Blogroll

For years, Toyota and Honda were the go-to names for cars that just keep running. Their long-standing reputation for reliability made them the default choice for many buyers.

August is shaping up to be a big month for fans of celestial events, with both the Perseid meteor shower and a solar eclipse set to light up the skies. While the annual Perseids will deliver one of the year's most popular meteor displays, the solar eclipse will offer a different kind of spectacle as the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun.

While parts of Europe will experience a full show in the form of a total solar eclipse, those based in North America will still have a chance to catch the celestial event as a partial eclipse. Keep reading to find out all you need to know about this latest celestial event.

Opens in a new window Credit: AAA Eclipse AAA Eclipse Solar Viewing Glasses (Pack of 50) $49.95 at Amazon
  Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: Lunt Lunt Solar Eclipse Glasses (Pack of 5) £26.21 at Amazon
  Get Deal When is the solar eclipse in North America?

On Aug. 12, a partial solar eclipse will be visible across parts of North America and most of Canada. While the continent won't experience the same totality as parts of Europe will, it will still be a rare opportunity to witness an exciting solar event.

According to NASA, viewing times will vary across North America, with Alaska and northern Canada seeing the eclipse in the morning, eastern Canada in the afternoon, and parts of the northern U.S. from midday into the afternoon.

It will peak in Anchorage, Alaska at 8:21 a.m. ET. Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., it will peak at around 1:53 p.m. ET.

How to watch the solar eclipse

Because the Sun is never completely covered from anywhere in North America during this eclipse, it's never safe to look directly at it without proper eye protection.

Anyone planning to watch should wear certified eclipse glasses that meet the ISO 12312-2 international safety standard. Regular sunglasses, no matter how dark, are not safe for viewing the Sun. If you're using binoculars, a telescope, or a camera, you'll also need an approved solar filter fitted to the front of the optics.

What causes a solar eclipse?

According to NASA, a solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes directly between Earth and the Sun, temporarily blocking some or all of the Sun's light. During a partial solar eclipse, the Moon covers only part of the Sun, creating the appearance of a crescent-shaped Sun rather than plunging the landscape into darkness. This is what will be visible in North America.

Where can you see the partial solar eclipse in North America?

NASA says the best places to spot the eclipse in North America include parts of the northern U.S. (from Alaska to North Carolina) and most of Canada. While parts of the world will see a total solar eclipse, viewers in North America will experience a partial eclipse.

Solar Eclipse livestream

NASA is livestreaming the eclipse on YouTube, Twitch, X, Amazon Prime, Facebook, Instagram, and NASA+.

Want more science and tech news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for Mashable's Light Speed newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

If your feeds are blowing up with talk of the upcoming total solar eclipse, this might burst your bubble: The show might not be coming to a sky near you.

On Aug. 12, the moon will sweep its shadow across the top of the world, briefly turning day into twilight along a narrow path through Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, northern Spain, and a sliver of Portugal. That's the path of totality — where the sun is completely blocked — and it's the first time in 27 years that mainland Europe has gotten a full, real-deal solar eclipse.

Opens in a new window Credit: AAA Eclipse AAA Eclipse Solar Viewing Glasses (Pack of 50) $49.95 at Amazon
  Shop Now Opens in a new window Credit: Lunt Lunt Solar Eclipse Glasses (Pack of 5) £26.21 at Amazon
  Shop Now

But people in the United States won't be in that bullseye. Instead, a part of the country will see a partial solar eclipse, where the moon nips the sun but never covers it completely. The sky won't go dark, the stars won't pop out, and you won't get the full moody effect. But with the right eyewear, you could still see the sun turn into a yummy space crescent roll in the middle of a Wednesday.

For a U.S. audience, this eclipse is either a drop-everything-and-fly-to-Iceland kind of deal or a fun coffee break at work. Here's how to plan 15 minutes to step outside and look up safely — or, better yet, ditch the special eyewear and get a front-row seat to the main event with a livestream from where the real action is happening. 

SEE ALSO: Pluto has a heart. Scientists discovered that it's bleeding. Where in the U.S. can you see it?

