Mashable

SAVE $45: The Govee Outdoor String Lights (96 foot) are on sale at Govee for just $54.99, down from the standard list price of $99.99. That's a 45% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Govee Govee Outdoor String Lights $54.99 at Govee
$99.99 Save $45.00 Get Deal

We're just a few days away from June which means it's time for nights spent out in the backyard. Or if you live in an apartment, summer evenings on the balcony. In either case, you'll want some mood lighting, and a massive 96-foot strand of smart lights is on a major discount today.

As of May 29, the Govee Outdoor String Lights (96 foot) are on sale at Govee's website for only $54.99, marked down from usual price of $99.99. That's a 45% discount that takes $45 off the price, bringing it down to just $0.57 per foot.

The Govee Outdoor String Lights set the mood when it comes to backyard barbecues this summer. With the Govee app, you can choose from 47 pre-made scenes or go your own way by creating a color scheme that matches your mood. If your backyard hang involves music, set the lights to sync to the tunes. You can also set schedules for automatic on/off or adjust the brightness from the app. The scheudle function is a great addition if you'll be away on summer vacation at some point over the next few months.

SEE ALSO: Our favorite Anker products are on sale at Amazon: Grab the Solix C300 for $180

But you won't need to take the lights down once summer is over because the waterproof and shatterproof materials can withstand fall's rain. Leave them up for Halloween and winter holidays come December.

Before the next warm weekend arrives, upgrade your backyard for summer nights by snagging the Govee Outdoor String Lights while they're on sale for just $54.99.

The best home and kitchen deals to shop this week

• Skylight Frame 10-inch Digital Picture Frame — $139.99 (List Price $159.00)

• Ninja Crispi Air Fryer — $159.99 (List Price $179.99)

• Birdfy AI Smart Solar Powered Bird Feeder with Camera — $179.99 (List Price $249.99)

• KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt Head Stand Mixer — $449.95

• Eufy Omni C20 Robot Vacuum and Mop With Self-Emptying Base — $399.99 (List Price $699.99)

Cancel all Thursday plans forevermore, for the first trailer for Netflix's The Thursday Murder Club has dropped.

Based on Richard Osman's wildly popular cozy crime novel, the Chris Columbus-directed film will take fans and newcomers into Cooper's Chase. In this luxe Kent retirement village, four amateur sleuths hit the red yarn wall and solve cold cases in the drawing room over tea.

Elizabeth (Helen Mirren), Ron (Pierce Brosnan), Ibrahim (Ben Kingsley), and Joyce (Celia Imrie) pore over old unsolved case files for fun, but when a real body turns up, their Miss Marple-level skills will be put to the test. And skills they have, with their past careers in espionage, psychiatry, union activism, and medicine proving the perfect combination to track down the culprit.

Adapted for the screen by Katy Brand and Suzanne Heathcote, The Thursday Murder Club looks like it's going to be as sharp, entertaining, and character-driven as Osman's book. Sign me the hell up.

The Thursday Murder Club arrives on Netflix August 28.

SAVE $150: As of May 29, Apple's iPad Pro has finally dipped under $850. Get the tablet with M4 chip for $849.99 at Amazon and save $149.01.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple iPad Pro, 11-inch (M4, 256GB, WiFi) $849.99 at Amazon
$999 Save $149.01 Get Deal

Professionals are no longer restricted to working on the confines of a desktop or laptop. With the innovations in tablet processors, especially by Apple, an iPad is just as powerful as a MacBook these days. This is especially true for the tablet on sale today, the Apple iPad Pro with M4 chip.

As of May 29, find the Apple iPad Pro with M4 chip for just $849.99. That saves you $149.01 for 15% off of its usual $999.

Among Apple's entire line-up of tablets, the iPad we recommend to creative professionals is the iPad Pro. With its HDR display, it has the best high definition display, allowing precision with video editing or graphic design. Plus, it has the computing power to back it up. Apple's iPad Pro with M4 chip scored 14,586 on the Geekbench 6 test, beating any MacBook or PC we've ever tested.

Right now you can find the Apple iPad Pro on sale at Amazon for $849.99. This isn't quite the lowest price the iPad has dropped to. On May 28th, the Apple iPad Pro dropped to $839. While it bounced back up by $10, this is still a great deal, finally bringing it under $850.

Tesla has updated its iPhone app with support for Live Activities.

The latest iteration of the company's iOS app, with the version number 4.45.0, will show Supercharging info as a Live Activity on the iPhone, provided it runs iOS 17.2 or later.

When you plug into a Tesla Supercharging station, a Live Activity will show up on your iPhone's lock screen with details about your charging session. This includes how much time you have left until charging is done, estimated cost of the session, charging power, speed, and added mileage.

You'll need iOS 17.2 or later for this to work. Credit: Stan Schroeder / Mashable

The feature is nifty as it lets you see where your Supercharging session is at with just a quick a glance at your phone. If you have an iPhone with a Dynamic Island (that's iPhone 14 Pro/Pro Max or later), you'll also get a simple overview of your charging session there, with both a visual and textual representation of how much time it'll take until the charging is complete.

Superchargers will charge you an idle fee if you leave your car plugged in too long, so this could actually save you a few bucks if you're the forgetful type.

