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While the iPhone Duo has been mostly showered with praise on its launch day, there has been some criticism of the device. Reviewers aren't fans of the FaceTime camera's output quality, many apps have not yet been optimized for Apple's first foldable device, and there's a new report showing that the inner display's crease at the hinge becomes more visible as users fold and unfold the device over time.

However, just hours after the iPhone Duo was released, some users are going home to find what appears to be a major defect that makes those previous critiques pale in comparison.

Reddit

The inner display of the iPhone Duo is cracking from top to bottom along the entire hinge — right where the device folds — for some very unlucky first-day iPhone Duo users.

It's unclear exactly what the issue is, but the result appears to be the same each time, according to photos of cracked iPhone Duo displays spreading across social media. A large crack appears on the inner display right along the hinge. In addition, the cracked hinge causes a pixel issue on the right-hand side of the inner display, resulting in a bright white line.

Reports of faulty iPhone hinges don't seem to be contained to any specific market, either. While it's also unclear just how widespread the defect is, users from the U.S. to Australia to China have all reported cracked iPhone Duo displays at the hinge.

Reddit

A Reddit user in Australia shared his customer support experience while contacting Apple about his defective iPhone Duo. Over the phone, the company offered to provide an express replacement; however, the user would have to "put down a hold for the full cost of the phone." Apple also couldn't guarantee a timeframe for when the replacement would arrive. The user decided to go straight to the Apple Store instead, where they "apologized and replaced it with a brand-new one on the spot." It seems Apple may have some extra iPhone Duo devices in-store as replacements for when problems arise.

The Australian Redditor said the crack occurred in less than 6 hours after picking up the iPhone Duo and after they folded the device fewer than 20 times.

As MacRumors points out, Apple may be looking to collect broken devices to investigate what went wrong and fix the issue when manufacturing iPhone Duo devices going forward.

Consumers should always expect some issues and bugs with first-generation devices such as the iPhone Duo. But a huge crack down the middle of the inner display is certainly an extreme defect. Apple will undoubtedly fix the issue for unlucky customers, but it's certainly a big launch-day inconvenience for the first iPhone Duo owners. 

There's always a new AI photo trend on TikTok, whether people are turning themselves into caricatures or posing for an '80s yearbook portrait. If you've tried those and are looking for another excuse to play around with AI image generation, the "I'm so sorry" trend has people digging through their childhood photos — and apologizing for what they find.

SEE ALSO: ChatGPT '80s trend: Prompts to try it yourself

People are sharing edited versions of their baby pictures, childhood snapshots, and old Halloween costumes, then revealing the changes one slide at a time. With every swipe, another detail gets stripped away until they unveil the real photo — and the result is usually pretty horrifying. Horrifying enough that users feel compelled to caption their posts with "I'm so sorry." The carousels are usually set to Harry Styles' "Coming Up Roses" or Prince's "Purple Rain."

The appeal of the trend is in the anticipation. Once you understand the format, even an innocent opening photo becomes suspicious. You start inspecting the hair, the outfit, the background. Something is going to go. Something is going to appear. You just don’t know what!

In the Halloween versions, that can mean revealing a costume was much more homemade or culturally offensive than the opening image suggested. Other versions start with a picture-perfect baby portrait before revealing a newborn photo that is not as cute as expected (I'll leave it at that). Some depict yearbook photos or women after giving birth.

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According to Know Your Meme, one of the earliest known examples came from TikTokker @theywanthunter on Aug. 22, when he posted a carousel featuring his supposed girlfriend saying, "Happy 2 years bae," before revealing that both the woman and the man in the image had been edited. The video had accumulated more than 25 million views by October.

Viewers online are eating it up, for the most part. "The 'I'm sorry I lied' trend on TikTok has to be the funniest trend ever," one user wrote. Another said it was "actually making me feel better about my childhood photos."

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But others are less amused by exactly how those slideshows are made. "Why do we keep normalizing uploading pictures of children into a public AI?" another user asked, raising a real concern that in order to participate in the trend, people are handing real childhood photos over to AI tools.

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Those very real concerns center on what happens after the upload. Depending on the service and its settings, images may be retained or used to help train AI models. The public can also easily copy and manipulate those without permission. UNICEF has warned that real photographs of children are being altered into sexually explicit deepfakes. Of course, that doesn’t mean participating in this trend will lead to abuse, but it helps explain why some viewers are questioning the privacy trade-off behind the joke.

How to do the 'I'm so sorry' trend

Start with the photo you want to reveal at the end, then use an AI image editor (any will do) to create a more polished-looking version. You might change the hairstyle, upgrade the outfit, or give the background a makeover.

Then, for a gradual reveal, add in one edit at a time and save each version. Then arrange the images in reverse order. Upload the images as a TikTok photo carousel or create a video slideshow using an editing app, and add captions over each photo, admitting to each change as you go.

Finish with the original photo and the obligatory "I’m so sorry," then add your chosen audio from either the Harry Styles or Prince track. They're both pretty great songs.

Shopping on Etsy shouldn’t require figuring out whether the product in the photo actually exists. Now, the marketplace is introducing new rules to help take some of that guesswork out of buying.

Etsy announced new restrictions on Oct. 22 in a news post titled "Creativity and Trust in the Age of AI," in which the marketplace banned AI-generated patterns, recipes, and other instructions that buyers follow to create a finished product. Sellers must also show a real example made using those instructions. An AI-generated image of what your project could theoretically look like won’t cut it.

"AI should support our sellers' creativity and craftsmanship, not replace them," James Ossman, Etsy’s vice president of customer operations, wrote in the announcement.

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For most listings, sellers will need to include at least one completely unedited photo showing the actual product against a real background. Some categories, including digital, customized, and made-to-order items, have different requirements. Sellers can still edit additional photos using software or AI tools, but those images must accurately show what buyers will receive.

There are potential consequences for misleading listings. If a seller's images don't meet the requirements and a buyer opens a case because the product looks materially different, the seller could be responsible for a refund. Bot-generated listings without human involvement will be removed and could also result in the seller’s shop being removed from Etsy.

SEE ALSO: Etsy says it will allow the sale of AI-generated art but not AI prompts

For shoppers, the frustration goes beyond disliking AI art. According to online testimonies, generated images can make it harder to judge the actual product. In a Reddit discussion about the announcement, one user said they stopped buying from a shop selling molds used to make bath bombs after it replaced real product photos with AI imagery. They wanted to see both the mold and a bath bomb made with it so they could assess the details and quality before buying.

"I can't tell anything from a fake generated unrealistic idea of the mold," they wrote.

Another commenter said the search itself had become exhausting: "I spent hours today trying to find an item that didn't have AI-generated art and eventually gave up."

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For some sellers, the frustration extends to their own shopping habits. "As a seller myself, I only shop on Etsy when I’m looking for something very niche," another user wrote. "Otherwise I don’t have the patience to scroll through several pages of AI crap before finding something not AI." One X user said: "Half the listings there looked nothing like what showed up in the mail, so this is overdue."

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The company, to their credit, had been listening to complaints. "Today, many active buyers say they can’t tell which items involve AI-generated content. It’s become a top-three barrier to shopping more often on Etsy," Ossman wrote in its notice to sellers.

Can sellers still sell AI art?

Yes. Etsy will continue allowing AI-generated art when sellers have a clear creative role and disclose their use of AI. They cannot present it as handmade or entirely their own creation.

That approach dates back to Etsy's July 2024 policy update, which allowed artwork generated using sellers’ own original prompts, provided they disclosed the AI use in the listing description. But Etsy drew a line at selling AI prompt bundles — collections of instructions for generating content — separately from finished artwork. The new restrictions expand those limits to AI-generated recipes, patterns, and other functional guides.

