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Getting refurbished machines is a really good way to save money on what would otherwise be an expensive computer. Now, Apple has begun selling its excellent lineup of M4 Macs in its refurbished section, so you can give the company's most powerful hardware a second chance.

In India, limited resources, geographical constraints, and economic factors present barriers to quality education for some students.

A shortage of teachers, particularly in remote or low-income areas, makes it harder for students to receive the guidance they need to prepare for highly competitive professional and academic programs. Microsoft Research is developing new algorithms and techniques that are enabling Physics Wallah (opens in new tab), a growing educational company, to make its AI-based tutoring services more accurate and reliable, to better support students on their education journey.

As in other countries, many Indian students purchase coaching and tutoring services to prepare for entrance exams at top institutions. This includes offline coaching, where hundreds of students meet in a classroom staffed by teachers covering a structured curriculum. Online coaching enables students to learn remotely in a virtual classroom. Hybrid coaching delivers virtual lessons in a physical classroom.

Offline courses can cost as much as 100,000 Indian rupees a year—equivalent to hundreds of U.S. dollars. This puts them out of reach for many lower income students living in smaller and mid-sized Indian cities, as well as rural villages. Online courses are much more affordable. They allow students to work at their own pace by providing high-quality web-based content supported by teachers who work remotely.

Vineet Govil

Meeting this need is the mission of Physics Wallah. The company uses AI to offer on-demand tutoring at scale, curating volumes of standard science- and math-related content to provide the best answers. Some 2 million students use the Physics Wallah platform every day, at a fraction of the cost of offline tutoring. For example, its prep courses for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), which is required for admission to engineering and technology programs, and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), a required entrance exam for medical and dental school candidates, cost between 4,200 and 4,500 rupees per year. That’s roughly 50 U.S. dollars.

“The mantra here really is how do we provide quality education in an affordable manner and accessible to every student, regardless of who they are or where they come from.”

—Vineet Govil, Chief Technology and Product Officer, Physics Wallah

• TIMELINE Celebrating 20 Years at Microsoft Research India 

Microsoft Research India’s collaboration with Physics Wallah is part of a 20-year legacy of supporting emerging Indian companies, underscored by the January 2025 announcement that Microsoft will invest $3 billion (opens in new tab) in cloud and AI infrastructure to accelerate the adoption of AI, skilling, and innovation.  

Physics Wallah has developed an AI-driven educational suite, Alakh AI, leveraging OpenAI’s GPT-4o model through Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service. Alakh AI’s flagship offerings include AI Guru and the Smart Doubt Engine, both designed to transform the learning experience in and beyond the classroom.

• AI Guru acts as a personal academic tutor, delivering adaptive guidance based on a student’s progress, real-time question-solving, and customized content that evolves with their learning journey.
• Smart Doubt Engine is an AI tool through which students can ask questions (also known as “doubts” in Indian English) during live classes and receive instant responses.

Additionally, the Alakh AI suite includes:

• AI Grader for subjective answer evaluation without human intervention
• Sahayak for crafting hyper-personalized learning paths tailored to individual students’ needs

This innovative ecosystem elevates learning efficiency and accessibility for students.

AI Guru in action – A student asks, “Explain Newton’s First Law,” and the AI tutor provides a detailed explanation along with two videos for further learning. Smart Doubt Engine in action – A student asks a clarifying question during a live class, and the AI provides a detailed explanation in real time. How does AI Guru work?

Let’s say a student had a question about Newton’s laws of motion, a core concept in physics. She would type her query into the AI Guru chat window (she could also just talk to it or upload an image from a textbook) and receive a text answer plus images derived from standard textbooks and curated content, typically in just a few seconds. AI Guru also provides a short video where a teacher offers additional context.

Getting the technology right

The Alakh AI suite is powered by OpenAI’s foundational models GPT-4 and GPT-4o, integrated with a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) architecture. It leverages Physics Wallah’s rich repository of high-quality curated content—developed and refined over several years—along with continuous updates from subject matter experts to ensure new materials, textbooks, tutorials, and question banks are seamlessly incorporated. Despite considerable progress, the existing AI sometimes falters when navigating complex academic problems.

“The accuracy level of today’s large language models (LLMs) is not up to the mark where we can provide reliable and satisfactory answers to the students all the time—specifically, if it’s a hard mathematical problem involving complex equations,” Govil said.

