Technology

The Raspberry Pi 500 was the first Pi computer with an integrated keyboard, and now there’s an upgraded model to get excited about. The new Raspberry Pi 500+ has arrived with a higher-quality mechanical keyboard, better internal hardware, and all-important RGB lights.

Huge news for anyone who likes fast, long-lasting computers (which should be most people): Qualcomm announced new Snapdragon X2 Elite chips on Wednesday at its 2025 Snapdragon Summit in Maui, Hawaii. The upgraded Snapdragon X2 Elite and the all-new Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme are set to supercharge next-generation Windows laptops starting next year.

What's the big deal? You may recall that Qualcomm made a splash in mid-2024 when it released its first-gen Snapdragon X series chips, the Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus. They were all-new ARM-based alternatives to Intel and AMD's well-established x86 options that wound up delivering impressive processing power and power efficiency. (The Snapdragon X chip, a third variant for budget-friendly laptops, arrived in early 2025.)

SEE ALSO: Google and Qualcomm execs confirm Android for PC is coming: 'I've seen it, it is incredible'

The original X Elite chip, in particular, fuels some of the best Windows laptops we've tested over the past year, offering all-day battery life without sacrificing zippy performance in thin-and-light machines. It's even managed to compete with the M-series silicon in Apple's MacBooks, which had been leaving Windows laptops in the dust for some years.

For reference, Mashable's current favorite Windows laptop, the 13.8-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 with an X Elite chip under its hood, is just as fast as the overachieving M4 MacBook Air. What's more, the Surface Laptop 7 lasted almost 23 hours on a single charge in our battery life benchmark — that's two hours longer than the 16-inch, M4 Pro-powered MacBook Pro, our reigning battery life champ among Apple laptops.

Two newer Intel-based Windows laptops have scored higher than the Surface Laptop 7 in our performance benchmark, but neither lasted more than 12 hours at a time.

The Snapdragon X Elite-powered Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, our top Windows laptop, has speed and stamina for days. Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

Succinctly put, the first-gen Snapdragon X chips have set a massive precedent for their successors — and Qualcomm claims they'll live up to the hype.

"With superior performance, multi-day battery life and groundbreaking AI, these new processors are the fastest, most powerful and efficient processors for Windows PCs," a company press release reads.

To quickly cover some more granular spec details, Qualcomm says its X2 Elite series chips will pack up to 18 CPU cores, or six more than the standard X Elite and up to 10 more than the X Plus. The beefy X2 Elite Extreme, which is geared toward intensive workloads involving agentic AI experiences, huge datasets, and multimedia editing, supposedly offers "up to 75% faster CPU performance than competition at ISO power" (i.e., when compared to another chip with the same amount of juice).

When stacked up against the previous-gen X series chips, the X2 Elite Extreme is said to boast up to 50 percent faster CPU performance at ISO power, while the X2 Elite will be up to 31 percent faster. Both new chips will consume 43 percent less power than their predecessors, Qualcomm says.

SEE ALSO: What is a Copilot+ PC? Everything to know about these AI laptops.

The X2 Elite series chips will also have new Adreno GPU architecture with 2.3 times better power efficiency compared to the OG chips, plus a neural processing unit (NPU) with 80 TOPS (trillions of operations per second, an AI performance metric). That should make for some of the most capable Copilot+ PCs ever.

Qualcomm said laptops featuring the X2 Elite chips are slated to arrive in the first half of 2026, so keep an eye out if you're due for an upgrade soon.

Get paid to record your phone calls and hand them over to third parties? It may seem a bit dystopian, but this app has quickly risen to the top of the App Store charts.

Neon Mobile is a new app for iOS and Android devices that's quickly growing in popularity, at least according to the mobile app charts. On Apple's App Store, Neon is currently sitting at number 2 for free Social Networking apps and is in the number 4 position in the top rankings of all free apps in the App Store.

But, what is Neon and why are so many people downloading it? Here's what you need to know.

What is Neon?

It's simple: Neon records users' phone calls and then pays them for it.

