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Microsoft told users on Monday evening that it was working on a fix for Outlook, Exchange Online, and other Microsoft 365 business services that were down for much of Aug. 31.
"We're continuing to deploy our mitigation across the affected environment and users should begin to see gradual recovery to mail flow," the official Microsoft 365 status account wrote on X. "In parallel, we're restarting targeted sections of the affected infrastructure to aid the recovery of the downstream scenarios."
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed."The gradual recovery to mail flow" didn't satisfy some Microsoft customers, who responded to the X update by asking for more specifics on timing.
"What is the estimated time for full recovery? Admin Center shows vague information too," wrote one user. Another X user noted that some of their email was starting to roll in "slowly."
Problems began at the start of the workday on Monday, when many Microsoft users complained on sites like Downdetector that they could not access their Outlook email. Other app-related problems and login issues were also noted, along with issues with Microsoft Exchange Online, "a cloud based messaging platform that delivers email, calendar, contacts, and tasks."
Developing...
For businesses selling on Amazon, winning an advertising auction may have come with a hidden price.
The Federal Trade Commission and 22 states sued Amazon on Aug. 31, accusing the retail giant of quietly manipulating its ad auctions, secretly inflating ad prices, and collecting more than $20 billion in improper charges.
The case involves about 1.2 million advertisers, including hundreds of thousands of small and midsize businesses. Regulators say many paid more than expected without realizing it.
Filed in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington, the FTC complaint states:
Since 2019, Amazon.com, Inc. ('Amazon') has secretly and systematically overcharged its approximately 1.2 million advertising customers by manipulating the 'auctions' that it uses to set the price of ads on its platform. Amazon represents, and advertisers believe, that competitive auctions set the prices for advertising on its leading e-commerce website. But, in reality, Amazon overrides and replaces the actual auction results with higher prices set by Amazon to increase its profits. For years, Amazon has secretly inflated the auction prices for three of its advertising products: Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display.
Amazon allegedly told advertisers it generally used a "second-price" auction. Under that system, the winner pays slightly more than the second-highest bid — not the full amount it offered.
But regulators say that isn’t always what happened. According to the lawsuit, Amazon began changing the process in 2018. Instead of setting the price based on the runner-up’s bid, the company often charged winners according to their own, higher bids. The FTC says that difference amounted to a hidden surcharge.
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Internal discussions cited in the complaint suggest Amazon knew advertisers believed they were participating in true second-price auctions. In one 2023 document, employees reportedly noted that some advertisers submitted bids as high as $100 or $1,000 because they trusted Amazon not to charge the full amount.
Regulators also allege that Amazon carefully tested how advertisers reacted to higher prices. The company reportedly introduced the changes slowly to avoid raising concerns, then monitored whether advertisers lowered their bids or budgets. After seeing little change, Amazon expanded the increases. One manager described the strategy as moving away from a second-price auction while "hoping that advertisers don’t notice and decrease bids or ad spend."
The FTC says the practice continued for seven years and brought in tens of billions of dollars for Amazon, and the costs may not have stopped with advertisers — they believe businesses passed at least some of the added expense on to shoppers through higher product prices.
Amazon tells a different story. The company denies the allegations and calls the lawsuit "misguided."
"Advertisers adjust bids based on real-world performance, not descriptions of auction mechanics," Amazon said in its response.
The company argues that its system considers how relevant an ad is to a shopper rather than automatically choosing the highest bidder. Amazon estimates that this approach saved advertisers more than $8 billion from 2021 through 2025. It also emphasized that "in no scenario does an advertiser pay more than their bid."
Additionally, the company points to lower ad prices. It says average winning bids for sponsored-product ads fell by half between 2019 and 2025, while sales produced by ad clicks increased.
"Advertisers paid the same or less for advertising that delivered increasingly better results," the company said. Amazon says it shared its data and explanation of the auction system with the FTC several times.
Regulators are seeking an end to the alleged practices, along with penalties, damages, and restitution for advertisers. The allegations have not been proven in court.
The outcome of the suit could reshape how Amazon runs its massive advertising business. For sellers, the question is simple: Did they know what they were agreeing to pay, or was Amazon changing the rules? That’s now up to a court to decide.
Thousands of Microsoft enterprise customers reported problems accessing their email as they returned from the weekend, and on Monday afternoon, Microsoft acknowledged widespread problems affecting Exchange Online and other Microsoft 365 business services.
Initially, users took to social media and platforms like DownDetector to report problems with Microsoft Outlook, the widely used email service. However, the issue appears to be much more widespread. In a statement shared to X at 12:01 p.m. ET, Microsoft confirmed that service to Exchange Online had been disrupted. (Exchange Online is a cloud-based enterprise service "that delivers email, calendar, contacts, and tasks.")
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.In addition, a Microsoft spokesperson provided the following statement to Mashable via email: "We're aware of an issue affecting access to Exchange Online and some other services. We know this is disruptive for customers and we appreciate their patience while we work to restore services as quickly as possible."
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On its official status page, Microsoft elaborated on what other services were impacted by the outage. The status page reported "Service degradation" for Microsoft 365 Business or Enterprise, with the problems affecting services such as:
OneDrive for Business
SharePoint Online
Exchange Online
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Purview
Microsoft Defender XDR
Microsoft 365 Admin Center
Microsoft says the root cause of the outage is an "issue within a core authentication configuration used by multiple Microsoft 365 services," and the company is actively testing a remediation strategy.
Microsoft 365 admins can see MO1465074 and/or EX1464935 for the latest updates on the disruption — if they can access the Admin Center.
