Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 is $300 off ahead of Black Friday
Android fans with a bit of iPhone Duo envy, take note: The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is discounted to $1,599.99 at both Amazon and Best Buy, a hefty $300 markdown from its usual price, and just $50 higher than the lowest we’ve seen. Considering the device only launched a few months ago, you’re saving a significant amount of cash on the unlocked device, and you can also opt for the 512GB model, doubling the storage, for just $200 more (Amazon, Best Buy). Best Buy currently has all three colors in stock, while the 256GB model is currently sold out on Amazon in cream.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8
Where to Buy:
The shorter and wider passport-style shape (similar to the iPhone Duo) quickly became natural and comfortable to handle, according to our reviewer Dominic Preston’s experience with the Z Fold 8. Despite its thin and light construction, it doesn’t skimp on battery life, with a 4,800mAh battery that still had 40 percent charge remaining after a full day of use. The interior 4:3 screen has the same ratio as most Apple iPads, which is great for watching movies or TV, but even better for reading. There’s no telephoto lens on this model (it’s present on the pricier Z Fold 8 Ultra), and it only has an IP48 rating, so you’ll want to be careful near the beach, but those are small compromises to make given the discounted price.
Read our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 review.
Other deals to consider
- Both Amazon and Best Buy are selling the Beats Pill for a discounted $99.95 and $99.99 respectively, a sizable break from the usual $149.99 price point. The 2024 edition of this iconic Bluetooth speaker adds in lossless audio over USB-C, as well as native feature support for both iOS and Android devices. It’s rated IP67 for dust and water resistance, and comes in three different colors to match your other Beats devices. Read our review.
- The Ring Battery Doorbell 2K is on sale for $39.99 at Amazon, over half off its $99.99 list price. This battery-powered doorbell camera is easy to install, and shoots clear 2K resolution video with a 140-degree field of view and up to 6X digital zoom. You’ll get real-time notifications on your phone for any activity the camera spots, with live view and two-way talk in case you need to have a chat with your neighbors or delivery folks without coming to the front door.
- You can pick up the Lego Star Wars: Ahsoka Chopper set for just $66.99 at Amazon, the lowest price we’ve seen yet for this 1,039-piece building kit. This brick-based droid has great play features, like detachable arms and center wheel for different display positions, and a head that spins and bobs realistically. It stands at over 8.5 inches when fully built, making it a fun addition to your existing Lego display or bookshelf.
Muse has a voice mode now
Meta now lets you have voice conversations with your Muse AI agent in real time, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced today.
The feature has been rolled out to me, and I gave it a spin on the iOS app while writing this article. As you chat with your Muse agent, the avatar at the top of your conversation animates in time with the words that it's saying. You can also change the tone of the voice by just asking your agent about what you want and letting it decide or by browsing through a bunch of options in the avatar settings.
In my brief tests, my Muse agent responds quickly over voice, though it occasionally pauses while it's looking up infor …
EA is bringing 25 classic PC games to Steam
Electronic Arts is launching 25 classic games on Steam, including "Anniversary Editions" of the motorcycle racer Road Rash and six Wing Commander titles. These Anniversary Editions preserve "the original look, feel and creative intent of the game" but also have quality-of-life updates to support modern systems and controls and improve performance, according to EA.
The seven new editions were "inspired" by the discovery of a "physical media vault" with "thousands" of Betacam, VHS, and D1 tapes and "other media assets," EA says. As part of the digitization process, EA was able to recover master FMV sequences and reedited them to restore more …
Claude AI can plug directly into your bank account
Anthropic has a new pitch for managing your personal finances: let Claude do it instead, with a new Personal Finance feature that connects it to your bank and card accounts via the Plaid bank bridging platform. You can ask the chatbot "where did my money go this month," for example, and it'll create an overview with a breakdown of spending by category, including rent and utilities, shopping, and food. Claude can also answer broader questions around what bills are left before your next payday, if you can afford big purchases like holiday trips, and how much money you could be saving each month.
