Robotics

The problem with Apple products — including MacBooks, iPads, and Apple Watches — is that they usually carry a hefty price tag and are rarely on sale. And with Black Friday and holiday sales in the rearview, you may be thinking you’ve missed out on a chance to save. But there are always deals and discounts, even outside of sales events, if you know where to look. Apple frequently refreshes its product ranges — one of the latest being the iPad lineup — and this can open the path to discounts in the form of new, promotional deals for the latest gadgets alongside price reductions for older designs as retailers seek to move old stock. Typically, third-party retailers such as Walmart, Best Buy, Newegg, B&H Photo, and Amazon are the best places to find a discount on many Apple products. Also: The best phones you can buy (and how the OnePlus 13 stacks up)Below, you’ll find the best sales and discounts on several Apple products, including MacBooks, Apple Watch, AirPods, and more for the month of January.Best Apple deals of January 2025  More

Maria Diaz/ZDNETWhat’s the deal? The Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro More

Lemon8 and TikTok are two very different apps that serve different audiences. TikTok is a short-form video platform first, and its algorithm is great at showing users the content they want to see.Lemon8, on the other hand, is a photo-first platform. Additionally, the app heavily focuses on aesthetically pleasing lifestyle content, like fashion, makeup, skincare, and travel. In my experience using both apps, TikTok appeals to a more general audience — anyone can go on TikTok and find creators and content they’re interested in, even if it’s a niche topic. Also: The one feature Bluesky really needsLemon8’s user base consists mostly of young women who use the app as a visual blog. You won’t find content about sports, history, current events, or anything else. I kept Lemon8 downloaded on my phone for about a week before I realized the app wasn’t for me.Of course, every app has its pitfalls in the beginning. When it was first created, TikTok was an app for lip-syncing and dancing, but over the years, it’s become a completely different platform. If TikTok goes under, a similar transformation could happen on Lemon8 — if it doesn’t get banned first. More

Jason Hiner/ZDNETThe hottest trend in the wearables market is smart rings, health trackers worn discreetly around your finger. Although Samsung just unveiled its take on the trend  — the Galaxy Ring — this past July, a successor may be announced at the company’s Unpacked event on Wednesday, Jan. 22. A report from DigiTimes reveals that the Galaxy Ring 2 will be launched at Samsung Unpacked 2025, the company’s annual hardware launch event. Building on its predecessor, the second-generation ring will feature an improved battery life of up to seven days, more accurate health data sensors, two new sizes, and improved AI, according to the report. Also: Why Oura Ring 4 is ZDNET’s product of the yearThese upgrades are set to improve the Galaxy Ring’s position as an Oura Ring competitor, which has dominated the smart ring market since its launch in 2015. Alongside more sizes, longer battery, and more accurate health data capture, there are a few other new features I’d like to see in the second-gen smart ring for it to compete with the Oura Ring 4. NFC payment functionality The Samsung Galaxy Watch already has a near-field communication payment functionality that enables users to tap their smartwatch like a credit card to pay. While we haven’t seen major smart ring brands roll out an NFC functionality with their rings, such technology exists in one smart ring brand overseas. The European brand Mclear offers a smart ring whose primary function is NFC payments. Now could be the time for Samsung to add NFC payments, alongside Samsung and Google Pay compatibility, to its smart ring for an extra layer of convenience and a unique (for now) feature competitors like Oura and Ultrahuman don’t have. Also: How to use Google Wallet — and why you shouldSleep apnea detectionLast February, Samsung gained FDA clearance for its sleep apnea detection. Unfortunately, that clearance only applied to its smartwatches, so the Galaxy Ring missed the cut. Wearables track sleep apnea, an often undiagnosed and untreated condition, by monitoring a user’s blood oxygen levels during periods of rest. Sleep apnea detection is one of those features smart rings and smartwatches do well — and it’s a major reason why people who snore in their sleep buy such technology. For these reasons, the second-gen smart ring could benefit from more refined sleep apnea detection integration, and its ring wearers could gain more clarity and insight into their breathing patterns during rest. Also: The best sleep headphones of 2025: Expert testedDigital sizingI can’t stop thinking about Circular’s digital sizing feature unveiled during CES earlier this month. Instead of sending along a sizing kit to prospective ring wearers who size themselves before picking and receiving their own ring, Circular’s digital sizing uses a smartphone camera to determine the size of your smart ring. It’s like your phone’s ruler application that can measure the length of something by using the phone’s camera. This digital sizing eliminates the extra step it takes to get the smart ring from the manufacturer into the hands of the owner — and I couldn’t be more for it. If Samsung wants to be in lockstep with competitors, it will take some notes from Circular and implement such a sizing process into its own smart ring. Also: Circular’s digital sizing may have solved smart rings’ biggest pain point iOS compatibilityThis probably will never happen, but can’t a girl dream? For now, the smart ring is only usable for Android phone owners, so iPhone owners are missing out. But what if the smart ring was iOS compatible…? More

