Technologies

Best alcohol delivery services in 2021: Drizly, Saucey, Minibar and more

A New Year’s Eve Champagne shortage may be looming. Stock up now with the best on-demand booze delivery services in 2021.

This story is part of Holiday Gift Guide 2021, our list of ideas, by topic, by recipient and by price, to help you discover the perfect gift.

With a dismal Champagne harvest caused by extreme weather including frost and wildfires, there’s talk of a Champagne shortage looming for the holidays. While you shouldn’t panic and the chances of no bubbles being available is slim, to get the bottles that you want it’s better to be safe than sorry. Fortunately, the best online booze and wine delivery services are still flush with the good stuff, so you can get your favorite Champagne delivered now and be ready to pop those corks when the ball drops on New Year’s.

There are a handful of reliable liquor delivery services that make ordering alcohol to your door easy. Plus, ordering booze and liquor online generally means a bigger selection of beer, wine, spirits, hard seltzer or any other adult drinks you want. Many of these booze delivery services function just like Uber Eats or GrubHub, sourcing inventory from local liquor stores and then employing on-demand delivery drivers to get the goods to you, often in an hour or less.

Note that alcohol delivery laws vary by state, so not every service is available everywhere. Many states, however, have deemed liquor stores an essential service during the pandemic, and are allowing delivery of alcohol from restaurants and liquor stores where they may not have in the past. Inventory also varies by store and service, so if something is out of stock now it may come back in stock soon. We update this list periodically.

To stock up on craft beer, fancy booze, great wine and Champagne without ever having to put pants on, check out this list of the best wine and liquor delivery services to try in 2021. Just remember that the same rules that have always applied to alcohol apply now, perhaps more than ever: Enjoy wine and spirits in moderation and never drink and drive, but always tip your delivery person.

Happy ordering! For more, check out our roundup of the best online games to play with friends. You can also find out about the best meal kit delivery services, the best meat delivery and subscription services, the best coffee subscriptions and gourmet food and drink gifts to send to family and friends.

Technologies

iPhone Battery Draining Fast? You Might Need to Undo These 3 Settings

If battery life is your priority, consider turning off features like haptic vibration.

It’s not just your imagination: Your iPhone’s battery doesn’t last as long as it used to. That’s because every phone’s battery gradually loses its ability to hold a charge. But even if your iPhone is a few years old, you shouldn’t have to keep it in Low Power Mode all day. By making a few small changes, you can give your battery life a big boost.

Whether you’re using your phone to get directions, stream music or send that one last text, the last thing you want is for it to shut down at the worst possible moment. Instead of scrambling for a charger or switching on Low Power Mode every few hours, take a minute to check your iPhone settings. Turning off a few power-draining features could be the fix your battery desperately needs-and it only takes seconds to do.

You can also keep an eye on your Battery Health menu — it’ll tell you your battery health percentage (80% or higher is considered good), as well as show you how many times you’ve cycled your battery and whether or not your battery is «normal.»

We’ll explain three iOS features that put a strain on your iPhone’s battery to varying degrees, and show how you can turn them off to help preserve battery life. Here’s what you need to know.

Turn off widgets on your iPhone lock screen

All the widgets on your lock screen force your apps to automatically run in the background, constantly fetching data to update the information the widgets display, like sports scores or the weather. Because these apps are constantly running in the background due to your widgets, that means they continuously drain power.

If you want to help preserve some battery on iOS 18, the best thing to do is simply avoid widgets on your lock screen (and home screen). The easiest way to do this is to switch to another lock screen profile: Press your finger down on your existing lock screen and then swipe around to choose one that doesn’t have any widgets.

If you want to just remove the widgets from your existing lock screen, press down on your lock screen, hit Customize, choose the Lock Screen option, tap on the widget box and then hit the «—« button on each widget to remove them.

