Technologies
Nintendo Switch 2 Holiday Gift Guide for Parents
If a Switch 2 is on your child’s wishlist this year, this guide will answer all your questions.
The Nintendo Switch 2 is going to be the hot gift this holiday season. As it’s a new console, parents may not know the ins and outs of what they should buy.
You don’t need to rely on a letter to Santa to know which games to give with the Switch 2. I created this guide to answer your most pressing Switch 2 questions and help make holiday shopping a breeze. Keep in mind, many of these items will likely be on sale throughout the holiday season, so get ready to score a deal, too.
Which Switch 2 bundle to buy
Which Switch 2 game to buy for the holidays
Even though the Switch 2 is less than six months old, there’s still a wealth of games available for it, thanks to the console being backward compatible with the original Switch. Figuring out which game to buy with the Switch 2, beyond Mario Kart World, comes down to what kind of gamer the console is for. Here are some of my favorite picks.
The Switch 2 also has a wealth of games from well-known franchises, including:
Sonic X Shadow Generations ($50)
Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 ($70)
Gift ideas for family and friends
For the grandparents or other family members or friends who want to join in on the Switch 2 gift giving, there are plenty of options. One easy choice is more games, either for the Switch 2 games or the original Switch. Here’s CNET’s list of the Best Switch Games.
If the parents have the console and games covered, there are still some gifts that anyone with a Switch 2 will want.
FAQ
Do I need to buy any other cables for the Switch 2?
No. Inside the Switch 2 box is the power adapter for the console, as well as an HDMI cable and a dock to connect it to the TV. The HDMI cable is just shy of 5 feet long, so if you know the Switch 2 will be connected to a TV that’s farther away than that, you’ll need to get a longer cable.
Do I need to buy extra storage for the Switch 2?
The Switch 2 comes with 256GB of built-in storage, and that can fill up quickly if you buy a lot of games. To upgrade the storage, you’ll need to buy microSD Express cards, which are newer and still a little pricey. They do frequently get discounted, though, so just keep an eye on the prices.
Do I need to buy any subscriptions?
If you know the person you’re buying the Switch 2 for wants to play games online with their friends, such as Mario Kart World or Fortnite, then you should also consider a Switch Online subscription. There are two subscription tiers, with the $20 tier providing online access and access to retro NES, SNES and Game Boy titles, while the $50 Switch Online plus Expansion Pack tier adds N64 and Gamecube games, along with upgrade packs to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
What are Switch 2 upgrade packs?
Original Switch games do work on the Switch 2, but they don’t make use of the additional graphical power offered in the newer console. For $10 to $20, a game for the original Switch can be upgraded to a Switch 2 game. Upgrading a game will increase its resolution, smooth out its frame rates, speed up loading times and add other features found only on the Switch 2. Not every game for the original Switch has an upgrade option, and it’s debatable whether some are worth the additional cost. This upgrade is available on the Nintendo eShop on the Switch 2 or Nintendo’s website, and games with the upgrade pack include Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Super Mario Party Jamboree and the upcoming Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
Technologies
ChatGPT Has a New Language Translation Option for You
It’s like Google Translate, but ChatGPT.
OpenAI is putting Google Translate on notice: It now has a dedicated ChatGPT Translate webpage that can convert writing in 50 languages. At first glance it looks like a basic text-to-text translator that resembles Google Translate and other simple language translation tools on the web. But scrolling down the page reveals more about OpenAI’s ambitions for Translate.
You’ll come across a line that mentions adding voice or an image (for instance, a photo of a sign) to get a translation, although the page doesn’t indicate when those capabilities will become available.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
OpenAI’s breakout of Translate comes as its chief competitor, Google, is aggressively deploying AI to support features like live translations using headphones and new language learning tools. In 2024, Google added 110 languages to its translations.
