• Akai’s MPC XL groovebox is the most powerful device the company has ever made

    January 20, 2026

    Akai just revealed its most powerful standalone groovebox, . For the uninitiated, the MPC has been around since the 1980s and pretty much defined hip hop from that era. The line has continuously iterated to keep up with the times and the XL looks to be the baddest of them all. First of all, it offers four times the processing power of previous MPCs, which is enough to load up to 32 virtual instruments at the same time. This is assisted by a full 16GB of RAM, which is a whole lot in this . The XL can handle 16…

  • ICE becomes one of the most-blocked accounts on Bluesky after its verification

    January 20, 2026

    ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has now become the No. 3 most-blocked account on Bluesky, after receiving its official verification on Friday, according to third-party trackers. Bluesky users, unsurprisingly, are angry about the government account being hosted on the platform. Many are recommending that others block the account directly or subscribe to a block list that includes all of the U.S. government’s official accounts. The blocklist was introduced after the White House and other government agencies under the Trump administration signed up for Bluesky last October to post messages blaming Democrats for the government shutdown. The accounts that joined…

  • Two-year plans are up to 78 percent off right now

    January 20, 2026

    If you’re looking to up your privacy game on the internet in the new year, you can do so for a little less than usual thanks to ExpressVPN’s latest deal. Its two-year plans are up to 78 percent off right now: the Advanced tier is on sale for $101 for two years, plus four additional free months. That works out to $3.59 per month during the promotional period. We’ve consistently liked ExpressVPN because it’s fast, easy to use and widely available across a large global server network. In fact, it’s our current pick for best premium VPN. One of the…

  • Grubhub parent acquires restaurant rewards startup Claim

    January 20, 2026

    Grubhub parent company, Wonder, announced that it has acquired Claim, a restaurant rewards app. Founded in 2021, Claim offers cash-back rewards for local restaurants that users can redeem for dine-in or pickup orders. Restaurants partner with Claim to create promotions, boost foot traffic, and track performance insights through the Claim dashboard. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed; however, Claim raised a total of $20 million, it said, when it raised its $12 million Series A in October, 2024. PitchBook estimated its valuation at $62 million. Grubhub says the acquisition will give restaurants on its platform access to…

  • Roland’s Go:Mixer Studio is an affordable but capable mixer for budding recording engineers

    January 20, 2026

    Roland just unveiled the , a powerful entry in the company’s line of audio interfaces. This one promises to be a portable and affordable way to create high-quality recordings with a smartphone or PC. The biggest news here are the 12 input channels and six output channels. This means that users can record multiple instruments at once and even run the signal through outboard gear if so desired. There are two XLR inputs on the back with phantom power, an instrument jack, stereo ¼-inch line-in jacks, an aux input, TRS MIDI ins and outs, two headphones jacks and stereo line…

  • One of the first alternative app stores in the EU is shutting down

    January 20, 2026

    One of the more prominent alternative app stores that emerged in the EU as a result of the region’s Digital Markets Act is shutting down. The store, Setapp Mobile, from the Ukrainian-based developer MacPaw, first launched in September 2024, offering dozens of apps across categories like productivity, finance, video, photo, creativity, and more. Its model offered consumers access to all of Setapp’s mobile apps through a $9.99 monthly subscription, provided the user’s Apple ID was associated with an EU member state. Now, the company says all applications will be removed from Setapp Mobile by the end of the sunset date,…

  • Meta’s Oversight Board is looking into transparency around disabling accounts

    January 20, 2026

    Meta has a lot of work to do when it comes to limiting hate speech on its platforms. Now, its Oversight Board is looking into the company’s decision to ban an account for, among other things, posting visual violent threats and harassment against a journalist — and it wants the public’s advice. In the year prior to the ban, Meta referred five posts due to violations of its hateful conduct, bullying and harassment, violence and incitement and adult nudity and sexual activity community standards. In addition to the posts harassing the woman journalist, the user also shared “anti-gay slurs against…

  • Netflix is rolling out a live voting feature

    January 20, 2026

    Netflix today is launching a new feature that will allow users to interact with live content through voting. The streaming company said the option will be available with the premiere of its live-streamed talent show “Star Search” on January 20. Subscribers will be able to either pick a selection from a multiple-choice menu or rate someone’s performance on a scale of five stars. Votes can be cast using either a TV remote or the Netflix app. Netflix said that the feature will work globally, and on the backend, the platform will tally votes in real-time. Viewers will have a limited time…

  • Get three months of access for only $3

    January 20, 2026

    One way to read more in the new year is to incorporate audiobooks as part of your reading habit. Audible is having a sale right now that makes that easier and cheaper to do: you can get three months of access for only $1 per month, or a total of $3. The promotion runs through 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.…

  • Netflix revises offer to pay all cash for Warner Bros to stave off Paramount

    January 20, 2026

    In an effort to sweeten the pot for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) shareholders, Netflix is now offering cash for shares of the company, revising the cash-and-stock deal it had struck with WBD’s board earlier. However, the streaming giant is still offering the same $27.75 the companies had agreed on for WBD’s movie studio and streaming assets, and the deal continues to value the company at $82.7 billion. The new offer serves to simplify the deal structure, the companies said in a statement on Tuesday, “provides greater certainty of value,” and speeds up the timeline for a shareholder vote. Netflix said…