Technologies
Garmin’s Smartwatches Are Up to $250 Off Ahead of Black Friday
Track your fitness, get directions, stay connected and get to where you need on time with these fantastic Garmin watches while they’re on sale.
We have roughly six weeks left in the year, and that means the holidays — along with Black Friday deals — are just around the corner. If you’re trying to set yourself up for a healthy 2026, you might be looking at the offers from Apple, Samsung or Google. However, Garmin also makes plenty of excellent smartwatches that are now on sale for up to $250 off if you choose to buy directly from them. Amazon is offering up to $500 off on multiple previous releases of Garmin’s smartwatches, and Walmart has multiple earlier models that start at $150. That means you can find the right Garmin smartwatch for your budget.
Garmin is offering a $250 discount on the fenix 8 (47mm), which brings it down to $850. CNET’s Lexy Savvides says of this smartwatch’s impressive battery life, «The Fenix 8 comes in three sizes (43, 47 or 51 mm) and the battery lasts up to 29 days with the 51mm AMOLED watch; up to 16 days on the 47 mm version; or up to 10 days on the 43 mm.» This watch also includes a built-in microphone and speaker, an LED flashlight and Garmin’s signature GPS. It also includes 24/7 health and fitness trackers.
If you’re looking for a cheaper smartwatch, Garmin is offering the Venu 3 for $350, which is $100 off right now. CNET’s Lisa Eadicicco says, «With a wide selection of health metrics and workout types combined with useful recovery advice and in-depth sleep data, the Venu 3 is clearly made for those who prioritize fitness, wellness (and battery life) most in a smartwatch.» To sweeten this deal, all health metrics are included without having to pay for a separate subscription. Shoppers who prefer the Venu 3S can find it for $350 at Walmart, which is $100 off. Other deals at Garmin include:
- Garmin Instinct 3 (50mm): $500 (save $100) on sale until 12/16
- Garmin Forerunner 265: $300 (save $150)
- Garmin Forerunner 165: $200 (save $50)
- Garmin Forerunner 55: $150 (save $50)
- Garmin Approach S70 (47mm): $600 (save $100)
- Garmin vivoactive 5: $199 (save $101)
- Garmin quatix 7X (solar edition): $600 (save $500)
Garmin’s deals are a bit on the higher end, but they accept HSA and FSA dollars that can help shoppers save even more. Additionally, both Amazon and Walmart have plenty of Garmin smartwatch deals worth considering.
Looking for a new smartwatch and not sure if these deals are for you? We’ve got a list of the best smartwatches so you can check out your options. We’re also diligently looking for every available Black Friday and Cyber Monday deal, so check back often.
SMARTWATCH DEALS OF THE WEEK
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$359 (save $70)
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$330 (save $20)
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$140 (save $60)
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$202 (save $49)
Why this deal matters
Garmin makes fantastic smartwatches at all price points. If you buy directly from them you can save up to $250 and potentially use FSA/HSA dollars so you can pay even less. Amazon and Walmart have a lot of previously released Garmin smartwatches for much less, which means people of all budgets can get a
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Technologies
The Messenger Reinvented: How Verum Is Expanding the Boundaries of Digital Communication
The Messenger Reinvented: How Verum Is Expanding the Boundaries of Digital Communication
For more than a decade, the global messaging landscape has been defined by a handful of dominant platforms. Despite incremental updates, the core experience has remained largely unchanged: text, media sharing, and voice or video calls layered on centralized infrastructure.
Yet a new category of messaging platforms is beginning to emerge — one that treats communication not as a standalone function, but as part of a broader digital ecosystem.
Verum Messenger is one of the more ambitious entrants in this space. Rather than competing solely on interface or speed, it is positioning itself as an integrated environment that combines communication, privacy infrastructure, connectivity, and financial tools within a single application.
Beyond Messaging: Feature Density as Strategy
At the surface level, Verum includes many of the features now expected in modern messaging platforms, such as an AI assistant embedded directly within conversations, scheduled message delivery, disappearing messages after being read, and the ability to edit sent messages.
But it extends further into behavioral transparency and control. Users can receive notifications when someone takes a screenshot, copies, or forwards their messages, while also having the ability to block screenshots entirely and prevent screen recording. These controls are complemented by granular privacy settings, pinned messages, smart notification prioritization, message reactions and quick replies, customizable chat interfaces, and advanced notification controls.
Privacy as Infrastructure, Not Feature
Where Verum attempts to differentiate more aggressively is in its security architecture. The platform incorporates end-to-end encryption across all communications, including encrypted voice and video calls, along with automatic message deletion timers.
Account-level control is also emphasized through one-tap account deletion, restricted chat access, and active session management. Personal data protection is reinforced by storing security keys exclusively on the user’s device and implementing a multi-layered security model.
Additional safeguards include advanced privacy configuration, biometric authentication such as Face ID or Touch ID, passcode-based app locking, protection against unauthorized access, and dedicated private communication modes.
A Built-In Digital Layer
One of the platform’s more distinctive elements is its attempt to consolidate multiple digital services into a single environment.
