Chucky may be currently terrorizing the airwaves, but another distressing toy is making her presence known: the high-tech robot creation poised to trigger all your uncanny valley fears in M3GAN. The movie’s coming in January from producers James Wan (The Conjuring) and Blumhouse (Halloween), but you can get your…
Snapchat has launched a set of new lenses that you can use to find Halloween costumes for parties and events you’re attending this month. These new AR lenses will give you a way to virtually try on costumes from some of the shows and movies in recent history that had helped define pop culture as we know it. And yes, you can purchase them from within the app. The selection includes characters and costumes from Harry Potter, Squid Game, Stranger Things, Hocus Pocus, Transformers, Power Rangers and other titles.
Snap says it conducted a study with consulting firm Ipsos and found that shopping has become the number one reason why people use augmented reality. Indeed, more and more retailers and companies have started offering augmented reality tools that you can use to try on the goods they’re selling. Snap itself has been expanding its AR try-on features for a while now and launched the ability for brands to connect their catalogs to their AR Lens experiences on the app back in August. In its announcement, it says it’s creating more tools centered around augmented reality shopping.
If you want to shop for Halloween costumes on Snapchat, you only need to take full-body features. Snapchat’s computer vision tech will overlay the product image onto your body in the photo, and you can take a Snap and share with friends if you want. You can find the Halloween try-on Lenses in Disguise Costumes’ account. Simply search for that username in the app or search for specific show or movie titles in Snapchat’s Lens Explorer.
The best October Prime Day deals on SSDs, microSD cards and other storage gadgets
Posted in: Today's ChiliDuring the first Prime Day this year back in July, we saw a bunch of our favorite microSD cards, portable drives, internal SSDs and other storage devices drop to record-low prices. Now for Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale, many of those same items have been deeply discounted again. It’s a good opportunity to pick up a new microSD card for your Nintendo Switch, a speedy drive for that PS5 you finally got your hands on or a pocket-sized SSD for that person in your life who wants to take all of their digital files with them when they’re on the go. Here are the best storage deals we found for Amazon’s October Prime Day.
Samsung Pro Plus microSD card
Samsung’s Pro Plus microSD card in 128GB is nearly half off and down to only $18 for Prime Day. It also comes with an adapter, so you can use it with more types of devices. You’ll get read/write speeds of up to 160MB/s and 120MB/s, respectively, and a card that’s temperature, magnet- and drop-resistant.
Buy Pro Plus microSD card (128GB) at Amazon – $18
Crucial MX500 SSD
Crucial’s MX500 in 1TB is on sale for $76, or 24 percent off its usual price. It’s a good option if you need a standard 2.5-inch drive that works with both laptops and desktops. It also has AES-256 bit hardware encryption and integrated power loss immunity to protect your data.
Buy MX500 (1TB) at Amazon – $76
Samsung T7 Shield
Samsung’s new T7 Shield portable SSD is down to $110 for this sale. Samsung just came out with these drives back in April, and they’re designed to be more durable versions of the standard T7 series with extra drop protection and an IP65-rated design. The other T7 models are also on sale: you can pick up the 500GB T7 Touch for $70 and the 1TB T7 drive for $95.
Buy T7 Shield (1TB) at Amazon – $110Buy T7 Touch (500GB) at Amazon – $70Buy T7 (1TB) at Amazon – $95
Samsung 980 Pro SSD
Samsung’s 980 Pro is one of the best internal SSDs you can get right now and it’s 44 percent off and down to $129 right now. You’re getting the drive and a heatsink, which means it’ll be ready to use in your new PS5 almost out of the box. It has sequential read speeds up to 7,000MB/s and it’ll work with the PS5 as long as you have a heatsink attached.
Buy Samsung 980 Pro (1TB) at Amazon – $129
Crucial X6 SSD
Crucial’s compact X6 portable drive in 1TB has been discounted to $80. It supports 800 MB/s read speeds, plus it works with all kinds of machines include Windows, Mac, Android and iPad devices, and even game consoles if you have the right connecting cable.
Buy Crucial X6 (1TB) at Amazon – $80
Crucial P5 Plus SSD
Crucial’s P5 Plus SSD in 2TB is a whopping 47 percent off and down to $170. It’s one of our favorite drives for the PS5 thanks to its 6,600 MB/s sequential read speeds, plus its relatively budget-friendly starting price.
Buy Crucial P5 Plus (2TB) at Amazon – $170
SanDisk Extreme Pro SSD
SanDisk’s Extreme Pro SSD in 1TB is down to $170 right now, or 45 percent off its usual rate. We like its compact, durable design that’s IP55 water- and dust-resistant, plus its support for up to 2,000 MB/s read and write speeds.
Buy SanDisk Extreme Pro (1TB) at Amazon – $170
Western Digital Red Plus NAS internal HDD
WD’s 8TB Red Plus internal drive is nearly 50 percent off and down to only $130. If you’re ok with adding an HDD rather than an SSD to your system, this is a good way to get a huge amount of storage without spending too much money.
Buy Red Plus NAS (8TB) at Amazon – $130
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On ‘Monarch,’ Kevin Cahoon Finally Gets To Live Out His ‘Dolly Parton Dreams’
Posted in: Today's ChiliAs Earl Clark on the Fox series, the actor styles Susan Sarandon and stands in for the LGBTQ people who are “the engine of the pickup truck” in country music.
Here's What Happened To The Infamous Porsche 928 From The 'Top Gear' Patagonia Special
Posted in: Today's ChiliWhen the “Top Gear” crew took to Argentina to film their Patagonia special, they were met with attacks. What happened to the car that sparked the controversy?
Chainsaws have an interesting place in pop culture. Whether it’s movies or film, they’re one of the handiest tools to have on hand during a zombie apocalypse (or believed to be, anyway). Video games like Gears of War and Dead Rising have further turned the power tool into punchlines where the joke is absurd display of…
How to Watch Meta (Probably) Reveal Its Next Generation Virtual Reality Headset Today
Posted in: Today's ChiliWith the holidays fast approaching, ‘tis the season for companies to reveal all the shiny new gadgets they want showing up on wish lists. Today is Meta’s turn, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg expected to reveal all the details on Project Cambria (rumored to be called the Meta Quest Pro)—its next generation virtual reality…
42% of Tesla Autopilot Users Say They Feel 'Comfortable' Treating Their Vehicles as Fully Driverless
Posted in: Today's ChiliAn alarming share of drivers using partially automated driver assistance features overestimate their vehicles’ supposed self-driving capabilities. Around one in four Tesla Autopilot drivers and an even higher 53% of Cadillac Super Cruise users surveyed in a new report said they feel “comfortable” treating their…
It’s not just Tesla that can offer games to play while you’re waiting in your car. BMW is teaming up with AirConsole to deliver casual games in its cars starting in 2023. The technology downloads games to your infotainment system, and uses your phone as the controller. This is clearly meant to keep you distracted while you charge your EV, but the automaker sees this as helpful for any time you’re waiting in the car — say, to pick someone up at the airport.
BMW didn’t say which vehicles were first in line for the gaming upgrade. However, it pitched AirConsole’s tech as a ‘perfect’ fit for the Curved Display already in use in vehicles like the iX.
This isn’t quite as flexible as Tesla’s approach to games, which lets you play using dedicated controllers and even the car’s steering wheel. However, it could still prove valuable if you want to do more while waiting than fiddle with your phone. It’s also an acknowledgment that the role of a car’s infotainment is shifting in the EV era, when you can spend half an hour at a charging station. They now serve as media hubs that are just as useful when your car is idle.