Good morning! Let’s play Connections, the NYT’s clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.

What should you do once you’ve finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I’ve also got daily Wordle hints and answers, Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too.

Update 11/12/24: Black Friday isn’t launching any time soon, but we’ve already found some HP laptop deals if you’re interested in buying a device by the popular brand. There’s a chance that these prices will go even lower during the shopping event, but these offers are pretty good if you need a new laptop right now.

With Black Friday deals officially set to start on November 29, you’ve still got some time to prepare for the discounts that the shopping event will bring. However, if you can’t wait until then to buy a new laptop, we highly recommend checking out the early Black Friday HP laptop deals that we’ve gathered here. No matter your budget or the type of laptop that you need, there’s surely something from these offers that will catch your attention.

We’ve also rounded up Black Friday gaming laptop deals if you want a machine primarily for playing video games, Black Friday Dell laptop deals for devices made by another trusted name, and Best Buy Black Friday laptop deals for offers from one of the largest retailers. In any case, you’re going to have to be quick with your purchase if you want to make sure that you’re able to take advantage of the savings, as there’s no guarantee on how long these prices will last.

HP Stream 14 — $199 $249 20% off

The HP Stream 14 is an affordable laptop that’s even cheaper right now following a 20% discount, for savings of $50. It’s perfect for basic functions with its Intel Celeron N4120 processor, Intel UHD Graphics 600, and 4GB of RAM. The device features a 14-inch screen with HD resolution, and while its 64GB eMMC provides limited storage, you can always save your files on cloud storage services or external hard drives.

HP Chromebook Plus x360 14 — $410 $640 35% off

The HP Chromebook Plus x360 14 elevates the Chromebook experience with its Intel Core i3 N305 processor, Intel UHD Graphics, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB UFS for storage. The Chrome OS-powered device is also a 2-in-1 laptop, allowing you to transform it from laptop mode to tablet mode by folding its 14-inch touchscreen all the way back. It’s on sale at 35% off, for a $230 discount.

HP 255 G10 — $449 $599 25% off

The HP 255 G10 is pretty powerful for its price, which is even lower following a 25% discount for savings of $150. You’ll get the AMD Ryzen 3 7330U processor, integrated AMD graphics, and 16GB of RAM, alongside a 15.6-inch display and 1 TB SSD. The laptop also comes with Windows 11 Pro pre-installed, so you can access the operating system’s more advanced features.

HP Spectre x360 14 — $1,400 $1,900 26% off

The HP Spectre x360 14 is a 2-in-1 laptop that features a 14-inch OLED touchscreen with 2.8K resolution, for impressive visuals whether you’re using it in laptop mode or tablet mode. In terms of performance, it’s pretty fast with the Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, Intel Arc Graphics, and 32GB of RAM. It’s also got a massive 2TB for storage. The laptop will be yours with a 26% discount, or savings of $500.

HP Omen Transcend 16 — $1,600 $2,100 23% off

For a gaming laptop that will be ready for upcoming PC games, go for the HP Omen Transcend 16. It’s equipped with the 14th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card, and 32GB of RAM, and you’ve got plenty of storage space to install games on its 1TB SSD. The gaming laptop also features a 16-inch WQXGA screen, and it’s on sale with a 23% discount that’s equivalent to $500 in savings.

How to choose an HP laptop on Black Friday

HP is one of the best laptop brands, earning a reputation for reliability over recent years. That means you’ll be fine with any HP laptop, but to narrow down your choices on what to buy, you’re going to have to start by determining how much you’re willing to spend. Set a maximum budget and select among the Black Friday HP laptop deals that match — it’s important not to go overboard if you want to have enough cash to take advantage of other offers during the shopping event.

Our laptop buying guide highlights the specifications that you should be looking for, starting with the processor — it’s AMD versus Intel, and you’re fine with either as long as you get the most powerful one that you can afford. Our guide on how much RAM do you need provides an in-depth explanation, but we highly recommend getting at least 8GB of RAM to breeze through basic tasks and at least 16GB of RAM if you’re planning to use more demanding apps or play PC games. Screen size is also important — it goes as small as 13 inches for portability, and as big as 18 inches for a better look at your projects and streaming shows.