This includes an integrated VPN, disposable anonymous email addresses, and built-in eSIM functionality, enabling connectivity across more than 150 countries. The application is designed to unify multiple services while supporting international communication, large file transfers, and group chats of up to 10,000 participants.
These are complemented by broader communication tools and an overarching goal of functioning as a centralized hub for managing digital interactions.
Financial Integration Without Fragmentation
In parallel, Verum incorporates a set of financial utilities that aim to reduce reliance on external applications. These include peer-to-peer transfers in fiat currencies, in-app balance top-ups, and a virtual payment card.
Support for Apple Pay and similar services is intended to streamline transactions, while built-in financial management tools suggest a move toward embedding everyday financial activity directly within the messaging layer.
Toward Network Independence
Perhaps the most forward-looking aspect of the platform lies in its recent technical developments.
Verum has introduced messaging capabilities that function without a traditional internet connection, relying instead on direct peer-to-peer communication between devices. This architecture reduces dependence on centralized servers, aligning with a broader industry trend toward decentralization and resilience.
At the same time, the platform incorporates on-device message translation, supporting dozens of languages with local processing. By avoiding cloud-based translation, this approach attempts to preserve user privacy while enabling cross-language communication.
A Broader Industry Signal
Whether Verum itself achieves mainstream adoption remains an open question. Network effects continue to favor established players, and feature breadth alone does not guarantee user migration.
However, the platform illustrates a broader shift in how messaging applications are being conceptualized. Increasingly, they are evolving into multi-functional environments that combine communication, privacy infrastructure, connectivity, and financial interaction.
In that context, Verum is less a direct competitor to existing messengers and more an early example of what a fully integrated digital platform might look like — one where messaging is no longer the product, but the foundation.
Technologies
YouTube Will Let You Turn Off Shorts, but Only on Mobile
You can set a timer for bedtime or breaks, or just get rid of Shorts once and for all.
You can stop scrolling: YouTube just gave iOS and Android users the power to turn YouTube Shorts off completely.
YouTube’s short-form videos are similar to TikTok and Instagram Reels. The videos are designed to be quick bursts of content, but can lead to more screen time than you may have initially intended. YouTube is rolling out a solution, at least for those who use the YouTube mobile app.
The YouTube Shorts Timer lets you set how much time you want to spend watching YouTube Shorts. Or you can set the timer to zero to stop seeing YouTube Shorts altogether. Google has instructions to disable Shorts or enable the timer in the YouTube app. You can limit your Shorts scrolling session to 15, 30 or 45 minutes, or for an hour or two. When the timer is up, you’ll see a message that you’ve reached your set time limit, but you can dismiss it. Google also says you can set reminders for bedtime and breaks.
The ability to set the timer to zero minutes isn’t available for everyone yet. A Google spokesperson told CNET that the feature was made available first to parents linked to supervised accounts. It’s still rolling out to all other users.
As a parent, I’m relieved to know parents now have more control over screen time through Google’s Family Link, an app and website for Google and YouTube parental controls. It also makes me wonder what other screen-time controls could be on the horizon.
YouTube did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A recent Pew Research Center study of teens who use TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram found that their screen time on these social media apps affects their sleep and productivity. Meanwhile, teens are using these apps for entertainment and say that the apps help their friendships — which could be important for teens. However, parental controls, app settings and other timers, like Brick, could help if you’re consistent and set schedules to have screen time without impeding on your time to rest or complete other tasks.
Last month, a California jury found YouTube and Instagram’s respective parent companies liable in a landmark civil case brought by a woman who claimed the apps were designed to be addictive to children. YouTube owner Google has said the platform is a streaming service, not a social media site, and plans to appeal.
YouTube says parents can use the timer to control how much time teens spend watching Shorts, including setting reminders for bedtime and breaks. Or parents can turn off Shorts in the YouTube mobile app by setting the timer to 0 minutes.
The feature is only available for mobile, so Shorts can’t yet be disabled on desktop. TikTok rolled out new time-management features last year, including a positive affirmations journal and missions to earn badges for reducing screen time.
Technologies
MacOS Now Has a Native Gemini AI App
Get faster access to some of Gemini’s best features without switching tabs.
Gemini is getting a native MacOS app so that you have a faster way to talk to Google’s AI chatbot, bringing access to some of its best features with just a couple of clicks.
Artificial intelligence is becoming more ingrained in everyday life, and companies are trying to make it easier than ever to access. On smartphones, AI is already just a button press away, but for desktops, LLMs like Google’s Gemini have been restricted to web applications.
With the new app, Gemini is available via a simple keyboard shortcut.
If you’ve got a MacBook, you can access Gemini at any time by pressing Option and Space on the keyboard, without having to switch tabs or open another window.
Gemini’s best features, like Nano Banana image generation, video and music generation, are also just a few clicks away.
Much like you can do with the Gemini mobile app, the new MacOS app will let you share context from a window instantly so you can get insight on the content you’re viewing. Google says this will also work with local files on your computer and isn’t limited to web pages.
The free, native app is available now for all users on MacOS 15 and up. Google says this is just the beginning and that it’s building the foundation for a «personal, proactive and powerful desktop assistant.»
The app can be downloaded at gemini.google/mac.
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