SEE ALSO: Report: Tesla has not prepared Austin for robotaxi launch next week (updated)

Unfortunately, the feature currently ends with Supercharging; there's no support for charging at home or at third-party charging.

According to Not A Tesla App, though, the Live Activity could one day support Supercharger queue status, as well as roadside assistance status.

SAVE $120: As of May 29, the Sonos Ace headphones are on sale at Amazon for $329, 27% off their list price of $449.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sonos Sonos Ace $329 at Amazon
$449 Save $120 Get Deal

Amazon's Memorial Day sale may be over, but there are still some great deals lingering around. If you've been on the hunt for a headphones upgrade, the retailer is offering a stellar discount at the moment on the Sonos Ace, which is marked down by over $100.

The Sonos Ace is currently 27% off, with a price drop from $449 to $329. According to camelcamelcamel, this marks a new lowest-ever price for them, so if they've been on your radar, now is a great time to pick them up. They're currently listed as a limited-time deal as well, so act fast to secure this deal while it's available.

SEE ALSO: Sony's new flagship XM6 headphones are here — but there's a catch

These headphones boast great sound quality, even featuring Dolby Atmos, and Active Noise Cancelation that allows you to be fully immersed in the sounds you're listening to without any outside noises interrupting. They have a comfortable fit and up to 30 hours of battery with Active Noise Cancelation enabled, so you can enjoy your favorite music, podcasts, audiobooks, and more for longer between charges.

Our review had high praise for them as well, with Mashable's Miller Kern saying, "I would recommend Sonos Ace to people who 1) are true audiophiles who value incredible sound quality above all else, and 2) have a Sonos ecosystem at home and will use the TV audio swap feature with their Sonos Ace and soundbar."

Don't miss out on the Sonos Ace headphones at their lowest-ever price at Amazon.

Looking for more great headphone deals? Right now, you can also score a sweet deal on the Sony ULT WEAR headphones at Amazon. Or, if you prefer earbuds, the Bose QuietComfort earbuds are discounted there, too.

The best deals this week, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts

• Roku Ultra 4K Ultimate Streaming Player (2024 Release) — $79.99 (List Price $99.99)

• Beats Pill Bluetooth Speaker — $99.95 (List Price $149.95)

• Roborock Qrevo Master Robot Vacuum and Mop — $899.99 (List Price $1599.99)

• Peloton Bike — $1,145.00 (List Price $1445.00)

• Apple AirTag (4-Pack) — $74.99 (List Price $99.00)

SAVE $132: As of May 29, the Garmin Forerunner 955 is on sale for $369.99 at Amazon. That's a saving of 26% on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Garmin Garmin Forerunner 955 $369.99 at Amazon
$491 Save $121.01 Get Deal

Garmin is one of the most recognizable names in the fitness tracker game. With watches built for everyday life, as well as beginner athletes, serious endurance athletes, and everything in between, you can find a product for everyone. And for runners of all abilities, there's the Forerunner range. This selection of smartwatches varies in both price and ability, but I can't help but share my love for the Forerunner 955, easily my favorite Garmin of all time. And it's now on sale at Amazon.

As of May 29, the Garmin Forerunner 955 is reduced to $369.99 at Amazon. That's a saving of $130. This deal is for the black colored watch.

The 955 has a whole lot of fancy tools, tracking features, and training tips to make your runs and workouts more advanced. My favorite features are the training readiness, training load, HRV, and sleep monitoring, so you can schedule your training according to your recovery and body readiness. If you love data like me, you'll love this watch.

The battery life is also seriously impressive, and a godsend for those of us who regularly forget to charge our devices. It can last up to 15 days in smartwatch mode and up to 42 hours in GPS mode, so it's also great for endurance sports.

The 955 also supports full GPS tracking, which makes runs, rides, and even open-water swims incredibly accurate. And for swimming, it has 5 ATM water resistance.

Unlike some of the newer models, including the Forerunner 965, you won't have an AMOLED display. However, I've found that the colors are still vibrant and bright enough, and brighter than older MIP watches.

Get this great deal from the Amazon website.

SAVE $50: As of May 29, the Garmin Lily 2 smartwatch is on sale at Amazon for $249.99, 17% off its list price of $299.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Garmin Garmin Lily 2 $249.99 at Amazon
$299.99 Save $50 Get Deal

Smartwatches aren't just for athletic individuals. If you've been looking for an option that's both stylish and includes health and fitness features, the Garmin Lily 2 is worth a look. Thankfully, it's on sale at Amazon right now as well.

The Garmin Lily 2 has received a 17% discount from its list price of $299.99 to $249.99. According to camelcamelcamel, this is its lowest-ever price, so there's no better time to grab it. It's worth noting that it's listed as a limited-time deal at Amazon right now, though, so be quick to secure it at this great price before it goes back up.

SEE ALSO: The Garmin Forerunner 165 is still at its best price at Amazon, even after Memorial Day sales

There are plenty of great features within the Garmin Lily 2 that make it a worthy investment alongside its fashionable design. Some of these include sleep score, respiration tracking, Body Battery energy monitoring, all-day stress tracking, and heart rate monitoring, just to name a few. It even boasts up to nine days of battery life so you can spend more time focused on your progress and less on recharges.