Appropriate use of AI, according to Etsy Credit: Screenshot: Etsy Inappropriate use of AI, according to Etsy Credit: Screenshot: Etsy

Enforcement is the next test. Etsy says it’s investing in technology to identify misleading images and fraudulent listings, with plans to expand removals over the coming months. It's also introducing prompts that alert sellers when an uploaded image appears AI-generated and offer guidance on meeting photo requirements. Shoppers will also have a new option to report misleading AI imagery.

As of Oct. 22, 2026, Amazon has rebranded Kindle Unlimited as Kindle+. We've updated this article to reflect the name change.

E-readers are one of our favorite topics to cover here at Mashable. Partly because we love testing them, but also because there is so much you can do with an e-reader to maximize your experience. We've walked through instructions on how to download EPUB files to a Kindle, covered the joys of Libby and Stuff Your Kindle Day, and taught you how to save when you spend with Kindle Rewards, but now we want to talk about Kindle+.

If you're a Kindle user, when you got your device, you were probably offered a free trial of Kindle+. But what exactly are you signing up for? In short, it's like Amazon's very own library service... except you have to pay for it. Here's everything you need to know about Kindle+.

SEE ALSO: 8 Kindle features you should be using What is Kindle+?

Formerly known as Kindle Unlimited, Amazon has rebranded its subscription service as Kindle+. But rather than streaming shows, it offers a catalog of books and magazines that users can borrow to read on an e-reader or through the Kindle app. It offers more than, say, a membership to Book of the Month does. Instead of getting one new book a month, with Kindle+ you receive access to the Kindle+ library, which is full of millions of titles.

It works like a library where you can borrow up to 20 books at a time (magazines don't count toward your borrowing limit). To be honest, if you use Libby, you're basically getting the same service for free, but Libby often results in long wait times for popular books, which isn't the case with Kindle+ — all of the books in the Kindle+ library are available all the time.

However, the Kindle+ library doesn't offer every book. Its library has a regular rotation, and some books are only temporarily available through Kindle+.

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How much is Kindle+?

Kindle+ costs $11.99 per month. It's a recurring payment, and no annual membership is offered. During shopping events, like Prime Day and Black Friday, Amazon typically offers a Kindle+ free trial for three months.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Kindle+ $11.99 per month Learn More at Amazon What books are on Kindle+?

We can't go through every book offered on Kindle+ because that would mean parsing through millions of titles; however, the mix of books in the Kindle+ library is huge. It features books across all genres, plus bestsellers. The fantasy phenomenon Fourth Wing and the entire The Empyrean series are available on Kindle+.

Other featured titles included in Kindle+ are The Housemaid by Freida McFadden and Regretting You by Colleen Hoover — both of which are getting movie adaptations soon.

Other popular titles include books that are now Amazon Video adaptations, including The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han and Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston.

While browsing books, you'll know if a title is available on Kindle+ if it's prompting you to "join now to read." If you're already a member, it will prompt you to add the book to your library.

If a book is available on Kindle+, you'll be prompted to read for free. Credit: Amazon Do I need a Kindle to use Kindle+?

We love e-readers, and if you're thinking of getting one, especially a Kindle, you won't regret it. We have reviews on nearly every model, including the basic Kindle, Paperwhite, Paperwhite Signature Edition, and Scribe, all of which you can use to read with Kindle+. But you don't actually need an e-reader to use Kindle+.

You can read on any device with the Kindle app, including your computer, smartphone, and tablet. You can even read on a web browser.

Shop e-readers Kindle $149.99 at Amazon Shop Now Kindle Paperwhite $199.99 at Amazon Shop Now Kindle Colorsoft $289.99 at Amazon Shop Now Kindle Scribe $399.99 at Amazon Shop Now Kobo Clara Colour $179.99 at Amazon Shop Now Kobo Libra Colour $259.99 at Amazon Shop Now

Apple is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the iPod in style.

That is to say, by putting a fun little Easter egg inside the Apple Music website. If you know the right URL, you can find a virtual iPod living on the Apple Music site that's fully interactive, complete with the scroll-wheel interface that was so iconic on iPods back in the days before touchscreens. You can scroll through a shockingly large list of artists and listen to 90-second samples of songs that you probably would've been listening to back in the peak iPod era, such as Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz' "Get Low."

SEE ALSO: Apple Music will now cost you more There it is. Credit: Screenshot: Apple

The best part is you don't actually need to know the right URL. Just type whatever gibberish you want after the music.apple.com/us/ portion of the URL and the iPod will come to you on the 404 page. This is a fun way to let people reminisce about Apple's seminal portable music player 25 years after it first launched.

And if you're too young to remember a time before touchscreens, yes, we actually did navigate menus using a scroll wheel like that back then. It worked just fine.

The internet became sharply divided yesterday, as Prime Video announced Carrie would be renewed for a second season.

Just like that, you could tell who'd watched Mike Flanagan's latest horror adaptation and who hadn't. Sure, in Stephen King's novel, the story of telekinetic teen Carrie White has a pretty definitive ending. But as he did with Doctor Sleep and the Edgar Allan Poe-inspired The Fall of the House of Usher, Flanagan took some big creative liberties with his Carrie.

So, where could a Season 2 of Carrie go? What actors from Season 1 are likely to return? And when might King and Flanagan fans see more of Carrie?

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Here's everything we know about Carrie Season 2.

How does Carrie end? Summer H. Howell stars as Carrie White in Prime Video's "Carrie." Credit: Robert Falconer / Prime / Amazon Content Services LLC

In both the novel and most movie adaptations, Carrie White unleashes violent telekinetic vengeance on her high school classmates at prom. Then, she dies in the aftermath.

However, Flanagan's Carrie pulls an unexpected page from Stephen King's 1974 novel to build out the world of super-powered girls. King's epistolary novel ends with a letter from a woman who says her four-year-old daughter shows signs of telekinetic power, like her grandmother before her.

SEE ALSO: 'Carrie's twisty ending, explained

In Flanagan's Carrie, not only does the eponymous heroine (played by Summer H. Howell) not die, but she also runs off with the mysterious astral projector Emaline West (Thalia Dudek) to parts unknown.

"I am not stealing you away," Emaline tells a confused Carrie, "or keeping you in the dark. I am escorting you to safety from the monsters on our heels. And it is my fucking honor."

Who is looking for Carrie? Kate Siegel plays Adelaide in "Carrie." Credit: Robert Falconer / Prime / Amazon Content Services LLC

There are two factions, both of which were represented at prom.

One faction is led by Adelaide, played by Kate Siegel, a recurring Flanagan cast member, his wife, and the helmer of two Carrie episodes. The other is led by Amanda, played by recurring Flanagan collaborator Katee Sackhoff.

Pulling inspiration from the end of King's Carrie, Flanagan's version opens each episode with a vignette about a woman with supernatural powers. Those stories are all narrated by Adelaide, who appears to be a sort of Professor X figure.

Ruth Codd and Cassandra Naud appear in "Carrie." Credit: Robert Falconer / Prime / Amazon Content Services LLC

In a mysterious mansion, Adelaide appears to live with super-powered women, including Flanaverse regular Ruth Codd, Cassandra Naud, and Interview with the Vampire's Delainey Hayles. They can sense Carrie as soon as her powers begin to grow. Some of them appear at the prom, but not in time to save Carrie from the bucket of pig's blood and all that follows.

Instead, Carrie goes home, where her mother Margaret (Samantha Sloyan) — inspired by Amanda — tries to kill her. However, Carrie defends herself and brings the house down on top of them with her powers. From there, Emaline swoops in with a car to drive Carrie far away — from Margaret, who survived the house collapse, and all those who pursue Carrie.

What will happen in Season 2? Thalia Dudek plays Emaline in "Carrie." Credit: Robert Falconer / Prime / Amazon Content Services LLC

Well, presumably a battle for Carrie White.

