Topic: consumer tech
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Nothing Phone 3A: Community-Designed with Colorful Style & Dice
The Nothing Phone 3A Community Edition features a vibrant, 90s-inspired teal design with colorful accents and includes a unique accessory: limited edition dice in a matching case. This exclusive model, limited to 1,000 units globally, results from a community design contest where a winning concep...
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Anker's 3-Port Charger Is Only $35 - Compact & Powerful
The Anker Prime 67W charger is a compact, powerful solution that balances power, portability, and price, replacing multiple bulky chargers for travelers. It features two USB-C ports and one USB-A port, delivering 67 watts to efficiently charge devices like laptops and smartphones simultaneously. ...
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The Hidden Cost of a "Free" TV
Telly offers a free television funded by continuous advertisements, but user experiences reveal the ads are more intrusive than expected, changing the viewing environment. The device includes a second screen dedicated solely to commercials and an AI-generated newscast at startup, raising question...
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Best of IFA 2025: Top Laptops, Monitors & Gaming Handhelds
IFA 2025 highlighted innovative computing and gaming hardware, including flexible laptops and high-speed monitors, blending performance with practical design. Artificial intelligence was a dominant theme, integrated into various products like laptop docks and home appliances, alongside tangible, ...
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India Mandates Preinstalled Government App on Phones
India's telecom authority mandates that all smartphones sold in the country must come preloaded with the government's Sanchar Saathi app, designed for device security and fraud reporting, and prevents users from removing it. Major manufacturers like Apple and Samsung have 90 days to comply, pushi...
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Aqara's $99 Smart Lock: A Stylish, Budget-Friendly Pick
The Aqara B50 Smart Lock is an affordable $99.99 device that offers multiple unlocking methods, including passcodes, voice commands, smartphone control, and a physical key, without requiring an additional hub. It features versatile PIN management with options for temporary, scheduled, or permanen...
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Apple Podcasts Now Auto-Generates Links & Chapters
Apple Podcasts is introducing automated chapter generation and timed episode links in the iOS 26.2 update to improve navigation and listener interaction. Automated chapters will structure episodes into segments for English-language shows unless creators manually add their own, with options to opt...
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Samsung Internet Browser Is Coming to PC
Samsung is launching a beta version of its mobile browser for desktop computers in the U.S. and South Korea, enabling seamless synchronization of bookmarks, passwords, and browsing history across devices. The desktop browser includes AI-powered "browsing assist" for webpage summaries and translat...
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Nike's First 'Powered Footwear' Is an E-Bike for Your Feet
Nike has launched Project Amplify, the world's first powered footwear system that uses a lightweight robotic framework to enhance walking and running speed for everyday users. Developed with robotics firm Dephy, the system acts like extra calf muscles to help people move farther with less effort,...
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New Echo Devices Come with Alexa Plus Pre-Installed
Amazon is shipping new Echo and Fire TV devices with Alexa Plus pre-installed, expanding access to the previously invite-only AI assistant in the U.S. Alexa Plus introduces "agentic" functions for tasks like reservations and rides, improved memory, and natural conversational interaction without n...
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Amazon's 2025 Event: Top 8 Reveals You Need to See
Amazon unveiled a major refresh of its hardware ecosystem, featuring smarter devices with enhanced AI capabilities, including upgraded Echo Show smart displays with improved cameras and the new Alexa Plus assistant. The company introduced premium audio options like the Echo Dot Max and Echo Studi...
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I Tried the Free Ad-Supported Telly TV for 3 Months
Telly offers a free 55-inch television with a secondary screen that displays constant ads, news, and widgets, which cannot be turned off and requires users to accept ongoing promotions in exchange for the device. The TV collects personal data, including viewing habits and room occupancy, raising ...
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Bang & Olufsen's New Earbuds Cost More Than an iPhone
Bang & Olufsen's Beo Grace earbuds are priced at $1,500, targeting the ultra-luxury market with a flashy aluminum design and advanced active noise cancellation. They feature 12mm titanium drivers, Dolby Atmos support, and innovative NearTap technology for touch-free volume control, but offer only...
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Ecovacs Robovac Cleans Nonstop with Rapid Charging
The Ecovacs Deebot X11 Omnicyclone features a GaN-based fast charging system that allows it to recharge quickly during mop rinses, enabling uninterrupted cleaning sessions. It offers strong suction power of 19,500Pa, an upgraded roller mop for deep cleaning, and a 4WD system that navigates variou...
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Google's New Android Look Expands to More Pixel Phones
Google's Material 3 Expressive design update expands to Pixel 6 series and newer models, introducing a more customizable and playful interface with features like personalized call screens. The update enhances Pixel Buds Pro 2 with Adaptive Audio, hearing protection, and gesture-based call control...
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The Rise of Online Puzzle Games: Why They're Dominating Now
Online puzzle games have gained widespread popularity as a mentally stimulating and satisfying pastime for millions of people. Puzzle experts Simon Anthony and Mark Goodliffe discuss solving complex, human-crafted puzzles and the appeal of their problem-solving process on their YouTube channel. M...