Microsoft provided its most recent update on the situation at 6:01 p.m. ET, writing that it's "continuing to review recent changes to the service to definitively confirm the source of the problem."
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.For millennials of a certain disposition, Mewtwo is indisputably the coolest Pokémon in the world. If you count yourself among that crowd and you've still got Pokémon Go on your phone, we have good news.
Pokémon Go developer Scopely posted a quick notice on the game's website alerting players that Armored Mewtwo, a special variant of the Psychic-type Pokémon that comes from the 2019 film Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back – Evolution. That movie is actually a remake of the 1998 stone-cold classic Pokémon: The First Movie, in which Mewtwo was a central part of the plot. The original movie was kind of load bearing for anyone around my age, and we recently saw Mewtwo make an appearance in the Lego Smart Play Pokémon sets and new SanDisk drives.
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But we're not here to talk about movies, Legos, or hard drives.
If you want to catch Mewtwo in his sick armor in your Pokémon Go collection, it will appear in five-star raids from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. local time on Sept. 5 and 6, coinciding with the end of Pokémon Go Fest. This will be the first time Armored Mewtwo has been available since shortly before COVID hit the United States, so if you want one, consider that it might be a while before you get another chance.
It's also worth mentioning that the shiny variant of Armored Mewtwo will not be available as part of this deal. Still, a non-shiny Armored Mewtwo is better than no Armored Mewtwo.
There's a metaphorical truckload of video game releases arriving over the next couple of months, including Grand Theft Auto VI, but PlayStation still has some more announcements in store this week.
Sony’s gaming arm announced a pair of State of Play streams that will air back-to-back on Thursday, Sept. 3, beginning at 9 a.m. ET. PlayStation didn’t specify how long the streams will run, but we at least have some idea of what to expect.
The first will feature "updates and announcements from PlayStation Studios and our third-party partners" and conclude with an extended look at Final Fantasy VII: Revelation, which is set to launch in spring 2027.
SEE ALSO: Could GTA 6 teach Gen Z how to be in a relationship?The second stream will focus entirely on games from Japan and Asia, though most — if not all — will probably be released in the West as well. Altogether, we could be looking at at least an hour of new game announcements and trailers on Thursday morning.
There are worse ways to start a day.
Getting ready for a date usually comes with a fairly predictable checklist: Take a shower, apply deodorant, and find a shirt that has recently been through the washing machine. But one corner of the internet would like men to reconsider all three.
Meet "pheromone-maxxing," the latest "maxxing" trend circulating among some young men online. The idea is to skip showers, avoid deodorant, or wear dirty clothes in hopes of amplifying their natural pheromones and making themselves more attractive to potential partners.
Pheromones are chemical signals released by an organism that can affect the behavior or physiology of another member of the same species. They are well documented in many animals, but scientists have not conclusively identified a human sex pheromone. Still, pheromone-maxxers believe their natural scent will increase the pheromones they emit and, in turn, make them more attractive.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.It is certainly one way to make a first impression. But the pitch takes a real phenomenon — the role scent can play in attraction — and stretches it much further than the science currently supports.
Pheromone-maxxing has emerged alongside the broader rise of looksmaxxing, an online culture in which boys and young men try to optimize their appearance through skincare, exercise, cosmetic procedures, and sometimes risky DIY practices, all in pursuit of becoming more attractive.
SEE ALSO: The Looksmaxxing Glossary: Every term you need to understand the internet's most unhinged subcultureThe most basic version of pheromone-maxxing involves giving up products that mask a person's natural scent, including cologne and deodorant. Some stop washing their hair, while others avoid showering for days at a time.
"Stopped washing my hair at all and now I unironically get more compliments on how it smells and looks (from women)," one TikTok user wrote. "Pheromone maxxing is key."
Another creator claimed that men cannot "pull baddies" because they wear cologne and deodorant. One adolescent described going three days without showering, then bathing and putting the same shirt back on to create what he called a "halo effect of pheromones."
Not everyone stops there. More extreme accounts promote wearing unwashed clothing for long stretches or even drinking urine in an attempt to "sweat out toxins." Those appear to be fringe extensions of the idea rather than a standard pheromone-maxxing routine, and neither is supported by scientific evidence.
It is also difficult to tell how many people are seriously following any version of the practice. Some creators appear sincere, while others may be joking, rage-baiting, or borrowing looksmaxxing language to attract attention. Social media commenters insist that almost nobody is actually doing it. Still, enough people appear to be taking the idea seriously that it is worth examining whether the supposed strategy can actually work.
Can "pheromone-maxxing" work? This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Pheromones are chemical signals released by an organism that can trigger a behavioral or physiological response in another member of the same species. They are well documented in many animals, including insects, where they can communicate everything from danger and food locations to readiness to mate.
Whether humans produce and respond to pheromones in the same way is much less clear. Evolutionary biologist Tristram Wyatt wrote in a 2015 scientific review that humans may well have pheromones because we are mammals, but scientists have yet to conclusively identify a human sex pheromone or demonstrate that one reliably produces a romantic response.
That does not mean our individual body odors have no effect on how other people perceive us: In the 1995 "sweaty T-shirt study", women smelled shirts worn by men and generally preferred the scents of those whose major histocompatibility complex, or MHC, genes differed from their own. These genes play an important role in the immune system and may also influence a person’s body odor.
Yet, subsequent research is mixed. For example, a 2020 meta-analysis found no overall evidence that people choose partners with different MHC genes, nor a consistent preference for the body odor of genetically dissimilar people.