Emaline, who promises to show Carrie the world, has been a friend to her throughout Season 1. But it's unclear what her motives are or what she wants from Carrie.

Adelaide's group is aware of Emaline and tells Margaret White that Carrie is alive, but in the hands of a dangerous astral projector. During their interrogation, they press for details — even looking into Margaret's brain for details on the car Emaline is in with Carrie. Then they kill Margaret after she confesses she, too, has some telekinetic powers. So, would Carrie be safe in their hands? Perhaps safer than if Amanda finds her.

Katee Sackhoff plays Amanda in "Carrie." Credit: Robert Falconer / Prime / Amazon Content Services LLC

Margaret meets Amanda when searching online for how to deal with a telekinetic teen in episode 7. Amanda speaks of a spectrum of telekinesis among teen girls, and spins conspiracy theories about these "others" suppressing knowledge of their powers.

"They form groups, cults, terror cells, covens," she warns Margaret before sharing a hint at her own history and her abuse of her own daughter. Amanda recommends that Margaret murder Carrie, and warns her to do it quickly. "I wasn't fast enough with mine," she laments.

Fans have speculated that Amanda's daughter, who escaped murder, is Emaline. This could explain why Emaline is so protective of Carrie and why she might distrust "covens" like Adelaide's, because of her mother's influence for worse and worse.

Season 2 will likely reveal more about Amanda, Emaline, and Adelaide, leaving audiences to learn alongside Carrie.

Flanagan told Deadline of the upcoming season, "For 50 years, audiences have known and gravitated to Carrie White’s story. From the beginning, we imagined a story that goes far beyond the prom, and I’m incredibly grateful for Stephen’s trust and support in exploring what comes next."

Will Carrie connect to The Shining? Delainey Hayles plays Caitlin in "Carrie." Credit: Robert Falconer / Prime / Amazon Content Services LLC

It could!

Beyond the King connection, Flanagan previously adapted Doctor Sleep, which was based on King's sequel to The Shining. Plus, when talking to Margaret about people with Carrie's powers, Adelaide calls it "shine," a term used in The Shining books and movies.

In an interview with EW, Flanagan imagined, "Carrie White, depending on how these universes are connected, would have arrived on the radar of the True Knot," referring to the vampire-like creators who stalk children with the shine in Doctor Sleep.

In the same interview, he also floated the possibility of working in elements of King's Dark Tower books, The Institute, and Insomnia.

Who will return for Season 2? Siena Agudong plays Sue Snell in "Carrie." Credit: Robert Falconer / Prime / Amazon Content Services LLC

Howell is set to return.

Beyond that, it seems safe to speculate that Dudek, Siegel, Codd, and Hayles will be back.

It's possible Siena Agudong could return as Sue Snell, since she survived the prom rampage. And while Sackhoff was shown knocked down in the fiery prom, Amanda could still be alive, and on the hunt for Carrie (and Emaline).

Less likely would be Alison Thornton, Joel Oulette, Arthur Conti, Matthew Lillard, Amber Midthunder, and Rahul Kohli returning, as their characters all died. But hey, Season 1 was largely told in flashback. So never say never.

When will Carrie Season 2 come out?

Prime Video has not yet announced a release date for Carrie's second season. However, THR reports, "Prime Video says the series was No. 1 on the Amazon-owned streamer in more than 100 territories in its first two weeks," so it's safe to assume the streaming platform is eager to get the next season in the works.

Mashable will update as news develops.

Dark Matter Season 2 is building towards its world-hopping conclusion.

Season 1 was already fairly mind-bending, but the second season of Blake Crouch's sci-fi has really dialled things up to 11. The penultimate episode, wherein we're following several different versions of the core cast, is no exception. But what happens at the end, and how is it setting things up for the finale? Let's recap.

SEE ALSO: 'Dark Matter' Season 2, episode 5 is the best kind of filler episode What happens at the end of Dark Matter Season 2, episode 9?

Remember all those Jasons (Joel Edgerton) huddled around the box at the end of Season 1? Season 2 has done a good job of exploring some of their fates. One of the Jasons that hasn't been so lucky essentially got captured by the Department of Defense, where he's been held prisoner for two years while Agent Mitchel MacNamara (Chris Diamantopoulos) and his team attempt to torture information about the box out of him.

The good news? Daniela (Jennifer Connelly), on her hunt for Charlie (Oakes Fegley) — who is in turn hunting for his twin brother, Max — stumbles into the same world and gets captured too. The thing is, she still has some vials. After a quick bit of plotting, she and Jason are able to trick Agent MacNamara into allowing them into the box, where they drug him and take him to a world he won't be coming back from anytime soon.

How do Jason and Daniela trick the agent?

After agreeing to show the agent how the box works, Daniela produces something she claims is a key to unlock it — all they have to do is open a panel hidden inside. Of course, the key is actually a syringe containing the drug needed to move between worlds. As soon as Agent MacNamara is in the box, they stick him in the neck with it.

Once they're in the corridor, Jason tells the agent they have to clear their minds to move between worlds, but it seems pretty clear from the look on his and Daniela's faces that they already have a destination in mind. Sure enough, despite its seemingly utopian appearance, the version of Chicago the agent wanders into — where people from all walks of life are gathered on the beach, crying and hugging — is actually counting down to something.

As the people on the beach reach zero, Jason slams the door to the box shut. The agent is left watching as meteorites rain down from the sky, a version of the apocalypse Jason presumably dreamed up while sitting in his cell, throwing a ball against the glass again and again.

What's next?

It's difficult to tell at this stage how all the different moving pieces will come together. The "original" Jason, Daniela, and Charlie are all scattered in different worlds; Jason is back in the pre-tech version of Chicago where the family settled, planning the destruction of the original box alongside Ryan (Jimmi Simpson), Amanda (Alice Braga), and Blair (Amanda Brugel). Daniela is now moving between worlds with another version of her husband, this one capable of murder. Charlie is in another world where his brother is still alive. And in the background, Leighton (Dayo Okeniyi) and the version of Jason that built the box appear to be having second thoughts about building another one.

There are an infinite number of ways this could go...

Dark Matter Season 2 is streaming on Apple TV, with new episodes dropping every Friday.

Your Downloads folder probably contains a few PDFs, forgotten screenshots, and several files named some variation of "final." But according to a recent report by security company Forever, it could also contain instructions telling your AI assistant to install malware.

In an Oct. 22 blog post, the company reported that they caught an AI coding assistant following those instructions on a customer's computer. The company blocked the installation, then traced the request to a text file in Downloads.

How does a text file get that kind of power? Tools like OpenAI's Codex and Anthropic's Claude Code can, depending on their permissions, edit files, run commands, and install software. Developers leave them instruction files called AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md to explain how to work on a project. If you're building a website, those notes might tell the assistant which fonts to use or what to test before finishing.

An attacker can leave instructions, too. In this case, the file told the assistant to install "function-color," a software package linked to the MALFEX malware campaign documented by Checkmarx.

SEE ALSO: PHP vulnerability: PHP security issues today explained

Forever didn’t establish how the file reached the customer's computer, but its researchers demonstrated one possible route. Depending on browser settings, a website can drop a file into Downloads without asking for approval. If someone then launches their coding assistant in that folder, it could read the file and follow its orders.

When Forever tested the customer's file on an isolated computer, it said Codex downloaded and ran the malware. It also changed settings that could make the attacker’s software load in later sessions.

"Once it is written, every Codex session on the machine loads the attacker’s server at startup — in any folder, any project," the researchers wrote. "You can leave the folder. The poison stays."

The team separately devised a test targeting Claude Code. The attack worked about half the time, redirecting Claude's traffic to a server the researchers controlled. That exposed a login token and allowed them to send commands back for the assistant to execute, illustrating the risk of giving an assistant access to your computer when it can mistake a stranger's instructions for its own assignment.