Its access is read-only, and with Plaid facilit …
‘Total repudiation’: The blue wave is about to hit AI
On Tuesday night, Democrats made history as they took control of the House and the Senate, and a blue wave swept through traditionally red and swing states - with the nation's first Black woman governor elected in Georgia, the country's first Native American woman governor elected in New Mexico, and a Maine Senator ceding to a Democrat after 30 years in office. In these and other campaigns, one theme kept coming up: holding AI companies accountable to the American people. Now, the AI industry is left considering the prospect of regulation, data center construction slowdowns, and more.
Publicly, most major AI company CEOs have remained silen …
Ember’s smallest self-heating mug is on sale for just $33
We’ve been fans of Ember’s temperature-controlled mugs for years, though given the price tag, we admit that they’re somewhat of a luxury purchase. Thankfully, if you’ve been looking for a more affordable option, Woot is selling the Ember Cup in black for $32.99 ($67 off) with a 90-day warranty through November 7th. You can potentially save even more as part of Woot’s larger Home and Kitchen Sale, which lets you save an additional $20 off orders of $100 or more when you use code COOK at checkout.
Granted, six ounces isn’t much, but the smaller, handle-free cup is well-suited for cappuccinos, cortados, flat whites, and other espresso-based drinks. It’s also a perfectly fine option if you don’t mind refilling your cup of coffee, cocoa, or tea throughout the day. I’m actually tempted to pick one up myself at this price, especially since I’ve been trying (with varying degrees of success) to cut back on coffee.
Like Ember’s larger mugs, the smart cup lets you choose and set your drinking temperature between 120 and 145 degrees Fahrenheit using a companion app, then remembers your setting for future drinks. It can then maintain that temperature for up to 95 minutes on a charge, up to four hours with a lid, or even all day if you leave it on the included charging dock. The cup also automatically enters sleep mode after two hours of inactivity to conserve power. Just keep in mind that, despite its IPX7 water-resistance rating, the cup is hand-wash only.
TikTok launched a dedicated TikTok Shop app
TikTok has released a standalone app for TikTok Shop in a few countries, as spotted by social media consultant Matt Navarra. According to its App Store listing, the TikTok Shop app offers:
- Personalized picks inspired by your interests
- LIVE streams & short videos to see products in action
- App-only deals, free shipping offers & exclusive first-order benefits that make every order feel worth it
- Secure payments for safe checkout
- Easy order tracking & 24/7 support from purchase to delivery
But it appears the app, which is also available on Android, hasn't launched widely yet. Navarra says it's currently listed in Singa …
Nintendo says it’s not planning another Switch 2 price hike
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said during the company's latest earnings call that it's "not considering additional changes" to the Switch 2's price, Reuters reports. The Switch 2 got a $50 price hike earlier this year, bringing its starting price up to $499. Nintendo said in Thursday's earnings report that Switch 2 sales have dropped 37.4 percent year-over-year.
According to Reuters, Furukawa also gave an update on the RAM shortage, saying, "There has been no major change to the memory situation and Nintendo is in a position to secure sufficient quantities."
Earlier this week, one of Nintendo's Switch 2 cartridge suppliers announced …
The FAA is finally ditching floppy disks
It's the year 2026 and the Federal Aviation Administration is still running critical pieces of American airspace on 3.5-inch magnetic floppy disks.
But those technology artifacts could be headed for the dustbin after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced an effort to ditch floppy disks in favor of a new digital system.
Duffy announced Thursday that the FAA is rolling out the Enterprise - Information Display System (E-IDS) to replace four legacy setups across more than 400 air traffic control facilities. E-IDS aggregates real-time weather alerts, equipment outages, restricted airspace changes, and pilot reports onto a modern digit …
Grimes is going to star in an AI movie that’s coming to theaters
The AI-generated sci-fi film Gods Don't Give Gifts has added a bit of star power: Pop star Grimes is going to appear in the movie. Billed as "the first AI film to come to theatres," Gods Don't Give Gifts is a notable test case for the commercial potential of AI films, and it releases on December 4th. Grimes - who will be lending both her likeness and vocal performance to the movie, which you can see in the clip above - potentially gives the project some legitimacy.
AI studio Fable, which is producing the film, claimed in a press release that "casting the likeness of an actor with their spoken vocal performance will become more common with a …