Philips Hue’s budget-friendly Essential starter kit has hit a new low price
Although most of Prime Day’s unusually good Philips Hue deals have ended, a few remain, and some, including the black Philips Hue Twilight Sleep and Wake-Up Light, are even cheaper. None, however, have fallen to a new all-time low price like Philips Hue’s Essential starter kit. Right now, you can buy a bundle containing four white and color E26 bulbs and a Hue Bridge for $79.99 ($40 off) at Amazon. Since that’s the same price as the two-bulb Essential starter kit, it’s like getting two bulbs for free.
Philips Hue Essential starter kit,
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Each of the color-changing bulbs can display millions of colors or tunable white light ranging from a warm 2200K to a cooler 6500K, while producing up to 800 lumens of brightness. The Hue app also offers a preset lighting scenes for everything from movie nights to the holidays, though you can also create your own. Meanwhile, the included Hue Bridge lets you control the lights when you’re away from home, create schedules, connect up to 50 lights throughout your home, and set automations so they can, for instance, turn on automatically when you arrive home. It also allows you to control the lights through all the major smart home platforms, thanks to Matter compatibility.
As Philips Hue budget-friendly kits, there are a few premium features they lack that are worth mentioning. Most notably, the bulbs only dim to two percent instead of 0.2 percent. Philips Hue also doesn’t guarantee they’ll match the color accuracy of its flagship bulbs across generations. If you’re simply looking to fill your home with colorful smart lighting at a reasonable price, though, those differences may not matter much to you.
Plex is down
Plex services have been experiencing some major issues today, with multiple users reporting problems on Plex's forums and on Reddit. Many people use Plex as a way to stream shows and movies they host locally, but users are upset because today's problems are reportedly affecting their ability to do that.
"Basically all Plex is down unless you can play locally over LAN and even that takes ages and doesn't always work," said one user. Users have also reported problems with matching content on their servers.
For me, the Plex TV website has loaded slowly, though while writing this story, it's started to load more reliably.
Plex has confirmed i …
Nintendo’s Switch 2 bundle that includes a game is $50 off
Discounts on the Nintendo Switch 2 are rare, but they do happen on occasion. There’s one happening now, actually, on the company’s $499.99 console bundle that includes a digital game (Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, or Pokémon Pokopia). Usually, the bundle saves you $20 or $30, depending on the game you choose, but for $449.99 at Amazon, Nintendo is effectively giving you a game for free.
If you’re considering grabbing a Switch 2, I highly recommend doing so now. The biggest motivator (aside from its great selection of new games and near-complete compatibility with original Switch games) is that the console will get a price hike in September, going from $449.99 to $499.99. Also, it’s not clear if it will continue to include a discounted game with purchase at that point. So, you’re getting more value at $449.99 here than ever before.
Meta accused of using biased AI targeting for mass layoffs
A group of 26 former Meta employees is suing the company over claims that it used AI tools to unfairly target workers on leave with layoffs, as reported earlier by Reuters. In the lawsuit, the employees allege Meta determined which workers to dismiss based on performance data collected by a "constellation" of internal AI tools, but failed to exclude those on parental or medical leave from its ranking system:
The result was that employees who took protected leaves were disproportionately selected for layoff, based on scoring that not only failed to account for their protected leaves, but in effect penalized the employees for exercising thei …
Boston Dynamics tries using ‘robot dogs’ for deliveries
Boston Dynamics' robotic quadruped Spot has already found work doing routine factory inspections and patrolling the ruins of Pompeii, but what about deliveries? The company is testing a new conveyor belt accessory that allows Spot to carry packages from a vehicle and autonomously unload them on a customer's doorstep in an effort to reduce a delivery driver's workload.
While attempts have already been made to expedite and automate deliveries using wheeled robots or aerial drones, humans are still the most efficient way to navigate obstacles like stairs or cluttered pathways in order to get packages from a truck to a doorstep. A demo video s …
Sony delays its new PS5 fight stick
Sony is delaying the launch of its FlexStrike fight stick controller for PS5 and PC, which had been set to launch on August 6th, to an unspecified date in the future. The company blames the delayed launch on "unexpected production delays." The original planned launch of the FlexStrike would have lined up with the release date of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, a Marvel-themed fighting game developed by Arc System Works that PlayStation is publishing.