Unfortunately for those jumping on this trend, what builds up when you stop showering isn't a proven supply of pheromones. Sweat itself is odorless — body odor only develops when sweat mixes with bacteria living on your skin, according to the Cleveland Clinic. As dermatologist Dr. Shereen Teymour told USA Today, "For the most part, [this trend is] bacteria-maxxing." Skip basic hygiene for too long and you're also risking inflamed hair follicles, irritation in skin folds, and skin infections. Definitely not attractive.
How did we get here?The larger "looksmaxxing" trend comes from an online self-improvement subculture that first developed in incel ("involuntarily celibate,") forums. Those communities frequently promoted the "black pill," a fatalistic belief that appearance and genetics largely determine a man’s romantic and social future.
Within that worldview, looksmaxxing offered users a way to improve their odds. Members rank facial features, calculate their supposed "sexual market value," and share strategies for "ascending," or becoming attractive enough to move higher in the community’s rigid hierarchy.
SEE ALSO: The Looksmaxxing Glossary: Every term you need to understand the internet's most unhinged subcultureThat can include advice most people would recognize as ordinary grooming. "Softmaxxing" covers practices such as exercising, improving a skincare routine, getting a flattering haircut, dressing well, and taking care of one’s teeth. It can also include "mewing," the disputed practice of holding the tongue against the roof of the mouth in hopes of creating a sharper jawline.
Beyond basic grooming, however, the methods can become far more invasive. "Hardmaxxing" may involve cosmetic surgery, anabolic steroids, unapproved peptides, and extreme diets. The most notorious example is "bonesmashing," in which people repeatedly strike their faces, hoping their bones will heal into a more chiseled shape. Medical professionals have warned that this practice can instead cause fractures, nerve damage, and permanent disfigurement.
Researchers have also raised concerns about how easily looksmaxxing can blur the line between ordinary grooming tips and the ideology of the forums where it originated. A 2025 peer-reviewed study argued that the language of science and self-improvement helps ideas from incel communities reach younger users who may initially encounter them as innocent fitness or beauty content.
The movement from niche forums into mainstream youth culture is getting clearer. Consider 20-year-old looksmaxxing influencer Clavicular, whose real name is Braden Peters. He built his following by discussing extreme methods, including steroids, cosmetic procedures, bonesmashing, and, by his own account, using methamphetamine to suppress his appetite.
Now, Clavicular is on a 10-stop college tour with events near Penn State, Syracuse, Binghamton, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Coastal Carolina, and Texas A&M — all schools packed with fans in his target demographic. It has been a hit. 700 people were listed as planning to attend his Syracuse stop. Before his Binghamton appearance, one participating bar told students to "Start bone smashing and get that jawline in check because this is going to be a college core memory!"
All of this isn't to say young men are abandoning soap en masse. But its emergence shows how easily the looksmaxxing framework can turn an ordinary choice — even something as basic as whether to use deodorant — into another supposed (and smelly) path toward self-improvement.
Many Americans don't like data centers.
At the very least, a majority of U.S. citizens don't want one of the dozens of proliferating AI infrastructure projects to end up in their backyard, as complaints of environmental destruction, noise pollution, and water constraints reach a fever pitch.
But President Donald Trump doesn't really care. In a recent Truth Social post, the country's leader called data centers a "golden goose" that Americans would be remiss to push back on.
"The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor," the President wrote. "If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign."
SEE ALSO: Trump administration acted illegally in fight against Anthropic, judge rules Trump doubles down on data centersThe inflammatory post echoed similar sentiments shared earlier this month, as well as arguments he made in posts from July. In fact, Trump has steadfastly backed large-scale data center projects, despite his own party backing away from data center commitments on the campaign trail.
"If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in an AI plant or a data center, I would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous, and the money paid, the taxes paid are just enormous," said Trump at a recent convening of cryptocurrency leaders at the White House.
An anonymous insider told the Washington Post that Trump's hardline on leaving AI and data centers unfettered by federal regulation is a "personal" subject for him. "You just can’t change his mind about it," the source told the publication.
Behind the scenes, the Trump administration has been edging open the floodgates to Big Tech-backed data centers as part of his mission to establish a nationwide AI infrastructure to rival China.
In fact, Trump has cited the foreign power regularly in arguments for data center investment. "China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement. Actually, they can’t believe it is happening!" said Trump in the Aug. 31 post.
A recent post by the Global Government Affairs team at Elon Musked-owned X alleged that the platform had uncovered a bot farm network made up of 200,000 accounts posting anti-data center sentiment. The claims appeared to be based on a recent OpenAI investigation that found several bot accounts using OpenAI's tools to produce such content, but the report also indicated these accounts were sharing genuine news reports about energy concerns.
How the federal government is enabling data centersTrump's Big Tech allies have benefited from his pro-America approach to tech advancement. Last year, Trump signed an executive order fast-tracking federal permitting for AI data centers. The administration has also lobbied for expedited electricity grid connections and pushed for government approvals of new chemicals used for data center manufacturing and facilities.
In an attempt to quell the ensuing community-driven uproar against these projects, the federal government announced a Ratepayer Protection Pledge with several of AI's biggest players already signed on, committing to offset energy grid costs for local communities.
Still, Big Tech's centers have faced mounting legal pressure, including several lawsuits that claim companies like SpacexAI (formerly xAI) and Microsoft violated pollution-permitting laws in the construction of their facilities. Just last week, non-profit newsroom Floodlight accused a Microsoft-backed data center in New Jersey of violating federal law by operating unpermitted gas-powered generators. The center, known as DataOne, is the first in the state to build its own power plant, the Guardian reported. Many centers are shifting to self-sustained power as states crack down on energy grid connections.
