Patrick Campanale

Western Digital is one of the longest-standing companies when it comes to computer storage. Though late to the game, the company has been almost on a warpath to take over, updating all of its storage lineups with speedy SSD alternatives. Recently, WD launched the Black SN750, and now the company is launching the Blue SN500 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD.

The WD Blue SN500 NVMe SSD is geared toward more budget-friendly setups compared to the Black SN750. It offers slightly lower speeds, but the same great reliability that you’ve come to know and love from Western Digital.

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If you own both a gaming PC and an Xbox One, I’m sure you’ve had the thought of “I wish I could just chill on the couch and enjoy a relaxing gaming session” instead of sitting at your desk. Sure, 144Hz monitors and a keyboard/mouse are nice, but sometimes it’s best to set those things aside and enjoy games on the big screen. In an update to its Wireless Display app, Microsoft now allows you to play Steam and other PC games on Xbox One.

This is on the heels of Halo: The Master Chief Collection being announced for PC via Steam, and is a welcomed update to the company’s console. How does this all work? Keep reading to find out more.

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If you owned an original Xbox, chances are you got hooked on Microsoft’s award-winning Halo franchise. I fell in love with the game early on and really enjoyed playing it for hours on ends with friends. You remember, back when people played split screen games where you shared the screen with four friends instead of playing online and having the entire screen to yourselves? It was the best of times. Now, you can relive your childhood through Halo: The Master Chief Collection, but on PC instead of Xbox.

Microsoft will be launching this collection of all Halo games, Halo: Reach included, on both the Microsoft Store and Steam. You read that right, Microsoft is releasing its Halo collection on Steam this time around, which would mark this as a first for the company.

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If you’ve ever looked at Logitech’s MX lineup of mice, you’ve likely wondered what the major difference was. Would you like the MX Anywhere, MX Master, or even the new MX Vertical and MX ERGO? Also, there’s the regular MX Anywhere/Master and now an MX Anywhere/Master 2S, so what’s the difference? Keep reading for our full breakdown.

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The last time I did a Behind the Screens, I was using a 2016 MacBook Pro to power everything. Since then, I built a custom Hackintosh (and then sold it), and now have everything being powered by a 2018 Mac mini. My setup has grown in more ways than just the computer, from speakers to monitors and more, keep reading to find out where I write your favorite PC gaming deals and more every day.

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When it comes to a desk set up, keeping it clean isn’t always easy. When I used to use regular computer towers, it was nearly impossible to hide it or even put it on my desk due to its size. When I used a MacBook, it’s kind of had to be on my desk because it’d have to be accessible should I need to move it. Then I went to the Mac mini, and I wanted to find a way to mount it under my desk to further clean up my setup.

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If you’re like me, then you probably have quite a bit of technology at your desk. I have multiple lights, monitors, a computer, multiple speakers, and more running across the bottom of my workspace, and getting that organized is never easy. So, when I switched to my Mac mini, I decided to take some time and finally organize everything. In this guide, I’ll go over exactly how to cable manage your desk; from what products to buy, to the best practices that I used when doing my own.

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I love my AirPods. Seriously, I never leave home without them, and when I do, I feel like there’s a piece of me left behind. That’s because Apple made a product so well that it seamlessly fits into my lifestyle. It slides well into my pocket, has long battery life, and sounds good for its size. But now, JLab Audio’s JBuds Air have come on the scene with great features and a super affordable price point to rival Apple’s AirPods. Head below for our full review.

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In this week’s Best of 9to5Toys: Apple Watch Series 3 Nike+ Cellular models get big discounts from $269, Apple Magic Trackpad 2 hits Amazon all-time low of $99, Apple’s prev-gen. 12.9-inch iPad Pro is now up to $380 off, more…

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If you have an Amazon Echo device, you’ve likely wondered what the best accessories would be. Whether you have an Echo Dot, Echo, Echo Show, or Echo Spot, we’ve got you covered with our favorites for each device, plus a bonus accessory that’ll work with any Alexa-enabled device!