How we chose these HP laptop Black Friday deals

We’re here to compare two flagship smartphones once again, this time around from Apple and Huawei. We’ll be comparing the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Huawei Pura 70 Ultra. Both of these devices are big and powerful, but they’re considerably different in pretty much every way. That’s something you’ll notice the moment you lay your eyes on them, as even their designs are vastly different.

As we usually do, we’ll first list their specifications, and take it from there. Following that, we’ll compare their designs, displays, performance, battery life, camera performance, and audio output. Both of these phones are available across the globe, in various different regions. One thing to note is that the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra does not support Google services. So you won’t have access to Google apps, or the Google Play Store. Huawei’s very own services and app store come pre-installed.

Specs

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, respectively

– Screen size:
6.9-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED ( flat, 120Hz, HDR, 2,000 nits)
6.8-inch LTPO OLED display (flat, adaptive 120Hz, HDR, 2,500 nits max brightness)
– Display resolution:
2868 x 1320
2844 x 1260
– SoC:
Apple A18 Pro (3nm)
Huawei Kirin 9010
– RAM:
8GB
16GB (LPDDR5X)
– Storage:
256GB/512GB/1TB (NVMe)
512GB/1TB (UFS 4.0)
– Rear cameras:
48MP (wide, f/1.8 aperture, 1/1.28-inch sensor, 1.22um pixel size, sensor-shift OIS), 48MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 0.7um pixel size, PDAF), 12MP (periscope telephoto, f/2.8 aperture, 1/3.06-inch sensor, 1.12um pixel size, 3D sensor-shift OIS, 5x optical zoom).
50MP (f/1.6-f/4.0 variable aperture, 23mm lens, 1-inch type sensor, sensor-shift OIS, PDAF, retractable lens), 40MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 13mm lens), 50MP (telemacro, f/2.1 aperture, 90mm lens, 3.5x optical zoom, OIS, PDAF, 5cm macro)
– Front cameras:
12MP (f/1.9 aperture, PDAF, 1/3.6-inch sensor size, OIS)
13MP (wide, f/2.4 aperture, autofocus)
– Battery:
4,685mAh
5,200mAh
– Charging:
38W wired, 25W MagSafe, 15W Qi2 wireless, 7.5W Qi wireless, 4.5W reverse wired (charger not included)
100W wired, 80W wireless, 20W reverse wireless, 18W reverse wired (charger included)
– Dimensions:
163 x 77.6 x 8.3 mm
162.6 x 75.1 x 8.4mm
– Weight:
227 grams
226 grams
– Connectivity:
5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.3/5.2
– Security:
Face ID (3D facial scanning)
In-display fingerprint scanner & facial scanning
– OS:
iOS 18
Android 12 with EMUI 14
– Price:
$1,199+
€1,499+
– Buy:
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max (Apple)
Huawei Pura 70 Ultra (Amazon)

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Huawei Pura 70 Ultra: Design

The iPhone 16 Pro Max is made out of titanium, aluminum, and glass. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, on the other hand, combines aluminum and vegan leather. Both smartphones have rounded corners, but that’s where the similarities end. Apple’s handset has a flat frame all around, while it also has a flat display and a flat backplate. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra’s frame is rounded, while its display is flat, but it’s micro-curved on all sides. The same goes for its backplate, actually.

There is a pill-shaped cutout on the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s display, while the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra has a pill-shaped cutout. They both have very thin and uniform bezels, by the way. Apple’s handset includes more buttons, though. It has the power/lock button on the right, along with the Camera Control button. On the left, it has the volume up and down buttons, along with the Action Button. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra has only the standard power/lock and volume up and down buttons, and they’re all on the right side.

