For the past years people have been collecting disposable vapes primarily for their lithium-ion batteries, but as these disposable vapes have begun to incorporate more elaborate electronics, these too have become an interesting target for reusability. To prove the point of how capable these electronics have become, [BogdanTheGeek] decided to turn one of these vapes Read more about Hosting A Website On A Disposable Vape[…]
Kodak has shrunk a camera to fit onto a keyring, but it still manages to shoot both photo and video. It’s hard not to compare the Kodak Charmera to the ubiquitous Labubu craze, considering the highly collectible nature of Reto Pro selling these officially licensed mini cameras as a single blind box for $29.99 or Read more about Kodak’s mini camera fits on your keyring and is smaller than an AirPods case. Annoyingly like a lootbox and sold out already.[…]
Since I fell in love reviewing the ReMarkable 2 in 2020, I’ve had one wish for the Norwegian whizz kids behind this state-of-the-art e-ink tablet: Make one like this but smaller, please. Why? Because while it’s nice to write on a super-slim, silver, LED-free “magic legal pad from the future,” as I still call it, Read more about ReMarkable Paper Pro Move review: e-ink notepad gets nice and small (7.8″)[…]
The phone ecosystem these days is horribly boring compared to the innovation of a couple decades back. Your options include flat rectangles, and flat rectangles that fold in half and then break. [Marcin Plaza] wanted to think outside the slab, without reinventing the wheel. In an inspired bout of hacking, he flipped a broken Samsung Read more about Phonenstien Flips Broken Samsung Into QWERTY Slider but won’t share how[…]
Tizen OS is on track to lose full support by the end of 2025, Samsung has announced, marking the end of an era that began in 2018 with the original Galaxy Watch. And right now, Samsung is offering up to $100 in trade-in credit for your Tizen Galaxy Watch. This includes the Galaxy Watch 3, Read more about Samsung turns Tizen OS smartwatches into junk and won’t allow you to download the apps anymore soon.[…]
After more than a decade, the Pebble smartwatch is back, and it already looks enticing for those of us who can’t be bothered with today’s health data-obsessed, sensor-filled, and all-too-weighty wearables. The company behind the revitalized watch shared its final designs for what’s coming, and it may be the simple smartwatch we’ve been missing since Read more about This Is the New Pebble Smartwatch, and Yes, It’s Now Called Pebble Again[…]
[…]”Spectrometers are critical tools for helping us understand the chemical and physical properties of various materials based on how light changes when it interacts with those materials,” says Brendan O’Connor, corresponding author of a paper on the work and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University. “They are used in Read more about Tiny, fast spectrometer[…]
There’s been some trouble at home lately. Not your home, hopefully, but if you live in Google HQ, then maybe. Last week, people using the Google Home app flooded Reddit with complaints over smart home products that mysteriously stopped working—lights, cameras, smart plugs, you name it. Those complaints were so numerous, in fact, that Google Read more about Google Home Is So Bad That a Lawsuit Could Be on Its Way[…]
While the vast majority of Samsung Galaxy device owners don’t tinker with the software on their phones, there’s a community of Android enthusiasts that love rooting devices, unlocking the bootloader to run custom ROMs and kernels. That has so far been possible on Samsung devices outside the United States. However, new evidence has surfaced that Read more about Samsung adds to digital waste problem as it disables custom ROM (OS) support in One UI 8[…]
Good news for Pebble fans. Not only are the Pebble watches coming back, they’ll also officially be called Pebble watches. “Great news — we’ve been able to recover the trademark for Pebble! Honestly, I wasn’t expecting this to work out so easily,” Core Devices CEO Eric Migicovsky writes in an update blog. “Core 2 Duo Read more about Pebble is officially Pebble again[…]
Neuroscientists and materials scientists have created contact lenses that enable infrared vision in both humans and mice by converting infrared light into visible light. Unlike infrared night vision goggles, the contact lenses, described in the journal Cell, do not require a power source—and they enable the wearer to perceive multiple infrared wavelengths. Because they’re transparent, Read more about Infrared contact lenses allow people to see in the dark, even with their eyes closed[…]
We recently noted how device maker Garmin had decided to follow in the footsteps of Google’s Fitbit, and begin putting basic features behind an annoying subscription paywall to goose revenues. Garmin’s new “premium” Garmin+ tier takes several features users already enjoyed for free, put them behind a $7 per month paywall, and called it innovation. Users Read more about Garmin CEO Hints More Paywalls And Enshittification Are Coming, Falsely Claims Users Love It after paywalling existing features and pissing off actual users[…]
[…]The regular slate of smartwatches from the likes of Google, Samsung, and Apple hasn’t left us truly excited. Samsung and Apple are in a race to add as many health sensors to the back of their devices, and still the most we can hope for on the impending Apple Watch Series 11 is a slimmer Read more about The Not-Pebble Core Devices Watch is something different in that area[…]
