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Like most people, the last optical drive I had in my computer was a plain old DVD writer. I just never saw the point of a PC Blu-ray drive. In many ways, I think it's a small miracle that you can still readily buy a Blu-ray drive for PC today.

The versatility of thrillers is their greatest strength. These tense movies come in various shapes and sizes. Some are lengthy political thrillers where the dialogue creates suspense and drives the story. Other thrillers rely on action and feature heroic performances that turn actors into stars. Because of its large library, Netflix is one of the best streamers to watch thrillers.

Jellyfin, the popular open-source media server and Plex alternative, just got better on Roku TVs and players. The app’s latest update adds support for more HDR modes and anamorphic video, along with a pile of bug fixes.

Using a hash symbol (#)—also known as a spilled range operator—in an Excel formula is a way to tell the program to consider all results in a spilled range. As a result, even if the spilled range grows or shrinks, the formula containing the # will automatically reflect this change.

There was a time when the Android community was obsessed with modding and customizing their devices. A seemingly endless stream of custom ROMs allowed you to replace your phone's default OS. For an Android enthusiast, it was like walking into a candy shop. Sadly, those golden days of Android are in the past, but I like reminiscing about their charm.

Luxury badges look great in the driveway, but they’re usually brutal on your wallet. Depreciation hits hard, and once the warranty’s gone, repair bills can pile up fast enough to make ownership feel like a gamble.

Mobile World Congress 2026 has arrived, and Mashable is in Barcelona to bring you the latest from one of the biggest tech shows on the planet.

Following on the heels of CES and Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, this year's MWC runs March 2-5 and will feature big reveals from Honor, Xiaomi, Nothing, Motorola, and more. Mashable's Stan Schroeder is bringing you the best and most interesting news from the show floor.

We expect to see plenty of phones and tablets as well as a few surprises along the way, so keep checking back for the latest MWC 2026 announcements.

I DM my friends on Instagram. I ride the subway everyday. I am a journalist. Because of these simple matters of fact, I find myself the unwitting target of a sweeping surveillance network that knows who I am, what I say, and how I spend my time, online and off. And I'm pretty careful about what Big Tech gets out of me. 

Still, our daily habits are a treasure trove of surveillance information: The apps we use; public spaces riddled with facial recognition tech; AI assistants that know who we are and what we like; the places we shop, the smartwatches we wear, the phone you're probably reading this article on. Even the most careful are still leaking data out into the world, but how do we spot where we are particularly vulnerable, and what should we do to feel more secure?

A new campaign by youth digital advocacy organization Gen Z For Change hopes to offer a solution. Today, the group launches "Eyes on AI" — a designated landing page offering a first-of-its-kind surveillance assessment tool that lets you see exactly how the government and its Big Tech allies are collecting your data. 

SEE ALSO: How teens really feel about AI and their future

Cheyenne Hunt, executive director of Gen Z For Change, told Mashable that the current political administration has presented an alarming surveillance threat to youth organizing, including to the group's leaders, many of whom are young people of color who have had negative interactions with government entities, like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). And as digital organizers, they are navigating the irony of needing to use the very tools, like social media, that threaten their own safety.

"We've had to very quickly become keenly aware of the fact that we are being watched in a really intense and new way by the government and their partners and Big Tech," said Hunt. "And that collusion is out in the open." 

But everyone, not just organizers or journalists, is vulnerable, said Hunt. With Eyes on AI, individuals of all ilks are given the tools to assess their own risk. "Warrantless surveillance is entirely legal and artificial intelligence is powering it," the website informs visitors. "AI-powered surveillance tools are reading your data, learning your routine, and creating a profile of you to eat away at your privacy." 

The Eyes on AI assessment tool is designed to mimic the kinds of eerily perceptive games and memes that often go viral online, its makers tell Mashable, like horoscope mood boards, AI's that judge your Spotify stats, or the viral Rice Purity Test. Only in this case, that sense of knowing isn't played off as something fun and silly — its stakes are exceptionally high. "Your future is for sale," the campaign reminds viewers. 

Credit: Gen Z For Change

"We have normalized surveillance and data collection, which is not normal and actually very, very terrifying," said Dominique Demetz, Gen Z For Change creative director and one of the coders of the project. Demetz explained that the Eyes on AI tool, which feels almost like being inducted (and subsequently rejected) from a top secret spy agency, is intended to unsettle you.

Immediately after clicking through, the "agent" on the other end knows your IP address. And you don't have to give it any other personal information for it to understand how you are being surveilled. All it needs to know is what apps you use, how you pay for groceries, if you get spam emails often, or if you're a current college student (it doesn't even need to know where you go to school).

