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Amazon’s Prime Day 2025 sales event is almost here and there are already early-bird deals to be found on chargers and power banks. This year, Prime Day runs from July 8 through July 11, and will include some great bargains. So, whether you’re looking to snag a travel-friendly pocket charger or upgrade to a high-capacity drive, there is no better time to get discounted chargers and power banks. You’ll need to be a Prime member to take advantage of Amazon’s steep discounts. If you aren’t a member already, check out our guide for how to get Amazon Prime for free. As a tech editor, I’ve been following and writing about the latest tech deals professionally for years, and have developed a keen eye for finding the best sales from all over the internet. My picks take into account a combination of online reviews from tech sites like PCWorld (when available), user feedback, and pricing history. Read on for all of the best deals on chargers and power banks, and be sure to check out our Amazon Prime Day Tech Deals 2025 hub for more great sales across all the tech categories. Best early Prime Day 2025 deals on chargers & power banks Anker 622 MagGo, 5,000 mAh/1x USB-C/Magsafe-compatible, $33.99 (29% off on Amazon) Blavor Solar Charger Power Bank, 10,000 mAh/2x USB-C/1x USB-A, $23.99 (40% off on Amazon) Anker 621 MagGo, 5,000 mAh/1x USB-C/Magsafe-compatible, $31.99 (20% off on Amazon) Anker Nano 3-in-1 Portable Charger, 10,000 mAh/1x USB-C/Wall plug, $34.99 (22% off on Amazon) INIU Portable Charger, 10,000 mAh/2x USB-A/1x USB-C, $17.99 (18% off on Amazon) Charmast Portable Charger, 10,000 mAh/2x USB-A/1x USB-C/1x micro-USB/1x Lightning, $19.99 (33% off on Amazon) OHOVIV Portable Charger, 50,000 mAh/2x USB-A/1x USB-C/1x micro-USB, $34.99 (83% off on Amazon) LoveLedi Portable Charger, 40,000 mAh/2x USB-A/1x USB-C, $20.15 (28% off on Amazon) This Prime Day 2025 early deals are already heating up. The Anker 622 MagGo Battery for $14 off on Amazon is a personal favorite thanks to its charging stand as well as its Magsafe charging compatibility for convenient on-the-go charging. If you need something rugged and reliable that you can bring on even the harshest of adventures, then look no further than the Blavor Solar Charger Power Bank on sale for $17 off on Amazon. This absolute tank of a power bank can recharge without the need for an outlet thanks to its built-in solar panel, and its IPX5 waterproof rating. FAQ 1. What should I look for in a portable charger and power bank? Quality can differ greatly among power banks, so it’s best to stick to recognizable brands like Anker, Mophie, Belkin, and the like. That said, there are a few things you should always look for when shopping for a power bank. First, make sure the battery pack is Quick Charge 2.0, 3.0, or PD certified. Next, don’t put too much confidence in a company’s claims that it can charge certain devices in a specific amount of time, such as the pack can charge an iPhone 15 in two hours. Focus more on the battery capacity, along with weight and size. Larger capacities in the 20,000 mAh or higher range should be enough for most small devices such as tablets or smartphones. Finally, make sure that the power bank comes with all of the correct connectivity options you need—USB-A or USB-C, etc. 2. What battery capacity should I look for in a charger? For a portable power bank that you can easily travel with, you should look for a minimum of 10,000 mAh. Most models these days even offer 20,000 mAh for reasonable prices. The more mAh, the better. Just be sure to weigh your capacity needs against the physical size of the power bank. Generally, the more mAh a power bank has, the larger its physical size and the heavier it is, as well. Therefore, we recommend when looking at a power bank, you first consider the amount of power you need to charge your devices, and then adjust your expectations according to the size and weight you are willing to carry around with you. 3. What is mAh capacity? The mAh (milliampere per hour) capacity rating refers to the available storage capacity for a battery. A higher number means that the battery can store more energy and has a longer battery life when charging a device. So for example, an iPhone 13 Pro Max’s battery is rated at 4,352 mAh. This means that a power bank with 10,000 mAh can fully recharge that phone a little over twice before running out of power. 4. Will tariffs affect portable charger and power bank prices? Yes, it’s likely that any tariffs on foreign imported power bank products or their component are going to lead to an increase in prices for the consumer. Many of the most common portable charger and power bank brands are located in, or are produced in China and other various Asian countries facing heavy tariffs. Since companies typically don’t want, or can’t afford, to eat these increased costs they usually shift the burden to consumers. At this point it’s still hard to tell how much prices will increase; just because a 20% tariff is imposed on a country’s goods doesn’t mean power banks and chargers will become that much more expensive. Every company will adjust prices differently and products with individual battery components—included in power banks—will vary due to the tariff effects on each component. 5. Is now a good time to buy a portable charger or power bank? The prospect of tariff-induce price increases may seem daunting, but I believe the timing on this Prime Day may actually make for a great time to buy a new portable charger or power bank so long as you time it right. Currently, tariffs have been paused until July 9 with many countries scrambling to make deals exempting technology products. This means that you might have a small window to get in and snag a good deal on a power bank during Prime Day before any additional tariffs take effect. Read...

