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Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for July 10's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Wordle.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles used to be available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it. Unfortunately, it has since been taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Having a very thin and bony appearance.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

No letters repeat.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter G.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle...

GAUNT.

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Reporting by Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for July 10's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer. If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hit about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: A prediction of what might happen

• Green: Clap back

• Blue: Types of ocean animals

• Purple: Structure of glasses

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Future Likelihood

• Green: Back Talk

• Blue: Fish

• Purple: Components of Eyeglasses

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #395 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Future Likelihood: CHANCE, FORECAST, OUTLOOK, PROSPECT

• Back Talk: ATTITUDE, CHEEK, LIP, SASS

• Fish: BASS, FLUKE, PERCH, PIKE

• Components of Eyeglasses: BRIDGE, LENS, RIM, TEMPLE

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Is this not the Connections game you were looking for? Here are the hints and answers to yesterday's Connections.

Elon Musk's X is stuck.

X, formerly known as Twitter, has stagnated when it comes to user growth ever since Musk acquired the company. According to a new report from the Financial Times, X has around 251 global daily active users as of the second quarter of 2024.

This represents just a 1.6 percent increase in users on X compared to the same period last year.

The social media platform, then-known as Twitter, enjoyed double-digit growth, adding tens of millions of new users year-after-year before Musk took over the company in October 2022.

In contrast, Musk's X only added a little over four million users from from Q2 2023 to Q2 2024.

Stalled growth at Musk's X worse than it looks

The quarterly breakdown of X's meager daily active user growth actually puts a positive spin on the platform's realities, according to Mashable's own previous reporting.

X hasn't openly shared its daily active user numbers since Musk took the company private. However, shortly after Musk acquired the company, then-Twitter's new owner was quite open about the bump in X's user base – seemingly buoyed by users signing up to see what he was going to do.

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In late November 2022, Musk shared a graph showing that then-Twitter added roughly five million daily active users in the month since he acquired the company. The weekly breakdown graph displayed that the social media platform had 254.5 million daily active users as of Oct. 23, the last full week of Twitter before Musk took over. By Nov. 20, the platform had 259.4 million daily active users according to Musk's graph.

The company's user base of 251 million global daily active users in Q2 2024 is actually back to where it was on Oct. 16, 2022, according to the graph, just before Elon Musk acquired the company on Oct. 28.

As of September 2023, X was claiming it had 245 million daily active users – a number the company only shared after its CEO Linda Yaccarino publicly said the platform had 225 million daily active users while speaking at a conference.

X won't share its daily active user stats this time, according to the Financial Times. The company only disputed the outlets report and claimed that it actually saw "monthly users increase significantly in the US and UK between August last year and June this year." However, X would not provide the Financial Times with any data.

On Tuesday, @XData (X's official "Data on X" account) posted some platform stats, seemingly as a public response to the Financial Times report. The account shared metrics such as "daily user seconds" and "daily video views" stats. But it still did not provide any daily active user stats – the metric commonly used in the industry to measure growth – to counter the report's claims.

Based on the latest data we do have, it appears that Elon Musk's X has lost the daily active users it gained after the acquisition and is back to its pre-Musk 2022 user numbers.

For at least 12 hours a day, Jason "Thor" Hall streams on his Pirate Software YouTube and Twitch channels. Tens of thousands of viewers flock to watch him play video games, talk about game development, or just share insights on his day. In just the past six months, the long-haired, deep-voiced creator staring into his Elgato webcam, long-flowing hair draped over his Blue Yeti microphone, has exploded in popularity, becoming one of the top-most subscribed channels on Twitch. 

Hall's viewership has vastly increased on YouTube as well. "[My team and I] were like, 'Our plan is to go from 13,000 subs to 15,000,'' Hall told Mashable in an interview at maker and creator event Open Sauce in San Francisco. "And now we're at 1.9 million [YouTube subscribers], six months later, so it did really well."

SEE ALSO: Apple approves Epic Games Store in Europe, but not without some drama first The origins of Pirate Software

Hall's down-to-earth persona has been crafted over years in game development, following a path unlike any other streamer. When he was 16, he landed a dream job as a game tester at Blizzard Entertainment, which — before the bloated loot boxes and corporate acquisition by Microsoft for $68.7 billion — was considered one of the most respected companies in the video game industry. It helped that he was a nepo baby, since his dad Joeyray Hall had spent over two decades at the industry titan since almost the very beginning. 