That's intentional, explained Hana Memon, Gen Z For Change digital strategist, organizer, and Eyes on AI creator. In keeping with its own principals, the resource doesn't ask the user to supply any personally identifiable information that could be scraped and used by an outside party, such as race or immigration status, but it can still figure out a lot about you and your digital hygiene.

"The goal is to show how every part of your life, from how you travel, what religious apps you use, your healthcare provider, is all connected in a web of surveillance," Memon said.

The tool doesn't save any user inputs or reports. Everything is done locally and run in JavaScript, and Gen Z For Change is offering it up to the public on GitHub.

Young people have been used as lab rats by these companies. - Cheyenne Hunt

Eyes on AI pulls information from digital privacy watchdogs, like Surveillance Watch's interactive databases, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Atlas of Surveillance, and Tech Equity's labor resources, including explainers on bossware, or tech used to spy on employees. The tool was built over the course of several months, by a team of a little more than a dozen Gen Z organizers, coders, and activists.

Eyes on AI cleverly walks users through the numerous ways their lives are being recorded and sold to surveillance apparatuses. Then, they are given the option to download a full report, complete with recommendations to curb personal data collection, resources about surveillance threats, and a glossary of some of the top surveillance actors who may be dealing in their data, including ICE and other government entities. Your personalized threats are categorized by the tech itself, like if you're at risk due to automated license plate readers (ALPRs) or predictive policing. 

Credit: Gen Z For Change Credit: Gen Z For Change

Gen Z For Change has evolved a lot since its initial conception in 2020 as a youth-led, social media-focused, movement builder. The organization sees strategic coding as a weapon against political and tech oligarchies that have unabashedly wielded their influence to amass power under what Hunt referred to as "Trump 2.0." The mass acceleration of AI, she said, has only made it worse. 

Gen Z For Change has been behind many of the viral tools used by online organizers. Last year, they launched a resource to help pressure hotels to refuse boarding ICE agents. The group's team and affiliated creator network were working behind the scenes to galvanize votes for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani. Previous coding campaigns include the Gen Z for Palestine resource hub, immigration resource toolkit F.I.G.H.T,, and abortion organizing tool S.A.F.E.R.

"Made with ❤️ by gen-z for change's meddling kids," the site reads.

On the ground, the organization is prepping for a massive activation that will see their creator network — a group of politically-connected creators with a collective 500 million followers — warning their viewers and loved ones about surveillance capitalism. Posters and billboards will be emblazoned across major cities. A massive 1984-style warning will soon be projected on the side of the Brooklyn Bridge, featuring Demetz's own leering eyeball. It'll be matched by a policy push at the federal level, too. The country still has no comprehensive privacy regulation on the books.

Lending their time — and retinal data — to the project, the team is implementing their own Eyes on AI recommendations to keep their work protected, including deferring to encrypted messaging platforms, sweeping their information from data brokers, and paying careful attention to how they move through public spaces.

"Young people have been used as lab rats by these companies," said Hunt. Gen Z For Changes wants to help the rats fight back.

Windows has a lot of random settings that most of us never dig our way to. For some of them, that's actually a good thing, and one of them is "Turn off write-cache buffer flushing."

In yet another teaser ahead of its official unveiling later this week, Nothing brought all four colors of the Nothing Phone 4a to MWC in Barcelona.

The choice of colors isn't surprising, given Nothing's previous color choices: black, white, and blue. However, for the 4a, the British brand is also introducing pink, a completely new color for the brand.

The phones were set behind glass, so I couldn't touch them, but I was still able to get a really good look at all four colors on offer.

Why do I have to be Mr. Pink? Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Pink is more pink-ish than actually pink, but it goes nicely with the company's trademark semi-naked design.

Can't go wrong with white. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

White is Nothing's bread and butter, and it looks awesome as ever, and blue is pretty nice option if you want something a bit more colorful. Finally, there's black which is...well, black.

For those who want that dark cyberpunk aesthetic, there's always black. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The company has been slowly leaking details about its upcoming event. Besides the Nothing Phone 4a, we'll also get a new pair of over-the-ear headphones called the Nothing Headphone (a).

SEE ALSO: Nothing teases Headphone (a) ahead of launch

We'll get all the details at the official reveal, which is happening on March 5, at 10:30 a.m. GMT (5:30 a.m. ET).

Mashable is reporting live from Mobile World Congress 2026, so keep checking back for the latest news and product launches from the event.