That’s one important focus of the collaboration. Researchers from Microsoft Research are developing new algorithms and techniques to enhance the accuracy and reasoning capabilities of AI models. They are now collaborating with Physics Wallah to apply these advancements to the Alakh AI suite, improving its ability to solve complex problems and provide more reliable, step-by-step guidance to students. A key challenge is the nature of student queries, which are often ambiguous and involve multimodal inputs—text, images, videos, or audio—requiring unified capabilities to address the problem. Many STEM problems require breaking down complex queries into logical sub-problems and applying high-order, step-by-step reasoning for consistency. Additionally, integrating domain-specific knowledge in advanced math, physics, chemistry, and biology requires contextualization and seamless retrieval of specialized, grade-appropriate information. 

Microsoft Research is working with Physics Wallah to move beyond traditional next-token prediction and develop AI systems that approach reliable, systematic, step-by-step problem-solving.

That includes ongoing work to enhance the model’s reasoning capabilities and deliver more accurate query answers on complex JEE math problems. Instead of just providing the final answer, the underlying models now break problems into step-by-step solutions. That helps students learn how to solve the actual problems. The AI can also review student answers, detect mistakes, and give detailed feedback, acting as a personal tutor to guide students, improve their understanding, and enhance their learning experience.

Microsoft research blog

PromptWizard: The future of prompt optimization through feedback-driven self-evolving prompts

PromptWizard from Microsoft Research is now open source. It is designed to automate and simplify AI prompt optimization, combining iterative LLM feedback with efficient exploration and refinement techniques to create highly effective prompts in minutes.

Read more Opens in a new tab

Solving complex problems requires enhancing the reasoning capabilities of both large and small language models by training them to not just generate answers, but to systematically think through and reason about complex problems. This requires high-quality reasoning traces—detailed, step-by-step breakdowns of logical problem-solving processes.

To enable this, researchers collaborated with Physics Wallah to curate a dataset of 150,000 high-quality math reasoning traces. These traces serve as the foundation for training specialized small language models (SLMs) using supervised fine-tuning (SFT). Model performance is further refined through training on carefully curated on-policy preference data, ensuring alignment with high-quality reasoning standards. The team’s current Phi-based models have already outperformed leading LLMs and other baselines on complex math problems.

“Building AI systems capable of human-like thinking and reasoning represents a significant challenge.”

—Akshay Nambi, Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research India

The next step is to develop a self-evolving learning pipeline using online reinforcement learning techniques, allowing the model to continuously generate high-quality synthetic data that further enhances its capabilities. Additionally, researchers are building a reward model and integrating it with Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) to optimize reasoning and improve inference-time decision-making.

“The goal is to develop tools that complement education. To do this, we are enhancing the model’s capabilities to process, break down, and solve problems step-by-step. We do this by incorporating high-quality data into training to teach the model how to approach such tasks, alongside algorithmic innovations that enable the model to think and reason more effectively.”

Listen or read along as Microsoft Research Podcast guest Akshay Nambi shares how his passion for tackling real-world challenges across various domains fuels his work in building reliable and robust AI systems. Opening new doors for students Chandramouleswar Parida

Getting an education at a top university can be life changing for anyone. For Chandramouleswar Parida, it could change the lives of everyone in his home village in Baniatangi, Khordha, Odisha State, India. Chandra decided to become a doctor after watching his grandfather die from a heart attack. The nearest doctor who could have treated him was at a regional hospital 65 kilometers away.

“He could have been saved if certain procedures had been followed,” Chandra said. He wants to study medicine, perhaps receiving advanced training overseas, and then return home. “I want to be a doctor here in our village and serve our people, because there is a lack of treatment. Being a doctor is a very noble kind of job in this society.”

Chandra is the only student in Baniatangi Village, Khordha, Odisha, currently preparing for the NEET. Without Physics Wallah, students like Chandra would likely have no access to the support and resources that can’t be found locally.

Anushka Sunil Dhanwade

Another student, Anushka Sunil Dhanwade, is optimistic that Physics Wallah will help her dramatically improve her initial score on the NEET exam. While in 11th class, or grade, she joined an online NEET prep class with 800 students. But she struggled to follow the coursework, as the teachers tailored the content to the strongest students. After posting a low score on the NEET exam, her hopes of becoming a doctor were fading.

But after a serious stomach illness reminded her of the value of having a doctor in her family, she tried again, this time with Physics Wallah and AI Guru. After finishing 12th class, she began preparing for NEET and plans to take the exams again in May, confident that she will increase her score.