Every year, we look forward to July because it brings Amazon’s annual Prime Day with it—and that means deep, delicious discounts for all kinds of tech. Right now, we’re still a few days away from the big event (which runs July 8-11), but we’re already seeing some killer early Prime Day flash drive deals. Everyone needs a great USB flash drive, and Prime Day is an excellent time to grab one for cheap. I’ve been a journalist for 19 years, with 13 of those years focused on consumer technology. I love sifting through deals and spend every day hunting down the very best sales on the very best tech. With Prime Day, I’m exercising those muscles to help you find the best USB thumb drives worth your money. These hand-curated recommendations take price, reviews, and brand reputation into consideration. Best early Prime Day deals on 64GB to 256GB flash drives Samsung Fit Plus, 128GB, USB 3.1 — $15 (35% off, was $23) SanDisk Ultra, 128GB, USB 3.0 — $12 (23% off, was $15.49) Samsung Type-C, 128GB, USB 3.2 — $18 (22% off, was $23) Lexar JumpDrive Dual, 128GB, USB 3.2 — $19 (14% off, was $22) Amazon Basics, 256GB, USB 3.1 — $11 (45% off, was $20) PNY Turbo Attache 3, 256GB, USB 3.0 — $11 (45% off, was $20) Samsung Bar Plus, 256GB, USB 3.1 — $22 (45% off, was $40) Kingston DataTraveler Kyson, 256GB, USB 3.2 — $25 (15% off, was $30) PNY Elite-X Fit, 256GB, USB 3.1 — $23 (12% off, was $26) The best deal of the lot is for the Samsung Bar Plus, where you can get 256GB of storage space for just $22. This is a super-fast flash drive that can reach up to 400 MB/s transfer speeds, comes with a rugged metal casing, and is even waterproof and shockproof. If you want a more affordable option, the Amazon Basics for $11 is a decent cheapie. Best early Prime Day deals on 512GB to 2TB flash drives SanDisk Ultra Flair, 512GB, USB 3.0 — $37 (21% off, was $47) Samsung Fit Plus, 512GB, USB 3.2 — $60 (25% off, was $80) PNY Pro Elite V3, 512GB, USB 3.2 — $54 (11% off, was $61) SanDisk Ultra Fit, 512GB, USB 3.2 — $40 (20% off, was $50) SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive Go, 1TB, USB 3.2, both USB-A and USB-C connections — $74 (32% off, was $110) SanDisk Extreme Pro, 1TB, USB 3.2 — $110 (25% off, was $145) A superb pick off this list is the Ultra Dual Drive Go from SanDisk. This is a flash drive with both USB-C and USB-A connectors, thus it’s a lot more versatile. It can reach up to 400 MB/s read speeds, too! USB flash drive deals FAQs 1. What capacity do I need in a USB flash drive? This is a question that you need to answer yourself because it really depends on what you plan to use it for. If you’re only moving work documents around, a small capacity like 64GB will be fine. If you want to use a flash drive for backing up photos, videos, games, and other big files, then you might want to go 512GB or larger. 2. What features should I prioritize when choosing a USB flash drive? First of all, our recommendation is to look at the flash drive’s transfer speeds. To ensure you get fast read/write speeds, you should get a USB 3.0 or above. USB 2.x drives are sorely outdated. Then, you have to make sure the flash drive can survive living in your pocket, getting crushed by your laptop, falling through your fingers, and so on. Aluminum casings will offer better protection in such cases. If the flash drive offers 128-bit AES encryption or better, your data will also have some extra protection in case you lose it, as the drive will be inaccessible and block out others from reading your data. 3. How did we find the best USB flash drive Prime Day deals? Finding great deals can be difficult because not all discounts are worth covering. When looking for good Prime Day deals, we compare the prices on Amazon with the regular retail price and check pricing history to see if there have been any changes lately and that the price drops are truly noteworthy. We also check product reviews to see if they’re reliable in the long run and live up to their promises. Read...