Don’t forget to check out our Echo devices compared article where we break it down and show you exactly which of Amazon’s products will fit where in your life.

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When it comes to video doorbells, there are two companies that rule the roost, generally speaking. You’ve got Nest’s Hello Smart Video Doorbell and the Ring Video Doorbell (which has multiple models). There are plenty of third-party options on Amazon, as well. But one company has been trying to shake up the industry, and that’s Remo+. With the launch of its latest RemoBell S, Remo+ aims to provide a $99 price point with 3-days of cloud storage included with every purchase.

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Amazon originally started out with a single Echo device and now offers nearly a dozen Echo-branded devices, among other lineups of products. There’s a lot that goes into picking the perfect smart home products, so we’ve compared all of the Amazon Echo devices for you to help you make the best decision.

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If you have a smart home filled with Wi-Fi-connected light bulbs, cameras, and more, then you’ve likely wondered how to keep everything functioning in case of a power outage. In this guide, you’ll find out top recommendations for how to keep your smart home online during a power outage.

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Kids these days are getting electronics earlier and earlier in life. I remember when I was a child and the best handheld game I had was Snake on my parent’s cell phones. Now, LeapFrog, an industry leader in children-focused educational games, announced the RockIt Twist, a handheld gaming system for kids ages 4-8.

This new system was announced at the 2019 Toy Fair and is designed to reinvent educational gaming for kids. It’ll feature side buttons, spinners, sliders, and switches providing children with a new and unique experience.

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In this week’s Best of 9to5Toys: Best Buy Presidents’ Day Sale, AT&T offers a FREE Apple TV 4K for Fiber signups, Google Home Hub returns to $99, more…

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Back in September, we reported that NERF would be launching a lineup of Fortnite-inspired blasters for kids of all ages to enjoy. Though the most recent announcement didn’t bring many real-world details, whether they’d be laser or dart based, and what they’d look like, but now, all of that has come to light. If you have a kid that’s obsessed with Fortnite, you can now pre-order NERF guns in multiple styles.

There are regular dart blasters, super soaker water guns, and even little MicroShot pocket pistols in this lineup of toys starting at just $10 on pre-order right now. keep reading to learn more.

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Many have said that Canon has been dragging their feet when it came to more budget-friendly 4K cameras. The company has had models like the 1DX II and 5D MK IV for a few years, but when it comes to consumer-level offerings, the choices have been few and far between. There’s the EOS R which comes in at $2,299 and the EOS M50 at $649, but there’s been no middle ground until now. In comes the Canon EOS RP, which features 4K recording, a full-frame sensor, and Canon’s legendary color science at a competition-shattering price of $1,299.

With a 26.2 megapixel CMOS sensor and Canon’s DIGIC 8 image processor, the EOS RP is built to perform and provide users with high-quality imagery. The EOS RP is smaller than Canon’s Rebel T7i and weighs less than a 500ml bottle of water. All of this and more could make the EOS RP a must-have camera in 2019.

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If you have a gamer in your life, chances are they own just about everything you can think of. It’s sometimes hard to shop for us gamers, as we generally already have our favorite headset, controller, and charging station. Plus, unless a new game just released, they likely have it. For those who already have it all, we’ve found some unique gamer gift ideas from just $10 at Etsy that are sure to make anyone happy.

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Ergonomics seem to be the theme lately. Standing desks, ergonomic chairs, and even keyboards have taken center stage for years. Now, the humble computer mouse is getting a makeover. Whether you’re looking for a no-name brand on Amazon or a household company like Logitech, just about everyone is getting in on the ergonomic mouse game. Macally is joining the fold with its new Ergonomic Vertical 6 Button Wired & Wireless Mice from $30.

Macally is also launching a smaller mouse that have built-in rechargeable batteries that are designed to last 2-3 months before the next charge is required, and those also start at just $30.