And for more athletic individuals, it even offers tracking for steps, calories burned, intensity minutes, and more so you can stay on top of your fitness goals throughout the day.

If you've been looking for a smartwatch upgrade, the Garmin Lily 2 is definitely worth checking out. Don't miss out on this limited-time deal at Amazon.

It's not the only Garmin deal that's crossed our radar, either. If you don't mind spending a little bit extra, the Garmin Venu 3S is still discounted at Amazon as well after the Memorial Day sale event.

The best deals this week, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts

• Roku Ultra 4K Ultimate Streaming Player (2024 Release) — $79.99 (List Price $99.99)

• Beats Pill Bluetooth Speaker — $99.95 (List Price $149.95)

• Roborock Qrevo Master Robot Vacuum and Mop — $899.99 (List Price $1599.99)

• Peloton Bike — $1,145.00 (List Price $1445.00)

• Apple AirTag (4-Pack) — $74.99 (List Price $99.00)

SAVE $4.01: As of May 29, the Apple AirTag is on sale at Amazon for $24.99. This deal saves you 14% on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple AirTag $24.99 at Amazon
$29 Save $4.01 Get Deal

If you're constantly misplacing your favorite items — keys, passport, even luggage — you need to check out this deal on the Apple AirTag at Amazon. As of May 29, this Apple AirTag is reduced to just $24.99, a savings of 14%.

The setup for these couldn't be easier. Just attach it to your item of choice and track it in the Find My app. It even has a small built-in speaker, so you can trigger a sound from the Find My app on your Apple device, making it easier to find the AirTag if it's nearby but out of sight.

According to Apple, all AirTags are designed to have a one-year battery life, and that's with regular use. They use a standard CR2032 coin cell battery, which is user-replaceable. When the battery is eventually starting to run low, you’ll receive a notification on your iPhone, giving you plenty of time to replace it.

It also has an IP67 water resistance rating, meaning it can cope with a maximum depth of one meter for up to 30 minutes. But let's hope your items doesn't end up underwater, especially you're phone...

Head to Amazon now to grab this deal, thank us later.

SAVE $20: As of May 29, the Sonos Era 100 speaker is on sale at Amazon for $179, 10% off its list price of $199.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sonos Sonos Era 100 $179 at Amazon
$199 Save $20 Get Deal

A high-quality speaker is worth investing in for your home, whether you want it for playing music or to create a surround sound system for your next movie night. If you've been on the hunt for something new, the Sonos Era 100 is worth a look. I'm a very big fan of this speaker, and it's currently on sale at Amazon.

The Sonos Era 100 has been marked down to $179 at Amazon for a limited time. This is a 10% discount from its list price of $199. It applies to both color options as well, so you can choose between the black or white speaker to find the best fit for your home.

SEE ALSO: The JBL Xtreme 4 is still at its lowest-ever price at Amazon

Alongside offering excellent sound quality, the Sonos Era 100 has a great compact design that allows it to fit in a variety of places, from a table or desk to a bookshelf. It pairs really well with a Sonos soundbar too, so you can set up surround sound in your home to make your next movie night or TV show binge-watch into an unforgettably immersive one. I recently re-watched Jurassic Park and it was completely elevated with the surround sound from this speaker.

This limited-time deal may not stick around for long, though, so act fast to save on the Sonos Era 100 at Amazon.

If you're looking to pick up a portable speaker instead, Amazon's offering some more great Sonos deals on the Sonos Roam 2 and Sonos Move 2 as well.

The best deals this week, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts

• Roku Ultra 4K Ultimate Streaming Player (2024 Release) — $79.99 (List Price $99.99)

• Beats Pill Bluetooth Speaker — $99.95 (List Price $149.95)

• Roborock Qrevo Master Robot Vacuum and Mop — $899.99 (List Price $1599.99)

• Peloton Bike — $1,145.00 (List Price $1445.00)

• Apple AirTag (4-Pack) — $74.99 (List Price $99.00)

SAVE $15: As of May 29, the Amazon Fire TV Stick HD is on sale for $19.99 at Amazon. That's a savings of 43% on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire Stick HD $19.99 at Amazon
$34.99 Save $15.00 Get Deal

An older TV doesn't need to be replaced in favour of a new, smart TV. Why spend hundreds of dollars to replace something that still works? Especially when you can upgrade your current TV for under $20.

That's where Amazon's HD Fire Stick comes in. This streaming device plugs into your TV (or laptop) and lets you access platforms including Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, and even more. No need to upgrade to a fancy smart TV, all you need is an HDMI port.

And as of May 29, the Fire Stick HD is back on sale, now priced at just $19.99.

The Fire TV Stick also comes with a remote with Alexa built in. Use this voice control to search for TV shows, search questions online, or even use it to talk to your other smart home devices.

With this particular Fire Stick, you'll be able to enjoy all your favorite shows in beautiful HD quality. And the setup really couldn't be easier. All you need to do is pop the device into your TV's HDMI port, and that's it. You have instant access to a range of streaming platforms and many live channels.

This deal is only around for a limited time, so head to Amazon so you don't miss out.