They both have their camera islands in the same place, in the top-left corner on the back. The thing is, those camera islands do look fairly different. The iPhone 16 Pro Max has its recognizable setup, a squarish camera island. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra has one of the oddest-looking camera setups out there, though it surely is recognizable as well. There’s no specific shape to it.

The two smartphones have alsmost identical height, but the iPhone 16 Pro Max is a bit wider. They’re also almost identical in terms of thickness. Apple’s phone does have a slightly larger display, so the difference in dimensions is not surprising. The difference in weight, on the other hand is only 1 gram. Both devices are also water and dust-resistant. They’re IP68 certified.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Huawei Pura 70 Ultra: Display

The Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max features a 6.9-inch 2868 x 1320 LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display. That panel is flat, and it supports an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate (1-120Hz). Dolby Vision is supported, as is HDR10 content. The peak brightness here is 2,000 nits, and the screen-to-body ratio is at around 91%. The display aspect ratio is 19.5:9, while the Ceramic Shield glass protects this panel.

The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, on the other hand, has a 6.8-inch 2844 x 1260 LTPO OLED display. That panel is flat, and it can project up to 1 billion colors. HDR content is supported, while the refresh rate goes from 1 to 120Hz, it’s adaptive. The peak brightness this display can offer is 2,000 nits. The screen-to-body ratio is at around 89%, while we’re looking at a 460 ppi, which is in line with what the other phone offers.

Both of these displays are great, actually. They’re not only very vivid, but they’re sharp and big. The viewing angles are also great. The touch response from both display is on point, and they also get bright enough in pretty much any situation. The color tuning is a bit different, though. The protection these two displays offer is also on point. The panel on Huawei’s phone has the advantage of offering high-frequency PWM dimming, though.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Huawei Pura 70 Ultra: Performance

The iPhone 16 Pro Max is fueled by the Apple A18 Pro processor, a 3nm chip. That chip is paired with 8GB of RAM and NVMe flash storage. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra ships with the Kirin 9010 chip, a 7nm processor from Huawei. Huawei also included 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM here, along with up to 1TB of UFS 4.0 flash storage. Neither of these two smartphones offers expandable storage, by the way.

Apple’s smartphone does have a much more powerful and more advanced chip. It’s several generations ahead, and that’s because of the US ban. Huawei had to get creative. Despite that, however, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra does offer really good performance. We did not have any issues with its performance during our testing, it did a great job. Both phones are very fluid during regular, everyday use, even when you really push them.

Where you will start noticing a difference is in gaming, and some other intensive stuff, such as video processing speed, if you’re handling huge files. The iPhone 16 Pro Max can handle pretty much every mobile game out there with ease. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is okay for gaming, but the most demanding games can make the phone struggle a bit. Also, the availability of high-profile games on AppGallery is not exactly on par with the Google Play Store, so that may not be the best choice for gaming for several reasons.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Huawei Pura 70 Ultra: Battery

Apple’s handset includes a 4,685mAh battery on the inside. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, on the flip side, has a 5,200mAh battery. Apple’s iPhones usually have smaller battery packs than their Android counterparts, so don’t pay too much attention to that difference. In fact, the iPhone 16 Pro Max does seem to offer better battery life, even though the battery life on the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is truly great.

Both of these smartphones are road warriors. They can last for a long time on a single charge. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is perfectly capable of getting over the 7-hour screen-on-time mark, as long as you’re not gaming or doing many other demanding tasks. It’s entirely possible to get to that point. The iPhone 16 Pro Max can push things even further, though, it really does offer outstanding battery life. There are a lot of factors to consider, however, so your mileage may vary, of course.

