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Dropkick Murphys free concert 2025: Quincy police issue guidelines

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Dropkick Murphys free concert 2025: Quincy police issue guidelines



Ahead of the free show in Quincy for the Dropkick Murphys on July 12, police have issued a few guidances to concertgoers.

The show will be held across from 1250 Hancock St. in Quincy Center, and begins at 4 p.m.

The American Celtic band — a Massachusetts favorite that formed in Quincy in 1996 — is making its return for the city’s 400th anniversary.

The Quincy Police Department stated road closures were in effect beginning Friday. This included areas around Hancock Street and Quincy Square.

Detailed traffic, detour, and parking information will be provided on quincyma.gov & quincy400.com, as well as @cityofquincy & @quincy400 social media.

Alcohol and public drinking are prohibited at the free show, the police department said.

The public is advised to not bring bags, and any bag that is brought to the event will be subject to search for security.

Quincy police officers will be stationed throughout the concert area to help assist the public, and attendees are asked to notify officers or call the department for any suspicious activity.

“The Dropkick Murphys are not just a world-famous band — they’re part of our Quincy story,” Mayor Thomas Koch said in a statement.

“We are honored to welcome home the Dropkick Murphys for what promises to be an unforgettable evening of music and community spirit,” Koch said.

The Dropkick Murphys’ new album, entitled “For The People,” was released on July 4. The album is described as a “powerful tribute to the community and the spirit of resilience that has defined their music for nearly thirty years,” in a press release for the free show.

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Sequoia bets on silence | TechCrunch

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Sequoia bets on silence | TechCrunch


There is a time-honored crisis management strategy, wherein one says nothing and waits for the outrage to pass. For Sequoia Capital, the strategy worked pretty well this week. While partner Shaun Maguire initially weathered criticism over an inflammatory social media post, that initial indignation cooled quickly. Now, some seem to think that Maguire’s defiant stance may even be strengthening his position. Business Insider actually called it “good for deal flow” — controversy as competitive advantage.

Sequoia’s calculated gamble carries real risk, though. Another provocative post from Maguire that hits the wrong nerve, a shift in political winds, or escalating consequences could quickly transform their unflappable partner from an asset into a liability the firm can no longer afford to ignore.

A crisis communications professional who has managed reputation disasters for dozens of major brands tells this editor, “Firms like Sequoia are bulletproof until they aren’t.”

What happened

Sequoia’s hands-off approach was put to the test earlier this week when the storied venture firm found itself in the eye of a storm over Maguire’s comments about New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Maguire called him an “Islamist” who “comes from a culture that lies about everything” in a July 4th tweet on X that has since been viewed more than five million times. More than one thousand signatures have poured in regarding a petition demanding that Sequoia condemn the remarks, investigate Maguire’s conduct, and apologize.

There’s been a lot of talk about why Sequoia hasn’t done this, with many outlets noting that Maguire isn’t just any partner. This status owes partly to his friendship with Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison. According to reports, at a 2015 Founders Fund event, Maguire — then a Founders Fund-backed entrepreneur — defended Collison during an argument with Anduril’s Palmer Luckey about quantum computing, earning Collison’s friendship. The connection proved valuable when Maguire joined Google Ventures in 2016; he helped secure a $20 million Stripe investment during his first week. When Maguire left Google Ventures in 2019, Collison personally recommended him to Sequoia’s partners. (Stripe has been in Sequoia’s portfolio since 2010, with the firm investing more than $500 million over 15 years.)

Maguire also led Sequoia’s investment in Bridge, a stablecoin platform that Stripe acquired for $1.1 billion, and is reportedly Sequoia’s link to Elon Musk, though he’s hardly its only link. Musk and Sequoia’s global leader, Roelof Botha, are both native South Africans and have known each other for more than 25 years, dating back to their time together at the then-nascent PayPal, where Botha was recruited personally by Musk.

Despite that long relationship, the two haven’t always seen eye to eye. Botha was highly critical of Musk’s management style when Musk was CEO of the merged X.com/PayPal company, where Botha was CFO. Botha once told veteran journalist Ebbe Dommisse, “I think it would have killed the company if Elon had stayed on as CEO for six more months. The mistakes Elon was making at the time were amplifying the risk of the business.” But Musk was at odds with pretty much that entire crew at the time, and those tensions have long since been resolved.

The bigger point here: when you’re managing tens of billions of dollars in assets and your firm’s reputation rests on backing winners like Google, Stripe, and Nvidia, you don’t easily cast aside a rainmaker.

Meanwhile, Maguire’s behavior suggests he’s not backing down. After issuing a 30-minute video on X last weekend in which he apologized for offending so many — saying he was making a point about a political ideology and not one about a religion — he has doubled down with increasingly aggressive posts this week. He claimed he has “reverse engineered” his critics’ “command structure” and threatened to “embarrass” anyone who escalates against him. He added that this is him at “1% throttle” and warned people not to “fuck w children of the internet.”

The silent treatment

Sequoia has precedent for its approach to this situation. The firm has historically given its partners space to express themselves publicly, with figures like Doug Leone and Michael Moritz (who left the firm in 2023) representing different political perspectives.

But there’s a crucial difference between political diversity and incendiary rhetoric and clearly to some, Maguire’s comments extend beyond partisan politics into territory that alienates both political opponents and potential business partners.

It’s also worth remembering that even for Sequoia, there is a bright line. Michael Goguen, another, earlier rainmaker with the firm, was promptly shown the door when Sequoia learned of a sexual abuse lawsuit filed against him. The situations aren’t exactly comparable; Goguen’s issues were legal and personal, not ideological. At the same time, Sequoia has shown it isn’t willing to circle the wagons at any cost, not if its reputation is at stake.

Presumably, several factors inform Sequoia’s do-nothing PR strategy, including how quickly people, faced with a constant flurry of news, move on from a scandal. The firm is also operating in a different political landscape right now in the U.S. Along with Donald Trump’s victory and the rollback of DEI initiatives has come new tolerance for controversial speech. What might have been career-ending at an earlier point in time is now weathered more easily.

Beyond the shifting political winds, the firm is likely banking on the fact that while founders want partners who fit the traditional, more genteel VC mold, they want successful ones even more. Startups being courted by multiple top-tier firms might not like or agree with Maguire, but when Sequoia comes calling with its track record and almost bottomless pockets, most founders are going to welcome the firm with open arms.

Of course, there’s the very real possibility, too, that Sequoia is working on a contingency plan. (Sequoia declined to comment on Maguire’s posts when reached by TechCrunch earlier this week.)