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Amazon's 'Help Me Decide' Button Uses AI to Simplify Shopping
Amazon has launched a "Help me decide" AI feature that uses personal shopping data like browsing history and past purchases to recommend tailored products when comparing similar items. This tool is part of Amazon's broader AI integration in shopping, which includes assistants like Rufus, AI-gener...
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Unlock the MLB App's Secret Weapon: The 30-Second Delay
The author switched to streaming radio broadcasts for baseball games after cutting cable, but live score notifications from the MLB app often spoiled key moments by arriving before the delayed audio feed. A solution was found within the app's settings: a toggle that delays all score notifications...
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Meta Quest Unveils All-in-One Movie & TV Streaming Hub
Meta has launched Horizon TV, a unified streaming hub for its Quest headset that integrates major platforms like Prime Video, Disney Plus, and Hulu to simplify content discovery in VR. The new interface features personalized suggestions and organized categories, with partnerships including Univer...
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Google's Discover Feed Now Includes X and Instagram Posts
Google Discover is expanding to include content from social networks like YouTube Shorts, Instagram, and X, making the feed more dynamic and personalized. Users will gain greater control over their feed, including the ability to follow specific creators or publishers and preview content before ch...
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Your Robot Is Getting Its Own AI Assistant
The Vergecast highlights innovative tech from a Berlin trade show, including robot vacuums that can climb stairs and upgraded Philips Hue motion-sensing lights requiring a new hub. The episode discusses the Google antitrust trial, where the judge's remedies have faced widespread dissatisfaction a...
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My Week with Trump Mobile: A Real-World Test
The wireless service performed well technically, offering strong 5G coverage and reliable data speeds in Seattle, even surpassing the reviewer's personal Verizon plan in some cases. The user experience was marred by a persistent feeling of unease due to the politically charged "Trump" brand ident...
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Fujifilm X Half Finally Drops to Its True Value Price
The Fujifilm X Half has become more appealing with a price drop from $849.95 to $649, making it a better value for photography enthusiasts seeking a unique experience. It features a retro design with a one-inch sensor, fixed 32mm lens, and nostalgic elements like film simulations and manual film ...
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Disney Plus May Use AI to Create Videos
Disney is exploring AI integration for Disney Plus to enable user-generated short-form videos and enhance interactivity, signaling a strategic shift toward generative media. The streaming service added 1.5 million new North American subscribers last quarter, reaching 59.3 million total, despite r...
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Paramount+ Subscription Prices Rising in 2026
Paramount+ will increase subscription prices in early 2026, with the Essential plan rising from $7.99 to $8.99 and the Premium plan from $12.99 to $13.99 to reinvest in content and user experience. The price hike follows industry trends and aims to support growth, including a $7.7 billion deal fo...
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OpenAI's Sora App Now Available on Android
OpenAI has launched the Sora video generation app for Android, making it available in key markets like the U.S., Japan, and Korea through the Google Play Store. A new "character cameos" feature introduces reusable digital avatars that users can integrate into their video projects for enhanced cre...
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Windows 11's Vision Pro-style remote desktop launches on Quest 3
Microsoft's virtual desktop feature for Meta Quest headsets is now broadly available, enabling users to project their Windows 11 environment into mixed reality and transform multi-monitor setups into a curved ultrawide display. Setup requires downloading the Mixed Reality Link app on a Windows PC...
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Try On Shoes Virtually with Google's New AI
Google has introduced an AI feature enabling users to virtually try on shoes directly from search results, using a full-length photo to visualize footwear on their own feet. This technology digitally replaces the user's existing shoes in the image with new styles, eliminating the need for separat...
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Apple's Next-Gen Vision Pro Spotted in Regulatory Filing
A regulatory filing confirms Apple is developing a next-generation Vision Pro headset, maintaining Wi-Fi 6 compatibility and identified by model number A3416. The new model may feature an M5 processor for better performance and a redesigned head strap to improve comfort, with a potential release ...
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Microsoft Photos to Automatically Organize Your Images
Microsoft is testing a new AI feature for the Windows 11 Photos app that automatically organizes photos into folders, initially available to Insiders on Copilot Plus PCs. The AI sorts images by visual content, grouping receipts, screenshots, identity documents, and handwritten notes into categori...
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Apple Brings Health Features to Older Watch Models
Apple is expanding health features like hypertension alerts and Sleep Score to older Apple Watch models via watchOS 26, reducing the need for new hardware. The hypertension detection system uses existing sensors to monitor blood vessel response and will alert users to potential high blood pressur...
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EchoStar Sells $17B Satellite Spectrum to SpaceX in Landmark Deal
EchoStar has sold $17 billion in wireless spectrum licenses to SpaceX to enhance satellite-based cellular connectivity, including next-generation Starlink services. The sale, along with a previous $23 billion transaction, is expected to resolve an FCC inquiry into EchoStar's spectrum usage, promp...
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Spotify's AI Playlists Now Let You Control Your Algorithm
Spotify is launching a beta "Prompted Playlists" feature that uses AI to create custom playlists based on detailed user text prompts and listening history, starting in New Zealand. This tool offers more granular user control than existing features like Discover Weekly by allowing listeners to dir...