The farther north you are, the better the show.

As the moon's shadow creeps from Russia to Greenland and Iceland and onward to Europe, the outer part of that shadow — the penumbra — brushes North America. Within that outer shadow, the sun is only partially blocked, but the effect might still be noticeable if you're paying attention.

The United States will not experience a total solar eclipse on Aug. 12, 2026, but many states will get a partial solar eclipse. Credit: NASA infographic

Nationwide, 26 states and Washington, D.C., will get a very slight partial eclipse. The states include Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. 

Many parts of Alaska and the far north will see the larger bites, with the eclipse unfolding earlier in the day. In parts of the south, it may register more as a subtle dimming — not much different from a little cloud cover. Just over the border, Canada gets a better view. Much of the country lies deeper in the partial zone. Northern and western areas catch the show in the morning; eastern provinces get it in the afternoon.

For the United States, the event begins at 7:34 a.m. Alaska Standard Time and ends on the East Coast at 2:52 p.m. ET. To zero in on your specific area's times, visit Timeanddate.com and enter your city or ZIP code. 

Watching the solar eclipse online

For U.S. viewers, NASA plans a live broadcast on Aug. 12, with telescope views, commentary from scientists, and footage from research aircraft flying under the moon's shadow. 

In Europe, the European Space Agency and other organizations, such as the Royal Observatory, will host their own streams. The Exploratorium, which has a long track record of eclipse coverage, will again provide a live telescope feed from inside the path of totality in Spain. Here's a go-to list of live broadcasts that you can hop to and from without having to board a jet: 

• NASA: Streaming on NASA+ and YouTube, with views from Spain and high-altitude aircraft, starting at 1:15 p.m. ET.

• ESA: Hosting a live broadcast from the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre in Teruel, Spain, and a separate telescope feed, starting at 19:30 CEST, or 1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. ET. 

• The Exploratorium: Broadcasting a live telescope view from Spain at 1:30 p.m. ET.

• Royal Observatory: Hosting a live broadcast from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, where the United Kingdom will see about 90 percent sun coverage during the eclipse, starting at 1:10 p.m. ET.

• TimeandDate.com: Streaming the event with real-time animations, maps, and expert commentary, starting at noon ET. 

Everything to know about eclipse glasses

It's plain and simple: If any part of the sun's face is visible, you must protect your eyes to look up at it. That's true in Alaska, Texas, Iceland, Spain — everywhere.

For Americans in the partial zone, the go‑to tools are protective eyewear or a handheld solar viewer designed for viewing the sun. Eclipse glasses are not just dark sunglasses. Legit eclipse glasses are thousands of times darker and built to block most of the sun's visible and invisible light. 

Reputable ones follow the ISO 12312‑2 safety standard; when you put them on indoors, you shouldn't be able to see anything except maybe the brightest lights.

Keep the glasses or viewer on the whole time you're looking at the sun. Never look through eclipse glasses into a telescope or binoculars unless the optics also have a proper solar filter on the front. Concentrated sunlight can burn through a filter and through the delicate tissue at the back of your eyes, far faster than you'd expect.

A simple pinhole projector — or even a small hole in an index card projecting the sun's image onto the ground or another surface — will show you the sun's change from a circle to a crescent and back again without ever having to look up. During the partial phases, the gaps between tree leaves do the same thing naturally, scattering tiny crescent suns onto sidewalks.

Tree leaves reveal crescent suns like pinhole projectors on the ground as its partially obscured light filters through them. Credit: Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post via Getty Images If you're not in totality, is it still worthwhile?

That all depends on your appetite and attitude. On the ground in the United States, you'll get a sun that looks wrong in an intriguing way, light that feels a little hushed, and shadows that sharpen. 

At the same time, cameras and telescopes along the path of totality will be streaming the full blackout — the sun's corona glowing behind a black disk like a scalloped crown. You might like to take an imaginary journey in your mind, see what it looks like from Reykjavik or a Spanish hillside.