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At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Excellent benchmark performance PCIe 5.0 Less power draw than the T705 Reasonably priced for the category Cons Note quite as fast in the real world as some others Our Verdict With less power draw and better benchmark results, Crucial’s T710 is a worthy new member of the company’s NVMe SSD lineup. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Crucial’s T710 is a very fast addition to a worthy stable of NVMe SSDs from the company. It’s marginally faster than the older T705, though it didn’t beat out its sibling in every test. What are the Crucial T710’s features? The Crucial T710 sports 232-layer Micron TLC NAND which is handled by a new Silicon Motion SM2508 controller. Being a single-sided 2280 (22 mm wide, 80 mm long), PCIe 5.0, NVMe 2.0 SSD, it’s suitable for just about any Windows PC or laptop. Peeling back the label on our 2TB test drive revealed a single Micron SDRAM which according to Crucial is 2GB on our drive as well as the 1TB model, with 4GB on the 4TB capacity. The T710 installed in our new Z890 test bed. We don’t measure power draw, but Crucial claims a 24% reduction in power use compared to the older Phison-based T705 — always good news for laptop users. That said, there are still a lot of other power hungry components in the laptop battery life calculation, so don’t expect miracles from an upgrade. Crucial warranties the T710 for five years and 600TBW (TeraBytes that my be Written before read-only) per Terabyte of capacity. That means you can write about that much data before the drive won’t let you write anymore — theoretically. In practice, SSDs track the number of worn-out cells and the spares available to replace them, then go read-only when the latter run out. The TBW rating is just an estimate of when that will occur, and is basically linked to the warranty so that consumer-priced SSDs aren’t used in high-volume servers that run them dry in less than the warranty period. How much is the Crucial T710? Like its older T705 brother the T710 is available with or without a heatsink. For the 1TB version the different versions cost $199.99/$179.99 respectively, for the 2TB it’s $299.99/$279.99, and for the 4TB $569.99/$549.99. Those prices are about average for a DRAM-endowed PCIe 5.0 MVMe SSD. Crucial did not send me a version with the heatsink, but if it’s anything like the ones that shipped with the T705 – it’s beefy indeed. The majority of users will not need the heat sink, but if you’re one that does rest assured, this one will do the job. How fast is the Crucial T710? As a successor to one of the fastest PCIe SSDs we’ve tested (it was fastest at its test date), the T705, we were expecting great things from the T710. Well.. depending on the test, it’s a bit greater — or not quite as great. Note that we have revamped our test bed, and to some extent our testing MO, so these numbers are only directly comparable to the drives listed in these charts. Older results are ballpark so not completely out of line for comparison purposes. According to CrystalDiskMark 8, the T710 offers a nice improvement in sustained throughput over the older T705 — especially with only a single queue, which is still what Windows uses for file transfers. The T710 ruled in the CrystalDiskMark 8 sequential tests, only lagging slightly behind the Samsung 9100 Pro in multi-queue reading — something most software doesn’t do. Longer bars are better. The Crucial T710’s single-queue random performance is also slightly improved over the T705, which is again, the most important test as regards current Windows. But multi-queue performance is a bit weaker, which might show up in programs that use their own multi-threaded I/O. As Windows uses a single-queue for most transfers, we’ll call this a slight win for the T710 over the competition, though we would like to see better multi-queue performance. Longer bars are better. The T710 improved in Windows Explorer over the T705, but was slower in most of the other tests which now include DiskBench and the command line Xcopy run in batch files. If these results seem very close — they are. To the point where they’re not particularly useful for comparing drives, only to see what performance is like in real life transfers. XC is xcopy, DB is DiskBench, and the last four are Windows Explorer drag and drop. Faster in some transfer, slower in others, the T710 in the real world is hard to tell from other DRAM PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSDs. EX is Explorer, DB is DiskBench, XC is Xcopy. Shorter bars are better. Where the Crucial T710 proved a disappointment was in the 450GB write, which we now perform with Windows Explorer, DiskBench, Xcopy, and FastCopy. All four showed the drive lagging behind both the T705 and Samsung 9100 Pro in this test. The 450GB write was a bit of disappointment for the T710. It doesn’t match the CrystalDiskMark 8 sequential ratings. Shorter bars are better. All in all, the T710 is a very good performer, though not the best of the PCIe 5.0 lot for large file transfers. Some current technology notes: the Z890/Intel Core Ultra combo we now use is found to be less adept at PCIe M.2 NVMe than the