Users of this best VPN app can now secure their online identity with a new suite of protection tools – and it can be yours without spending a penny.

ExpressVPN has just launched Identity Defender, a security bundle that includes three distinct solutions: an identity theft alert, cyber insurance, and data removal service. These tools are only available for the US market at the time of writing.

A 40-inch TV is an excellent size for a bedroom or smaller living room. It’s also a fantastic size option for college students living in space-starved dorms. While most TV brands have one or two of these smaller models in the lineup, one 40-inch set we’re always looking for markdowns on is the TCL 3 Series. As luck would have it, we came across a fantastic Walmart markdown not too long ago, and it’s one of the best TV deals we’ve seen this week:

For a limited time, when you order the TCL 40-inch 3 Series at Best Buy, you’ll spend $110, as opposed to the full retail price of $230.

Why you should buy the TCL 3 Series

It’s hard to say how long this discount is going to hang around, so now might be the best time to buy. Save $120 when you purchase the TCL 40-inch 3 Series at Best Buy. You may also want to check out these other Best Buy deals. And if you’re looking for an audio accessory, we recommend checking out these soundbar deals we found.

During an event in China, HONOR announced its new flagship series, the HONOR Magic7 smartphone. The HONOR Magic7 and Magic7 Pro were announced, and we’ve covered those launches already. In addition to that, the design of the Porsche Design HONOR Magic7 RSR was confirmed too.

The Porsche Design HONOR Magic7 RSR design has already been confirmed

If you check out the two images below, you’ll see the phone itself. It will arrive in purple and black colors, it would seem. We can only see the back side of the phone, but we know what the front will look like too. The device will look like the regular Magic7 Pro from the front.

You can clearly see that the phone has a different back design than the Magic7 Pro. It is actually rather similar to what we’ve seen from its predecessor. A hexagonal camera island, and that separation line that goes straight through the middle.

Based on its predecessor, this phone will have the same specs as the HONOR Magic7 Pro, but it could include more RAM. Its predecessor arrived with 24GB, so HONOR may follow that same path here too.

It will likely have almost identical specs to the Magic7 Pro

So, that means we’ll get a 6.8-inch 2800 x 1280 LTPO AMOLED display which is flat. 3D facial scanning will be included, and the same goes for the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor from Qualcomm.

A 5,850mAh battery will also be a part of the package, and the same goes for 100W wired and 80W wireless charging. Android 15 will come pre-installed with MagicOS 9.0 skin. For more information check out the Magic7 Pro announcement. We expect all the specs to be the same save for RAM.

HONOR did not say when will this handset arrive, but it could launch with the global versions of the Magic7 series. The date has not been announced just yet.

Regarding the phone’s design, HONOR said the following: “This device marries the classic HONOR Magic Series’ hexagonal camera design with the latest trends in sports car design. Drawing from the aerodynamic aesthetics of the Taycan Turbo S, the four imaging units of the device are symmetrically arranged like sports car headlights, shielded by 3D glass that mirrors Porsche’s windshield curves.“

The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus Community Edition is Nothing’s latest smartphone, using designs submitted by the community — and it glows in the dark. Depending on your location, you can register for a chance to buy the device starting today, but that doesn’t guarantee a purchase. Only 1,000 of them will be available, and they won’t be sold in North America, Taiwan and Korea.

Nothing first called for the community to design a product back in March. The contest had four stages: creating a new look, crafting wallpapers, designing a new package and then developing a marketing campaign. People would then submit their ideas and the winners chosen later. These entries later went into the final design as seen now. Those who participated in the community event are given priority to register for a Phone (2a) Plus Community Edition, but it will still be sold on a first-come-first-served basis. You can find out how to get one in this post.

Interestingly, those in Malaysia (like me), Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines don’t have to register to potentially purchase one. They can buy one through Nothing’s official partners, although they have to be fast as there are only 25 devices per country. Fans of Nothing’s phones in Japan can also register for the phone, but the ones they’ll get are based on the older Nothing Phone (2a).

Besides buying the phone online, fans in London and Delhi can visit a physical store for one. The Nothing Store in Soho will stock 50 of them starting November 16. However, those in Delhi have to stay tuned for the location, and the phone will become available on November 23.

The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus Community Edition will launch on November 12 and sell for £399, around $430. It comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage space.

A day after one venture capitalist suggested Google’s NotebookLM generative AI application could replace CRMs in at least some use cases, one CRM provider, Creatio, is fighting back.

