Technologies

Energizer Laptops Are Coming With Really Big Batteries. Good Luck Trying to Fly With Them

A French company is rolling out Energizer-branded laptops with its largest featuring a high-capacity 192Wh battery.

The Energizer brand is all about long-lasting power, and that has clearly figured into the design of a series of Energizer EnergyBook laptops that have been announced by French design company Avenir Telecom.

Avenir has been making cellphones, chargers and cables with the Energizer brand. Now its first foray into laptops includes batteries that have so much power they’re not likely to be allowed on many flights.

The company hasn’t yet released pricing or even weight information on the laptops, but it says that largest of its three laptops, the EnergyBook Pro Ultra, has a four-cell 13,000 mAh/192Wh battery that can offer seven days of standby time and 28 hours of office use or 11 hours of gaming and graphic design.

You probably won’t be spending those hours on a plane: The Federal Aviation Administration forbids laptop batteries bigger than 100 watt hours in most cases, but makes some exceptions for spare batteries in the 101Wh to 160Wh range, but only with airline approval. The Pro Ultra blows through both restrictions at 192Wh. The FAA also mandates that laptops with lithium batteries must be carried in the passenger cabin.

Avenir touts the Ultra as having the largest laptop battery ever, but the limitations on air travel may be why more laptop makers haven’t taken that route.

The EnergyBook Ultra includes an AMD Ryzen 5 processor, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, a 512GB SSD and an 18-inch 1080p screen. The other laptops are the EnergyBook Pro 15 and the Pro XL 18.5. Other specs, including battery size, weren’t provided for the other models.

The Pro and XL will be released on Oct. 15, but there’s no release date set for the Ultra as it’s currently undergoing certification testing, a representative told CNET.

Technologies

Meal Kits Are More Popular Than Ever. Here’s Why

The meal kit industry is expected to quadruple in less than a decade, according to new research.

The meal kit industry is booming, and according to a new report, it’s not slowing down any time soon. In 2024, the industry was valued at $25.79 billion, according to the report from Straits Research. By 2033, it is expected to quadruple, reaching a whopping $113.69 billion.

The report states that the industry’s growth can be credited in part to the ease of meal preparation ease of preparation and cost-effectiveness. Meal kits are often seen as a healthier alternative to dining out and a way to lessen food waste.

«Consumers are increasingly becoming health-conscious, for which they are focusing on homemade foods rather than processed foods or to dine out,» the report reads.

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A recent CNET survey found that Americans end up wasting an average of $125 a month, or $1,500 each year, on food they purchase in grocery stores that then goes unused. Meal-kit subscriptions, which send boxes of preportioned ingredients plus recipes directly to customers’ doors, offer one possible solution to this problem.

The key players in the meal kit industry, cited in Straits Research’s study, include EveryPlate, HelloFresh, Gobble and Blue Apron.

After rigorous testing, Blue Apron was CNET’s No. 1 pick for the best meal kits of 2025. The company’s recent update now allows customers to order meals without a subscription, which makes it more appealing to those who don’t want a subscription commitment.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 25 #601

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 25, No. 601.

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 is a fun one, with a Halloween theme. There are only four answers, and only two of them are really well-known creatures, 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: Quite a transformation!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Monsters that change.

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:

SIRE, SIRES, HIRE, HIRES, WALK, WALKER, WALKERS, WERE, WOLF, FISH, FISHER, CHANGE

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:

VAMPIRE, WEREWOLF, CHANGELING, SKINWALKER

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is SHAPESHIFTERS. To find it, start with the S that’s two letters down on the far-right row, and wind across.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Oct. 25, #1589

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Oct. 25, No. 1,589.

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

Today’s Wordle puzzle is kind of a toughie. The letters are a bit unusual. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.