But after around six months, Hall realized that he just wasn't ready for corporate life. He acknowledged, "I was shit at it. I was completely awful." So he left to hone his skills in "3D modeling, texturing, and programming," earning his living in the underbelly of addicting 2000s games, running his own corporation in the spaceship/spreadsheet simulator EVE Online and real estate empire in life simulator Second Life. 

After five years of freelance grinding, Hall again applied to Blizzard and earned a job without his father's help. Over the next seven years, he worked on blockbuster games like Overwatch and World of Warcraft, before leaving again to expand his knowledge at Amazon Games Studio and then eventually hacking power plants at the United States Department of Energy, as he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). 

While working for "the man" was a good way to grow a resumé, Hall knew he wanted to develop his own games. In 2016, he published his first title as Pirate Software, the toaster shooter Champions of Breakfast, creating it in just 24 days. Though it failed to garner much attention, it gave him the confidence to write, program, and develop Heartbound, an adventure about a boy and his dog that is as weird as it is cozy. 

In 2017, Heartbound was just a simple demo with a Kickstarter, but it managed to catch the attention of Seán "JackSepticEye" McLoughlin, who played it for his 30 million YouTube subscribers. Hall saw the potential of influencers firsthand, as that initial push earned him and his team of developers nearly $20,000 in crowdfunding, four times what they originally asked for. 

But that wave of success was a lot to handle, and Hall struggled when the hype slipped away, moving on to the next shiny indie. 

"The first time we grew, we weren't ready," Hall said. "I had no idea what to do. We lost the lightning in the bottle. When lightning strikes, you have to be able to catch it, and you have to know how to manage all that out." 

Hall knew that the next time virality struck, he was going to be ready so "if it ever happens again, we don't lose that opportunity." He started streaming himself developing Heartbound in 2017 on Twitch to an audience of almost nobody — which he admitted was for the best since the streams "were pretty bad." He created a Discord server "in a way that's easy to manage" and "set up a moderation team." 

From 30,000 to 200 million views a month

In 2023, YouTube pushed Shorts content heavily and Hall thought it would be a good opportunity to capture important moments from his streams. And that's when lightning struck twice.  

Clips of him talking about developing a game engine, VPNs, and defending V-Tubers started getting millions of views. Large streamers took notice, too. Hall went from 30,000 video views a month in August 2023 to 200 million views in December, according to Socialblade. 

But with this much momentum, Hall knew he had to keep going. Taking what he learned working in those virtual worlds, he started talking to business and money managers, gaining "as much information as possible to do this the right way," Hall said. For example, his moderators — who scour his chat rooms and keep his community from getting messy — are all full-time employees with full medical benefits. They split the donations Hall receives on stream. Considering most online moderators, whether it's on Twitch, YouTube, Reddit, or Discord, are volunteers, Hall's take is fairly revolutionary.  

"The general standard of not paying your moderators, I think is absurd," Hall said. "I think that anytime you have someone that's helping you generate the content you have, they should have financial compensation in some way." 

That business-forward approach has already grown his indie game business. In June, Hall announced a partnership with live-event production company Offbrand, which was co-founded by Twitch streamer Ludwig Ahgren, to publish indie titles as Offbrand Games. 

"The first time I met Ludwig was at the Streamer Awards, he was wearing knee-high Crocs," Hall remembered. "We started talking and he said they were forming a game publishing studio, and asked if I was interested in it." 

Hall had been approached by multiple different publishing houses, who shared the sentiment, "We want you because you're the face of Indie Dev, but we're not listening to anything you say." Hall would give studios a test: He asked for a sample contract for a game of his they'd publish, and he'd give them feedback. While other studios balked at his "redlining" and wanted the full rights to his content, Ahgren and his team agreed to his terms and to only have "a license that is not in perpetuity, but for the term of the contract." 

Outside of streaming dozens of hours, publishing games, and sleeping five hours a night, Hall even managed to find time to create a ferret rescue in Washington state. 

"We take in ferrets that are either injured, or not taken care of, or abandoned," Hall said. "And we rehabilitate them and keep them forever." 