TL;DR: Live stream Monfils vs. Draper in the 2025 French Open for free on 9Now, France TV, or Servus TV. Access these free streaming platforms from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

There are a number of fascinating second-round matchups in the 2025 French Open, including Monfils vs. Draper. The crowd will be firmly behind Monfils, but Draper has been looking really strong on clay this season. It's going to be a real battle.

If you want to watch Monfils vs. Draper in the 2025 French Open for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

How to watch Monfils vs. Draper for free

Monfils vs. Draper in the 2025 French Open is available to live stream for free on a number of platforms:

• Australia — 9now

• Austria — ServusTV

• France — France TV

These services are geo-restricted, but anyone can access these free streaming platforms with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in another country, meaning you can stream the 2025 French Open for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream the 2025 French Open for free by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia, Austria, or France

4. Connect to 9Now, Servus TV, France TV

5. Watch the 2025 French Open for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer pretty generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Roland-Garros without committing with your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to live stream Monfils vs. Draper (plus the rest of the 2025 French Open) before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming services from around the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for streaming live sport is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for sport?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $139 and includes an extra four months for free — 61% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month subscription for just $12.95 (including money-back guarantee).

Live stream Monfils vs. Draper in the 2025 French Open for free with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: Live stream Moutet vs. Djokovic in the 2025 French Open for free on 9Now, France TV, or Servus TV. Access these free streaming platforms from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

There are a number of really interesting second-round matchups in the 2025 French Open, including Moutet vs. Djokovic. Can the Serbian legend progress to the next round? You can follow all the action without spending anything at all.

If you want to watch Moutet vs. Djokovic in the 2025 French Open for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

How to watch Moutet vs. Djokovic for free

Moutet vs. Djokovic in the 2025 French Open is available to live stream for free on a number of platforms:

• Australia — 9now

• Austria — ServusTV

• France — France TV

These services are geo-restricted, but anyone can access these free streaming platforms with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in another country, meaning you can stream the 2025 French Open for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream the 2025 French Open for free by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia, Austria, or France

4. Connect to 9Now, Servus TV, France TV

5. Watch the 2025 French Open for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer pretty generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Roland-Garros without committing with your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to live stream Moutet vs. Djokovic (plus the rest of the 2025 French Open) before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming services from around the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for streaming live sport is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for sport?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $139 and includes an extra four months for free — 61% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month subscription for just $12.95 (including money-back guarantee).

Live stream Moutet vs. Djokovic in the 2025 French Open for free with ExpressVPN.

Encrypted direct messages on X will no longer be available for users, according to a company post on the Elon Musk-owned platform.

Announcing the change on Wednesday, X's engineering team posted, "Starting today, we will be pausing the encrypted DMs feature while we work on making some improvements."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

The company noted users "will still be able to access your encrypted DMs, but won't be able to send new ones."

Until now, encrypted DMs were available on X for verified users providing "the recipient follows sender, or has sent a message to sender previously, or has accepted a Direct Message request from the sender before." You can tell whether a message is encrypted if it has a lock icon badge on the avatar of the person you're messaging in the DMs tab of X.

SEE ALSO: Report: X's DM feature is getting rebranded as 'XChat'

The move comes amid reports and rumours that X's direct messages may soon be replaced with a tab called XChat. As Mashable's Matt Binder reports, "Based on screenshot leaks from another X user, it seems XChat is being positioned as a full-fledged WhatsApp competitor — complete with encrypted messaging, file sharing (including PDFs), disappearing messages, unread status toggles, message deletion for everyone (not just you), and voice messages (sometime after launch)."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

X's encrypted DMs feature was added in 2023 following Musk's acquisition, in a move meant to rival messaging on platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal. However, the feature came with many, many caveats — Mashable's Stan Schroeder and Caitlin Welsh read X's updated privacy policy and found "X may collect information on the 'metadata related to Encrypted Messages.' Ideally, the company should collect as little of such metadata as possible, though collecting some of it is sometimes unavoidable."

This year, Apple might launch iOS 26 instead of the widely expected iOS 19.

This is according to a new report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who claims that Apple is working on a major rebrand across all of its operating systems, which will be identified by year instead of version number.

This means that, in 2025, Apple might launch iOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26.

It's a pretty big deal for Apple, who only changed the branding of iOS once — the first three versions were called iPhone OS, with Apple switching to iOS in 2010. The company kept the naming scheme until 2024.

Older tech nerds will also remember that Microsoft used to identify its Windows operating systems by year in 1995, 1998, and 2000, though it later switched to version numbers (the latest version being Windows 11).

For Apple, the change does make sense. The company's operating systems currently don't have a consistent naming scheme — the current version of Apple's mobile operating system is iOS 18, in contrast to macOS 15 and visionOS 2.

If the report is accurate, though, Apple will use the next year for its operating system, meaning that the versions that launch in 2025 will be called "26," and so on.

SEE ALSO: Apple launches a self-repair program for iPads

According to Gurman, Apple will announce this change at its Worldwide Developers Conference, which kicks off on June 9.

It's not just about the name, though. Apple will reportedly introduce a new look across its operating systems — something we've heard in previous reports.

