Technology

Black Friday is coming up quickly and Amazon has joined the party with official dates. On Nov. 9, the mega-retailer dropped the big news: Amazon's Black Friday sale will begin on Thursday, Nov. 20 and run through Monday, Dec. 1 with plenty of deals on offer throughout.

SEE ALSO: Best Buy's early Black Friday deals are live. As a shopping reporter, here's what I would buy now.

Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping events of the year. What used to be a single day on the Friday after Thanksgiving has turned into a full-blown event that starts far before the holiday itself. But we're not complaining. Shopping online before Thanksgiving is pretty convenient, and it sure beats standing in line at 3 a.m. armed with a leftover turkey sandwich on Black Friday.

Amazon's announcement of Black Friday dates and deals joins the likes other major retailers that have already dropped full sale info including Best Buy, Target, and Home Depot.

What deals to expect during Amazon's Black Friday sale

Amazon's Black Friday is event is always packed with deals that range from today's best tech to kitchen appliances to toys all the kids want this under the tree this year. We anticipate this year will follow suit and offer record-low prices, beating or at least matching previous lows that we usually see during Prime Day events.

SEE ALSO: The 40 best Christmas gifts for the 2025 holiday season, hand-picked by our product reviewers

We're already seeing record-low prices on hot items like Lego sets, robot vacuums, and portable power stations. And It's also proving to be a hot time for great Apple deals. According to Amazon's official press release, these are the deals we can look forward to beginning on Nov. 20:

• Up to 55% off select home products from Shark and kitchen appliances from Ninja

• Up to 50% off Amazon devices like the Echo Dot Max, Fire TV Stick lineup, Fire tablets, and Kindles

• Up to 50% off electronics from JBL and Canon

• Up to 45% off Bose audio

• Up to 40% off kitchen items from Vitamix, Staub, Nespresso, and more

• Up to 40% on select floorcare from Bissell and iRobot

• Up to 40% off home entertainment from Hisense, TCL, and LG

• Up to 40% on toys from Melissa & Doug, Little Tykes, Play-Doh, and Nerf

• Up to 35% on select Samsung and Google products

This is an abbreviated list of the top deals, but rest assured there will be thousands more. Don't forget Black Friday is one of the best times to score major discounts on both Kindle books and print books. Amazon mentions Kindle editions will be up to 80% off and physical books will be up to 65% off.

Price check before you buy

On first glance, a deal might look great, but it's worth a few extra seconds of research. To confirm you're actually getting a good deal, head to Camelcamelcamel to check on a product's price history. Just copy the Amazon URL into the price tracker and you'll get full stats. On occasion, Amazon can make a deal look better than it actually is by inflating the list price. On the flip side, we've also seen Amazon post the list price as something lower than the recommended MSRP which can spell an awesome deal for Amazon shoppers.

Cashback is a staple feature of rewards credit cards, but it's something we don't see too often on debit cards—banks want you to get credit cards with them, so they're not going to put amazing rewards programs on their run-of-the-mill debit cards. Venmo's latest rewards program for its debit card might actually be better than your credit card's, though.

Apple has removed top Chinese gay dating apps Blued and Finka from the country's App Store, WIRED has reported.

Apple received a government order to remove the apps. "We follow the laws in the countries where we operate. Based on an order from the Cyberspace Administration of China, we have removed these two apps from the China storefront only," an Apple spokesperson told WIRED in an email. "Earlier this year, the developer of Finka elected to remove the app from storefronts outside of China, and Blued was available only in China."

SEE ALSO: The best gay dating apps of 2025: Grindr is still king, even if we wish it weren't

Blued and Finka, which are owned by the same parent company, BlueCity, have also reportedly been removed from several Android stores. Users who have already downloaded the apps can still use them, according to WIRED.

Blued launched in 2012 and had 60 million registered users worldwide as of 2021. It was a location-based dating and livestreaming service for gay and bisexual men, Rest of World reported that year, and was originally a Chinese-language copy of the American gay dating app Jack'd. Finka, meanwhile, is a social network for younger gay and bisexual men, and BlueCity acquired it in 2020. Blued is branded as HeeSay internationally.

This is part of the Chinese government's increasing crackdown on LGBTQ content and advocacy groups in recent years. While public acceptance of LGBTQ people has grown in China, according to Human Rights Watch, there's increased government repression and censorship. Same-sex marriage isn't legal in China.

