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Fitbit’s next fitness tracker looks fancy

Fitbit may be ready to launch a new fitness tracker soon, if images published by WinFuture are to be believed. The new tracker is apparently named Luxe and features a more fashion-centric design than Fitbit’s existing Inspire 2. It’s not clear when the Luxe will be released or how much it will cost, but I… Read more

Five little Google Sheets tricks I taught my dad

I was recently working remotely next to my dad, and realized just how many time-saving little Google Sheets shortcuts I take for granted. These aren’t advanced formulas or pivot tables; just simple tricks to save you time if you work with basic organizational spreadsheets. Some of these are old Excel tricks; but some even my… Read more

Project CHIP will finally ship later this year

Project Connected Home over IP (CHIP), the awkwardly-named-but-interesting smart home partnership between Apple, Amazon, Google, and over 170 other companies that’s supposed to make everything more compatible should finally start showing some results later this year. According to a webinar hosted by the Zigbee Alliance earlier this week, companies participating in the program will be… Read more

What to expect from Apple’s ‘Spring Loaded’ event

Apple has officially announced its “Spring Loaded” event for April 20th, its first major product announcement of 2021. Unlike a lot of Apple’s events, its spring events tend to be a bit more scattershot: one year might see high-end iPads, another a more education-focused event, or a launch of a comprehensive service strategy. This year,… Read more

Why does Amazon hate its most enthusiastic smart home fans?

Blink’s cheap wireless cameras have seen better days.Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge Blink, the Kickstarter success bought by Amazon in 2017, has long been synonymous with inexpensive battery-powered home video cameras that don’t require a monthly contract for cloud recordings. Open-source projects like Homebridge, Home Assistant, and HOOBS have made the cameras even… Read more

How to turn off autoplay videos on Facebook, Twitter, Firefox, and more

You’ve probably been caught off guard by videos that play automatically on Facebook, Twitter, or just across the internet in general. They begin playing as soon as you load a page or (if they’re more deviously implemented) when you start scrolling through a page. Automatic video play is a feature that, while nice to have… Read more

Reuters finally decides to charge you for its online news stories with a paywall

As online publishers grapple with how to replace dwindling ad revenue and find new ways to bring in money, Reuters, one of the largest news organizations in the world, is using a strategy that’s been around for years and putting its online content behind a paywall. Reuters.com draws 41 million unique visitors monthly, according to… Read more

Google Earth’s historical 3D time lapses show the ravages of climate change

Google Earth is getting a new 3D time-lapse feature that lets you observe how Earth has changed from 1984 to 2020, allowing you to see just how much the devastating effects of climate change have already shaped the geography of the planet. “It’s best for a landscape view of our world,” Rebecca Moore, director of… Read more

Bang & Olufsen’s Beosound Emerge is a wireless speaker that looks like a book

Home News (Image credit: B&O) This is Bang & Olufsen’s latest wireless speaker. The B&O Beosound Emerge is wedge-shaped, making it resemble a slightly open book. Or a doorstop, if you were being uncharitable. Here’s a video showing it in more detail. Like the firm’s 2020-released Beosound Balance, the Emerge was created in collaboration with… Read more

Bang and Olufsen’s latest speaker disappears into your bookshelf

Bang and Olufsen’s latest connected speaker is the Emerge. Its thin form-factor should blend right in to most bookshelves, and that’s no accident. In a press release announcing the speaker, the company says its design was “inspired by the compact form factor of a book” with side panels that wrap around like a cover, and… Read more

Google Play Movies & TV to disappear from Roku devices and most smart TVs

Home News (Image credit: Google) Google will soon be removing its Google Play Movies & TV app from Roku streaming devices, as well as LG, Samsung and Vizio smart TVs. The tech giant is pulling the plug from 15th June 2021, after which users will have to rely on YouTube to access their purchased content… Read more

Amazon announces new Echo Buds with more powerful ANC and better comfort

Amazon is today introducing its second-generation pair of Echo Buds. The new true wireless earbuds improve on the originals with a more comfortable design — they’re now 20 percent smaller — and enhanced active noise cancellation. But Amazon is staying aggressive on price: the 2021 Echo Buds are priced at $119.99 for the earbuds and… Read more

Urbanista is the latest company to take a swing at solar-powered headphones

Urbanista’s new wireless noise-canceling Los Angeles headphones have a solar panel integrated into the length of the headband, allowing them to draw power from both indoor and outdoor light, Wired reports. Although its built-in 750mAh battery can be charged traditionally via USB-C and offers up to a respectable 50 hours of battery life, the real… Read more

Sony’s immersive 360 Reality Audio format could be coming to Android

Home News (Image credit: Future) It’s been two years since Sony launched 360 Reality Audio, a format that uses Sony’s object-based spatial audio technology to deliver 360-degree sound. In that time, 360 Realit Audio has become available on Deezer, Tidal, Amazon Music HD and nugs.net, with subscribers to those services able to listen to them in all… Read more

Sony Xperia 5 III vs Xperia 5 II: What’s the difference?

(Pocket-lint) – Sony announced the third generation of its compact Sony Xperia 5 smartphone during an online event on 14 April 2021, just six months after the Xperia 5 II came to market. The Xperia 5 II was revealed alongside the Xperia 1 III and mid-range Xperia 10 III and you can read how it… Read more