Technologies
Sims 4 Cyber Week Deals: The Best DLC Packs to Buy Before Dec. 7
You can still save up to 50% on Sims 4 DLC packs.

The Sims 4, which is free to download across all platforms, still has deals to snag on downloadable content through Electronic Arts’ website for Cyber Week. It’s a great time to grab the expansion packs you’ve been curious about for Origin on Mac or the EA App for Windows.
You can save up to 50% on expansion packs, game packs, stuff packs, bundle deals — even expansions for The Sims 3. The deals through EA’s website will run through Dec. 7.
Not sure where to start downloading? I recommend checking out these packs:
Cottage Living
$20 from EA (save 50%)
Cottage Living is one of my all-time favorite expansion packs. The pack introduces the world of Henford-on-Bagley — a gorgeous location filled with woodland creatures, lush forests and cozy cottages. It’s the perfect pack for a Rags to Riches or Living Off the Land challenge.
High School Years
$30 from EA (save $25%)
The Sims 4 High School Years expansion pack was one of the franchise’s most ambitious undertakings yet. The pack lets your teen Sim go to high school and you can actually sit in on the classes — unlike with Discover University. The choices your teen Sim makes in high school also have a bearing on their college acceptance.
Dream Home Decorator
$14 from EA (save 30%)
If your favorite part of The Sims is building new properties, renovating premade builds or making over a room, Dream Home Decorator is the perfect pack. Your Sim can take on a career as an interior designer and let their creativity run wild.
Snowy Escape
$20 from EA (save 50%)
The Sims 4 Snowy Escape expansion pack whisks players away to the picturesque world of Mount Komorebi. Take your Sims on a wild winter adventure with skiing, rock climbing and snowboarding, or on a relaxing mountain retreat with Komorebi’s bathhouses, meditation centers and peaceful walks. Mount Komorebi is the first Sims 4 world where Sims can either visit on vacation or live permanently as residents.
Get to Work
$20 from EA (save 50%)
Instead of waiting for your Sim to get home from their job, the Get to Work expansion pack lets you be more involved in your Sim’s career. The pack introduces doctor, detective and scientist career options where you can tag along with your Sim during their work day. You can also open your own business, hire employees, interact with customers and more.
Island Living
$20 from EA (save 50%)
Island Living, which was released in 2019, introduced the gorgeous tropical world of Sulani. Your Sims can make their home on the beach, take a sunny day trip, scuba dive in crystal clear waters, play with dolphins and take up a career in conservation to protect the environment. Did I mention there are mermaids?
Seasons
$20 from EA (save 50%)
The Sims 4 Seasons expansion pack incorporates spring, summer, fall and winter, as well as different weather into your game for a more dynamic experience. The pack also unlocks holidays like Winter Fest, Harvest Fest and Love Day. Decorate your home, throw a festive party, rake leaves and play in puddles — just make sure your Sim is dressed appropriately so they don’t freeze or overheat.
Parenthood
$14 from EA (save 30%)
Parenthood is a great pack to own if you’re a fan of legacy gameplay or are trying your hand at the 100 Baby Challenge. Sims can build up their parenting skills by interacting with babies, toddlers and teens, encourage good behavior, discipline bad behavior, help with school projects and more.
Nifty Knitting
$7 from EA (save 30%)
Nifty Knitting, a craft-themed pack voted on by The Sims Community in 2020, lets your Sims take up a new hobby — knitting. Your Sim can practice knitting to increase their skills, unlock new knitting styles, teach other Sims to knit and sell their handmade goodies on the in-game marketplace, Plopsy. As a fan of the Rags to Riches challenge, I like knitting as a way to make money — and the pack decor is adorable.
Tiny Living
$7 from EA (save 30%)
If you’re a fan of building, the Tiny Living stuff pack offers a new challenge — tiny and micro homes. Build economically and make a cozy space for your Sim to embrace a low-key lifestyle. Get creative with furniture choices to make everything fit in your home like a fold-up Murphy Bed. Just make sure the bed doesn’t drop on your Sim.
For more information, check out our sneak peek at The Sims 5 and tips and tricks for Sims gameplay.
Technologies
What Is DHgate? App Surges in Popularity, but Might Not Be Helpful Against Tariffs
American consumers have become enamored with the Chinese shopping app DHgate, but hopes that it might be a way around President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda don’t hold up to scrutiny.

President Donald Trump’s contentious barrage of tariffs has people asking a lot of questions: What will they actually do to prices? Should I make that big purchase now? However, one question the White House probably didn’t see coming is consumers wondering how they can do more shopping from China. And the answer to that might be DHgate.
On April 16, the Chinese shopping service DHgate boasted the second-most downloaded free app on Apple’s App Store, behind only OpenAI’s ChatGPT. According to a report from Yahoo Finance, the previous week, it was 352nd on the same list, indicating a stratospheric rise in popularity largely attributed to popular TikTok creators advocating for the e-commerce platform as a way to buy directly from China. As of April 25, it was still the 12th most popular shopping app on the App Store.
