Gadgets

Since you can use Nintendo gift cards on more than just games, they’re smart to buy if you want to save on hardware. Newegg is knocking $25 off $200 gift cards when you use the code BUDF79 at checkout. You’ll get $25 off for each gift card you add to cart (up to five for $125 off).

Lego included a replica of the telescope with its Space Shuttle Discovery set that launched in 2021, but this new 15-inch long Hubble replica is much larger and far more detailed. Inside you’ll find mirrors and gyroscopes, while outside are adjustable solar arrays and antennas. It launches on August 1st for $139.99.

The company is celebrating the history of its GeForce graphics cards through a collection of new trading cards highlighting classic hardware, demos, and games. The GeForce Trading Cards: Series 1 packs will be given away for free at “upcoming live events” and as part of community giveaways.

You may never have to give up playing with your favorite childhood toys at this rate. Play-Doh is trying to capture some of that longing for simpler times with its new Bloom kits — undeniably gorgeous floral arrangements complete with a vase and a finishing spray to preserve them.

In the interview below, he describes it as a local, encrypted feature used to identify people you already know. Not, he says, as a feature that pulls data from a central database. Even so, there are discussions to be had about consent and whether it’s actually that awkward to ask, “Hey, where do I know you from again?”

Sony’s WH-1000XM5 are within $2 of their Prime Day low at Costco, with members able to grab them for $199.99 ($200 off). If you’re not a member, Amazon’s selling them for $248. The last-gen headphones still offer top-notch noise cancellation, great sound, and up to 30 hours of battery life, though Costco includes a soft carrying case instead of the usual hard one. Read our review

The trend isn’t new, but the only thing cooler than catching Nemophila’s performance last week at The Meadows in Brooklyn was seeing and capturing a shot of this person recording on their Nintendo 3DS.

Apple is suspending work on a display made in partnership with Samsung Display for an entry-level XR device, according to a machine translation of a report by The Elec (which we saw thanks to MacRumors). Seems like Apple is moving away from headsets in favor of glasses.

Our second Today I’m Toying With giveaway is live — I’m hoping to give away gadgets every week now! You have to enter to win (before July 15th), but you still don’t have to use Instagram or TikTok if you don’t want to. Find email entry instructions in the official rules.

According to Retro Dodo, the G02 is “officially dead” and has been removed from “every marketplace it was originally sold on.” The $60 handheld was spotted earlier this year, shipping preloaded with thousands of copyrighted retro games from Nintendo, SEGA, and others.

The 935-gram DJI AP100 can safely bring the pricey drone (and whatever payload it’s carrying) to the ground at a descent rate of less than 5 meters per second. The chute features its own redundant power and communications and can be deployed manually or automatically in an emergency, like when the drone leaves a predefined geocaging boundary.

Omida reports that memory costs can make up more than half the cost of low-end phones. That’s leading to a gradual retreat from the low-end market, as low-end products are “already becoming unprofitable and face a high risk of weakening demand as retail price continues to rise.”

Woot is selling Amazon’s Fire TV Soundbar Plus, a 5.1-channel kit that includes a Dolby Atmos-ready soundbar, wireless subwoofer, and two satellite speakers, for $219.95. The catch is that it’s in “like new, open-box” condition, and it only has a 90-day warranty. However, it’s a tremendous discount compared to buying it new for about $200 more.

Pete Holmes has a lot of good tech takes in this Wired interview. He also, against all odds, made me want the iPhone Air:

Following the 12 new sets announced last month featuring Smart Brick interactivity, Lego is once again expanding its Pokémon collection with five new sets. They range in price from a $69.99, 757-piece Munchlax to an elaborate $299.99, 2,386-piece Poké Ball that opens to reveal a battle scene and Professor Oak’s laboratory.

The $69.99 HyperMegaTech! Super Pocket Activision Edition! comes with 34 retro games pre-installed that were all available on Atari consoles decades ago. Bundled titles include Pitfall!, Chopper Command, and River Raid, but the handheld is also compatible with Evercade’s ever-growing collection of multi-title cartridges.

Remarkable positions its e-ink tablets as the best tablets for thinking, but what about for talking to the abyss? Riddle is a new open-source project for the Remarkable Paper Pro that lets it write back to you like an evil diary. Anyone else realize these tablets were this open?

It’s been missing from the first two versions of the beta, but you can now continue conversations from your phone on your wrist, and vice versa. I’m playing around with it now, but I’m curious to hear from fellow smartwatch nerds. (You’ll need a Series 9, Ultra 3, or SE 3 and later to run the dev beta.)

Anker’s 45W Nano Charger is down to $25.99 ($14 off) at Amazon and Anker (with code WS7DV2AFYA9T). The tiny USB-C charger can deliver up to 45W of power and features a screen that shows charging information at a glance. It also includes an overnight mode designed to prevent overheating, along with rotating foldable prongs that fit easily into tight spaces.