Reduce the motion of your iPhone UI

Your iPhone user interface has some fun, sleek animations. There’s the fluid motion of opening and closing apps, and the burst of color that appears when you activate Siri with Apple Intelligence, just to name a couple. These visual tricks help bring the slab of metal and glass in your hand to life. Unfortunately, they can also reduce your phone’s battery life.

If you want subtler animations across iOS, you can enable the Reduce Motion setting. To do this, go to Settings > Accessibility > Motion and toggle on Reduce Motion.

Switch off your iPhone’s keyboard vibration

Surprisingly, the keyboard on the iPhone has never had the ability to vibrate as you type, an addition called «haptic feedback» that was added to iPhones with iOS 16. Instead of just hearing click-clack sounds, haptic feedback gives each key a vibration, providing a more immersive experience as you type. According to Apple, the very same feature may also affect battery life.

According to this Apple support page about the keyboard, haptic feedback «might affect the battery life of your iPhone.» No specifics are given as to how much battery life the keyboard feature drains, but if you want to conserve battery, it’s best to keep this feature disabled.

Fortunately, it is not enabled by default. If you’ve enabled it yourself, go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Keyboard Feedback and toggle off Haptic to turn off haptic feedback for your keyboard.

For more tips on iOS, read about how to access your Control Center more easily and why you might want to only charge your iPhone to 95%.

Technologies

Dyson’s OnTrac Headphones Are Certainly Unique, and They’re a Massive $200 Off This July 4th Weekend

Dyson’s OnTrac headphones are stylish and block up to 40 decibels of exterior sounds. They’re now just $300.

Summer is in full swing and that means there are major shopping events to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday that can help you save on essentials, tech and even high-end headphones. We’ve spotted these Dyson OnTrac headphones for just $300 at Amazon. This saves you a massive 40% and amounts to $200 off for some of the most unique noise-canceling headphones on the market.

Dyson’s OnTrac headphones are comfortable, stylish and include simple touch and voice controls. If you enjoy changing your aesthetic once in a while, you can switch the colors of your earphone caps and cushions for a custom look. Keep in mind that different caps and cushions are sold separately.

The OnTrac’s battery lasts up to 55 hours so you can get through the week without having to worry about frequent charging. They also include noise cancellation, transparency and an off mode so you can also let sound in during walks and other situations where you need to be a bit more alert.

To customize your sound EQ levels, simply download the MyDyson app and tinker around until your audio sounds just right. Sound tracking also protects you from harmful volume levels so you can protect your hearing health. Your purchase includes a USB-C charging cable and a protective case. If you want to be able to switch out your cap colors from the jump, you can find this bundle including different colors for just $390.

Looking for a new pair of headphones but aren’t sure if these are for you? We’ve got a list of the the best headphone deals you can check out. Our shopping team is also tracking early and upcoming Prime Day deals so you can save on essentials, tech and more.

HEADPHONE DEALS OF THE WEEK

Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Noise Cancelling Over-Ear Headphones (Navy):

$298 (save $50)
Soundcore Life Q20 Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling Headphones (Black):

$40 (save $20)
Beats Studio Pro Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones (Black):

$300 (save $51)
Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless ANC Over-Ear Headphones (Black):

$299 (save $151)
Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e ANC Over-Ear Headphones (Black):

$220 (save $180)

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

Why this deal matters

Dyson is no stranger to making quality products, and these headphones are no exception. They’re comfortable, have a long battery life and both touch and voice controls. Not only do they have three modes you can use for noise-canceling or transparency, you can also buy separate cap or cushion attachments to create custom looks. While still looking a bit cyberpunk, they’re not a weird headphone-facemask combo like the last headphone effort from the vacuum brand. At a massive $200 off, this is an excellent Fourth of July and early Prime Day deal.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, July 5

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for July 5.

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.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? 14-Across was a real doozy. I hadn’t ever heard anyone use that word to mean what the NYT says it means, even though I do recognize it as part of a related word. Whether this clue or another one has stumped you today, read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. 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.