“AI Guru has made my learning so smooth and easy because it provides me answers related to my study and study-related doubt just within a click.”

—Anushka Sunil Dhanwade, Student Next steps in the collaboration

The collaboration between Microsoft Research and Physics Wallah aims to apply the advancements in solving math problems across additional subjects, ultimately creating a unified education LLM with enhanced reasoning capabilities and improved accuracy to support student learning.

“We’re working on an education-specific LLM that will be fine-tuned using the extensive data we’ve gathered and enriched by Microsoft’s expertise in LLM training and algorithms. Our goal is to create a unified model that significantly improves accuracy and raises student satisfaction rates to 95% and beyond,” Govil explained.

The teams are also integrating a new tool from Microsoft Research called PromptWizard (opens in new tab), an automated framework for optimizing the instructions given to a model, into Physics Wallah’s offerings. New prompts can now be generated in minutes, eliminating months of manual work, while providing more accurate and aligned answers for students.

For Nambi and the Microsoft Research India team, the collaboration is the latest example of their deep commitment to cultivating the AI ecosystem in India and translating new technology from the lab into useful business applications.

“By leveraging advanced reasoning techniques and domain expertise, we are transforming how AI addresses challenges across multiple subjects. This represents a key step in building AI systems that act as holistic personal tutors, enhancing student understanding and creating a more engaging learning experience,” Nambi said.

Explore more

• Blog PromptWizard: The future of prompt optimization through feedback-driven self-evolving prompts 

• Podcast Ideas: Language technologies for everyone with Kalika Bali 

• Blog Teachers in India help Microsoft Research design AI tool for creating great classroom content 

• Video Shiksha copilot demo 

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The post Microsoft Research and Physics Wallah team up to enhance AI-based tutoring appeared first on Microsoft Research.

Save some of your sanity—and money—with these cheap yet super useful tech accessories.

OpenAI will ship GPT-5 in a matter of months and streamline its AI models into more unified products, said CEO Sam Altman in an update on Feb. 12.

"We want to do a better job of sharing our intended roadmap, and a much better job simplifying our product offerings," said Altman in an X post introducing several updates about the company's GPT and o series. Specifically, Altman says the company plans to launch GPT-4.5 as its "last non-chain-of-thought model" and integrate its latest o3 reasoning model into GPT-5.

Tweet may have been deleted

The estimated timing for GPT-4.5 is a matter of weeks, and GPT-5 in a matter of months, Altman responded in a comment about the ETA.

OpenAI's previously comfortable position atop the AI throne has been challenged lately with the introduction of DeepSeek's reasoning model R1. The Chinese company reportedly made the model for a fraction of the price and offered it free of charge as a chatbot, and significantly cheaper than OpenAI models for API access. In addition to rocking the stock market, DeepSeek's arrival on the scene threw OpenAI and other AI companies' business strategy into question, proving AI models can be made cheaply and more accessibly.

Perhaps, Altman's announcement represents changing tack. Instead of demanding $200 a month for exclusive or early access to certain model features with its Pro plan, the new strategy seems to be getting its products into as many hands as possible to beat the competition with market capture and user-friendly experience.

"A top goal for us is to unify o-series models and GPT-series models by creating systems that can use all our tools, know when to think for a long time or not, and generally be useful for a very wide range of tasks," said Altman in the lengthy post. That means OpenAI won't ship o3 as a standalone model and will instead incorporate its reasoning abilities, which improves accuracy and is better for more complex problems, into GPT-5.

GPT-5 in ChatGPT will also have voice mode, canvas, search, and deep research built in so that the chatbot automatically adapts to the user's needs without the user having to switch between various models and features.

Altman also said that GPT-5 will be available to the free ChatGPT tier, and Plus and Pro subscribers will get access to "GPT-5 at a higher level of intelligence," with the Pro subscription having the most advanced version.

Every gaming peripheral manufacturer touts the lofty (albeit industry-standard) polling rates of its mice and keyboards. However, don’t give up your 1,000 Hz devices just yet.

Apple TV+ and Apple TV are among those services you associate with Apple devices alone, but that changes today.

Apple just announced that the Apple TV app, as well as the Apple TV+ streaming subscription and MLS Season Pass content, are now available natively on Android.