Creatio today announced an update that seeks to offer both the simplicity of that app with the power and capabilities of something more fully featured like rival Salesforce’s Agentforce platform. This 8.2 update, codenamed “Energy,” combines no-code enterprise CRM app development with a unified suite of AI capabilities, designed to help businesses achieve faster results and higher productivity through streamlined, intuitive automation tools.

By integrating agentic, generative, and prescriptive AI into a single solution, Creatio positions itself at the forefront of a new era in business software, emphasizing agility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness.

Burley Kawasaki, Creatio’s Global VP of Product Marketing and Strategy, told VentureBeat in a recent video call interview: “We believe we’re in the early stages of a new era of business automation, driven by no-code and AI. This combination enables unprecedented levels of automation.”

Simplifying CRM complexity with no-code AI

Creatio’s Energy 8.2 introduces a cohesive approach to automation that stands in contrast to traditional enterprise SaaS systems, which are often costly, slow to implement, and complex to manage

The company aims to empower organizations to leverage no-code and AI together to transform workflows without the burden of technical dependencies.

Kawasaki said that the Creatio Energy release “completes our wave of innovation, establishing a solid foundation for a new era of business automation.”

Key features of Creatio 8.2 ‘Energy’

Creatio’s Energy release introduces several key enhancements and tools designed to maximize the capabilities of AI and no-code development across various business functions:

• Unified AI Platform: Energy 8.2’s AI Command Center brings together agentic, generative, and prescriptive AI within a single platform. This feature provides companies with a structured environment to create, deploy, and refine AI skills across departments, eliminating the need for technical expertise while expanding AI access throughout the organization.

According to Kawasaki, “We’ve created a unified architecture that combines generative AI, prescriptive AI, and agent-based approaches, allowing rapid application creation powered by AI without technical barriers.”

• No-Code AI Skill Development: Users can now build and configure new AI Skills directly within the Creatio platform, utilizing natural language inputs to create automation and intelligence without writing code. This feature makes it easy for non-technical team members to design AI capabilities, increasing accessibility and accelerating implementation.

“We’re introducing a new concept called an ‘AI skill,’” Kawasaki said. “It’s like adding a skill to a human—our platform acquires these skills, which can then be applied in various contexts across sales, marketing, and service.”

• Enhanced CRM with Pre-Built AI Skills: With over 20 pre-configured AI Skills embedded into the platform, Energy 8.2 enhances core functions within CRM for sales, marketing, and customer service. This allows organizations to automate tasks, improve customer engagement, and streamline workflows, all without requiring specialized development resources. These skills include functions like meeting scheduling, opportunity summaries, and case resolution recommendations.

“We offer CRM-focused AI skills out-of-the-box, covering sales, marketing, and service,” Kawasaki adds, “These skills are composable, customizable, and ready for immediate use.”

• Simplified Pricing and Accelerated Adoption: Unlike other AI-powered platforms that often involve complex pricing and hidden fees, Creatio includes all AI features within its standard licensing, allowing businesses to deploy AI capabilities without incremental costs. This approach supports faster and more predictable adoption by giving administrators full transparency over usage and token consumption through the platform’s built-in monitoring tools.

Chief Growth Officer Andie Dovgan told VentureBeat in the joint interview alongside Kawaski that: “Unlike other vendors who view AI as a revenue opportunity, we see it as an adoption opportunity, making it accessible and easy for our users to begin using AI from day one.”

Jim Slomka, Chief Revenue Officer at BSN Sports and a Creatio client, emphasizes the tangible benefits, noting, “With Creatio modern technology, we’ve been able to realize value extremely fast, boost front-office productivity, increase average order size, and streamline our commercial processes—all without the need for IT and development resources.”

Generating the future of AI enterprise apps

The release of Creatio Energy 8.2 aligns with industry trends highlighted in a recent Forrester research report, “The Four Agreements of Modern Business Apps,” which underscores the importance of AI and low-code capabilities in future business applications.

The report suggests that businesses need to embrace adaptive, AI-driven platforms to unlock greater value streams and enhance resilience.

Kawasaki underscored this openness, stating, “Our platform remains agnostic, open to the AI models you prefer, starting with OpenAI, and expanding to others like Claude and Gemini. You can bring the models that are best for your needs.”

This vision is evident in Creatio’s new features, which place AI at the core of the platform and leverage recent advances in large language models (LLMs) from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.

The result is a platform designed not only to meet current automation needs but to scale and evolve in line with emerging AI innovations and preferences.