Grindr is already delisted in China's App Store, meaning that it's unsearchable there. According to the 2021 Rest of World article, the reason that BlueCity was able to function in China was at least in part because it offered sexual health services such as HIV testing. But in 2022, founder Ma Baoli stepped down as CEO and hinted at how difficult it was to operate an LGBTQ business in China.

Breaches are always bad, but we often don't find out about many of the smaller breaches, which aren't advertised much and can be just as bad—especially if you're the kind of person to use the same password everywhere. If you need yet another reminder that this is bad practice, this breached credentials dump is just what you need.

Every once in a while, a new smarpthone comes out that just does something unique and forward-thinking. Such is the case with the Realme GT 8 Pro, which launched in China in October with a global launch to follow in November. The phone features a swappable camera layout, but that's far from its main selling point.

Mozilla has announced that its new Firefox 145 update is rolling out major privacy upgrades designed to fight browser fingerprinting. This will basically lower the number of users trackable by this insidious method by half, making things a lot more secure for the user.

Somewhere, a guy in New Balance sneakers is about to buy a brand-new 2026 Ford F-150 XL—the ultimate all-American truck. He’s dropping $39,330 before fees, bedliners, or that “premium convenience package” that somehow adds extra cupholders and Bluetooth. It’s a solid truck—reliable, capable, and all the Built Ford Tough vibes you expect.

Google Calendar is everywhere, and the app comes pre-installed on just about every Android phone. But I don't use Google Calendar on my Samsung Galaxy phone—I much prefer Samsung Calendar instead.

SAVE OVER $60: As of Nov. 10, the Apple MacBook Pro (M5, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) is on sale for $1,538 at Amazon. That's a saving of over $60 on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple MacBook Pro (M5, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) $1,538 at Amazon
$1,599 Save $61   Get Deal

We're all on the lookout for Apple deals are we approach the busiest shopping season of the year. We're already seen some signs of things to come, but the big wave of deals hasn't come just yet. We're not overwhelmed at this early stage, but we are suitably impressed by the latest discount on the brand-new M5 MacBook Pro.

As of Nov. 10, the Apple MacBook Pro (M5, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) is on sale for $1,538 at Amazon. That's a saving of over $60 on the regular price of $1,599.

SEE ALSO: The Apple Watch SE is down to under $190 ahead of Black Friday

Does everyone need a MacBook Pro M5? Absolutely not. I use my laptop for editing words, flicking between the same 10-15 tabs, and playing too much Football Manager at the weekend. Mashable tech editor Timothy Beck Werth recommends this model for "professionals, AI enthusiasts, and creators." If that sounds like you, this deal is worth checking out.

The M5 MacBook Pro is our latest Mashable Choice Award winner. The cheaper M4 MacBook Air is still the top choice for most people, but the M5 delivers a brighter mini-LED display with a better 120Hz refresh rate, improved sound, and a better mix of ports that include an HDMI port and an SDXC card slot. If you have the budget, the upgrade is very much worth it.

Save over $60 on the M5 MacBook Pro ahead of Black Friday.

From Windows Messenger and Outlook Express to MSN, Windows XP used to support a long list of interesting applications. While all these apps were great in their own way, I spent most of my time on my Windows XP computer using three main apps.

Tennis practice has always depended on consistency, timing, and a reliable partner. The PONGBOT Pace S Pro takes that idea and gives it a smart upgrade. Designed for players who want to sharpen their game without a coach or opponent, this AI-powered tennis robot turns solo practice into a personalized, data-driven experience.

SAVE 34%: As of Nov. 10, Apple AirPods 4 are on sale for $84.99 at Amazon. That's 34% off the $129 list price and a new all-time low for this model.

Apple AirPods 4 $84.99 at Amazon
$129 Save $44.01   Get Deal at Amazon Get Deal at Walmart Get Deal at Best Buy

I am that person with AirPods always on their last leg. One bud is always quieter than the other, or I've dropped the case one too many times. I've been waiting for a good deal to replace my old pair, and this is the first big price drop I’ve seen on the Apple AirPods 4.

As of Nov. 10, you can get the Apple AirPods 4 on sale for $84.99 at Amazon, down from $129. That's a 34% discount and over $44 in savings. It's also a new all-time low — they were $89 in July.

SEE ALSO: 10 Apple deals that prove Black Friday 2025 is starting earlier than ever

The AirPods 4 offer a more comfortable, stable fit with a shorter stem. Inside, they’re running the H2 chip, which powers the Personalized Spatial Audio and, more importantly, the new Voice Isolation feature. This is a huge upgrade for calls (it uses computational audio to reduce background noise, so you sound clearer).