In terms of charging, the iPhone 16 Pro Max cannot match the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra. Huawei’s flagship supports 100W wired, 80W wireless, 20W reverse wireless, and 18W reverse wired charging. The iPhone 16 Pro Max supports 38W wired, 25W MagSafe wireless, 15W Qi2 wireless, 7.5W Qi wireless, and 4.5W reverse wired charging. Huawei’s handset will charge much faster both via a wire and wirelessly. It also comes with a charger in the box, unlike the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Huawei Pura 70 Ultra: Cameras

Both phones have three cameras on the back, but the setups are different. The iPhone 16 Pro Max includes a 48-megapixel main camera (1/1.28-inch sensor), a 48-megapixel ultrawide unit, and a 12-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (5x optical zoom). The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra has a 50-megapixel main camera (f/1.6-4.0 variable aperture, 1-inch type sensor), a 40-megapixel ultrawide unit, and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (3.5x optical zoom, macro).

The thing is, both of these smartphones actually do a fantastic job with photos. Both of them lean towards warmer color tones, and both can provide very balanced images. They also handle HDR situations without a problem. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra’s main camera does a better job in low light, though, especially if you pixel peep. The images do turn out sharper, which is not surprising considering the benefit in the sensor size and variable aperture. The iPhone 16 Pro Max is not far behind.

The images are comparable in good lighting, however, in terms of quality, despite the fact they’re different. Huawei also has the edge when it comes to telephoto shots, at least up to 5x. 5x and 6x shots are better on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, while everything above that is a tossup. Both ultrawide cameras do a good job, they’re comparable in terms of quality. The iPhone 16 Pro Max is still better when it comes to video quality.

Audio

Both smartphones do include stereo speakers, but the difference between them is considerable. The ones on the iPhone 16 Pro Max are notably louder, especially when played side-by-side with what the Pura 70 Ultra has to offer. The quality seems a bit better too, but both sound outputs are good.

Neither phone includes an audio jack, however. You’ll need to use their Type-C ports if you’d like to connect your wired headphones. If you opt to do things wirelessly, however, you’ll be glad to know that the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Huawei Pura 70 Ultra offers Bluetooth 5.3 and 5.2 respectively.

Amazon is closing down Freevee, its free ad-supported video on demand service. This platform was home to original programming as well as more than from the Prime Video roster. Freevee will be phased out over the coming weeks, and its content will become available as part of Prime Video. The ad-supported tier of Prime Video is included as part of Amazon’s Prime membership for $15 a month.

“To deliver a simpler viewing experience for customers, we have decided to phase out Freevee branding,” an Amazon spokesperson told . “There will be no change to the content available for Prime members, and a vast offering of free streaming content will still be accessible for non-Prime members, including select originals from Amazon MGM Studios, a variety of licensed movies and series, and a broad library of FAST channels – all available on Prime Video.”

The free viewing platform went through several rebrands since its original launch as IMDb Freedive in January 2019. It its final phase as Freevee in April 2022.

Luggage storage as a vector for piling into convenience-based revenue opportunities in the business of global travel continues to put a spring in San Francisco-based Bounce‘s step. The startup has just tucked $19 million in Series B funding into its suitcase, with a plan to keep rolling revenue that’s grown 20x since its $12M Series A back in spring 2022.

Market expansion and adding more verticals are on the cards for Bounce for the next couple of years.

Asia-Pacific is a major focus, according to co-founder and CEO Cody Candee, who says revenue from the region is growing by up to 4x year-over-year. He suggests the consumer behavior the startup is building toward is way more pronounced in markets like Japan, where coin lockers for luggage and convenience stores that offer much more than soda are established already.

Figuring out where Bounce needs to expand to meet traveler demand isn’t tricky, as the startup can see the locations its users are searching for. “We have more than a million people that land on our website or app every month,” Candee noted, saying this lets it create a ranked list of which areas are in most demand.

The startup’s big vision remains serving “cloud storage for the physical world,” as Candee puts it. That translates to a mobile app that lets users (mainly travelers) find and access services for storing and moving their stuff.

Its partners are SMEs with brick-and-mortar locations that have space to store luggage (and, in some cases, accept packages), and delivery firms that can move stuff around on demand. Bounce provides its 13,000+ partners with a revenue share for servicing its app users.