To try it out, download and install the Apple TV app on Google Play on your device and sign up to start watching. If you don't have an Apple TV subscription, you don't have to commit right away, as Apple offers a 7-day free trial on launch. You can sign up right there from within the Apple TV app on Android.

Apple has taken great care to follow Google's Material Design principles in designing the app, so it should look good on all Android devices. If you've ever dreamed of natively watching Apple TV+ content on a Google Pixel Fold, now you can.

And while there are no hardware requirements, you do need a device that supports Android 10 or above.

If you're one of those users who have both Apple and Android devices in your household, worry not: All of the content will sync across different devices, such as Apple TV and a Pixel phone.

The app works over a WiFi or cellular connection, and enables users to download content and watch it offline.

SEE ALSO: Apple just announced the Powerbeats Pro 2, but the originals are 48% off at Best Buy

As for what type of content you can expect, some examples include Apple Original films such as Wolfs, The Instigators, The Family Plan, Killers of the Flower Moon, and CODA, and TV shows like Severance, Slow Horses, The Morning Show, Presumed Innocent, Shrinking, Hijack, Loot, Palm Royale, Masters of the Air, and Ted Lasso.

It's worth noting that Apple TV has been available for Android TV devices for some time now, but this is the first time it's made available for Android phones.

The Apple TV app for Android is now available globally as a free download.

External SSDs and SSD enclosures all look pretty similar to one another (especially when you look at SATA-based ones), but a lot of them actually use NVMe technology, which allows them to be way more compact. Now, this latest enclosure by ASUS is simply rockin'.

The cosmos is truly magnificent, partly due to how massive it is. No matter how much we learn about space, there are always new incredible things to discover, each more amazing than the last. If you're looking to impress your friends with some rare space facts, these gems will serve you well.

Do you use 1Password, LastPass, NordPass, or any other password manager? You're not alone. According to a 2023 Security.org study, roughly one in three people use a password manager to secure their login information. Password managers make logging in to your apps, social media accounts, and other online services easy.

They're also increasingly being targeted by cybercriminals.

According to a new report from cybersecurity firm Picus Security, cyberattacks on password managers and similar services, such as browser-stored credentials, have tripled compared to the previous year. The firm detailed these findings in its Red Report 2025.

SEE ALSO: Cybersecurity researchers discovered a scary security flaw with YouTube and Google

Researchers found that out of more than a million malware variants, 25 percent of all malware targeted password managers or other credential storage services.

"For the first time ever, stealing credentials from password stores is in the top 10 techniques listed in the MITRE ATT&CK Framework," Picus Security said, referencing an industry framework for classifying cyberattacks.

According to Picus, cybercriminals are increasingly deploying multi-stage attacks, which the firm's researchers have dubbed "SneakThief." SneakThief describes a new type of malware attack that involves "increased stealth, persistence, and automation." These new malware attacks contain dozens of "malicious actions," which aid the hacker in gaining access and exporting data without getting caught.

SEE ALSO: How to spot and avoid the E-ZPass scam texts everyone's getting

With so many apps and online platforms to manage logins for, more internet users have adopted password storage utilities to help manage them all. But, in turn, hackers have adjusted their malicious campaigns to shift their focus towards password managers. And it makes sense. Why would a hacker put their time and effort into stealing a target's login credentials to just one service when they could steal all their login credentials? Why steal a key to open just one door when you can take the master key and access everything?

"Threat actors are leveraging sophisticated extraction methods, including memory scraping, registry harvesting, and compromising local and cloud-based password stores, to obtain credentials that give attackers the keys to the kingdom," said Picus Security co-founder and VP of Picus Labs, Dr. Suleyman Ozarslan. "It’s vital that password managers are used in tandem with multi-factor authentication and that employees never reuse a password, especially for their password manager."

The Samsung Galaxy S25 was notable for being a boring phone in a lot of ways, but there were a few noticable changes. It was the first Samsung S-series phone to come without the Samsung Messages app. In a bizarre move, though, Samsung is adding new features to the app it supposedly killed off.

Microsoft just announced a tiny feature for the Outlook mobile app on Android and iOS, but it fixes one of my biggest issues with sending emails on the go. You can now minimize Outlook email drafts on mobile, like on the desktop, to quickly grab a link, check your calendar, and easily multitask.

ASUS has just announced the ASUS NUC 15 Pro mini PC, a small computer that is built for upgrading and repairability. It is a big upgrade from the previous NUC 14.

