Hardware

Product news and hardware reviews, focusing on the latest hardware innovations from the latest startups to the biggest players like Apple, Samsung, Amazon Google, Microsoft and DJI, from smartphones, smartwatches and smart homes to drones, connected fitness, laptops, wearables and AR/VR.

A new “beta rabbit” mode adds some conversational AI chops to the Rabbit r1, particularly in more complex or multi-step instructions.

Rabbit’s r1 refines chats and timers, but its app-using ‘action model’ is still MIA

The Looking Glass Pro has a 6-inch display and a foldable base. It shows spatial images like those created with the Apple Vision Pro and iPhone 15 Pro.

Looking Glass’ new lineup includes a $300 phone-sized holographic display

Cocoon is a new startup built on the belief that greener steel production and the creation of concrete slag doesn’t have to be an either/or proposition.

Cocoon is transforming steel production runoff into a greener cement alternative

Made by Google 2024 kicks off at 10 a.m. PT on August 13. Get ready for a slew of new hardware, including the Pixel 9 and a new foldable.

Made by Google 2024: How to watch Google unveil the Pixel 9, a new foldable and more

As has been the case with Nothing’s other handsets, there are a few hoops required to purchase the device in the U.S.

Nothing’s $399 Phone 2a Plus hits the US through a beta program

With new Pixel devices just over the horizon, Assistant’s days on Android may still be numbered. For the time being, however, it still has a place on the home.

Google Assistant lives to automate another day

Google unveiled the Nest Learning Thermostat 4 and Google TV Streamer. It’s expected to announce four Pixel devices, including the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro.

Made by Google 2024: Pixel 9, Gemini, a new foldable and other things to expect from the event

Google revealed its newest set-top streaming box, Google TV Streamer, which will replace the Chromecast. It doubles as a smart home hub.

Chromecast is dead. Meet Google TV Streamer

It’s no coincidence that the new Learning Thermostat arrives as Google is amping up work on its generative AI model, Gemini.

After nine years, Google’s Nest Learning Thermostat gets an AI makeover

Figure 02 is outfitted with speakers and microphones to speak and listen to people at work.

Figure’s new humanoid robot leverages OpenAI for natural speech conversations

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H3X scales up its electric aerospace ambitions with $20M in new funding

Many industries that rely on legacy energy sources are aiming to electrify or at least streamline their operations, but for countless use cases, the tech just isn’t there. H3X is changing the game with electric motors so compact and efficient that the aerospace and marine world — not to mention…

H3X scales up its electric aerospace ambitions with $20M in new funding

Quantum computing may still largely be in the theoretical domain, but the money that it’s attracting is very real.

UK’s Riverlane scores $75M to correct quantum errors

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway cut its Apple holding by around half, to $84.2 billion, according to an SEC filing. While Apple remains the firm’s largest stock holding by far, Buffett…

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sells half its Apple stock

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Trade My Spin is building a business around used Peloton equipment

Trade My Spin has pieced together a logistics network capable of offering same or next day delivery in most major cities in the continental U.S.

Trade My Spin is building a business around used Peloton equipment

In spite of a drop for the quarter, iPhone remained Apple’s most important category by a wide margin.

iPad sales help bail out Apple amid a continued iPhone slide

This week’s video shows 4NE-1 doing a lot; in some sense, it’s doing more than we’ve seen from other humanoids in the space.

Neura shows off humanoid robot 4NE-1

The popularity of refurbishing technology has only increased these past few years and with it, the understanding of how important sustainability is in the industry. …

How Back Market built a marketplace of refurbished tech

Qualcomm has launched the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 chip to 5G smartphones in the sub-$100 price segment in India and other emerging markets.

Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon chip aims to bring 5G to sub-$100 devices

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A tale of two foldables

Samsung is still foldables’ 500-pound gorilla, but the company successes have made the category significantly less lonely in recent years.

A tale of two foldables

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Max Space reinvents expandable habitats with a 17th-century twist, launching in 2026

Max Space’s expandable habitats promise to be larger, stronger, and more versatile than anything like them ever launched, not to mention cheaper and lighter by far than a solid, machined structure.

Max Space reinvents expandable habitats with a 17th-century twist, launching in 2026

Skip, a wearable tech startup that began as a secretive project inside Alphabet, exited stealth this week to announce a partnership with outdoor clothing specialist Arc’teryx. The deal is the…

Alphabet X spinoff partners with Arc’teryx to bring ‘everyday’ exoskeleton to market

Tesla was not the first company to begin working on a humanoid form factor, but while being the first to market does carry weight in this high-tech space, we’re at…

Elon Musk sets 2026 Optimus sale date. Here’s where other humanoid robots stand.

Vayu Robotics is working to make delivery robotics cheaper and more scalable. Ditching LiDAR is a piece of that puzzle.

Former Velodyne CEO’s delivery robot startup is ditching LiDAR for foundation models

Given the years and money invested in the Zone’s creation, there’s logic in Dyson’s decision to turn its R&D work into a more standard set of headphones with the OnTrac.

Dyson’s new OnTrac headphones don’t purify air

Name That Bird determines individual members of a species by identifying distinguishing characteristics that most humans would be hard-pressed to spot.

Bird Buddy’s new AI feature lets people name and identify individual birds

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India clings to cheap feature phones as brands struggle to tap new smartphone buyers

India is struggling to get new smartphone buyers, as millions of Indians don’t go for an upgrade and continue to be on feature phones.

India clings to cheap feature phones as brands struggle to tap new smartphone buyers

It’s a big day in the Samsung universe. At Samsung’s Unpacked 2024 event, the company debuted new phones, headphones and even a wearable ring.  As…

TechCrunch Minute: Unpacking Samsung Unpacked

What this means for the future of the Fuse line remains unclear, though the companies confirmed with TechCrunch that the Micronics branding is going away.

Formlabs acquires 3D printing startup Micronics mid-Kickstarter campaign

While Samsung has maintained its own familiar design with the standard Galaxy Buds 3, the Pro are experiencing a sort of Apple identity crisis.

Samsung unveils Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Buds 3, available for preorder now and shipping July 24

At Unpacked 2024, the company shared more details about the Galaxy Ring, which represents the first take on the category from a hardware giant.

Samsung’s Galaxy Ring, its first smart ring, arrives July 24 for $399