They're also IP54 rated for dust, sweat, and water resistance, which applies to both the buds and the USB-C charging case. Battery life is solid, with up to five hours of listening time on a single charge (30 hours total with the case).

Note: This $84.99 deal is for the standard model without Active Noise Cancellation. Apple has an ANC version of this design, but it's $149.99. If you don't need ANC, you might want to jump on this deal before it's gone.

Acer is upgrading one of its premium convertible Chromebooks with more AI prowess. Announced Wednesday at IFA 2025 in Berlin, the latest Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514 (CP514-5HN) packs a new MediaTek Kompanio Ultra chip that has a neural processing unit (NPU) with up to 50 TOPS (or trillions of operations per second), enabling a pair of exclusive software features.

The Spin 514 is the only Chromebook Plus with an NPU besides the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14, which has the same processor. Like its counterpart, the Spin 514 comes with a free trial of Google AI Pro that unlocks 12 months of access to advanced AI tools like Veo 3 Fast and NotebookLM. It's an AI smorgasbord.

"With powerful performance, AI tools, and robust and premium build, the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514 will empower creators, employees, and teachers to create, work, and be productive from anywhere," James Lin, General Manager of Notebooks at Acer, said in a press release.

One configuration of the Spin 514 is now available on Acer's website for $799.99; another will hit Best Buy's shelves later this month for $100 less, and I was one of the first people to try it before its launch. I've only spent an afternoon with it so far, so I haven't given it a formal rating just yet (as per our laptop testing methodology), but my initial impressions of it are positive. Splashy AI features aside, it's just a really nice budget 2-in-1 laptop.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514 specs and availability Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

Acer sent me a Spin 514 (model number CP514-1HN-K6DY) with the following specs:

• MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910 processor

• Arm Immortalis-G925 MC11 integrated graphics

• 12GB RAM

• 256GB UFS storage

• 14-inch 1920 x 1200 IPS touchscreen display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 16:10 aspect ratio, and stylus support (sold separately)

• 1080p webcam (see below)

• WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4

• Non-backlit keyboard

• Two USB-C ports and a headphone jack on the left side; two USB-A ports and a Kensington lock slot on the right

While my review unit came equipped with a 1080p webcam, the final version you can soon purchase at Best Buy will have a better 5MP webcam. It's priced at $699.99 and set to launch sometime later this month.

Acer started selling another configuration on its website for $799.99 on Sept. 4 (model number CP514-5HN-K4ZE). It comes with 16GB of RAM, a fingerprint reader, and a backlit keyboard, and its display has a higher 2.8K resolution but a lower 60Hz refresh rate.

Opens in a new window Credit: Acer Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514 (CP514-1HN-K6DY) $699.99 at Best Buy
  Learn More Opens in a new window Credit: Acer Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514 (CP514-5HN-K4ZE) $799.99 at Acer.com
  Shop Now Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514 design Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The 2025 Spin 514 measures 12.32 x 9.13 x 0.61 inches and weighs three pounds, making it only slightly bulkier than an M4 MacBook Air. (Apple's 13-inch model weighs 2.7 pounds and measures 0.44 inches thin.) It's certainly svelte and portable, even if it's not the most thin-and-light laptop available.

The Spin 514 is on the pricier side for a Chromebook, but its design feels aptly premium, and I'm impressed by its build quality. There's zero give to its lid when I press down in the center of it. Its hinge wiggles a little bit when I adjust or tap its screen, but it holds very sturdy and doesn't creak when I flip the display around into tent mode. The Spin 514's lid can rotate a full 360 degrees to lay flat in tablet mode, too.

Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The Spin 514 is military-grade MIL-STD810H compliant, which basically means it's been tested for extreme durability. Acer says it can survive four-foot drops and 25,000 open/close cycles, to which I say: Let's get YouTube's tech-it on the case.

Aesthetically, the Spin 514 is an attractive laptop that's just flashy enough for my taste. It has an aluminum exterior with reflective metallic accents on its hinges and the outer edges of its top cover, which match the iridescent "Acer" logo in the middle of the lid. Its Platinum Silver finish picks up fingerprints pretty easily, though.

The Spin 514's keyboard cover is made from matte plastic, but it doesn't feel cheap and matches the rest of the chassis for a cohesive look. I had to hold it right up to my eyeballs to even notice that it's a different material.