SEE ALSO: The NAACP is fighting back against AI data centersIn turn, the federal government has interceded in efforts to enforce environmental law, including levying threats that such attempts pose a "national security threat" for potentially impacting the Department of War's AI capabilities.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been planning to scrap a federal rule requiring public notice and time for comment when applying for such air permits. The move would effectively shift responsibility for public notice to local agencies and could legitimize the legal violations that communities are invoking to fight back, experts say.
Microsoft Outlook appears to be down for a significant number of users as of Monday late morning. According to Downdetector, reports of Outlook problems spiked sharply just before 11:16 a.m. ET, jumping from around 37 reports to over 6,000 in a short window.
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Of the issues users are reporting, the largest share involves receiving messages, followed by app-related problems and login issues, per Downdetector's tracking. Microsoft acknowledged the outage on its Microsoft 365 Status account on X.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.The company stated it was investigating reports of Exchange Online issues, pointing users to incident EX1464935 in the admin center for updates.
About an hour later, Microsoft followed up to confirm the scope of the problem, saying it had verified that users may be experiencing degraded functionality across various Exchange Online features. The company said it was reviewing service telemetry and diagnostic data to pin down the root cause.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.At the time of this writing, Microsoft's status account posted a more specific update, stating it had identified an issue with an authentication component that contributed to the disruption. According to the post, Microsoft has “developed a remediation strategy” and is testing it to confirm it resolves the impact before rolling it out more broadly. However, as of this writing, Microsoft's Service Health Status page says that all its products are "currently operational."
Mashable contacted Microsoft with questions about the potential outage, and we'll update this story if we receive a response.
The outage has stirred up plenty of frustration online. On X, users have pushed back on Microsoft's "degraded functionality" language, with one commenter calling it "one way to say 'none of our shit works.'"
Others reported the disruption stretching on for hours, with entire offices and thousands of employees affected worldwide, according to posts under Microsoft's status updates.
A parallel Reddit thread in r/Outlook saw a similar flood of confirmations from users locked out of the service, with dozens simply chiming in with variations of "down for me" and "yep, whole company having issues."
This is a developing story...
The Tim Cook era of Apple has come to an end.
Today, August 31, 2026, is Tim Cook's final day as CEO of Apple, and the outgoing Apple chief had some emotional parting words to share on social media.
"Sending lots of love to the Apple community on my last day as CEO," Cook posted on the social media platform X. "My title changes tomorrow, but the love I have for the Apple community never will. Thank you for being a constant source of inspiration. My gratitude is endless, and I’m excited for the next chapter!"
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Tim Cook held the position at Apple for 15 years, taking over as CEO after Steve Jobs departed in August 2011, shortly before his passing the following October. Starting Sept. 1, Cook's new position within the company will be as executive chairman of Apple's board of directors.
Cook will be succeeded by incoming Apple CEO John Ternus, the company's current Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering. At 50 years old, Ternus is the same age Cook was when he took over as Apple CEO.
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Under Cook, Apple saw the launch of some of its most popular product categories, such as AirPods and the Apple Watch. Cook also led the company as it completely relaunched its computer product lines, ranging from MacBooks to desktop Macs, with Apple's own Silicon chipset.
Apple became a trillion-dollar company under Tim Cook's leadership as well.
Cook also had to navigate the company through difficult global geopolitical issues, which led to some interesting moments, such as when President Donald Trump referred to the Apple CEO as "Tim Apple." Cook responded at the time by changing his profile name on then-Twitter to "Tim ."
Ternus's first big Apple event at the helm will take place on Sept. 9, when the company is expected to launch its new line of iPhones, including its first-ever foldable device.
The European Commission announced Sunday that it has formally designated ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine, and both Reddit and Roblox as Very Large Online Platforms, under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA).
According to the Commission's press release, all three services reported reaching at least 45 million average monthly users in the EU, clearing the threshold that triggers the designation.
The new classification means that the platforms have until Dec. 31 to meet the DSA's additional requirements for platforms of this size. These include assessing and mitigating risks tied to illegal content, harm to minors, users' physical and mental wellbeing, fundamental rights, elections, and public security, per the Commission.
SEE ALSO: EU says Meta hasn't done enough to prevent minors under 13 from using Instagram and FacebookThe Commission explained its reasoning for each service individually. ChatGPT, described as an AI system capable of responding to prompts and searching the web, qualifies as a "hybrid service" that meets the DSA's definition of an online search engine.
Roblox was described as an immersive gaming and creation platform where users build, publish, and play games made by other users. Reddit was categorized as a discussion-based platform where users create and interact with content inside topic-focused communities. Because both enable the public spread of third-party content, the Commission classified them as online platforms rather than search engines.
With these designations, the Commission gains new investigative authority to examine the functionality of these services and any related systems, and will oversee DSA compliance in partnership with national regulators where each company is legally established in the EU. For ChatGPT and Reddit, it'll be Ireland's Coimisiún na Meán; for Roblox, it's the Netherlands' Authority for Consumers and Markets.
"Reddit is committed to complying with the EU Digital Services Act," a spokesperson for the company told Mashable through email. "We’ve been preparing to meet the VLOP requirements and look forward to coordinating with EU regulators while providing transparency for Reddit users."
All three services were already subject to the DSA's baseline rules for platforms and search engines before Sunday's announcement. The new designation adds them to a growing list of 28 very large online platforms and search engines that have now been designated under the law overall.
Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.
If you need a new vibrator (I mean, who doesn't?), there are tons of Labor Day sales going on right now where you can get your hands on some of the best vibes on the market for a fraction of the price. (That's right, Labor Day isn't just for discounted mattresses and kitchen appliances!)