Researchers have pulled off similar tricks before, showing what AI can really do in the wrong hands. In March 2025, Pillar Security researchers got AI coding assistants to slip harmful code into a project by hiding malicious instructions in their coding rules. In April 2026, NVIDIA’s researchers used a poisoned AGENTS.md file to get Codex to sabotage software and conceal the change. This time, though, Forever says it caught an actual attacker trying the trick on a customer's computer. Yikes.

How to protect yourself

Forever recommends keeping coding assistants out of your Downloads folder and checking unfamiliar AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md files before letting an agent work in a project. Keep sandboxes enabled to restrict what the assistant can access, and leave approval requirements on so the agent has to ask permission before taking certain actions.

If you suspect an assistant has already followed malicious instructions, check its settings for unfamiliar servers or connections and revoke and replace potentially exposed login tokens. Deleting the original text file may not undo changes the assistant has already made.

"The thing to watch is not this file or this folder," the researchers wrote. "It is the agent itself — software that reads untrusted input, holds your credentials, and acts with your authority, sitting in a blind spot the old tools were never built to see."

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Would you let an AI-designed virus be injected in your body? Well, at least one individual just did, according to the company behind it.

AI bioscience startup Radical Numerics released a report this week saying a patient received a treatment containing an AI-designed virus. Radical Numerics says this is the first treatment of its kind.

The type of virus that Radical Numerics' AI model, called Omnii-1, created is called a phage, which isn't a new type of virus. Phage therapy is an existing experimental treatment where doctors administer viruses that attack bacteria to a person with a serious bacterial infection. The idea is to kill the bacteria causing the infection without infecting human cells.

Radical Numerics' AI model did design this specific phage to combat the patient's particular bacterial infection, and that AI-created phage was just administered to a person — which is a first.

SEE ALSO: AI is changing health: Here's what you should know

However, as the New York Times reports, there are some questionable aspects of this trial. 

For example, we don't yet know how the trial went. While the trial is ongoing, Radical Numerics won't provide information about the patient or the doctors involved. What's more, Radical Numerics' report wasn't peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal. Instead, the company simply posted the paper on its website — the same way any company might publish a news update or blog post.

The company's CEO, Eric Nguyen, said the team plans to share more details once they receive consent from the patient. He cited confidentiality agreements as the reason Radical Numerics can't disclose more information at this time.

We might be waiting a while to find out whether the treatment worked. While phage therapy can last anywhere from a couple of days to a few weeks, doctors also have to monitor the patient for months afterward to make sure the infection was actually cured and won't come back.

With Sarah J. Maas's next installment, A Court of Splintered Harmony, arriving Oct. 27, another ACOTAR book hangover is inevitable. You know the symptoms: an inability to stop thinking about fictional people, an overwhelming urge to reread their best scenes, and the creeping suspicion that no other book will ever make you feel this way again.

Luckily, your next obsession might be waiting on another shelf. From the deadly vampire tournament of The Serpent and the Wings of Night to the dragon-riding chaos of Fourth Wing to other Maas classics, these eight books deliver dangerous worlds, complicated loyalties, and romances worth losing sleep over. Consider them your remedy for impending Prythian withdrawal.

SEE ALSO: Everything to remember before the next 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' book 1. The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

For readers who loved watching a human survive among dangerously powerful immortals.

If Feyre trying to stay alive Under the Mountain had you stressed, meet Oraya. She’s a human raised by a vampire king, which means she’s spent her life surrounded by people who could eat her. Hoping to improve those odds, she enters a deadly tournament and teams up with Raihn, a vampire who's both her competition and an enemy of her father. An inconvenient person to find attractive, really.

Oraya needs help surviving, but trusting the wrong person could kill her — a predicament that should feel familiar to ACOTAR readers. Welcome to The Serpent and the Wings of Night.

This New York Times bestseller began as a self-published novel in 2022 before Bramble picked it up and rereleased it in December 2023, bringing Oraya’s romantic and survival problems to even more readers. And there’s plenty to keep you busy: Five of the six planned main books are out, along with two companion books, though Oraya and Raihn’s central story wraps up in the first two.

The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia Book 1) $6.99 at Amazon
  See It at Amazon 2. From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

For readers who want forbidden attraction and a heroine questioning everything.

Poppy is supposed to save her kingdom, but she's barely allowed to participate in it. Chosen as the Maiden, a sacred figure in her society, she lives under strict religious rules: no friendships, no romantic relationships, and very little freedom while she waits for a ceremony called her Ascension. She secretly trains to fight anyway. Then she meets Hawke, the guard assigned to protect her, and starts wanting a life she’s been told she can’t have.

Their forbidden attraction helped earn From Blood and Ash the romance award in the 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards, where it received roughly 79,000 votes. But Poppy has more to contend with than feelings for her guard: As violent threats to the kingdom grow, she begins questioning the religious authorities who control her future.

If you liked ACOTAR's mix of romance, secrets, and a heroine discovering that the people protecting her might also be holding her back, this belongs on your list.

From Blood and Ash $8.99 at Amazon
$19.99 Save $11.00   See It at Amazon 3. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

For readers who want deadly training, simmering hostility, and wings.

Violet Sorrengail wanted to spend her life working with books. Instead, her mother sends her to a military college, where she must convince a dragon to bond with her and avoid being killed by her classmates — a substantial departure from her original career plan. Making matters worse is Xaden Riorson, a powerful wingleader whose family history gives him every reason to hate hers.

Violet also has chronic conditions, a characteristic inspired by Fourth Wing author Rebecca Yarros's own experiences with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and POTS. "I went to my publisher and said, 'I want her to have what I have,'" Yarros told Elle in 2025. This shapes how Violet approaches the college's deadly challenges, relying on her intelligence to survive situations she can’t simply overpower.

SEE ALSO: 'Fourth Wing' has cast its Violet and Xaden, and fans have thoughts

And if you get attached, you’ll have plenty of company. Onyx Storm, the third book in Yarros's series, sold 2.7 million copies in its first week in 2025, according to publisher figures reported by the New York Times. A Prime Video adaptation is also in the works, backed by Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society, with Esther McGregor and Emilio Sakraya reportedly cast as Violet and Xaden. (There’s no premiere date yet, so you have time to form your own opinions before the screen versions arrive.)

If you enjoyed watching Feyre work out how to beat opponents much stronger than her in ACOTAR — while developing feelings for someone she has reasons to avoid — there will be plenty here to keep you occupied.

Fourth Wing (The Empyrean Book 1) $14.99 at Amazon
  See It at Amazon 4. The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen

For readers who take the "enemies" part of enemies-to-lovers seriously.

Lara isn't marrying King Aren with hopes of a happy life together. No, she's been trained to infiltrate his kingdom, discover its weaknesses, and help her homeland bring it down. Unfortunately for the mission, spending time with her husband and his people makes her question whether she’s been given the full story.

Important note: There's no actual magic in this world, but an undercover mission disguised as a marriage supplies more than enough trouble. And if you prefer listening to your fictional relationship problems, this one actually started as an audio series. The Bridge Kingdom debuted as an Audible Original in 2018, before Jensen self-published the print and digital editions in 2019.

The Bridge Kingdom $5.99 at Amazon
$17.99 Save $12.00   See It at Amazon See It at Amazon 5. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

For readers ready to get attached to another Maas heroine.

If you can't seem to get yourself away from Maas, go back to where her publishing career began. Throne of Glass arrived in 2012, three years before ACOTAR introduced readers to Feyre. It follows Celaena Sardothien, an imprisoned assassin offered a fairly unappealing job opportunity. If she beats a group of thieves, assassins, and other competitors, she'll become the king's champion, serving the ruler she despises in exchange for her eventual freedom. Then competitors start turning up dead, and figuring out what’s happening becomes just as urgent as winning.

