Technology
Sony’s XM5 headphones and the latest Kindle round out this week’s best deals
If you’re feeling the stress of having procrastinated on your holiday shopping — and you missed out during Black Friday and Cyber Monday — we’ve got you. We’ve found a variety of gadgets on sale that make for great gifts, many of which will ship in time for the holidays. One of the standouts is the current promo on Sony’s noise-canceling WH-1000XM5 headphones, which are on sale with a free pair of wireless earbuds. Other deals you may have missed include steep discounts on Amazon’s latest entry-level Kindle and the new Echo Dot Max.
Sony’s last-gen WH-1000XM5 have consistently impressed us with their audio quality, active noise cancellation, and comfort. And right now, Amazon is offering them with a free pair of Sony’s WF-C700N earbuds for $248 ($152 off). The headphones have an updated design that includes a thinner headband, more memory foam in the ear pads, and repositioned mics that reduce wind noise when taking calls. These changes didn’t add much weight, and the headphones still get 30 hours of playtime with ANC enabled.
The XM5 sounded “more refined, detailed, and spacious” in our tests, but we noticed less oomph when listening to EDM or hip-hop tracks with a lot of bass. The headphones have eight microphones, four of which are for voice, and their excellent noise reduction on calls was immediately noticeable, even in louder environments. The $89.99 WF-C700N, meanwhile, are a midrange pair of noise-canceling earbuds with an IPX4 rating, up to seven and a half hours of battery life (with ANC enabled), and a slim design.
Amazon’s 11th-gen Kindle is our favorite budget-friendly e-reader, and you can pick up the ad-supported version for $89.99 ($20 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target. The entry-level ebook reader features a six-inch 300ppi E Ink display that won’t show glare from the sun like your phone or tablet. It has enough storage space to hold thousands of books, or dozens of audiobooks from Audible, the latter of which you can play via Bluetooth headphones or speakers.
The Kindle’s built-in battery lasts up to six weeks, depending on how long you read per day and how reliant you are on its backlight, and recharges over USB-C. It has the same screen resolution and storage as the step-up Kindle Paperwhite, but it’s not waterproof, which may matter if you like to read at the beach or in the bath.
Amazon’s last-minute “Super Saturday” sale is underway, though, we’d argue some of the better deals are actually some the lingering discounts we’re seeing on Amazon’s own devices, many of which have been effect for several weeks. Right now, for instance, you can grab the new Echo Dot Max at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target for $79.99 ($20 off), which is the best price we’ve seen on the smart speaker since it launched.
Despite the name, the Dot Max is less of a follow up to the Echo Dot as it is the fourth-gen Echo from 2020. It’s got a compact knit fabric design, simpler controls, a better processor, and more smart home sensors and radios than prior models (it offers support for Matter, Thread, and Zigbee protocols). It still sounds great for its size, though, and like prior models, it can function as an Wi-Fi extender if you’re looking buoy a Eero mesh network. It’s also one of the first devices to offer Amazon’s AI-powered Alexa Plus out of the box, which, while still very much a work in progress, is a step in the right direction.
Technology
Godzilla Minus Zero stomps through New York in first teaser trailer
*insert Godzilla screeching sound* Here’s the very first look at the next big kaiju feature. Godzilla Minus Zero will continue the story of 2023’s Godzilla Minus One, which returned the franchise to the more grounded tone established in the original film, and while the new teaser trailer doesn’t show a whole lot, it suggests some big things for the series.
Minus Zero is set in 1949, two years after the first movie, “and continues the story of the Shikishima family as they face an all-new calamity,” according to the official logline. Apparently that includes shifting the setting from Tokyo to New York, as we see Godzilla right next to the Statue of Liberty. Stars Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe will be reprising their roles, while director Takashi Yamazaki — who is also making a giant robot movie called Grandgear — will once again be helming the film. Toho also says that Minus Zero will be the first Japanese movie filmed for IMAX.
It’s a busy time for the world’s most famous kaiju, who will also be appearing in the next entry in Legendary’s monsterverse with Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, and is currently featured in the Apple TV series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Godzilla Minus Zero, meanwhile, hits theaters on November 6th.
Technology
Why your home Wi-Fi needs more than just a strong password
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If you’ve locked down your home Wi-Fi with a strong password, you’re already ahead of the game. But here’s the reality: a password alone isn’t enough to keep your online activity private.
Most people think of Wi-Fi security as simply keeping strangers off their network. And while that matters, it’s only part of the picture. Even with a secure password, your internet activity can still be visible to others in ways you might not expect.
A Wi-Fi password keeps people out, but it does not hide what happens inside your connection.
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DO YOU NEED A VPN AT HOME? HERE ARE 10 REASONS YOU DO
A strong Wi-Fi password can keep intruders off your network, but it does not stop others from seeing what you do online. A VPN adds encryption and helps protect your privacy. (trumzz/Getty Images)
Who can still see your data?
When you connect to the internet at home, your internet service provider (ISP) can see a surprising amount of what you do online. That can include the websites you visit, how long you spend on them and sometimes even more detailed activity.
