The everyday tech stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
Spotify now lets podcasters sell memberships with bonus episodes and perks, so your favorite show may soon ask for a monthly fee.
Read more: Spotify lets podcasters charge fans for bonus episodes and perksGoogle will start checking whether financial advertisers are authorized by regulators in the US and Canada in early 2027, which could mean fewer fake bank ads.
Read more: Google will check who is behind financial ads in the US and CanadaUPS-owned Happy Returns is now built into TikTok Shop, giving shoppers a way to send items back with no box and no printed label.
Read more: TikTok Shop adds easy returns with no box and no labelVivo's new V80 has a 7200mAh battery, but the cloud-based AI Creation camera mode is the bigger story, and photos from it are not clearly labeled as AI.
Read more: Vivo V80 phone packs a huge battery and an unusual AI camera modeCedar Park police say scam callers are claiming residents skipped jury duty. The goal is to scare people into acting fast, so a pause can protect your money.
Read more: Police warn of scam calls claiming you missed jury dutyAT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile now let you lock your number so a thief cannot move it to another SIM, eSIM or carrier. It takes a few minutes in the app.
Read more: Turn On Your Carrier's Number Lock to Stop Phone Number TheftTikTok Shop's Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale runs Nov. 11 to Nov. 30, and Best Buy, Ulta Beauty and Sephora are selling there for the first time.
Read more: TikTok Shop opens its biggest holiday sale on Nov. 11 with major retailersApple's Self Service Repair Store now covers the iPhone 18 Pro, Mac Studio and Mac mini, so owners can buy parts and fix some problems themselves.
Read more: Apple now sells repair parts for the iPhone 18 Pro and new MacsRumors say Samsung's Galaxy S27 may start with 8GB of RAM, down from 12GB, and some cheaper Android phones may fall back to 4GB as memory costs climb.
Read more: Next Samsung flagship phone may ship with less memory than today'sCNET's review calls Proton VPN's free plan one of the few worth trusting, while its paid plan costs less than most rivals but slows connections more.
Read more: Proton VPN's free plan is one of the few worth trustingTextNow's new Yello phone costs $150 with a $20 monthly plan. Parents choose who can call or text, and kids cannot install apps.
Read more: TextNow Launches a $150 Kids Phone With a $20 Monthly PlanA 2026 hands-on with Google's first folding phone finds its design still holds up, yet it flopped. Its lessons help anyone shopping for a foldable.
Read more: Google's first folding phone got a lot right, but still floppedA new book says the AI boom is pushing tech giants to burn fossil fuels, undercutting their climate pledges and straining the towns that host data centers.
Read more: AI data centers are burning fossil fuels and undoing climate pledgesApple will spend up to $100 million on a U.S. titanium maker for the $1,999 iPhone Duo, but some models still have waits of about 14 weeks.
Read more: Apple adds a U.S. titanium maker for its $1,999 foldable iPhoneOpenAI added ChatGPT Slides, which turns chats, files or outlines into editable decks you can present or export. Access depends on your plan.
Read more: ChatGPT can now build and present slide decks for youA study of more than 22,000 fitness tracker users links under 5,000 daily steps to twice the risk of dementia, Parkinson's or stroke. Your phone can count them.
Read more: Walking under 5,000 steps a day doubles brain and stroke riskA report says the Exynos Galaxy S27 may match the Snapdragon version on cellular speed, which could make the chip inside matter less to buyers.
Read more: Samsung's Galaxy S27 with its own chip may close the gap on cellularSome Android brands may sell budget phones with only 4GB of memory soon, and AI demand for memory chips is reportedly the reason.
Read more: Some cheap Android phones may ship with less memory next yearA rumor says Samsung could sell six folding phones in 2027, including a new one called the Z Slide. Here is what is claimed and what is still a guess.
Read more: Samsung may launch six folding phones in 2027, rumor saysA reporter nearly fell for a fake sheriff's sergeant. One wrong word, "Department" instead of "Office," gave the scam away, and it shows what to listen for.
Read more: A wrong word exposed a fake sheriff's call to this reporterA writer who used Google's Pixel 11 Pro XL and Apple's iPhone 18 Pro Max says Pixels have closed the gap, which matters if a new phone is on your list.
Read more: A writer who used both says Google's Pixel now rivals the iPhoneCNET's latest test finds Mullvad VPN still charges a flat 5 euros a month and still ranks among the best for privacy, but it is weak for streaming.
Read more: Mullvad VPN keeps its flat $6 price and strong privacy focusAn Android Authority writer tried to turn a Pixel phone into a smart display and says the effort was not worth it. Here is what that means for old phones.
Read more: A writer tried to make a Pixel phone act like a smart display, and regrets itA reviewer used the $449 Chuwi UniBook as a daily work laptop for two weeks and found it far more capable than cheap Windows laptops usually are.
Read more: A $449 Windows laptop that holds up better than you would expect