Believe it or not, the original inspiration was Cinderella, according to Maas. The story eventually moved away from a direct retelling and grew into a completed eight-book series, including the prequel collection The Assassin's Blade. So if you're looking for another Maas series to occupy your thoughts for several thousand pages, clear some space.

Throne of Glass $10.64 at Amazon
$15.20 Save $4.56   See It at Amazon 6. One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

For readers who want more of ACOTAR's sinister fairy-tale atmosphere.

If you miss the creepy woods and unsettling bargains of early ACOTAR, try spending some time with Elspeth Spindle. She has an ancient spirit called the Nightmare living in her head, which is useful when she needs protection and considerably less reassuring when she considers what he wants in return. Joining a quest to cure her kingdom of dark magic puts her alongside a mysterious highwayman, and getting closer to him makes the whole secret-monster-in-her-head situation harder to hide.

SEE ALSO: Target just became the ultimate ACOTAR sanctuary with exclusive merch and late-night book parties

Gillig had some appropriately eerie references in mind when she created the Nightmare: the yew tree from Patrick Ness's A Monster Calls and the creature in Henry Fuseli’s painting The Nightmare. But she wanted Elspeth to have some darkness of her own. As she wrote in a 2022 essay for Fantasy Cafe, she envisioned "a maiden who does not deliver the monster, but becomes one herself."

If that sounds like your kind of fairy tale, there's a manageable commitment ahead: One Dark Window and its sequel, Two Twisted Crowns, make up the completed duology.

One Dark Window (The Shepherd King, 1) $8.99 at Amazon
$18.99 Save $10.00   See It at Amazon 7. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

For readers who want more faerie drama and a prince they can hold a grudge against.

Growing up in Faerie sounds lovely until you're the human everyone looks down on. Jude ended up in this exact situation after a faerie murdered her parents and took her and her sisters home with him. Now she wants to become a knight and secure a place at court, but Prince Cardan and his friends seem determined to make her regret trying. Unfortunately for them, she has no intention of backing off.

Soon, Jude is caught up in spying and a fight over the throne, while her hatred of Cardan develops some...inconvenient complications. If ACOTAR left you wanting more dangerous faeries getting tangled up in each other’s lives, there's plenty of that in The Cruel Prince. Just keep in mind that this is YA: You'll get romantic tension, but don’t expect Nesta and Cassian's approach to resolving it.

Plus, if you like the first book, Jude and Cardan’s main story spans a completed trilogy, so you can go straight into The Wicked King and The Queen of Nothing without waiting for the next installment.

The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air Book 1) $2.99 at Amazon
  See It at Amazon 8. House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

For readers who want more Maas with a change of scenery.

OK, just one more Maas recommendation. House of Earth and Blood is the first book in her Crescent City series, where powerful Fae and ancient grudges coexist with cellphones. Bryce Quinlan is a half-human, half-Fae woman whose life falls apart when a demon murders her closest friends. When similar killings happen again, she teams up with Hunt Athalar, a fallen angel, to find out who's responsible. Working together also gives them time to develop feelings that...complicate the arrangement.

The novel marked her adult debut, though she’d been working on it privately for years alongside ACOTAR and Throne of Glass. There's a whole city of supernatural creatures, power structures, and rules to get acquainted with, but for anyone still attached to Feyre's circle of friends, Bryce's friendships offer a familiar reason to get invested.

House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City Book 1) $9.49 at Amazon
$15.20 Save $5.71   See It at Amazon

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Samsung says its foldable phones are selling like hotcakes, and if you read between the lines, Apple might be one big reason why.

People may not be camping out in front of Samsung stores like they are for the just-released iPhone Duo, but it's been a good year for folding phones.

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In a blog post, Samsung UK boasted about high sales for its Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra devices in Europe since they launched in August. According to Samsung, the devices have seen a 45 percent boost in sales compared to a year ago. That's especially notable because global smartphone sales overall are at their lowest level in 14 years.

Also of note, Samsung said there's been a 260 percent increase in Google search interest in Samsung foldable devices between Sept. 6 and 12, which happens to line up perfectly with the announcement of the iPhone Duo.

SEE ALSO: The truth about iPhone Duo problems: The shoddy-looking apps, FaceTime camera, and the hinge

Of course, we only have circumstantial evidence that Apple's new foldable is juicing interest in Samsung's devices, so take it with a small grain of salt. But it is generally true that Apple has a way of taking something that already exists, repackaging it with Apple slickness, and thus making it "cool" to a general audience. It is possible that's happening with foldables as we speak.

If Apple can convince people to happily spend $2,000 on a smartphone, that would be a really impressive magic trick.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

SAVE 20%: As of Oct. 23, you can get the Roborock RockMow X130H for $1,999.98. That's down from $2,499.99 at Amazon.

Roborock RockMow X130H Robot Lawn Mower $1,999.98 at Amazon
$2,499.99 Save $500.01   Get Deal at Amazon

I don't have a lawn, but my mom does, and I know it takes her at least an hour to cut just the backyard. I'm obsessed with my robot vacuum, and I've tried to convince her to get a robot lawn mower, but I haven't converted her just yet. Maybe $500 off will help my case.

As of Oct. 23, you can get the Roborock RockMow X130H for $1,999.98, down from $2,499.99. That's a 20% discount, or $500.01 in savings. It's also the lowest price we've tracked for this model.

SEE ALSO: The best early Black Friday outdoor deals: Super early discounts on Yeti, Igloo, Coleman, and more

The RockMow X130H is designed to maintain lawns up to an acre without burying perimeter wires. (A huge plus!) You can let it auto-map your lawn or use the app to trace the boundaries yourself, and then just set the mowing schedule for different zones.

It has four-wheel drive and, according to Roborock, can handle slopes up to 80 percent (about 39 degrees), with an adjustable cutting height of 1.57 to 3.54 inches. Its navigation system combines RTK positioning with four cameras and multiple sensors to detect and avoid obstacles.

I haven't tested this one myself, but on paper, it's giving me plenty to bring up the next time my mom mentions mowing the lawn.

The best early Black Friday book deals at a glance: best limited-time offer Paperbacks and hardcovers at Target BOGO 50% off for a limited time Get Deal best hardcover deal 'Twisted Lies' by Anna Huang (Collector's Edition) $15.94 (save $16.05) Get Deal best paperback deal 'The Divorce' by Freida McFadden $8.31 (save $10.68) Get Deal best Kindle book deal 'Lessons in Chemistry' by Bonnie Garmus $2.99 (save $12) Get Deal

Black Friday is still technically more than a month away, but deals are starting to arrive in droves. If you're looking to pad your TBR for cozy season, it's the best time to grab books for less. While I'm not usually one to recommend purchasing physical books via mega retailers like Amazon (show your local bookstores some love!), it's definitely hard to ignore a price drop up to 50% on that new release you've had your eyes on.

We'll be tracking the best deals on physical books and e-books as we inch closer to Black Friday, so remember to keep checking back for more if you don't see the titles you're looking for just yet. As of now, here are some early book deals we recommend.

Best limited-time early Black Friday book deal Opens in a new window Credit: Target BOGO 50% off hardcovers and paperbacks at Target   Get Deal Why we like it

While I love a good Kindle or audiobook deal, nothing beats the dopamine hit you get from holding a physical book in your hands. Ahead of Black Friday, Target is running a BOGO 50% off sale that can put paperbacks and hardcovers in your hands for less. The sale includes copies of new releases and BookTok favorites, like The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett, The Witch by Freida McFadden, Whistler by Ann Patchett, The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff, and Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty. Even better, many of the eligible books are also already on sale, so you can do a lot more damage than you think. The deal is fleeting, however, so snag the books on your TBR while you can.

