Category: 4. Technology

Labor Day weekend is here, and one of my favorite mobile accessory brands is celebrating the incoming fall season with serious savings on all their cases — including the newest fall and Halloween cases. It’s the perfect time to (pumpkin) spice up your smartphone during Casely’s Labor Day sale. There are tons of designs to choose from. 

Also: The best Labor Day deals live now 

Prices start at $30 per case; your second case is free. You can potentially snag two phone cases for $15 a piece. Shipping within the US is totally free, too. Just be sure to use the code LONGWEEKEND at checkout. 

Casely carries tons of different case sizes, styles, and phone types. You can get cases for any iPhone starting from the iPhone 6, 7, or 8, up to the latest iPhone 16 Pro Max. If you’re an Android user, don’t fret. Casely carries many Samsung Galaxy phone sizes and the Google Pixel lineup — including the newest Google Pixel 10 series, which was just launched earlier this month. 

Also: Finally, a MagSafe battery pack that doesn’t look like a brick (and it charges quick, too)

I tested my first Casely case with the Casely Power Pod in 2024 and have been a fan since. The cases are affordable yet functional, and while they aren’t the most extreme or durable cases on the market, they get the job done for most people — especially if you like to change your case often or have fun designs. 

Plus, with options like the Bold Flex + MagSafe cases, it’s just as easy (and affordable) to amp up your phone’s protection. I’ve gifted Casely cases to my mom and grandma, and they both love the floral designs that match their respective pink and blue iPhones and the added grippy protection of the Bold Flex line. 

The best part about Casely’s lineup is their cases perfectly match the Power Pod, making a seamless and fun way to charge your phone on the go without sacrificing aesthetics. The Power Pod is a MagSafe charging accessory that snaps on the back of your phone.

How I rated this deal

Everyone loves a BOGO offer, especially on something as fun and easy to swap out as phone cases. Plus, Casely has some of the most affordable yet fun case options on the market, with several versions depending on the protection you’re seeking for your smartphone. I’m a Casely user and love the Classic + MagSafe case offering. I’ll scoop up a case myself, because with prices starting at 2 for $30, why wouldn’t I? I gave this BOGO offer a 5/5 Editor’s deal rating for its affordability and many designs and styles. 

When will this deal expire?

Casely’s Labor Day sale features a countdown to the end on their website. At the time of publication, the sale ends in about 8 days, or sometime around Sept. 7, 2025. 

While many sales events feature deals for a specific length of time, deals are on a limited-time basis, making them subject to expiring anytime. ZDNET remains committed to finding, sharing, and updating the best offers to help you maximize your savings so you can feel as confident in your purchases as we feel in our recommendations. Our ZDNET team of experts constantly monitors the deals we feature to keep our stories up-to-date. If you missed out on this deal, don’t worry — we’re always sourcing new savings opportunities at ZDNET.com.

How do we rate deals at ZDNET?

We aim to deliver the most accurate advice to help you shop smarter. ZDNET offers 33 years of experience, 30 hands-on product reviewers, and 10,000 square feet of lab space to ensure we bring you the best of tech. 

In 2025, we refined our approach to deals, developing a measurable system for sharing savings with readers like you. Our editor’s deal rating badges are affixed to most of our deal content, making it easy to interpret our expertise to help you make the best purchase decision.

At the core of this approach is a percentage-off-based system to classify savings offered on top-tech products, combined with a sliding-scale system based on our team members’ expertise and several factors like frequency, brand or product recognition, and more. The result? Hand-crafted deals chosen specifically for ZDNET readers like you, fully backed by our experts. 

Also: How we rate deals at ZDNET in 2025

For the last week or two, reports have been circulating that recent Windows 11 updates (specifically KB5063878 and KB5062660) were causing some SSDs using Phison controllers to fail. Tech influencers on YouTube and TikTok were quick to jump on the reports of corrupted data and disappearing drives, laying the blame squarely at Microsoft’s feet. We’re not saying any company is above lying to the public, and Microsoft has a history of rocky update rollouts, but both Microsoft and Phison claim they’ve been unable to recreate the issue.

Phison said it was made aware of reports that the Windows update was causing drives to fail on August 18th and began investigating the issue. Then it issued a statement on August 27th saying that after running over 2,200 test cycles totaling more than 4,500 hours it was, “unable to reproduce the reported issue, and no partners or customers have reported that the issue affected their drives at this time.”

Microsoft followed up just a few days later by saying that, “After thorough investigation, Microsoft has found no connection between the August 2025 Windows security update and the types of hard drive failures reported on social media.”

