc. It's a great way to get books for free while you're tracking them.

Bookshelf and Book Buddy Credit: Bookshelf / Mashable

There's a few apps like Bookshelf and Book Buddy that allow you to add every book you personally own to your in-app library — this could take a while if you've got a lot of books, but in a dream feature in both, you can scan the barcodes to add them. After you've logged your library, the best features of these apps are the ability to create and organise shelves, get stats and discover new books according to your taste, see your friends' shelves (to have a peek and what you'd like to request to borrow), and track your loaned out books to your mates who conveniently never return them.

In a great hidden feature, BookBuddy has a random book suggestion tool, in which the app will go through your library and suggest your next read — go to Search, then tap the crossed arrows icon. This is perfect for people who stare blankly at their bookshelf in a state of panic over which title to pick.

Goodreads Credit: Goodreads/ Mashable

I use it, I don't love it. Yes, the design and UX of Amazon-owner Goodreads, one of the internet's legacy book-tracking apps, isn't great. And authors hate it, with many users dropping unnecessarily mean reviews as casually as painting their nails. But one (1) thing Goodreads does do well is the annual Reading Challenge, which lets you track the number of books you've read in a year and motivate you to hit a target number.

Goodreads allows you to export your data to other apps, just in case you ever feel like leaving!

Perhaps you use a different book tracker? Let us know in the comments, I'm keen to hear what you track your reads with.