Want more science and tech news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for Mashable's Light Speed newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

I learned that my iPhone 15 Pro Max and the upcoming 2026 total solar eclipse do not mix. I stumbled upon BGR's article, which warned skygazers against using their phones to take pictures of the imminent cosmic event.

If you're like me, you may be wondering "Why?" After all, who wouldn't want to snap a photo of such an awe-inspiring celestial occurrence?

Opens in a new window Credit: Lunt Lunt Solar Eclipse Glasses (Pack of 5) £26.21 at Amazon
  Shop Now Opens in a new window Credit: AAA Eclipse AAA Eclipse Solar Viewing Glasses (Pack of 50) $49.95 at Amazon
  Shop Now

As it turns out, taking a photo of the 2026 solar eclipse could damage your iPhone's camera hardware.

SEE ALSO: Solar eclipse 2026 from the US: how to watch from home and online Why you shouldn't take a photo of the 2026 solar eclipse with your phone

In the same way that you shouldn't use a telescope or binoculars to gaze at the sun (you could melt your eyeballs off), you shouldn't use your phone's shooter — or any other poorly equipped camera — to take a photo of the solar eclipse.

BGR says that no smartphone is designed to handle the intense solar rays the sun emanates. "Using your camera or phone could cause the heat from the rays to become so concentrated that it could melt the lens inside," the tech outlet warned.

Days before the April 8, 2024 eclipse that swept across parts of North America, NASA provided similar advice.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

There is a workaround in that you can purchase filters for your phone and camera.

NEEWER 67mm Clip On Filters Kit for Phone & Camera Credit: Amazon

But the best way to see the eclipse might very well be with your eyes rather than a camera lens. That is, if they are fully protected.

SEE ALSO: Here's where to buy legit solar eclipse glasses that'll arrive before Wednesday's eclipse

It must be emphasized that it's imperative that your eyes are protected. NASA recommends getting "ISO 12312-2" grade solar eclipse glasses that filter harmful light.

The historic 2026 total solar eclipse is set to happen Aug. 12 and, depending where you are, might only be visible as a partial solar eclipse if it's visible at all. Mashable's Elisha Sauers, our space reporter, shares exactly when and where to get the best view of the 2026 solar eclipse.

Want more science and tech news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for Mashable's Light Speed newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

UPDATE: Aug. 9, 2026, 11:00 a.m. EDT This 2024 story was updated to include information related to the 2026 solar eclipse happening on Wednesday, Aug. 12.

As implausible as it may sound, I rarely give websites my actual card numbers when I shop online. Instead, I generate virtual debit cards, and it's become one of my favorite privacy tricks. Now, I figured out a way to use these same cards when I shop in person, thanks to Google Wallet.

FREE GIFT CARD: Through Aug. 15, Target is giving out free $15 gift cards when you spend $50 on select household items in stores or online. That includes things like trash bags, cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, paper towels, and more.

Opens in a new window Credit: Target Get a $15 Target gift card when you spend $50 on household items   Get Deal

There's a big benefit to doing your household essentials shopping at Target: free money.

Through Aug. 15, you can get a free $15 Target gift card when you spend $50 on select household items you were probably going to buy anyway. That includes everything from paper towels and trash bags to cleaning supplies and laundry detergent.

To claim your gift card, just fill up your cart with items from the promotion until you reach the $50 threshold and the gift card deal will automatically be applied at checkout. Once your items ship, the gift card will magically appear in your Target account to spend immediately on whatever you'd like.

What exactly is included in the promotion? Oh, just 50+ pages worth of items from well-known brands like Tide, Arm & Hammer, Glad, Downy, Dawn, Bounty, and so many more. Target's own brands like up&up, Dealworthy, and Everspring are also included. You can filter by brand or product type if you're looking for something specific.

There's a high chance the promotion includes items you use regularly and need to stock up on anyway. You might as well get some free money out of it, right?

SAVE 13%: As of Aug. 10, the CMF by Nothing Headphone Pro active noise-cancelling headphones are $69, down from $79, at Amazon. That's a 13% discount or $10 savings.