Why does Neon want to record your phone calls? That's simple too: To collect your data to sell to third-parties. 

Neon is quite open about what they're using it for too. On Neon's website, the app makers say that they sell your anonymized data to "companies training AI." Neon says it removes all personal information so there's nothing identifiable being handed over to these AI companies.

Neon's pitch to users is also pretty straightforward. 

"Telecom companies are profiting off your data, and we think you deserve a cut," Neon's website says.

According to Neon, the app only records the Neon users' side of the call. The person that the Neon user calls is not recorded, unless they are also a Neon user too.

Neon pays users 15 cents per minute when they talk to a non-Neon user and pays 30 cents per minute when talking to another Neon user. Neon users can make a maximum of $30 per day from calls and an unlimited amount of money from referring people to Neon. Each referral pays $30.

To hit that $30 per day maximum for making calls, a user would need to talk to Neon users for 100 minutes per day or talk with non-Neon users for 200 minutes per day.

Is Neon legit?

Neon appears to have raised money from Upfront Ventures, according to Neon founder Alex Kiam. As TechCrunch points out, the company seems to be run out of a New York City apartment. This alone isn't a reason to be skeptical. Many startups have been run out of small living spaces before.

However, there are some red flags. Neon Mobile doesn't provide much information about the company on its website. In fact, Alex Kiam simply refers to himself as "Alex" on the site.

The company also simply promises to keep your private and identifiable information safe on a "trust us" basis. However, there's not many details surrounding Neon or their processes to keep that information anonymous that enables that trust.

The reviews for Neon on the App Store and Google Play store are also mixed, with users reporting problems using the app or receiving their payout. It's unclear, however, if those are issues being experienced by just a few individual users or if it's more widespread.

TechCrunch also noticed that Neon's privacy policy and terms has users giving away much more than they might have thought they were when signing up for the app. For example, Neon grants itself the following rights to your content:

…worldwide, exclusive, irrevocable, transferable, royalty-free, fully paid right and license (with the right to sublicense through multiple tiers) to sell, use, host, store, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform (including by means of a digital audio transmission), communicate to the public, reproduce, modify for the purpose of formatting for display, create derivative works as authorized in these Terms, and distribute your Recordings, in whole or in part, in any media formats and through any media channels, in each instance whether now known or hereafter developed.

Neon also carves out exceptions for its guarantees to users regarding any beta features due to the fact that they might contain bugs.

In addition, Neon is offering conflicting payout information. On the App Store, Neon's description claims that the company pays 45 cents per recording phone call minute and $25 per referral. This runs counter to the 30 cents per minute payment the $30 per referral as detailed on its website.

Users should proceed with caution regarding Neon until more is known about the company. And, even then, the company's purpose is to sell your recorded phone calls to companies for AI training. Users should consider if that's worth the price they're being paid.

Editor's note: Currently, many DJI products are unavailable in the United States through official retailers, but they can still be purchased via third-party sellers on platforms like Amazon.

You know the saying that people eat with their eyes first? I'm convinced most people watch videos with their ears first. Without good quality audio, even the most visually stunning video can fall flat.

Admittedly, finding the right mic can be a lot harder than picking out a content-worthy camera (which, for most people, can be found right on their phone). Then there's the fact that a portable mic can run you anywhere from $10 to well over $400, making it challenging to know where to invest. However, after testing out the DJI Mic Mini for weeks and watching it in action with Mashable's social media team, I'm convinced it's one of the best upgrades for content creators.

DJI Mic Mini $109 at Amazon
$169 Save $60 Shop Now What makes the DJI Mic Mini different

DJI has made a name for itself in the creator space thanks to gadgets like the Osmo Pocket 3, but if you pay a little extra attention, you'll notice how many creators on TikTok use the brand's pocket mics. DJI's mic selection includes the newly-released DJI Mic 3, the Mic Mini, and the Mic 2, though the latter will be phased out following the release of the Mic 3.

The DJI Mic Mini setup, in its charging case. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

While all three mics have their pros, at the time of writing, the Mic Mini is one of the best sellers in the musical instruments category on Amazon. (The other two mics don't even show up in the top 50 listings.)