Best early Black Friday physical book deal Opens in a new window Credit: Poisoned Pen Press The Divorce by Freida McFadden $8.31 at Amazon
$18.99 Save $10.68   Get Deal at Amazon Why we like it

Freida McFadden's The Witch was just published earlier this month, so naturally her last title, The Divorce, has dropped in price. Mind you, The Divorce is also a 2026 release. While I haven't read it myself, I know what you can expect from a McFadden thriller: a fast-paced, unhinged story you'll devour. The Divorce has a 3.85-star average rating on Goodreads from nearly 400k reviews. If you want a quick, gripping thrill ride this fall, pick up the paperback copy for its best price to date.

Physical book dealsPaperback

• What We Did to Survive by Megan Lally — $6.44 $12.99 (save $6.55)

• The Highland Fling by Meghan Quinn — $6.51 $12.95 (save $6.44)

• The Keeper of Happy Endings by Barbara Davis — $7.25 $14.95 (save $7.70)

• Variation by Rebecca Yarros — $7.68 $16.99 (save $9.31)

• The Vanishing Season by Dot Hutchinson — $7.86 $15.95 (save $8.09)

• The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry — $8.18 $15.95 (save $7.77)

• On a Quiet Street by Seraphina Nova Glass — $8.20 $18.99 (save $10.79 with on-page coupon)

• The Divorce by Freida McFadden — $8.31 $18.99 (save $10.68)

• The Housewife by Natalie Barelli — $8.54 $18.99 (save $10.45 with on-page coupon)

• Where the Wildflowers Grow by Terah Shelton Harris — $10.90 $18.99 (save $8.09)

Hardcover

• Us Dark Few by Alexis Patton — $9.39 $21.99 (save $12.60)

• Terms and Conditions by Lauren Asher (Collector's Edition) — $15.18 $31.99 (save $16.81)

• Twisted Lies by Ana Huang (Collector's Edition) — $15.94 $31.99 (save $16.05)

• The Mistake by Elle Kennedy (Collector's Edition) — $16.98 $31.99 (save $15.01)

• Rottenheart by Kat Dunn — $20.26 $28.95 (save $8.69)

Kindle book deals

• The Gingerbread Bakery by Laurie Gilmore — $0.99 $11.99 (save $11)

• Wildcat by Rebecca Jenshak — $0.99 $4.99 (save $4)

• The Girls in the Dark by Avery Bishop — $1.99 $3.99 (save $2)

• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus — $2.99 $14.99 (save $12)

• Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter — $2.99 $9.99 (save $7)

• Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane — $2.99 $12.99 (save $10)

For the most avid readers, Kindle Unlimited is an incredible membership providing access to millions of books on your e-reader. But subscribers may have noticed a change to their membership this week.

As of Oct. 22, Amazon rebranded Kindle Unlimited to Kindle+. Now under your subscription tab, you'll find your membership listed as Kindle+. But what does this mean for your membership? Has the program or pricing changed? Here's everything we know about Amazon's rebrand from Kindle Unlimited to Kindle+.

What to know about Kindle+ The Kindle+ rebrand is now reflected on your membership page. Credit: Amazon / Mashable

Luckily, the rebrand from Kindle Unlimited to Kindle+ is just a name change. Everything else about the program has stayed the same. Membership still costs $11.99 per month with the same access. Kindle+ is a library of millions of books, audiobooks, comics, manga, and magazines. Members of Kindle+ can borrow up to 20 books at a time, plus thousands of ebooks also have companion audiobooks, so you can simultaneously read and listen.

You don't need a Kindle e-reader to enjoy Kindle+. As long as you have access to the Kindle app on a computer, tablet, or smartphone, you can access your Kindle library and all the Kindle books you've added through Kindle+. You can even add Kindle+ books directly on your Kindle without going through the Kindle app or a browser.

And right now, enjoy Kindle+ for free.

How to get Kindle+ for free

If you've been eyeing a new Kindle, you can get three months of Kindle+ free. Amazon is running a promotion that bundles a new Kindle with three months of Kindle+ for free. The bundle costs $189.99, which is just the cost of the new e-reader. That saves you $35.97 and gives you access to millions of books for three months. Your membership will auto-renew, so don't forget to cancel before you're charged.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Kindle 32GB (3 Months of Kindle+) $189.99 at Amazon
$225.96 Save $35.97   Get Deal at Amazon

Best early Black Friday robot vacuum deals: Our top-rated robot vacuum of 2026 Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete $1,529.99 (save $170) Get Deal Best entry-level robot vacuum-mop deal Roborock Q10 S5+ $329.99 (save $220) Get Deal Best roller mop deal Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Flow $699.99 (save $300) Get Deal

Almost all our favorite robot vacuums are on sale right now, and Black Friday is still weeks away. I'm not going to pretend it's normal that we're already covering early Black Friday robot vacuum deals in October, but some of these prices make a pretty good case for getting a head start. Even our top-ranked robot vacuum in 2026, the Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete, is on sale.

SEE ALSO: The best early Black Friday Dyson deals to shop right now

Of course, I'm checking price history and watching for inflated list prices, too. Not every markdown is worth getting excited about. We'll keep updating this piece as Black Friday approaches and throughout the holiday shopping season, so check back to see what's worth grabbing.

Best entry-level robot vacuum-mop deal Opens in a new window Credit: Roborock Roborock Q10 S5+ $329.99 at Amazon
$549.99 Save $220   Get Deal at Amazon Why we picked this

If you're looking for a robot vacuum-mop combo that won't break the bank, the Roborock Q10 S5+ is on sale for $329.99, down from $549.99. That's a 40% discount, or $220 in savings.

Mashable's former robot vacuum expert, Leah Stodart, says it's one of the quietest robot vacuums she's ever tested. It also has 10,000 Pa of suction, obstacle avoidance, and a sonic mop that scrubs (instead of just dragging a damp pad around). The mop lifts automatically when it detects carpet, and the self-emptying dock holds up to 70 days' worth of dust.

Best roller mop robot vacuum deal Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Flow $699.99 at Amazon
$999.99 Save $300   Get Deal at Amazon Get Deal at Best Buy Get Deal at Roborock Why we picked this

Right now, you can get the Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Flow for $699.99, down from $999.99. That's a 30% discount, or a $300 price cut, on a top-rated 2026 model. CamelCamelCamel isn't showing a lowest price for this model, so I can't call it a record low, but it's the lowest I've seen.

Stodart named it the "Best Roller Mop Robot Vacuum under $1,000." Its petite dock makes it a great option for people who are "limited on floor space," and it cleans with precision. "The Curv 2 Flow's obstacle avoidance is some of the best I've ever experienced," writes Stodart. It delivers 20,000 Pa of suction, has a Dual Zero-Tangle System, plus a full-service dock that empties the dust bin and washes and dries the roller mop.

Read our Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Flow review.

More Black Friday robot vacuum deals

Dreame

• Dreame D30 Ultra — $449.99 $539.99 (save $90)

• Dreame L40 Ultra Gen 2 — $499.99 $749.99 (save $250)

• Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete — $1,529.99 $1,699.99 (save $170)

Eufy

• Eufy 11S Max — $169.99 $279.99 (save $110)

• Eufy C28 — $499.98 $799.99 (save $300.01)

iRobot

• iRobot Roomba 105 Combo with AutoEmpty Dock — $299 $469.99 (save $170.99)

• iRobot Roomba 505 Robot Vacuum and Mop Combo — $849.99 $999.99 (save $150)

Roborock

• Roborock Q10 S5+ — $329.99 $549.99 (save $220)

• Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Flow — $699.99 $999.99 (save $300)

• Roborock Qrevo CurvX — $749.99 $1,499.99 (save $750)

Narwal

• Narwal Flow — $1,249.99 $1,499.99 (save $250)

• Narwal Flow 2 — $1,299.99 $1,499.99 (save $200)

TL;DR: Sign up for a 7-day free trial of Apple TV+ through Prime Video Channels to watch select F1 races for free. Watch the United States GP for free with the Prime Video app.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Apple TV Prime Video Channel Watch the United States GP for free with a 7-day trial Shop Now

Kimi Antonelli is in position to win his first F1 title this weekend in Austin.

