More stories

  • in

    The best Best Buy Black Friday in July 2025 deals so far

    When is Best Buy’s Black Friday in July 2025? Best Buy’s Black Friday in July will run from July 7 to July 13, 2025. However, some sales may still linger after the closing date. Are tech items really cheaper during Best Buy’s Black Friday in July? The short answer is yes. There are a few cases where retailers inflate normal prices to make it look like sales are better than they are. However, there are lots of deals that are worth the purchase and are great offers to snag. At ZDNET, we make sure all the deals we round up don’t seem sketchy, so you can get the most bang for your buck.How did we choose these Prime Day deals?We at ZDNET only write about the deals that we would want to take advantage of, whether that’s a new hot product or one that’s kept a secure spot on our best lists. As deal experts, we make sure to find deals that cut the price 20% or more, or for products we rarely see on sale, while using price comparison tools to ensure that anybody’s money is well spent. When we don’t have expert advice, we use customer reviews and online forums so we know real people are enjoying and using the said product that’s on sale. And with ZDNET’s very own lab space, we make sure to deliver deals on products that performed the best. Our goal is to help you shop smarter with the best advice and context possible.  More

  • in

    Get the Samsung Galaxy Watch6 Classic for up to $210 off on Amazon

    We aim to deliver the most accurate advice to help you shop smarter. ZDNET offers 33 years of experience, 30 hands-on product reviewers, and 10,000 square feet of lab space to ensure we bring you the best of tech. In 2025, we refined our approach to deals, developing a measurable system for sharing savings with readers like you. Our editor’s deal rating badges are affixed to most of our deal content, making it easy to interpret our expertise to help you make the best purchase decision.At the core of this approach is a percentage-off-based system to classify savings offered on top-tech products, combined with a sliding-scale system based on our team members’ expertise and several factors like frequency, brand or product recognition, and more. The result? Hand-crafted deals are chosen specifically for ZDNET readers like you, fully backed by our experts. Also: How we rate deals at ZDNET in 2025 More

  • in

    Open-source skills can save your career when AI comes knocking

    Liudmyla Lishchyshyna/Getty Are you panicked by headlines like ‘Why this leading AI CEO is warning that tech could cause mass unemployment’ and ‘AI’s impact on the job market is ‘inevitable’? My advice is chill.  While there is a big shift in jobs coming, it’s not as scary-sounding as you might fear. At the Open Source […] More

  • in

    Storms and bad weather? How to prep your tech ahead of possible emergencies

    Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETThe 2025 hurricane season is underway, and while so far things have been surprisingly quiet, this could — and probably will — change. And if you happen to find yourself in the path or in surrounding areas of an, then it’s time to take things seriously and get your tech ready for whatever Mother Nature has in store.Also: 5 hurricane-tracking appsHow to prep your tech for bad weatherWhat you need: I detail what you’ll need in the steps below, but it’s basically all the essentials. That includes power banks and cables, flashlights or lanterns, waterproof bags, spare batteries, a first-aid kit and fire extinguisher, warm hats and gloves, emergency food and snacks, power station or jump starter, multitool, emergency radio or SOS beacon, and a waterproof drive. Also, bookmark reliable forecast sites or install a weather app, and practice with every bit of gear now so you’re not learning under pressure.Home kitThe essentialsAlso: The 5 brightest flashlightsThings that are nice to haveAlso: The 5 best portable power stationsCar kitThe essentialsThings that are nice to haveAlso: The best portable jump starters More

  • in

    I swapped my favorite JBL speaker for this new Bose, and it’ll be hard to give it up

    <!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Bose SoundLink Plus is available in Black, Blue Dusk, and Citrus Yellow for $269. For its relatively small size, this speaker offers big bass, great sound, and plenty of features for outdoor adventures. You can find speakers with similar audio output and even more software features for less money. –> […] More

  • in

    Got an old Kindle? How to resurrect it from the dead with fresh ebooks

    Amazon / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETEarly 2025 was a tough time for Kindle fans. Also: The best Kindles of 2025: Expert tested and reviewedOn Feb. 26, 2025, Amazon disabled the ability to download Kindle book files to your computer. While Kindle books will no longer be available for your old devices after next week, you can upload EPUB (with a workaround) and mobi files. Here’s how to do that. Of course, it all starts with a storyAs a tech professional, there are many things I know because I know them. But I also learn things because it’s my job to fix the tech problems around the house. In this case, my wife had performed a factory reset on her cherished Kindle DX, which she purchased almost exactly ten years ago. After the reset, she couldn’t get any of her books to download.She wanted to clean the Kindle of all its cruft. Every book she ever bought, up until the last time she powered up the machine, had been on that device before the reset. She thought a factory reset would be the fastest way to start with a clean slate. It was indeed a clean slate. All that was left was a dictionary and user guide, both installed as part of the reset process. She couldn’t download anything else she wanted on it. Also: This simple Kindle accessory has seriously upgraded my reading experience – and it’s on saleI don’t use Kindles nearly as much as she does. I have one entry-level Kindle, which I read in the biologitorium, but that’s about it. I like keeping a Kindle there because it’s always available and nearly always has enough charge for bio-break sessions. As for my wife’s Kindle DX issue, it took a bit of Googling to figure out that the DX never supported Wi-Fi. The device did, however, come with full-time 3G cellular support, which is how she had loaded books on it throughout the years. Read that last paragraph and note that I’m writing this article in 2025, not 2014.  In 2014, we had 3G. By 2025, most of the major carriers in the US have shut down their 3G networks. Amazon has also phased out support of 3G More