older Z790. Because of this, we use adapter cards in the PCIe 5.0 slots for testing. Should I buy the T710? Yes, it’s a very fast SSD. But it’s not the fastest and not a huge improvement over the T705. In short, either the Crucial T705 or this newer T710 will do nicely. Base any buying decision on price — the performance difference between DRAM-based PCIe 5.0 SSDs simply isn’t all that significant. How we test Drive tests currently utilize Windows 11 24H2, 64-bit running off of a PCIe 4.0 Samsung 990 Pro in an Asus Z890-Creator WiFi (PCIe 4.0/5.0) motherboard. The CPU is a Core Ultra i5 225 feeding/fed by two Kingston Fury 32GB DDR5 4800MHz modules (64GB of memory total). Both 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 5 are integrated and Intel CPU/GPU graphics are used. SSDs involved in the test are mounted in a HighPoint 7604A 16x PCIe 5.0 adapter card. We run the CrystalDiskMark 8, AS SSD 2, and ATTO 4 synthetic benchmarks to find the storage device’s potential performance, then a series of 48GB and 450GB transfers tests using Windows Explorer drag and drop, DiskBench, Xcopy, and FastCopy to show what you’ll actually see under Windows as well as what’s possible. The 48GB transfer tests utilize an USFMount RAM disk taking up 58GB of the 64GB of total memory. The 450GB file is transferred from a 2TB Samsung 9100 Pro. Each test is performed on a newly NTFS-formatted and TRIM’d drive so the results are optimal. Note that in normal use, as a drive fills up, performance may decrease due to less NAND for secondary caching, as well as other factors. This can be less of a factor with the current crop of SSDs with far faster late-generation NAND. Caveat: The performance numbers shown apply only to the drive we were shipped and to the capacity tested. SSD performance can and will vary by capacity due to more or fewer chips to shotgun reads/writes across and the amount of NAND available for secondary caching. Vendors also occasionally swap components. If you ever notice a large discrepancy between the performance you experience and that which we report, by all means, let us know. Read...

Have you got your heart set on a new computing life with Linux when Windows 10 bites the dust in October? It’s a noble idea, but Linux has its downsides too. For some users those downsides may be par for course. But for others, they’ll be total dealbreakers. Here’s a list of the most common to help you make up your own mind… 1. Software and driver compatibility is lacking There’s no denying that there are compatibility limitations with Linux that you won’t see with Windows. These issues affect software but also drivers. Take software as an example. Linux forums users are often miffed that common Windows software like Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite aren’t fully compatible with Linux. There are workarounds to using these programs, of course, but they require a little tinkering. Driver incompatibility issues are another common complaint, especially the lack of support by manufacturers for GPU drivers. It seems illogical but GPU drivers aren’t always installed on some Linux distros (the different distributions of the Linux OS) when you first install your system, since standard GPU drivers are closed-source. Lack of driver support can be a big letdown for gamers especially, some of whom complain about acceleration issues with Nvidia graphics cards on Linux systems. (AMD’s Radeon group is better with this.) The driver issue is also a bummer if you want to deck out your Linux PC with cool peripherals. That’s because manufacturers of peripheral devices like printers and headsets don’t always provide driver support for Linux. Linux users often have to rely on open-source drivers to get them to work, for better or for worse. MSI 2. Rolling updates to distros can cause instability issues If you’re looking for a seamless OS user experience, Linux currently isn’t it. Updates to Linux distros often cause instability and breakages in tools and extensions that Linux users rely on. That’s because of the way Linux distros are updated. Instead of having comprehensive new version releases every year or so a la Windows, which tend to be a little more thoroughly tested (but not perfect), Linux distros tend to have a lot of rolling updates that aren’t anywhere near as fine-tuned. Understandably, these bugs can cause big disruptions. One recent update for the Linux distro Ubuntu broke Gnome’s Shell extensions. Gnome is an open-source desktop environment for Linux whose updates are usually bundled as part of Ubuntu updates. In 2024 an update to Gnome 46 led to widespread breakages in third-party shell extensions including important productivity tools, which left many users without the applications they count on every day. Dominic Bayley / Foundry 3. Some triple-A games aren’t supported Some big-name developers don’t provide support for their games to run natively on Linux, which means there’s currently fewer triple-A games available to play right now than there are on Windows. ProtonDB’s website (the community website for Valve’s Proton technology, which allows Windows games to run on Linux and the Steam Deck) reports that about 70 percent of triple-A games available on Windows