• Microsoft issues emergency fix after a security update left some Windows 11 devices unable to shut down

    January 18, 2026

    If you weren’t able to shut down your Windows 11 device recently, Microsoft has rolled out an emergency fix addressing a couple of critical bugs that popped up with its latest January 2026 Windows security update. The latest “out-of-band” update repairs an issue for some Windows 11 devices that would only restart when users tried to shut down or hibernate. The same update restores the ability for Windows 10 and Windows 11 users to log into their devices via remote connection apps. Microsoft said the inability to shut down or hibernate affected Windows 11 devices using Secure Launch, a security…

  • Threads edges out X in daily mobile users, new data shows

    January 18, 2026

    A report from market intelligence firm Similarweb suggests that Meta’s Threads is now seeing more daily usage than Elon Musk’s X on mobile devices. While X still dominates Threads on the web, the Threads mobile app for iOS and Android has continued to see an increase in daily active users over the past several months. Similarweb’s data shows that Threads had 141.5 million daily active users on iOS and Android as of January 7, 2026, after months of growth, while X has 125 million daily active users on mobile devices. This appears to be the result of longer-term trends, rather…

  • Three months of Audible is on sale for $3 right now

    January 18, 2026

    Have a hankering for some audiobooks? Audible is holding one heck of a sale right now, giving users three months of access for $3. That’s a dollar per month. This is something of a winter tradition for the Amazon-owned platform and the promotion ends on January 21. An Audible subscription grants one audiobook per month to keep. This can be selected from a massive catalog of new releases and bestsellers. The collection here has just about everything. Amazon However, it’s easy to plow through a single book in a month. Users also get streaming access to thousands of curated titles.…

  • TechCrunch Mobility: ‘Physical AI’ enters the hype machine

    January 18, 2026

    Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for all things “future of transportation.” To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! It’s been a minute, folks! As you might recall, the newsletter took a little holiday break. We’re back and well into 2026. And a lot has happened since the last edition.  I spent the first week of the year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. And while I wrote about this last January, it’s worth repeating: U.S. automakers have left the building.  What has filled the void in the Las…

  • Vercel Releases Agent Skills: A Package Manager For AI Coding Agents With 10 Years of React and Next.js Optimisation Rules

    January 18, 2026

    Vercel has released agent-skills, a collection of skills that turns best practice playbooks into reusable skills for AI coding agents. The project follows the Agent Skills specification and focuses first on React and Next.js performance, web design review, and claimable deployments on Vercel. Skills are installed with a command that feels similar to npm, and are then discovered by compatible agents during normal coding flows. Agent Skills format Agent Skills is an open format for packaging capabilities for AI agents. A skill is a folder that contains instructions and optional scripts. The format is designed so that different tools can…

  • New users can get a year of one of our favorite budgeting apps for only $50

    January 18, 2026

    A new year is the perfect time to get your spending in order, and if you’re not trying to build your own spreadsheet, budgeting apps are one of the best ways to do it. To save yourself some money in the process, you can pick up a year-long subscription to Monarch Money, one of Engadget’s favorite budgeting apps, for just $50 if you use code NEWYEAR2026 at checkout and you’re a new subscriber. That’s a 50 percent discount on the service’s normal $100 price. Monarch Money makes for a capable and detailed budgeting companion. You can use the service via…

  • Moxie Marlinspike has a privacy-conscious alternative to ChatGPT

    January 18, 2026

    If you’re at all concerned about privacy, the rise of AI personal assistants can feel alarming. It’s difficult to use one without sharing personal information, which is retained by the model’s parent company. With OpenAI already testing advertising, it’s easy to imagine the same data collection that fuels Facebook and Google creeping into your chatbot conversations. A new project, launched in December by Signal co-founder Moxie Marlinspike, is showing what a privacy-conscious AI service might look like. Confer is designed to look and feel like ChatGPT or Claude, but the backend is arranged to avoid data collection, with the open-source…

  • One of our favorite budgeting apps is only $50 for the year for new users

    January 18, 2026

    The start of the new year is a great time to get your finances in order, and a good budgeting app can help with that. Instead of laboring over a spreadsheet, you can try one of our favorite budgeting apps for less than usual. Monarch Money is running a sale that gives new users 50 percent off one year of the service, bringing the final cost down to just $50. Just use the code NEWYEAR2026 at checkout to get the discount. Monarch Money makes for a capable and detailed budgeting companion. You can use the service via apps for iOS,…

  • 2026 Ford Mustang EcoBoost Fastback review

    January 18, 2026

    It looks like a Mustang, feels like a Mustang, and goes like a Mustang, but is the EcoBoost really a Mustang? After all, modern takes on Ford’s famous muscle car have become synonymous with eight-cylinder power, and that’s nowhere to be seen in this base model. Rather, the entry-level EcoBoost is powered by the same turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine found in the old Focus RS hot hatch. Not very Mustang-y, if you ask me. Australian buyers tend to agree. The EcoBoost accounts for just 10 per cent of Mustang sales locally – where the Blue Oval’s fabled pony car reclaimed…

  • Get the bundle for only $10 for one month

    January 18, 2026

    You have the best chance to save on streaming services during the holiday shopping season, but throughout the year, the occasional deal pops up that’s worth considering. Case in point: this new Disney+ deal. New and eligible returning subscribers can sign up for the Disney+ Hulu bundle (with ads) for $10 for one month of access. That’s $3 off the usual price of the bundle for one month, and more than 58 percent off if you consider the cost of each service individually (Disney+ at $12 per month and, separately, Hulu also at $12 per month). We’d be remiss if…