After spending the first few weeks of 2025 sheltering indoors from the cold, you may have noticed your space is in need of a design facelift. The Amazon Presidents Day sale is here to save you this holiday weekend (and might even help you find a belated Valentines Day gift if your prix-fixe dinner got rain-checked until Sunday). From where we sit, some retail therapy is the right way to take on the winter doldrums. So join us in ignoring Punxatawney Phils curmudgeonly prediction of six more weeks of winter and get the spring cleaning wheels turning right now.The retailer is offering up some top-tier savings on everything youll need at home in 2025, from fan-favorite carpet cleaners and robot vacuums to smart TVs and kitchen appliances. The best Presidents Day deals are widespread, covering every category you would ever need. However, in true Amazon fashion, the prices and availability change on a whimsometimes in a matter of minutesso if you see something you like on sale, its a good idea to hit the checkout button immediately.Top Amazon Presidents Day Sale Picks:Best Vacuum Deal: Dyson V15 Detect Cordless Vacuum, $750 $650Best Kitchen Appliance Deal: GE Profile Smart Grind & Brew Coffee Maker, $379 $299Best Furniture Deal: Allewie Lift Up Storage Bed with Wingback Headboard, $276 $220Best Mattress Deal: Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Adapt Mattress Topper, $419 $198Best Outdoor Furniture Deal: Serwall Folding Adirondack Chair, $160 $150Best Tech Deal: Beats Studio Pro Bluetooth Wireless Headphones $350 $180Scroll on to find all of our favorite deals at Amazon now through Presidents Day weekend. Whether youre looking to improve your outdoor setup for spring and summer hosting, want to get your laundry room spick and span before mud season, or want to outfit your kitchen with a new espresso machine, now is the time to buy. Check out our favorites, or jump to your preferred section with the links below.Shop deals by category:Home DealsBissell Little Green Max Pet Portable Carpet and Upholstery Deep CleanerBissells Little Green line of carpet and upholstery cleaners is well-loved by Amazon shoppers, with over 70% of reviews giving it five star-ratings. With deep-cleaning capabilities geared towards carpet and upholstery, its ideal for households with pets. The extended hose adds a touch of convenience and the included tough stain tool is great for the worst messes.Dyson V15 Detect Plus Cordless VacuumIt wouldnt be a proper Amazon sale without a deal on a Dyson cordless vacuum. The V15 is one of the brands most powerful machines, offering up an impressive 60 minutes of run time and efficient suction that adapts to the surface youre cleaning. One of our favorite features is the LCD screen, which shows how many particles youve picked upjust dont be shocked when it reaches 1 billion.Roborock Q5 Pro+ Robot Vacuum and MopIf youre a hands-free type of person, a robot vacuum might be more your speed. Comparable to the popular iRobot Roomba, the Roborock Q5 is a powerful self-emptying vacuum that is a great addition to your smart home setup. It uses LiDAR navigation to map your home, providing the vacuum with an internal compass for efficient cleaning. Thanks to its clever tech and self-cleaning dock, the machine can run for seven weeks without human intervention.DeWalt 20V Max Cordless Drill/Driver KitSpring is an excellent time to get some work done around the house, so picking up a high-quality drill/driver set like this one will ensure youll have no problem tackling the projects youve been meaning to start this winter. An overall rating of 4.8 stars and over 48,000 reviews dont liethis things pretty incredible.Sleep DealsSilk Pillowcase by Suatien StoreAt just $9, this is the lowest price weve seen for a silk pillowcase, maybe ever. With a price this low, it might be worth seeing if silk pillowcases live up to their reputation for waking up with frizz-free hair and delivering on acne-free skin (writers note: they do).Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Adapt Mattress TopperIf youre looking for a mattress upgrade but arent ready to save up a fortune to buy a new one, this Tempur-Pedic mattress topper is an excellent alternative. Dont let the low price scare youthree inches of memory foam give even the most uncomfortable beds a new lease on life.Tuft & Needle Original Hybrid Medium MattressTuft & Needle is one of the original mattress in a box companies, making mattresses that are great for all types of sleepers. The brands Adaptive Foam is a breathable, open-cell foam infused with cooling gel that keeps the body from overheating. Combined with foam-encased coils, this makes for an exceptionally comfortable mattress at a great price.Philips SmartSleep Wake-up LightThose of us on our sleep hygiene journey will appreciate the low price on this wake-up light from tried and true retailer Philips. This item is multifunctional: a sunset simulator, noise maker, clock, FM radio, and reading lamp. Is a circadian rhythm reset worth $90? We think so.Furniture DealsFultyle Mid Century Modern NightstandIf youre anything like us, youve been putting off buying that new nightstand for way too long. This one easily fits in a shoestring budget and boasts some great midcentury looks, a nice combination for outfitting your home without breaking the bank. Dont forget to clip the coupon for an extra 5% off.Allewie Lift Up Storage Bed with Wingback HeadboardA new bed frame isnt always a budget-friendly option, but this one is an excellent deal. The hydraulic support lets you take advantage of the storage space underneath the mattress, and the various colorways allow you to match the frame to your current bedroom design or start something new.Kitchen DealsNinja SP101 Digital Air Fry Countertop OvenAn air fryer is good, but an 8-in-1 kitchen oven is even better. Dont worry, this isnt like your boyfriends 3-in-1 body washshampooconditioner. The oven actually really works in eight different ways, each of which will come in handy while youre whipping up a new recipe or reheating last nights pizza.Ninja BN301 Nutri-Blender Plus Compact Personal BlenderAnother sweet deal from Ninja, this blender is the perfect size for making smoothies and shakes to take on the go. It can handle ice cubes and whole pieces of fruit with ease, and the machine comes with a book of recipes to make getting started even more straightforward. If youre just getting into smoothies, this is a great option.Lodge Dutch OvenEvery Prime Day, we scour Amazons sales for non-toxic cookware we can trust, so were pleased to see this cast iron dutch oven from Lodge 15% off. If youre not yet on the ceramic cookware train, it might be time to commit. This is a worthwhile snagat six quarts, you can comfortably cook meals for four to six, plus it comes in almost 20 colors.Chefman Mini Air FryerIf a simple, straightforward air fryer is what youre after, this one is a great choice. The basket is the perfect size for single or double portions and when youre done, you can just throw the basket in the dishwasher for easy cleanup. If youve never air-fried before, this is a nice introduction to see if it becomes part of your cooking rotation.ThermoPro TP03H Digital Instant Read ThermometerFriends dont let friends undercook (or overcook) their meats. A meat thermometer is a must-have for any home chef, whether youre cooking an eight-hour roast or grilling some chicken breasts for meal prep. This thermometer reads temperatures in three-to-four seconds and is completely waterproof.Ultrean Digital Kitchen ScaleAnother must-have for the aspiring home chef is a kitchen scale. Perfect for splitting sourdough starter, measuring coffee beans for a pour-over, or keeping track of macros, a kitchen scale will find its way into your hands each and every day.GE Profile Smart Grind & Brew Coffee MakerIf youre a die-hard drip coffee enthusiast ready to give up on your Keurig, GEs Profile Smart Grind & Brew Coffee Maker is an ideal choice. It has an integrated grinder with six settings and brew volume, temperature control, bloom time, and customizable brew strengths that range from light to extra bold. It also has integrated Wi-Fi that lets you control the brew from your phone.Mr. Coffee Espresso and Cappuccino MachineConversely, if youre ready to give at-home espresso a shot, this is a great introduction to brewing espresso shots from your countertop. The affordable machine is a semi-automatic espresso, cappuccino, and latte maker, doing the hard work for you while you get ready for your day. It also has an automatic milk frother for barista-quality lattes.Outdoor DealsBrightever LED Outdoor String LightsWhether youre hosting a Super Bowl party, prepping for your cookbook club, or just trying to light up a dark pathway in your yard, a set of outdoor string lights can make all the difference. Thirty dollars is a crazy deal for 100 feet of lights, plus this setup has 52 individual shatterproof Edison bulbs that immediately elevate any outdoor space.Serwall Foldable Adirondack ChairTheres perhaps no better outdoor chair than the Adirondack chairthe iconic design looks at home on any patio. These are made from weather-resistant plastic, which youll be thankful for when you forget to stow them away before a big storm. They have a cup holder, a phone holder, and can be folded up for easy storage.Z Grills ZPG-450A Wood Pellet Grill & SmokerAs the winter weather starts to wane and spring arrives, grilling is back on the menu. The Z Grills pellet grill is a smart addition to your outdoor cooking setup, boasting 450 square inches of cook space and advanced tech that lets you keep temperatures right where you want them.Smug Propane Outdoor Patio HeaterFor hosting or hanging out solo, a patio heater will make spending time outdoors immeasurably more pleasant. This one blasts a whopping 48,000 BTUs of propane-fueled heat to keep you warm and cozy in your outdoor space. We especially love its tabletop design that provides a space for keeping drinks and small dishes close by.Homgava Heavy Duty Collapsible WagonThis aint your grandmas garden wagon. Ideal for hitting the farmers market, shopping the garden section at Home Depot, or lugging groceries home from Trader Joes, there are endless uses for this collapsible cart.Tech DealsJBL Go 3 - Portable Mini Bluetooth SpeakerThis little Bluetooth speaker packs a very big punch. Its made for the outdoors (or a somewhat negligent) ownerdust proof and water proof, it can provide poolside entertainment, as well as withstand camping, mountain biking, or sing-in-the-shower folks.Anker Solix C1000 Portable Power StationTech gadgets are Amazons bread and butter, so its no surprise we had to include a few here. The Anker portable generator is not only great for camping, outdoor movie nights, and backyard parties, but its a must-have for emergency situations when you lose power.