Language translation is a hot field for artificial intelligence in general. At CES 2026 last week, for instance, CNET’s Macy Meyer tried out a phone-sized device and companion headphones that let her carry on a live conversation with a Polish speaker even though she doesn’t speak Polish herself.
The skills that ChatGPT Translate currently provides are things you can already do in the chatbot itself. In fact, once you translate text on the webpage, ChatGPT offers a set of sample prompts as one-click buttons for what you can do with that text, such as «translate this and make it sound more fluent» or «translate this as if you’re explaining it to a child.»
Selecting one of those prompts takes you to a ChatGPT conversation where options like image uploads are readily available.
OpenAI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
Technologies
Don’t Miss the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 While It’s $400 Off
A Galaxy Z Fold 7 is $50 cheaper on Amazon than at Samsung right now.
Who knew that foldable phones would be so popular again? If you’re looking for a foldable iPhone, you’re gonna need to wait until later this year. If you’re on the hunt for the best foldable phone you can get your hands on right now, you need to take a look at the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Normally $2,000, right now at both Amazon and Samsung, you can get a decent amount off that hefty price tag.
Amazon is dropping the silver version of Samsung’s foldable phone to $1,600. That’s an impressive $400 discount. If you prefer to shop at Samsung directly, you’ll end up paying $50 more as all colors of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 are down to $1,650. Neither of these are record-low prices, but Amazon is close enough at just $43 more.
Samsung’s unique foldable phones had an awkward adolescence, but after getting her hands on the new lineup, CNET reviewer Abrar Al-Heet confirms that the latest Z Fold 7 «just feels right.» For one, it’s incredibly sleek at just 8.9mm thick when closed or 4.2mm thick when open, which is so thin you may even forget that it’s foldable.
Despite weighing just 215 grams, this foldable features some serious hardware. It has a 6.5-inch cover screen and an 8-inch interior display with a fluid 120Hz refresh rate. It’s equipped with a cutting-edge Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and 12GB of RAM to support tons of helpful AI features and functions, and comes with Android 16 and Samsung One UI 8 right out of the box.
The camera system is also pretty impressive, boasting a 200-megapixel rear camera, 12-megapixel ultrawide shooting and a 10-megapixel front camera on both the cover and interior screens. Plus, it’s equipped with a 4,400-mAh battery for all-day use.
MOBILE DEALS OF THE WEEK
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Why this deal matters
With an unbelievably sleek design and cutting-edge hardware, the impressive Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is our favorite foldable phone on the market. But it also comes with a staggering $2,000 price tag, and if you’re hoping to get your hands on one, this $400 discount is a way to save and help cushion the blow of its considerable cost. Just be sure to get your order in soon, as we doubt this deal will remain live for long.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 15, #949
Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 15, #949
Looking for the most recent 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, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s NYT Connections puzzle has a fun purple category that expects you to find two words hidden in four separate clue words. It’s tricky, but intriguing. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time
Hints for today’s Connections groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: For planting things.
Green group hint: Not going anywhere.
Blue group hint: Little pieces of something.
Purple group hint: Combine two names.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Gardening tools.
Green group: Unmoving.
Blue group: Things that come in flakes.
Purple group: Words formed by two men’s names.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is gardening tools. The four answers are hose, rake, shovel and spade.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is unmoving. The four answers are frozen, static, stationary and still.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is things that come in flakes. The four answers are cereal, dandruff, salt and snow.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is words formed by two men’s names. The four answers are jackal, levitate, melted and patron.
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Toughest Connections puzzles
We’ve made a note of some of the toughest Connections puzzles so far. Maybe they’ll help you see patterns in future puzzles.
#5: Included «things you can set,» such as mood, record, table and volleyball.
#4: Included «one in a dozen,» such as egg, juror, month and rose.
#3: Included «streets on screen,» such as Elm, Fear, Jump and Sesame.
#2: Included «power ___» such as nap, plant, Ranger and trip.
#1: Included «things that can run,» such as candidate, faucet, mascara and nose.
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