Opens in a new window Credit: CMF by Nothing CMF by Nothing Headphone Pro $69 at Amazon
$79 Save $10   Get Deal

It's one thing to want a brand-new pair of Sony or Bose headphones, but it's another thing to actually pay for them. If you don't have an extra $400 lying around, the CMF by Nothing Headphone Pro ANC headphones are definitely worth a look — and right now, they're down to their lowest price ever.

SEE ALSO: The 12 best headphones of 2026: We tested the top contenders from Sony, Apple, Bose, and Beats

As of Aug. 10, you can grab the CMF by Nothing Headphone Pro active noise-cancelling headphones for $69 on Amazon (down from $79). Saving $10 might not sound huge on paper, but a 13% drop brings these down to a damn good price for what you get. Reviews praise them for delivering "stellar" audio quality and comfort for cheap, and our sister site, PCMag, even gave them a 4-star review and an Editors' Choice award.

These headphones have physical bass and treble sliders right on the ear cup, so you can adjust your audio in real time (no app needed!). The noise cancellation blocks up to 40 dB of background noise, and there's a Transparency Mode button if you need to hear what's going on around you.

Bonus: You'll get up to 50 hours of playback with active noise cancellation turned on, and up to 100 hours if you leave ANC off. If you forget to plug them in before heading out, a quick five-minute charge gives you four hours of listening time.

SAVE $50: The Amazfit Balance 2 is on sale at Amazon for $249.99, down from the list price of $299.99. That's a 17% discount that matches the lowest we've seen at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazfit Amazfit Balance 2 $249.99 at Amazon
$299.99 Save $50   Get Deal

Now that summer is a mixture of sweltering temps and smoke, fall fitness goals seem more realistic. Running in the crisp air with crunchy leaves underfoot feels a bit more comfortable than getting out at 6 a.m. to avoid the summer heat. If you have fall fitness plans, check out this tracker that's willing to keep up.

As of Aug. 10, the Amazfit Balance 2 is on sale at Amazon for $249.99, marked down from the list price of $299.99. That's a 17% discount that takes $50 off the price and matches the lowest we've seen at Amazon.

The Amazfit Balance 2 does not mess around when it comes to providing useful stats for a workout. The fitness tracker has over 170 sport modes to choose from, including Hyrox and golf, with over 40,000 golf courses mapped around the world and available for download. On the watch face itself, you can access instant metrics like your training load, the weather, recovery time, a readiness score, and even more.

SEE ALSO: Get the flagship 8K Insta360 X4 Creator Bundle for $485 at Amazon

A major complaint of fitness trackers is poor battery life that leaves you crunched for a good time to remove the watch and let it recharge. The Amazfit Balance 2 aims to help with that issue since it gets at least 10 days of battery life. Amazfit says the 10 day lifespan applies to heavy use while typical use will get more like 21 days.

Build quality is also great on the Balance 2. It has a 1.5-inch AMOLED display that gets up to 2,000 nits of brightness. It's also certified for diving to depths of 45 meters or about 150 feet. If you're into Hyrox, the Amazfit has both competition and training modes that include the skierg, sled push, wall ball, and more.

Since the Amazfit Balance 2 is sitting at a record-low and we're getting ready for fall fitness, consider making the upgrade for under $250.

SAVE $800: As of Aug. 10, the LG 65-inch LX7B Gallery Mini LED 4K TV is on sale at Amazon for just $999.99 instead of its usual $1,799.99. That's 44% in savings.

Opens in a new window Credit: LG LG 65-inch LX7B Gallery Mini LED 4K TV $999.99 at Amazon
$1,799.99 Save $800   Get Deal

LG unveiled its new Gallery TV back in January and it's essentially a direct competitor to Samsung's The Frame. We've seen it go on sale a few times since then, but it has officially dipped down below $1,000 for the first time.

As of Aug. 10, you can upgrade to the LG 65-inch LX7B Gallery Mini LED 4K TV for just $999.99. That's 44% or $800 cheaper than its typical list price of $1,799.99 and its lowest price on record.