Still, Sequoia’s silence carries risks. Not all the signers have been confirmed, but the petition against Maguire includes the names of some prominent Middle Eastern executives and founders who have attested to signing it, and they represent the kind of diverse, global talent pool on which Sequoia’s future depends. By not addressing the controversy, Sequoia risks being seen as tacitly endorsing Maguire’s views.

Put another way, though the venture capital world has historically been remarkably forgiving of controversial figures with exceptional deal flow, the firm is gambling with its reputation in an increasingly connected global market where alienating entire regions and communities carries real business consequences.

Whether that bet pays off will depend on how long the controversy lingers, how much business it actually costs Sequoia, and whether Maguire can resist the urge to push things past Sequoia’s own tolerance threshold. (He has said he doesn’t post anything that hasn’t been “excrutiatingly thought out.”)

History suggests that established financial firms with strong track records tend to outlive their scandals, even serious ones. When Apollo Global Management’s Leon Black resigned in 2021 over his $158 million payments to Jeffrey Epstein, the firm’s stock barely moved and shareholders seemed largely unfazed. Apollo just continued its aggressive deal-making under new leadership.

Similarly, Kleiner Perkins survived Ellen Pao’s high-profile gender discrimination lawsuit in 2015. But it took years and essentially an entirely new team for the storied venture firm to regain its footing in Silicon Valley’s hierarchy. The lesson here may be that while controversial partners can be endured, the recovery timelines can vary significantly depending on how firms handle the crisis.

For now, the crisis communications professional, who asked not to be named, has some advice for Maguire and, by extension, Sequoia. Regarding the video Maguire published in the aftermath of his initial comments, the expert said, “I did think that apology addressed the ambiguities in [Maguire’s] post. But it’s a 30-minute video — you have to be really interested to watch this.”

If there’s a next time, the professional said, Maguire should “do two videos — one for three minutes” and another, longer video, for anyone who wants to keep watching.

Sometimes, the expert added, “less is more.”



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Beloved camp director was among those lost in Texas flooding : NPR

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Beloved camp director was among those lost in Texas flooding : NPR


Just after the summer session ended in late June, Heart O' the Hills camper Sydney Sutton sent this photo to the camp's director, Jane Ragsdale, who was killed in the July 4 flooding in Kerr County, Texas.

Just after the summer session ended in late June, Heart O’ the Hills camper Sydney Sutton sent this photo to the camp’s director, Jane Ragsdale, who was killed in the July 4 flooding in Kerr County, Texas.

Erika Sutton


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Erika Sutton

Jane Ragsdale spent her summers by the Guadalupe, the very river that killed her a week ago today in the catastrophic July Fourth flood. Mention her name in Kerrville, Texas, this week, and folks tend to do two things: tear up and smile.

“I mean I can’t tell you how many people, acquaintances of mine say, ‘My dear, dear friend died.’ And then they said, ‘Did you know Jane Ragsdale?’ and I say, ‘Yeah, I did,’ ” said Karen Taylor, who lives in nearby Hunt, Texas. For her, Ragsdale was West Kerr County personified.

“Everybody’s friendly here, but she embodied that friendliness and generosity and love for others. I just can’t imagine life without her,” Taylor said.

The sun sets over the Guadalupe River in Texas.

Ragsdale, who was in her late 60s, did a lot of things, but she’s best known as the owner and director of Heart O’ the Hills camp for girls. She was born into the business.

Jane Ragsdale ran the Heart O’ the Hills camp for girls in Kerr County, Texas. The camp was between sessions when the deluge hit. The only person killed there was Ragsdale.

Jane Ragsdale ran the Heart O’ the Hills camp for girls in Kerr County, Texas. The camp was between sessions when the deluge hit. The only person killed there was Ragsdale.

Kerrville Daily Times


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Kerrville Daily Times

Her family bought a boys’ camp, Camp Stewart in 1966, the year Ragsdale turned 9. They bought Heart O’ the Hills about a decade later. Ragsdale helped run it from the start. By 1988, she was in charge.

Unlike Camp Mystic, the girls camp where at least 27 perished when the deluge hit, Heart O’ the Hills was between sessions. The only person killed there was Ragsdale.

A map showing that many buildings at Camp Mystic, TX, are within hazardous flood zones.

“I’ve never in my life met someone like Jane,” said Kathy Simmons, who was a good friend of Ragsdale’s.

Simmons was at Heart O’ the Hills picking up her granddaughter just the week before the flood, on the last night the camp was open.

“We had a candlelight service on the river at 9 p.m., and it was so beautiful. There were prayers and there were songs,” Simmons said. “Jane always led the children in songs. And every one of those girls and those counselors absolutely idolized her.”

After Heart O' the Hills camper Sydney Sutton sent a photo of herself to Jane Ragsdale, the camp director wrote this letter back to Sydney.

After Heart O’ the Hills camper Sydney Sutton sent a photo of herself to Jane Ragsdale, the camp director wrote this letter back to Sydney.

Erika Sutton


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Erika Sutton

The summer camps on the Guadalupe River in Kerr County are institutions. Generations of girls and boys go through them, often forming life-long attachments. Simmons considered Ragsdale the heart and soul of her camp, both spiritual leader and educator.

“I mean, Jane taught these girls how to change a tire, how to ride a horse, how to swim, how to shoot a gun, archery, cooking. I mean, the necessities of life,” Simmons said.

In the off-season, when she wasn’t running the camp, Ragsdale often traveled to Guatemala, where she volunteered as an interpreter and a project organizer. It was mission work she started doing when she was 19 and studying journalism. She was a badass. But she was also about the sweetest person in town.

“Jane was one of the most genuine, kind, honest people and very intelligent, very warm,” recalls Mindy Wendele, president and CEO of the Kerrville Area Chamber of Commerce. “She had a smile that you knew Jane Ragsdale was smiling at you.”

Wendele grew up with Ragsdale, who she describes as a real go-getter: deeply involved in the Chamber of Commerce, a board member of the local liberal arts college, a class leader in high school.

“Anytime that we were out with Jane and her family at Heart O’ the Hills, we had just a fabulous time, just fabulous memories out there,” Wendele said.

Now, with some of the camps and almost all of the riverfront in ruins, Kerr County faces a monumental clean-up and rebuilding effort.

Another reason to miss Jane Ragsdale.

“Oh, she would be out there volunteering. She would be out there clearing property,” Simmons said. “She would have her boots on, her gloves on, she would be helping every dang soul that needed to be helped.”

So the flood took one of Kerr County’s most capable citizens, but Ragsdale’s influence on the community and the girls who came through Heart O’ the Hills camp is going to last a long time.