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The Nintendo Switch is one of the United States’ best-selling consoles right now, while also being one of the most portable gaming contraptions of this decade. WaterField Designs is known for its high-quality leather technology accessories and has made Switch bags in the past. Now, the company is back with another great carrying bag for Switch called the Sutter Sling Pouch, but this time WaterField is launching the Switch Taco to keep your beloved gaming console protected even when not in the sling.

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In this week’s Best of 9to5Toys: Apple silicone and leather cases drop to $5 at AT&T, Apple Watch Series 3 returns to Black Friday pricing from $199, latest iPad gets $80+ discount at Amazon, more… 
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You’ve never experienced virtual reality like this. Cinemark and SPACES have launched a new virtual reality experience called Terminator Salvation: Fight For the Future. You’ll join the resistance on a virtual reality mission to save your future and experience Terminator Salvation like never before.

This virtual reality mission will completely envelop your entire body in an alternate universe. From your sight, feel, and movement, you’ll actually believe that you’re inside of Terminator Salvation.

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If you suffered from Sony’s Fortnite fiasco last year, there’s a chance that you’d like to eventually merge your accounts together. Though Sony finally came around and allowed cross-play with other consoles, many players were left in the dust with multiple accounts and unlocked items. Now, you can merge your two Fortnite accounts and enjoy all of your unlocked and purchased contents on all platforms.

Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, has finally released instructions on how to merge two accounts. Though there are some restrictions as to what types of accounts can be merged, the instructions are fairly straightforward.

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Virtual reality is an ever-growing demographic. Just about everyone is making a virtual reality headset of some sort, allowing you to be transported to a new dimension just by putting on a headset. It looks like HP is making a next-generation virtual reality (VR) headset, codename “copper,” with increased resolution and comfort. This headset will likely be based on Microsoft’s Windows Mixed Reality platform, though this time it’ll be designed more by HP than the previous models were.

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Thunderbolt 3 is an amazing technology. It was a vast improvement over old USB 3.0 and even SATA, as we jumped from 5Gbps to 40Gbps, and went from multiple cables to just one for everything. Thunderbolt 3 introduced a new standard to dock your mobile workstation at a desk and get power, video, and data through a single connection. Glyph, a leader in external storage solutions, just announced a new Thunderbolt 3 Dock and Atom Pro NVMe SSD.

The Thunderbolt 3 Dock is built to be the center of your workstation. The dock gives many great features that are lacking on Apple’s latest MacBooks, like SD and Ethernet. Plus, it takes one USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 port and turns it into two. The Atom Pro NVMe SSD is Glyph’s “fastest SSD yet”. With insane read/write speeds, it offers an enhanced workflow option for mobile workstations.

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If you’ve got an Alexa device, you likely know that it can play Audible audiobooks with just your voice. This is great as you can have an Echo play an audiobook for your kids as they fall asleep, but there’s no interaction. It’s just Alexa, reading a book to you. Now, in partnership with Choose Your Own Adventure, you can experience an immersive world where you decide every move.

Choose Your Own Adventure allows you to alter your own fate, and where you end up is completely up to you. It’s an immersive experience, and there are dozens of potential endings to your story. Where will you end up?

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In this week’s Best of 9to5Toys: Apple’s Smart Battery Case for iPhone XS/XR/Max gets its first discount, Mac mini up to $150 off, GoPro’s Fusion 360-degree action camera bundle for nearly $200 off, more…

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When most people think of speakers, you most likely think of either a Bluetooth speaker or surround sound models that don’t look that great. Sure, the sound might be good, but if only you could just hide that speaker somewhere and enjoy fantastic sound. That’s where the Q Acoustics Concept 300 comes in.

The Concept 300 from Q Acoustics brings form and function together in one elegant package. The stunning aluminum and braided wire stand is like non-other, and Q Acoustics’ well-known name in speakers will give you audio quality like non-other.