"We wanted to share an update on the launch timing for FlexStrike wireless fight stick," Sony says in an update to a PlayStation blog post about the controller and other accessories. "Due to unex …
Nomad’s high-end phone accessories are up to 30 percent off
Premium phone accessory maker Nomad is celebrating its anniversary with discounts on its entire catalog of products. The sale will knocks off up to thirty percent off usual prices and will run through July 20th. We found some particularly good deals from the sale we’d like to draw your attention to.
Its Leather Mag Wallet has built-in Find My tracking for Apple users, and is $89 (usually $99) in brown and black, or $99 (usually $109) for the limited edition “olde dublin” color scheme. If you’re looking for a card-sized tracker, its Find My-compatible tracking card is $41 (usually $45) in black, white, or orange. The Stand One can wirelessly charge your Qi2-enabled iPhone and AirPods, and is discounted to $103 (usually $129) for silver and carbide, or $111 (usually $139) for the orange model. Its unique Stratos band for Apple Watch that combines titanium and rubber is twenty percent off, bringing the price down to $167 from $209.
Nomad Leather Mag Wallet
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Nomad Stand One
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Nomad Tracking Card Pro
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More deals to consider
- Costco members can grab the Ninja Creami Deluxe with three 24oz containers for $149.99, a $40 discount from the usual price at other retailers. The countertop ice cream maker is popular thanks to its versatility and ease of use, with a huge community that shares recipes for both healthy and indulgent frozen treats. By freezing your ingredients ahead of time, you can have freshly made ice cream or frozen yogurt in just a few minutes. The Deluxe version supports the larger 24oz containers, and has more modes than the regular Creami that’s $50 more at Amazon.
- The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE are discounted to $89.99 in gray at Amazon, the lowest price we’ve seen yet. The budget-friendly wireless earbuds have active noise-canceling and transparency modes, quick access to Gemini or Galaxy AI, and instant pairing with Samsung Galaxy phones. Samsung claims the Buds 3 FE will run for up to six hours on a single charge with ANC on, or 8.5 hours with ANC off, with enough juice in the charging case for up to 30 total hours.
- The Nothing Phone 3 is back down to its all-time low price at Amazon. The model with 256GB of storage and 12GB of memory is selling for $599 in white and black, while the upgraded model with 512GB of storage and 16GB of memory is selling for $699 (usually $899) in white and black. This unique phone stands out with its eye-catching aesthetic and impressive battery life, but the camera and the performance fall a bit short of other flagships that released around the same time like the Samsung Galaxy S25. Read our review.
The OLED Xbox Ally X20 is so good, Asus will sell it solo
When I first told you about the "OLED Xbox Ally X of my dreams," I had to curb my enthusiasm a bit. That's partly because I hadn't yet tried the handheld myself, and partly because Asus was only planning to sell it bundled with a pair of expensive AR glasses! I'm happy to say both things are no longer true.
Asus will sell a standalone version of the OLED Ally as well, spokesperson Anthony Spence confirms to The Verge. "We are actively discussing the release schedule for a standalone version of the new Ally. Please stay tuned for upcoming announcements."
And after spending two hours with the OLED Ally at the company's California offices, I …
The Google Images homepage will recommend photos even before you search
Google is announcing a big change to the Google Images homepage in honor of the platform's 25th anniversary this week. Instead of a mostly blank page with a search bar, the homepage will soon show you a bunch of images that it thinks you might like before you even start searching.
The company says the new "browseable" homepage features a "dynamic, immersive gallery of images from across the web - updated in real time and intelligently tailored to your unique interests." Based on images Google has shared, the layout reminds me of platforms like Pinterest and Imgur that stuff a lot of images in one place for you to scroll through. You'll also …
Spotify is now an AI chatbot, too
Spotify is experimenting with a new AI feature that allows Premium subscribers to play and explore music, audiobooks, and podcasts by having conversations with a chatbot. The "Talk to Spotify" feature appears across the Home and Now Playing view on Spotify's mobile app. You can interact with the chatbot by typing your request in the familiar AI text box, or by selecting the mic symbol and speaking.
Amazon Music introduced a similar feature last year when it integrated Alexa Plus into the service. Spotify's chatbot goes a step beyond providing AI-powered recommendations and general trivia, however, because it references your playlists, favor …