Motorola unveiled its new foldable smartphone, the Motorola Razr Fold, earlier this year at CES. Now, with Mobile World Congress 2026 underway, Motorola has picked the perfect time to make its foldable even more official with details and specs for the device.

Let's start off with what's powering Motorola's foldable. The Motorola Razr Fold will be equipped with Qualcomm's most powerful chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. The Snapdragon chip should be more than enough to handle Motorola's AI features, known as "moto ai." The foldable device will also have up to 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM, making it a true flagship device.

When it comes to its battery, the Motorola Razr Fold will likely have one of the most powerful batteries on the market, with a whopping 6000mAh battery. The company also boasts that the foldable can charge for 12 hours of life in 12 minutes. (When we reviewed the Motorola Razr Ultra last year, we were particularly impressed by its 24-hour+ battery life.)

Motorola Razr Fold Credit: Motorola SEE ALSO: Hands-on: Motorola unveils Razr Fold, a book-style foldable phone

But, of course, when it comes to foldables, the most important thing is its displays.

The Motorola Razr Fold has a 6.6-inch external display that can be used when the device is closed. However, when opened, the Motorola Razr Fold's display measures 8.1 inches. These measurements mean that the Motorola Razr Fold's display is bigger than even Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Google's Pixel 10 Pro Fold foldable offerings.

As for the device's thickness, the Motorola Razr Fold measures 4.6mm thick when it's open and 9.9mm thick when the foldable is closed.

Credit: Motorola

Camera-wise, the Motorola Razr Fold might also be one of the best smartphones coming to the market. The Motorola Razr Fold has three 50MP cameras: a 50MP Sony Lytia 828 main camera, a 50MP Sony Lytia 600 telephoto lens, and a 50MP ultrawide angle lens. When the foldable device is open, there's also a 32MP internal selfie camera and a 20MP external selfie camera for when the foldable is closed.

For comparison, the underwhelming Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold had notably weaker cameras than the standard Pixel 10 Pro. Of course, the Motorola Razr Fold will eventually have to compete with the rumored iPhone Fold, which we're hoping to see later this year. Samsung will likely release a new version of the Galaxy Z Fold later this year as well.

Unfortunately, there's no set launch date yet. Motorola's announcement only says that the Razr Fold will be released in the coming months. The company also declined to provide pricing aside from a bundle price in Europe, which comes with the Motorola Razr Fold and a smart stylus for the device called the Moto Pen Ultra for €1,999.

The Motorola Razr Fold will work with the Moto Pen stylus. Credit: Motorola

Modularity was one of the most exciting phone trends of the 2010s. It promised phones that would work like desktop PCs, allowing owners to upgrade individual components, add new functionalities, and replace broken parts with ease, improving longevity and ushering in a new, sustainable smartphone era.

Save $94.01: As of March 2, open-box Apple AirPods Pro 3 are available in excellent condition for $154.99 at Best Buy. That marks a 37% discount on the $249 full price of the earbuds, brand new.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple AirPods Pro 3 (open box, excellent condition) $154.99 at Best Buy
$249 Save $94.01   Get Deal

Considering that most premium noise-cancelling earbuds run for $299 and up these days, the $249 AirPods Pro are a surprisingly good value.

A good way to squeeze even more value from the Apple buds is grabbing them on sale. If you're willing to opt for an open box option, Best Buy currently offers the best deal possible: as of March 2, you can grab the Apple AirPods Pro 3 for just $154.99. That knocks an impressive $94.01 off their list price, for a pair of earbuds that look and work like new.

At the time of writing, a new version of the AirPods Pro 3 are on sale for $219. According to the price tracker camelcamelcamel, the lowest price they've ever hit is $184, making this open box option cheaper by nearly $30.

SEE ALSO: The 11 best noise-cancelling headphones we use, love, and recommend

So what makes the AirPods Pro 3 so great? For starters, they have excellent noise cancellation. Mashable contributor Adam Doud wrote in his review that popping in the buds had the effect of making it feel as if "nothing else in the world existed." Naturally, they also deliver on their sound quality, offering a relatively straightforward profile (not overly bass-heavy or thin), with spatial audio features. The five sizes of silicone ear tips help you get the best possible fit, while the eight hours of battery life per charge help prevent interrupted listening.

Beyond the average earbud experience, Pros offer features like live translation and heart rate monitoring, also making them a great option for traveling and working out.

There's no denying that Android modding isn't as big as it used to be. However, GrapheneOS is one of the most popular modern ROMs today, and it's only available for Pixel devices. That will soon finally change thanks to a new partnership with Motorola.

