Technologies

Amazon and Best Buy Knock Up to 50% Off Already Affordable Motorola Phones

Motorola makes some of our favorite budget-friendly phones in 2023, and right now you can snag one for as much as $500 off the usual price.

While Apple, Google and Samsung may make some of the most popular phones on the market right now, they’re not the only brands with something to offer. Earning a spot on our list of the best phones under $500, Motorola has some excellent budget-friendly alternatives, and right now, you can get your hands on one of these affordable devices for even less. Amazon, Best Buy and Motorola are offering discounts on a variety of current and previous-gen models, with some discounted by as much as 50%. There’s no set expiration for these deals, so we’d recommend getting your order in sooner rather than later if you don’t want to miss out on these savings.

See at Amazon

See at Best Buy

There are quite a few different discounted Motorola phones to choose from right now. One of the most affordable options is the new 2023 Moto G Stylus, which you can pick up for just $180, $20 off the list price. It has 64GB of storage, a 50MP camera and a built-in stylus, but no 5G support. If you want 5G support on a budget, then you can upgrade to the 2022 Moto G Power, which features 6GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and a 6.5-inch HD display. It’s on sale for $200 at Amazon, which is half off the usual price. There’s also the 2023 Moto G Power, which features a more powerful processor and slightly upgraded display, and is currently $20 off, dropping the price down to $280.

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Or if you’re looking for a more advanced model, you can pick up to 2022 Motorola Edge for $350, which saves you $250 compared with the list price. It features 5G support, as well as a 6.6-inch full HD display with a smooth 144Hz refresh rate, a 50MP rear camera system, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of built-in storage. Or you can upgrade to the 2022 Motorola Edge Plus, which is currently 50% off at Best Buy, dropping the price to $500. It has double the storage, as well as a larger 6.7-inch OLED display and a more advanced first-gen Snapdragon 8 processor.

And Motorola is offering $250 off the Edge Fusion 30, which drops the starting price to $450. It’s a 2022 model that’s equipped with a powerful Snapdragon 888 processor, as well as 5G and Wi-Fi 6/6E support for lightning fas performance. It features a 6.5-inch edge-to-edge display and comes with 256GB of built-in storage. You can also bundle it with a pair of noise-canceling Motorola earbuds for an extra $100.

And be sure to check out our full roundup of all the best phone deals for even more bargains.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, Sept. 4

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Sept. 4.

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? It’s a pretty easy one, but if you need help, read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

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.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: National park in the Canadian Rockies
Answer: BANFF

6A clue: Elevator choice
Answer: FLOOR

7A clue: Means of transport in Seattle, San Francisco and New York
Answer: FERRY

8A clue: Unlikely chef in a 2007 Pixar film
Answer: RAT

9A clue: «Honor ___ father …»
Answer: THY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Closest pal, informally
Answer: BFF

2D clue: Text notification, e.g.
Answer: ALERT

3D clue: Jones who sang «Come Away With Me»
Answer: NORAH

4D clue: Number of thieves faced by Ali Baba
Answer: FORTY

5D clue: Loose item at the bottom of a fast-food bag, perhaps
Answer: FRY

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Sept. 4, #346

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Sept. 4, No. 346

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 is tough. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it 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: I got this.

Green group hint: Recent rings.

Blue group hint: Dallas, this one’s for you.

Purple group hint: Not a pass, but…

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Haul in.

Green group: Last 4 teams to win a Super Bowl.

Blue group: «How bout them Cowboys?»

Purple group: Kick.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is haul in. The four answers are catch, grab, snag and snatch.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is last 4 teams to win a Super Bowl. The four answers are Buccaneers, Chiefs, Eagles and Rams.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is «How ’bout them Cowboys?» The four answers are bout, Cowboys, how and them.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is kick. The four answers are drop, onside, place and squib.

Technologies

Google Is Bringing Gemini AI to Its Smart Home Lineup, Starting Oct. 1

Goodbye, Google Assistant. Hello, Gemini.

It increasingly feels like Google’s AI assistant is omnipresent across our devices and, starting next month, it could also be in your home.

In a post on X on Tuesday, the company teased, «Gemini is coming to Google Home,» and told us to, «Come back October 1.»

At its Made by Google event in August, the company announced Gemini for Home among a slew of other product announcements, so this has been in the works for a while.

Tuesday’s X post teaser appears to show an image of a Nest camera, which Google last upgraded four years ago, suggesting the security camera could be set for a refresh. An upgraded Nest speaker and doorbell, both with 2K camera support, could also be part of the Oct. 1 unveiling.

Google did not immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment.

Android Faithful podcast co-host (and former CNET staffer) Jason Howell is «optimistic» about Gemini replacing Assistant in Google’s smart home products.

«In recent years, I have witnessed my Google Home devices degrading in quality and becoming far less useful for even simple tasks and questions,» Howell tells CNET. «They’ve become buggy and unreliable to the point where I’ve stopped interacting with them for most things.»

Gemini catches dog red-handed

At the Mobile World Congress tech show in Barcelona earlier this year, Howell was impressed by Gemini’s performance with a smart home camera.

«A smart home camera detected a dog that came into the kitchen to steal a cookie off the counter,» Howell recalls. «Through voice interaction, the homeowner could ask the system what happened to the cookie, and, given the video context from the camera and an understanding of what it saw, the system could tell the homeowner that the dog was the culprit.

«This sort of example empowers users to spend less time looking for answers in lieu of simple voice queries that serve them the answer they are looking for with less effort and less time spent.»

Google announced last month that Gemini for Home will eventually replace Google Assistant in its smart home devices. You’ll still activate Gemini with, «Hey Google,» but the advanced AI tech will be able to better interpret more complex and nuanced instructions and questions.

Maybe you’re stumped as to what to make for dinner, so it could be: «Hey Google, what quick pasta dish can I cook in less than an hour?» or, «Give me a recipe for Caesar salad.» Gemini is also designed to work with thermostats and smart lights, so you might tell it to «turn the temp to 68 degrees» and «turn off all the lights except in the kitchen.»

The market for smart home technology is expected to grow by 23% over the next five years, according to Grand View Research.