Display Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The Spin 514's upper and lower bezels are a little chunky, but the touchscreen itself is pretty and responsive. My review unit didn't come with a stylus, so I did all of my scrolling and tapping with a fingertip. Big ups to the fact that it has a 120Hz refresh rate, which made a Fortnite match and a few fast-moving scenes in YouTube videos look silky smooth. (The Spin 514 isn't technically a gaming Chromebook, but it's workable for light cloud gaming.) It's always nice to see this spec on cheaper laptops.

Text and tinier details didn't seem blurry on my Spin 514, so without having tried its other configuration, I wouldn't spend an extra $100 for a higher-res display with a worse refresh rate. Maybe consider upgrading if you desperately need the extra four gigs of RAM, but 12GB is already a lot for a Chromebook (and so is $700).

The screen on my Spin 514 is rated at only 300 nits of brightness, so I usually used it cranked all the way up to max. The pricier model's display offers up to 340 nits, which is a negligible difference.

Keyboard and touchpad Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The Spin 514's keyboard is great, for the most part — snappy, comfortable, and well-spaced — but it gets docked a few points for having a hollow-sounding space bar and lacking backlighting as well as a fingerprint reader. Again, both are available in the pricier configuration.

Of special note, there are dedicated keys for the Launcher (a searchable start menu) and for a "Quick Insert" tool. The latter shares a spot with the caps lock.

The touchpad is made from Acer's "OceanGlass" material. It's technically ocean-bound plastic, but it really does feel quite a lot like glass: It's soft and smooth like velvet. Acer says it's moisture-resistant, so accidental coffee spills probably won't be a cause for panic.

Speakers Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The Spin 514 has upward-firing speakers running down both sides of its keyboard. They're a little tinny, but they're not the worst-sounding laptop speakers I've ever tried (and there are some absolute stinkers out there). I've been listening to Fleetwood Mac's 1997 live performance of "Silver Springs" almost every day for the past couple of weeks while learning it on the piano; on the Spin 514, the audio is missing some bass and depth but otherwise clear. The positioning of the speakers prevents them from sounding muffled.

Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514 performance

The Spin 514 has a fan, unlike Lenovo's Chromebook Plus 14, but I couldn't get it to turn on during a quick stress test with 20 Chrome tabs open and two apps running (YouTube and Recorder). It ran quiet and almost completely cool; the fan vent on the bottom side of the machine barely got warm.

In the Android version of Primate Labs' Geekbench 6 CPU benchmark, our other performance test for Chromebooks, the Spin 514 got a multi-core score of 7,187. That makes it the second-fastest model we've tried after the heftier Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE, which notched a score of 7,660. It beats eight other models we've tried over the course of the past two years, including an $819 HP Chromebook x360 14c (4,318) and a $699 Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 (5,223).

Google AI features

Chromebook Plus models support a suite of AI features that you won't find on regular Chromebooks. The Spin 514's NPU adds two extra exclusives to the mix: a tab-sorting project management tool called "smart grouping" and an on-device image editor within the Gallery app. I briefly tried both.

To test smart grouping, I pulled up five tabs about the same topic (horseback riding near me) and three unrelated tabs in a single Chrome window. When I pressed the F4 key, a bubble appeared in the lower left-hand corner, prompting me to organize a topic called "Chicago Horse Riding Information" in a new "desk." Clicking that button pulled all of the horseback riding-related tabs into a separate workspace while keeping the other tabs in my original desk. I tend to be a tab minimalist, but I can see how this would be immensely useful for multitaskers who keep a mishmash of websites and windows open at once.

Left: Before and after smart-grouping my tabs. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable Right: Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The Gallery app's AI image editor includes tools that can expand and remove pictures' backgrounds, erase parts of a scene, and make stickers. I played around with them using a photo of a hot dog I took at a Cubs game last month, and most of the results were pretty clunky and fake-looking.

My original picture of the beautiful Chicago dawg. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable The picture with its background "expanded" using AI. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable The picture with its background removed. (The "make a sticker" tool produced an identical result.) Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable I tried to erase the pickle in this one. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

Smart grouping and the Gallery app's image editor are both still "experimental" (in beta) and may improve with time.

Battery life

I haven't run a formal battery life test on the Spin 514 yet, but Acer has it rated at up to 17 hours of web browsing per charge. If it lives up to that number, that would put it well over the nine-hour minimum we expect to squeeze from Chromebooks.