What makes it so popular? For starters, it retails for $169, compared to the $349 Mic 2 and $329 Mic 3. In the past few weeks, it's even been hovering around a $109 price point. With that price discrepancy, there is somewhat of a tradeoff in performance: the Mic Mini doesn't have the 32-bit depth of the more expensive models (meaning it captures less of an audio range), nor can it capture recordings internally.

However, for under $170 ($110 if you can grab it on sale), here's what you get:

• Two transmitters (mics) and one receiver

• Up to 48 hours of battery life with the charging case

• A USB-C phone adapter for the receiver

• Level metrics visible on the receiver to ensure audio isn't peaking

• Two clip magnets, four windscreens for the mics

• Companion app with features like noise cancellation, mono/stereo recording, and clipping control

• Carrying case

Who should get the DJI Mic Mini

If you need any degree of portability with your mic setup, the DJI Mic Mini offers a lot of versatility, and for a great value. That makes it a solid option for making vlogs and TikToks, and for anyone who feels less than confident with their tech skills — once I plugged the receiver into my phone, the mics connected easily and started working with the camera app automatically. It's also possible to use the DJI Mimo app to track the audio levels on your phone and adjust some mic settings, but not necessary if you prefer the mic to plug and play.

The DJI Mismo app allows for audio level monitoring and settings adjustment. Credit: DJI / Screenshot Credit: DJI / Screenshot How the DJI Mic Mini sounds

During my testing period, I tried my best to put the Mic Mini through the wringer, bringing it to a park near a busy street on a windy day, as well as recording myself while my boyfriend played piano in the next room over (with just one closed door separating us).

SEE ALSO: DJI has a new mini drone coming soon — and you can't have it

The Mic Mini impressed me in both situations, showing its prowess over the $20 miniature mics you can grab on Amazon. With and without the noise-cancelling feature, the mic picked up my voice while barely picking up the sound of wind — birds and car engines were lost in many cases. To my surprise, the mic also somehow avoided picking up the piano playing, despite the fact that I was recording about 20 feet away from my partner.

The receiver (usually plugged into a device) allows you to see which mics are active and adjust the audio gain in increments of six from -12dB to 12db. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

It also shone in even noisier settings. During Mashable's trip to VidCon, we used the DJI Mic Mini when interviewing the inaugural Hall of Fame inductees — despite being surrounded by other outlets conducting interviews and in an echoey convention center hall, the audio came through crisp and clear.

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DJI Mic Mini vs. Mic 2

So who might not be jazzed with this mic? Anyone who's looking for something especially professional-grade might prefer either of DJI's more expensive offerings. Don't get me wrong, the Mic Mini sounds great enough to use as a full-time content creator, but its limited size means you can't save audio internally like the Mic 2 and 3.

Beyond that, the audio won't sound quite as good as the more expensive mics due to its more limited 24-bit depth, and there's no option to connect it to a lavalier mic as there is with the Mic 2, which can be useful for applications where you want to hide the mic as much as possible. It's still great for a lot of situations, it's just not a perfect catch-all.

Outside of pocket mics, if you generally record audio in a stationary position, like at a desk for a livestream or recording setup for a podcast, you might prefer to invest in a USB or XLR microphone.

Lightning port owners, beware

As happy as I am to sing the DJI Mic Mini's praises, I do have a warning for anyone out there who still has a Lightning port on their phone. The Mic Mini only comes with a USB-C phone adapter for the receiver. This means you have to purchase the DJI Lightning port adapter, which is an additional $19 and is often sold out. As an iPhone 14 owner, I couldn't use the mics until DJI sent me an adapter to test out.

Again, there's no internal storage on this mic — without a plugged-in receiver, the audio you're recording on the mics won't transmit to your device, even if they're connected via Bluetooth, making them technically useless. While I did read some Reddit posts about workarounds with third-party apps, this mic is $169, so it would be annoying not to use it as the plug-and-play mic it's intended to be.