You can watch the over 50 ferrets on the FerretSoftware Twitch channel, which is entirely funded by ad revenue. The rescue has been so successful, that Hall is bringing on another two full-time employees, started researching cures for ferret cancer, and will be building a facility that he claims "will be the largest ferret rescue in the United States." 

As to why a game dev streamer is running a ferret rescue, it's personal. While grinding away in game development, Hall adopted two ferrets that were used as "laboratory animals," and realized he wanted to save more. 

"I'm just going to keep doing that," Hall said. "It wasn't even a thing of like, 'I want to do this.' It was like, 'I'm doing it.'"

Online marketplace Etsy has shared an update on the sale of AI-generated goods and its plans to continue "supporting artists through the evolution of art."

The platform will allow the sale of artwork derived from the seller's own original prompts or AI tools as long as the artist discloses their use of AI in the item's listing description.

SEE ALSO: 'AI poses enormous threats': Billie Eilish, J Balvin and more sign open letter denouncing AI in music.

It acknowledges the inevitable advancement and incorporation of AI tools into the creative process, including editing software. However, it notes, "When artists use these AI tools, they still make creative decisions and contributions to guide the AI and carefully curate the output to produce unique, finished works for sale."

Etsy will not allow the sale of AI prompt bundles, which it sees as crossing a creative line. "We believe that the prompts used to generate AI artwork are an integral part of the creative process and should not be sold separately from the final artwork," the company said in a blog post.

These guidelines are subject to change, Etsy notes, and are in line with evolving considerations about the ethics and environmental impacts of AI.

The relationship between artists and AI has been fraught as the technology remains mostly unregulated. Many new AI companies employ the widespread practice of training their models on existing artwork without compensating the original artists, which threatens the livelihood of all creatives. In April, more than 200 musical artists including Billie Eilish and the estate of Frank Sinatra signed a letter calling AI an "assault on human creativity" that "poses enormous threats" to the future of the industry.

A new report estimates that the company led by Elon Musk accounted for just under half of all battery-powered vehicles sold in the second quarter of the year.

The move against the app NGL by the Federal Trade Commission was the first time the agency barred an online service from hosting minors.

The proposed funding, part of the CHIPS Act, is intended to stoke chip packaging, a process that helps drive progress in semiconductors but that takes place mostly in Asia.

SAVE $80: As of July 9, you can get a pair of Apple AirPods Pro (2nd gen) for just $169 at Amazon. That's a 32% discount, and their lowest price ever.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation) $169.00 at Amazon
$249.00 Save $80.00 Get Deal

Whether you want to enjoy music on the go, or need to take calls at a moment's notice, wireless earbuds are great to have. AirPods are unmistakably the most sought-after ones, and the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd gen) are Mashable's pick of the best AirPods for most people, especially with this their biggest discount ever over at Amazon right now.

As of July 9, you can get a pair of Apple AirPods Pro (2nd gen) for $169 at Amazon as an early Prime Day deal. That's $80 off the list price of $249 and a discount of 32%. Plus, this is their lowest price on record. The earbuds are also on sale at the same price at Best Buy.

SEE ALSO: Get the M1 MacBook Air for an all-time low price of $649 at Walmart

The AirPods Pro are among the very best earbuds you can get, and with this pricing, they're an excellent value for the money. You'll get top-notch active noise cancellation to complement the impressive sound quality. Transparency Mode is useful in letting you stay tuned into your environment by letting in some outside noise. Spatial audio support also means you get a more immersive sound — all the easier to get lost in a great song or a soothing podcast.

In his review of the Apple AirPods Pro with USB-C, Mashable Senior Editor Stan Schroeder called these earbuds a great buy for those looking for great noise cancellation and unique smart features. You also get a long battery life and a USB-C charging case. For those immersed in the Apple ecosystem, the AirPods Pro are a no-brainer.

This is the lowest price we've seen so far on the second generation AirPods Pro. If you've been considering new AirPods, now might be the time to jump on this deal.

Spotify is stepping up its podcast game with a new feature that lets listeners comment on episodes. This new interactive element, launching this week, is the Sweden-based company's attempt to increase retention and engagement amongst its listeners.