So what is DHgate precisely? It’s an online shopping platform based in China that has been around since 2004. Similar in function and appearance to other popular sites like Shein and Temu, DHgate allows consumers to make purchases directly from manufacturers in China. It has gained popularity online for its selection of dupes, which are copies of popular brand-name products sold at much lower prices.
According to Yahoo Finance, numerous Chinese influencers have advocated for international consumers to buy these sorts of products on platforms like DHgate. They argue that many high-end brands buy cheaply made goods from Chinese factories and then sell them with sizable mark-ups.
DHgate did not respond to CNET’s request for comment. The company did, however, give a statement to Yahoo in which it said it is «grateful yet remain(s) humble about this phenomenal surge in traffic.»
Will DHgate help you get around tariffs?
While tariffs are credited with helping juice DHgate’s popularity, the unfortunate reality is that it — and apps like it — will not help you get around Trump’s new tariffs.
China has long been a fixation of Trump’s global trade agenda. The country was the primary target of tariffs and policies during his first term and has remained the biggest target on his second-term agenda, featuring a 10% universal tax on imports from all nations and higher rates for countries with trade imbalances with the US. However, the latter has largely been delayed until July. For now, China’s rates remain in effect, with a base 20% tariff and an additional 125% «reciprocal» tariff bringing the total tax to 145%, a number that has steadily been increasing as the countries retaliate back-and-forth.
Before the second Trump administration, you might have been able to use sites like DHgate to get cheap goods directly from China and avoid import taxes due to a rule known as the «de minimis exception,» which stated that purchases under $800 would not be subject to tariffs or other duties. This rule, however, was done away with via an executive order from Trump and is set to expire next month. So, our advice? If DHgate’s offerings sound appealing to you, get in while the getting’s good.
Speaking with CNET via email, Patti Brennan, CEO of Key Financial, predicted that apps like DHgate wouldn’t be a permanent solution even if they did offer a way around tariffs, as the Trump administration would get wind of them eventually and could «close this loophole one way or the other.»
Technologies
Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Celestial Guardians Expansion Will Launch Alongside a Special Event
The Pokemon Sun and Moon-themed will packs introduce the first immersive Supporter card, while the new event will highlight the legendary Rayquaza.

With so many strange and lovable creatures walking around, human characters often fade into the background of the Pokemon universe. But the human-featuring supporter cards are finally getting their time to shine in Pokemon TCG Pocket when the Celestial Guardians expansion set arrives on April 30.
There are more than 200 cards in the new set, making this the largest set expansion in Pokemon TCG Pocket since the original Genetic Apex set that launched alongside the game. Celestial Guardians will introduce players to exotic Alolan Pokemon, including starter Pokemon Litten, Rowlet and Popplio and legendaries Solgaleo and Lunala.
Regional variants of classic Pokemon also will be highlighted in this set, including Alolan forms of Meowth, Persian, Vulpix and Ninetales. Full art versions of Alolan Raichu and Alolan Marowak cards will be included in the packs.
The set will be split into Solgaleo and Lunala packs, with themed cards in each sub-set. For the first time ever, though, there will be different versions of the same Pokemon card in each sub-set — there are different variants of Litten, Rowet, Popplio and Oricorio in the Solgaleo and Lunala packs.
As one of the biggest sets in the game, Celestial Guardians will require a lot of time, dedication and luck to complete. It’s time to start saving up those Pack Hourglasses.
Lillie is the first immersive Supporter card
Immersive cards are some of the most sought after variants in Pokemon TCG Pocket. They’re a good example of why trading cards work virtually — there are things they can do that physical cards can’t. With immersive cards, that’s allowing players to inspect them to unlock an animated scene.
Previous Pokemon TCG Pocket immersive cards have largely focused on the most popular pocket monsters from their respective expansions. Genetic Apex included immersive cards for Pikachu, Charizard and Mewtwo, for example, while Spacetime Showdown featured Dialga and Palkia in their own animated cards.
If the Celestial Guardians set followed the same trend, we’d expect to see immersive cards for Solgaleo and Lunala — but that trend is getting bucked for a fan-favorite human character.
Lillie is the player’s companion from Pokemon Sun and Moon, and the friend and protector of the Cosmog named Nebby. She’s also the daughter of the main antagonist — Lusamine — and many Pokemon fans connect with her quest to be a better person than her mother.
Lillie is a natural choice for a Supporter immersive card, and opens up possibilities for new immersive Supporter and Trainer cards in future Pokemon TCG Pocket expansion sets.
What card will shake up the Pokemon TCG Pocket meta?
New Pokemon Ex cards and other important pulls often drastically change the Pokemon TCG Pocket meta. Their special gimmicks, high-damage attacks and Pokemon abilities often change the way the game is played.