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The best Amazon Prime Day deals under $50 that you can get before the event is over

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The best Amazon Prime Day deals under $50 that you can get before the event is over


If it’s not worth doing at the last minute, is it really worth doing? If you’ve put off buying something from Amazon’s Prime Day sale but still want to save some dollars on a bit of new tech, now is the time. These are the best tech deals we could find under $50, but the discounts will only be live for a few more hours. Prime Day ends at midnight Pacific time. Sure, a few deals will stick around — they usually do, anyway —but most will go the way of Cinderella’s pumpkin. Right now, Anker cables and chargers, the Echo Spot smart speaker, microSD cards, Roku streaming sticks, Chipolo trackers and more are all on sale. And these are the products and brands Engadget recommends based on our own testing and reviews.

Anker Nano USB-C charger block for $12 ($8 off): Remember when tiny bricks like this all maxed out at a dinky five-watts? This tiny but mighty cube is the best cheap fast charger in our guide to fast chargers and it outputs a generous 30 watts, plus the prongs fold down to make it even more teensy.

Blink Mini 2 security camera (two-pack) for $35 ($35 off with Prime): Our pick for the best budget security camera is now even more budget friendly. We appreciated this diminutive camera’s ease of setup and excellent integration with Alexa devices, like Echo speakers and displays. It requires a subscription for person detection and cloud storage, and the image quality wasn’t the best of the bunch. If you just need one camera, you can pick one up for $20.

Amazon Echo Spot for $45 ($35 off with Prime): The Spot speaker was resurrected last year with a slightly different design than it first had. Now the display is a half-circle on the round face of the clock and it can show you the weather, time and song title. The speaker itself brings you all Alexa can do, like setting timers, adding stuff to your grocery lists and answering questions about the weather.

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Amazon Smart Plug for $13 ($12 off with Prime): This plug and an Alexa Echo device makes a perfect smart home starter kit (and a number of Echos are on sale for Prime Day, too). Snap this into your outlet and Alexa should automatically detect it (if not, a few taps in the Alexa app should get things connected). Then you can use it to control any lamp, fan or other simple device you plug into it — just by asking the assistant.

Anker Right-Angle USB-C braided charging cable (two-pack) for $10 ($6 off with Prime): This is the cable I used to turn an old iPad into a digital picture frame. The right-angle looks much neater than a straight cable, plus this one can shuttle up to 240 watts of power during charging.

Anker iPhone Nano Power Bank with Built-in USB-C Connector for $20 ($10 off with Prime): One of these little guys could represent the difference between a dead phone and a not-dead phone. It’s the size of an oldey-timey lipstick case and delivers a partial charge to any USB-C phone. We tested it out and awarded it a spot in our guide to power banks. The current discount only applies to the black colorway, and this is a few dollars higher than the all-time low of $16 it hit for Black Friday.

JLab Go Sport+ workout earbuds for $19 ($11 off): Anyone looking for a cheap set of beater earbuds for the gym should check this out. It’s a recommendation in our guide to the best budget wireless earbuds and offers a solid eight-to-nine hours of battery life, passable (if somewhat compressed) sound and a water-resistant, around-the-ear design.

Amazon Echo Buds for $20 (60 percent off with Prime): In our guide to the best budget earbuds, we called Amazon’s latest earbuds the best option for an open-ear design. That means they don’t go all the way in your ear canal, which is far more comfortable for some people. They’re sturdy, comfortable and the sound is decent once you’ve fiddled with the EQ settings to bring down the treble. This matches a previous low price — but is a bit more than a temporary Lightning deal for $15 that hit early on Tuesday.

TP-Link Kasa Smart Bulbs for (four pack) for $22 (31 percent off with Prime): After testing a bunch of bulbs we deemed these the best value. Installation is easy, even for those new to smart devices, thanks to Kasa’s clean and simple app. Just note that voice control is only available with Alexa or the Google Assistant; Siri is unfortunately incompatible with these.

Anker USB-C Cable 240W Bio-Braided for $13 ($6 off with Prime): We recommend this in our guide to iPhone accessories. It’s a reliable cable that’s durable and capable of fast charging (provided you have the right wall adapters). This matches its price in past sales.

Kasa TP-Link Smart Wi-FI outdoor plug for $17 ($8 off with Prime): We tested this one for our buying guide to smart plugs and named it the best outdoor pick for HomeKit users — but it’ll work with Alexa and the Google Assistant too. The range was decent and setup was easy, like most TP-Link plugs. Grab this now and have automatic control of your holiday lights.

Blink Mini 2 security camera for $20 ($20 off with Prime): If you only want one Blink security camera, snag this deal. But if you can spring for a two-pack at $35, it’s actually a better deal. Either way, it’s our pick for the best budget security camera. Just note it requires a subscription for person detection and cloud storage, and the image quality wasn’t the best of the bunch.

Amazon Fire TV Stick HD for $18 ($17 off with Prime): We name this the best budget streaming stick on our list of the best streaming devices. It’s easy to set up and so you can access all of the major streaming platforms. Just note that it only streams content at 1080p, not 4K and the UI is more ad-heavy than competing streamers.

Apple AirTag for $20 ($9 off): Here’s our pick for a Bluetooth tracker for iPhone users. These little discs have the most accurate finding ability of any fob we tested, thanks to Apple’s vast Find My network that taps into all nearby iPhones to track down your missing stuff. They could be louder and hole would be nice, but nothing beats its accuracy. Just note that you’ll get a cheaper per-tag price if you buy a four-pack.

Samsung Fit Plus 56GB flash drive for $23 ($12 off): We named this the best thumbstick drive in our guide to the best SSDs. It has a sleek design, five-year warranty and has a USB 3.1 connection. There’s even a small attachment point for a keychain so you can take your extra storage drive with you when you go.

J-Tech Digital Ergonomic Mouse for $16 ($10 off with Prime and on-page coupon): The lowest price we’ve seen for one of our favorite ergonomic mice is $17 and now it’s even cheaper. This is the budget pick in our ergonomic mouse guide thanks to its vertical format, programmable buttons and nifty RBC lights (which you can turn off).

TP-Link AC1200 WiFi extender for $20 ($10 off): If you’ve got some dead spots in your home’s internet coverage and aren’t quite ready for a mesh setup, a Wi-Fi extender can help. This is our favorite budget option in our guide to these plug-in devices thanks to its easy setup and user-friendly app.