In BriefPosted:2:16 PM PST February 13, 2025Image Credits:MetaMeta CTO says staff should quit if they dont like Metas new policiesMetas CTO Andrew Bosworth has choice words for Meta employees frustrated with the tech giants latest policies: they are free to quit, Business Insider reported.The report cites an internal chat where an employee criticized Meta for cutting DEI programs and allegedly silencing internal dissent, among other issues.Bosworth responded that any staffer who thinks its OK to leak to the media because of policy disagreements should consider working elsewhere.An employee followed up that blaming leaks was not the answer, and that Meta workers felt disrespected. (Meta began layoffs this week for what it has controversially termed low performers.)Bosworth responded that, You should quit if you feel that way, I mean it.The tense conversation reflects some degree of internal turmoil at Meta as it implements significant policy changes, from rolling back DEI efforts to loosening moderation standards.Meta didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.Topics

Googles Gemini AI chatbot can now tailor answers based on the contents of previous conversations, the company announced in a blog post on Thursday. Gemini can summarize a previous conversation youve had with it, or recall info you shared in another conversation thread.This means you wont have to repeat information youve already shared with Gemini or comb through old threads for additional info.Geminis ability to recall conversations is rolling out today to English-speaking subscribers of Googles $20-a-month AI chatbot subscription, Google One AI Premium. In the coming weeks, Google says the recall feature will roll out additional languages and for users with enterprise accounts.The features aim is to make Gemini more fluid and personal but not every user will be thrilled with the notion of the platform storing old information.To address privacy concerns, Google says its allowing users to review, delete, or decide how long it will keep your chat history. Users can turn off the recall feature altogether by going to the My Activity page in Gemini. Google also notes that it never trains AI models based on user conversation histories.That said, several AI chatbot providers have been experimenting with memory and recall.OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has previously noted that improved memory is among ChatGPTs most requested features.Google and OpenAI have both enabled more general memory features for their AI chatbots in the past year. These allow ChatGPT and Gemini to remember details about you, such as how you like to be addressed, your food preferences, or that you prefer riding a bike to driving a car.However, these existing memory features dont remember and recall your full chat history by default.TechCrunch has an AI-focused newsletter!Sign up hereto get it in your inbox every Wednesday.

Since its founding in 2019, Linares-based Meltio has sold over 500 metal 3D printers worldwide. The Spanish Direct Energy Deposition (DED) specialist also announced a 50% revenue increase in 2024, when it launched the new M600 metal 3D printer and Meltio Engine Blue integration kit.Since debuting its first 3D printer, the M450, at Formnext 2019, Meltio has expanded its global reach, with its metal 3D printers now used by customers in over 60 countries. These systems have mostly been produced at Meltios Spanish factory in Jan, which employs 120 people and exports 95% of its technology.According to Ildefonso Fuentes, Meltios CFO, the firms YoY increase in turnover is fundamentally based on clear organic growth. He explained that the decision to prioritize organic growth in the uncertain global market is particularly key to the long-term success of Meltios business.The past year has confirmed the trend in the incorporation of additive manufacturing technology as a mass manufacturing technology in industries around the world, added Meltios CEO, Angel Llavero Lopez de Villalta. Meltio is becoming worldwide thanks to our technology as a reliable alternative or complement to traditional manufacturing technologies.Meltios M600 3D printer. Image via Meltio.Meltio looks back on pivotal yearMeltio called 2024 a pivotal year marked by several significant milestones. In particular, the metal 3D printing company has pointed to the launch of its M600 3D printer. Introduced at the Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) 2024 conference last March, the DED 3D printer features a Blue Laser deposition head.The system was designed for industrial-scale manufacturing and is optimized for machine shops and other 24/7 production applications. It boasts production automation capabilities, minimizing the need for user input. In addition to fabricating original metal parts, the system can add new features to existing components and repair damaged surfaces. According to Meltio, these capabilities allow the M600 to overcome long lead times, expensive stock-keeping, and supply chain insecurities.Spanish cement company Cementos La Cruz was announced as the first customer to adopt the M600. The construction materials firm uses the system to fabricate more sustainable, 3D printed cement structures. Last year, the M600 was recognized as the top Enterprise 3D Printer of the Year (Metals) at the 2024 3D Printing Industry Awards. At the time, Villalta expressed his pride in the Meltio departments that contributed to the conception of the Meltio M600.Meltio has also highlighted the launch of Engine Blue as a key highlight of 2024. Unveiled at Formnext 2024, the 3D printing tool features blue laser technology and can be added to industrial robotic arms and vertical machining centers to unlock metal DED 3D printing. According to Meltio, the integration kit boasts a deposition rate that is 3.5 times higher than its predecessor and a 30% reduction in energy consumption.Jet engine exhaust 3D printed using Meltio Blue Engine. Image via Meltio.Additive manufacturing market conditionsFuentes noted that the economic situation within the 3D printing sector has been characterized by moderate growth over the past year. He explained that 2024 was marked by economic challenges like inflation, rising operating and production costs. However, the CFO also pointed to new growth opportunities driven by innovation and sustainability.Looking at the 3D printing hardware space, Fuentes called 2024 a turbulent year for mergers, acquisitions, and company exits. This sentiment was echoed by Villaltra, who pointed to sales declines, company bankruptcies, [and] mergers, which have shaken the global additive manufacturing market. However, he called last year a turning point where advanced technologies like 3D printing are gaining strategic weight in industries manufactring end-use parts to high standards.Amid challenging macroeconomic conditions and a more conservative environment for raising capital, Fuentes emphasized that achieving profitability has never been more important for 3D printing companies. He added that innovation remains the key driver at Meltio for the coming year. The company is developing new materials and technologies to target advanced applications and unlock improved production efficiency.Looking to the future of 3D printing, Lukas Hoppe, Meltios Head of Research and Development, predicts software developments will help exploit the full potential of laser wire deposition. On the hardware side, the Spanish company will work to enhance the performance of its M600 and Meltio Engine Blue platforms so that they remain at the forefront of innovation in industrial manufacturing.Fluctuating sales for metal 3D printersMeltios new sales milestone comes amid a precarious period for metal 3D printer sales. According to the latest CONTEXT market intelligence report, metal 3D printer sales witnessed solid performance until Q2 2024, when global sales began to fall. YoY declines were experienced in Q2 2024 and Q3 2024.In the last financial period, while binder jet sales were flat, shipments of all other metal additive manufactring technologies were down compared to the same period in 2023. DED 3D printer sales, for instance, saw sales decline by 18% compared to Q3 2023. Meanwhile, LPBF systems accounted for 74% of new industrial metal 3D printers, amid a 24% decline in shipments.Despite these falling sales, CONTEXTs VP Chris Connery pointed to some rays of hope. Notably, the Q3 report confirmed that metal 3D printing market leaders EOS, Nikon SLM Solutions, Eplus3D, and Renishaw reported YoY revenue growth. Additionally, the 3D printing laser wars trend has seen OEMs prioritize high-cost systems with more lasers, meaning fewer sales do not necessarily translate to a lower return.Amid these market conditions, metal 3D printers continued to be shipped to customers. Hangzhou-based Eplus3D recently announced that it has delivered over 100 super-meter metal LPBF 3D printers globally. Nearly 40 of these systems, which include the EP-M2050, EP-M1550, and EP-M1250 models, feature X, Y, and Z axes exceeding one meter.Who won the 2024 3D Printing Industry Awards?Subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter to keep up with the latest 3D printing news.You can also follow us on LinkedIn, and subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry Youtube channel to access more exclusive content.Featured image shows the Meltio M450. Photo via Meltio.

