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Hurry: The Nothing Ear (a) earbuds just hit a record-low price for Amazons Big Spring Sale

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Nothing ear earbuds against a colorful background.

SAVE 46%: As of March 27, you can get the Nothing Ear (a) wireless earbuds for $58.99, down from $109, at Amazon. That's a 46% discount or a $50.01 price cut.


If you want a pair of earbuds that stand out from the crowd without emptying your wallet, the Nothing Ear (a) should definitely be on your radar. For the Big Spring Sale, they've dropped to just $58.99, which is $50 off their usual $109 list price.

Mashable's Tech Reporter, Alex Perry, recently rounded up the reviews for these buds, and the consensus is that they deliver way more than their price tag suggests. They offer an open-midrange sound and clarity that outperform those of standard, more expensive AirPods, and they have active noise cancellation strong enough to drown out loud household distractions. Plus, you'll get around five hours of battery life even with every single battery-draining feature turned on at once, like ANC and multipoint pairing.

As always, I checked the fine print, and there are a couple of things you should know. Perry noted that the biggest critique across the board is that the charging case lacks Qi wireless charging and relies strictly on USB-C. But skipping wireless charging is a fair trade-off for a case that's as small and pocketable as Apple's AirPods. Also, according to the Amazon listing, the voice-enabled ChatGPT feature will only work on a Nothing series phone. Still, grabbing earbuds with this level of sound quality for under $60 is a total steal.

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FCC challenges gender identity themes on kids TV

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A young girl watches TV with remote in her hand.

The Federal Communications Commission is using the presence of "controversial gender identity issues" in children's television programming as a pretense for questioning how TV ratings are developed and enforced, according to a notice published Wednesday by the federal agency.

The notice generally assesses TV ratings, but specifically points out that these industry guidelines have rated shows featuring "transgender and gender non-binary programming" as appropriate for children. It argues that parents aren't provided this information, "thereby undermining the ability of parents to make informed choices for their families."

In the document, the FCC poses a series of open-ended questions about TV ratings development, including whether the board responsible for the guidelines is "sufficiently balanced" with viewpoints outside of the entertainment industry and if faith-based organizations should be represented in the body.

"What more could the board do to include family-oriented perspectives — which are not well represented in the media industry — in its ratings process?" the notice asks.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced the public notice on X, explaining that "parents have raised concerns with the industry's approach." He added that these parents believe "New York & Hollywood programmers" promote objectionable content in kids programming without disclosing that to parents. Carr didn't mention gender identity in his X post.

TV parents guidelines can include both a rating as well as descriptors for content that includes crude language, sexual situations, and violence.

LGBTQ+ advocates criticized the public notice, arguing that it amounted to discrimination and censorship.

"Trump's FCC is trying to turn transgender people into a warning label," Tyler Hack, executive director of the transgender rights advocacy group Christopher Street Project, said in a statement. "It is dehumanizing, and it is part of a broader political strategy to stigmatize LGBTQ+ people in every corner of public life."

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, described the notice as government overreach.

"Media companies must be allowed to create and broadcast stories that reflect one-quarter of their audience without interference from a government agency with its own anti-transgender political agenda," Ellis said in a statement.

This isn't the first time Carr has been accused of censorship. Carr has claimed broadcasters air "hoaxes" and "news distortions" that also happen to be unfavorable to President Trump. Carr has suggested the licenses of such broadcasters won't be renewed.

In March, dozens of free speech experts argued in an open letter to Carr that his threats against broadcasters are "unlawful jawboning" and his vague characterization of "fake news" violates the First Amendment. The authors called on Carr to "withdraw" his threats.

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See Spotifys most-streamed artists, songs, and albums of the past 20 years

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Taylor Swift greets fans at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards

To celebrate 20 years of streaming, Spotify just released lists of the most-streamed artists, albums, songs, podcasts, and audiobooks on the app. Popular artists, rappers, and bands like Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, and Coldplay appear repeatedly on the "Spotify at 20" lists, with Swift nabbing the title of most-streamed Spotify artist of all time.

In a blog post, Spotify said it was the first time they had ever revealed the all-time top performers on the platform.

While the top artists are mostly what you'd expect, there are a handful of surprises on the lists. Britney Spears appears once, but only in the audiobooks section. And neither Jay-Z nor Beyoncé appears on the lists at all.

You can find the complete "Spotify at 20" lists at the Spotify website, or keep scrolling to see the top results.

Top 20 most-streamed artists on Spotify

  • Taylor Swift

  • Bad Bunny

  • Drake

  • The Weeknd

  • Ariana Grande

  • Ed Sheeran

  • Justin Bieber

  • Billie Eilish

  • Eminem

  • Kanye West

  • Travis Scott

  • BTS

  • Post Malone

  • Bruno Mars

  • J Balvin

  • Rihanna

  • Coldplay

  • Kendrick Lamar

  • Future

  • Juice WRLD

Most-streamed albums on Spotify

  • Un Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny

  • Starboy by The Weeknd

  • ÷ (Deluxe) by Ed Sheeran

  • SOUR by Olivia Rodrigo

  • After Hours by The Weeknd

  • SOS by SZA

  • Hollywood’s Bleeding by Post Malone

  • Lover by Taylor Swift

  • AM by Arctic Monkeys

  • WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? by Billie Eilish

Most-streamed songs on Spotify

  • “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd

  • “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran

  • “Sweater Weather” by The Neighbourhood

  • “Starboy” by The Weeknd and Daft Punk

  • “As It Was” by Harry Styles

  • “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi

  • “Sunflower – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” by Post Malone and Swae Lee

  • “One Dance” by Drake, Wizkid, and Kyla

  • “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran

  • “STAY (with Justin Bieber)” by The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber

Most-streamed podcasts on Spotify

  • The Joe Rogan Experience

  • Gemischtes Hack

  • Crime Junkie

  • Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

  • Last Podcast On The Left

  • The Daily

  • Fest & Flauschig

  • Morbid

  • My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

  • Relatos de la Noche

Most-streamed audiobooks in Premium on Spotify

  • A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

  • The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

  • Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

  • I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

  • A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

  • Lights Out by Ted Koppel

  • A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

  • The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

  • The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

  • Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

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Samsung is selling refurbished Galaxy Z Fold 7 phones for more than new ones

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 in folded form

The good news is that Samsung is now selling cheaper versions of last year's foldables. The bad news is that "cheaper" is relative.

The Korean tech giant announced on Wednesday that the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7, two phones we at Mashable really liked a year ago, are now available in refurbished form via the company's "Re-Newed" program. You can check out refurbished Fold and Flip phones on Samsung's websites, with the former starting at $1,699 and the latter at $939. In a vacuum, if you go by the phones' suggested retail prices, those are discounts of $300 and $160, respectively.

The only problem, as 9to5Google pointed out, is that you can currently get a brand-new Galaxy Z Fold 7 on Samsung's website for $1,599, which is less than the refurbished model with the same specs. The same goes for the brand new Flip 7, which Samsung is selling for $899, a slight discount from the refurbished model. Of course, the discounted prices of the new phones could just be temporary, while the refurbished prices might stay the same over time, but it still feels a little bit backward that the new phone costs less than the refurbished one right now.

That said, either way, you're getting a deal compared to the devices' launch prices. And, for what it's worth, both phones are very good foldable devices. If you want one, this might be the time to get one.

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