Antonelli must win this Sunday's GP to have any chance of sealing the drivers' title, but that's not all. The Italian also needs Russell to finish ninth or lower and Lewis Hamilton to finish fifth or lower. If those conditions are met, he will become the youngest champion in F1 history and the first Italian title-holder since 1953.

SEE ALSO: ExpressVPN review: A stylish VPN service with proven privacy and a large U.S. presence

If you want to watch F1 2026 for free from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is the United States GP?

The United States GP is the 18th race of the 2026 F1 season. Here's the full schedule from the Circuit of the Americas:

• Practice 1 — 1:30-2:30 p.m. ET on Oct. 23

• Practice 2 — 5-6 p.m. ET on Oct. 23

• Practice 3 — 1:30-2:30 p.m. ET on Oct. 24

• Qualifying — 5-6 p.m. ET on Oct. 24

• Race — 3 p.m. ET on Oct. 25

Fans can follow all the action from this race weekend without spending anything.

How to watch the United States GP for free

Amazon Prime offers many benefits. This popular subscription delivers fast shipping, Black Friday discounts, and access to the Prime Video library.

For F1 fans in the U.S., Prime Video is particularly useful this season. Apple TV holds exclusive U.S. broadcasting rights for F1, and you can sign up for a seven-day free trial of Apple TV directly through Prime Video Channels.

That trial gives you access to select races for free, including this weekend's United States Grand Prix. The subscription rolls over to $12.99 per month after the seven-day trial, but you can disable the automatic renewal and still stream the entire race weekend for free.

If you're already paying for Amazon Prime, calling it "completely free" is a stretch. But if you don't have an active membership, Amazon offers a 30-day free trial for new users. Stacking that Prime trial with the seven-day Apple TV channel trial means you're truly spending nothing to stream this weekend's race.

If you've already made use of this method, you still have a few workarounds:

• Apple TV: New standalone subscribers qualify for a direct seven-day free trial through Apple's app.

• Apple One: If you want more than just streaming, the Apple One tier packages Apple TV alongside Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple News+, and 50GB of iCloud storage — and it comes with a full one-month free trial ($19.95 per month after the promotional period).

• Apple: The most generous Apple TV offer is tied to new hardware purchases. Buying an eligible iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV grants new subscribers three months of free service. You obviously have to spend money on hardware, but if you were already planning an upgrade, it effectively unlocks a massive chunk of the F1 season for free.

Starbucks just dropped a Halloween menu update that brings TV’s most sarcastic feline out of retirement.

Launched nationwide on Oct. 22, the new Black Cat Frappuccino is available through Halloween night at participating U.S. stores. To roll out the drink, Starbucks partnered with Archie Comics to bring back Salem Saberhagen (the talking black cat from Sabrina the Teenage Witch) as the campaign's official spokesperson.

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I come across a lot of these brand collabs, but this one is special for me. I'm not ashamed to admit that I absolutely love that sassy little guy. And I'm so pleased to see him represented in coffee form. He deserves this.

The Black Cat Frappuccino is built on a caffeine-free Crème Frappuccino base. It blends dark chocolate cake powder and rich cocoa syrup with whole milk and ice to deliver a dense, liquid brownie batter flavor profile. It's finished with a swirl of whipped cream and topped with edible chocolate cat ears.

Will this new drop persuade me to change course from my regular order (venti iced black Americano, thank you very much)? I'm a creature of habit, so probably not. But it's hard to deny how cute those chocolate cat ears are.

It's important to note that this festive beverage is available exclusively in a grande size. Local store inventory is also likely to run out quickly as Halloween gets closer. Your best play is ordering via the Starbucks app for mobile pickup or using DoorDash or Uber Eats promo codes to get it delivered straight to your desk before the holiday menu launches on Nov. 5.

Apple's iPhone Duo is currently in that strange limbo where it's been announced, it's available to pre-order, but it's not widely available yet.

In this period, every issue and bug gets amplified, especially when the device is so different from anything Apple has done before. We've seen people declaring they would never buy this phone, as well as lists of reasons why that's a good decision.

Having had the iPhone Duo in my hands for a little over a week now (not counting my time with a bunch of Duos at Apple's September event in Cupertino), I got to experience the good and the bad first hand. And, since I switched to the Duo as my primary phone, I can tell you that I haven't yet encountered anything that would make me go back to a different iPhone.

Apple iPhone Duo Save $1,000 at T-Mobile
  See It at T-Mobile See It at Apple.com See It at Verizon

That doesn't mean that the issues aren't real, so let me take a closer look at what the internet says and what the reality is (at least based on my experience with the phone). Oh, and you can also read my in-depth review of the iPhone Duo.

Claim: The FaceTime camera sucks

Is it real? Yes

Can it be fixed? Yes and no

4 megapixels just isn't enough for a good selfie these days. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The iPhone Duo has four cameras: A 48-megapixel main camera alongside a 48-megapixel ultra-wide on the back, a 12-megapixel punch-hole selfie camera on the outer display, and a hidden camera in the inner display branded only as the FaceTime camera.

Honestly, the FaceTime camera is bad for taking photos. It has a 4-megapixel sensor, and Apple uses a ton of AI post-processing to make the photos look halfway decent. Sometimes this works well; sometimes the photo comes out awfully plasticky, smudgy, and artificial, but the reality is that you can't get a great selfie with this camera.

But things aren't that simple. If the question is, "Can I take great selfies with the iPhone Duo?", then the answer is an unqualified yes. In fact, the iPhone Duo can actually take better selfies than any other iPhone, including the Pro.

For that, you just have to use the main cameras, even if the process is a little impractical for a quick selfie (unfold the phone, start the camera, turn the phone around, remove the case if it's in the way, slide on the display for the viewfinder). And there's also the 12-megapixel selfie camera on the outer display, which is absolutely fine but not as good as the 18-megapixel selfie cameras on other recent iPhones.

The problem with the FaceTime camera, which should realistically only ever be used for video calls, is that it's just so enticing to use it for selfies. You unfold the Duo, fire up the camera, and see yourself, and everyone else around you, on that large display; it just makes you want to take that selfie right away. Unfortunately, to take good selfies, Duo users will have to consciously skip the FaceTime camera.

Claim: Some apps look bad

Is it real: Yes

Can it be fixed? Yes, and it almost certainly will be

Get a grip, Google Calendar! Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Apps that are tailor-made or remade for the iPhone Duo look gorgeous. Apps that aren't fall into two camps. Most of them make use of the Duo's large inner display, but aside from that, nothing's really optimized to look better there. And some are the same as iPhone-only apps on an iPad: A tiny version of the app that sits in the middle of the display, which you can resize to get a larger, blurry version.

There are many apps that fall into the latter category. Numerous Google apps are like that: Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, and so are other popular apps like TradingView or PlugShare. Your local e-banking app almost certainly hasn't been updated yet.

Put all of that together, and you get a middling experience in which you constantly juggle between beautiful-looking apps such as Netflix and crappy-looking ones such as Gmail.

This is Apple we're talking about, though. I bet that 90 percent of popular apps will have Duo-ready versions within a month. The only way this doesn't happen is if Duo sells exceptionally poorly and third-party developers decide it's not worth the hassle, which, judging by Duo's wait times, probably isn't happening.

In fact, from the time I received the phone until the time of writing this text, at least 10 apps that I frequently use have already been updated for the Duo. So yeah, this isn't going to be a long-term issue.