SEE ALSO: I've tested 100+ sex toys. Here are the 15 most mind-blowing toys I've ever owned.Blush Novelties, an OG brand in the business, just shared that it's offering up to 30% off from Sept. 2 through Sept. 8 (no code required). You can shop brands under the BN name on the official Blush website or via Amazon. I honestly think Amazon is probably the better bet here, since you'll get fast, free shipping with Prime.
Even though the sale hasn't officially kicked off just yet, a handful of toys are already discounted on Amazon and the website. You can browse the site's "sale" section (you'll find up to 50% off select items there now), or hold out until Sept. 2 to see if a better deal comes along.
A quick note before you add anything to your cart: Blush is a legacy brand, so its catalog is just a smidge outdated and includes some older jelly or TPE (porous) toys. Definitely DO NOT buy those. You only want to use body-safe, non-porous materials on, in, and around your intimate bits.
Summer is coming to an end. While that seems a bit sad, it also means the temperatures cool off and we still have one final long weekend to enjoy before fall kicks in.
Like most long weekends, big retailers are offering special discounts on some of our favorite products. That's great news if you're in the mood for a fall refresh. Consider getting a mattress upgrade if you haven't been sleeping well or browse the REI Labor Day sale to get new outdoor gear to replace anything that's worn out over the summer. It's also a great time to get a new TV ahead of NHL and NFL season.
After Labor Day, we might not see a major sales until Black Friday. In an era when tech prices continue to rise, it could be smart to shop these deals ASAP.
Best Apple deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple iPad Air, 11-inch (M4, WiFi, 128GB) $649The Apple iPad Air with an M4 chip is something to behold. It's a step up in performance level compared to the previous M3, not to mention it's incredibly lightweight and thin. In addition, it's powerful and smart enough to handle intense programs like Final Cut Pro, making this a great option for creators and artists.
Mashable Tech Editor Timothy Beck Werth reviewed the M4 iPad Air and wrote, "Artists and note-takers will definitely appreciate this one."
More Apple dealsApple AirTag (2nd Gen, 4 pack) — $79.99 $99 (save $19.01)
Apple AirPods Pro 3 — $225 $249 (save $24)
Apple iPad, 11 inch (A16, WiFi, 128GB) — $399 $449 (save $50)
At a massive 44% off, the 65-inch TCL QM8L could be the perfect upgrade for streaming fall TV shows, movies in the winter, and gaming thanks to the 144Hz refresh rate. While it usually sits at $2,499.99, Amazon has it on sale ahead of Labor Day for $1,397.99 which is the lowest we've ever seen at Amazon.
TCL used their DeepColor System technology in this mode for big contrast and deep blacks. Plus, it comes with Google TV built in for keeping all of your favorite streaming apps neatly organized and easy to access.
A new version of OpenClaw, the open-source AI agent, is available now.
OpenClaw 2.0 was released over the weekend, promising a "simpler setup" and a new browser app. On its website, OpenClaw calls it "by far the largest update in the history of OpenClaw."
The OpenClaw Foundation says that OpenClaw 2.0 was completely crowdsourced with 933 contributors. Of those 933 contributors, 569 of them contributed to the project for the first time.
Guess what Apple will release in September in our Big Guessing Game: Apple edition. Enter now for a chance to win an Apple Watch!
Here's what we know about OpenClaw 2.0, including how you can try it for yourself.
What's new with OpenClaw 2.0The new release acknowledges that the original OpenClaw (the AI agent formerly known as Clawdbot, then Moltbot) was more complicated than it needed to be for a first-time users. The update notes say that configurations were moved out of the installation process, simplified, or completely removed in order to make the installation process quick and easy.
The update also includes a completely rebuilt browser in order to simplify OpenClaw. The browser is where users interact with OpenClaw, assign tasks to agents, and track ongoing work and processes.
OpenClaw 2.0 also introduces Shared Cloud Sessions, a feature labeled as a "multiplayer experience." Shared Cloud Sessions allow a user to bring in team members onto ongoing work, allowing multiple people to come in and take over existing tasks with all of the context still attached.
Other new features in OpenClaw 2.0 include a new search function for previous conversations, live session cards that display task progress in real-time, and an assortment of additional new widgets and dashboard features.
There are a number of major security updates in OpenClaw 2.0 as well, including a new private credential request feature, which allows users to securely share credentials with an agent without exposing them in a chat.
OpenClaw quickly went viral when it was released late last year. The self-hosted, open-source agentic AI platform developed such a cult following that founder Peter Steinberger was quickly hired by OpenAI. OpenClaw is now managed by a nonprofit that's supported by OpenAI.
However, OpenClaw has struggled to maintain its position as other AI platforms rolled out similar agentic AI features that were more easily accessible to non-technical users. Perhaps a simplified setup process in this newest version will help OpenClaw retain its positioning among AI users.
How to try OpenClaw 2.0Since OpenClaw is open-source, developers should have no problem getting it up and running. For less technically-inclined users, you can download OpenClaw 2.0 for Mac or Windows at the OpenClaw website. Simply download the installer and follow the instructions to get started. You can also read all about OpenClaw v2026.8.1 (aka OpenClaw 2.0) in the official release notes.
Be warned — you should understand the cybersecurity risks of handing your device over to an AI agent before installing or using OpenClaw.
Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.
With episode 8, Furious closed the case on the vengeance-seeking serial killer named Catherine (Lola Petticrew). But with that final scene, FBI Agent Alice Black (Emmy Rossum) unlocks a new mystery that might be pursued in a second season.
Where could that lead? Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko sat down with Furious creator Elizabeth Meriwether and stars Emmy Rossum and Lola Petticrew to dig into finale burning questions and what could be ahead for Season 2.