Amazon Echo Pop for $22 ($18 off with Prime): The smallest (and cheapest) Echo speaker is ideal for small apartments or rooms. The half-sphere design comes in purple and teal in addition to the standard black and white colorways. It’s gone as low as $18 in past Prime Day sales.

Soundcore Select 4 Go Bluetooth speaker for $19 ($16 off with Prime): One of the newest additions to our guide to the best Bluetooth speakers is this ‘lil guy from Soundcore (Anker). We found it had decent sound quality and was loud enough to fill a standard-sized living room. It’s gone as low at $20 in the past.

Chipolo POP Bluetooth tracker for $25 ($4 off): The top pick in our guide to the best Bluetooth trackers was finally knocked off its throne — by another tracker from the same brand. This is our current recommendation for most people. It taps into either Apple’s Find My or Google’s Find My Device network (but just one at a time) and has a loud ring, quick Bluetooth connection and comes in fun colors.

Roku Streaming Stick HD for $20 ($10 off): Roku just released two new streaming sticks this year. This standard model and the Plus model that supports 4K resolution. We recommend the latter in our guide to streaming sticks as the best way to catch free and live content, but if you don’t have a 4K TV (or don’t care about the resolution) you can grab this stick for 33 percent off. The Plus model is also on sale.

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TP-Link Kasa Smart Plug Mini EP25 (4-pack) for $30 ($14 off with Prime): This is our favorite smart plug overall because it works with all four major smart home assistants (Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant and Samsung’s Bixby). In our tests, it connected easily and reliably controlled our lamps and other simple appliances.

Star Wars Outlaws (Amazon Exclusive, PS5) for $29 ($31 off): At full price, this game was easy to skip. But now that it’s available for just half price, it’s a lot more compelling for Star Wars fans. The limited edition includes pre-order rewards like the Kessel Run bonus pack and the Rogue Infiltrator bundle.

-> For more Prime Day gaming deals, check out our guide.

Roku Streaming Stick Plus for $30 ($10 off): Roku replaced the Streaming Stick 4K with this model (which also supports 4K) earlier this year. We think it’s the best streaming stick for people who want to access free and live content on their TV. Roku’s interface is easy to use, colorful and lets you watch thousands of hours of free stuff, through Roku’s own content and more. You also get decently organized access to your paid content.

Anker USB C Charger (Nano 65W) for $26 ($14 off with Prime): This is a similar model to the travel pick in our fast charger guide. It has three ports, two USB-C that deliver up to 65 watts each and a USB-A that can output 22 watts. That should refill your laptop, tablet and maybe some earbuds while not taking up too much space.

Amazon Echo Dot Kids with Alexa for $32 ($28 off with Prime): The kids version of Amazon’s smart speaker is the same hardware but with a kid-themed cover (owl or dragon) and it comes with a free year-long subscription to Amazon Kids+ with audiobooks, games and educational Alexa skills. The standard Echo Dot is on sale too, but we’re disappointed in the sale price.

Blink Video Doorbell for $30 ($30 off with Prime): If you already use Alexa in your home and want a compatible video doorbell, you may want to check out this deal. Note that you’ll need a Blink subscription and a Blink Sync Module to store clips and to access other features. You can wire it to your existing doorbell wires or use it wirelessly with two AA batteries that can last up to two years.

Moft Magnetic Phone Tripod for $32 ($8 off with Prime): I was impressed with how sturdily this small tripod held my phone. It folds down super thin but pops up to hold the phone in landscape or portrait orientation. The only downside is you’ll need to pop it off to wirelessly recharge (obviously) but removal and reattachment is quick.

EarFun Free 2S wireless earbuds for $28 (30 percent off with Prime): These are fairly comfortable, have a good waterproof rating and deliver a decent amount of bass. They’re not going to deliver the fullest or most nuanced sound as more expensive buds, but for far less than $50, they’re a fine knockaround pair.

Anker Soundcore 2 for $28 (38 percent off): The Soundcore 2 is an older bluetooth speaker, but it holds up — fully waterproof, with 24 hours of battery life and bass you can hear on the other side of a pool. It’s on sale for less than $30.

-> If you’want more speaker deals, check out our Prime Day speaker guide.

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UGreen Revodok Pro 109 USB-C Hub for $32 ($22 off): The top pick in our guide to the best USB-C hubs has a good array of ports, including an HDMI 2.0 connection that supports 4K monitors at 60Hz, plus three USB-A ports, Ethernet and one USB-C (plus another for delivering 90W of power to your device. The hub has gone as low as $30 in prior sales.

Anker 555 USB-C Hub (8-in-1) for $36 ($6 off with Prime): If you get a MacBook Air for Prime Day, you might find yourself needing more ports than the ultraportable offers. This is our favorite hub in our guide to MacBook accessories.

Razer Basilisk V3 gaming mouse for $36 ($34 off with Prime): Some prefer a wired connection when playing games. Razer’s Basilisk V3 is our top budget pick for a wired mouse in our gaming mouse guide. It’s comfortable, well-built, accurate and a good value — particularly with a Prime Day discount.

HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 gaming headset for $37 ($14 off): In our guide to gaming headsets, we ultimately recommend getting an external mic along with a good pair of wired headphones for chatting. But if you really want a two-in-one, the Cloud Stinger 2 is our pick for a budget gaming headset.

Lexar Professional Silver Plus (512GB) for $38 ($35 off): We found this microSD card to be the best value of all the cards we tested. It consistently delivered faster sequential reads and writes than other models. If you need storage for your gaming handhels, camera, drone or other devices, may as well stock up now.

Leebin Electric Spin Scrubber for $38 (46 percent off with Prime): This was Deputy Editor Valentina Palladino’s favorite thing she bought last year because it makes the must-detested chore of cleaning her shower less of a pain. It’s an electric spin scrubber that comes with multiple cleaning heads so you can use it on your countertops, sinks, tubs and showers and more. It also has an adjustable arm so you can reach tough spots in hard-to-reach places, and it convenient recharges via USB-C.

Amazfit Band 7 fitness tracker for $38 ($12 off with Prime): The runner up in our guide to the best, cheap fitness trackers has a comfortable design we found easy to sleep with and a great, mutli-week battery life. The screen isn’t as bright and it wasn’t quite as speedy as our top pick, but it does let you easily set custom goals.

Hamilton Beach Digital Programmable Rice Cooker for $40 ($10 off with Prime): Our top pick for a budget rice cooker is on sale for Prime members. The brown rice came out particularly good in our tests and the cooker is easy to clean with a dishwasher-safe cooker pot and steamer basket. Just note that it’s pretty small and doesn’t have the granular controls of pricer models.