Yellowjackets Season 3 is finally here after almost a two year wait! Mashable Entertainment Reporter Belen Edwards is here to walk you through everything you need to remember going into season 3.

The first two episodes ofYellowjackets Season 3 will stream on Paramount+ with Showtime on Feb. 14, with new episodes weekly.

Google has fixed a security flaw that exposed the email addresses of YouTube users, a potentially massive privacy breach.

Google — which owns YouTube — has confirmed that the vulnerabilities discovered by cybersecurity researchers, who go by Brutecat and Nathan, have been addressed, according to a report in BleepingComputer.

Aside from the breach of privacy that would've affected all YouTube accounts, many YouTubers like controversial content creators, investigators, whistleblowers, and activists keep their identities anonymous to protect their safety. Exposing such users' emails could have had huge ramifications.

SEE ALSO: Google is reportedly developing a ‘fake’ email feature to help you avoid spam

Brutecat discovered that blocking a user on YouTube revealed a unique internal identifier Google uses for each user across all of its platforms (Gmail, Google Drive, etc.) called a Gaia ID. They then figured out that simply clicking the three dot icon of a user's live chat profile to access the block function triggered an API request that revealed their Gaia ID.

This in itself is already a security flaw since it exposed the unique identifiers for YouTube accounts that is only meant to be used internally. But now that Brutecat was able to retrieve users' Gaia IDs, they set out to see if they could reveal the email addresses associated with each ID.

With Nathan's help, the two researchers surmised they could do this with "old forgotten Google products since they probably contained some bug or logic flaw to resolve a Gaia ID to an email." Using Google's Recorder app for Pixel devices, they tested sharing a recording with an obfuscated Gaia ID and blocked the user from receiving an email notification by renaming the file with a 2.5 million letter name, which broke the email notification system because it was too long.

Now that the hypothetical victim wouldn't be notified, the researchers sent the file sharing request with the Gaia IDs, effectively converting the ID into an email address.

Thanks to Brutecat and Nathan's sleuthing, Google was able to lock down that vulnerability and prevent hackers from accessing everyone's email address associated with their YouTube accounts. The vulnerability was disclosed to Google in Sep. 2024 and was finally fixed on Feb. 9, 2025. That's a long time for potential exposure, but Google confirmed to BleepingComputer that there were "no signs that any attacker actively exploited the flaws."

In exchange for their work, the researchers received a cool $10,633. Phew, crisis averted.

Amazon is about to announce some new devices, but the software inside the devices might be the star of the show.

The e-commerce company sent press invites to an event on Feb. 26 hosted by SVP Panos Panay and Amazon's Devices & Services team for some big announcements. The event, which starts at 10 a.m. ET that day (but won't be livestreamed) seems like it should focus on hardware, right? Well, yes and no. Let's dig into it.

SEE ALSO: The 10 best Amazon Echo devices for a smarter home Amazon devices event: What to expect

The first thing to know about this event is that, per Engadget, Amazon sent out five separate invites to the press, which, when combined, spelled out "Alexa." That's the first clue that this event will potentially be more about software than hardware. Amazon has been working hard on an overhauled, AI-powered version of Alexa for a while now. It was supposed to launch in 2024, but that didn't happen. Instead, it got delayed into 2025.

The new Alexa should theoretically be more conversational and capable of more specific and granular commands. However, reports from beta users indicated that the AI version of Alexa had trouble executing basic smart-home commands like turning lights on or off and would hallucinate answers to questions. That's not ideal. Hopefully, Amazon has ironed those problems out and doesn't run into the same problem Google did with its Super Bowl commercial. 

A new version of Alexa most likely means new devices that support it, and that's where this becomes a de facto devices event. Amazon hasn't updated the Echo smart speaker brand in a minute, so that feels likely to show up here. Per Engadget, Amazon's Echo Buds brand of budget-friendly earbuds could also get a refresh, but that's not certain.

You shouldn't expect Kindles because Amazon released some new ones at the very end of 2024. So, in review, we're more than likely getting a new version of Alexa, with some Echo smart speakers that support it.

SAVE UP TO 57%: Through March 6, save up to 57% on hotels with Ticketmaster Travel. Book your event tickets and hotel together, or just a hotel near your event.

Opens in a new window Credit: Ticketmaster Save up to 57% on hotels with Ticketmaster Travel Get Deal

If you’ve ever dreamt of being a roadie, or you’re just fed up with the super-high prices and fees that are usually associated with seeing your favorite bands out of town, Ticketmaster’s Stay and Save travel deals are a great way to cut down on the overall cost of your concert trip.