Amazon is preparing to replace Android with its own custom-built Vega OS on Fire TV devices, and an accidental job posting for a software development manager for Prime Video just leaked it. We've been hearing rumors about this for a while, but it should arrive before the end of the year.

Anker is now offering the Nebula X1 Pro, a high-end rolling cart projector designed for indoor and outdoor venues with screens up to 300 inches. It costs $5,000 and is available for pre-order today.

SAVE $50: As of Sept. 25, get the Ninja Slushi for $299.99, down from its usual price of $349.99, at Best Buy via Best Buy Drops. That's a discount of 14%. This discount is only available via the Best Buy app.

Opens in a new window Credit: Best Buy Ninja Slushi $299.99 at Best Buy
$349.99 Save $50 Get Deal

Do you love frozen treats? Do you find an excuse to get a slushie every time you go out? Stop spending all your extra money on frozen goodies when out and about and just make them at home with the Ninja Slushi, which you can snag for a great price right now.

As of Sept. 25, get the Ninja Slushi for $299.99, down from its usual price of $349.99, at Best Buy via Best Buy Drops. That's a discount of 14%. This discount is only available via the Best Buy app.

SEE ALSO: The coolest kitchen gear and gadgets we'll always recommend

To participate in Best Buy Drops deals, you need to download the Best Buy app, as this sale price won't appear on the Best Buy website proper. Head to the Ninja Slushi store page, and just add the item to your cart. You'll see when the Drop is live on the app as there will be a status bar with a percentage showing what's already been claimed of Best Buy's inventory. Once a Drop is gone, you're out of luck. But at the time of writing, there appear to be plenty of Slushi machines in stock.

This frozen drink maker is all about whipping up frozen drinks at home, with no ice needed. With just one touch, you can have a variety of drinks ready to go in about an hour, whether that means juice, soda, coffee, milk, or whatever it is your heart desires. It has 5 preset settings, simple temperature control, and plenty of ways to customize how your drink will come out. Plus, it can keep your drinks frozen for up to 12 hours.

Mashable's Senior Shopping Reporter Leah Stodart praised the Ninja Slushi for whipping up frozen treats in less than an hour, calling it a "guaranteed hit" in homes with kids who will drink their healthier fruit juice when it "basically feels like a Slurpee". She also praised its straightforward buttons and indicator lights as well as how quiet it is when in operation.

If making frozen drinks at home sounds like fun, this is a Drop you'll want to pounce on while it's still available.

This week marks nearly 120 years since the 1906  Atlanta Race Massacre, when white mobs laid waste to Black‑owned businesses and lives. At SXSW this spring, I experienced that history through a phone‑based augmented‑reality installation. Standing on a downtown sidewalk, I watched a true-to-life hologram of an actor portraying Black journalist Jesse Max Barber describe the violence as it occurred. The smoke and fear felt immediate, in a way no book or film could convey. It reminded me that immersive media, used with care, can turn cold facts into felt experience.

We’re rightfully wary of technology. Algorithms feed us outrage; screens swallow our evenings. Critics warn that headsets will lure us into isolation. (WALL‑E, anyone?) That risk is real. 

But by focusing only on the dangers, are we missing the other side of the story? Immersive tools can also cut through the noise, slow us down, and connect us to truths we cannot grasp on a flat screen.

Evidence for that power is growing. Researchers found that participants who navigated a 360‑degree video simulating violent intergroup conflict became less likely to demonize the opposing side and more open to compromise. The Messy Truth, a virtual-reality series that places viewers in scenarios like racial profiling, was shown at the Conservative Political Action Conference; police officers who experienced being a Black teenager pulled over by a cop said they saw the world differently. 

These projects hint at how immersive media might help us reclaim attention and rebuild connection in an age of lies and fragmentation. When you inhabit someone else’s perspective, or even something’s perspective — a kid with ADHD, a farmer in the Himalayas, or a spore in a mycelial network — abstract issues become personal. At a time when climate change is reduced to statistics and racism to slogans, the chance to feel another life for a few minutes can seed empathy and action. I’ve been surprised at how often these experiences slow me down. They’re not adrenaline rides. They’re invitations to linger and listen.