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Crucial Shuts Down as Micron Pivots to AI Memory Market
Micron Technology is discontinuing its budget-friendly Crucial brand to reallocate resources toward the high-demand AI sector, significantly reducing affordable memory options for consumers. The move worsens existing supply and price pressures for PC builders, as competition decreases and AI comp...
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Discover the Future in Palo Alto
The final StrictlyVC event of 2025 in Palo Alto showcases innovators like Nicholas Kelez, who is developing a particle accelerator-based alternative to costly semiconductor manufacturing lasers to bring production back to the U.S. Featured speakers include Mina Fahmi, co-creator of the Stream Rin...
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AI Agents Are Reshaping Your PC Experience
Microsoft is embedding AI agents directly into Windows, starting with the taskbar, which CEO Satya Nadella believes could fundamentally change device interaction and reduce user control over routine tasks. Technology analysts debated whether Microsoft's AI integration and Google's Gemini 3 model ...
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Gemini 3: Does It Live Up to Google's Hype?
Google's Gemini 3 Pro has been released, featuring enhanced logical reasoning, the ability to process multiple data types, and improved zero-shot generation for creating interactive visualizations and handling complex tasks. Real-world testing shows that while Gemini 3 can replicate core concepts...
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Mark Zuckerberg: AI Content Is Coming to Your Social Feeds
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to significantly increase AI-generated content across its platforms, integrating it into recommendation systems to simplify content creation and remixing. Zuckerberg described AI as central to the next phase of social media, following eras of content from ...
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The Hidden Flaws of AI Smart Home Assistants
Large language models are widely adopted for their versatility but often fail to meet high expectations in real-world applications, leaving users questioning their effectiveness. Despite significant investment, no company has perfected a reliable AI assistant, with current tools like ChatGPT offe...
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DirecTV to Launch AI-Powered Screensaver Ads
DirecTV is launching an AI-driven screensaver that turns idle screens into personalized, interactive shopping environments, developed with Glance for Gemini devices. The feature allows users to insert their likeness into AI-generated scenes via a QR code and mobile app, with customization through...
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Our Boldest Predictions on AI's Explosive Summer
The AI field is undergoing rapid growth with significant breakthroughs and investments, leading to intense discussions about its potential and ethical implications. AI companions and assistants are becoming culturally integrated, fostering emotional connections and altering how people seek and tr...
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Apple's Siri May Get an AI Upgrade Powered by Google
Apple is developing a major AI upgrade for Siri, potentially using Google's Gemini technology, to enhance its capabilities and compete in the digital assistant market. The upgrade will transform Siri into a more proactive tool with features like web content summarization, using a multi-layered ar...
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iPhone 17 Could Dethrone Samsung as Top Seller This Year
Apple is projected to surpass Samsung as the world's top smartphone manufacturer this year, with an estimated 243 million shipments giving it a slight market share lead. The iPhone 17 series drove this shift with a 12% sales increase in its first four weeks, aided by lower-than-expected tariffs b...
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Netflix Bets Big on Video Podcasts
Netflix is adding video podcasts to its platform through partnerships with Spotify’s podcast studio and The Ringer, featuring 16 series including popular sports and entertainment titles. The podcasts will stream without Netflix-inserted ads, though original ads from Spotify remain, and the servic...
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Amazon Prime Video Halts AI Recaps After Fallout Error
Amazon Prime Video removed its AI-generated recap feature after significant criticism over factual inaccuracies, particularly in its summary of *Fallout*, which contained errors about key story elements and timelines. The experimental Video Recaps tool used AI to create short video summaries with...
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NYT Sues Perplexity Over 'Verbatim' Copying of Articles
The New York Times has sued AI startup Perplexity, alleging its "answer engine" copies or closely mimics the newspaper's copyrighted articles, continuing a broader conflict between media and AI firms over content use. The lawsuit claims Perplexity's actions cause economic harm by creating substit...
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Apple Defies India's App Preinstall Order, Government Relents
The Indian government reversed a controversial mandate that would have forced smartphone makers to preinstall the state-backed Sanchar Saathi security app, following reports of Apple's refusal to comply. Officials framed the reversal as a response to the app's growing voluntary adoption, not ackn...
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The Perfect $349 Android Phone for Your Dad
The Google Pixel 9A is an ideal smartphone for parents, offering reliability, simplicity, and value at a sale price of $349, which matches its lowest ever. It features a durable design and dependable performance with a capable processor and trustworthy main camera, avoiding the complexity of high...
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Amazon's Starlink Rival Debuts With Fastest Satellite Antenna
Amazon has launched the Leo Ultra antenna for business and government customers, entering the satellite internet market as a competitor to services like Starlink, with a commercial release expected next year. The Leo Ultra is claimed to be the fastest customer terminal, offering download speeds u...
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My Trump Mobile SIM Still Hasn't Arrived After Two Weeks
The author experienced a delayed and initially frustrating SIM card order from Trump Mobile, including a lack of shipping tracking and a two-week wait without delivery. Customer service was polite and proactive, eventually resolving the issue by expediting shipping via FedEx and refunding the $51...
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