Black Friday is right around the corner and the deals are already coming in hot. You can pick up a four-pack of , as an early Black Friday promotion. This is a discount of 30 percent and represents a record low price.

Apple AirTags easily made our list of the , particularly for regular iPhone users. We love the vast finding network, which really helps when you misplace a tag. Just think of all of those AirTags, iPhones and other Apple devices out there helping to create this network.

Apple

Apple AirTags also offer the ability to tap into the ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless protocol. This creates a sort of game out of finding lost items, as long as the object is within 25 feet of the phone. The screen will display directional arrows and a distance meter so you can zero in on the lost item without having to ring the AirTag.

There are some caveats. These trackers only really work with iPhones, so Android users should buy something else. Also, the ringer only goes for seven seconds at a time, which isn’t always enough time to track something down. Finally, there’s no attachment point for connecting to a keychain or a related item. However, there are plenty of to solve that problem.

Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.

The majority of the aging population in Japan still prefers using cash for transactions, according to a recent report citing government data. In 2023, cashless transactions in Japan totaled 126.7 trillion yen ($885 billion), accounting for 39.3 percent of all spending in the country, said the Japanese government. The government hopes that number reaches 40 percent by 2025.

The Japanese government’s initiative to increase cashless transactions is being supported by a Tokyo-based startup called SmartBank, which offers an app and services that make switching to cashless payments easier for people.

Shota Horii (CEO of SmartBank), along with his twin brother Yuta Horii (CTO) and Jun Taketani (CXO), founded the company in 2019 after selling their previous company, Fablic, to Rakuten in 2016. While running Fablic, the three discovered that many users were still using cash for everyday financial transactions. The founders launched SmartBank in an effort to address a problem within the consumer finance industry in Japan.  

SmartBank’s primary target users are individuals in their 20s and 30s seeking to manage personal finances, as well as married couples looking to manage their finances. Now the company says it has more than 1 million downloads, but they did not provide the number of users.

Its core product is a prepaid card and a finance management app that offers a deposit account. Its prepaid cards include the B/43 My Card, the Visa-branded payment card for single individuals; the B/43 Pair Card for users to manage their finances with their partners; and the B/43 Junior Card for teens.

“Our core user base,[which was B/43 My Card], is now the B/43 Pair Card users…this is significant as banks in Japan do not provide joint bank accounts, and B/43 has become the go-to product,” Shimogawara said.

The startup said Tuesday that it has raised 4 billion JPY ($26 million), with 1.1 billion JPY ($7.2 million) coming from debt financing and 2.9 billion JPY ($18.8 million) from equity provided by its current investor, Global Brain. The equity capital is from a fund formed with SMBC, one of the largest banks in Japan. As of April 2024, SmartBank had raised a total of 5.93 billion JPY ($38.5M) in equity and 1.1 billion JPY in debt since its inception. The startup will use the new capital to double down on hiring from 49 staff in October to around 100 employees by 2025; half of the total workforce will be the engineering team, SmartBank CFO Yuta Shimogawara said in an exclusive interview with TechCrunch.

The latest funding comes roughly two and a half years after its Series A, $20M, in July 2022. The startup has since then expanded its user base and product offerings with the goal of becoming a comprehensive financial platform like a bank, providing a wide range of financial services to users in the future.

Just last month, the company introduced an AI receipt reading feature by using generative AI technology to transform its app into an AI-driven financial advisor, said Chihaya Akaike, the director of business operations at SmartBank. This feature helps users better understand their finances, optimizes and automates financial activities, and enables them to use, save, and invest their money, Akailke told TechCrunch.

“Consumer fintech services in Japan have been slow to use AI, but our goal is to become the leading AI fintech company in the country,” Akailke continued.

On top of that, the company recently added a feature allowing users to connect their credit cards and bank accounts to B/43 to get a holistic view of their finances. “We will be making our service accessible to non-card users as we open it so that users can start using B/43 without issuing a card and by simply linking their existing credit cards and bank accounts, which will also expand our revenue stream,” Akailke explained.

SmartBank obtained a license for money transfers three years ago, allowing users to withdraw their deposits in cash. It also received a prepaid payment instrument license in April, enabling the startup to hold users’ deposits. The licenses help the company offer services like payments and P2P transfers.

Its peers like MoneyForward and Zaim cannot hold users’ deposits, which limits their ability to assist users in managing their personal assets, such as savings and investments, according to the company.  

The five-year-old outfit plans to diversify revenue streams beyond its interchange fees (IRF), where most revenue comes from. In addition to IRF, it has implemented other services like Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), subscription (B/43 Plus), and referrals, Akaike said.

It’s no different on the inside than a normal model, says Valve:

Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White has all the same specs as the Steam Deck OLED 1TB model, but in white and grey. It also comes with an exclusive white carrying case and white microfiber cleaning cloth.

Since the 1TB OLED normally costs $649, you’re effectively paying $30 for the color. Valve says it’s allocated stock proportionally across each region, but once it’s sold out, it won’t be making any more.

Below, find a few more images of it direct from Valve.

I still highly recommend the Steam Deck OLED, though I could see some buyers picking an Asus ROG Ally X instead for its notable performance and decent battery life advantages, particularly if they decide to dual-boot the Bazzite operating system (which makes it feel a lot like a Steam Deck) alongside Windows.

(Yes, the ROG Ally X is a black variant of an originally white handheld, and this Steam Deck is the opposite.)

Here’s what the old Valve prototype looked like, straight out of Portal with an Aperture Science logo on the back:

Here’s hoping someone will print up some high quality Portal stickers, and perhaps we can add our own orange and blue Portal thumbstick covers or something.

Strands is the NYT’s latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.

SpaceX is making final preparations for the sixth test flight of its mighty Starship rocket, featuring the most Super Heavy, the most powerful booster ever to fly.

The Elon Musk-led spaceflight company is targeting Monday, November 18, for the sixth test of the 120-meter-tall rocket.

The Starship, comprising the main Super Heavy rocket and the upper-stage Starship spacecraft, will eventually be used to transport crew and cargo to the moon, Mars, and possibly beyond.

It took its first test flight in April 2023, though the vehicle exploded just minutes after liftoff. Subsequent flights have seen the Starship fly higher and for longer, and the most recent test, which took place last month, saw the first-ever “catch” of the returning Super Heavy booster by giant mechanical arms attached to the launch tower.

What to expect

The megarocket will launch from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, creating a colossal 17 million pounds of thrust as it roars skyward. Within minutes, the upper-stage Starship spacecraft will separate from the Super Heavy booster, and continue on to orbit. Meanwhile, the Super Heavy will return to Boca Chica, whereupon SpaceX will attempt the second catch of the booster back at the launch site. Bringing the Super Heavy home in this way will help SpaceX to increase the frequency of flights using multiple Super Heavy boosters, and also to reduce the cost of space missions.

SpaceX’s live stream will also track the progress of the Starship, which will perform landing burns before coming down in the Indian Ocean about an hour after launch.

How to watch

A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 30 minutes before liftoff, and you can watch it on SpaceX’s account on X.

There’s a chance the schedule could change, so be sure to check back here, or SpaceX’s X account, for any updates.