-> See more kitchen tech Prime day deals in our guide.

Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam for $40 ($40 off with Prime): This indoor security camera can spin 360 degrees and has a tilt range of 169 degrees so you can keep tabs on pets and other happenings at home. It’ll let you drop in for a live view from your phone, and supports two-way talk for telling your pup to get off the couch.

Moft Folding Sit-Stand Laptop Stand for $48 ($12 off with Prime): I take this with me when I have to work somewhere away from my standing desk. It holds a 16-inch MacBook Pro 10 inches off a desk, which is just enough for you to stand up and work. It also configures into four other positions for better ergonomics as you sit. It’s one of our favorite MacBook accessories.

Anker’s PowerConf C200 2K Webcam for $48 ($12 off with Prime): This deal matches the low from last Black Friday. It’s the budget pick in our guide to the best webcams. If you want to bump up the look of your video calls, we think this will do the trick.

Blink Outdoor 4 for $45 ($55 off): We named this outdoor camera the best for Alexa homes in our security cameras guide. It can go just about anywhere you want as the wireless design runs on AA batteries and can last for two years before needing to be replaced. The motion alerts are accurate, but keep in mind you’ll need a subscription to enable person detection and cloud storage.

Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2 Bluetooth tracker for $15 ($15 off): If you have a Samsung phone, the company’s own Bluetooth tracker may make the most sense for you. We say as much in our guide to these finding fobs. The design is attractive and the finding network admirable, drawing on the signals of nearby Galaxy devices to pinpoint your lost keys.

JBL Go 3 for $28 (30 percent off): The JBL Go 4 gets a shout out in our guide to Bluetooth speakers, this is its predecessor. It’s got a carabiner-friendly design, five hours of battery life, and IP67-rated waterproofing and dustproofing. It’s not exactly powerful, but it’s way better than a phone speaker for driving, trekking or camping.

Amazon Echo Buds for $15 (70 percent off with Prime): In our guide to the best budget earbuds, we called Amazon’s latest earbuds the best option for an open-ear design. That means they don’t go all the way in your ear canal, which is far more comfortable for some people. They’re sturdy, comfortable and the sound is decent once you’ve fiddled with the EQ settings to bring down the treble. This is a lightning deal and the lowest price we’ve seen yet.



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Google Drive for desktop redesign adds centralized interface

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Google Drive for desktop redesign adds centralized interface


Introduced in 2021, “Google Drive for desktop” is getting a visual redesign that centralizes controls and management in one window.

Google Drive for desktop is being updated with a centralized UI that shows “sync activity, notifications, shared files and more.” It looks a bit like drive.google.com, with a “Search in Drive” field and pause icon joining the settings gear icon at the top.

A FAB (floating action button) lets you “Open Drive folder,” while the navigation drawer has three items. Home offers cards noting recent uploads and “Needs my attention.” There are also shortcuts to “View files shared with you” and other “Quick links,” like adding more folders to sync.

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There’s also Sync activity and Notification in the side panel. With this redesign, Google wants to give desktop users a “centralized area to easily manage all of their Drive files in one place.” Previously, there was a floating interface with feeds for “Activity” and “Notifications,” and the main window was for managing folders.

This update to the Mac and Windows app for “all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts.” Google Photos integration is also available.

New

In other Workspace updates this week, Google Calendar for Android now lets you “share a calendar with individuals, a domain or the entire public.” Go to Settings and select a calendar for the new “Shared with” section. This was previously only available online.

Gmail on the web now offers the same Gemini summary cards available on Android and iOS. They appear “at the top of emails for messages where a summary is helpful,” like longer threads with multiple replies. 

Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Standard and Plus; Enterprise Starter, Standard and Plus; customers with the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-on

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Sun relinquish early lead, starts West Coast trip with loss in Seattle

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Sun relinquish early lead, starts West Coast trip with loss in Seattle



SEATTLE (AP) — Gabby Williams scored 18 points, including a 3-pointer with 6:10 remaining, to put the Seattle Storm up for good in a 79-65 win against the Connecticut Sun on Friday night.

Williams’ shot gave the Storm (13-8) a 63-62 lead and started a 19-3 game-ending run. The Storm outscored the Sun 24-13 in the fourth quarter.

Nneka Ogwumike chipped in 16 points while Skylar Diggins and Ezi Magbegor each added 14 points for Seattle.

Tina Charles led Connecticut (3-17) with 20 points. Saniya Rivers had 12 points while Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Leila Lacan scored 10 each.

The strong finish was needed, considering the Storm got off to a slow start. Seattle trailed 16-10 after the first quarter thanks to sloppy shooting. The Storm converted just 23.5% of their shots in the opening frame while Connecticut forward Charles scored eight of her 20 points in the quarter.

The Storm chipped away at their deficit and even took a 29-28 lead at the 1:57 mark in the second quarter on a 14-foot jump shot from Erica Wheeler.

The teams traded the lead for much of the second and third quarters before Seattle pulled away in the fourth.

Up next

The Sun will continue with their quick road trip on Sunday against the Los Angeles Sparks. The Storm, meanwhile, will continue their homestand on Sunday when they host the Washington Mystics.

___

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

-Andrew Destin of AP News contributed to this article.

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Windsurf’s CEO goes to Google; OpenAI’s acquisition falls apart

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Windsurf’s CEO goes to Google; OpenAI’s acquisition falls apart


OpenAI’s deal to acquire the viral AI coding startup Windsurf for $3 billion fell apart on Friday, according to The Verge.

In a shocking twist, Google DeepMind is now hiring Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and some of the startup’s top researchers. A Google spokesperson confirmed the hiring of Windsurf’s leaders in a statement to TechCrunch.

“We’re excited to welcome some top AI coding talent from Windsurf’s team to Google DeepMind to advance our work in agentic coding,” said Google spokesperson Chris Pappas in an email to TechCrunch.

Notably, Google is not taking a stake in Windsurf and will not have any control over the company. However, as part of the deal, Google will have a nonexclusive license to certain Windsurf technology, meaning the AI coding startup remains free to license its technology to others.

The deal represents the AI ecosystem’s latest reverse-acquihire, in which a company hires a startup’s top talent and licenses its technology but does not outright acquire the company. Google previously conducted a similar deal to hire back Character.AI CEO Noam Shazeer, as did Microsoft to hire Mustafa Suleyman. These deals have helped several Big Tech companies increase their position in the AI race without drawing regulatory scrutiny.

“We are excited to be joining Google DeepMind along with some of the Windsurf team,” said Mohan and Chen in a statement to TechCrunch. “We are proud of what Windsurf has built over the last four years and are excited to see it move forward with their world class team and kick-start the next phase.”

