Blogroll

Meta is looking to give customers even more ways to wear its logo on their bodies.

The Information reported that Mark Zuckerberg's company is planning to develop and test an "AI pendant," which would most likely be something you clip on and wear so that it can use an on-board microphone to record everything you say throughout the day for the purpose of generating AI summaries, just in case you ever need that. The description of the device is not entirely speculative, as Meta recently acquired a company called Limitless that was responsible for a device literally called "Pendant" that did exactly those things.

SEE ALSO: What do you get with Meta and Instagram's new $3.99 subscription plan?

Beyond that, The Information reported based on an internal Meta memo that the company plans on releasing several new pairs of smart glasses by the end of 2026, to go along with a possible enterprise-focused subscription service called "Wearables for Work." The subscription part is not a surprise, given that the company just launched consumer-focused payment plans for apps like Instagram and WhatsApp this week.

Anyway, the internal memo referenced four glasses models to be released this year, all under the following codenames: Modelo, Luna, RMB2 Refresh, and Mojito VIP. "RMB2 Refresh" is obviously another Ray-Ban model, but the others are more mysterious. Expect plenty of AI features and possible privacy concerns to be included in those glasses, if nothing else.

Your 3D printer pairs well with all sorts of components and accessories, from IKEA pegboards to $5 microcontrollers. But one item you might not have considered is the humble PC fan.

Everyone has at least a couple of Windows features they find particularly annoying. Whether that's ads showing up everywhere, deep OneDrive integration that can sometimes make locally stored files harder to manage, or not being able to uninstall certain built-in apps even though you know you'll never use them, we all have our Windows pet peeves.

TL;DR: Live stream Gauff vs. Potapova in the 2026 French Open for free on France TV. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The 2026 French Open has served up major surprises, particularly in the men's singles. Both No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner and No. 3 Novak Djokovic were stunned by unseeded players, which led them to leave Roland-Garros unexpectedly early.

The women's field isn't quite as open, as world No. 4 Coco Gauff will be keenly aware, though No. 2 Elena Rybakina has already been eliminated, so Gauff — the defending women's French Open champion — may feel confident about claiming the title for a second consecutive year.

Before she gets to the title she'll have to get past a third-round match against No. 28 seed Anastasia Potapova. Can the 25-year-old Austrian knock out Gauff and cause yet another upset?

If you want to watch Gauff vs. Potapova in the 2026 French Open for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

How to watch Gauff vs. Potapova for free

Gauff vs. Potapova in the 2026 French Open is available to live stream for free on France TV.

France TV is geo-restricted to France, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in France, meaning you can stream the 2026 French Open for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream the 2026 French Open for free by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in France

4. Connect to France TV

5. Watch the 2026 French Open for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer pretty generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Roland-Garros without committing with your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to stream the 2026 French Open before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming platforms from around the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for streaming live sport is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for sport?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).

Live stream Gauff vs. Potapova in the 2026 French Open for free with ExpressVPN.

Android Auto is one of the most convenient features on most modern cars, even if it's a bit underused. It's just a pared-down and limited version of Android, which makes most apps pretty useless. However, there are several essential apps you'll actually love using, and I'm not talking about Google Maps or your favorite music player.

June’s lineup on Paramount+ is packed with buzzy originals, returning favorites, and a fresh wave of movies and reality hits. Whether you’re in the mood for romance, high-stakes espionage, or pure escapist fun, the streamer is leaning into variety in a big way this summer.

Samsung and Google claim the top spots for smartwatches and wearable tech (alongside Apple), and for good reason. While the war between the Galaxy and Pixel smartwatches continues, with many smartwatch wearers picking their favorite out of those two, there's another contender in the ring that gets criminally overlooked: Garmin.

You don't need three travel apps, five subscriptions, and a dozen login accounts just to plan a vacation. I replaced all of it with a single Excel template—and ended up with a faster, cleaner, offline-accessible itinerary that made modern travel apps feel a lot more complicated than they need to be.

3D printing is a fantastic hobby that opens so many doors, including giving you the ability to stop buying storage for your workshop. Instead, here are five workshop organizers that you can easily 3D print this weekend.

Let's be honest here: digging through network settings is a truly Sisyphean task. You'll go in and fix a few, but to go through every setting on every device and reach the most optimal setup is something that's reserved for networking pros, if that.

After months of beta testing and a first launch on the Galaxy S26 series, Samsung's highly anticipated One UI 8.5 update (based on Android 16) is finally rolling out to more phones and tablets. The upgrade to One UI 8.5 is packed with a few visual changes, new features, and AI goodies, but it's easy to overlook some of the best new additions.

If you want to use the Linux command line after using PowerShell or vice versa, you'll find many commands are the same between the two. From file management to networking, you can find many commands in common.

Most smart home accessories have very clear use-case scenarios: toggle power, light up your house, open the curtains, and give you advanced warning of water leaks. So what if you could use these devices in unusual ways?

Nothing lasts forever, especially with technology and electronics. If you have an old 1st-generation Fire TV Stick from 2014, you probably don't use it anymore, and that's likely because it's no longer receiving software support or updates. Fire TVs and Sticks are also getting an overhaul to a new Vega OS that runs on Linux, not Android, and many owners are worried about support for older models.

Building software without writing code has always felt more like a chore than helpful to me. I could never handle blueprints, Scratch, or anything like it. Google Opal is a good alternative, though, because it lets me describe what I want in plain English. It turns my prompts into applications without the usual overhead.

When you click "Shut Down," your screen goes black, and you assume your PC has actually "shut down" in the original sense of the phrase. However, on most modern Windows PCs, that isn't the case.