Who should get the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514? Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

Based on my few hours with the Spin 514 so far, I think it's a great pick for early AI adopters, but also just anyone who wants a solid budget 2-in-1 laptop with a premium design and good amount of power for the price. Its main rival is obviously the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14, which offers a brighter (non-touch) OLED display, quad speakers with Dolby Atmos, and a backlit keyboard for $649.99, or $50 cheaper. However, it starts with half the storage and can't double as a tablet.

The Spin 514's battery life will be a big determining factor in my final analysis, so stay tuned.

UPDATE: Nov. 6, 2025, 5:10 p.m. EDT The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514 lasted 18 hours and 11 minutes in our battery life test, making it the longest-lasting Chromebook we've ever tried. It's secured a spot on our list of the best Chromebooks.

UPDATE: Sep. 4, 2025, 1:05 p.m. EDT Listings for the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514 (CP514-5HN) are now live. Acer originally priced the upgraded model at $749.99, but it's actually retailing for $799.99 on its website. We've updated this story accordingly.

Samsung is partnering with iFIT to bring a massive library of premium, expert-guided workouts directly into the Samsung Health application. This move is huge because it finally closes a major feature gap Samsung had compared to Apple, which has had a premium fitness service for years.

As streaming services have become more expensive, they have all pivoted to a single strategy—launch a lower-priced tier that's partially financed by showing ads to the user. One big holdout has been Apple TV. And for now, it looks like this will continue to be the case, though Apple is not fully shutting the door on it either.

So you just finished yet another tutorial video. Then, when you try to write some code on your own, you don't know where to even start. The fear of the blank code editor haunts you. If that's you, it's time you stopped binging tutorials and solved a real-life problem with code.

As any dedicated Stephen King fan will know, the horror master's body of work is peppered with sneaky connections and recurring characters.

Unsurprisingly, HBO Max's new IT prequel, IT: Welcome to Derry, is no exception. We already know from the trailer that Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) is making a reappearance, and we know that the show is largely based on certain historical interlude chapters from the book — but now, as the show progresses, we have a sense of just how much it's also dialled in to King's multiverse.

We've broken down the Easter eggs we found so far, below.

SEE ALSO: 'IT: Welcome to Derry' review: 'IT' prequel series will scare the living daylights out of you Major Hanlon Major Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) in "IT: Welcome to Derry." Credit: Brooke Palmer / HBO

As well as introducing the town of Derry and some local Derry High schoolers, a key character in episode 1 is new resident Major Hanlon (Jovan Adepo). The name is clearly no accident. In King's novel, and in the movies, Mike Hanlon is a member of the Losers' Club. He's the only character who remains in Derry after the kids defeat IT the first time around, opting to stay back in the town and write a kind of diary/history of the local area.

Given that executive producer Andy Muscietti has confirmed that IT: Welcome to Derry is based on Hanlon's interludes in the novel, it seems only right that one of his relations should be a core character in the show.

The question is, how is Major Hanlon related to Mike Hanlon? The show hasn't made this explicit yet, but it's worth noting that — based on the fact the show takes place in 1962, and the first movie takes place in the late 1980s — Major Hanlon is the right age to be Mike's grandfather.

Teddy Teddy (Mikkal Karim-Fidler) in "IT: Welcome to Derry." Credit: Brooke Palmer / HBO

It appears that Major Hanlon may not be the only familiar name in IT: Welcome to Derry. In the end credits of episode 1 (after that shocking episode ending) we see Rabbi Uris, Don Uris, and Mrs. Uris all listed, and Teddy (Mikkal Karim-Fidler) — although we don't explicitly hear his surname — has the words "Teddy Urine" scrawled on his locker at school. Is this family related to Stanley Uris (Wyatt Oleff/Andy Bean), a member of the Losers' Club in the book/movies? It seems likely.

The Paul Bunyan statue You might have spied this in the "IT: Welcome to Derry" trailer. Credit: Mashable screenshot: HBO Max / YouTube

Despite protests from residents, Derry is in the process of trying to erect a statue of Paul Bunyan in episode 1. There are billboards for it around town, and an article about it in a local paper.

This is the same statue that has been constructed by the time the cycle depicted in the book/movies has rolled round, and which famously comes to life to chase Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard/Bill Hader).

The graffiti in the Derry High School toilet Margie (Matilda Lawler) and Lilly (Clara Stack) in "IT: Welcome to Derry." Credit: Brooke Palmer / HBO

When Margie (Matilda Lawler) drags Lilly (Clara Stack) into the Derry High School toilets for a private chat in episode 1, there's some graffiti on the door that will ring a bell with King fans: The name "Alvin Marsh", scrawled inside a love heart.