As of Friday, Windsurf’s head of business, Jeff Wang, will take over as the startup’s interim CEO, he announced in a post on social media. Most of Windsurf’s 250 person team is not headed to Google DeepMind and will continue offering its AI coding tools for enterprise customers.

OpenAI’s deal to acquire Windsurf has reportedly been a major tension point in the ChatGPT maker’s contract renegotiations with Microsoft. Microsoft currently has access to all of OpenAI’s intellectual property; however, OpenAI didn’t want its largest backer to get Windsurf’s AI coding technology as well, according to previous reporting from the Wall Street Journal.

Earlier on Friday, Fortune reported that the exclusivity period on OpenAI’s offer to acquire Windsurf had expired, meaning that Windsurf would now be free to explore other offers. It seems that Windsurf didn’t wait long.

In recent months, Windsurf has been one of the hottest AI coding startups on the market. In April, the startup’s ARR reached about $100 million, TechCrunch previously reported, up from about $40 million months earlier. That rapid growth attracted suitors such as OpenAI and apparently Google.

The addition of Mohan, Chen, and other Windsurf leaders could significantly boost Google’s ability to build AI coding tools. In recent months, AI model providers have focused more on offering AI coding applications to entice developers. Anthropic has boosted its revenue significantly on the back of its AI coding tool, Claude Code, while OpenAI continues to pitch Codex, its AI coding agent, to software engineers.

Windsurf, on the other hand, is left in a much more uncertain position as a result of this deal. Other AI startups that have seen their leaders hired away have struggled to sustain the same momentum they had beforehand. Scale AI lost customers as a result of its deal with Meta, whereas Inflection had to pivot entirely from consumer AI after its deal with Microsoft.

It seems likely that Windsurf could suffer a similar fate.





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Our top picks on headphones, TVs, robot vacuums and more

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Our top picks on headphones, TVs, robot vacuums and more


Amazon Prime Day brought a slew of discounts across the entirety of Amazon’s online storefront for the past few days, and today’s the last day you can get most of them. As expected, Amazon’s site is pretty overwhelming at the moment and will continue to be until the end of the four-day event. Even if you came prepared with a wishlist of items you hope to buy on sale, it can be easy to get distracted by the thousands of other deals available during this members-only event.

If any of the items on your list happen to be tech or tech related, Engadget has you covered. We’ve scoured Amazon to find the Prime Day deals on tech and gadgets that you can get this year for the final day of the sale.

Samsung 55-inch The Frame QLED 4K smart TV for $798 (47 percent off): This is the set that spurred all of the art TV copycats, and it’s been a favorite of our staff for a long time. Samsung’s set looks like a piece of art hanging on your wall when you’re not watching TV, and you can cycle through thousands of images to show on the TV so you’ll always have something new to display.

Dyson V15 Detect Plus for $570 ($180 off): You can’t get much better than a Dyson if you’re on the market for a cordless stick vacuum, and the V15 Detect delivers. It’s our current top pick for the best cordless vacuum overall thanks to its excellent suction power, lightweight design, good battery life and the included Fluffy Optic cleaning head that uses a laser to show you where all the debris is while you’re using it.

Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones for $248 (38 percent off): While the XM6 headphones are the latest and greatest, they only make small changes to the already stellar XM5. These were our top pick for the best wireless headphones for a long time before the XM6 launched earlier this year, and we still like them for their excellent sound quality, strong ANC, multi-device connectivity and good battery life. Note that the black model is the only one down to $248 at the moment; all other colors are on sale for $298.

Apple AirPods Pro 2 for $149 (40 percent off): The AirPods Pro 2 remain Apple’s best set of wireless earbuds, as they offer the full set of Apple-focused features, strong ANC, onboard volume controls, a comfy in-ear design and a warm sound profile that most should find agreeable. They can even work as a hearing aid now.

Leebein Electric Spin Scrubber for $38 (46 percent off): This was my favorite thing I bought last year because it makes the must-detested chore of cleaning my shower less of a pain. It’s an electric spin scrubber that comes with multiple cleaning heads so you can use it on your countertops, sinks, tubs and showers and more. It also has an adjustable arm so you can reach tough spots in hard-to-reach places, and it convenient recharges via USB-C.

Jisulife Life7 handheld fan for $23 (21 percent off): Jisulife makes handheld fans we’ve recommended in past gift guides and this is one of its newer models. It can be held, folded so it sits flat on a table or worn around your neck for a cool breeze wherever you’re going. It has an easy-to-read display in its center that will show you the fan speed level or current battery life, and its 5,000 mAh battery can last up to 19.5 hours on a single charge when you’re running the fan on its lowest setting.

Samsung SmartTag 2 for $15.50 (48 percent off): Samsung users looking to keep track of their stuff need look no further than the SmartTag 2. One of our top picks for the best Bluetooth trackers, this accessory easily attaches to keys, bags and other items and uses Samsung’s large finding network to show you their last known location.

Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World bundle for $500: We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the fact that Amazon has the Nintendo Switch 2 available to order “by invitation” now. The Mario Kart World bundle is available for the standard $500 price, so it’s not a Prime Day deal per se, but considering Amazon was (supposedly) shut out of the initial Switch 2 order process earlier this year, it’s notable to see the console listed on the site at all.

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Amazon Smart Plug for $13 ($12 off): This plug and an Alexa Echo device makes a perfect smart home starter kit (and a number of Echos are on sale for Prime Day, too). Snap this into your outlet and Alexa should automatically detect it (if not, a few taps in the Alexa app should get things connected). Then you can use it to control any lamp, fan or other simple device you plug into it — just by asking the assistant.

Amazon Fire TV Stick HD for $18 (49 percent off): Our favorite budget streaming stick, the Fire TV Stick HD is an easy, dirt-cheap way to upgrade an aging TV set. It supports HD video and its revamped remote can control the power and volume of your TV, so you don’t have to keep track of two controllers.

Anker iPhone Nano Power Bank with Built-in USB-C Connector for $20 ($10 off): One of these little guys could represent the difference between a dead phone and a not-dead phone. It’s the size of an oldey-timey lipstick case and delivers a partial charge to any USB-C phone. We tested it out and awarded it a spot in our guide to power banks.

Blink Mini 2 security camera (two-pack) for $35 (50 percent off): Our pick for the best budget security camera is now even more budget friendly. We appreciated this diminutive camera’s ease of setup and excellent integration with Alexa devices, like Echo speakers and displays. It requires a subscription for person detection and cloud storage, and the image quality wasn’t the best of the bunch. If you just need one camera, you can pick one up for $20.