For immersive media to meet its promise, we need more than experiments. We need institutions, artists, and community groups to build with these tools — and to do so thoughtfully. That’s why I cofounded Agog, a philanthropic institute dedicated to using emerging media to cultivate empathy and connection, and inspire action. Projects like Kinfolk Tech, which uses AR to surface hidden Black and Brown histories in public spaces and prompts 91 percent of users to learn something new when engaging with the app, and Electric South’s New Dimensions Lab, which supports African creators making nonfiction XR, show what’s possible. Yet most nonprofits still view XR as costly or difficult to wield. Meanwhile, tech giants are racing ahead. Meta’s Ray‑Ban Display glasses — smart frames with an AI‑powered screen that debut next week — signal that mainstream spatial computing is near. Apple’s new “Liquid Glass” design language, which uses translucent layers and parallax on phones and tablets, trains us for interfaces that live in three dimensions. If the mission-based world doesn’t join this conversation, the commercial players will set the terms.

SEE ALSO: Despite awkward demos, Meta Ray-Ban Display early testers say it's the real deal

I get the skepticism. Immersive media could be used to manipulate, to addict, to surveil. It could lull us into passivity or feed unhealthy impulses. The antidote is intention. We must ask: Does this experience reconnect us to reality or replace it? Does it foster empathy, or does it sensationalize suffering? Does it create new ways in, or push people to the margins? For example, new features in smart glasses, like real-time captions for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, or instant text-to-speech for those with visual impairments, can expand participation. That’s momentum we can build on.

As the National Center for Civil and Human Rights Museum reopens in Atlanta, and features the 1906 Race Massacre AR experience this weekend, we have a choice. We can treat immersive tech as another entertainment toy, or we can harness it to reclaim attention, relay truth, slow us down, and build connections across divides. I remain agog at the possibilities. With curiosity and care, we can ensure that immersive media doesn’t usher in a dystopia, but helps us imagine and build a better reality.

Chip Giller, along with Wendy Schmidt, is co-founder of Agog: The Immersive Media Institute, a philanthropic organization that helps people use emerging media like virtual and augmented reality to create human connection, cultivate empathy, and inspire action toward a brighter future for all.

This column reflects the opinions of the writer.

If you’ve ever felt that the streaming services you’re subscribed to seem to always give you more of the same, you’re not the only one. These platforms use algorithms that serve you content similar to what you’ve already liked. It creates a sort of narrow bubble or loop, which leaves little room for genuine surprise and discovery. Let’s change that, and help you find films you’ll love without the help of an algorithm.

When AI slop started making the rounds on Spotify — bands like The Velvet Sundown for instance — users urged Spotify to do something about it. They wanted a label showing that the music on their Discover Weekly and recommendations was actually created by AI. Some users even went so far as to say they should "boycott Spotify" until a label was made.

On Thursday, Spotify said it would start doing just that, saying in a press release that "aggressively protecting against the worst parts of Gen AI is essential to enabling its potential for artists and producers." The platform is integrating a new spam filtering system, AI disclosures, and "improved enforcement of impersonation violations" like deepfakes.

Spotify worked with DDEX, or the Digital Data Exchange, which is a standards-setting organization in the music industry, to require a "new industry standard for AI disclosures in music credits." This is because, as Spotify says, many artists responsibly use AI tools while creating music, so adding a simple "AI" or "Not AI" label doesn't actually solve the issue of listeners wanting to know if they're listening to AI music.

"This standard gives artists and rights holders a way to clearly indicate where and how AI played a role in the creation of a track—whether that’s AI-generated vocals, instrumentation, or post-production," Spotify wrote in its press release. "This change is about strengthening trust across the platform. It’s not about punishing artists who use AI responsibly or down-ranking tracks for disclosing information about how they were made."