On the set of Sesame Street in early May, as the show was deep in filming for its upcoming season, the team was still in lock-step — clearly experts after nearly six decades of producing the program. Some things still stood out: set monitors showed mock animations on screen as the puppeteers filmed an upcoming Cookie Monster-centered episode, and Sesame Workshop representatives explained that portions of the new season may include entirely animated backgrounds, harkening back to the old "Elmo's World" green screen set. 

Not long after, it became clear that this was part of the PBS program's new distribution plan, as it was announced Sesame Street's residents would be packing up and moving to Netflix. The company was bringing back old things, including "Elmo's World," and introducing new animation segments and interactive options to "freshen" up the format.

SEE ALSO: Trump administration detonates expansion of rural broadband access

Users online rejoiced that the streaming giant was "saving" the show from Trump's cost-cutting axe — just a week earlier, the administration announced the termination of the Department of Education Ready To Learn grant, a funding stream that has kept PBS, the home of Sesame Street, up and running for 30 years. But that wasn't the only incentive for the streaming giant to take on the beloved muppets.

Finding a new cash cow

Before Netflix, Sesame was an HBO darling, with the company acquiring rights to air episodes in 2015 — as part of the deal, Sesame Street episodes aired exclusively to Max first, then went to PBS for free. 

Adjusting the program's priority to streamers was a necessary move to keep it afloat and in front of kid's eyes. A 2023 Nielsen report found that streaming services made up more than a third of TV watching for children, with broadcast dropping to 20 percent. Linear television, AKA broadcast channels with set programming schedules, have cratered over the years, as younger kids flock to the vast options of streaming platforms and content created by online influencers. Kids are looking at smaller screens, and wider content options. 

According to Netflix, kids and family entertainment makes up 15 percent of the platform's total viewing, with a lot of their new offerings being offshoots of large-budget IP, existing franchises, or even content creators, like popular TikTok and YouTube star Ms. Rachel. 

"The truth of the matter is, doing what's best for kids isn't always going to drive a lot of revenue." - Sara DeWitt, PBS KIDS

Still, not even streaming services present a stable home for children's content amid the profit demands of the entertainment industry. The Sesame-Max partnership ended in December, with Max saying it was part of a new corporate strategy of investing less in children's programming. "Based on consumer usage and feedback, we’ve had to prioritize our focus on stories for adults and families. And so new episodes from Sesame Street, at this time, are not as core to our strategy," said a spokesperson. 

"The media industry has shifted its focus," DeWitt explained. "There was a lot of retraction in the commercial industry around kids' content, because kids' content wasn't driving subscribers to streaming. The big companies who had been putting a lot of investment into children's content, which was great for everybody, suddenly started to really pull back." 

Streaming services can offer a myriad of benefits for children's content, without as many constraints as the broadcast model, DeWitt said. Instead, they're increasingly unreliable, focusing mainly on leveraging children's media, including video games, that can be translated into dollar signs, said Rachel Franz, early childhood advocacy program director at nonprofit Fairplay. Fairplay works to build commercial-free time and space for children, focused on developmentally appropriate screen time beyond big brands.

Franz asks: "What's the reason for creating this media and what role does profit have?"

Demand for digital content is a 'chicken or the egg' question

Streaming and entertainment giants say they're meeting viewer demand with new viewing experiences and multimedia activities. Video watching still makes up the majority of screen time for children from the time they are born to around eight years old, Franz explained. According to a recent report by nonprofit Common Sense Media, 60 percent of daily screen time for a child under the age of eight is devoted to videos. Video games, meanwhile, have steadily taken over the second spot. 

Entertainment companies have nurtured the shift. Disney, for example, bought a $1.5 billion stake in Fortnite-maker Epic Games with the goal of creating an "expansive, open, persistent, and social universe" for fans of its various IP. Netflix has begun replacing its other interactive video options, like its brief choose-your-own-adventure entries, with more games content, including its new Sesame Street partnership. "They are using the license of Sesame Street to create a game version of Sesame Street, which is completely unnecessary," argued Franz. 

These companies' highly-popular games apps, paired with large wallets and algorithmic dominance in the streaming world, are a recipe for exploitation, Franz says. "When there isn't public funding, and entities like Sesame have to go and cut deals with Netflix, young children get exposed to manipulative design tactics like auto play and personal content that's driven by data collection, not by children's real likes and dislikes — platforms that are designed to exploit kids by maximizing engagement instead of educating them," said Franz. "Licensing of branded games is part of what they're pushed toward when they don't have funding."

Early childhood development experts like Franz fear that these shifts lead to a loss of autonomy among children and parents, who are desperately seeking ways to entertain and educate their kids. Personalized algorithms and widespread data collection aren't inherent risks with broadcast TV. They are with streaming. "We don't see it as an accident that that's where kids are [being forced to access content]," Franz says. "It's the result of a powerful business model that lures kids and families in."

Advocates argue that business — and a federal government trying to operate like one —  is interfering with the possibility of a positive childhood relationship with screens and media. And as tech and the entertainment industry speed up, the slower pace of developing age appropriate games and television is less enticing to major companies. 