This time around, it’s not a Pokemon that has people chattering about the meta shake-up: It’s a Trainer card. The Rare Candy card lets players bypass a Stage 1 evolution, placing a Stage 2 card from your hand onto an active Basic Pokemon.
This effect lets players ramp up their strength absurdly quickly — in certain cases, you can have some of the most powerful Stage 2 Pokemon Ex cards in play by your second turn. Certain Pokemon are themselves turned into powerful energy factories at Stage 2, like Shining Revelry’s Charizard Ex, and the Rare Candy will almost certainly become a mainstay pairing for these cards.
No one will be able to predict how the meta will shake out quite yet. With more than 200 cards being added to the game, including powerful new legendaries and Pokemon Ex cards, it will take some time and theory-crafting to figure out the best new synergies in Pokemon TCG Pocket.
The Pokemon TCG Pocket «Half-Year Celebration» event
Launching in tandem with the Celestial Guardians expansion on April 30 is Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Half-Year Celebration event.
Themed around Rayquaza, the generation three legendary Pokemon featured on the Pokemon Emerald box art, this event will introduce the Promo Pack A Series Volume 7 packs as rewards for beating special solo battles.
Several new cards will be available in these promo packs but the chase card is a new Rayquaza Ex. Every promo pack contains a single card, which encourages players to continually log-in over the course of the event to maximize their pulls. Event Hourglasses let players take on additional event battles. The solo battles — and their promo pack rewards — will be available until May 12.
Special missions will also be available starting April 30, and they’ll reward players with a separate full art variant of Rayquaza Ex alongside «a few other goodies.»
This split between battling and generalized missions adapts a similar structure to older TCG Pocket events, giving casual collectors a chance to pick up some cool card art without engaging in any battles. The special missions will run until May 28.
Technologies
Amazon’s Satellite Service Rocket Launches on Monday: How to Watch
Project Kuiper is planning to launch Monday evening after its first rocket launch, earlier this month, was scrapped due to the weather.

Amazon is set to launch 27 low-Earth orbit satellites on Monday evening as part of Project Kuiper, which will provide satellite broadband services. The rocket launch is planned for April 28, between 7 and 9 p.m. ET (4 and 6 p.m. PT), barring weather or other factors affecting launch.
The launch mission, KA-01 or Kuiper Atlas 1, will be on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and will take place at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
You’ll be able to watch the rocket launch live on the project’s mission page or on YouTube.
The tech and space giant was forced to abandon its original rocket launch date of April 9 after poor weather conditions. «Weather is observed and forecast NO GO for liftoff within the remaining launch window at Cape Canaveral,» United Launch Alliance said at the time. «The stubborn cumulus clouds and persistent winds make liftoff not possible within the available window.»
It’ll be a big step forward for the project, which Amazon announced in 2019 with promises of a $10 billion investment. Now, the company is poised to enter the race to provide satellite internet service, a space currently dominated by SpaceX’s Starlink, which has about 7,000 satellites. Amazon’s plans call for 3,200 satellites to be deployed over 80 launches. The company intends to provide internet service with this technology later this year.
More competition could improve satellite internet
The literal space race, which includes Starlink, Amazon and other companies such as Viasat, Hughesnet, Eutelsat and China’s SpaceSail, could mean more internet service availability in far-flung and rural areas with limited broadband options. Though Starlink is the leader in space, some of these other companies are continuing to launch satellites and working to deploy high-speed internet in more markets, such as Brazil. With more players in the market, that could mean faster and cheaper internet in more areas, although whether that actually bears out for consumers remains to be seen.
Mahdi Eslamimehr, executive vice president at Quandary Peak Research and adjunct professor at the Department of Computer Science at USC, said Amazon is well-positioned to compete with Starlink. «Amazon has made extensive launch agreements with major providers such as ULA, Arianespace, Blue Origin, and even SpaceX itself, positioning Kuiper as a major challenger due to its expansive infrastructure and significant resources.»
He said, «While Starlink currently enjoys clear market leadership, it faces increasing competition from well-capitalized and strategically agile competitors, specifically from China, suggesting the market will become considerably more competitive in the near future.»
So far, Eslamimehr said, Amazon’s satellite efforts have been promising and successful, at least in the prototype stages. The company has also been testing Amazon Web Services in space. «These developments collectively underscore Amazon’s robust entry into the satellite internet market and reflect positive early momentum in its overall space strategy.»
Beyond how it fares against Starlink and other companies, the Amazon satellite launches are significant in other ways. Eslamimehr said, «Project Kuiper isn’t just about competition; it’s positioned as a critical step toward closing the global digital divide, promising to deliver high-speed internet to underserved communities worldwide.»
Correction, April 4: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of the USC professor and Quandary Peak Research executive vice president. His name is Mahdi Eslamimehr.
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