In LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, there are many different collectibles that players can obtain, including Datacards. There are 19 in total throughout all 9 episodes, and they can be used to unlock a multitude of different cosmetic items, as well as stud multipliers, and even cheats. They can be incredibly useful, and also provide you with some fun outfit options as well.

Valve has released the final issue of Team Fortress 2's long-running webcomic, with this also being the first update to the comic in seven years. Fans of Team Fortress 2 are used to waiting long periods of time for Valve to update its game. Updates to TF2 can sometimes take anywhere between months to even years, especially in the 2020s. However, one thing that fans waited for and were certain was never going to reach a conclusion was its long-running webcomic.

Treyarch has made a major change to the rewards from Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's ongoing Archie's Festival Frenzy holiday event. Instead of players unlocking what they earn, gamers will now earn all the rewards at the end of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 event, "so everyone can play at their own pace."

Were more than halfway through December, which means 2025 is right around the corner with a whole new slate of new movies to look forward to. Before that, though, there are still plenty of decent sci-fi films to watch on Netflix this month to tide you over until the new year!This month, weve got a Michael Bay action thriller about transforming robots that sparked an entire cinematic franchise, a rough and rowdy cyberpunk thriller starring Logan Marshall-Green, and a cult-classic pulp adventure set in an alternate 1930s universe filled with giant flying robots!Lets take a look at what this month has to offer!Editors pick: TransformersDirector: Michael BayCast: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh DuhamelDespite the fact that it came out just one year before Iron Man and The Dark Knight, Michael Bays Transformers feels completely disconnected from nearly every CGI-heavy blockbuster that came after it. Where superhero movies tended to be more ironic and sarcastic, Transformers is a shockingly sincere movie, with overwhelming heart and nearly no cynicism despite being a movie based on a toy brand.Im not here to tell you Transformers is good it absolutely is good, but you should know that already. What Im here to do instead is tell you to rewatch Transformers for a brief glimpse into what the blockbuster movies of the 2010s could have looked like. Im not really sure if thats better or worse than what we got, but its fascinating to rewatch this movie now that it looks totally unlike anything that came after it excluding its own sequels, of course. Austen GoslinUpgradeDirector: Leigh WhannellCast: Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, Harrison GilbertsonUpgrade might be the best cyberpunk movie of the last decade. The story follows a man who becomes paralyzed after a horrible car accident, which was orchestrated to assassinate his wife. In order to get revenge for her death, he accepts a computer chip that takes control of his body, giving him incredible strength, speed, and agility.Its a recognizable enough concept, but Upgrade manages to make it feel fresh and original, thanks in large part to its extremely funny script and an excellent performance from Logan Marshall-Green, who plays some of the movies funniest moments like a hapless passenger to the violence and mayhem that his body is perpetrating. AGSky Captain and the World of TomorrowDirector: Kerry ConranCast: Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Giovanni RibisiKerry Conrans 2004 pulp adventure is a labor of love. Conceived with his brother, production designer Kevin Conran, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow stars Jude Law as Joseph Sullivan, a mercenary fighter pilot who goes by the callsign Sky Captain, who teams up with his journalist ex-flame Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) to stop a mad scientist from terrorizing the world with his army of giant flying robots.The film is a unabashed homage to the adventure serials of the 1930s, with dieselpunk designs and towering skyscrapers flanked by floodlight beacons and floating zeppelins. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrows usage of virtual backlot technology would become a major influence, inspiring the look and production of films like 300 and Sin City. Conran hasnt directed a movie since, but if this is the only film he ever makes, it would be a fine legacy for him to leave behind. Toussaint Egan