Claim: The phone is buggy

Is it real: Partially

Can it be fixed? Yes, and it probably will be

All the bugs I've encountered during testing appear to be fixed at writing time, so here's just another photo of the Duo. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Every new iOS and iPhone launch comes with issues, but the iPhone Duo has the sort of bugs that you wouldn't expect. WhatsApp often gets the camera orientation wrong, both in video calls and when you need to scan a QR code (note: this appears to have been fixed by the time of publishing). Sometimes Apple's own software gets confused, and something on the display will point the wrong way.

There are also other types of small issues, which aren't strictly bugs but come with the foldable phone territory. The most common problem I've seen is this: You fold or unfold the phone and accidentally touch something, and now you don't know what you did and why your app is acting weird.

Again, I'm not very worried. Apple is typically very committed to fixing these bugs, especially on a high-profile device like this. It's not a given, though, and if you're worried about a buggy experience, maybe wait a month or two before getting the Duo, and see whether the bugs are squashed out by then. Though, considering the device is backordered, you may not have a choice but to wait.

Claim: The hinge deteriorates after prolonged use

Is it real? Hard to tell

Can it be fixed? Probably not

The crease is there. But you have to look for it. In real life, it's unnoticeable most of the time. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The iPhone Duo's hinge works smoothly out of the box, and the crease in the middle of the inner display can be felt but can rarely be seen, unless you look for it. But what happens when you fold and unfold the phone thousands of times (as you certainly will over time)?

YouTuber Tim Pan put the iPhone Duo into a folding machine and folded and unfolded it 10,000 times (and an additional 1,000 times at -4 degrees Fahrenheit) to see what happens. Then, the internet took over and shared just the image of a before-and-after, indicating a dramatic change in the crease's visibility and depth.

I haven't folded and unfolded my Duo that many times yet, so I can't give that sort of first-hand experience. But in the video, Pan says the hinge is still "very smooth" after the test, which is encouraging. As for that "before and after" photo, what I can tell you is that the hinge is already visible on a brand new iPhone Duo if you angle it right and put it under direct light, but that doesn't translate into real life, where the crease is nearly invisible basically all of the time.

In other words, don't trust any photo that shows that crease dramatically visible unless you've held the iPhone Duo in your hands.

Still, it's hard to say whether the crease will become an issue after a year or two or three of use. It's even harder to say whether it will become an issue for you; everyone reacts to these things differently. Anyone buying a new foldable phone, including the Duo, should expect some wear and tear over time.

SEE ALSO: The 11 best phones of 2026, tested by experts

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TL;DR: Lexar's new Professional Silver Go microSD card ($34.99) delivers fast 250 MB/s speeds and rugged 4K protection for your GoPro, Switch, or Steam Deck. Available now on Amazon in sizes up to 512GB.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lexar Lexar Professional Silver Go microSD card $34.99 at Amazon
  Shop Now at Amazon

Running out of space on your handheld console is pure digital chaos. Trying to download a massive new RPG update on your Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch only to realize you have to delete at least three other games first is a pain. Lexar’s new Professional Silver Go microSDXC UHS-I Card solves that exact storage crunch.

Launching today on Amazon from $34.99, it gives gamers a hassle-free way to expand their console library without sacrificing performance.

When paired with Lexar's RW360 reader, it delivers read speeds up to 250 MB/s — making file transfers up to 240% faster than standard cards. With write speeds up to 180MB/s and a V30 speed rating, it keeps game loads snappy and effortlessly handles stutter-free 4K 60fps video capture if you like recording gameplay or using action cams like GoPros, Insta360s, and DJI drones.

Because handheld consoles go everywhere with you, the Silver Go is built to take a beating. It features an IPX7 waterproof rating and is drop-proof, shockproof, temperature-proof, X-ray-proof, magnetic-proof, and vibration-resistant (phew). If you ever accidentally wipe a file, Lexar includes free file recovery software, and the card itself is backed by a limited lifetime warranty.

SEE ALSO: Samsung is beating the tech price hikes: Shop the new selection of certified renewed phones on Amazon

It also includes a full-size SD adapter so you can easily transfer files to a laptop or PC. The Lexar Professional Silver Go microSDXC card is available today on Amazon in four storage sizes up to 512GB.

The best early Black Friday fitness tracker deals: Best Garmin deal Garmin Vívoactive 5 $191 (save $108.99) Get Deal Best Apple deal Apple Watch Series 11 $349 (save $50) Get Deal Best Fitbit deal Fitbit Charge 6 $89.95 (save $70) Get Deal Best Suunto deal Suunto Vertical $349 (save $150) Get Deal

Welcome to the holiday shopping season. While we're still in early Black Friday sales, we're seeing discounts that match the lowest of the year. That includes fitness trackers from top brands like Garmin, Fitbit, Suunto, and more.

These sales are great news if you're shopping for a gift for a fitness fan or if you have health goals for the rest of 2026. Fitness trackers are great tools for monitoring heart rate, gaining insight into sleep quality, and tracking activity levels.

If you've been eyeing an upgrade, check out the best early Black Friday fitness tracker deals below. We'll keep this page updated with fresh deals as we see them roll in.

Best Garmin deal Opens in a new window Credit: Garmin Garmin Vívoactive 5 $191 at Amazon
$299.99 Save $108.99   Get Deal at Amazon Why we like it

It looks great, has a battery that lasts up to 11 days, and comes with 30 built-in sports modes. If you're looking for a new fitness tracker, the Garmin Vívoactive 5 is on sale for $191 in the ivory colorway. Garmin's Body Battery rating will let you know what activity level is best for each day, and it can automatically detect naps. The Garmin Vívoactive 5 is also great for wheelchair users, since wheelchair mode tracks pushes rather than steps and offers tailored wheelchair fitness tracking for strength workouts.

Best Apple deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm) $349 at Amazon
$399 Save $50   Get Deal at Amazon Why we like it

If you're in the Apple ecosystem, going with the Apple Watch Series 11 as your smartwatch and fitness tracker makes so much sense. With a comfortable fit, quick recharging, and a scratch-resistant face, the Series 11 is Mashable's top pick for an Apple fitness tracker. Mashable Senior Editor Stan Schroeder's review of the Apple Watch Series 11 notes a major battery upgrade over the previous model.

Best Fitbit deal Opens in a new window Credit: Google Fitbit Charge 6 $89.95 at Amazon
$159.95 Save $70.00   Get Deal at Amazon Why we like it

Google's had a big year of Fitbit launches. The lightweight and ultra-comfortable Fitbit Air has become one of my favorites, and the brand just launched the Fitbit Edge. But if you're looking for a great deal, the Fitbit Charge 6 is already on a huge discount before Black Friday.

On Mashable's list of the best fitness trackers, the Fitbit Charge 6 lands nicely in the middle of an excellent mid-range fitness tracker that does a great job without costing a ton. Mashable considers the Charge 6 to be ideal for "an intermediate fitness tracker user who is looking for a model that'll cover all your bases at a good price."

Best Suunto deal Opens in a new window Credit: Suunto Suunto Vertical $349 at Amazon
$499 Save $150   Get Deal at Amazon Why we like it

Loved by distance runners around the globe, Suunto makes some of the best fitness trackers for the serious athlete. As part of Amazon's early Black Friday offerings, the Suunto Vertical is a massive 30% off. Designed for the adventure-driven, the Suunto Vertical comes with free offline maps that show great details in color, like paths and water features, in addition to showing breadcrumb trails. Battery life can reach up to 500 hours or up to 60 hours in the most accurate tracking mode.

More fitness tracker deals

• Google Fitbit Charge 3 — $89 $99.95 (save $10.95)

• Xiaomi Redmi Watch 6 — $94.99 $109.99 (save $15)

• Suunto Race S GPS Sports Watch — $299 $349 (save $50)