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max for $35 ($25 off): This stick handles Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, 4K video and HDR10+ and supports Wi-Fi 6E. It has the fastest processor of any Fire TV Stick and Engadget’s Jeff Dunn has gotten a lot of use from the stick as a retro gaming emulator. Of course, Amazon’s user interface is less elegant (and less democratic) than others. And it highly prioritizes Prime Video content.

Lexar Professional Silver Plus for $38 ($35 off): Our tests showed this to be the fastest microSD card on the market, beating out the whole Samsung line. Not only is it fast enough to download and upload 4K files without trying your patience, it’s also waterproof, cheap and squeezes in both USB-A and USB-C ports.

Amazon Echo Spot for $45 (44 percent off): Amazon revived the Spot smart alarm clock last year, which features a half-circle shaped display that shows the time, weather and other information like song titles when you’re using the speaker to play music. It has a compact design that will make it easy to fit on a desk or a nightstand, and as with any Alexa smart speaker, you can use it to control IoT devices like smart lights, locks and more.

Meater SE smart meat thermometer for $45 (43 percent off): This lets you wirelessly monitor the temperature of your food while it’s cooking, which could make it an essential tool for aspiring grillmasters. It has a Bluetooth range of 165 feet, a dishwasher-safe design and its companion mobile app lets you keep an eye on foods even if you’re a few rooms away.

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Apple Watch Series 10 for $280 ($120 off): We consider Apple’s flagship wearable to be the best smartwatch you can buy, period. It’s a mostly iterative update, with faster charging, a slightly slimmer design and a marginally larger display than the prior Series 9. That said, it’s still a comprehensive fitness tracker, and no other smartwatch can integrate as neatly with iPhones and other Apple devices.

Apple iPad Air (11-inch, M3) for $479 ($120 off): In our opinion, the iPad Air is the best iPad for most people as it strikes an ideal balance between performance, price and features. The M3 chip is almost overkill for a tablet, but it means performance should never be an issue. And upcoming productivity gains from iPadOS 26 should make the tablet even more powerful.

Apple iPad (A16) for $280 (20 percent off): The latest base model iPad comes with a faster A16 chip, 2GB more RAM and 128GB of storage as standard. It earned a score of 84 in our review — if you only need an iPad for roaming the internet, watching shows and doing some lighter productivity tasks, it’s a good starter tablet.

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Sonos Beam Gen 2 for $369 (26 percent off): The second-gen Beam soundbar has support for Dolby Atmos and it has a relatively streamlined design that should be easy to fit into most home entertainment setups.

Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 for $160 (30 percent off): The best earbuds for Pixel phone users are down to $160, which makes them a great purchase right now. Live translate and hands-free access to Gemini might be the highlight, but these earbuds have great sound and capable ANC too.

Beats Pill for $99 (34 percent off): The Beats Pill is one of the few portable bluetooth speakers we liked enough to give it a full review. Those of you who love the classic Beats bluetooth speakers will be happy to know they’re back in fine form. Nobody can beat the Pill for bass, and its sound is crisp and lossless at almost any frequency and volume. For some reason, only the Kim Kardashian branded version is on sale, but it’s the exact same speaker.

Sony WH-CH720N headphones for $78 (48 percent off): The cheapest Sony headphones we’d recommend that are no slouch. They’re lightweight and comfy with respectable sound for the price. You also get Adaptive Sound Control, 360 Reality Audio and multipoint Bluetooth on this budget model.

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Microsoft Surface Laptop (13.8-inch, Snapdragon X Plus) for $880 (27 percent off): In addition to running on a Snapdragon X Plus processor, this 2024 Surface Laptop has 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. It’s a Copilot+ PC that also has a 13.8-inch touchscreen, and it should last up to 20 hours on a single charge.

Google Pixelbook Go (13-inch, Intel Core M3) for $319 (51 percent off): The Pixelbook Go is a bit old at this point, but if you’re a Chrome OS lover and want a Google-made laptop, this is a solid option. It includes an Intel Core M3 processor, 8GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and a 12-hour battery life.

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Samsung The Frame Pro (65-inch) for $1,898 (14 percent off): New for 2025, Samsung’s Frame Pro sets offer brighter and higher-quality Mini LED panels for a superior TV watching experience. The 65-inch Frame Pro is a great option for most living rooms since it’s large enough to deliver an immersive viewing experience, and it also comes with Samsung’s wireless One Connect box for less cable clutter. While there’s still no OLED Frame TV yet, this Mini LED set is the closest you’ll get today. (If you’re looking for something larger, the 75-inch Frame Pro is down to $2,699, and the 85-inch is $4,061.)

Hisense S7N Canvas TV (65-inch) for $898 (31 percent off): Hisense’s spin on Samsung’s Frame sets, the CanvasTV, comes in much cheaper and with a boatload of features. The S7N sports an anti-glare display and art mode, as you’d expect, but there’s also 144Hz support for a bit of gaming. It also comes with a slim wall mount so you can hang it on your wall like a genuine work of art. (The 55-inch model is also a great deal at $689, and the 77-inch is down to $1,399.)

Kindle Scribe for $260 ($140 off): The Scribe is one of the best E-Ink tablets you can buy at the moment, and certainly the top pick if you want a writable table that also excels as an ereader. It provides a great reading and writing experience, thanks in part to its ability to access the entire Kindle ebook library, and it has handy Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and Dropbox integration.

iRobot Roomba 104 Combo robot vacuum and mop for $250 (44 percent off): This combo machine will vacuum and mop on its own, plus it comes with an auto-empty base as well. That means it will automatically empty the dry debris it collects into the base after every cleaning job.

Levoit Core 400S air purifier for $183 ($37 off): Our top pick for the best air purifier, Levoit’s Core 400S reliably improved air quality in our testing, plus it has easy to use onboard controls and replaceable filters that are not too expensive. We also found it to not be offensively loud, even on its highest setting.

Ninja Dual-Zone air fryer (10 quart) for $160 ($90 off): This model is one of our favorite air fryers thanks to its dual-zone cooking system, which allows you to prepare two separate foods at different temperatures and settings. There’s even a Match Cook feature that ensures both foods will be done at the same time, regardless of their cooking settings.

Samsung 990 Pro for $150 (29 percent off): The whole Samsung Pro line of SSDs is excellent for gamers, with PS5s in particular seeming to run much faster with one installed. The 990 Pro can reach read speeds of up to 1,400 KB/s — and yes, that’s kilobytes, not megabytes.