Its a good time to be a New York architect, potentially. The 2025 mayoral race is heating up, and housing is dominating the debate stage given the citys affordability crisis. If the candidates are to be believed, tens or even hundreds of thousands of new units will begin construction under their watch, should they be elected.The numbers are eye-catching in a city beset by bureaucratic stumbling blocks. New York City Mayor Eric Adams set the tone with City of Yes, which was modified and then approved by the city council last December. City of Yes aims to deliver 82,000 new homes by 2040, said Adams, who is campaigning on this and other promises to improve affordable housing access. His competition is stumping on housing issues too. Candidates including Assemblymember Zellnor Myrie; Comptroller Brad Lander; and Scott Stringer, a former comptroller and assemblyman, have promised to build tens of thousands of new homes every year to meet pent-up demand. Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialists of Americas candidate, has also promised ample housing, but also rent freezes, fare-free bus service, and municipal grocery stores. Assemblymember Jessica Ramos, the New York State Senate labor chair, described her platform as a Green New Deal for Public Housing.Housing is the number one issue in this election, Christopher Marte, a New York City Councilmember who isnt in the race but represents the Lower East Side and Chinatown, told AN. Its important for every single candidate to have a well-thought-out housing platform that we can hold accountable, because, if youre not going to address the crisis of the moment, then why are you running for mayor?Its critically important we understand the question in front of us right now, Mamdani told AN. Do we want to grow the tax bases of New Jersey, and Pennsylvania? Or do we want to grow New York Citys? Because right now, whats happening is New Yorkers are voting with their feet. Thousands of New Yorkers are leaving the city they call home in search of cheaper housing. If we tie our hands in our ability to respond to a crisis of this scale, then we are effectively endorsing this outcome.How is New York Citys housing crisis shaping the 2025 mayoral debate? And what will happen if the Trump Administration hinders affordable housing construction, given its commitment to small government and slashing subsidies? May the best housing plan win? Here, AN takes a look at several candidates housing platforms in the run-up to the November 4 election.Brad Landers Plan: Housing as a Public GoodNew York City Comptroller Brad Lander has a multifaceted plan that promises a massive amount of housing production: 582,000 homes by 2035. He also has policy panache that has the wonks humming.The housing plan by Lander would generate capital for permanent supportive housing by creating not-for-profit land banks to take control of, and redevelop, vacant or abandoned properties to better serve the public interest, as defined by the Empire State Development Corporation. Under Landers plan, the city would seize foreclosed hotels and put them into the land bank. Annually, $100 million would be used to convert former hotel rooms into supportive housing. This would be made possible thanks to legislation Lander himself authored in 2018, City Council Introduction 118.Some candidates are interested in revisiting Mitchell-Lama, a program that offered affordable, subsidized housing. Pictured here is East River Housing Corporation in Manhattans Coop Village, designed by George W. Springstein and Herman Jessor, completed in 1956. It has 1,672 units across four towers. (Zara Pfeifer)Lander is a frontrunner. Already, hes won a key endorsement: New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Lander has pledged $4 billion per year as part of the United for Housing coalition for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), vouchers, preservation, and new social housing construction. Landers plan alluded to the housing work by the Ed Koch Administration, and the opportunities that 1970s mayor created for not-for-profit housing construction.If hes elected, Lander said, any housing built on city-owned land will be 100 percent social housing, as opposed to a mix of market rate and affordable housing, like much of whats been built under Adams.While Landers land bank represents new thinking, there are ample instruments at our disposal already for boosting affordable housing construction, but not all those means may be possible during the second Trump Administration. So if New York City is to operate autonomously from Washington, D.C. and even Albany, creative reclamation strategies like those proposed by Lander may be critical these next few years. Zellnor Myries Plan: Rebuild NYCZellnor Myrie, a state senator who represents Central Brooklyn, has a housing plan, Rebuild NYC, that he says would deliver one million homes. Of that number, 700,000 will be new homes, and 300,000 will be existing, albeit renovated homes. Those 700,000 new homes will be made possible by office-to-residential conversions, sandwich rezonings in former industrial areas, and new development on NYCHA sites and in lower-density parts of the city.The number-one constituent complaint Ive received as a state senator, and what I have been hearing as a mayoral candidate, is that the city is just too expensive and that people cannot find a place to live, Myrie told AN. We have to build more in order to strike at the heart of this affordability crisis, and we can do that with the creation and preservation of one million homes over the next decade. Myrie also said its essential to build homes of all types, including market rate and affordable housing, which contrasts with Landers pledge of 100 percent social housing on public sites. More than 130,000 New Yorkers sleep either on the streets or in shelters every night, according to the Coalition for the Homeless, a New York City advocacy group. To tackle that problem, Myrie has proposed reallocating funds away from new shelter construction toward new, permanent supportive housing. Rebuild NYC also emphasizes renter protections, namely the need to pass the Housing Access Voucher Program; fully funding Right to Counsel for renters who face eviction; and appointing Rent Guidelines Board members.Another important component in Myries housing plan is what he calls building a Mega Midtown, which entails adding 85,000 new homes in Manhattans Central Business District. (Already, as a state legislator, Myrie increased the FAR cap with Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, which limits the amount of floor area that can be built on a zoning lot in New York City, allowing that to happen, he said.) Myrie said his administration would prioritize converting office space into housing, given Midtowns vacancy rate.Office-to-residential conversions are already underway in Midtown: Take for instance Genslers work at the old Pfizer World Headquarters on 42nd Street. With Rebuild NYC, more developers would be incentivized to follow suit. Rebuild NYC also mentions the plan for Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses by Related, Essence, PAU, ILA, and COOKFOX as a model that could scale across New York for upgrading NYCHA properties.Amalgamated Warbasse Houses in Coney Island, Brooklyn, another Herman Jessor Mitchell-Lama project (Zara Pfeifer)With Rebuild NYC, Myrie aims to build a total 95,000 new units at NYCHA sites across the city and upgrade an additional 150,000 existing NYCHA units, either using RAD/PACT (a program that converts federal Section 9 public housing into privately-operated Section 8 subsidized housing) or the Public Housing Preservation Trust, pending resident approval.I used to represent 23 NYCHA developments when I had Brownsville, and I walked those hallways. Ive been in those apartments. Ive dealt with NYCHA to expedite repairs, Myrie added. People have a lot to say about the current conditions but have little to say about a real solution to that problem. I think we have an opportunity now to generate revenue that is badly needed, but also to help with repair and revitalization, Myrie said. No NYCHA tenant would be displaced under our plan. No NYCHA resident would have to pay more than 30 percent of their income. That would not change. What would change is new public amenities and, in some instances, brand-new units and a revitalized neighborhood that they can all be proud to be a part of, which is what they truly deserve.Jessica Ramoss Plan: Green New Deal for Public HousingMayoral candidate Jessica Ramos, a state senator from Queens whose district includes Citi Field and the copious development underway there, does not support RAD/PACT, which has led to evictions by private management companies, Comptroller Landers office recently reported. Councilmember Marte is also critical of RAD/PACT, and hopes to see candidates push back against it like Ramos.I think candidates should challenge RAD/PACT and the Trust, Marte told AN. Human Rights Watch and the Comptrollers office have done independent analysis on this. A report released not long ago showed eviction is much higher in RAD/PACT buildings than anywhere else