Technologies

Save Up to $120 on Garmin Smartwatches at Best Buy

Grab a smartwatch with all the fitness tracking capabilities you need for your next excursion for as low as $140.

Wearables like smartwatches have grown in popularity in recent years, thanks to the convenience and extra features they offer over traditional watches. And for those of you who are outdoors a lot or want to take advantage of fitness tracking features and need a smartwatch rugged enough to handle workouts, hiking and more, you may want to check out some options from Garmin.

Garmin is a trusted brand for fitness tech and has earned a couple of spots on our best smartwatches for 2023 roundup thanks to solid compatibility with Android and iOS devices and strong fitness features. Right now Best Buy has marked down a selection of Garmin watches with discounts of up to $120. We don’t know how long this offer will last, so we recommend making your purchase sooner rather than later.

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Monitor fitness goals without breaking the bank.

We’ll help you find the best deal on your next smartwatch or fitness tracker.

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Instinct Solar (45mm): $230

Save $120

If you want a rugged smartwatch with GPS that meets US military standards for thermal, shock and water resistance and has solar charging capabilities, you can’t go wrong with Garmin’s Instinct. It will track your activities like running and cycling, as well as sleep, stress and heart rate, it’s water-rated up to 100 meters for swimming and it has a 3-axis compass and barometric altimeter. Plus, it has an impressive battery life and it’s discounted by $120 right now.

$230 at Best Buy

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Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar (47mm): $852

Save $48

The Fenix 7 lineup is the latest in the Fenix series, and this edition features a 1.3-inch display with a scratch-resistant solar charging lens. It offers up to 18 days of battery life per charge while indoors, but solar charging can extend that number to 22 days, which is great if you’re a fan of hiking, camping and other outdoor activities. It comes preloaded with TopoActive maps, tracks fitness, sleep, stress and other health data, and, when paired with a phone, you can get notifications and access to Garmin Pay for contactless payments.

$852 at Best Buy

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Garmin/CNET

Forerunner 45 (42mm): $140

Save $30

And if you’re looking to spend bottom-dollar on a solid Garmin smartwatch, check out the Forerunner 45. At just $140, it’s the cheapest watch currently on sale, but that doesn’t mean it skimps on the features it offers. It has an always-on display, along with fitness tracking, heart-rate monitoring and a battery that will last up to 13 hours in GPS mode.

$140 at Best Buy

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Those are just a few highlights from the current promotion, so be sure to shop the entire sale selection discounted at Best Buy if you want to find more options. And checkout our roundup of the best Garmin deals happening now to find discounts on other wearables, sports tech and more.

Read more: How to Buy a Smartwatch

Monitor fitness goals without breaking the bank.

We’ll help you find the best deal on your next smartwatch or fitness tracker.

Technologies

Apple to Build the Mac Mini in the United States for the First Time

Apple will begin manufacturing the wee desktop computer in Houston later this year.

Houston, we have some production. Apple announced Tuesday that it will be making its Mac Mini desktop computer in the US for the first time, shifting some manufacturing from its Asian plants, and will also increase AI server production at its existing Houston facility.

The California-based tech giant also said it will open the Advanced Manufacturing Center, a 20,000-square-foot facility where students, supplier employees and businesses will receive hands-on training in making Apple products, in the same city.

In its statement, Apple said the new Mac Mini production and increased AI server production will create thousands of jobs.

The Mac Mini will be manufactured at a 220,000-square-foot facility in North Houston. The other main building at that site is where Apple makes AI servers. The new Advanced Manufacturing Center will also be built at that location. The buildings are owned by Foxconn, the Chinese manufacturing giant that Apple initially partnered with in 2000 to produce the iMac.

Sabih Khan, Apple’s chief operating officer, said there will still be Mac Mini production in Asia after the Houston plant is up and running, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

By beginning Mac Mini production in the US, Apple is furthering its pledge to invest $600 billion in the US over four years. That promise, made last August, was in response to pressure from President Donald Trump’s administration to increase manufacturing in the US and to avoid Trump-imposed tariffs.

Apple also said it is sourcing more than 20 billion chips from 24 US factories, and that, by the end of 2026, every new iPhone and Apple Watch will have cover glass made at Corning’s facility in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.

CEO Tim Cook said his company is «deeply committed to the future of American manufacturing,» with production of the Mac Mini marking one step toward that commitment.

The Mac Mini, which initially went on sale in 2005 — CNET was there from the beginning — is the cheapest of the Apple desktops ($599 at the Apple store). It’s known as a BYODKM, an acronym coined by the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs that stands for «Bring Your Own Display, Keyboard, Mouse.» In other words, the Mac Mini — only 5 inches long and 5 inches wide — comes without those peripherals, making it cheaper for those who already have them.

«The Mini can fit in your hand and be everything from an everyday home office computer to a full-on professional content-creation machine,» CNET’s Joshua Goldman wrote in his review of the latest model in 2024.

Goldman also said the Mac Mini is a «perfect pairing» with Apple Intelligence, the company’s AI system that is integrated with iPhones, iPads and Macs.

Market research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimates that the Mini accounts for less than 5% of its global Mac sales, according to the WSJ report.

Apple will also ramp up production of its AI servers. The company said manufacturing is ahead of schedule, months after beginning production in October. The servers are used in Apple data centers around the US.

Technologies

Waymo’s Autonomous Ride Service Expands to 4 New Cities

The company has doubled its operating area for robotaxi services over the past several months.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Feb. 25, #990

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Feb. 25 #990.

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

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough. That purple category, once again, expects you to spot hidden words that are related to each other within four of the grid words. It’s fun once you see the answer, but tough to figure out on your own. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: What a parent should do for a child.

Green group hint: «____ my dear Watson.»

Blue group hint: Some go by Jim.

Purple group hint: Look for hidden words.