"At its best, AI is unlocking incredible new ways for artists to create music and for listeners to discover it. At its worst, AI can be used by bad actors and content farms to confuse or deceive listeners, push 'slop' into the ecosystem, and interfere with authentic artists working to build their careers," Spotify's press release read. "That kind of harmful AI content degrades the user experience for listeners and often attempts to divert royalties to bad actors."

The new impersonation policy Spotify released specifically details how it plans to give artists stronger protections against AI voice clones. Spotify plans to attack spam music — like "mass uploads, duplicates, SEO hacks, artificially short track abuse, and other forms of slop" — by rolling out a new system that "will identify uploaders and tracks engaging in these tactics, tag them, and stop recommending them." They're going to start conservatively so they don't accidentally punish the wrong people, and then add more signals as the system ramps up.

"These updates are the latest in a series of changes we’re making to support a more trustworthy music ecosystem for artists, for rightsholders, and for listeners. We’ll keep them coming as the tech evolves, so stay tuned," Spotify wrote.

Lenovo's IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook price has dropped by a massive 57%, but it likely won't last long. You can get this Chromebook for just $139.00 at Best Buy, which is a major discount from its original price of $319.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 will power 2026's best phones, but that won't stop some companies from releasing theirs while this year is not over. Xiaomi is the first company to release a phone powered by Qualcomm's latest chip—meet the Xiaomi 17 series.

I love using keyboard shortcuts when working in Microsoft Excel, as they help me speed up my workflow and prevent me from having to alternate between my keyboard and mouse. One group of keys I find more useful than most is the Arrow keys. Here's what they can do.

Amid reports that Apple's new iPhone 17 Pro is particularly prone to scratches on its backside, the company has issued a response.

Apple told 9to5Mac that the scratches that people are (as far as I can tell) largely seeing on store display units of the iPhone 17 Pro are not scratches at all. Per Apple's response to 9to5Mac, this is actually "material transfer" that is occurring via the use of worn down MagSafe stands in retail stores. This can apparently affect older iPhone models, too. Apple says these "scratches" are removable by cleaning, though we can't explicitly confirm that at this time.

SEE ALSO: Review: The new iPhone Air is the sexiest iPhone I've ever tested

Mashable has reached out to Apple to confirm this for ourselves, but the company has not responded at the time of publication.

Whether or not the scratches are actually scratches, they do seem to be real. One Mashable employee reported seeing scratches on the blue and orange iPhone 17 Pro models at an Apple Store. Most reports indicate the scratches are around where the MagSafe stand would touch the phone, which would lend some credence to what Apple is saying. However, again, there's no guarantee that what Apple said is actually the explicit truth.

Whatever the reason may be, it might be prudent to put a case on your iPhone 17 Pro.

For years, reading manga online legally has meant juggling multiple subscriptions across a confusing mess of publisher-specific apps — or resorting to sketchy fan-scan sites just to keep up. But now, Crunchyroll is stepping in to make things simpler. (And to, hopefully, save you some cash.)

The anime giant announced today that Crunchyroll Manga, a new premium add-on for manga readers, will launch Oct. 9, 2025, on iOS and Android in the U.S. and Canada, with a web version to follow on Oct. 15.

SEE ALSO: 'Gachiakuta' might be the most original shōnen anime in years

The new service offers an ad-free experience with hundreds of titles from major publishers, including VIZ Media, Square Enix, Yen Press, AlphaPolis, and more — all in one place.

Launch titles span genres and hype levels, including One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen, Daemons of the Shadow Realm, Delicious in Dungeon, The Summer Hikaru Died, The Apothecary Diaries, My Dress-Up Darling, and several digital-firsts never published online before. (Though, the press release also notes that these launch titles are subject to change.)

A sneak peek at Crunchyroll Manga. Credit: Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll Manga will be a standalone app, powered by Japan's Link-U Group, and separate from Crunchyroll's anime streaming service.

As for pricing, if you already have Crunchyroll's Ultimate Fan plan ($15.99/month), it will be available to you at no extra cost.