Like The Frame, LG's Gallery TV features an ultra-slim design with hardly any bezel, an attachable frame, and a matte display, which gives it the illusion of framed artwork when nobody's watching it. You'll have the option to display over 5,000 different works of art from LG Gallery Plus or design your own.

As a TV itself, it's pretty great, too. Thanks to Mini LED backlighting, you'll notice brighter highlights and deeper blacks, while Dynamic QNED color will ensure colors are vivid and accurate. With a matte display, glares from lights and windows won't be a problem either. An auto brightness control will even adjust the screen based on the lighting in your room for convenience.

Mashable's TV expert calls the LG LX7B Gallery TV one of the best of 2026 so far. If you've had an art TV on your wishlist, now's a particularly good time to make the leap.

If you live in the U.S., no longer have to jump through hoops to install a third-party Android app store on your phone. Weeks after Google loosened its policies, the first alternative shop is available through the Play Store.

SAVE $170: As of Aug. 10, the Eufy Omni C20 robot vacuum and mop combo is down to $379.99 at Amazon, from $549.99 — a 31% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Eufy Omni C20 Robot Vacuum and Mop Combo Eufy Omni C20 Robot Vacuum and Mop Combo $379.99 at Amazon
$549.99 Save $170   Get Deal

The Eufy Omni C20 robot vacuum and mop combo is down to $379.99 at Amazon, a 31% cut off its $549.99 list price. That's $170 in savings on a vacuum that mops, empties itself, and cleans its own mop pads.

The base station empties the dustbin on its own, and it washes and dries the mop pads with warm air after every run, so you're not touching a dirty mop pad or dumping a bin every few days. Eufy says you can go up to 60 days between manual empties, depending on your household.

It vacuums and mops in the same pass instead of two separate cleanings. The mop pads spin and press down with force to scrub off dried spills on hardwood or tile, and they lift up automatically when they hit carpet, so your rugs don't get soaked. If a spot needs extra attention, the app lets you send it back over that area for a second pass.

Suction goes up to 7,000 Pa and adjusts automatically based on how dirty the surface is. Pet owners get a useful extra here: a comb flips down mid-clean to loosen hair wrapped around the roller brush, so you're not cutting tangled fur out of it yourself.

SEE ALSO: Robot vacuums just got the FCC drone treatment. How are robot vacuum brands responding to the ban?

At just over 3 inches tall, it slides under couches, beds, and low cabinets that trip up bulkier robot vacuums. It runs about two hours on a charge, and if it doesn't finish before the battery dies, it heads back to the base to recharge and picks up where it left off.

Consider your floors handled. Grab the Eufy Omni C20 at Amazon before the price bounces back.

I wouldn't believe the HP OmniBook 3 16's battery life test results if I hadn't witnessed them myself. This new 16-inch laptop with Qualcomm's starter Snapdragon X chip lasted 40 hours and 14 minutes before dying, effortlessly securing its place as our new battery life champ.

It dethrones last year's OmniBook 5 14, which also had a Snapdragon processor. (Déjà vu!) And it ran for nearly twice as long as the M5 Apple MacBook Pro, our longest-lasting MacBook. If you're looking for the best battery life laptop of 2026, your hunt ends here.

As a whole, the OmniBook 3 16 isn't quite worthy of our coveted Mashable Choice Award (though it's still good enough to earn a Mashable Selects badge). Similarly priced laptops like the Acer Swift 16 AI and Asus Zenbook A16 offer way more power with nicer build quality and above-average, if not record-breaking battery life. Still, its multi-day stamina makes the new Omnibook 3 16 a compelling candidate for on-the-go workers who hate fighting over outlets at cafés and airports.

Smart shoppers will hold out until it goes on sale, which luckily happens often. Good discounts turn it into a great big-screened budget option.