This isn’t terribly surprising since the reports were fairly limited. A Japanese user on Twitter appears to be the first to suggest the Windows update was bricking SSDs and there were some in the comments claiming that they had experienced similar issues. But, there was little evidence to suggest it was widespread and it’s entirely possible that this is a localized problem related to a bad batch of drives. So it seems there’s little reason to believe the August 2025 Windows security update is going to fry your hard drive, no matter what some dude on TikTok says.

SAVE $150: As of Aug. 30, a Pink 10th Generation 256GB  10.9-inch Liquid Retina Display Apple iPad with A14 Bionic chip is $349, down from its list price of $499.

Have you always wanted to become an iPad girly, boy, or person? This Labor Day weekend deal on Amazon has a 10.9-inch 256 GB Pink 10th Generation Apple iPad at 33% off. If you were waiting on a sign to spring for a back-to-school Apple iPad, now is a perfect time to take the leap (especially if you love pink). There’s nothing like coming home after a long day to play around on your iPad, seriously. These devices have been around for 15 years, and it seems they just continue to get more useful. 

One of the best things about Apple iPads is their versatility. You can manage your whole life with an iPad while seamlessly integrating it into your existing Apple ecosystem. Not only does it do everything that your iPhone can (save for connecting to Data, with this particular model), it also has excellent new features that just put a cherry on top.

Customize your home page with widgets that represent your hobbies, classes, work, or all of the above. Download apps like Procreate and pick up an Apple Pencil to revolutionize the way you can make art, digitally collage, take notes, journal, and more.

Structured postnatal monitoring and timely follow-up are vital for managing neonatal outcomes in red cell alloimmunization cases, according to a recent study published in Pregnancy.¹

Pregnant patients may develop red blood cell (RBC) antibodies that differ from their own, increasing the risk of complications if the fetus inherits incompatible antigens. If maternal antibodies cross the placenta, fetal red blood cells may be targeted, leading to hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN).²

Peak systolic velocity in the middle cerebral artery (MCA PSV) monitoring is traditionally used to assess patients with clinically significant antibodies.¹ This method has a false positive rate of approximately 12%.

“Although MCA PSV Doppler surveillance is widely used in managing red cell alloimmunized pregnancies, limited data exist on neonatal outcomes when the threshold for intrauterine transfusion (MCA PSV ≥1.5 MoM) is not persistently reached,” wrote investigators.

Surveillance using MCA PSV doppler

The retrospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate outcomes in these pregnancies. Data between January 2018 and December 2023 were obtained from a single center of level 4 maternity and neonatal care units.

Pregnancies needing MCA PSV Doppler monitoring for red cell alloimmunization with an at-risk fetus or neonate not requiring intrauterine transfusion (IUT) were included in the analysis. Those with no antenatal or postnatal testing, needing IUT, or with multiple gestations were excluded.

Maternal and neonatal medical records were assessed for relevant data, including maternal demographics, obstetric history, red cell alloimmunization profiles, MCA PSV Doppler assessment characteristics, antenatal interventions, delivery characteristics, and neonatal outcomes. HDFN risk was determined based on antigen testing.

Antibody profiles and pregnancy characteristics

There were 40 pregnancies and 39 neonates with increased risk of HDFN included in the final analysis, 50% of whom had antenatal testing and 50% had neonatal testing. Anti-D was the most common antibody, observed in 52.5% of pregnancies. This was followed by anti-E in 17.5% and anti-c in 15%. Multiple antibodies were reported in 21.1% of cases.

Mothers were aged a median of 31 years and had a median gravidity of 3 and parity of 1. Red cell alloimmunization in previous pregnancy was identified in 60.6% of patients with documented alloimmunization history, but no prior IUT cases were found.

Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission was necessary for 46.2% of neonates, while 56.4% required phototherapy to treat hyperbilirubinemia, 2.6% required transfusion, and 12.8% required intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Only needing phototherapy was reported in 33.3% of neonates, and none received IVIG or transfusion as isolated therapy.

Anemia and hyperbilirubinemia treatment

RBC transfusions were given to 28.2% of neonates to treat anemia, with only 5.1% receiving RBC transfusions as isolated therapy. Postnatal therapy for hyperbilirubinemia was required for 61.5% of at-risk neonates, while 38.5% did not need treatment. Those not needing treatment were born to younger mothers vs those requiring treatment.

A reduction in birth weight was reported in the treatment group vs the no-treatment group, at 2859 vs 3420, respectively. NICU admission rates were 66.7% vs. 13.3%, respectively, and median NICU durations were 7 vs 0 days, respectively. However, gestational age at delivery did not differ between groups.

These results highlighted neonatal outcomes in red cell alloimmunized pregnancies without IUT monitored with MCA PSV Doppler. Investigators concluded there is a need for tailored prenatal counseling and structured postnatal monitoring.