First reported by TechCrunch, the new feature will allow podcast hosts to like and respond to comments with complete control over which ones are displayed. Interactive features like polls and Q&As have already seen significant engagement, with 9 million listeners participating this year alone, an 80 percent increase from last year.

SEE ALSO: YouTube Music is testing an AI-powered ‘Ask for music any way you like’ feature

By adding comments, Spotify aims to strengthen creator communities, boost listener retention, and increase podcast consumption. This move places Spotify in direct competition with YouTube for creator-listener interaction. Following its foray into video podcasts — first tested in 2021 and expanded in 2022 — Spotify now boasts over 250,000 video podcasts.

TechCrunch notes that internal company data reveals that interactive listeners are four times more likely to return to a show within 30 days and listen to twice as many podcasts as non-engagers. Additionally, listeners have expressed a strong desire for more interaction, with over 70 percent wanting additional ways to connect with their favorite hosts.

The new commenting feature will be optional for now, allowing creators to manage it per episode. Creators can also approve comments, ensuring high-quality discussions.

Oura beat Samsung to the smart ring game by a couple of years — and it may have just beaten Samsung to the "smart ring with an AI health advisor" game by a day.

On its official blog, Oura announced that "Oura Advisor" is now available via its Oura Labs feature preview program in the company's app. Oura describes it as "your own personal wellness coach," seemingly functioning as a chatbot that can give you both short and long-term health advice. This is technically a beta test that you have to opt into, so it most likely will have some kinks to iron out at the start.

SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy Unpacked July 2024: How to watch How does 'Oura Advisor' work?

According to Oura, the Advisor feature has an onboarding program with some important customization features. You can choose between a few communication styles, as well as tell the Advisor when it's OK to send notifications. As for privacy, Oura said that personal health information for the Advisor is stored in the form of a "Memory" and can be deleted at any time.

Oura adding an AI chat bot to its app was predictable given that every company is doing that now, but the timing is noteworthy. Samsung is holding a Galaxy Unpacked livestream on Wednesday morning where pretty much everyone expects to hear more about the previously teased Galaxy Ring.

Samsung also announced a suite of AI features called "Galaxy AI" earlier this year, and the Galaxy Ring will almost certainly incorporate AI in some way.

We'll all find out together at 9 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

SAVE $30: The Ninja Creami ice cream-maker is on sale at Walmart for $169, marked down from the list price of $199. That's a 15% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Ninja Ninja Creami ice cream-maker $169.00 at Walmart
$199.00 Save $30.00 Get Deal

Name a better summer treat than ice cream. Hard to come up with one, right? But like everything else at the grocery store, ice cream is more expensive than it was just a few years ago. If you're looking to save on your summer treat budget without giving up your sweet tooth, Walmart has a great deal in store today.

As of July 9, the Ninja Creami ice cream-maker is on sale for $169, marked down from the list price of $199. That's a 15% discount, or a savings of $30.

SEE ALSO: Beat the summer heat with up to $150 off bladeless fans at Amazon and Best Buy

With this TikTok-favorite at-home ice cream-maker, you can mix up classic flavors and also have the freedom to come up with your own specialties — the sky's the limit. The machine turns frozen bases into ice cream, sorbets, milkshakes, and lite ice creams with one touch. There's also a button to add mix-ins once your creation is almost complete, so you can toss in candy, cookies, or nuts as you desire and give your treat the perfect texture.

The Ninja Creami means you can try your hand at popular recipes like two-ingredient mango sorbet, or recreate a McDonald's McFlurry at home. This model comes with two pint containers and lids, so you can always store a finished product in the freezer.

When it's time to clean up, the pints, lids, and Ninja Creami blade are safe to put on the top rack of the dishwasher.

If you've been hoping to get more creative this summer with home-made treats, the Ninja Creami means you'll soon be an ice-cream making expert. Thanks to the sale price at Walmart, the Creami can arrive at your doorstep for just $169.

Pedro Pascal and Paul Mescal have many things in common. Most notably, they're sharing screen time in the upcoming epic, Gladiator II. They also share names that begin with "P" and end with "scal." And, of course, they're two men who never fail to get the internet talking.

Today is no exception. When the trailer for Ridley Scott's long-awaited Gladiator sequel hit the internet, it sparked many spicy reactions, thanks to performances from Mescal, Pascal, and scene-stealer Denzel Washington.