The HP OmniBook 3 16 at a glance Before I looked at its spec sheet, I really thought the HP OmniBook 3 16 had an OLED display. It's very colorful with deep blacks. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

What I liked: Its older entry-level processor holds its own in multi-core scenarios. It runs super cool and quiet. It has a huge, colorful display. It's pretty thin. Its keyboard is comfortable to type on. Its webcam and mic are above-average. It's frequently on sale. And that battery life, man. Ridiculous.

What I didn't like: Its design is boring. There's some give to its lid and keyboard deck. Its display is dim and glossy, so it's difficult to see its picture in bright light. There are some compatibility concerns with Snapdragon chips. Its wireless technology is outdated. For what you get, it's too expensive at its regular sticker price: This year, I've tried $1,700-ish laptops that are way faster, equipped with OLED touchscreens, and made with zero plastic.

HP OmniBook 3 16-bz000 $899 at Amazon
  Shop Now at Amazon Shop Now at Staples Shop Now at HP Key specs

• CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon X

• Memory: 32GB RAM

• Storage: 1TB SSD

• Display: 16-inch 1920 x 1200 IPS panel with 60Hz refresh rate and 300 nits of brightness

• Webcam: 1080p with physical privacy shutter

• Ports: HDMI port, two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, and a headphone jack

• Connectivity: WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3

• Dimensions: 14.12 x 9.91 x 0.58 inches

• Weight: 3.65 pounds

• Color: Glacier silver

Pricing and availability

The OmniBook 3 16 starts at $999.99 with 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage on HP's website. The model I tested, with way more memory and storage, costs $1,629.99. That's not an awful deal in this day and age, but again, the competition gets much less intense when it's on sale. At the time of writing, it was 28% to 47% off, depending on the configuration, and the base model was going for just $529.99.

The HP OmniBook 3 16 comes in glacier silver by default (pictured here). You can change its color for a small fee. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

For $10 more, HP will let you change its color to warm gold, mica silver, or starlight blue. For $80 extra, you can add touchscreen capabilities.

Amazon and Staples both carry models that are better deals at full price versus buying direct, but they're not customizable.

HP OmniBook 3 16 performance

The OmniBook 3 16's Snapdragon X chip is an entry-level processor from 2025. Its single-core performance is, as expected, basic; it's much less snappy than the MacBook Neo's repurposed iPhone A18 Pro chip. But its multi-core performance is relatively impressive, rivaling that of last year's upper mid-range Intel Core Ultra 7 258V chip or a brand-new base Core Ultra 5 325 chip. It's well-suited for everyday productivity.

FYI: That Snapdragon chip is ARM-based, so it's not ideal for gaming or running specialty apps. Read my guide to the best Windows laptops to learn more about ARM compatibility issues.

On a more positive note, I couldn't get the OmniBook 3 16's fan to turn on during a stress test in which I opened tons of browser tabs and apps simultaneously. Most laptops get a little warm during this exercise, but it stayed completely, remarkably cool.

HP OmniBook 3 16 design and build quality The HP OmniBook 3 16's touchpad is slightly off-center to align with its keyboard, which might bug some folks. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

This is a plain-looking laptop with average build quality. Its aluminum top cover and plastic keyboard deck both have some flex in the middle. Its lid wiggles whenever you adjust its position, and its hinge is a little creaky. At least it's pretty slender for its size, if not particularly lightweight.

Most of the HP OmniBook 3 16's ports are located on its left-hand side. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The OmniBook 3 16's display is a highlight. Its colors are so vivid and its contrast so good that I wondered if it had an OLED panel at first — it's actually just a regular IPS screen. Note that it looks best indoors because it's dim and glossy.

The OmniBook 3 16 has a backlit keyboard with a pleasant snappy-squishy (but not mushy) feel and a numpad. Happily, its mechanical touchpad doesn't rattle with every finger tap like the one on last year's OmniBook 5 14.

Who should get the HP OmniBook 3 16? Big screen, bigger battery life. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The OmniBook 3 16 is a decent everyday laptop for remote workers, commuters, and travelers who want a big, entertainment-ready screen and freakishly good battery life. It's made for all-nighters and long-haul trips. Again, try to buy it on sale, when it's at its peak value.