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If you currently use Iris smart home products by Lowe’s, the company recently announced that it will be shuttering the service on March 31, 2019. Iris has been around for several years, but Lowe’s has decided to shut the service down and is providing refunds to eligible customers. If you’re currently using Iris, keep reading for some of our top recommended alternatives for your smart home.

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If you have a GoPro, chances are you’ve seen something about the company’s Plus service. It’s $5 per month and allows you to store photos and videos online at a lower bitrate, ensuring you always have a secure backup of your media. Though, before now, GoPro limited you to around 35 hours of video, which was about 250GB of data. Today, GoPro announced that its Plus service will now include fully unlimited storage at original quality.

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When it comes to converting your home and making it smart, for lighting, there are really just two main options. Smart light bulbs or smart light switches. Though both have more budget-friendly and higher-end options, the switch is generally the more cost-effective solution unless you get a fancy model. Orro is one of those higher-end products and offers an identical design as a normal switch. What makes Orro different? Its specialized software that helps automatically set the lights in your rooms to proper levels.

Orro uses pattern-detection algorithms to customize itself. Through these algorithms, Orro will try to make sure that your lights are brightening and dimming throughout your day as light generally does, either gently brightening or dimming them in the morning and evenings respectively.

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There are smartphones, smart cameras, smart sprinklers, and even smart thermostats. An area that’s been becoming smarter lately is the nursery, and it’s one of the most important places in my opinion. Motorola is doing its part to help you keep an eye on your young one from the other room with the launch of its Hubble Smart Nursery App, Comfort Cloud baby cushion, and Halo smart baby monitor.

The Hubble Smart Nursery App is an IoT platform that will bring all of your nursery devices together in one place. The Comfort Cloud will give your baby a comfortable place to sleep while tracking patterns based on several factors like heart rate, respiratory rate, body movement, and more. The Halo smart baby monitor gives you a “parent’s eye view” of your child, features IR night vision, two-way audio, motion/audio sensors, and even more.

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In this week’s Best of 9to5Toys: Apple’s latest 4K iMac is down to $1,149, Best Buy launched a massive 4-day sale, refurbished iPhone 6 for $70, more…

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Whether you’ve gone hiking or even just walked around with your camera or binoculars, you know the struggle of trying to keep your gear from getting damaged. One thing I hate when going on trips is trying to keep my camera and lenses readily accessible, yet also safe from swinging around behind me and also just not in my hands. That’s where the Cotton Carrier Skout Sling comes in. It’s built to go across your chest and hold your camera or binoculars and has a patented twist and lock system that makes your gear both easy to insert or remove, regardless of what gear you have.

The Skout is designed to carry things in a fixed position, meaning that you can go biking, hiking, running, or just walking and have no issue with anything moving around. It can handle larger cameras, smaller systems, or even compact binoculars with ease.

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When it comes to keeping your home secure, there are many options out there. Ring makes multiple video accessories, as does Nest, and there’s even a HomeKit-enabled video doorbell on the horizon. EZVIZ, a smart home security company, recently announced its DB1 Wi-Fi Video Doorbell and DP1 Smart Door Viewer (or peephole replacement).

The peephole replacement is the most intriguing here, as it’s a great way to get security at your home without having to install a new doorbell. Both devices are Wi-Fi connected and offer wide field-of-view.

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Tracking your fitness goals with smart devices is super simple. There are apps for tracking your fitness journeys, water intake, and more. Fitbit, Google Fit, and Apple Health all track your weight and there are even scales that integrate with the services to make logging every day simple. Though some of those scales are expensive, RolliBot recently introduced its RolliFit scale for just $50 which can automatically put your BMI, BMR, weight, and more into some of these services.

The RolliFit scale supports Fitbit and Google Fit native and features both an App Store and Google Play Store application which allows you to use health tracking with a lot of benefits.