in our city, whether youre a Section 9 tenant, rent stabilized tenant, or market rate tenant. And that should be shocking.Marte also said he is disappointed in any candidate that supports RAD/PACT and in any candidate that sees whats happening at Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses as a gold star example.Ramos described her platform as a Green New Deal for Public Housing, a program championed in Washington, D.C. by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one that, more recently, House Speaker Mike Johnson pledged to crush.Ramoss full affordable housing plan is outlined on her website: She advocates for providing payment assistance and affordable housing programs to working families, ADUs, office-to-residential conversions, supportive housing, community land corporations and land trusts, and leveraging federal and state resources for mixed-income development. She is an advocate for universal rent control.Ramos didnt list the amount of housing she is promising to build, unlike several of her opponents. Previously, Ramos proposed legislation in Albany to boost employment opportunities in the construction industry and tackle the housing crisis. Her Jobs and Housing Acts goal is to create a pilot program for affordable housing construction; its currently under review by the New York State Senate Finance Committee.Zohran Mamdanis Plan: Housing By and For New YorkAssemblymember Zohran Mamdanis district in Queens, which includes Astoria, is just west of Jessica Ramoss base. Although Ramos is running under a Green New Deal banner, Mamdani is the candidate who secured the Democratic Socialists of Americas endorsement.Mamdanis housing plan calls for constructing 200,000 new homes over the next 10 years for low-income households, seniors, and working families using $100 billion of city money. Of that number, New York City already has about $30 billion set aside in its Ten-Year Capital Plan budget; the additional $70 billion for affordable housing will be raised on the municipal bond market, Mamdani said, among other means.There are three methods that we will use to pay for this 10-year plan, he told AN. The first is municipal bond financing. The second is the activation of city-owned land and buildings, and the third is pooled rental assistance.Mamdani would do this in part by removing a major bottleneck: New York Citys volume cap for affordable housing bond financing. He would also advocate in Albany and Washington, D.C. for an increase in New York Citys public debt ceiling, something Lander has also pushed for. Additionally, Mamdanis plan calls for new affordable, publicly-controlled housing on NYCHAs City-owned land. It points to the new Inwood Library by Fogarty Finger and Andrew Berman Architect as a precedent for making good use of city-owned land.Mamdani said, what makes our campaign distinct is that we believe there is a clear and critical role for the public sector to play in constructing homes across New York City, and that role will deliver 200,000 permanently affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized homes to New Yorkers who currently cannot afford to find anywhere to live on the market. Mamdanis thinking is rooted in history: New York City has been hamstrung when it comes to public debt financing since the 1970s, known colloquially as its Drop Dead years, when Washington, D.C. cut off federal funding, making New York much more reliant on the private sector to stay afloat, a moment succinctly described in Samuel Steins Capital City: Gentrification and the Real Estate State. For Mamdani, lifting New York Citys public debt ceiling is a way of regaining autonomy after years of austerity imposed at the state and federal level. This is how we can turn the page on fiscal policy in New York City, he said.With municipal bond financing, Mamdani continued, what it will take to ensure that we are using every single tool at our disposal is advocating in Albany and D.C. to lift the arbitrary bond caps that currently tie the citys hands and limit our ability to raise infrastructure and capital dollars. Mamdani said, the beauty of bonding is that it allows for you to embark on capital plans of this scale without the necessity of putting forward the entirety of the amount at the onset. He pointed to recent capital projects by the MTA as an example.Mamdani said lifting the public debt ceiling is essential if New York City is to enact our own political program, as opposed to succumbing to the whims of external political pressures, which has been the status quo for so long. What I mean by that is, if you take for example the OMB [Office of Management & Budget], so often the institutional impulse within OMB has been to say no to any program of ambition or scale. I think a lot of that comes from the same context of operating with the fiscal crisis as the framing in which everything has to be understood.Co-op City is situated on a sprawling 320-acre site in the north Bronx. (Zara Pfeifer)Last year, Mamdani joined state legislators in Albany in proposing a new state agency, the Social Housing Development Authority, that would deliver government-backed affordable housing free from private developers. Mamdani told AN he would continue to advocate for the Social Housing Development Authoritys creation as mayor. Mamdani has also proposed building city-owned grocery stores to help New Yorkers frustrated by inflation and rising food costs, and he has advocated for expanding New Yorks fare-free bus pilot program.So far, Mamdani is the only candidate committed to freezing rent for all 2.5 million rent-stabilized tenants in New York City. Under Adams, rent-stabilized apartments saw massive rent increases every year; Mamdani has pledged to stop that if hes put in charge of the mayor-controlled Rent Guidelines Board. Mamdani has also been critical of Governor Kathy Hochul and her close ties to the Real Estate Board of New Yorkthe joint proposal for a Social Housing Development Authority can perhaps be read as a rebuttal to the Hochul Administrations leadership, an entity thats relied heavily on the private sector to make ends meet. Lastly, another of Mamdanis standout proposals is his call for a Comprehensive City Plan that would give the public a firmer hand in guiding housing development. This, Mamdani said, will help remedy the legacy of racially discriminatory zoning and to proactively plan for the health and needs of the city, namely in the housing, transit, and education sectors. The city plan would prioritize increased zoning capacity, climate sustainability, eliminating parking minimums, and expanding rent stabilization in Albany.Scott Stringers The Robin Hood Housing PlanScott Stringer, another front-runner (along with Lander and Andrew Cuomo, should he decide to join the race), has a plan that revolves around creating Mitchell-Lama 2.0, an upgrade to the 1955 program that provided affordable rental and cooperative housing. Stringers housing platform is predicated on four pillars, one of which he calls his Robin Hood Housing Plan. The pillars are utilizing public land, holding negligent landlords accountable, providing loans for building neighborhood-focused housing projects, and revitalizing NYCHA.Stringer said he will increase tenant oversight of NYCHA properties and secure $40 billion in funding to upgrade NYCHA flats. He said the $40 billion will come from leveraging federal and state funding opportunities, though the appropriation strategy isnt concretely spelled out in his plan. He also didnt say whether or not he would lean on RAD/ PACT or the Preservation Trust for NYCHA upgrades. Unlike Lander, Myrie, and Mamdani, Stringer hasnt specified the amount of homes he aims to deliver, similar to Ramos. He said he hopes to build at least 50 percent affordable housing on city-owned land and that he would use eminent domain to seize properties owned by landlords who fail to meet basic safety and housing standards. The landlords would be compensated fairly, but then the flats would be transferred over to responsible developers with a proven track record of creating affordable housing.Lastly, Stringer said he would secure a $500 million revolving fund that would empower nonprofits and minority- and woman-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) to build affordable housing.Watch This SpaceThe candidates eying Gracie Mansion are indeed aligned on many issues, although their means may differ. For instance, Lander, Mamdani, Myrie, Ramos, and Stringer have each pledged, if elected, to close the landlord loopholea pay-to-play provision by Adams which lets property owners off the hook for meeting Local Law 97 clean energy goals.Will voters opt for a local, decentralized approach along the lines of what Stringer is offering, where a network of nongovernmental organizations and MWBEs work to resolve the affordability problem? Or will the electorate pursue a more statist approach, like what Mamdani, Ramos, and Lander propose? Or should New York City continue to let the free market run its course? Only time will tell, but its clear that architects and builders may be fielding more calls when the next administration gets to work in January 2026.