are currently playable on Linux. Some of those unsupported games are big names, too. The multiplayer game Fortnite, for instance, isn’t playable on Linux unless it’s being played through a cloud gaming service like GeForce Now. Admittedly, that figure is a lot better than it used to be just a few years ago, when there were only a handful of triple-A games playable on Linux. Thanks, Steam Deck! One roadblock to getting even more games on Linux is the problem Linux has with anti-cheat software. On Windows, anti-cheat software — like Epic’s Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) — prevents players cheating in multiplayer games by blocking them at the grassroots file level. Yet these anti-cheat programs don’t work on Linux, which means the games either aren’t unplayable, or aren’t playable without special workarounds — and those workarounds can sometimes get you banned. There has been speculation that Microsoft is working on a fix that will mean Windows games won’t need a special workaround for kernel-level anti-cheat software on Linux, but we have yet to see it happen. Dominic Bayley / Foundry 4. Game performance isn’t guaranteed If you’re super proud of your PC’s performance in a certain triple-A game — say, Cyberpunk 2077 — that cozy experience may be upended on Linux. Why? Because it’s common for game performance to be different on Linux than it is on Windows. That’s certainly the case for Cyberpunk 2077 which some Linux gamers have said is “unplayable,” others that they get “lower FPS on Linux than they get on Windows.” Still, that’s just one game. That’s not to say every triple-A game performs poorly on Linux. In fact, it’s sometimes the case that games perform better on Linux than they do on Windows. The point is, you can’t expect like-for-like performance, so keep that in mind before switching to Linux just to play a specific game. IDG 5. Linux has a steeper learning curve Linux often requires more tinkering than Windows or MacOS for a smooth user experience. It’s subjective, and people will have their own views and experiences, but it’s true in the sense that sometimes installing software or configuring settings on Linux requires the use of a command-line interface instead of the less intimidating graphical user interface (GUI). On Windows, you have the option of typing commands at the command prompt, but it’s not mandatory — you can still do most tasks via Windows’ GUI. Some users will get a kick out of learning the old-school commands for Linux. Others, not so much, so it’s worth considering that point before making the switch. get windows 11 pro for cheap Windows 11 Pro Read...

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I don’t know how your tech drawers look, but mine are filled with wires I’ll likely never use again because technology has advanced quite a bit. Thankfully, USB-C seems to be here to stay since there is no wrong way to plug these things in. It’s not just smartphones, tablets, and laptops that use these, however, but also a long list of gadgets. We’ve scoured the market for hidden gems: gadgets that will make you think “Wow, I didn’t know I needed that, but it will make my life so much easier!” So, let’s dive in and see what cool devices you’ll be able to use your type-C cables and ports with. Wowstick 1F+ mini electric screwdriver Wowstick If you often have to fiddle around with your computer or other gadgets, this Wowstick mini electric screwdriver may be just what you need. This pen-shaped screwdriver features three LED lights so it’s easier to see what you’re working on and rotates 200 times per minute so you can finish the job faster. The screwdriver has a stylish base so you can hold it on your desk, and a whole collection of 56 aluminum alloy bits. The screwdriver can be charged via USB-C and it can last for hours. This super fun electric screwdriver usually goes for $41. Anker Nano Power Bank Anker One thing you need to have in you bag/pocket/backpack is a power bank because you never really know when your phone will fail you and cry for a recharge. Well, the Anker Nano power bank is tiny enough to fit just about anywhere. It comes with a foldable USB-C connector and a port on the side so you can charge two devices at once if you need to. The 5,000mAh capacity is just about enough for a full phone recharge, so it will be great in a pinch. It’s also only $30, but we’ve seen it as low as $16. Endoscope camera with light Ennovor Although it’s not something you’ll use every day, this Ennover endoscope camera can definitely come in handy. You just plug it in your phone, install and app, and see everything your camera does. Our team swears by it, using it for finding whatever they dropped behind the desk, while working on the car, or looking for pipe leaks. Since it has an IP67 rating, you can even plop it in your aquarium. The camera comes with a 16.4ft semi-rigid cable and several accessories, including a hook, magnet, and a mirror. You can get this one for $23 right now. Blukar flashlight Blukar I don’t care who you are—you need a flashlight. The smaller, the better, because you get to shove it into any pocket. This model from Blukar comes with a built-in 1800mAh battery that you’ll recharge with one of those many