“Future research should focus on risk stratification tools and standardized follow-up protocols to better identify and manage at-risk infants in this understudied population,” wrote investigators.

References

1. Arkerson BJ, Aghajani F, Modrall KE, et al. Neonatal outcomes among pregnancies with red cell alloimmunization requiring doppler monitoring without intrauterine transfusion: A retrospective cohort study. Pregnancy. 2025. doi:10.1002/pmf2.70090
2. HDFN hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn. Fetal Health Foundation. Accessed August 29, 2025. https://www.fetalhealthfoundation.org/fetal-syndromes/hemolytic-disease-of-the-fetus-and-alloimmunization/.

No matter how old you get, the back-to-school season will always bring a desire to shop. So, sales at this time of year are always more than welcome — especially when they’re on some of our favorite devices. Such is the case with the 10 percent discount currently available on the Sonos Era 100.

Our choice for midrange smart speaker is down to $179 from $199 as part of a larger Labor Day sale on the Sonos website. The same price is available on Amazon, as are some more deals on Sonos products.

Sonos debuted the Era 100 speaker in 2023 as a replacement for the Sonos One. It offers great sound quality and has built-in mics for Trueplay tuning and voice control. It’s worth mentioning that the Sonos Ace headphones are also on sale for $299, down from $399 — a 25 percent discount. The headphones have come a long way since they first launched, including the introduction of TrueCinema, which works with a Sonos soundbar to create the best spatial audio experience.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Gran Turismo 7 is the latest installment in the long-running franchise, continuing to serve fans clamoring for one of the best driving simulators ever produced. It was released in March 2022 for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 simultaneously, marking the first time Gran Turismo has been made available to play on two consoles.

Although the game has been on the market for a few years, the anticipated sequel to Gran Turismo 7 is still years away. To keep things fresh, the developers at Polyphony Digital introduce monthly rollouts with new races and online events, as well as a few new vehicles.

The latest update is no exception. There are new events for existing world circuits and a new location for the game’s ‘Scapes’ mode. But of course, the cars are the most exciting part. For the August release, there’s one vehicle that stands out.

Sure, there are two 2,000-horsepower Chevrolet Corvette concepts and a little-known electric car to choose from as well, but the 2002 Renault Avantime makes its first appearance in GT7. It’s a weird but wacky addition alongside all these iconic race cars.

In addition to the latest installment, the French minivan that almost made it to America has been available to race in Gran Turismo 4, Gran Turismo PSP, Gran Turismo 5, and Gran Turismo 6. Understandably, it skipped the track-focused Gran Turismo Sport edition of the game to return to a version that offers a larger showcase of humdrum vehicles, not just the sportiest and most exotic.

The Renault Avantime appears with just one engine in the game: The 3.0-liter V-6 with four valves per cylinder, 24 in total. In its heyday, it was also available with four-pot power in diesel and gas forms. The Avantime sent up to 207 horsepower and 210 pound-feet of torque to the front wheels via a five-speed automatic or six-speed manual transmission.

Further highlighting its oddity in a racing simulator, it had a 0-60 mph time of around eight seconds. While it’s far from the slowest in the game, the Avantime’s strength lies in its status as an eccentric collectible.

15

Source: Chevrolet

Besides the Renault, Chevrolet debuted two racing concepts that will foretell the future of Corvette design. The CX Concept and CX.R Vision Gran Turismo Concept showed up at The Quail in Monterey to commemorate the greatest vehicles in motorsport.

Although the Corvette CX and CX.R concepts are unlikely to reach production, they are drivable in the game. Also joining the field of GT7 cars is the 2026 Afeela 1, the first electric vehicle to hit the road by joint-venture Sony Honda Mobility. Wisely, it appears in the game on behalf of Sony Interactive Entertainment, presumably to generate greater publicity.

But the Renault Avantime remains a cult classic for its eccentric design. It didn’t resonate with buyers when it was new, resulting in low production numbers between 2001 and 2003. Around 8,500 were made, with some making their way to Canada thanks to the 15-year import rule.

We Americans don’t have to wait much longer, though, as the current 25-year law means Avantimes can be imported starting in 2026. For now, Gran Turismo 7 will have to do.

ChatGPT in Xcode provides two model choices. “GPT-5” is
optimized for quick, high-quality results, and should work well
for most coding tasks. For difficult tasks, choose “GPT-5
(Reasoning)“, which spends more time thinking before responding,
and can provide more accurate results for complex coding tasks.

In the OpenAI API, “GPT-5” corresponds to the “minimal”
reasoning level, and “GPT-5 (Reasoning)” corresponds to the
“low” reasoning level. (159135374)