Kerry Wan/ZDNETGoogle has been beefing up the skills and scope of its Gemini AI, though it’s still playing second, third, and even fourth fiddle to other AI bots. On Thursday, a Wall Street Journal story shared details on the popularity of Gemini AI and Google’s struggle to extend its reach.Though it’s long been the king of search and had been working on its own AI bots, Google was caught off guard by the debut of ChatGPT in late 2022. “The company has been scrambling to catch up ever since,” said the Journal.Also: The best AI chatbots of 2025: ChatGPT, Copilot, and notable alternativesWith its search engine, advertising income, Android market, and other areas, Google hardly depends on the revenue generated by Gemini. However, the AI arena is shaping up to be a lucrative and exciting new source of money and market share. That’s why it’s important to Google that it continue trying to better compete with other generative AI providers.But there’s one major obstacle standing in Google’s way. OpenAI continues to dominate the AI landscape with ChatGPT. Looking at one revealing stat about subscriptions, OpenAI is currently the leader at capturing retail AI customers. ChatGPT Plus and Pro users accounted for 62.5% of all paid AI B2C sales in the US at the end of 2024, according to a January 2025 Earnest Analytics report cited by the WSJ. More

GERARD JULIEN/Getty Images If you’ve got a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription, you’re about to get a jumbo serving of AI in your Office apps. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook will all get a new Copilot button that opens a prompt pane where you can get help writing documents, analyzing spreadsheets, summarizing email […] More

Apple’s dominance in the smartwatch market is well-known, but with multiple models of the Apple Watch to choose from, it can be a challenge to figure out which model suits your needs. Whether you’re a first-time buyer or upgrading to a new version, selecting the right model requires some consideration. While the Apple Watch started as a fitness tracker slightly more sophisticated than a Fitbit, it has steadily expanded to become an expansive health monitoring device and a handy tool for fast access to iPhone information and iOS apps. It can now check your heart rate, carry your boarding pass for a flight, identify a song that’s playing nearby, open your garage door, alert you when it’s about to rain, and guide you to breathe when you get stressed — and those are just a few examples. Also: The best smartwatches: Expert testedHowever, it’s important to note that the Apple Watch still doesn’t measure blood oxygen. Earlier this year, a US federal judge ruled that Apple could not sell its Series 10 and Ultra 2 smartwatches if they have the blood oxygen sensor, due to a patent violation with Masimo. As a result, a ban was placed on the import of all Apple Watches with the feature meaning none of our top picks measure blood oxygen. Although, you may still find some refurbished models in the U.S. that have this feature.  What is the best Apple Watch right now?Based on my years of testing, my pick for the best Apple Watch overall is the Apple Watch Ultra 2 More

Maria Diaz/ZDNETWhat’s the deal?Our pick for the best robot vacuum and mop combination, the Dreame X40 Ultra More