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Being a houseplant mom or dad is not easythose babies are a lot of work. Smart technology has made managing them a lot easier for me, though. If you've still got someone on your gift list who will spend all winter tending to their beloved plants, here are some ideas for gifts they're likely to love. Indoor Plant Watering System $69.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $69.99 at Amazon Flora Pod AI-Powered Smart Plant Monitor | for Indoor or Outdoor Plants | Personalized Alerts for Moisture, Temperature, Humidity, and Light $44.99 at Amazon $54.99 Save $10.00 Shop Now Shop Now $44.99 at Amazon $54.99 Save $10.00 App Store Gift Card for Planta App at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now at Amazon Google Play Gift Card for Planta App at Amazon Get Deal Get Deal at Amazon Modern Sprout Smart Landscape Growframe Wall Mounted Planter with LED Grow Light, Emerald $299.00 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $299.00 at Amazon SEE 2 MORE An automatic indoor watering systemI love my plants, but watering them is a consistent chore I struggled to masterand if I'm being honest, all my plants used to get the same drink of water when I knew some should get watered more often or less often. An automatic waterer is what saved their lives. It was simple to set up: It's a pump that pulls water from a source you designate (I use a tall pitcher). You set up 1/4-inch black poly tubing to each plant, with included stakes and emitters, and adjust the emitters for each plant. It can even supply water vertically, so I was able to run tubing to my hanging plants. Using the app, you tell the system how often to water and for how long. I have two systems set upone for the plants that need water more often and one for the ones that enjoy more dry time. A smart plant moisture sensor that actually worksPlant sensors have existed for years; even Ikea had one. They've all been a bust, but Flora Pod actually worksI have a few of them. You stick them into the soil around your plant and the app gives you insights on that particular plant. Obviously it acts as a moisture sensor, but Flora Pod can also diagnose plant problems, give you access to experts and give you specific advice for the identified plant species. Technically, it can work outside or inside, but I've found that it's not as impervious to weather as it implies. This is for indoor plants, in my opinion, and it works fantastically. A way to keep track of my entire plant familyWhen you start amassing plants, keeping track of them becomes a challenge. Now, there is an app that will help make that task easier: Planta. Not only does it act as an inventory for your plants, but helps create a calendar of reminders for each one with specialized recommendations. One of the best features is a light meter in the app so you can gauge how your plant should fare and if it's getting enough light. Planta takes local weather and conditions into account to advise you on adjusting watering schedules, and has a diagnostic tool. There's a community you can join, so there's that benefit, but the best benefit? You can share your plant schedules with other people, like house sitters. A subscription runs $36 a year through the App Store or Google Play, so a gift card would be the perfect gift. Smart plant frames free up floor space and turn plants into artPlants take up space, which I want. I enjoy sharing my space with them, but they also crowd countertops, hang from ceilings and use up floor space. Modern Sprout has designed frames so your plants can reside on your walls, akin to living art. They are genuinely beautiful (and pricey), but include their own grow light and water reservoir, and they come in a few different configurations. In short: I want one. Gift cards to plant marketplacesI love my local nursery, but it's not where I get houseplants, and your houseplant-loving friend is probably the same way. In addition to trading clippings with other plant lovers, they're more likely to shop for houseplants on marketplaces like Etsy and Palmstreet. Gift cards to either would be welcome so your friend could acquire more plants, because if there is one thing every plant parent has in common, it is an inability to stop adopting new plant babies.