SEE ALSO: The best Presidents' Day deals in 2025: Sales on mattresses, TVs, more already live

Through Ticketmaster Travel, you can combine your tickets and hotel into one package, or book a hotel near your venue, and save up to 57% on the overall cost of your trip. For example, you could book two tickets to see Teddy Swims in Vegas and get a one-night stay for $290, depending on your seats and the hotel you choose. (That’s a really good deal for two concert tickets and a hotel stay.)

According to Ticketmaster, these exclusive travel deals are only available for a limited time, so if you're planning on seeing a show on the road before March 6, you'll want to jump on these savings before they disappear.

SAVE 48%: The original Powerbeats Pro earbuds are on sale at Best Buy for $129.99, down from the MSRP of $249.95. That's a savings of $119.96.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Powerbeats Pro $129.99 at Best Buy
$249.95 Save $119.96 Get Deal

We won't lie when we say the recently-launched Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds seem pretty awesome. The original Powerbeats Pro were impressive, and this second iteration brings a few new features to the party that we're jazzed about. But if you're looking for a great deal, you'll want to stick to the original model, because they're on sale for a massive discount today.

As of Feb. 12, the Powerbeats Pro earbuds are on sale at Best Buy for just $129.99, down from the list price of $249.95. That's a 48% discount that'll save you $119.96. Keep in mind the price for the new Powerbeats Pro 2 clocks in at $249.99.

SEE ALSO: The 7 best earbuds to buy in 2025 from Bose, Apple, and more

If you're one to wear earbuds while working out, the Powerbeats Pro are ready to serve. The adjustable secure-fit earhooks are there to keep those earbuds securely on/in your ears. That means no sprinting, jumping, or lifting will cause them to pop out. They're also resistant to sweat, so you won't have to worry about that summer workout.

Beats mentions you can get about nine hours of battery life which increases to over 24 with the included charging case. A quick, five-minute charge will add 1.5 hours of listening time.

Raymond Wong reviewed the Powerbeats Pro earbuds for Mashable in 2019, giving them a Mashable Choice Award. "Compared to AirPods, Beats Powerbeats Pro sound better, have longer battery life, and fit better," Wong said.

The only negatives of the review included the high price and chunky charging case. Of course, the charging case is the same size, but the price is now significantly lower thanks to today's sale price at Best Buy that takes 48% off the normal price.

Of course, you'll be skipping out on the upgrades that come with the latest model, including the addition of heart rate monitoring. The Pro 2 are also said to have improved sound, battery life, and call performance. They also come in fun colorway options like Hyper Purple and Quick Sand, while the sale price on the Powerbeats Pro means you'll be sporting black earbuds.

However, if price is a consideration, you might be better off with the original Powerbeats Pro earbuds. After all, they're still impressive earbuds that are great for working out, and it's hard to deny the super discounted price of $129.99.

SAVE $50: As of Feb. 12, get the Google Pixel Watch 3 for $349.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $399.99. That's a discount of 13%.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Google Pixel Watch 3 $349.99 at Amazon
$399.99 Save $50.00 Get Deal

Smartwatches can make several aspects of everyday life easier. They can help you keep in touch with your friends and family, make paying for items a cinch, and track your workouts, sleep, and even stress. If you haven't yet opted for one that works for you, the Google Pixel Watch has a suite of excellent features. And right now, you can get the latest model at a great price.

As of Feb. 12, you can get the Google Pixel Watch 3 for $349.99, down from its usual price of $399.99. That's a discount of 13%.

SEE ALSO: The best smartwatch for every wrist

The Pixel Watch 3 is a feature-rich watch that looks and feels great on your wrist. Mashable's Kimberly Gedeon found that Google "made a lot of useful improvements to the software" in her hands-on review. It also boasts a much bigger display than its predecessor, which gives it a leg up on the competition.

It can track everything you need it to in terms of workouts, sleep, and other areas of fitness. And if you're not so interested in those options, you can use it to answer calls, texts, and set reminders while tracking your calendar. Most importantly, it'll be there when you need it most, with 24 hours of battery when you use its always-on display, and up to 36 hours of battery with Battery Saver.

If you're ready to go ahead and lock in a purchase for your first (or tenth) smartwatch, the Pixel Watch 3 is a great option, especially at this price.

