Gadget news and reviews
Skullcandy’s new Method 360 ANC earbuds have been tuned by Bose
15 April 2025 @ 11:00 pm
Skullcandy just revealed a new pair of wireless earbuds, the
NVIDIA says the US has put export restrictions on H20 AI chips
15 April 2025 @ 10:48 pm
According to an SEC filing from NVIDIA, the US government now requires companies to obtain a license to export H20 integrated circuits and any other products that achieve the same performance benchmarks. The filing states that "the license requirement addresses the risk that the covered products may be used in, or diverted to, a supercomputer in China." Mainland China is not the only place targeted by this license; NVIDIA will also require permission to sell the H20 to the territories of Hong Kong and Macau as well as to nations with the D:5 designation as US Arms Embargo Countries.
Google is retiring country-specific domains for search
15 April 2025 @ 9:21 pm
Google announced today that it will no longer be using country code top level domains for searches. Instead, all search services will happen on the google.com URL and local results will be delivered automatically. For example, that means users in the UK will no longer see google.co.uk in their browser's address bar. Google URLs with those country-specific domain endings will now redirect to the main google.com address.
Google started using location information to automatically provide search results based on geography in 2017. With that change, it didn't matter whether you entered a query into a local cou
Mark Zuckerberg predicted Meta's antitrust trial in a 2018 email
15 April 2025 @ 8:57 pm
In 2018, Mark Zuckerberg floated the idea of spinning out Instagram, one of the remedies the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will likely seek in Meta's antitrust trial that began this week. CNBC reported on Tuesday that the comments from an email thread with executives came to light in Washington, DC.
"I'm beginning to wonder whether spinning Instagram out is the only structure that will accomplish a number of important goals," Zuckerberg wrote in the email. "As calls to break up the big tech companies grow, there is a non-trivial chance that we will be forced to spin out Instagram and perhaps WhatsApp in the next 5-10 years anyway." His estimate, made six years ago, ended up being spot-on.
"On the flip side, while most
How to watch Kia's New York International Auto Show presentation on April 16
15 April 2025 @ 7:52 pm
Kia has teased that it will have a trio of announcements at the 2025 New York International Auto Show. The car company's presentation is scheduled for 10AM ET on April 16. Luckily for those gearheads who want to know what's next for the brand, Kia will have a livestream of its showcase. The reveal will be hosted live on YouTube, and it's also embedded below.
The presentation will feature three debuts, according to the company, including two that are fully electric. Kia unveiled its EV4 hatchback sedan in February, but didn't share info abo
Someone hacked Silicon Valley crosswalks to spoof Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk
15 April 2025 @ 7:18 pm
Whether in Ancient Greek parodies, Shakespeare's subtle jabs at the haughty upper class or Jon Stewart's takedowns of the latest Washington absurdities, humor can be a razor-edged weapon that shapes public opinion. Last weekend, we were reminded again of comedy's ability to strike at the rich and powerful when someone hacked
Comcast rolls out a five-year price guarantee for new internet customers
15 April 2025 @ 7:08 pm
With America's long-term (and even short-term) economic prospects shifting on Eric Cartman-like whims, some internet providers have begun offering multi-year price guarantees to provide a little stability amid the chaos. A couple of weeks after Verizon introduced a three-year price lock, Comcast has
Anthropic's Claude can now read your emails
15 April 2025 @ 6:15 pm
Anthropic announced that its Claude AI can integrate with Google Workspace. This tie-in allows the AI assistant to access any information in Gmail, Google Documents and Google Calendar. Enterprise-level customers even get a special cataloguing option for Documents that aims to offer even better speed and accuracy when retrieving information.
This update could make Claude more helpful when it comes to using the chatbot for scheduling or accessing information within the Google ecosystem. The blog post with the announcement specified that the Enterprise option comes with special security controls for confidentiality, but doesn't detail if or how other users might be able to keep Claude from accessing sensitive information that might be stored in an email or document. Google Workspace integration is available in beta now for all paid
OpenAI is apparently making a social network
15 April 2025 @ 5:58 pm
It looks like OpenAI is building its own X-like social media network, according to a report by The Verge. We don’t have many specifics, but we do know there’s an internal prototype that adds a social feed to ChatGPT’s image generation tool.
It remains unclear if OpenAI will launch this social network as a standalone app or if it will be integrated within the ChatGPT app, which is what the prototype indicates. The report does suggest that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has been asking for feedback about the social network from people outside of the company.
One potential reason for this step is that the app would allow OpenAI to gather real-time data from users to train its AI models. It’s also a potentially diversifying move for the company.
Although it’s uncertain if this project w
Google brings Veo 2 video generation to Gemini Advanced
15 April 2025 @ 5:00 pm
Following a limited, four-month preview, Google is making its Veo 2 video generation model available to more people. The company has begun rolling out the tool to Gemini Advanced users, who can use it to create 720p clips that are up to eight seconds long. "The more detailed your description, the more control you have over the final video," Google says of the model.
For the time being, Gemini will only generate footage in 16:9 landscape orientation, meaning it won’t be great for creating social video. That said, Google notes you can upload videos directly to TikTok or YouTube through Gemini's share sheet, and any footage you create through the chatbot will automatically be formatted as a MP4 file. Relative to the model’s iteration, Google says Veo 2 has a better understanding of real-world physics and human motion.