One of the best reasons to make a trip to IKEA is to pick up some cheap smart home kit. While the company was a little slow to roll out its new range of smart bulbs, they’re now available in many stores around the world.

If you prefer Windows, the 2025 Acer Aspire 16 AI is pretty easy to recommend. It has an impressive battery life, a backlit keyboard, a good mix of ports, and a healthy amount of RAM. It's the fastest sub-$900 laptop for multi-core tasks like video editing (by a hair).

For those who can spend a little more, last year's ultraportable Asus Zenbook A14 is my favorite laptop under $1,000. Conversely, if you're trying to spend less than $500, go with the Acer Chromebook Plus 516.

What's new

I revisited this guide in May 2026 to verify our top picks' pricing and availability, which remain stable.

What's on deck

Acer announced a new cheap laptop called the Swift Air 14 at Computex 2026, a tech trade show in Taiwan. It has an all-metal build and starts at just $699 with Intel's new Core Series 3 processors, 8GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a 120Hz display, making it a very strong MacBook Neo competitor. It's set for release this August.

IMO, a Windows laptop or Chromebook is doing a good MacBook impression if it has above-average performance, battery life, and build quality. (Again, those are the main hallmarks of a modern Apple laptop.) I'll add some extra qualifiers depending on the exact Mac model:

• MacBook Air alternatives should be super lightweight and portable

• MacBook Neo alternatives should cost well under $1,000

• MacBook Pro alternatives should have a crisp, rich 120Hz display and enough power for intensive tasks like video editing

I've been reviewing laptops for Mashable since 2023, so in compiling this guide, I combed through my testing database to see if any recent models fit the bill. I also called in several newer releases that looked promising and spent several weeks reviewing them this spring.

In the end, I selected six options from Asus, Acer, and Dell that make the best MacBook alternatives for 2026 buyers. I also included a fallback for those who want to stay within the Apple ecosystem.

Other contenders to consider The Asus ExpertBook Ultra is so pretty — and sooo expensive. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The Asus ExpertBook Ultra is a stunning and shockingly thin ultraportable. It has tons of ports, an 18.5-hour battery life, and MacBook Air-level multi-core performance (with incredibly quiet fans). It also has the best display I've ever seen on a Windows laptop: It's a 14-inch 2.8K OLED touchscreen with a 30 to 120Hz refresh rate, 1,400 nits of peak HDR brightness, and a matte finish. So what's the issue? It costs $3,599.99 (!) with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, and its build quality doesn't match its premium price. When I gently squeezed the right side of my review unit's base, it made a questionable clicking noise.

Not giving the ProArt GoPro Edition a 120Hz display was an odd choice on Asus' part. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The special-edition Asus ProArt GoPro Edition bundles MacBook Pro-rivaling multi-core performance and 128GB of RAM in a rugged convertible design. But at $2,999.99, it's expensive for a creator laptop without a 120Hz display and dedicated graphics (though its iGPU is pretty powerful). A standard Asus ProArt PX13 with the same processor but half the RAM retails for $2,799.99, which is still a hard sell compared to your other options. Fingers crossed that both models go on sale for way cheaper later this year.

I haven't tested it yet, but the new Framework Laptop 13 Pro is a repairable MacBook Pro alternative. I'll update this story once I or one of my colleagues try it.

Being a woman on the internet has never been easy, but trying to find a genuine connection on a dating app in 2026? That can feel like a part-time job you actually pay to do. Between the emboldened creeps, the "swipe fatigue," and surprisingly convincing AI profiles, it's enough to make you wonder if applying for Love Island is the more sane alternative. (Spoiler alert: it's not.)

The reality is, dating right now comes with a unique set of challenges. There's the constant barrage of low-effort "hey" messages, the unsolicited dick pics, the men who are definitely married, and the underlying safety concerns men just don't have to think about. It’s enough to make you want to swear off dating entirely and just get another cat (no judgment here).

But despite the challenges, dating apps do work. Connections happen every day, and a 2025 survey from SSRS found that nearly 39 percent of all U.S. adults have used dating apps. However, among current users, only 38 percent are women. Yes, that means the odds are a little stacked against you, but don't despair. The key isn't giving up and hoping for an old-fashioned meet-cute; it's finding the best dating apps for women that prioritize your safety, respect your boundaries, and help you filter out the nonsense.

SEE ALSO: How to get over a breakup

Fortunately for you (and my sanity), navigating this mess is literally my job. As Mashable's resident dating expert for the last three years, I've put dozens of dating apps and websites to the test. From classics like eharmony to sex-positive newcomers like Pure, I tried them all. I did the swiping, verifying, and blocking to figure out what actually works. So whether you want a serious relationship, a casual hookup, or just an app that puts you in control, I've found the options genuinely worth your time.

The dating apps I'd skip (and why)

You'll probably notice a few popular apps are missing from my list. That’s intentional. Part of my job is to filter out the platforms that aren't worth your time, money, or sanity — especially when safety is a top concern for women. An app doesn't get my recommendation just because it's well-known; it has to be effective, trustworthy, and populated by real human beings. Here are a few I think women should skip.

• Plenty of Fish (POF): I know this one shows up on a lot of lists, but in my opinion, it's a low-tech dating app ghost town. POF launched way back in 2003, and the experience and interface feel dated. After testing it out, I (along with tons of Redditors) can confirm that it's filled with bots and scammers. I think your time is better spent elsewhere.

• "Hookup" sites (like BeNaughty, Fling, Kasual): You've probably seen ads for sites promising quick, no-strings-attached fun. Based on my research and countless user reviews, I'd advise women to steer clear. These platforms are notorious for being overrun with bots and having questionable billing practices. More importantly, the lack of verification and moderation often creates a sketchy environment where harassment and fake profiles are rampant.