Captain America: Brave New World is a perfect example of studio math gone wrong. On paper, the 35th MCU entry should be a sure-fire winner. 

First off, it's part of a long-running and successful movie and TV franchise that seems unstoppable. At its center is the dynamic Anthony Mackie, whose charmingly cocky Sam Wilson hero-lands into the role of Captain America, bringing with him some flashy upgraded gear like working wings made of Vibranium, courtesy of Wakanda. Then, to add some old-school grit to the proceedings, Star Wars and Indiana Jones icon Harrison Ford comes on board as a fiery politician destined to hulk out — as teased in promos — in the film's climax.

SEE ALSO: All Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, ranked worst to best

For a little bit of spice, give a dash of heralded character actors Giancarlo Esposito and Tim Blake Nelson. Fold in heaps of Marvel IP and get a whiff of prestige by hiring a celebrated director, Julius Onah (Luce, The Cloverfield Paradox). This should make for — if not one of Marvel's best movies — at the very least a satisfying political thriller with bursts of super-powered action spectacle. 

And yet, two plus two doesn't equal four, it equals womp womp. So what went wrong? Let's break it down.

In Captain America: Brave New World, Anthony Mackie is boxed in Danny Ramirez and Anthony Mackie in "Captain America: Brave New World." Credit: Marvel Studios

As a sidekick, Sam Wilson delivered playful attitude and petty arguments to lighten the mood — especially when the hero's chips were down. But as the noble hero of this entrenched sequel, the spark of his character is squelched by the pressure to follow in Steve Rogers' footsteps. 

Brief moments of Wilson wise-cracking are when this movie almost develops a pulse. But as Cap, he is so committed to honor, that he can't get cute. So, a fleet of screenwriters (Onah, Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, and Peter Ganz) instead offer as comic relief Sam's protege, big-mouthed but lovable Air Force lieutenant Joaquin Torres (Falcon and the Winter Soldier's Danny Ramirez). To Ramirez's credit, he has an affable Golden Retriever energy. But his comic sensibilities aren't as sharp as Mackie's, so his jokes here rarely land.

SEE ALSO: 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' has ruined Marvel movies forever — and that's a good thing

Together, Sam and Joaquin are on the hunt for the evil mastermind (Nelson) who's using a sneering mercenary (Esposito) and a bit of mind control to unbalance newly elected president Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (Ford). Plus, Sam is on a side quest to exonerate his Falcon and the Winter Soldier mentor Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), from some serious charges. All this means Sam is given little opportunity to brandish that signature smile or even a quip as he chases down exposition dumps about characters new and old, and backstories mostly tedious. Instead, Mackie is constrained in a scowl that scuffs Sam's shine, making him fall in line with an endless supply of forgettable oh-so-serious military-thriller heroes.

What is Harrison Ford doing in Captain America: Brave New World? Harrison Ford in "Captain America: Brave New World." Credit: Marvel Studios

Sure, Ford has reprised the roles of Han Solo and Indiana Jones for subsequent sequels, but he's long shown an open boredom — or even charming hostility — about the fandoms that would confine him. So why join the MCU, cinema's biggest contemporary franchise, playing a role originated by William Hurt in The Incredible Hulk, an MCU movie even the most die-hard fans barely remember?

It can't be that the script spoke to him, not this script. Ross's dialogue is a solipsistic drivel about second chances and sacrifice. The plot relies heavily on the audience having retained plenty of details not only from Falcon and the Winter Solider, the recent TV series centered on Sam (and Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes), but also the notoriously unpopular Eternals and 2008's Incredible Hulk, which featured Ed Norton as the eponymous superhero before the role was recast with Mark Ruffalo for 2012's Avengers.

Featured Video For You Marvel's 'Agatha All Along' and SNL star Sasheer Zamata plays 'Slash or Pass: Witches Edition'

Admittedly, this sequel gives enough context that you can follow along if you don't remember those titles — or skipped them altogether. But the bigger issue is that Onah relies on the groundwork laid by other filmmakers to get us to care about his characters. Meaning on its own, this movie is practically inert. The casting of Harrison Ford should have been a major help there, as he can play a gruff bastard over and over and we only love him more for it. But here, Ford is — and I take no pleasure in saying this — astoundingly bad.