Crucial X9 Pro 2TB for $120 ($60 off): The Crucial X9 Pro with 2TB storage space is marked down 33 percent for Prime Day. It’s our top pick for the best portable SSD right now thanks to its excellent speeds, compact yet rugged design and five-year warranty.

Kindle for $85 ($25 off): Our favorite budget option in our guide to the best ereaders, the latest base Kindle has 16GB of storage — more than enough to hold hundreds of books at a time. It has a compact and durable design that’s easy to take anywhere, and the latest model is faster than before with speedy page turns and a more seamless navigation between books, your library and other parts of the UI.

Ring Doorbell Battery + Indoor Cam 2 for $70 (50 percent off): If you’re looking to build out a security system in your home, this bundle is a good place to start, giving you a video doorbell and an indoor security camera. You’ll be able to see both live feeds in the Ring app, and they can send you motion alerts and let you speak to people on the other end of the camera when you’re not at home.

Prime Day is Amazon’s members-only shopping event, which means you’ll have to be a Prime subscriber on Prime Day to take advantage of most of the savings. Amazon still offers a 30-day free trial to new Prime subscribers, so you can start your free trial closer to July and participate in the event.

Amazon Prime Day 2025 will be back this year on July 8 through July 11.

Amazon Prime Day ends on July 11 at the end of the day.

Amazon Prime Day typically comes around annually in July. In the last few years, Amazon has also had its “Big Deal Days” in October, which is effectively a second Prime Day and the unofficial kickoff to the holiday shopping season.

Prime subscribers can go to Amazon’s site on Prime Day to see all of the exclusive deals they have access to. Prime subscribers do not have to do anything additional to get Prime Day sales: the discounts you see on product pages will show up in your cart automatically. If you’re not a Prime subscriber and you go to Amazon to shop on Prime Day, you’ll likely see tons of items on sale but only “with Prime;” those discounts will not be available to those who are not active Prime subscribers.

Technically yes, but even if you do not pay for a Prime membership, you should still check out Amazon on Prime Day. While most Prime Day deals will be exclusively available to subscribers, there are always a handful of sales available to all shoppers. Amazon distinguishes between them very clearly: you’ll see “Prime exclusive” on product pages near the deal pricing on the discounts that are only available to paying members.

Separately, it’s very likely that other retailers like Walmart, Target and Best Buy will have their own competing Prime Day sales during that time frame, too. So if you’re not keen on shopping at Amazon at all, it’s worth checking out other retailers during the week of Prime Day to see if they are matching Prime Day deal prices.



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Galaxy Z Fold 7 impressions: Real-world use, battery, cameras

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Galaxy Z Fold 7 impressions: Real-world use, battery, cameras


Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the big update that many have been waiting for, and after a couple of days using it, I’m already convinced that this is a worthwhile upgrade for any existing foldable owner, and the device that might finally be able to sell new buyers.

As mentioned in my hands-on earlier this week, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is an overdue upgrade. Samsung, having started the foldable market, enjoyed a huge lead for years. But by resting on its laurels, the company also let basically every other brand move way ahead, making it hard to not only recommend Samsung’s foldables over others, but justify an upgrade for existing buyers – the latter, by Samsung’s own admission, making up the bulk of who was buying prior generations.

It’s pretty wild to put the Fold 7 up against the Fold 6. Samsung addressed effectively every complaint. And in day-to-day use, it just feels so much better to use. The thin profile and lightweight design feels great in the hand and borderline non-existent in my pocket, the second one to the point where I’ve felt like the phone was missing from my pocket on multiple occasions in just these first 72-ish hours.

But hardware is one thing, what about the rest?

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As mentioned, I’ve been using this device for just under 3 days at this point, so I don’t have a ton to say conclusively about many parts of the device, but first impressions are all coming off nicely.

The new displays are so much more comfortable to use. The outer display just feels like a normal phone, so I’m using that easily 60-70% of the time as opposed to the Fold 6 where I felt forced onto the inner display more often. The inner display is bigger and better than ever, but it doesn’t feel drastically better than any others, and the display crease is pretty much unchanged from Fold 6. Samsung’s One UI 8 skin runs wonderfully on this device too, though I have already noticed some heat hiccups. On a couple of occasions, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 has felt noticeably warm to the touch despite not being put through a ton of stress. That’s not shocking for a thin form factor, but that’s certainly a problem I didn’t have this early on Fold 6, and didn’t run into all that much on the Oppo Find N5 earlier this year. More time will be needed for a full verdict there.

The battery life, unsurprisingly, is pretty middling. Samsung’s 4,400 mAh power pack thankfully didn’t get smaller despite the thinner design, but Snapdragon 8 Elite alone can’t make up for the bigger, brighter displays and other changes. I’m seeing this battery be just enough for a full day, but I also haven’t had any particularly heavy days thus far. I’ve also not had enough time for the device to learn my usage patterns, so it’s definitely too early to make a call on if the battery is “good” or “bad.”

Then, there are the cameras. Again, time will tell here, but I’m optimistic. Samsung is using the same 200MP sensor from Galaxy S25 Ultra with the same processing stack and, while the company still needs to overhaul its cameras, there were some moderate improvements with that device earlier this year. Based on samples so far, I think we’re looking at similar results from the Fold 7’s camera.

That’s what has stood out to me so far with the Galaxy Z Fold 7. I’m really excited to use this device as my main phone over the next few weeks and get together a full review. If you have any specific questions, drop them below and I’ll answer as best I can.

The closest thing to a verdict I have right now is that, for the first time in perhaps 3-4 years, I think Samsung has delivered a foldable that’s worth upgrading to. With each prior generation the difference was neglible, and the cost to upgrade was often not worth it. While Fold 7 is the most expensive Fold in 5 years, it actually feels worth a higher price tag.

Pre-orders for the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Flip 7, and Galaxy Watch 8 are now open through Samsung.com with up to $1,100 in trade-in values, plus an additional $50 in Samsung credit when you order through 9to5Google’s links below, but that credit only applies if you check out within 30 minutes.

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West Springfield walking buddies make major strides to fight cancer

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West Springfield walking buddies make major strides to fight cancer



WEST SPRINGFIELD — One quarter at a time, one mile at a time, neighbors Deb Callahan and Kris Towse are showing how community can fuel the fight against cancer.

On July 30, area residents are invited to a “This or That” Quarter Auction at the East Mountain Country Club in Westfield. The money raised from this event will support Callahan and Towse, who are participating in the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge on Oct. 5. The walk follows the path of the Boston Marathon.

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