Brian Heater

Hardware Editor, TechCrunch

Brian Heater is the Hardware Editor at TechCrunch. He worked for a number of leading tech publications, including Engadget, PCMag, Laptop, and Tech Times, where he served as the Managing Editor. His writing has appeared in Spin, Wired, Playboy, Entertainment Weekly, The Onion, Boing Boing, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Beast and various other publications. He hosts the weekly Boing Boing interview podcast RiYL, has appeared as a regular NPR contributor and shares his Queens apartment with a rabbit named Juniper.

Brian Heater

Latest from Brian Heater

During testing, Google DeepMind’s table tennis bot was able to beat all of the beginner-level players it faced.

Google DeepMind develops a ‘solidly amateur’ table tennis robot

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

X Ceo Linda Yaccarino claims that GARM’s “illegal behavior of these organizations and their executives cost X billions of dollars.”

X files antitrust suit against advertising groups over ‘systematic illegal boycott’

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

Featured Article

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

Featured Article

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

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

Researchers at MIT CSAIL this week are showcasing a new method for training home robots in simulation.

Researchers are training home robots in simulations based on iPhone scans

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.

In spite of maintaining stealth until now, Mytra has already drummed up interest with big names. The startup has a pilot with grocery giant Albertsons, among others.

Former Tesla humanoid head launches a robotics startup

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

Apple Intelligence was designed to leverage things that generative AI already does well, like text and image generation, to improve upon existing features.

What is Apple Intelligence, when is it coming and who will get it?

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

DeepMind has implemented Google Gemini 1.5 Pro to teach a robot to respond to commands and navigate around an office.

Watch a robot navigate the Google DeepMind offices using Gemini

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

At the heart of the features is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which is the same system on a chip that powered the Galaxy S24.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip 6 arrive with Galaxy AI and Google Gemini

Infactory is a kind of fact-checking search engine that will be focused exclusively on data at launch.

Humane execs leave company to found AI fact-checking startup

The Samsung event will feature updates to the Galaxy Z Fold, Galaxy Z Flip, as well as more details on the Galaxy Ring and Galaxy AI.

Samsung Unpacked 2024: What we expect and how to watch Wednesday’s hardware event