If you're on a lower-tier plan, listen up — the Manga add-on costs extra:

• Fan + Manga runs $11.99/month, combining the $7.99 Fan tier with a $4 manga add-on.

• Mega Fan + Manga bumps up to $15.49/month, with the add-on discounted to $3.50.

Crunchyroll says all subscription tiers will get unlimited, ad-free reading across mobile, tablet, and web. Features include offline downloads, light and dark modes, full two-page spreads, and the ability to build a personalized reading list with curated recommendations.

With more publishers like Shueisha and J-Novel Club joining post-launch, the platform could become a one-stop shop for digital manga — no shady pop-ups required.

Enter a world of dreams and nightmares in the upcoming In Your Dreams, from Netflix Animation.

SEE ALSO: The best Netflix movies of 2025 now streaming

In Your Dreams is the debut feature from Pixar alum Alex Woo, who's worked on films like Ratatouille and WALL-E. Woo co-wrote the film with Erik Benson, also a Pixar alum. Based on the trailer, it looks like the pair have used their Pixar experience to create a fantastical adventure that explores childhood anxieties about parental separation.

In Your Dreams introduces siblings Stevie (voiced by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) and Elliot (voiced by Elias Janssen). Practical Stevie is a stalwart perfectionist, while amateur magician Elliot is more of a go-with-the-flow type guy. The pair rarely get along, but when their parents' (voiced by Simu Liu and Cristin Milioti) marriage hits a rough patch, they'll have to find a solution to keep their family together.

Enter The Legend of the Sandman, a magical book that claims that the Sandman (voiced by Omid Djalili) can make their deepest wish a reality. To find him, Stevie and Elliot must journey through their own personal dreamscapes and make it past Nightmara (voiced by Gia Carides), the creator of all nightmares. Along the way, they'll cross paths with talking breakfast foods, evil Whac-a-Mole machines, and Elliot's long-lost favorite stuffed animal, Baloney Tony (voiced by Craig Robinson). He's a beaten-up toy giraffe with a penchant for throwing baloney and letting off laser farts. Basically, he's Elliot's dream come true — and Stevie's nightmare.

To witness Baloney Tony in all his glory, and to see the rest of the dreams that await Stevie and Elliot on their quest, check out the full trailer above.

In Your Dreams hits Netflix Nov. 14.

The clock is ticking on Windows 10. We're less than a month away from the operating system's official EOL date on October 14th, after which point, unless you're eligible for extended updates, you'll stop getting security updates unless they're absolutely critical. Now, some regions are eligible for at least an extra year of updates, but probably not you.

The Toyota Corolla is still holding its own in today’s car market—even against the wave of crossovers and SUVs. It’s affordable, reliable, and efficient—all the things people expect from a Corolla.

Hinge is the dating app that's "designed to be deleted." The app, which was acquired by Match Group in 2018, promises a more relationship-finding focus for its members — hence the tagline.

While Hinge is owned by the same parent company as Tinder and OkCupid, it's emerged as a popular contender in the space. This year, Hinge has shown growth in direct revenue and paying users, whereas for Tinder, they've decreased. Despite Tinder trying to shed its hookup reputation, it seems that Hinge doesn't have that issue.

SEE ALSO: Cuffing season is upon us: Best dating apps for serious relationships

"Hinge's intentional app design makes it easier for daters to express themselves and more quickly connect with people they’re compatible with through detailed profiles built around Prompts (short questions that allow people to showcase who they are)," a Hinge spokesperson told Mashable last year for an article about dating app fatigue. "And it's working. Currently, we're setting up a date every two seconds."

How does Hinge work?

Hinge is free to sign up and get started. Like every other dating app, there are premium features at a cost. (More on that below.) Unlike Tinder, Hinge doesn't have a swipe model. You can see one profile at a time and "like" an aspect of it — a photo, or an answer to a prompt — instead of "swiping right." 

How to use Hinge

Speaking of prompts, they're a feature that is very popular on Hinge and one of its defining characteristics (despite the fact that other apps have introduced prompts due to how popular they are on Hinge. This is a phenomenon of dating apps becoming more and more alike as they struggle to maintain their user bases.)