Where I live, the weather is the default subject for small talk. Weather apps can give you a lot of information about your local weather conditions, but I wanted a better option. A cheap ESP32 project turned out to be far more useful than relying on my phone.

The relationship between the U.S. and China has been interesting to say the least. Politically, the two countries could not be more different, but economically there has been little choice but to engage in trade and business.

Everyone occasionally has problems with unusual file formats. Maybe you're a Windows and Android user who encounters an HEIC file on the internet, downloads an image expecting a JPG only to get a WebP, or simply needs a PNG converted into a JPG.

Foldable phones have been around for a while, but I still regularly get people asking me whether they're going to break in half.

On Sunday, YouTuber JerryRigEverything tried to do just that to Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8...and couldn't.

SEE ALSO: Review: The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 makes phones interesting again

JerryRigEverything put Samsung's foldable through his typically rough set of tests to see how it'll hold up. This included scratching the display with a utility knife and burning it with a lighter. The damage was there, of course, but it wasn't fatal.

Then, JerryRigEverything tried the ultimate test by bending the phone in the direction opposite of its folding mechanism. Again, there was significant damage to the phone's hinge, and this is something that you should never do to your phone. At the end of it, however, the phone was still alive and kicking, and there was barely any damage to its display.

Being limited to one device only, the test obviously isn't perfect, but it's a testament to how far Samsung has progressed in building its foldable phones to last. As a reminder, check out what the same YouTuber's tests did to the original Samsung Galaxy Fold a few years back.

Is your Samsung Galaxy Watch struggling to make it through the day? There are plenty of tips and tricks out there for squeezing more battery life out of it, but if you've tried them all and still feel like you could use a little more juice, it's worth digging into the Galaxy Watch's developer mode. There are a few settings in there you can toggle that can give you a slight but real improvement in overall battery life.

SAVE OVER $100: As of Aug. 10, the Insta360 X4 Creator Bundle is on sale for $484.99 at Amazon. That's $120.01 off its list price of $605.

Opens in a new window Credit: Insta360 Insta360 X4 Creator Bundle $484.99 at Amazon
$605 Save $120.01   Get Deal

An action camera is an incredibly fun way to capture your most adventurous moments, especially when it can capture 360-degree video in high quality. The Insta360 X4 ticks all of those boxes, and you can even grab the Creator Bundle — which comes with an invisible selfie stick, a 256GB microSD card, and more — for less than $500 right now at Amazon.

Normally priced at $605 on Amazon, this bundle is on sale for $484.99 right now. That's $120.01 in savings, which is an excellent discount considering everything you're getting.

SEE ALSO: Insta360 X6 camera set to launch, FCC filing suggests

To fully break down this bundle, there are quite a few extras you get with the Insta360 X4 action camera that help you get set up right away and start filming. These include a standard lens guard, a 114cm invisible selfie stick, a bullet time handle tripod, a mic adapter, a cold shoe, a quick reader, lens cap, and a 256GB microSD card.

The Insta360 X4 can capture 360-degree video at 8K or 5.7K resolution at 60 fps. It can also shoot wide-angle 4K video at 60 fps, or super-wide views with 170-degree MaxView at 4K resolution and 30 fps. There's no need to worry about shakiness while you're filming, either, thanks to FlowState Stabilization and 360-degree Horizon Lock. Plus, it can last up to 135 minutes on one charge.

Capture summer memories with this astonishing action camera. Don't miss out on the Insta360 X4 Creator Bundle on sale at Amazon.

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.

I share my Amazon account with my wife, as it doesn't make sense for us to both pay for a Prime subscription. Mostly it's fine, but around birthdays and Christmas, things get tricky. Orders for my wife often arrive with my name on them, so she regularly opens packages addressed to me assuming that they're hers. I was about to order her birthday presents, so I wanted a way to track the Amazon package so I could grab it and hide it as soon as it was delivered.

Samsung's passport-sized phone is built for all your scrolling, binge-watching and reading. The $1,900 price is steep, but it has some strong selling points that won me over.