A new standard in enterprise automation emerges

Creatio’s Energy release is set to redefine expectations for enterprise software, offering an approach that goes beyond basic automation tools to support a comprehensive, co-creative experience. By integrating AI directly into the app development cycle, Creatio enables businesses to accelerate innovation, improve customer experiences, and achieve rapid time-to-value.

As Dovgan told VentureBeat: “The time-to-value and ease of AI adoption with Creatio is on a completely different level than competitors—our users can experience AI benefits right from deployment.”

With Creatio’s commitment to no-code development and a unified AI architecture, businesses gain a tool that acts as both a productivity enhancer and a strategic partner.

As organizations seek to remain competitive in an increasingly digital market, Creatio Energy provides a flexible and powerful solution for navigating the evolving landscape of business automation.

Hummingbirds is a female-founded startup that connects hyperlocal content creators with locally-based brands such as coffee shops and grocery store chains that reward them for sharing products with their small and highly engaged communities via social media to juice their marketing.  

The company announced Wednesday a $5.4 million seed round, bringing the total amount raised to $10 million. The new capital will support the platform’s expansion into 20 more cities by 2025, including Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Denver, Colorado. 

Launched last year, the platform bets on localized and word-of-mouth marketing, where brands aim to build trust with local customers. Small business owners often struggle with local marketing, typically due to limited budgets or competition from established brands. Hummingbirds believes the solution lies in their own backyard—leveraging the “PTA moms” (aka parents who are actively involved school activities like fundraising) and other nearby creators to help promote products.

“When [brands] think about driving in-store behavior to these retailers, they need a new marketing tool, and that’s where Hummingbirds has really found that we can help those brands move quickly and build that brand awareness, build a loyal following, actually bring them customers who go back to the store and buy their product over and over,” co-founder Charise Flynn told TechCrunch. 

Hummingbirds enables brands to launch targeted marketing campaigns aimed at local residents, encouraging them to share products on social media with their followers. There are currently over 300 brand partners, from well-known brands like Chop Local, Cutwater, Goodles, and Olipop to smaller businesses and local chains, such as AE Dairy, Century Farm Distillery, and Fareway Grocery.

To incentivize participation, businesses offer rewards such as gift cards that range from $50 to $250, as well as complimentary experiences (such as a massage at a spa), free merchandise, and other perks. 

Although Hummingbirds takes 0% commission from creators, brands are required to pay a fee to launch campaigns on the platform. 

The platform focuses on everyday creators who see social sharing as a hobby, with most of their followers being friends and local connections. It argues that “nano creators”—those with up to 10,000 followers—often achieve higher engagement rates due to their loyal followings. The company claims that its strategy of producing “city-specific content” can increase sales by up to 14 times and enhance social engagement by 80%.

“Their engagement rate is way higher than the traditional industry standard. We see, on average, 3-4% engagement…most influencers are at 0.7% engagement,” Flynn said.

Several startups that are fairly similar to Hummingbirds have emerged over the years, such as Franki, Mavely, Mavn, and Soci, but Hummingbirds sets itself apart by targeting content creators primarily located in Middle America. The platform operates in over 20 cities, including Des Moines, Illinois; Madison, Wisconsin; Nashville, Tennessee; and Omaha, Nebraska. 

This focus is strategic, as the company believes that this region is often overlooked and challenging for many brands aiming to expand their reach.

“They don’t know how to market to Middle America. [Customers are] spending a significant amount on groceries, and so they’re able to activate our Hummingbird communities in order to build brand awareness and move product velocity. It’s been really beneficial that we focus on a part of their marketing that is a little bit more challenging for them,” Flynn explained.

Co-founder Emily Steele is the visionary behind Hummingbirds. As a small content creator in Iowa, she recognized the opportunity to assist local brands in her community.

“Hummingbirds spun out of trying an oat milk latte in Des Moines, Iowa, and sharing it on social and getting other people excited to share the small businesses in our own city,” Steele told us. She also mentioned that the company name comes from a nickname her father-in-law calls her, as hummingbirds are the “local pollinators” and are always “buzzing around town.”

Recently, the company has experienced rapid growth. In the past year, it claims to have quadrupled its revenue and doubled its community size, now boasting 11,000 creators.

Participants in the seed round include Allos Ventures, Ground Game, Homegrown Capital, InnoVenture Iowa Fund, ISA Ventures, M25 Fund and Next Level Ventures.