Google has just announced that it’s ending software updates for the first-generation Nest Learning Thermostat, released in 2011, and the second-gen model that came a year later. This decision also affects the European Nest Learning Thermostat from 2014. “You will no longer be able to control them remotely from your phone or with Google Assistant, Read more about Google turns early Nest Thermostats into dumb thermostats[…]
Increasingly, we’re pushed to trash tech that should still work, such as Chromebooks, phones, and smart home devices, just because the software has expired or lost support. This database lists more than 100 tech products that have stopped working after manufacturers dropped support. It calculates the total weight of all these dead devices which have joined Read more about Electronic Waste Graveyard[…]
[…] This work reports a bio-integrated gustatory interface, “e-Taste,” to address the underrepresented chemical dimension in current VR/AR technologies. This system facilitates remote perception and replication of taste sensations through the coupling of physically separated sensors and actuators with wireless communication modules. By using chemicals representing five basic tastes […] Gustation, an essential component of Read more about e-taste allows you to send flavours in VR[…]
What does one do when frustrated at the lack of affordable, open source portable trackers? If you’re [OG-star-tech], you design your own and give it modular features that rival commercial offerings while you’re at it. What’s a star tracker? It’s a method of determining position based on visible stars, but when it comes to astrophotography the Read more about DIY Open-Source Star Tracker Gets You Those Great Night Shots can also be bought[…]
Smart speaker outfit Sonos has parted ways with CEO Patrick Spence, who oversaw the release of an app that was billed as an upgrade but instead made the company’s products worse and riled customers. Sonos teased the software in an April 2024 announcement headlined “Sonos Unveils Completely Reimagined Sonos App, Bringing Services, Content and System Read more about Sonos finally CEO steps down after app upgrade debacle[…]
Google’s Pixel 4a has long been considered a great smartphone for those on a budget, but it just received a software update that calls that into question. The update lowers the reported battery life. This isn’t a side-effect of some new software. This is the actual intent of the refresh. Wait, what? Google says the Read more about Google Pixel 4a’s update kills its battery life on purpose[…]
Some of the best tech we see at CES feels pulled straight from sci-fi. Yesterday at CES 2025, I tested out Neural Lab’s AirTouch technology, which lets you interact with a display using hand gestures alone, exactly what movies like Minority Report and Iron Man promised. […] Neural Lab’s software is compatible with tablets, computers Read more about Neural Lab’s AirTouch brings gesture control to Windows and Android devices with just a webcam. Unfortunately charges huge subscription, dooming it to failure.[…]
I’m a loud proponent for accessibility in tech, though, sadly, I don’t get to celebrate it often. This week, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission delivered a rare win by mandating that all mobile phones be hearing aid compatible. The new mandate, announced Thursday, also discouraged phone manufacturers from incorporating proprietary Bluetooth standards on their products Read more about All U.S. Smartphones Must Be Compatible With Hearing Aids, FCC Says[…]
Consumer and digital rights activists are calling on the US Federal Trade Commission to stop device-makers using software to reduce product functionality, bricking unloved kit, or adding surprise fees post-purchase. In an eight-page letter [PDF] to the Commission (FTC), the activists mentioned the Google/Levis collaboration on a denim jacket that contained sensors enabling it to Read more about Finaly people urge FTC to ban hardware tethering – downgrades, transferral costs, sudden bricking, unexpected subscriptions[…]
A simple change in how new lithium-ion batteries are charged can boost their total lifespans by 50 per cent on average – and battery manufacturers everywhere can immediately put the discovery into action. Extended battery lifespans could prove especially crucial for improving electric vehicles and energy storage for electricity grids. “The cool thing is that Read more about AI helps find simple charging trick to boost li-ion battery lifespan[…]
Airvine Scientific has a product that could make life easier for IT staff. WaveCore is designed to beam a network signal through thick concrete walls, eliminating the need to drill holes or route your cabling via a circuitous course. The Silicon Valley wireless company says its newly introduced kit is quick to deploy and can Read more about WaveCore beams gigabit network bridge link through concrete wall[…]
So this is a pin a bit larger than an AA battery which does one thing: it transcribes your musings and makes notes. Where does the AI come in? Speech and speaker recognition, audio trimming, summarisation and mind-maps. You see a lot of doubtful reviews on this thing out there, mostly on the basis of Read more about PLAUD NotePin: A Wearable AI Memory Capsule that just might work[…]