"The truth of the matter is, doing what's best for kids isn't always going to drive a lot of revenue," said DeWitt. 

The free PBS KIDS Games app, for example, averages 3.6 million visitors per month, and has become a lifeline for parents who can let their children download content to be viewed later, and play games in an ad-free environment. PBS KIDS has been producing educational games content for years, but, unlike many of the games offered by billion dollar businesses, they are intentionally sandboxed. The app features no ads, no in-app purchases, no outside access — no direct way to get kids hooked or to make money.

"It's the result of a powerful business model that lures kids and families in. - Rachel Franz, Fairplay

Simultaneously, more kids are gravitating toward social media content, including child content creators and "kidfluencers" — something marketing agencies and entertainment giants are picking up on. According to that same Common Sense Media report, children are watching less live television and cable, while increasing their time spent watching short videos on apps like TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts. The nonprofit found that average daily time on such apps rose from one minute to 14 minutes between 2020 and 2024. 

"A lot of content that kids are seeing right now is being created by people who don't have a background in children's media," said DeWitt. "Who have not gone through the gatekeeper of a network or a producer to get an idea approved, but are really just looking at what can drive the most advertising revenue, what can drive subscriptions. They're posting it on platforms that are not in any way regulated for kids. It's this perfect storm."

More than just Sesame Street

The federal government is leaving no stone unturned in its hunt for supposed corruption, hitting entities like the Environmental Protection Agency, humanitarian agency USAID, and — in what some congressional leaders are likening to a Muppet Red Scare — the residents of Sesame Street.

First, there was the Trump administration's executive order to divest the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)'s funding away from NPR and PBS, allegedly for promoting "biased" news. Next came sweeping orders to excise funding for DEI-related contracts, and a still ongoing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) investigation into public broadcast channels. What followed was the Ready to Learn grant termination, and Trump's attempt to oust three members of the CPB board.

"We are right now trying to untangle what it means to stop work on a grant of this size," Sara DeWitt, senior vice president and general manager of PBS KIDS, told Mashable days after the May 2 announcement. She was lamentably preparing to furlough swaths of employees as other publicly funded stations readied to sue the Trump administration. "This is hitting us really hard at this moment — and I think it's going to have a big impact on access to high quality content for kids."

Losing Ready to Learn grants is an immediate blow to public media programs and shows, money that went to creating classics like Reading Rainbow and Arthur, as well as new offerings like Lyla in the Loop.

But, even more of a problem, it effectively ended crucial PBS initiatives beyond TV, including an ongoing effort to build libraries of accessible ASL-interpreted content and on-the-ground programming for low-income communities with dozens of member stations. Federal funding stoppages may have far-reaching effects on early childhood research, as well. A week earlier, the Trump administration ordered a freeze on National Science Foundation grants under the guise of anti-woke cost-cutting, the same funding stream used by PBS researchers over decades to explore things like social emotional learning games and new AI-powered shows.

"The Ready to Learn grant has been a significant funder of the research that has helped us improve these services and helped the children's media industry better understand how kids can learn from media," said DeWitt, who worries that a prolonged lapse in funding may have longterm effects on the industry. "It's really coming at us from all sides."

The lack of investment is not just a Trump issue, and it's not just about publicly-funded media, although that is crucial to support and retain. Behind the scenes, research-backed children's media has been fighting within this new, brutally money-hungry entertainment environment — a powder keg reality that turns any threat to federal funding into a lit match.

Seeding a better relationship with TV

But there's movement in a positive direction, too. 

Online, parents are beginning to participate in what is being called the "slow" or "gentle" TV movement, said DeWitt. Responding to the highly-stimulating web content popular among children during the early 2020s — e.g., the dancing anthropomorphic fruits of CocoMelon — families are resetting their children's viewing habits with calming, traditional TV, such as Franklin, Bear in the Big Blue House, and dozens of PBS originals. "What these traditional programs offer is a slow pace throughout and a clear starting and stopping point," Franz said, noting the trend is backed by plenty of science.

As a nonprofit, DeWitt explained, PBS KIDS has been able to leverage federal funding to make appropriate kids content more accessible and remain free, including higher-quality experiences for kids who have disabilities or who live in communities where they don't have great access to broadband or devices.

And PBS content is also a crucial resource for schools, primarily because of the fact that it is noncommercial — that means both games and visual media can be accessed for little to no cost, and is vetted as a safe, learning-focused option for educators. 

DeWitt explained the middle ground, as broadcast loses even more dominance over streaming, may well be linear streaming channels, hubs within a larger streaming service that play just a single form of content. "We have recently been in a time where everyone has been focused on video-on-demand, choosing the show that you want to watch immediately. We are seeing many, many more channels appear again on streaming services, including the PBS KIDS 24/7 app," she said. It's a way to possibly build sandboxes on less-than-stellar platforms.

Franz argues it's more important than ever to pressure companies to invest in safer tech design and appropriate media. There's clearly demand from parents, who are seeking out appropriate and less-stimulating media, as well as the general public, who ardently support the existence of nonprofits like PBS.

"We've always had such a clear mission, and that mission hasn't changed," said DeWitt. "It hasn't changed since it was set up. It's been the same through Republican and Democratic administrations. It is to provide a service to America's children, all of America's children, where they can learn from media, where we can open up worlds of possibilities to them, where we can help them feel seen, and also show them the lives of others."