type-C cables you have in that tech drawer we were talking about. It can work for up to 16 hours on a single charge, which is pretty decent. There are four different lightning modes to cycle through, including one that will help you signal for help. Plus, one of these is only $10, so no excuse to pass on this one. Heat It insect bite healer Anyone plagued by mosquitoes in the summer will be particularly pleased with this ingenious gadget. This tiny device, which can be easily connected to your smartphone via USB-C, can significantly reduce the itching of bites and stings with targeted heat. You simply charge the small Heat It bite healer via the app and then hold it on the bite. The heat then does the rest, breaking down the proteins in the mosquito bite that cause the area to swell, itch, and hurt. A true must-have for summer, and it costs only $20. A tiny air pump Also perfect for summer is this small air pump from Cycplus, which fits in any bag while on the go. Not only can it inflate a bicycle tire in two minutes at the touch of a button, but it’s also USB-charged. According to the manufacturer, it’s suitable for mountain bikes, road bikes, motorcycles, and even cars! In addition to being an air pump, this practical gadget can also be used as a flashlight or power bank for on-the-go use — all things that come in very handy on a bike ride. And at just $57, it’s highly recommended if you need quick help with a flat tire. USB-C mini fan These little fans are also pretty ingenious; you can easily carry them in your pocket in the summer and quickly use them whenever you need them. Anyone who’s ever sat on a crowded subway train in 30-degree heat and wished for at least a little fresh air will love this gadget. The mini fan, which costs just $20, has a USB-C port and can be easily powered by power banks, computers, laptops, or USB chargers. There are even smaller and cheaper fans available that can be connected directly to your phone, costing under $10 each. But these also provide less powerful airflow, so we recommend the standalone version. Reading light with a book clamp Anyone who enjoys reading a lot, sometimes late into the night, will appreciate this little gadget: a reading lamp that you can simply clip onto your book. It may not be groundbreaking, but with a total of three color temperatures and five different light modes, you can individually adjust how much light you need for reading. The Gritin reading lamp costs just $15 on Amazon and features a 1200 mAh battery that lasts up to 80 hours depending on usage. Afterward, you can easily recharge it via USB. You can swivel the neck of the lamp back and forth as desired, and there’s even a small charging indicator. What more could you want? Samsung flash drive Samsung The vast majority of flash drives have a USB-A connector, but this one from Samsung has a Type-C connector. With transfer speeds of up to 400MB/s, you’ll move files around in no time. The beauty of this thumb drive is that you can even pop it in your smartphone to record 4K vids directly on it. The Samsung Type-C flash drive comes in multiple storage options, starting at 64GB and up to 512GB and they start at $14. The 256GB version, for instance, is $27 at the time of writing. Editor’s note: This article was originally published on May 16, but was updated to include additional devices. Read...

The 2025 school year may be ending, but students who return in the fall will have a new AI tutor: Google Gemini for Education. At the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference, Google launched its new AI teaching tool. “Gemini for Education provides default access to our premium AI models, soon with significantly higher limits than what consumers get at no cost, plus enterprise-grade data protection and an admin-managed experience as a core Workspace service — all included in your Workspace for Education plan free of charge,” Google said. Google is pitching the ability for educators to roll their own “Gems,” or AI experts, which can help students learn new concepts. Google NotebookLM also provides a repository for students to upload documents into and then hear an audio summary, via Audio Overviews. Google recently added Video Overviews, too, which adds a visual element. Google Gemini for Education will be free, though Google is offering a paid Google Workspace with Gemini add-on for $18 per user per month, though with some educational discounts. That program includes the ability to include some 8-second video clips using the Veo 3 text-to-video generator, which will help teachers up their meme game to connect with kids. Of course, there’s a bit of irony in all of this, since teachers are mortally afraid of AI’s ability to help their students cheat — even as they don’t want to deny them the ability to use it, either. It’s a big moral quandary, especially when it comes to testing. The upshot last year was that teachers might use AI to teach, but the safest way to avoid AI cheating was to go back to pen and paper at test time. Gemini will get its own tab in Google Classroom.Google Google, meanwhile, seems to want to make AI as ubiquitous as a laptop. We’ll see what happens in the fall. Read...

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