Hinge profiles are built around prompts; these are questions or phrases written by Hinge designed to get your creative juices flowing — and tell more about yourself than a black box "bio" section would. Some of Hinge's top prompts (based on how frequently they lead to conversation) are:

• I go crazy for… 

• My simple pleasures…

• The way to win me over is… 

Earlier this year, famed relationship psychotherapist Esther Perel created prompts with Hinge, including "In my friend group, I'm the one who…" and "Something my pet thinks about me." 

Hinge also recently introduced AI prompt feedback to help users craft better answers to prompts — because everyone who's been on Hinge recognizes the dull one-word response to a question that requires a bit more thought.

You can also share private details only with matches with a feature called Match Note.

On Hinge, free users are limited to eight likes per day. Hinge also limits the number of unanswered messages anyone, both paid and free users, can have at one time.

In 2020, Hinge launched Roses, its version of the Tinder Super Like (aka, an indication that you like them before you match). You can send someone a Rose on the Standouts feature, which is an algorithmically-driven set of potential curated matches for you. Users get one free Rose a week (and don't accumulate), but they're also available for purchase in packs of 3, 12, or 50.

A meme online is that Hinge keeps the best profiles in "Rose Jail" — though there's no real proof of that.

Hinge also has a Boost feature, which makes you more visible to potential users for one hour. Superboost does the same for 24 hours. You have to pay for Boosts.

Hinge+ and Hinge X

Hinge has two paid tiers: Hinge+ and HingeX. 

With Hinge+, users get:

• Unlimited likes

• Ability to view all incoming likes at once

• Advance filtering preferences — the ability to filter users by traits like height, family plans, whether they drink or smoke, and more

With HingeX, users get the above, as well as:

• Enhanced recommendations 

• Skipping the line (Always-on Boost)

• Priority likes (similar to Roses)

The prices of these, according to the most recent information Mashable has as of publication:

• One month of Hinge+: $32.99

• Three months of Hinge+: $64.99 ($21.66 per month)

• Six months of Hinge+: $99.99 ($16.66 per month)

• One month of HingeX: $49.99

• Three months of HingeX: $99.99 ($33.33 per month)

• Six months of HingeX: $149.99 ($24.99 per month)

Is Hinge a good dating app?

Hinge is represented on Mashable's lists for best dating apps for women, best dating apps for men, best overall dating apps of 2025, and more. It's not just us; with increasing paid users, users are getting value out of Hinge.

In addition to photos and prompts, users can also add voice notes to their profiles and they're able to video chat with other users. Hinge is also pretty inclusive, with the ability to choose from a variety of gender identities and sexualities on the platform. 

As previously stated, Hinge is owned by Match Group, which has been in the news a lot recently for different reasons. In Aug. 2025, Match agreed to pay a settlement to the Federal Trade Commission for fake advertisements. In Sept. 2025, two U.S. senators sent a letter to the Match Group CEO asking for evidence of what the company is doing to stop romance scams on the platform.

So if you want an "indie" app, per se, Hinge isn't the one. But to truly know what Hinge is like, you'll have to try it for yourself.

Tech company Nothing is spinning off its budget brand, CMF, into its own company.

Nothing CEO Carl Pei announced the move on X, saying he plans to turn CMF into an India-based consumer tech brand.

Pei wrote on X that Nothing plans "to establish CMF as a subsidiary headquartered in India - building it into the country’s first truly global consumer tech brand." It would be "built from India, to the world," he wrote.

SEE ALSO: Nothing's new Phone 3a and 3a Pro are the coolest-looking phones you can get

The CEO wrote that the company planned to partner with local manufacturer Optiemus, investing more than $100 million to set-up CMF's new operations. Pei also claimed the venture would create at least 1,800 jobs.

CMF's products are decidedly budget friendly. Perusing through Nothing's website, you can find CMF phones for under $300, smartwatches for around $100, and earbuds for about $70. That's certainly a different business plan in a world where a new cellphone can routinely run you more than $1,000.