The rapid improvements in AI video generation don't appear to be slowing down any time soon, and Google has announced a major upgrade to its own video maker in the form of Veo 2. It follows the introduction of Veo in May, and OpenAI rolling out its Sora AI video generator to the public earlier this month.Google says Veo 2 beats Sora and other competitors in terms of user preferences and prompt adherenceyou can see the relevant charts for yourself on the Veo 2 websiteand that the new model brings with it "enhanced realism and fidelity" as well as better handling for motion and improved camera controls.What Veo 2 can doVeo 2 has boosted its video-generating capabilities through "an improved understanding of real-world physics and the nuances of human movement and expression," according to Googleso it sounds like you'll see less weirdness in your clips. The new model also has a better handle on the language of cinema and film. That means prompts can include a specific movie genre, a certain type of lens, or a particular cinematic effect. There's now support for terms such as "low-angle tracking shot," "close-up shot," or "shallow depth of field," which can help generated videos fit more closely to a prompt. Videos can be created at resolutions up to 4K (an upgrade from 1080p), and can now run to several minutes in length. Some of the example clips Google has been showing off look impressive: We've got drinks being poured, dogs riding inflatables in pools, cartoon characters talking to the camera, and scientists peering down microscopes.It's not flawless, however, and Google admits Veo 2 still struggles with consistency in complex scenes. This is an issue with AI video generators as a wholethey don't understand the physics and space of the real world, even if they can do a rough approximation of it based on a vast amount of training data. You'll notice that none of these videos show something going out of shot and then coming back in, most probably because the AI would forget about it or render it differently.How to try Veo 2The process for getting at Veo 2 is the same as it already was for the first Veo model: You need to head over to Google's VideoFX tool on the web, which is part of Google Labs, and sign up for the waiting list. For now, you need to be in the U.S. to try out Veo 2, and you need to be 18 or older.Google is promising an expansion of Veo 2 availability over the course of next yearincluding putting it into YouTube Shorts for creatorsbut for the time being it's not available in other tools such as Google Gemini (which does offer access to the latest Imagen 3 art generator model). As I don't currently have access to Veo 2, I can't give you too many details on the limitations that are in place. Google says "each user is limited to a certain number of daily generations" but it's not clear how many videos you can whip up each day, or how long they can be. OpenAI is letting ChatGPT Plus users produce up to 50 videos per month, with the length capped at five seconds and the resolution limited to 720p.Any videos you produce will come with an "invisible SynthID watermark" that identifies them as having been AI-generatedpart of Google's attempts to minimize the risk of Veo 2 being used to deceive viewers and spread misinformation (safety concerns are also part of the reason for the slow rollout, Google says).

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.If youve been considering adding a smart security camera to your home, the Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen) is now $29.99 (down from $59.99), its lowest price ever according to price trackers. Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen) $29.99 at Best Buy $59.99 Save $30.00 Get Deal Get Deal $29.99 at Best Buy $59.99 Save $30.00 Available in white, black, charcoal, starlight, and blush, this indoor cam is compact enough to sit on a shelf, mount to a wall, or tuck into a corner, so it wont stick out or take up too much space. Despite its small size, it delivers 1080p HD video with a wide 143-degree field of view, offering clear visuals both day and night. For low-light situations, it uses infrared LEDs for black-and-white night vision, and when theres enough ambient light, it displays color night vision (though this PCMag review notes that the nighttime colors can look a little muted).This model comes with a manual privacy cover that you can slide over the camera lens to block the feed whenever you want, adding an extra layer of peace of mind for moments when you need privacy. Additionally, the Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen) features two-way audio, allowing you to listen in or speak through the Ring appwhether its telling your dog to get off the couch or checking in on family members. For added convenience, it integrates seamlessly with Amazon Alexa, letting you view the live feed or control the camera using voice commands.The Ring Indoor Cam also works with IFTTT and third-party devices. However, it doesnt support Apple HomeKit or Google Assistant, which could be a downside if you rely on those platforms. Also, its worth noting that while the camera functions well on its own, accessing recorded footage requires a Ring Protect subscription. Plans start at $4.99 per month and include 180 days of video history, the ability to save and share clips, notifications with photo previews (so you can see whats happening without opening the app), and more. The subscription also adds support for automation with a Ring Alarm system.If HomeKit and Google Assistant integration is a dealbreaker for you, the eufy Security Indoor Cam E220 ($31.99, down from $54.99) makes for a solid alternative.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 leaks are continuing apace, and the latest batch includes details of the Slim model.

Kioxia Corporation has launched the industry's first QLC UFS 4.0 embedded flash memory.

A supposedly leaked Spigen case provides another look at the likely Galaxy S25 Ultra design, and we're hearing again that the Galaxy S25 could have 12GB of RAM.