Technologies

Act Fast to Get an Apple Pencil Pro for Just $80 While This Open-Box Deal Lasts

The Apple Pencil Pro is $50 off right now and comes good as new with some warranty remaining, too.

If you’re a committed Apple fan, then you probably want to get all of the best accessories. One that’s often overlooked is the Apple Pencil Pro. It’s normally $129, which is a big ask, but we’ve found an excellent deal today that makes it more affordable.

Woot currently has a deal on a new, open-boxApple Pencil Pro that brings it down to just $80. This is the cheapest we’ve ever seen the device, and while it’s not brand-new, it still comes with at least 60 days of warranty. Act quickly, though, as we’re not expecting this deal to last long.

The Apple Pencil Pro, the first new model introduced since 2023, launched in May of 2024. This upgraded version has pressure sensitivity that closely resembles the feel of a real pen, along with the convenience of magnetic charging. Notably, the Pro model also incorporates gestures and haptics, allowing you to perform actions like squeezing the pen to open menus, rolling it to select different tools and using a hover gesture to preview strokes. These enhancements are designed to eliminate barriers between you and your digital creations, making the drawing experience more intuitive and seamless.

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The Pro model Apple Pencil is compatible with the iPad Pro 13-inch (with the M4 chip), iPad Pro 11-inch (M4), iPad Air 13-inch (M2) and iPad Air 11-inch (M2).

If you’ve been eyeing a new Apple Pencil, now is the time to jump on this deal. Looking at fleshing out your Apple ecosystem? We’ve got all the best deals on Apple’s tablets and we’ll be updating the list regularly to make sure you get the best prices, too.

Why this deal matters

The Apple Pencil Pro rarely goes on sale, and even when it does, the lowest price we’ve ever seen for it is $90. This deal is $10 less than that, and while it’s technically open box, it still comes with a warranty for at least 60 days. So if you’re interested, act fast.

Technologies

Ring’s Latest Feature Lets You Verify Shared Security Videos

With so many fake videos out there, the home-security company is adding a level of protection.

Popular home security brand Ring announced that videos shared from its devices can now be verified, so customers know they’re watching an authentic, unaltered video. Ring says the new verification process is similar to a security seal on a package or medicine bottle, indicating that no one has tampered with it.

The new feature is available starting Thursday, and it doesn’t matter which Ring device recorded the video. All videos downloaded directly from the Ring app are automatically verified and include a security seal for authenticity.

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When someone sends you a Ring video, you can now visit Ring’s verification page, paste the video link, and determine immediately whether the video is verified. The website doesn’t send your video anywhere. It stays locally on your device, and all verification checks happen within your browser. The verification website only accepts MP4 files, the format Ring videos are saved.

Videos downloaded before December 2025 or edited videos cannot be verified. Ring says that even minor adjustments, such as shaving a couple of seconds off the beginning or end of a video, or even adjusting brightness levels, will render it unverifiable.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 23 #691

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Jan. 23, No. 691.

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

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle might be the toughest of the week. Some of the answers are hard to guess and challenging to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: None the wiser.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: I believe you!

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

RUDE, VINE, VINES, SCAN, SCAR, SCARE, LOST, LOSS, LESS, LESSER, BILL, BILE, GULL, RUED

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

NAIVE, CALLOW, ARTLESS, GULLIBLE, CREDULOUS

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is BORNYESTERDAY. To find it, start with the B that’s three letters to the right on the bottom row, and wind up and then down.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Jan. 23, #487

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan. 23, No. 487.

Looking for the most recent regular 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 and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition reminds players that people’s names can look like regular words. Also, did you spot the SpongeBob SquarePants reference when the grid showed both SANDY and CHEEKS? If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

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

Yellow group hint: What’s your role?

Green group hint: Where teams shoot hoops.

Blue group hint: Iconic baseball players.

Purple group hint: Philadelphia.