With the fresh cash from the Series B, Bounce predicts it can reach around 30,000 locations by the end of 2026. However, Candee stresses that the company’s focused on “quality, not quantity” — in this context, that means locations in the vicinity of places where travelers may look to store stuff, so around mainline train stations and the like.

Bounce for hotels

Expanding verticals is another piece of the plan that will be funded by the new money, Candee said. He pointed to Bounce for Hotels, for example, which lets hotels offer luggage storage to its own guests via Bounce’s platform.

Candee says the vertical arose organically, after the startup noticed that hotels that had been using its platform to charge non-guests for luggage storage started charging their guests, too. Bounce now has more than 100 hotels doing this through its platform, he said.

“We thought, wow, this is really interesting here,” he told TechCrunch. “I guess, you know, it was crazy a couple decades ago when it was the norm to always have breakfast included with your hotel stay. And then they split that out as a separate thing that consumers buy. And maybe we do the same with luggage storage.”

While budget travelers may not like the fact that Bounce is instrumental in turning free luggage storage into an extra hotel charge, the startup will probably dodge any blame, as that’s more likely to manifest as negative hotel reviews.

Candee also notes that hotels don’t have to charge; they can offer their guests luggage storage via its platform for free. For hotel guests, he argues, there will be the convenience upside of getting access to a whole suite of other services via Bounce’s platform.

“Imagine you go into a hotel, you see a Bounce kiosk, and it says store your bags here, store your bags elsewhere in the city, ship your bags home, deliver your bags to the train station or wherever you want to go,” he said. “And then maybe even a fifth one: We’ve seen a couple companies pop up that can check your bag into your flight from the hotel. We can build all these things with integrations without having to do our own delivery or anything like that.”

“That really ties into the whole vision and how hotels can be an access point into that whole Bounce ecosystem,” he added. “Bounce can be more ubiquitous more quickly with more services.”

An app to tap others’ things too?

Down the line, Candee reckons ongoing shifts in the concept of ownership of physical stuff will enable the business to keep bouncing further in terms of the service mix. Think enabling users to rent their stuff, even to each other, as a sort of Airbnb for things, though he concedes that’s the “multi-decade vision.”

“This is years out, but the infrastructure to get there is all these integrations around shipping and delivery. And if we’re very successful with our vision, then the next generation from now will think that we were crazy for buying everything we needed […] to use just like one time,” he said.

“Because the generation after us, with a Bounce world, will be one in which they say, ‘Oh, if I need to use something, I’ll just download it from the Bounce cloud. I’ll rent it, I’ll access it, whatever it is.’ So that’s the big, crazy vision of where we can go. But shipping and delivery, and furthering our core of all these storage points, is the basis of that.”

That explains why the startup’s efforts and funding are still targeted at the foundational piece of expanding its partner network by adding more locations near places where travelers are likely to want to store and move their stuff.

Currently, Bounce’s network of physical location partners touches some 4,000 cities in 100 countries. It also says its service has been used to store about 6 million bags since the app launched back in 2019.

On the logistics front, Candee reckons the direction of travel favors Bounce’s big mission, too — he pointed out that when he kicked off the startup, there was no DoorDash Drive, for example; the delivery firm’s white label API lets others tap into its logistics tech and network of drivers.

“I think it’ll get easier and easier to do these things,” he said. “The bigger we get doing our core business, the easier it will be to land global and local partnerships for delivery, integration, and all kinds of other partnerships we want to do.”

Bounce’s Series B was led by Sapphire Sport, with participation from existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst, as well as new investors 20VC Growth, FJ Labs, Shilling, and Thayer Ventures, among others.

“We’re excited to see how this new capital will fuel Bounce’s growth into new markets and power storage operations at hotels and venues,” said David Hartwig, partner, and Rico Mallozzi, principal, at Sapphire Sport in a joint statement.

“We’ve been impressed by their ability to scale their storage network with speed and efficiency, and believe they’ve only begun to tap into the potential of serving diverse storage needs,” they added.