Technologies

Amazon Deals of the Day: Keep Track of Your Health and Your Items With a New Low on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and SmartTag Bundle

Plus, the Apple AirPods Pro 2 are over 30% off and the Beatbot AquaSense 2 Pro is down to a record-low price.

Amazon sells a wide array of products, with new ones arriving daily. The retail giant has everything from home essentials to tech gear and wellness items. As much as it loves adding new products, Amazon also loves cutting prices. But deciding which deals are worth grabbing (and which aren’t) is a full-time job — our job, specifically. That’s why we scope out the top deals for you.

Today, we spotted a bundle of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and the Samsung SmartTag 2 for just $200. We also found the AirPods Pro 2 down to $169, a nice 32% off. And finally, we found the Beatbot AquaSense 2 Pro robotic pool cleaner down to a new low price.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is packed with features like built-in LTE, the latest version of WearOS 5 and, of course, a wide range of health and fitness tools. These specs help set it apart from other Android smartwatches. It also has improved heart rate accuracy compared to previous models. This watch normally runs for $330 but it’s on sale for $200 right now. But that’s not all. You also get a Samsung SmartTag 2 thrown in for free.

This SmartTag can help you keep track of everyday important items like your keys or wallet. You can even throw it into your luggage in case it gets lost. This item tracker normally lists for $30. So technically, you’re saving $160 with this bundle. Since the Watch 7 itself is discounted to $200, why not pay the same price for the bundle and get a free SmartTag too?

We all know that deals on Apple products are hard to come by, especially for some of the best wireless earbuds on the market, the AirPods Pro 2. These earbuds are powered by Apple’s famous H2 chip. This allows the earbuds to deliver immersive sound with active noise cancellation that removes up to two times the background noise. The battery can last up to six hours alone while using them with ANC. If they are in the charging case, the battery will last up to 30 hours. The earbuds are rated IP54, which means they are dust-, sweat- and water-resistant. Normally, you’d have to shell out $249 for these buds but if you act quick you can score them for $80 off, bringing them down to $169.

A lot of us are getting good use of our pools right now. If you’re a pool owner, I don’t need to tell you how tiresome cleaning the pool can be. One of the best pool accessories out there is a robot pool cleaner. Beatbot makes top of the line robot pool cleaners, and the five-in-one AquaSense 2 Pro cleans the pool’s floor, walls and waterline while also clarifying the water and getting rid of debris. Not to mention that it uses AI to make sure every spot of the pool has been taken care of. Plus the 9.5-hour battery life ensures you get a couple uses out of it before it needs a charge. It normally runs for $2,899 but for a limited time you can score a wild $800 discount, bringing it down to $2,079, a new record low.

SMARTWATCH DEALS OF THE WEEK

Apple Watch Series 10 (GPS, 42mm, Black, S/M 130-180mm, Sports Band):

$299 (save $100)
Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 (Bluetooth, 40mm, Cream):

$200 (save $100)
Amazfit Active 42mm Smartwatch With 14 Day Battery Life (Black):

$85 (save $25)
Garmin Forerunner 165 Running Smartwatch (Black):

$200 (save $51)
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (Wi-Fi, LTE, 47mm, Titanium Silver):

$400 (save $250)

Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.

With so many deals on Amazon, deciding which ones are worth your money can be difficult. But CNET’s combed through what the world’s largest online retailer has to offer and gathered the best deals for you to peruse.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Oct. 14

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 14.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword has an odd vertical shape, with an extra Across clue, and only four Down clues. The clues are not terribly difficult, but one or two could be tricky. Read on if you need the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Smokes, informally
Answer: CIGS

5A clue: «Don’t have ___, man!» (Bart Simpson catchphrase)
Answer: ACOW

6A clue: What the vehicle in «lane one» of this crossword is winning?
Answer: RACE

7A clue: Pitt of Hollywood
Answer: BRAD

8A clue: «Yeah, whatever»
Answer: SURE

9A clue: Rd. crossers
Answer: STS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Things to «load» before a marathon
Answer: CARBS

2D clue: Mythical figure who inspired the idiom «fly too close to the sun»
Answer: ICARUS

3D clue: Zoomer around a small track
Answer: GOCART

4D clue: Neighbors of Norwegians
Answer: SWEDES

Technologies

Watch SpaceX’s Starship Flight Test 11

Technologies

New California Law Wants Companion Chatbots to Tell Kids to Take Breaks

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the new requirements on AI companions into law on Monday.

AI companion chatbots will have to remind users in California that they’re not human under a new law signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The law, SB 243, also requires companion chatbot companies to maintain protocols for identifying and addressing cases in which users express suicidal ideation or self-harm. For users under 18, chatbots will have to provide a notification at least every three hours that reminds users to take a break and that the bot is not human.

It’s one of several bills Newsom has signed in recent weeks dealing with social media, artificial intelligence and other consumer technology issues. Another bill signed Monday, AB 56, requires warning labels on social media platforms, similar to those required for tobacco products. Last week, Newsom signed measures requiring internet browsers to make it easy for people to tell websites they don’t want them to sell their data and banning loud advertisements on streaming platforms.

AI companion chatbots have drawn particular scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators in recent months. The Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into several companies in response to complaints by consumer groups and parents that the bots were harming children’s mental health. OpenAI introduced new parental controls and other guardrails in its popular ChatGPT platform after the company was sued by parents who allege ChatGPT contributed to their teen son’s suicide.

«We’ve seen some truly horrific and tragic examples of young people harmed by unregulated tech, and we won’t stand by while companies continue without necessary limits and accountability,» Newsom said in a statement.

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One AI companion developer, Replika, told CNET that it already has protocols to detect self-harm as required by the new law, and that it is working with regulators and others to comply with requirements and protect consumers.

«As one of the pioneers in AI companionship, we recognize our profound responsibility to lead on safety,» Replika’s Minju Song said in an emailed statement. Song said Replika uses content-filtering systems, community guidelines and safety systems that refer users to crisis resources when needed.

A Character.ai spokesperson said the company «welcomes working with regulators and lawmakers as they develop regulations and legislation for this emerging space, and will comply with laws, including SB 243.» OpenAI spokesperson Jamie Radice called the bill a «meaningful move forward» for AI safety. «By setting clear guardrails, California is helping shape a more responsible approach to AI development and deployment across the country,» Radice said in an email.

One bill Newsom has yet to sign, AB 1064, would go further by prohibiting developers from making companion chatbots available to children unless the AI companion is «not foreseeably capable of» encouraging harmful activities or engaging in sexually explicit interactions, among other things.