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New York Knicks vs. Indiana Pacers (Game 5) starts at 8 p.m. ET on May 29. This game takes place at Madison Square Garden.

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The Colossal Foundation has developed an AI algorithm that can detect the critically endangered tooth-billed pigeon's calls, helping conservationists locate the lost species. 

Partnering with the Samoa Conservation Society (SCS), Colossal Biosciences' nonprofit arm hopes that this technology will lead to more sightings of this lost bird — and eventually assist in saving other endangered species as well.

Saving the tooth-billed pigeon, Samoa's national bird A tooth-billed pigeon and Samoa, its natural habitat. Credit: Ulf Beichle / Colossal; Kasper Berg / Colossal

The tooth-billed pigeon is a large bird native to Samoa's rainforests, and which has only been found within this one country. Also called the manumea or "little dodo," Samoa's national bird is one of the closest living relatives to the famously extinct dodo. 

Unfortunately, genetics isn't the only aspect in which the two species are similar. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) considers the tooth-billed pigeon to be critically endangered with fewer than 250 birds left, while the last known photograph of the species was taken in 2012.

It currently tops the list of priority species maintained by the IUCN's Pigeon and Dove Specialist Group (PDSG), with co-chair Joe Wood telling Mashable this is due to the pigeon's "lack of close relatives, extraordinary appearance, and genetic proximity to the dodo," as well it being "extremely rare and little-known."

Hopefully this won't be the case for much longer. Colossal's new bioacoustics AI algorithm aims to help conservationists identify the tooth-billed pigeon's calls, assisting them in locating and protecting the few birds that remain. Though the organisation has most frequently made headlines due to de-extinction efforts such as its genetically modified "dire wolves" or its woolly mammoth mice, Colossal considers such work to go hand-in-hand with conservation projects such as this. 

"[Saving] lost species is one of the core conservation strategies," Colossal Foundation's executive director Matt James told Mashable. "We had this idea that, can you search for and find species that haven't been seen in 10 or more years? It is almost, in its own way, its own form of de-extinction."

Searching Samoa with AI and sound Members of the most recent tooth-billed pigeon expedition. On the left, a team member sets up a trail camera. Credit: Kapser Berg / Colossal

Colossal's tooth-billed pigeon bioacoustics project was first sparked in 2023. While the PDSG and SCS had been working to save the tooth-billed pigeon for years, they were struggling to secure funding for a new expedition. Extensive searches had not only come up empty, but uncovered evidence of high feral cat populations likely to prey on the bird.

"There was a real concern that, faced with an undeniably bleak situation, our donors would conclude that their funds were better invested elsewhere and we would be unable to continue," Wood told Mashable.

Fortunately, Colossal offered the funds to continue the search, and March 2024 saw the first clear, unambiguous sighting of a tooth-billed pigeon in years obtained by field team member Vilikesa Masibalavu. 

Significantly, Colossal also suggested that they could use bioacoustics to help ease some of the search's technical challenges, which would hopefully make such sightings more common. One of their biggest hurdles is the similarity of the tooth-billed pigeon's calls to the more common pacific imperial pigeon, an issue that machine learning could assist with.

Having bioacoustics for, specifically, the search and classification of birds is probably one of the best use cases for the technology. - Ben Lamm, Colossal Biosciences' co-founder and CEO

"Specifically with things like birds, bioacoustics is just a great [tool]," Colossal Biosciences' co-founder and CEO Ben Lamm told Mashable. "When you've got small animals that can traverse large distances very, very quickly — and also not the easiest to find because they're in trees or bushes with leaves and whatnot — having bioacoustics for, specifically, the search and classification of birds is probably one of the best use cases for the technology."

"Bioacoustics has been used by a few researchers to search for the manumea in recent years," SCS conservation officer Moeumu Uili told Mashable. Uili was the last person to photograph a tooth-billed pigeon, capturing the image in 2013. "However, this method has not been widely adopted in Samoa for wildlife monitoring and was only recently introduced by SCS in our field surveys… [A] significant gap remained in data analysis skills, limiting our ability to process results efficiently and inform decision-making."

Colossal helped fill this gap. Developed specifically for this project, Colossal's AI algorithm has been used to analyse audio recorded in locations where the tooth-billed pigeon could historically be found, identifying 47 potential calls from the bird earlier this month. Considering the species hasn't been seen in over a decade, this is an invaluable signal that it hasn't yet gone extinct.

"Now that we can definitively say that we've identified calls of the tooth-billed pigeon, we've seen funding return to this effort," said James. "Now there's a new excitement."

"And it's a better use of the funding," added Lamm. "Because now they can say, 'Oh, here's four pockets we can go to,' versus searching everywhere and we know… they still exist and they're not extinct, versus we don't know if they even exist and we're searching everywhere."

How does Colossal's bioacoustics algorithm work? Colossal's algorithm processing raw audio data and subsequent cleaned audio. Credit: Colossal Foundation

Colossal had an extremely limited dataset to train its tooth-billed pigeon call classifier on. Researchers only had a five-minute audio clip containing just three tooth-billed pigeon calls to work with, which was recorded from a captive bird in Germany's Berlin Zoo during the '80s.