Obviously, spoilers from "Hart Island" ahead.
Who killed Isabel on Furious? Lola Petticrew and Emmy Rossum star in "Furious." Credit: Disney / Sarah ShatzWith the trauma of being trapped and sexually assaulted in a child trafficking ring, Catherine has been fighting all season to remember what exactly happened the night Isabel died. In the final episode of the season, she goes back to where it all went down, the posh mansion of Jay Easton (Peter McRobbie).
There, an ailing Jay relies on his daughter Emma (Hope Davis) to clean up his mess. In this case — with cops, Feds, and Catherine incoming — that means destroying any evidence, including Jay's treasured collection of child porn.
While Catherine killed the pimp who trafficked her, Jay's son who was there that night, and two of the family's lawyers, she does not kill Jay. But in searching for the truth, she realizes that it was she who killed Isabel. In a tearful scene with Emma, Catherine realizes that Isabel was bleeding, possibly from postpartum complications but also because Jay beat her in the face. Crying out in pain, she asked Catherine for help. And Catherine administered a deadly dose of intravenous drugs to euthanize her first love.
So, Catherine killed Isabel, but out of love.
Furious dropped a clue to Isabel's killer in episode 1. Lola Petticrew in "Furious." Credit: Disney / Sarah ShatzIn episode 1, Catherine is swiftly shifting from different identities and using masks to hide her face. But there's one bit of costuming that singles her out, even from the crime scene of Caleb Easton's brownstone: that sequined purse.
Alice finds a dislodged sequin on Caleb's bathroom floor. Later, Catherine will collect other clothing and accessories from other victims. Like, when she meets Becky in Central Park, she appears to be wearing a men's trench coat (possibly the late Oliver's), and she takes Mira's backpack (though she leaves her alive).
Asked if these trophies were a clue that Catherine killed Isabel too, Petticrew told Mashable, "I think that it is," noting of the bag, "What I treated it like was an anchor and a reminder at every step of the way that this is what she was doing it for, and who she was doing it for. You know, Isabel, she's the love of her life. And I think that that physical girlish reminder — even when she's sort of dressed up and and and being seen by men or the world as like sexy — there's always this sort of thing that sits upon her that reminds you that she was a child when all of this happened, and a child that was forced into this situation."
Who killed Jay on Furious? Emmy Rossum in "Furious." Credit: Disney / Sarah ShatzAt first it seems like the fates — not the furies — took Jay's life. After Alice assures that Catherine's captured without being killed, she goes upstairs to Jay's bedroom. There, it seems he dies of natural causes as he gasps for air. However, when Alice visits Catherine in prison, Catherine suspects the truth, saying she knows Alice's "secret."
Furious cuts back to that sequence, the one where Jay recognized Alice, but not as an agent on the investigation into the murder of his son. When he saw her, he said, "I know you. You're the movie star. I like your video. It was always one of my favorites."
As Danny (Scoot McNairy) discovered from the files Alden (Steve Way) got off Hal's computer, Alice was the subject of child porn in her youth. Finally, the audience might understand why Alice is so determined to not only join the sex crimes department of the FBI, but also why her eyes keep drifting to the high-security screening room where child trafficking video evidence is stored.
Rossum said of this reveal, "Alice has a lot of secrets...We don't know why she wants to get into the room. We don't know that she knows about the videotape. That is information she would have hidden when she was being interviewed by the FBI. They would ask you a question like, 'Does anybody have anything on you that could be used against you?' She certainly didn't disclose her history or what had happened to her as a young teenager. She doesn't say why — you know, Nora (Quincy Tyler Bernstine) says to her in the first episode, 'Why do you want to work in the squad?' She doesn't give the full answer."
She continued, "Alice just kind of smiles and doesn't say anything. And we see her looking at that door. We know she wants to get in that room, right? To see how many people have seen that tape. Is that tape out there? Does it exist? Can they find me? Have people looked at me and my body in that way? So there's a lot riding on Alice being found out. And she has even more secrets at the end of Season 1 than she did at the beginning."
By the end of the finale, Alice will tell Nora about the video. What she won't tell her is that Jay didn't die of natural causes.
In that flashback, a new camera angle reveals the truth hidden the first time the scene played in Furious. This time, Jay doesn't just start choking out of the blue. This time, we see Alice's foot stamp on his ventilator tube, suffocating him in a way no one detected.
But this is not where the finale ends.
Where could Furious Season 2 go? Emmy Rossum and Quincy Tyler Bernstine in "Furious." Credit: Disney / Sarah ShatzSeason 1 of Furious ends with Alice finally getting into that evidence room, and there she searches for her own name. The results don't show her the video, but rather information on how many cases have included it as evidence (312) and how many downloads of it have been made online (over 50k).
As she looks over a list of usernames, we hear Catherine's voice asking from prison, "Did you like the way it felt"? Alice smiles, presumably thinking not only of how she killed Jay, but also how there are so many more rapists and pedophiles out there, prime for a reckoning.
Meriwether told Mashable that as an "almost lifelong Law and Order SVU fan, I love the idea of a unit in the FBI that like takes on these cases....but one case over the course of a season."
She continued, "I love the Nora/Alice relationship, especially as we kept working on the first season. And I felt like there's so much there to explore and just give them a different case. I think going forward, Season 2 is them working on a different case."
But Alice won't be able to leave this case behind her. Merwether noted, "Alice has a lot of secrets, more secrets now, and things that people can hold against her, and things that she needs to unpack about what happened in this season."
When is Season 2 of Furious coming? Quincy Tyler Bernstine and Danny McCarthy in "Furious." Credit: Disney / Sarah ShatzAt the time of the interview, Meriwether said of the show's future, "Fingers crossed, but I'm hoping we get to do more."