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Something that I’ve realized I can’t live without is a curved monitor. Sure, flat panels are what everyone is used to and the “status quo” when it comes to displays, but there’s just something about a curved computer monitor that’s appealing. I can look at it and it almost seems to wrap around my view. AOC recently announced two new 27-inch curved gaming monitors, the AG273QCG and AG273QCX.

With 1440p resolution, NVIDIA’s G-Sync or AMD’s FreeSync2, 144/165Hz, and even HDR support, these monitors are designed for the masses. There’s also a unique RGB ring on the back which illuminates your wall and gives your battlestation a little something extra.

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Built-in TV speakers are notoriously not very good. You don’t have deep bass, you’ll miss the high notes of songs in movies, and voice can sound muffled. This is all because most TV speakers either fire toward the wall (most common) or downward, and not out toward you. Pair that with the ever-slimming TV thickness, and speakers just don’t have much room to move. With Super Bowl LIII just around the corner, you’ll want to make sure that you have the best sound bar or audio system for the big game.

Whether you have a limited budget or the sky’s the limit, we’ve got a great sounding audio system for you. There are many more choices than the ones listed below, however. You can always swing by our home theater roundup, which is highlighted by a massive Sonos sale from $349 and a nice 5.1-Channel Polk Audio system for $399 right now.

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If you own a Wyze Cam Pan, you’ve likely tried to find a good way to mount it. It’s not quite as easy to stick up as its little brother, the Wyze Cam, with its magnetic base and easy-to-move mount, but the Wyze Cam Pan features a 1/4-20 thread on the bottom for easy mounting. Well, Wyze now offers an official mounting solution for just $9.

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In this week’s Best of 9to5Toys: Best Buy’s Apple shopping event, HomePod for $240, Sonos’ Super Bowl mega sale, more…

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NVMe SSDs have really upped the game when it comes to read and write speeds. What once was only a pipe dream is now a common reality. Apple uses PCIe SSDs in their Mac lineup, and NVMe is the closest non-Apple users can get to it. Last year, WD announced its Black lineup of NVMe SSD, but now the company is updating the line with the SN750.

These NVMe SSDs feature an all-new design and a more sleek look. Plus, you can even get the SN750 NVMe SSD with an optional heatsink to give passive cooling, allowing you to maintain optimal levels of performance.

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If you look at Sonos and Ikea, the companies are quite different. While Sonos generally focused on higher-quality and higher-priced products, Ikea is known for its budget-friendly items. Last year, however, the two companies showed us a possible design for a budget speaker line. Now, Sonos and Ikea have confirmed that the Symfonisk line of smart speakers should be available in August.

The Symfonisk lineup of smart speakers will be built by Ikea but powered by Sonos, while being compatible with other speakers from the company. In a video outlined below, both Ikea and Sonos representatives spoke to what this line will represent: speakers built so you think about the sound, not how big the speaker is.

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Power Rangers is 25 years old now, and finally, fans are getting the “game they’ve been waiting for.” This new game, called Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, features stunning graphics with vivid details. You’ll be able to use classic and current Rangers and villains like never before with your friends.

By competing online, you can play against your friends to test your skills against live players from around the world. There will be online tournaments and missions that go on throughout the year, and live gameplay will always offer a new experience.

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Update 1/17 @ 2:22 PM: Pre-orders are now open at both Amazon or B&H.

Sony has long been the king of the mirrorless camera industry. From the company’s highly-rated Alpha A7 line to the more budget-friendly prosumer a6xxx line, Sony has reigned king for the past few years. Now, the Sony just announced its a6400 camera with real-time eye autofocus and tracking, the “world’s fastest autofocus,” and even a flip-up screen, something we’ve yet to see on anything but Sony’s RX lineup of cameras.

The a6400 features a 24.2-megapixel APS-C sensor and the company’s acclaimed autofocusing technology. Pair that with the first flip-up touchscreen Sony has put on its mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras, stellar 4K recording, and amazing autofocus, and the a6400 is going to be the camera to beat.

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