Animated feature films set in urban environments tend to produce surprisingly inspired architectural artwork, from the moody street scenes of Spiderman: Into the Universe (2018) to the dense city backdrops in the superhero romps The Incredibles (2004) and its sequel (2018). Theres even a subreddit thread about the subject, which includes recommendations for Japanese anime films and family-friendly Hollywood blockbusters. On the big screen now, Dog Man, takes a more childlike approach to city-building. The Dreamworks Animation flick, the first movie of 2025 to earn top spot at the box office in consecutive weekswith $68 million in ticket sales globally since its January 31 releaseis based on the beloved series of childrens books by Dav Pilkey, who first rose to fame with the Captain Underpants series. Dog Man features voiceovers from stars including Pete Davidson (as Petey the Cat), Isla Fisher (as TV reporter Sarah Hatoff), and Ricky Gervais (as Flippy the Fish), and may be the first-ever kids film to include buildings that come to life as villains. But more on that later. If it all sounds a bit silly, well, it is, which is why the target Dog Man demographic of the 10-and-under set eats it up; the books have sold more than 60 million copies worldwide.Scenes with Dog Mans police chief evoke 1950s detective films. (Courtesy DreamWorks Animation)Nate Wragg, the production designer who oversaw the art teams at Dreamworks Animation and London-based Jellyfish Pictures, told AN that he and director Peter Hastings took a serious approach to creating the urban architecture and interior design in Dog Man, even coining a term high-end handmade, to reflect the style.They started with Pilkeys drawings from the 13 volumes of Dog Man books. He draws buildings and cityscapes in a very loose, playful way, with wobbly lines and inconsistent window patterns, which makes the drawings feel like they are sort of coming from a 10-year-olds perspective, Wragg said. What he and the artists developed is a rich, vibrant built environment that is pleasing to watch and deceptively sophisticated. How Dog Man Came to LifeThe opening scene of Dog Man takes place atop one of the colorful buildings, and jumpstarts the plot. A police officer trying to diffuse a bomb asks his canine companion for advice on which colored wire to cut, only realizing that dogs are color blind after the snip that leads to an explosion. At the hospital, the medical staff is faced with a conundrum: the dogs body is toast but its head is intact, while the cop has the opposite problem. The dogs head is sewed to the mans torso, and voil, Dog Man is born.The caper-like storyline then involves Dog Man facing off against his nemesis from the book series, a thief named Petey the Cat, who eventually has to team up with his four-legged foe to fight an evil fish villain (Flippy), long-dead but brought back to life due to a quirk in the system of the Living Spray Factory building.The Living Spray Factory becomes a Beasty Building in Dog Man. (Courtesy DreamWorks Animation)While the books feature Pilkeys drawings of the characters in an urban environment, the city isnt named. Wragg, who teamed up with Hastings to secure the rights to the series, came up with Ohkay City for the film. It started with a joke, Wragg explained. One of the first buildings we were designing was a 3-story brick apartment building like you might find in an older city on the East Coast. We named it Ohkay Apartmentslike they were just okay, not bad but not great. It stuck.Wragg said that the team modeled the scale of the city to Cleveland-sized, rather than a Manhattan. Stylistically, its less Spider-Man in New York City and more reminiscent of the architecture and design found in retro animated series like The Flintstones and The Jetsons. Not-So-Serious Architecture and DesignWhile the Jellyfish team in London used computers to bring Ohkay Citys buildings to the big screen, they clearly werent using CAD. The buildings almost look like theyre made out of cake, Wragg admitted. Theyre very wobbly. They may have 17 asymmetrical windows placed in a sort of haphazard way.The facades are nuanced by design, he said: From a surfacing standpoint, we didnt source any realistic textures for the film, the way that you might typically if you were trying to make something realistic. So our approach instead was, if we need the building to feel like its made out of stucco or brick, how can we create an artistic approach to that feeling? In the film, everything has a handmade feel, rather than photo-realistic textures slapped onto very cartoon-y buildings. In the end, you get this combination of artistic materials and silly drawn and constructed buildings and window patterns. When you replicate that across the entire city, you get a very big feel to the building landscape.The residents of Ohkay City flee the Beasty Buildings. (Courtesy DreamWorks Animation)Their approach extended to the interiors, as in the scenes at the police station where Dog Man convenes with his perpetually annoyed chief. Wragg said that the animation aims to evoke 1950s-era detective movies; the trick was to use color without making it feel too modern. When you look closely, you see that the walls have all these hand-painted elements, as do the baseboards and wainscoting.This type of dedication led to the high-end handmade designation, and involved using crayons, hand strokes, colored pencils, watercolor paints, and more. The goal was to ensure that this childlike animation needed to feel like it belonged on the big screen. Here Come the Beasty BuildingsDog Mans strongest action sequences arrive after the supervillain Flippy the Fish comes back to life after a trip into a pipe atop the Living Spray Factory. The building itself looks like a classic derelict Rust Belt structure, locked up inside a barbed wire fence with a facade dominated by industrial steel-frame windows.Gervais, as Flippy, revels as muscular arms emerge from the sides of the building, its roof propping open to reveal gnarly teeth. Flippy enlists the menacing-looking factory into his evil scheme, and other buildings around Ohkay City join in, as if the Tokyo cityscape had come to life to help Godzilla wreak havoc.The Beasty Buildings head into battle in Dog Man. (Courtesy DreamWorks Animation)In the ensuing scenes, Dog Man, Petey, and Lil Petey join forces to take on Flippy and his army of scowling buildings, which menacingly repeat the phrase Gooba Gobba. The wide shots of the buildings marching amid a twisting, bending cityscape might suggest that the artists had looked to Frank Gehry or Bjarke Ingels for inspiration, but Wragg said this is the result of him staying true to Pilkeys aesthetic.Shoe Boxes with WindowsThe buildings are all just sort of drawn like shoe boxes with windows, Wragg explained. When they come to life, they have big googly eyes on top. The roof lifts up a little bit to sort of expose where the mouth would be, and then they have silly, muscle-y arms that come out of the sides, and theyre wonderfully drawn and look playful, but they dont really go beyond that from a conceptual standpoint.\A battle scene in the cityscape (Courtesy DreamWorks Animation)Wragg admitted that one real-life typology inspired a building in Dog Man: he modeled Joes Cafe in the film from a defunct Googie style donut shop he used to see on his way into the Burbank studios where he has worked for most of his career. Pressed further about his personal feelings, Wragg said, I am definitely a fan of architecture, before noting his love of the midcentury modern houses in Palm Springs and the craftsman look found elsewhere in Southern California.It turns out that the role of a production designer is similar to that of an architect: imagining worlds and making them come to life, Beasty Buildings and all.