On Aug. 27, days ahead of Season 1's finale's release, Hulu announced Furious has been renewed for Season 2. So stay tuned for more.
If the Pumpkin Spite Latte's return to Starbucks didn't already alert you, Labor Day Weekend's arrival certainly will. Fall is coming, whether you're anticipating the season change or dreading it. The unofficial last hurrah of summer, Labor Day is the perfect excuse to squeeze in some last-minute beach days, backyard barbecues, and shopping sprees (obviously).
With tech prices constantly rising, major shopping holidays like Amazon's Labor Day sale are your best opportunity to score the devices you want at a discount. We've already noticed all-time low prices on some of our favorite TVs of 2026 and noise-cancelling headphones we adore. Plus, we're seeing some of the best discounts on Apple gear and Amazon devices since price hikes went into effect.
We fully expect this list to grow as the weekend nears, but here are some of the best deals we've spotted at Amazon so far.
Best Apple deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple iPad Air, 11-inch (M4, WiFi, 128GB) $649 at AmazonThe M4 iPad Air is hands down our top pick for an iPad for most people. While it's incredibly similar to its predecessor, that's not necessarily a bad thing. It features a thin and lightweight build, brilliant Liquid Retina display, insanely fast performance powered by the M4 chip, and Apple's N1 and C1X connectivity chips. Mashable's tech editor says its powerful enough to handle memory-intensive programs like Final Cut Pro and even goes as far as calling it "way overpowered for most users." It starts at $749 for the 128GB version after the price hike, but for Labor Day, it's $100 cheaper.
Read our full review of the Apple iPad Air 2026 (M4).
More Apple dealsEarbuds
Apple AirPods 4 (without ANC) — $99 $129 (save $30)
Apple AirPods 4 (with ANC) — $149 $179 (save $30)
Beats Studio Buds + — $149.95 $169.95 (save $20)
Apple AirPods Pro 3 — $199.99 $249 (save $49.01)
iPads
Apple iPad Air, 13-inch (M4, WiFi, 128GB) — $849.99 $949 (save $99.01)
Apple iPad Air, 13-inch (M4, WiFi, 256GB) — $949 $1,049 (save $100)
Apple iPad Pro, 13-inch (M5, WiFi, 512GB) — $1,549 $1,699 (Save $150)
Apple iPad Pro, 11-inch (M5, WiFi, 512GB) — $1,299 $1,399 (save $100)
Apple iPad Pro, 13-inch (M5, WiFi, 256GB) — $1,399.99 $1,499 (save $99.01)
Apple iPad Pro, 11-inch (M5, WiFi, 1TB) — $1,649.99 $1,799 (save $149.01)
Accessories
AirTags (2nd gen, 4-pack) — $79.99 $99 (save $19.01)
Apple Pencil Pro — $97 $129 (save $32)
Apple Magic Keyboard Folio for iPad (A16) — $175 $249 (save $74)
Amazon surprised everyone with a monstrous price hike across all of its Fire TV, Kindle, and Echo devices earlier this month. This is the first big sale since the price hike, so we're happy to see many of these devices still getting the deal treatment. The Echo Show 11 is down to $189.99, which is $30 cheaper than its original price before the increase. Dubbed Amazon's "most advanced smart displays yet," the Echo Show 11 features the new in-house AZ3 Pro chips and Omnisense technology for AI-based, highly personalized experiences. There's also front-facing stereo speakers, a custom woofer for spatial audio, ambient visuals that adapt to your environment, and a built-in 13-megapixel camera that can recognize faces.
More Amazon device dealsFire TV Stick HD — $15.99 $39.99 (save $24 with Prime code SAVEHDFTV)
Fire TV Stick 4K Select — $17.99 $49.99 (save $32 with Prime code 4KFTVSAVE)
Fire TV Stick 4K Plus — $24.99 $69.99 (save $45 with Prime code 4KSAVE)
Echo Pop Kids — $29.99 $49.99 (save $20)
Fire TV Stick 4K Max — $49.99 $84.99 (save $35)
Echo Dot Kids — $54.99 $89.99 (save $35)
Echo Dot — $54.99 $79.99 (save $25)
Echo Show 5 — $69.99 $99.99 (save $30)
Echo Spot — $69.99 $109.99 (save $40)
Echo Dot Max — $94.99 $119.99 (save $25)
Fire TV Cube — $109.99 $199.99 (save $90)
Echo Show 8 — $149.99 $199.99 (save $50)
Echo Studio — $194.99 $219.99 (save $25)
Echo Show 15 — $269.99 $349.99 (save $80)
It's been out less than six months, but it's already our top pick for a QLED TV for most people. That "SQD" in the title stands for "super quantum dot mini LEDS," which is a lot of tech jargon for extremely bright quantum dots. Mashable's TV expert calls it one of the brightest TVs you can buy, period, shouting out its "superb peak brightness, detailed picture quality, and fantastic glare handling." The 65-inch model clocks in at $2,499.99 on a normal day, but it's down to a best-ever $1,397.99 at Amazon for Labor Day — a 44% discount.