Alvin Marsh (Stephen Bogaert) will grow up to become the horrible and abusive father of Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis/Jessica Chastain), a core member of the Losers' club in the books and movies.

Featured Video For You Why the scariest part of The Shining isn’t what you think. The turtle

Without going too much into spoiler territory, turtles play a big part not only in IT, but also in King's larger multiverse (hello, Dark Tower fans). So it's only fitting that turtles feature heavily in episode 1 of IT: Welcome to Derry too, from a sign outside Derry High School that reads "BERT THE TURTLE SAYS: DUCK AND COVER" to the school's turtle mascot handing out flyers warning students about the Cold War nuclear threat.

That's not all, either. When Matty (Miles Ekhardt) takes Lilly to the abandoned tower where some of the boys have a base, they trade Cracker Jack cereal toys, with Matty giving Lilly his turtle in exchange for a rocket ship.

Her response? "Turtles are lucky."

Dick Hallorann Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) in "IT: Welcome to Derry." Credit: Brooke Palmer / HBO

We may know him best from The Shining, but Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) — the Overlook Hotel's psychic chef who helps Danny Torrance — is also playing a big supporting role in IT: Welcome to Derry. This isn't as random as it first seems, with the character also appearing in Stephen King's IT novel in one of Mike Hanlon's historical Derry chapters, upon which the series is based.

Juniper Hill Asylum Lilly Bainbridge (Clara Stack) is sent to Juniper Hill Asylum. Credit: Brooke Palmer / HBO

Juniper Hill Asylum — the place where poor Lilly Bainbridge (Clara Stack) is sent by her mother in episode 2 — is a regular feature in King's novels, popping up in a number of different novels including IT and 11/22/63. The institution also appears in IT: Welcome to Derry's clue-filled opening credits.

Shawshank State Prison You might have spied this in the "IT: Welcome to Derry" trailer. Credit: Mashable screenshot: HBO Max / YouTube

This is another fictional Maine location that pops up all the time King's books, most famously his 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, which was adapted into Frank Darabont's Oscar-nominated 1994 film. In IT: Welcome to Derry episode 3, the prison gets a name check in in the form of a transport bus with "Shawshank State Prison" written on the side — but we don't yet know if we'll see inside the prison or this is just another passing Easter egg.

IT: Welcome to Derry debuts on Sunday, October 26 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO, and will be available to stream on HBO Max. New episodes air weekly.

While Microsoft Word is packed with powerful features, all its menus, toolbars, and pop-ups can make it feel more like a control panel than a writing space. I used to dislike it for that very reason, but after years of using it, I’ve found a few simple tweaks that turn it into a clean writing app.

November means the holidays are on the horizon, and with them comes more time off to do what we love most: watch movies. Amazon Prime Video keeps an impressive rotation going, so I’ve selected some winners for you to pair with your popcorn this week.

Apple's iPhone will soon be able to do a lot more without Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity.

According to a new report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the company is working on several new features that rely on satellite connectivity alone. This includes navigation in Apple Maps and sending photos via messages, all via satellite connection. An API is also coming, allowing third-party developers to add satellite connectivity into their apps, the report said.

SEE ALSO: Tim Cook says Apple's iPhone 17s are selling better than expected

Apple originally launched its first satellite connectivity features for the iPhone in 2024 with the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro. The Emergency SOS feature allows iPhone users to send a distress message via satellite, when cellular and Wi-Fi aren't available.

That feature requires an unobstructed view of the sky, but that might also be changing. Gurman claims Apple is working on satellite connectivity even when the iPhone is in a pocket, a car, or indoors.

Finally, the report claims that starting next year, the iPhone is getting support for 5G NTN (non-terrestrial networks), a system which integrates 5G with satellites to extend wireless coverage farther than what can be achieved with standard cellular towers.

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More advanced, data-intensive stuff such as phone or video calls, as well as web browsing via satellite, doesn't seem to be a part of Apple's immediate plans.

The slightly less good news for iPhone users is the cost of these new services. Right now, features such as Emergency SOS are free, but in the future, more advanced capabilities might come at a cost, which users will pay to satellite carriers directly.

For its current satellite connectivity features, Apple works with American telecommunications company Globalstar. The new features mentioned in the report would require major upgrades to Globalstar's infrastructure; however, should Elon Musk's SpaceX acquire Globalstar (a deal between the two companies is reportedly in early stages) the new features could roll out faster.