In some cases, that data can be:
- Logged and stored
- Shared with third parties
- Used to build advertising profiles
And it’s not just your ISP. Websites, apps, big tech companies, governments and data brokers are constantly collecting information about your behavior, often without you realizing it. Think of it this way: your password locks the front door, but once your data leaves your house, it can still be exposed along the way. That’s where a VPN comes in.
How a VPN adds real privacy
A virtual private network (VPN) creates a secure, encrypted tunnel between your device and the internet. That means your data is scrambled before it leaves your home network, making it much harder for anyone to see what you’re doing online.
In addition, connecting to a VPN server gives you a new IP address, so your online activity can’t be easily traced back to you. This makes it harder for advertisers, social networks and scammers to construct behavioral profiles, which can be used to target you with things like phishing attacks.
With a VPN:
- Your browsing activity is hidden from your ISP
- Your IP address is masked, making tracking more difficult
- Your connection is encrypted, even on everyday home Wi-Fi
SPRING CLEAN YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT: WHY RETIREES ARE SCAM TARGETS
Even on protected home Wi-Fi, your ISP and other companies may still see parts of your online activity. (Liudmila Chernetska/Getty Images)
Many VPN services are popular for their speed, simplicity and overall feature sets. This becomes even more important if you ever use public Wi-Fi, where your data is far more exposed.
What does this mean in practice?
For starters, most VPN services are easy to use. They offer apps for nearly every device imaginable, including options that work directly with routers. These apps are straightforward to set up and configure.
Once running, a single click or tap is all it takes to change your virtual location, mask your IP address and encrypt your connection. High-speed servers mean they don’t fall into the trap of slowing you down. In many cases, using a VPN can even provide more consistent, reliable speeds.
With a more anonymous IP address, your ISP is also less able to throttle (cap) your connection speeds, as some providers do.
Setting up a VPN on your router protects every device in your home automatically, including smart TVs, gaming consoles and other connected devices.
Many VPN providers now go beyond basic protection and offer additional privacy tools. These can include password managers, email protection, identity monitoring and even private AI tools designed to keep your data more secure.
In short, it’s no longer just about securing your connection. It’s about protecting your entire digital footprint.
A smarter way to protect your home network
Your home Wi-Fi is the gateway to everything you do: online banking, shopping, working and staying connected. Relying on just a password is like locking your door but leaving the curtains wide open.
Adding a VPN gives you an extra layer of privacy that works quietly in the background while enhancing every corner of your digital life.
It’s about being prepared, sure. But it’s also about peace of mind.
5 SIMPLE TECH TIPS TO IMPROVE DIGITAL PRIVACY
A secure password protects your router, but not necessarily your digital footprint. Using a VPN can help keep your browsing, IP address and home network more private. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Ways to protect your privacy beyond a password
- Use a VPN on your home network and public Wi-Fi
- Enable automatic updates on all your devices
- Use strong, unique passwords and consider a password manager
- Turn on two-factor authentication (2FA) whenever possible
- Limit app permissions and review privacy settings regularly
For the best VPN software, see my expert review of the best VPNs for browsing the web privately on your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices at CyberGuy.com.
Kurt’s key takeaways
A strong password is a smart first step, but it only protects who gets onto your network, not what happens to your data after it leaves. Your internet activity still passes through systems designed to track, analyze and sometimes profit from it. Adding a VPN shifts the balance back in your favor by encrypting your connection and limiting how much others can see. It is a simple upgrade that turns basic security into real privacy, without changing how you use the internet day to day.
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Where should we draw the line between staying connected and staying private? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Technology
A sleek, wearable airbag for cyclists is nearly here
What you’re looking at is a new airbag system integrated directly into a “race-ready” skinsuit, not bolted on like other solutions. It was developed for road cyclists by Van Rysel, with the help of airbag technology specialist In&motion. It’s currently being tested on pro riders ahead of a general consumer release sometime “within the next two years.”
Its development comes after the UCI, pro cycling’s governing body, put out a call in February seeking gear that could help protect riders traveling faster than ever.
The current version is in final validation ahead of potential race deployment. It has a total weight of about 700 grams (500 grams for the airbag components), making it significantly lighter than airbag systems worn in MotoGP, says Van Rysel. And like the proven MotoGP solutions, Van Rysel’s Airbag deploys in just 60 milliseconds after its impact-detection algorithm senses that something has gone horribly wrong.
The skinsuit is design to be aerodynamic and to dissipate heat, with abrasion-resistant materials used to help reduce the risk of road rash and other surface-level skin injuries. The Airbag deploys to protect areas of the upper body not covered by a helmet, including the central core, cervical zone, and spinal line. More extensive protection will be explored in the future.
“Behind every race number, there’s a human being and sadly it is still widely accepted that a rider can lose everything in a fraction of a second due to a crash,” says Van Rysel product manager Jocelyn Bar. “What helmets represented 20 years ago, we think Airbag can represent today, but now, we’re looking beyond the head, we need to protect as much of the body as we can.”
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