More TV dealsInsignia 50-inch F50 LED 4K TV — $159.99 $299.99 (save $140)
Amazon 50-inch Omni QLED 4K Fire TV — $259.99 $469.99 (save $210)
Hisense 65-inch U6 Pro Mini-LED ULED 4K TV — $598.99 $1,099.99 (save $501)
LG 55-inch LX7B Gallery Mini LED 4K TV — $699.99 $1,299.99 (save $600)
Hisense 65-inch U7 Mini-LED ULED 4K TV — $847.99 $1,499.99 (save $652)
LG 65-inch LX7B Gallery Mini LED 4K TV — $899.99 $1,799.99 (save $900)
Hisense 65-inch S7 Canvas Hi-QLED 4K TV — $997.99 $1,999.99 (save $1,002)
Hisense 85-inch U6 Pro Hi-QLED Mini LED 4K TV — $1097.99 $1,999.99 (save $902)
Samsung 85-inch M80H Mini-LED 4K TV — $1,199.99 $1,799.99 (save $600)
Samsung 65-inch S85H OLED 4K TV — $1,397.99 $1,999.99 (save $602)
LG 65-Inch B6 OLED 4K TV — $1,399.99 $1,999.99 (save $600)
LG 65-inch C6 OLED 4K TV — $1,499.99 $2,699.99 (save $1,200)
Since these headphones have been replaced by the 2nd generation, they won't be on shelves too much longer. We're huge fans of the latest generation, but like most modern tech, the upgrades are iterative. The original QuietComfort Ultras are "still some of the most comfortable and best-sounding headphones we've ever tested," Mashable's Sam Mangino writes. They can easily be worn all day without earaches, offer all-day battery life with noise cancellation turned on, have convenient foldable earcups, and superb sound quality. At only $249, they're a total steal (and the cheapest they've ever been)
Read our full review of the Bose QuietComfort Ultras.
More headphones dealsSony WH-CH520 — $38 $69.99 (save $31.99)
Anker Soundcore Q20i — $39.98 $69.99 (save $30.01)
Marshall Major V — $89.99 $169.99 (save $80)
Sony ULT Wear — $148 $249.99 (save $101.99)
Sony WH-1000XM5 — $198 $278 (save $80)
Bose QuietComfort — $229 $359 (save $130)
Sonos Ace — $299 $399 (save $100)
Sony WH-1000XM6 — $398 $459.99 (save $61.99)
Huawei is gearing up to unveil its next triple-folding smartphone, the Mate XT 2, at an event in China on September 7. The company will also debut HarmonyOS 7. Huawei hasn't published a full spec sheet yet, but a video teaser has given the clearest look so far at the device, according to GSMArena.
SEE ALSO: It's official: OnePlus smartphones will no longer be sold in U.S. and EuropeThe teaser confirms earlier rumors that the Mate XT 2 will switch to an inward-folding, U-shaped design, a departure from the Z-shaped fold used on the original Mate XT and the Mate XTs. Other rumored specs include a 6,000 mAh battery and either a Kirin 9050 Pro or Kirin 9030S chip, while the camera setup is expected to closely resemble that of the Mate X7.
This is your last chance to guess what Apple will release in September in our Big Guessing Game: Apple edition. Enter now for a chance to win an Apple Watch!
Huawei devices, including its foldables, have effectively been locked out of the American market for years — the result of a national security dispute between the company and the U.S. government that stretches back nearly two decades.
The roots of that dispute go back to the mid-2000s, when networking giant Cisco accused Huawei of stealing its intellectual property, an early sign of the friction that would eventually escalate into formal government action.
Things came to a head in 2019, when the Trump administration signed an executive order effectively banning Huawei from U.S. communications networks and added the company to the Commerce Department's Entity List, restricting American firms from exporting technology to Huawei without a license.
SEE ALSO: The U.S. DJI drone ban, explainedThat same year, the Justice Department charged Huawei with financial fraud and sanctions violations. In 2020, prosecutors added allegations of racketeering and trade secret theft. The U.S. also tightened restrictions on Huawei's access to foreign-made semiconductors built with American technology, while Congress provided $1.9 billion to help remove and replace Huawei and ZTE equipment in domestic networks.
The fallout extended well beyond politics and into Huawei's actual device lineup. As CNET has chronicled extensively, Huawei's CFO, Meng Wanzhou, was detained in Canada for nearly three years before striking a deal with the Justice Department in 2021 that allowed her to return to China. Around the same time, Huawei lost its license to use Google's Android services on new phones, and countries including the U.K. and Sweden banned Huawei equipment from their 5G networks entirely.
The Biden administration largely kept those restrictions in place and, in some cases, tightened them further. They remain in force today. The result is a company that remains one of the world's largest telecom equipment and smartphone makers, with a presence in more than 170 countries, but without an official smartphone retail presence in the U.S.
So while the Mate XT 2 may generate plenty of buzz when it launches next week, don't expect to find it at your local carrier store. For now, seeing Huawei's latest tri-fold in person will likely require a trip to a market where it is officially sold.
Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko was sent on a ropes course ahead of interviewing Fall 2: Deadpoint's cast Tom Brittney, Arsema Thomas, and Harriet Slater. Her training time was apparently almost as long as the actors' for the Fall sequel.
"We didn't have that much time," said Tom Brittney. "From casting to filming, it was pretty short. It was, like, a week or two."
Slater added, "In the first week, we were just practicing some stunts," "But other than that I feel like we mostly just winged it!"
Arseme Thomas jumped in, "Yeah, they threw us on there and they were like, 'Exactly how you're reacting, we'll get that!'"
Fall 2: Deadpoint is in theaters September 2.
Apple’s September iPhone Event will be led by a new CEO, loaded with hardware, and full of surprises. We could finally get a foldable iPhone, new smart speakers, powerful smartwatches and more. Here’s what to expect and what we really want to see once Apple pulls back the curtain on September 9th.
NASA and SpaceX successfully launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Orbiting Observatory was named after NASA’s first chief astronomer, Nancy Grace Roman, and can produce images from deep space 100 times larger than NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
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