Home Assistant allows you to assign your own custom labels to areas, devices, entities, automations, and more. While they're a useful organizational tool, there are plenty of clever ways that you can use Home Assistant labels to do much more.

SAVE $100: The Apple iPad mini is on sale at Amazon for $399, down from the standard price of $499. That's a 20% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple iPad mini $399 at Amazon
$499 Save $100   Get Deal

Some shows deserve a screen larger than your phone. That's also true of every book title, since reading on a phone is never the best experience. A tablet is a much better contender for rewaching your comfort episodes and reading new books. If you're ready for an upgrade, check out this tablet deal at Amazon.

As of March 2, the Apple iPad mini (WiFi, 128GB) is on sale at Amazon for $399, down from the standard price of $499. That's a 20% discount that shaves $100 off the price. Note that if you're set on the Space Grey colorway, it'll come with majorly delayed shipping. Amazon is estimating a delivery date of early June to mid July, so it's possible they're going to space to secure this grey hue before shipping.

With an 8.3-inch display and a weight of 0.65 pounds, the iPad mini would like an invite to your spring break plans. It'll be great for plane entertainment, hotel reads, or creative doodling. Mashable considers the iPad mini to be the best iPad for reading thanks to its compact size and fast processing.

SEE ALSO: Apple just announced the new M4 iPad Air, coming March 4 for $599

Mashable Shopping Reporter Samantha Mangino wrote, "Tablets are an incredibly versatile device, but we all have our go-to use. If you, like me, use your iPad to read, you gotta go for the iPad mini. The other models, like the iPad Air, start at around 11 inches, which is a lot of screen when you just want to flip through your book." Plus, it's more versatile compared to a Kindle. You'll be able to reply to e-mails with the iPad mini, watch shows, manage your calendar, and plenty more.

Mashable Senior Editor Stan Schroeder went hands-on with the 7th generator iPad mini and commended it for its small size, AI compatibilities, and the large RAM increase compared to previous models. He wrote, "If you're new to the iPad, and you want the most compact one around (or any compact tablet), the new iPad mini 7 is the best choice."

While it's sitting at $399, snag the iPad mini and upgrade your streaming and reading sessions. Plus, it'll easily become the best travel companion.

UniFi has just revealed its new indoor and outdoor Wi-Fi access point, the U7 Mesh. It could be a great option for extending your network across yards and other large outdoor areas, though it has at least one glaring omission.

To close out Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, Colin Jost introduced the night's final guest: Punch the monkey's mom.

Not literally, of course. It was Sarah Sherman, in a bikini-fitted monkey costume, who portrayed the absentee mama as a trailer-trash harlot.

SEE ALSO: Connor Storrie settles a disagreement in 'SNL' skit

Sherman's "Mama Punch" immediately clarified that she didn’t abandon Punch-kun under tragic circumstances — she simply didn't want him. From there, the segment unfolded exactly how any Sarah Sherman Weekend Update appearance does. She rattled off a résumé of famous primates she's allegedly romanced — King Kong, Curious George — and proudly reminded the audience that she was, in her words, "Harambe’s last meal."

SEE ALSO: The internet demanded another Punch update. So here's how he's doing.

The whole bit felt like a Maury episode produced during a fever dream, or like stumbling onto WWF Raw Is War way too late on a Monday night.

Then Punch-kun himself showed up, played by Marcello Hernández, whose sheer cuteness cracked Sherman immediately. The two hugged. The audience cheered.

Love wins, I guess.

SAVE 25%: As of March 2, you can get the Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm) for just $299, down from $399, at Amazon. That's a 25% discount or $100 savings.

Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm) $299 at Amazon
$399 Save $100   See It at Amazon

The Apple Watch Series 11 is a Mashable Choice Award winner (we only give this award to the best of the best tech that we test) for one reason: its extended battery life. And right now, it's $100 off.

SEE ALSO: Can the Apple Watch Series 11 actually support marathon training?

As of March 2, you can get the Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm) for just $299, down from $399, at Amazon. That's a 25% discount or $100 savings. Even better, according to our trusted price tracker CamelCamelCamel, this is the lowest price we've tracked to date.

While it features the usual perks like an Always-On display, water resistance, and fitness tracking, our Senior Editor Stan Schroeder says its longer battery life makes it worth buying even if you have the Apple Watch Series 10. "After nearly a full week of use, I can say that the Apple Watch Series 11 is easily a one-and-a-half-day smartwatch now, and it's possible to extend that to a full weekend if you carefully use Low Power mode," he writes.

Do you have a NAS that you hate the operating system on? It actually might be easier then you think to replace the stock OS with whatever modern option you prefer.