SEE ALSO: Everyone is thirsty for Pedro Pascal. Has the internet gone too far this time?

And for good reason. This trailer has everything: It depicts Roman decadence, Washington at the top of his game, A Quiet Place Day One's Joseph Quinn and Thelma's Fred Hechinger on freak mode...and the most thigh-in-motion since Luca Guadagnino's Challengers.

X / Twitter users quickly posted stills and gifs from the trailer in an appropriately excited fashion.

One Pascal fan captioned a collage of images of the Last of Us actor in the trailer, "pedro pascal in gladiator 2 is the hottest a man has ever or will ever look." A Mescal lover countered, "im rly not going to survive this movie." Meanwhile, a Washington aficionado wrote, "The lesson is actually that there is no one — no one — like Denzel."

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Others noted Pascal's costuming. One said, "HE GOT THAT SHIT ON."

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Jokes about Mescal also rolled in, with someone making a Hunger Games reference due to him wielding a bow and arrow. They wrote, "welcome back Katniss Everdeen." Another said, "paul mescal practiced running for this" — a nod to an unverified internet joke that Mescal runs away from his dates.

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Needless to say, this is many people's new Roman Empire.

SAVE $150: As of July 9, get a pair of Apple AirPods Max headphones for just $399 at Amazon. That's 27% off their usual price of $549 and their lowest price yet.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Apple AirPods Max $399.00 at Amazon
$549.00 Save $150.00 Get Deal

If you've been coveting a pair of Apple's most expensive headphones, the AirPods Max, for some time, you've likely had your eye on their sale price. Long have they reigned as the priciest status symbol an Apple audio fan could imagine. But that's all changed as of today, as you can get one of the best pre-Prime Day deals on offer from Amazon on a pair of your very own Apple cans.

As of July 9, you can get the AirPods Max for just $399 at Amazon, marking their lowest price ever. That's 27% off their normal price of $549 and a discount of $150. Put simply, this is the time to buy the AirPods Max if you're going to do it.

SEE ALSO: The 7 best headphones for 2024 that are worth checking out this Prime Day

Mashable's Brenda Stolyar awarded the headphones a 4.25 in her review, praising them for their "excellent" noise cancellation and "stylish design," but lamented that they have no power button, they're uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time, and they are, of course, very expensive.

But when it comes to audio, they're fantastic, according to Mashable's Alex Perry, who praised them for making you feel like you're "immersed within whatever you're listening to" thanks to their spatial audio support. They may have a few minor issues that could frustrate some, but if you've been waiting for a price drop to snag the AirPods Max, snag this Amazon deal now.

SAVE $60: As of July 9, get a pair of Apple AirPods (2nd generation) are on sale for just $69 at Amazon. That's 47% off their usual MSRP of $129 and an all-time low price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Apple AirPods (2nd Gen) $69.00 at Amazon
$129.00 Save $60.00 Shop Now

Looking for a new pair of earbuds, but don't want to spend too much? You might be surprised to hear this, but a pair of Apple AirPods would make a great option right now, as they're going for an all-time low price at Amazon ahead of Prime Day 2024.

As of July 9, you can get Apple AirPods (2nd gen) for just $69 (nice), which is $60 off their normal price of $129. That's a discount of 47% and the lowest price we've seen yet, beating their previous low of $80 in June. If you've yet to grab a pair for yourself, now's the time to do so, as they likely won't go much lower (if at all) than this.

SEE ALSO: The 7 best headphones for 2024 that are worth checking out this Prime Day

These AirPods debuted in 2019, and they're currently the base model when it comes to Apple's lineup of audio products. They serve up to five hours of battery life per charge as well as excellent sound, but if you're looking for noise cancellation, you'll want to opt for a pair of AirPods Pro instead. They do, however, support Siri for hands-free calling and other controls, so you can get things done without worrying about fiddling with your phone.

This low price means these AirPods likely won't stick around for long. So if you're interested in grabbing a pair for yourself, it's probably in your best interest to get them fast.

Sonny Angel — Gen Z's collectible "emotional support" doll of choice — will grace phone cases in a new collection from Casetify dropping later this month.

Inspired by the cheeky cherubs' best-selling "Harvest" series, the collection will include cases and accessories like a Sonny Angel phone charm and metal heart phone strap. Products will retail for $52 USD and up.

SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy S24 phone cases: 10 of the best available already The Sonny Angel x Casetify collection includes mirror cases and a themed charm accessory. Credit: Dreams, Inc

The cheeky cherubs were spoofed on SNL in May and were a popular Halloween costume in 2023. Rare Angels are now selling for hundreds of dollars online.

Some of the Sonny Angel obsession is fueled by the brand's "blind box" packaging which obscures the identity of each Angel until the figurine is fully unwrapped. In that spirit, Casetify will be selling blind boxes containing a random "Harvest Heart Series" phone case and a matching Sonny Angel "Harvest 'Hipper'" accessory. The Blind Box will retail for $100 USD will be available to U.S. customers while supplies last.

Products can be pre-ordered now on Casetify's website and will be available for purchase on July 19.

On July 27, 2024, Casetify will also be hosting an in-person shopping pop-up called the Sonny Angel Farm at 6420 E Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach California. More info is available at Casetify.com.

SAVE $350: As of July 9, the 13-inch MacBook Air (M1, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) is on sale for $649 at Walmart. That's $50 cheaper than the previous lowest price of $699.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple 13-inch MacBook Air (M1, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) $649.99 at Walmart
$699.99 Save $50.00 Get Deal

Apple's MacBook Air is Mashable's pick for the best laptop for most people, so it's a trusted choice if you're looking to upgrade. The M1 MacBook Air may be a bit older, but it's still got plenty of power and is a great option for those looking for a laptop on a budget — especially for the all-time low price you can get today at Walmart.

As of July 9, you can get the 13-inch MacBook Air (M1, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) at Walmart for just $649, down from $699. This $649 deal is the lowest price we've seen on this model, giving a $50 discount compared to its price on Best Buy. The deal pricing (part of Walmart Deals, Walmart's Prime Day-competing sale going on now) is available across all three colors: Gold, Silver, and Space Gray.

SEE ALSO: The 5 best laptops under $500 that are actually worth buying

Walmart started offering the M1 MacBook Air for the first time earlier this year, soon after the new M3 MacBook Air launched. The M1 MacBook Air is a couple of generations old, but this 2020 model with a 13.3-inch Liquid Retina screen still packs quite a punch. It comes in a slim design combined with ample processing power, and it's very portable as well, with a low-profile body and a weight of just 2.8 pounds.

The M1 is Apple's first chip for MacBooks, and it performs better than most previous Intel chips used in MacBooks of yore, and consumes little battery — this model promises up to 18 hours of use on a single charge. The version on discount is an 8GB RAM model, which will get the job done unless you have a very heavy workflow.

If you need a great laptop on a budget, especially for the day-to-day Zoom meetings and working through documents and sheets, this MacBook Air is the laptop to get right now. It offers great value for money, especially at this new low price. MacBook deals generally run out quickly, so you may want to snag this one while it's available.

Amazon deals of the day at a glance: OUR TOP PICK Echo Spot $44.99 at Amazon (save $35 with Prime) Get Deal BEST TABLET DEAL Amazon Fire Max 11 productivity bundle (64GB) $224.99 at Amazon (save $129.98) Get Deal BEST EARBUDS DEAL JBL Tune 230NC TWS earbuds $44.95 at Amazon (save $55) Get Deal BEST BLUETOOTH SPEAKER DEAL Sony SRSXB13 Extra Bass Bluetooth speaker $34.99 at Amazon (save $25) Get Deal BEST HAIR TOOL DEAL Shark FlexStyle $159.99 at Amazon (save $40) Get Deal

We're just a week out from Prime Day and the deals are ramping up. We're already seeing massive price drops and record-lows on devices from Amazon itself, as well as other top brands like JBL, Shark, and Sony.

Here are our top picks for the best Amazon deals of the day on July 9. Be sure to check back tomorrow for a brand-new list of deals. Happy shopping!