Far from his Shrinking showing, he doesn't seem like he's having fun. Nor does he appear to feel at home in the world of a swaggering president who can talk diplomacy and throw a punch, which is wild because he's done that precisely in 1997's Air Force One. Instead, under the weight of MCU demands of world-building and callbacks, Ford struggles to turn in a compelling performance. Props to the VFX team; however, that made him into a hulk. The animation of this burly red beast is outrageously lifelike down to resplendent chest hair and Ford's signature Indy grimace. 

Captain America: Brave New World is a wasted opportunity.  Credit: Marvel Studios

Mackie is dazzling performer, who's proved adept at balancing a snarling intensity with a braggadocio allure. But here, wedged into the MCU machine, his once kinetic sidekick feels tamed. Ford, a living legend who inspires fans even as he eye-rolls at them, is given nothing interesting to do here, and so flounders. It's as if the filmmakers consider his star power as more IP to throw into Disney's ravenous hunger for cross-promotion, a superficial flare to add to their ad campaign.

Then, hilariously, the movies they chose to build their new Captain America's first big-screen adventure on provides little structural support, and even less fan love. Marvel is determinedly looking into its rear-view instead of ahead, where it might build a future with its current heroes that breaks new ground. So, we get the throwback futurism of Fantastic Four: First Steps and Robert Downey Jr, who retired his Tony Stark role through noble self-sacrifice, returning as Doctor Doom for Avengers: Doomsday.

The MCU could have given Sam Wilson a movie that boldly explored what it means to be a Captain America right now, especially to a Black man. A scene between Sam and Isaiah, two Black American soldiers who've seen the dark side of their government, teases the potential to delve into this Falcon and Winter Soldier territory in a grand cinematic way. But Onah won't deliver. Rather than a provocative political discussion as seen in Black Panther, Captain America: Brave New World limply pursues concepts of redemption and honor. It's safe and frankly boring. And coming in the wake of Kendrick Lamar's boldly political Super Bowl halftime show — which also delivered spectacle, Easter eggs, and sublime pettiness — Captain America: Brave New World feels all the more disappointing.

Captain America: Brave New World opens in theaters and IMAX on Feb. 14. 

If you've spent time scrolling on TikTok lately, you've probably noticed a new trend: getting coffee with your younger self.

The trend is usually text that says something to the effect of "I met my younger self for coffee, and this is how I've evolved" overlayed on top of a video or photo of a creator.

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Take, for instance, this TikTok video from Giuli, or @puffy817, with more than 3.4 million views and 334,000 likes. It's a shot of her typing at a desk in a blazer with text overlayed that reads: "I met my younger self for coffee today. She showed up 15 minutes early; so did I. She ordered an iced caramel latte, I ordered an iced americano with honey. She wore athletic shorts and a big t shirt, I wore a suit. She told me she wants to be a psychologist when she grows up so she can help people. I told her I went to law school & am a Public Defender. She told me her family of 5 still lives in an apartment; I told her I own a home & so do my mom & dad. She told me her dad's business is struggling, I told her my dad owns 3 businesses." The caption below the video reads, "Why did this trend heal a little bit in me while I wrote it."

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The trend was sparked after poet Jennae Cecelia posted a photo of one of her poems from her upcoming book, Deep In My Feels, on Instagram. The poem, titled "I met my younger self for coffee," goes like this:

"i met my younger self for coffee at 10:15.

she was late.

i was early.

i wore my dark brown hair in slick back bun.

her hair was faded red and in her face.

i had dark blue jeans on.

she wore sweatpants with a few stains.

she lets out a sigh and has a good cry.

i tell her to release her feelings one at a time.

the scars on her have now faded on me quite a bit.

i want to tell her it won't always be like this.

but i don't.

she doesn't need to hear

that things will be better.

she just wants a hug and reassurance of her feelings

during this uncertain season ahead of her.

we leave the aroma of coffee beans and baked goods.

i walk her home to our old neighborhood.

we won't meet again for 15 more years.

but each day she thinks of the woman

who acknowledged her tears."

View this post on Instagram

This trend, which has taken over Instagram Reels, TikTok, and other social media platforms, is an encouragement to treat your younger self with empathy. But, as Mia Khalaoife, aka @aoifeofarrell on TikTok, points out, not all of our past selves are worth celebrating. In a TikTok video with 4.6 million views and 1.1 million likes, she shows a fit check with the text "i met my younger self for a coffee today. she was such a bitch." The caption reads: "prob bc she didn't eat x this trend is so cute tho."

Let's be realistic, fellas.