Foldables may be the most exciting innovation inphonessince Apple's iPhone. Thanks to improvements to durability, display quality, and battery life, the best foldable phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and OnePlus Open, are just as worthy of recommendation as standard slab handsets.Based on the dozens of devices we've tried and tested at ZDNET, it's safe to say that consumers today have more choices than ever, whether they want a foldable that expands into a tablet or a book-style foldable. Our top picks include a Samsung foldable phone, Motorla Razr foldables, and the cheapest foldable phone you can buy.What is the best foldable phone right now?ZDNET has tested and reviewed every single mass-market foldable during the past year, and the devices below represent the best of the best. Our pick for the best foldable phone overall is the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, a handset that personifies the company's user-first industrial design and burdenless mentality in software experience. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold has the thinnest design of any foldable in the US market, and its cameras reign supreme amongst all the competitors we've tested.Also:The best flip phones available today: They're back and better than ever Sort by All Best foldable phones in 2025 Show less View now at Amazon While the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 forges ahead with better design and productivity features, the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is the best foldable phone going into the rest of 2025, thanks to its user-friendly form factor and market-leading camera system. Google took the traditional smartphone route when refining the outer display of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, opting for a shorter and wider panel than Samsung's taller approach.Review:Google Pixel 9 Pro FoldNaturally, all the content you're used to consuming, like video streaming and social media, is portrayed in a familiar manner; nothing feels disorienting or cropped out. While the foldable doesn't match its Pixel Pro sibling spec-for-spec, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold truly shines and more than makes up for the "inferior" camera system in long exposure shots and selfies, thanks to its self-standing nature.The Pixel 9 Pro Fold also succeeds the previous model with a more capable Google Tensor G4 chipset, Google AI features like Pixel Screenshots, Reimagine, and Gemini Live, and a lighter form factor for a more comfortable user experience. All in all, Google made modifications to nearly all the right places with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, enough to make it a sleeper hit that is now at the top of our ranking list.Google Pixel 9 Fold tech specs: Processor:Google Tensor G4 |Display sizes:6.3-inch exterior and 8-inch interior|RAM/Storage:16GB with 256GB or 512GB |Battery:4,650mAh|Camera:48MP wide, 10.8MP ultrawide, 10.8MP telephoto, and 10MP front|Price:Starting at $1,799 Pros Lighter and thinner design is very practical to use Smooth and bloatware-free software Largest display of any foldable phone Best camera system of any foldable Cons No stylus support Still an inferior camera system compared to Pixel 9 Pro Multitasking features are limited While the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 forges ahead with better design and productivity features, the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is the best foldable phone going into the rest of 2025, thanks to its user-friendly form factor and market-leading camera system. Google took the traditional smartphone route when refining the outer display of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, opting for a shorter and wider panel than Samsung's taller approach.Review:Google Pixel 9 Pro FoldNaturally, all the content you're used to consuming, like video streaming and social media, is portrayed in a familiar manner; nothing feels disorienting or cropped out. While the foldable doesn't match its Pixel Pro sibling spec-for-spec, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold truly shines and more than makes up for the "inferior" camera system in long exposure shots and selfies, thanks to its self-standing nature.The Pixel 9 Pro Fold also succeeds the previous model with a more capable Google Tensor G4 chipset, Google AI features like Pixel Screenshots, Reimagine, and Gemini Live, and a lighter form factor for a more comfortable user experience. All in all, Google made modifications to nearly all the right places with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, enough to make it a sleeper hit that is now at the top of our ranking list.Google Pixel 9 Fold tech specs: Processor:Google Tensor G4 |Display sizes:6.3-inch exterior and 8-inch interior|RAM/Storage:16GB with 256GB or 512GB |Battery:4,650mAh|Camera:48MP wide, 10.8MP ultrawide, 10.8MP telephoto, and 10MP front|Price:Starting at $1,799 Read More Show Expert Take Show less Show less With Chinese phone maker Oppo having released several foldable phones throughout the years, it was only a matter of time before its sister company, OnePlus, would unveil one of its own -- bringing about some much-needed competition in the US market.With the Open, OnePlus has not only undercut the price of Samsung's and Google's competing models but also introduced some useful features we've yet seen in the product category. For example, the OnePlus Open is one of the lightest foldables in the North American market, matching that of the Galaxy Z Fold 6. It also supports 67W fast charging, a much quicker rate than the 25W to 45W standards on competing handsets.Review:OnePlus OpenPerhaps more importantly, the OnePlus introduced Open Canvas, a multitasking feature that lets you glide between several app windows for a seamless multitasking experience. This alone makes usability on the larger inner display much more intuitive than what I've seen on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. While the camera system falls short compared to the Pixel, it's still very capable, with a triple-lens configuration helmed by a 48MP sensor that captures vivid and sharp imagery throughout various lighting conditions.The well-roundedness and aggressive pricing make this one of the top-contending foldables in 2025. All eyes are very much on Open 2, which is expected to launch later this year.OnePlus Open tech specs:Processor:Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |Display sizes:6.3-inch exterior and 7.8-inch interior|RAM/Storage:16GB with 512GB |Battery:4,805mAh|Camera:48MP wide, 48MP ultrawide, 64MP telephoto, and 32MP front|Price:Starting at $1,699 Pros Slim, easy-to-manage form factor 16GB of RAM and 512GB is the "base" storage 67W wired charging is practical to use Cons No wireless charging No official IP rating for water resistance Can't buy directly from a carrier store With Chinese phone maker Oppo having released several foldable phones throughout the years, it was only a matter of time before its sister company, OnePlus, would unveil one of its own -- bringing about some much-needed competition in the US market.With the Open, OnePlus has not only undercut the price of Samsung's and Google's competing models but also introduced some useful features we've yet seen in the product category. For example, the OnePlus Open is one of the lightest foldables in the North American market, matching that of the Galaxy Z Fold 6. It also supports 67W fast charging, a much quicker rate than the 25W to 45W standards on competing handsets.Review:OnePlus OpenPerhaps more importantly, the OnePlus introduced Open Canvas, a multitasking feature that lets you glide between several app windows for a seamless multitasking experience. This alone makes usability on the larger inner display much more intuitive than what I've seen on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. While the camera system falls short compared to the Pixel, it's still very capable, with a triple-lens configuration helmed by a 48MP sensor that captures vivid and sharp imagery throughout various lighting conditions.The well-roundedness and aggressive pricing make this one of the top-contending foldables in 2025. All eyes are very much on Open 2, which is expected to launch later this year.OnePlus Open tech specs:Processor:Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |Display sizes:6.3-inch exterior and 7.8-inch interior|RAM/Storage:16GB with 512GB |Battery:4,805mAh|Camera:48MP wide, 48MP ultrawide, 64MP telephoto, and 32MP front|Price:Starting at $1,699 Read More Show Expert Take Show less Show less View now at Samsung Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold went tooth and nail for the top spot on this list, but key feature advantages put the latter ahead. Still, the Z Fold 6 remains a formidable option for foldable shoppers in 2025 thanks to its more refined and durable design, productivity-inducing software, and undervaluedafter-sales support.Review:Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6The Z Fold 6 features a capable Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which has proven to yield better on-device and hybrid-based AI capabilities, including Samsung's Sketch-to-Image feature, Interpreter Mode, Composer, and more. Samsung also upgraded the hinge with the latest model, making the Fold notably thinner and lighter yet still durable enough to withstand 200,000 bends -- maybe more -- throughout its lifespan.Thanks to a brighter 2,600-nit display and a crease that's a little less noticeable when open, "the Z Fold 6's 7.6-inch screen is a near-perfect canvas for watching movies, playing games, and getting work done," I mentioned in my review. It's unfortunate that Samsung didn't upgrade the cameras or charging speeds all that much with the latest generation; otherwise, it would've given the Pixel 9 Pro Fold even more of a run for its money.Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 tech specs: Processor:Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |Display sizes:6.2-inch exterior and 7.6-inch interior|RAM/Storage:12GB with 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB |Battery:4,400mAh|Camera:50MP wide, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP telephoto, and 10MP front|Price:Starting at $1,899 Pros Thinner and lighter than ever IP rated for better water and dust resistance 2,600 nits of brightness for outdoor viewing Best ecosystem of accessories Cons Expensive, starting at $1,899 Cameras are still a step below the S24 Ultra Battery size and charging speed are passable Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold went tooth and nail for the top spot on this list, but key feature advantages put the latter ahead. Still, the Z Fold 6 remains a formidable option for foldable shoppers in 2025 thanks to its more refined and durable design, productivity-inducing software, and undervaluedafter-sales support.Review:Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6The Z Fold 6 features a capable Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which has proven to yield better on-device and hybrid-based AI capabilities, including Samsung's Sketch-to-Image feature, Interpreter Mode, Composer, and more. Samsung also upgraded the hinge with the latest model, making the Fold notably thinner and lighter yet still durable enough to withstand 200,000 bends -- maybe more -- throughout its lifespan.Thanks to a brighter 2,600-nit display and a crease that's a little less noticeable when open, "the Z Fold 6's 7.6-inch screen is a near-perfect canvas for watching movies, playing games, and getting work done," I mentioned in my review. It's unfortunate that Samsung didn't upgrade the cameras or charging speeds all that much with the latest generation; otherwise, it would've given the Pixel 9 Pro Fold even more of a run for its money.Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 tech specs: Processor:Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |Display sizes:6.2-inch exterior and 7.6-inch interior|RAM/Storage:12GB with 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB |Battery:4,400mAh|Camera:50MP wide, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP telephoto, and 10MP front|Price:Starting at $1,899 Read More Show Expert Take Show less Show less View now at Best Buy Deciding on the best flip-style foldable phone also came down to the wire, with Motorola's Razr Plus (2024) just scraping by Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 6. I went hands-on with both devices last summer and was left impressed by both, but I ultimately sided with the Motorola because it lets you do more with the outer display.Review:Motorola Razr Plus (2024)Not only is the outer display on the Razr Plus an impressive 3.6-inch panel, but the software supports virtually any app you throw at it, meaning you can browse the web, play games, scroll TikTok, and do other mobile tasks without ever needing to flip open the device. Samsung's platform is more limited in this regard.The under-the-hood upgrades last year were also quite meaningful, such as the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip optimized for AI workloads, the 12GB of RAM, and the larger 4,000mAh battery that can be charged wired or wirelessly. And those vibrant colorways, when paired with textured back covers, make these phones all the more memorable.Motorola Razr Plus (2024) tech specs: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3|Display sizes:4-inch exterior and 6.9-inch interior|RAM/Storage:8GB/12GB with 256GB|Battery:4,000mAh|Camera:50MP wide, 50MP telephoto, and 32MP front|Price:Starting at $999 Value 8 Performance 8 Battery life 6 Camera quality 7 Display 7 Pros 3.6-inch external display for quick interactions Performant Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor Highly customizable interface with Moto gestures Telephoto lens on a flip phone Cons Battery lasts no more than a day Hinge design is not as sturdy as Samsung's No ultrawide lens for landscape photos Motorola Razr Plus (2024) Best flip-style foldable phone 3.6 / 5 Score Deciding on the best flip-style foldable phone also came down to the wire, with Motorola's Razr Plus (2024) just scraping by Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 6. I went hands-on with both devices last summer and was left impressed by both, but I ultimately sided with the Motorola because it lets you do more with the outer display.Review:Motorola Razr Plus (2024)Not only is the outer display on the Razr Plus an impressive 3.6-inch panel, but the software supports virtually any app you throw at it, meaning you can browse the web, play games, scroll TikTok, and do other mobile tasks without ever needing to flip open the device. Samsung's platform is more limited in this regard.The under-the-hood upgrades last year were also quite meaningful, such as the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip optimized for AI workloads, the 12GB of RAM, and the larger 4,000mAh battery that can be charged wired or wirelessly. And those vibrant colorways, when paired with textured back covers, make these phones all the more memorable.Motorola Razr Plus (2024) tech specs: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3|Display sizes:4-inch exterior and 6.9-inch interior|RAM/Storage:8GB/12GB with 256GB|Battery:4,000mAh|Camera:50MP wide, 50MP telephoto, and 32MP front|Price:Starting at $999 Read More Show Expert Take Show less Show less View now at Amazon When the market is competitive, both manufacturers and consumers are winners. Case in point: No one, including myself, expected the $699 Motorola Razr to be as good as it is.Review:Motorola Razr PlusIn some ways, the standard Razr model yields a better experience than the more expensive Plus variant, with a larger 4,200mAh battery and ultrawide lens that allows for more flexible shooting styles. ZDNET's Max Buondonno tested the Razr and also commended its variety of cover designs, citing, "The Koala Gray version I have comes with a vegan suede material, while the Beach Sand and Spritz Orange (a.k.a. the best color) have vegan leather."Under the hood is a weaker but still passable MediaTek Dimensity 7300X chipset, with Moto's minimalist approach to Android. There are a few gesture-based perks, like twisting your wrist to prompt the camera or doing a chopping motion to turn on the flashlight, and the front screen is just as customizable as the one on the Razr Plus.Motorola Razr (2024) tech specs: Processor:MediaTek Dimensity 7300X|Display sizes:3.6-inch exterior and 6.9-inch interior|RAM/Storage:8GB with 256GB|Battery:4,200mAh|Camera:50MP wide, 13MP ultrawide, and 32MP front|Price:Starting at $699 Pros Similar design to last year's Razr Plus 3.6-inch external display is plenty useful Relatively affordable and discounted often Cons Processor is not as performant Camera quality is just passable Software update policy is sluggish When the market is competitive, both manufacturers and consumers are winners. Case in point: No one, including myself, expected the $699 Motorola Razr to be as good as it is.Review:Motorola Razr PlusIn some ways, the standard Razr model yields a better experience than the more expensive Plus variant, with a larger 4,200mAh battery and ultrawide lens that allows for more flexible shooting styles. ZDNET's Max Buondonno tested the Razr and also commended its variety of cover designs, citing, "The Koala Gray version I have comes with a vegan suede material, while the Beach Sand and Spritz Orange (a.k.a. the best color) have vegan leather."Under the hood is a weaker but still passable MediaTek Dimensity 7300X chipset, with Moto's minimalist approach to Android. There are a few gesture-based perks, like twisting your wrist to prompt the camera or doing a chopping motion to turn on the flashlight, and the front screen is just as customizable as the one on the Razr Plus.Motorola Razr (2024) tech specs: Processor:MediaTek Dimensity 7300X|Display sizes:3.6-inch exterior and 6.9-inch interior|RAM/Storage:8GB with 256GB|Battery:4,200mAh|Camera:50MP wide, 13MP ultrawide, and 32MP front|Price:Starting at $699 Read More Show Expert Take Show less What is the best folding phone? The best foldable phone is the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which offers the most complete mobile experience with 16GB of RAM, up to 512GB of storage, a Tensor G4 chip, a 4,650mAh battery, and more. Just as important, the device is slated to receive seven years of operating system and security updates.Foldable phonePriceDisplayCameraGoogle Pixel 9 Pro Fold$1,7996.3-inch and 8-inch12MP wide, 12MP ultrawide, 12MP telephoto, 10MP frontSamsung Galaxy Z Fold 6$1,8996.2-inch and 7.6-inch50MP wide, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP telephoto, 10MP frontOnePlus Open$1,6996.3-inch and 7.8-inch48MP wide, 64MP ultrawide, 48MP telephoto, 20MP frontMotorola Razr Plus (2024)$9994-inch and 6.9-inch50MP wide, 50MP telephoto, 32MP frontMotorola Razr (2024)$6993.6-inch and 6.9-inch50MP wide, 13MP ultrawide, 32MP front Show more Which foldable phone is right for you? To help you decide, see below for the key reasons to buy each of ZDNET's top foldable phone picks.Choose this foldable phoneIf you wantGoogle Pixel 9 Pro FoldThe best foldable phone right now, with an S-class camera system in a foldable form factor. Google's Pixel 9 Pro Fold nails the large-screen build and excels with AI-powered camera features.Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6The most refined, industry-backed foldable that money can buy. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 also supports S Pen stylus inputs and seven years of OS updates.OnePlus OpenMarket-leading fast charging with a price to beat. It's also the lightest tablet-style foldable in the US.Motorola Razr Plus (2024)The best flipping foldable on the market, with a highly personalizable 4-inch outer display and a 4,000mAh battery.Motorola Razr (2024)A foldable for less. If you can live with its compromises, the $699 Motorola Razr is, without question, the most accessible device of its kind. Show more Factors to consider when choosing a foldable phone The process of making our phone selections includes real-world testing and researching about the phones for weeks, consulting with colleagues, industry experts, and analysts who also have hands-on experience with the smartphones, and then selecting the best from all the available choices.Ultimately, we weigh in the following aspects when curating this list:Design: Currently, foldable phones come in two designs: regular phones that unfold into tablets, and ones that flip inward to become more pocketable. The best-designed foldables are practical to use, require a moderate learning curve at most, and should have a burdenless hand feel.Software optimization: A foldable phone relies on more than just the standard software features of a traditional handset; it needs specialized tools and services built for larger (and smaller) displays.Durability: The best foldable phone can take a beating, whether that's in the form of waist-high drops or pouring rain. Every device on this list is either certified IPX8 or IP52 or has been tested to meet above-average durability standards.Value: It's difficult to ignore how expensive foldables can be, so price-to-performance is something we deeply consider when evaluating devices. We also factor in carrier store promotions, trade-in deals, and other offers. Show more How we test phones ZDNET's review team spends upwards of a year testing the ins and outs of every major phone release, evaluating the day-to-day performance, camera quality, battery life and endurance, and special features. Here's a breakdown of every factor we consider before we make recommendations:Design and ergonomics:How good a phone looks and feels plays a big role in many users' buying journeys, so we consider these aspects heavily when testing.Performance:Several factors affect a phone's performance, including LTE/5G signal, battery life, and background tasks. Therefore, we typically begin our evaluations with a fully charged handset, with all background tasks closed, and with as stable of a mobile connection as possible.Camera quality:ZDNET tests phone cameras by capturing hundreds of photos and videos of various subjects and in various lighting conditions. We also compare the output to that of older models.Battery life and charging:It's also important for us to evaluate how long phones last under light, moderate, and heavy usage, how long they take to recharge, and how they do it (wired, wireless, or both).Special features:These features distinguish tested devices from a bustling smartphone market and hopefully bring added value to users, not the opposite.Pricing and availability:Beyond budget considerations, we also note if a phone is available in the US or only internationally.For a more extensive breakdown, check out our comprehensivephone testing methodology page. Show more Will Apple make a foldable phone? It's the question everyone's been asking since the very first foldable was launched back in 2019: will Apple release a foldable iPhone? While the company has yet to unveil any plans of making one, and the rumor mill has been rather slow in that regard, it would not be surprising if there's a team within Cupertino already building one out.Also:Why foldable phones are still so expensive, according to analystsAnd, as is often the case with consumer technology, once Apple is comfortable enough to release a mass-market foldable phone, we can expect there to be a drop in prices, as manufacturers scramble to compete in value. The latest rumors point to a release as soon as in 2026. Show more Other phones we tested The best foldable phones listed above strike the perfect balance of design, functionality, and innovation. If you're still on the fence, here are some alternatives to consider. Show more ZDNETs Smartphone Guide Smartphone Roundups Smartphones Reviewed & Compared Smartphones Explained ZDNET Recommends

When things dont go as planned, the burnt toast theory serves as a reminder that the bigger picture may be unfolding in ways you cannot yet see.

Freezing edge technology: A new plasma-based etching process could lead to denser data storage in phones, cameras, and computers. Researchers have developed a hydrogen fluoride plasma technique that doubles the etching rate in the manufacturing process of 3D NAND flash memory chips. Standard NAND flash storage is used in microSD cards, USB drives, and solid-state drives in computers and phones. To fit more gigabytes into smaller spaces, manufacturers have begun stacking memory cells vertically in a process called 3D NAND.Advancements in 3D NAND have pushed chip designs beyond 200 layers, with companies like Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung already eyeing 400-layer technology to increase storage density. However, higher layer counts also bring greater manufacturing complexity. One particularly demanding process is etching, which requires meticulously carving precise holes, layer by layer, through alternating silicon oxide and silicon nitride layers.Researchers from Lam Research, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have developed a new technique to streamline the process. It uses cryogenic (low-temperature) hydrogen fluoride plasma to etch the holes. In experiments, the etch rate more than doubled, increasing from 310 nanometers per minute with the old method to 640 nm/min with their approach. They also found that the etched holes were cleaner.Seeing benefits, the researchers experimented with adding a few other ingredients to the hydrogen fluoride plasma recipe. Phosphorus trifluoride acted as a nitrous boost for silicon dioxide etching, quadrupling the rate. They also tested ammonium fluorosilicate. The team detailed its findings in a study published in the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology.Seeing benefits, the researchers explored adding a few other ingredients to this hydrogen fluoride plasma recipe. Phosphorus trifluoride acted as a nitrous boost for the silicon dioxide etching, quadrupling that rate. They also tested out ammonium fluorosilicate. The full findings can be found in the study published in the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology. // Related StoriesWhile some challenges remain, the new technique could overcome a significant manufacturing hurdle. Igor Kaganovich, a principal research physicist at PPPL, pointed out that increasing memory density will be crucial as data demands grow with AI adoption.It's too early to say if this will result in cheaper or denser NAND chips for consumers. The technique still needs to be proven commercially viable and scaled for mass production. Even if manufacturers adopt the process, there's no guarantee that any cost savings will trickle down to consumers.

Bottom line: The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is once again reminding IT manufacturers and developers that buffer overflow vulnerabilities must be eradicated from software. In short, companies need to adopt a "secure by design" policy and fast. CISA has issued a new alert about buffer overflow vulnerabilities, urging the software industry to adopt proper programming practices to eliminate an entire class of dangerous security flaws. Buffer overflow exploits frequently lead to system compromise, CISA warns, posing significant threats to system reliability, data integrity, and overall cybersecurity.A buffer overflow occurs when a threat actor can access or write data outside a program's allocated memory space, CISA explained. If hackers manipulate memory beyond a buffer's allocated limits, it can lead to data corruption, exposure of sensitive information, system crashes, or even remote execution of malicious code.CISA previously warned about buffer overflow vulnerabilities and is now reiterating its message. The agency highlights real-world examples of these flaws, including vulnerabilities in Windows operating systems (CVE-2025-21333), the Linux kernel (CVE-2022-0185), VPN products (CVE-2023-6549), and various other software environments where executable code is present.Software companies can combat the buffer overflow threat by adopting a proper "secure by design" approach when writing their code. In software engineering, "secure by design" means that products and features are built with security as a foundational principle rather than added as an afterthought. However, CISA noted that only a few companies have implemented this approach so far.The agency outlined several "secure by design" practices that technical leads should adopt within their organizations. These include using memory-safe programming languages such as Rust or Go, configuring compilers to detect buffer overflow bugs before deployment, and conducting regular product testing. // Related StoriesCISA, along with other government agencies including the FBI and the NSA, are offering additional resources and reports to help companies mitigate buffer overflow vulnerabilities and other critical security threats.The agency also highlighted three broad "secure by design" principles developed in collaboration with 17 global cybersecurity organizations. These principles emphasize full accountability in the software development process, a "radical" commitment to transparency, and organizational structures designed to prioritize security.