Hardware & Devices
My brief romance with an AI bird feeder
It started off promising enough. Dozens of tiny, colorful birds were drawn to my garden just a few weeks after I mounted a $350 $269 Kiwibit Bird Feeder 2 Pro. "Looks like Great T…
Google teases its new 'Fitbit Edge' wearable ahead of an October 12 reveal
Google has seemingly confirmed the rumored "Fitbit Edge" with social media posts teasing a new wearable coming October 12.
Decade-old RAM is making a comeback
CPU makers have noticed that the seemingly unending RAM price hikes are making it tough for a lot of us to upgrade our PCs. Their solution? A return to last-gen DDR4 RAM. Intel an…
Flock Safety is reportedly planning major layoffs now that everyone hates it
Morale at one of the most reviled companies in America appears to be at an all time low.
Anthropic’s AI gave Philadelphia police a fake tip about an unsolved homicide
An Anthropic AI model provided false information about an unsolved homicide to a Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) tipline, according to a report from 6abc. In a statement rele…
An Anthropic model submitted a false homicide tip to Philadelphia police
Thankfully, it does not seem to have diverted police resources.
Ohio blogger found guilty of harassment for sending Shrek nude to senator
A jury found an Ohio political blogger guilty of telecommunications harassment after he sent an explicit image of Shrek to a Republican state senator. On Friday, a judge ordered D…
‘Pure insanity’: Mathematicians will need years to make sense of OpenAI’s latest drop
"Staggering." "Overwhelming." "Unprecedented." "Surreal." "Pure insanity." Those were among the descriptions more than three dozen mathematicians reached for in conversations with…
Brendan Carr says he’ll let Pete Hegseth decide whether TV networks can air the public execution
FCC chairman Brendan Carr said he will defer to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on whether TV networks can air the planned execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan b…
Nikon microscopic video competition winner disqualified for using generative AI
Nikon says the video that originally won first place in its Small World in Motion contest "did not comply with the competition rules regarding generative AI." BBC reports that the…
Google teases Fitbit Edge launch next week
It looks like Google is getting ready to take the wraps off its rumored Fitbit Edge next Monday. In a post on X, Google posted a picture of what appears to be the side of the fitn…
Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar review: A great home theater option all by itself
Bose's latest soundbar pulls double duty as both a TV and music speaker. Plus, it doesn't need a separate subwoofer for adequate bass.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is down to $950 after Prime Day
Amazon has the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra in black with 256GB of storage discounted to $949.99, a healthy discount from its usual price of $1,399.99. This phone’s standout feature i…
Amazon’s new Kindles appear to have a light leak problem
Some users are reporting that the new Kindles have a light leak issue that is especially apparent when using dark mode. The latest base-model Kindles have a flush bezel that gives…
Intel is reportedly launching new CPUs on old sockets that support DDR4 memory
If you guessed the RAMpocalypse is involved...
What it's like to spend a night in a Pebble Flow EV RV
Staying in the tech-infused trailer can kind of feel like being in a spaceship - in a good way.
Microsoft tries to spark new life into Windows
When Microsoft released Windows 11 five years ago, it felt like an operating system that was still being renovated, a work in progress. You'd think by now that those renovations w…
Frances Haugen hopes The Social Reckoning will inspire more whistleblowers
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen was mostly unfazed watching Oscar-winning actress Mikey Madison play a character named after her in The Social Reckoning, except for one thin…
Apple and LG leak shows new ‘tap to control’ HomeKit features
A post on X from "pdfu," who has previously posted leaks and renders of suspected Apple features and LG smart home gear, shows new details of rumored Apple Home accessories from L…
YouTube, Meta, and Twitch won’t say if they’ll allow the US government to live stream an execution
YouTube, Twitch, Meta, and X aren't saying whether they'll allow the US government to livestream an execution on their platforms. The four companies didn't respond to The Verge's …
The AI is in the computer
It's gadget season, and a lot of companies are launching a lot of new products. But whether it's Microsoft dropping a high-end laptop, Amazon shipping a fancy Android tablet, or A…
Trump’s attempt to rename AI is looking awfully artificial
President Donald Trump has a knack for turning words against his enemies. His first successful presidential run was built on monikers like "Little Marco" and "Crooked Hillary"; he…
Instinct was the buzziest AI agent around — can it survive Muse?
Before there were cute little guys, there was Instinct. In August, the startup got its AI agent to market with an unusual playbook: invite-only, no marketing, and barely so much a…
A week with Googlebooks: four notes from our testing so far
Google's new operating system is off to a rocky start. The five newly launched Googlebook laptops have hardware that ranges from great to excellent, but the software in its curren…