Our top pick Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Echo Spot $44.99 at Amazon
$79.99 Save $35.00 with Prime Get Deal

In celebration of the upcoming Prime Day shopping event, Amazon released — and dropped the price on — a brand-new device dubbed the Echo Spot. Designed to sit atop your nightstand and serve as a sleek, smart alarm clock, the Spot will help you wake up and wind down. While it doesn't have an integrated camera, it does allow you to see time, weather, song titles, and more at a glance and control your smart devices with your voice. Priced at $79.99, Prime members can score this deal ahead of Prime Day for only $44.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire Max 11 tablet productivity bundle (64GB) $224.99 at Amazon
$354.97 Save $129.98 Get Deal

Amazon's closest iPad competitor, the Fire Max 11 tablet, is down to a new low price at Amazon as part of a productivity bundle deal. The 64GB tablet comes with a keyboard case and a stylus and is down to $224.99 (reg. $354.97). The Fire Max 11 is our favorite budget tablet, thanks to its crisp 11-inch display (the biggest Fire tablet to date), 8MP cameras that support 1080p video, upgraded octa-core processor, and WiFi 6 compatibility. Its 14-hour battery life is also a major selling point. Even bundled together with the stylus and case it's still fraction of the cost of a new iPad.

Read our full review of the Fire Max 11 tablet.

Opens in a new window Credit: JBL JBL Tune 230NC TWS earbuds $44.95 at Amazon
$99.95 Save $55.00 Get Deal

"Only a handful of affordable noise-cancelling true wireless earphones are worth your attention, but you can add JBL’s Tune 230NC earbuds to that list," our friends at PCMag (which is owned by Mashable's publisher, Ziff Davis) wrote in their review. If you're looking for earbuds on a budget that actually sound good and cancel surrounding noise, it's going to be hard to beat the JBL Tune 230NC TWS buds at their current sale price of $44.95 (reg. $99.95). That's their lowest price since last Prime Day, when they dropped down to $39.95.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony SRSXB13 Extra Bass Bluetooth speaker $34.99 at Amazon
$59.99 Save $25.00 Get Deal

Want to blast your favorite summer jams on the go? Snag this Sony Bluetooth speaker at a record-low price at Amazon. The SRSXB13 is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, yet delivers booming bass and a sound diffusion processor to expand your tunes far and wide. It's also waterproof and dustproof and lasts for up to 16 hours on a single charge, making it a solid companion for hiking, biking, camping, and other outdoor adventures. It's regularly $59.99, but you can snag it ahead of Prime Day for only $34.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Shark Shark SpeedStyle $159.99 at Amazon
$199.99 Save $40.00 for curly and coily hair Get Deal

Last, but certainly not least, we have the Shark SpeedStyle on sale for just $159.99 ahead of Prime Day. That's a savings of 20% and a match for its lowest price on record at Amazon. It's been out less than a year, but has already made a name for itself as another Dyson Supersonic dupe that gives you salon-quality blowouts without heat damage. It offers four heat and three airflow settings and a handful of attachments for customization. This particular model is designed for curly hair and includes the DefrizzFast Diffuser, QuickSmooth Brush, and RapidGloss Finisher.

None of these deals catching your eye? Check out Amazon's daily deals for even more savings.

At WWDC 2024, Apple unveiled a new era of AI. But the company announced other significant changes, too — like new design options for iOS 18.

Amongst these is the ability to personalize more specifically, giving iPhone users the chance to decide how they want their home screen to appear. This means everything from a new dark mode ("Dark Look") and the option to customize each app with different colors.

SEE ALSO: iOS 18: How to lock and hide your iPhone apps

If you're looking to color code each tile, here's how to do it. First make sure your Apple device is backed up. To get the software update, iOS 18 is now available for download in developer beta. The update is compatible with a slew of iPhones, all the way back to iPhone 11.

How to tint your apps with iOS 18 Total Time

• 2-3 minutes

What You Need

• iPhone (iOS 18)

Step 1: Hold down on an app on your home screen.

Step 2: Click the "Edit" button in the top left corner.

Step 3: Select "Customize."

Step 4: A pop-up at the bottom screen will provide options.

You'll have four options: Automatic, Dark, Light, or Tinted.

Step 5: Select "Tinted."

Step 6: Play around with the colors.

Using the color bar, you can select the specific shade you want your apps to take.

Step 7: Tap on the screen to save your tint of choice.

And you're done! There's plenty more to do with iOS — these wild features for starters.

Terry Gilliam's classic '80s fantasy adventure has been remade for Apple TV+ by Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement, and Iain Morris. Trailer.