Despite this limitation, Colossal was able to use the audio sample to create a machine learning algorithm that could distinguish tooth-billed pigeon calls from more general sounds of birdlife in Samoa. This was done by taking audio from the adjacent American Samoa where the tooth-billed pigeon is not found, and using it as a control to filter out irrelevant noise.

Developed in parallel to its wolf bioacoustics program, Colossal states that its tooth-billed pigeon classification algorithm took just two weeks to create and can identify the bird's calls with 95 percent accuracy.

"There are only a few data points that the algorithm knows, and then it's able to sort of extrapolate from that, and say, number one, I don't think that's anything that you've told me is from American Samoa, and that's part of the de-noising process," James explained. "And then it can say, with relative confidence, this sounds very similar to the other project, the other calls you have given me [that belong to the tooth-billed pigeon]. And then as we have labelled that data set as we go, yes, that's a correct assumption, it's strengthened until we've got to this 95 percent mark."

Initially, the SCS' conservationists would download audio data from microphones located around the tooth-billed pigeon's potential habitat. They'd then transfer it to Colossal, which would run the audio through their AI classifier to identify potential tooth-billed pigeon calls. The location of the microphones which picked up calls would thus inform where the SCS should focus their search efforts.

Desktop UI of app developed by Colossal’s AI team to process raw audio data, denoise it, and classify manumea calls. Credit: Colossal Foundation

Colossal is still collecting data to improve the algorithm's accuracy. However, it has now put the classifier into an app as well, enabling conservationists to upload audio and immediately analyse it on their phones within minutes.

"With immediate feedback, our team can quickly plan site visits and follow up on potential detections, improving our chances of locating and protecting the manumea in the wild," Uili told Mashable.

James further told Mashable that Colossal's wolf bioacoustics program helped develop a 360 camera with spatial audio which can remotely upload footage in real time, and is talking to SCS about how this might be used to find the tooth-billed pigeon as well.

"The moonshot is potentially we could even capture a few of the remaining wild [tooth-billed pigeons] to help put them into a human care setting where we could help make sure they don't go extinct, propagate the animal, and begin to re-release it back into the wild once we can address some of the invasive species and habitat loss issues that are occurring in Samoa," said James.

In addition to capturing live specimens, Wood stated that biobanking has become a new priority with Colossal's help. Biobanking is the collection and storage of biological samples for research and conservation.

"Given the rate of progress currently being made in the fields of genetic engineering and reproductive technology, [biobanking] seems like a crucial way of preserving future options," said Wood. "For the manumea, and indeed for many other species, it may well be that conventional conservation techniques are simply inadequate. These pioneering approaches could offer the only glimmer of hope."     

[I]t may well be that conventional conservation techniques are simply inadequate. These pioneering approaches could offer the only glimmer of hope. - Joe Wood, IUCN Pigeon and Dove Specialist Group co-chair

The ability of Colossal's bioacoustics algorithm to help locate Samoa's tooth-billed pigeon is a boon to conservationists. Even so, using AI to save an endangered species may seem ironic. Habitat loss is a significant issue contributing to such endangerment, and artificial intelligence is infamous for producing high greenhouse gas emissions. 

Speaking to this point, Lamm noted that Colossal's bioacoustics algorithm is distinct from generative AI models in that it works with much less data and is far more targeted, requiring fewer resources.

"We have very small sample sets of this," said Lamm. "And we're also deploying in apps, we're also deploying locally. So we don't have to have a system where we're using a massive amount of distributed cloud infrastructure. We don't have to go out and cleanse and train all these different models."

Citizen scientists could help find lost species with an app Members of the August 2024 tooth-billed pigeon expedition. Moeumu Uili is pictured on the bottom right. Credit: Kasper Berg / Colossal

Though Colossal's AI model is specifically targeted at the tooth-billed pigeon, it has significant potential beyond this. In time it could be used to find other species as well, with Colossal having released the algorithm as open-source so that more conservationists can benefit from it.

"The tooth-billed pigeon has some of the most limited data on their calls in the world of any bird species," said James. "So we could begin to upload additional data of other critically endangered species, or really mostly birds, that we could then use to help identify other lost species."

"I think maybe over time you'll see more and more of these acoustic monitoring projects come out of it now that we've built this core AI system," said Lamm, noting that Colossal is "doubling down" on AI resources. "We're now layering in different classifiers on it which is pretty powerful, and all that's open-source for the world."

Such tools might not be restricted to researchers, either. In the future, Colossal hopes to enable citizen scientists to download its bioacoustics app themselves, so they too can help locate lost species by their calls. 

"That's the dream," said Lamm. "While we have 48 conservation partners, Colossal can't save every species, right? Even if we had a trillion dollars, like, we just can't do that. And not even all of our partners can, not even all the conservation partners... we need citizen science."

There's still a significant way to go until a publicly available app such as this becomes a reality. Colossal's AI algorithm is still effectively in beta testing, with the SCS continuing to put it through its paces. Even so, Colossal's bioacoustics model holds exciting potential for the future of conservation.

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