Prime Day is finally here, and this is technically the Black Friday week of summer 2025, starting with Apple AirPods 4 + ANC. You can snag a pair for just $119 shipped today, originally $179. Based on millions of ear scans, the buds feature a shorter stem and a narrower profile, ensuring they stay secure without the ear-aching pressure of in-ear tips. For travelers who find silicone-tipped earbuds uncomfortable after hours of wear, this is a godsend. They’re IP68-rated for dust, sweat, and water resistance, so a spilled drink or rainy layover won’t spell disaster. Adaptive Audio mode blends ANC with Transparency, adjusting to your environment, so you can hear boarding calls without yanking out an earbud. Product page.
Airports have always been a bit of a hassle, with TSA security checks feeling like the ultimate stress test before you board. For nearly 20 years, the routine of kicking off your shoes, wrestling with bins, and shuffling through scanners in socks has been the American traveler’s rite of passage. But now, the Transportation Security Administration is shaking things up, scrapping the mandatory shoe-removal rule at select U.S. airports to save you time while keeping safety tight.
Since 1957, the Fiat 500 has been roaming city streets in Europe with its tiny size. Now, the Italian carmaker is bringing back a gas-powered version equipped with a mild-hybrid engine paired with a six-speed manual transmission. Set to launch in November 2025 from Turin’s historic Mirafiori plant, the Fiat 500 Hybrid will be priced from just €17,000 (about $20,000).
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater set the bar sky-high for video games over two decades ago. Now, its remake, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, is ready to hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on August 28, 2025. Built fresh from the ground up with Unreal Engine 5, this version nails the feel of the original while tossing in some modern flair.
Out of the blue, a band called The Velvet Sundown exploded onto Spotify, racking up close to a million monthly listeners in just a few weeks. Their tunes are being described as a trippy, psychedelic rock. But here’s the kicker: behind those guitar licks and mysterious vocals, there’s a big conundrum—no one’s quite sure if this band is actually real.
In a world where retro gaming rides high on nostalgia, a modder named JNMartin has pulled off something that feels like a SEGA fan’s wildest dream. Mario Kart 64, Nintendo’s 1996 kart-racing gem, has been lovingly transplanted onto the SEGA Dreamcast—a console that never got to pal around with Mario and friends during its brief time in the spotlight.
In the world of video games, few characters stick with you like GLaDOS, the snarky AI from Valve’s Portal series. Her sharp-tongued sarcasm and sneaky jabs made her a legend, but it’s her weirdly iconic potato-powered version in Portal 2 that’s sparked a totally bonkers DIY project. Robotics whiz Dave Niewinski took this quirky bit of gaming history and turned it into a real-life AI assistant—yep, stuffed inside a 3D-printed potato.
Inventor AstroSam has embarked on a project unlike any other, or at least at home: a DIY brain-computer interface (BCI). However, this isn’t the polished tech of Neuralink or academic research labs.
