Digital Trends Live: Google buys Fitbit, Razr pics, Apple TV+, and more

By Todd Werkhoven Published April 25, 2023

On this episode of Digital Trends Live, hosts Greg Nibler and Drew Prindle discuss the top trending tech stories of the day, including Google’s acquisition of Fitbit, leaked Razr smartphone pics, the arrival of Apple TV+, the U.S. Interior Department’s grounding of its fleet of drones, and more.

This week in our Work/Life segment, Nibler and Ciara Pressler discuss the challenges faced by workers trying to figure out what their bosses are thinking, and the steps they can take to be sure to stay on the same page as their company.

Adrien Warner joins Nibler to break down the biggest stories in entertainment from this past week for Between the Streams. Topics include the launch of Apple TV+, Netflix’s The Witcher, and The Great British Baking Show.

Ken Yeung, technology editor at Flipboard, joins us for Tech Briefs, a wrap-up of the biggest tech stories of this past week, including the streaming wars, Apple AirPods Pro, HBO Max, and more.

DT writer Luke Dormehl joins the show to talk about lidar technology, and why two professors at Colorado State University want to lidar-scan the entire surface of the earth.

Nibler then speaks with Karsten Temme, co-founder and chief executive officer of Pivot Bio, about reinventing fertilizers without pollutants, and how the company is harnessing the power of microbes to create next-gen fertilizers.

Finally, we talk with Matt Saincome, founder and CEO of The Hard Times, and Bill Conway, its editor-in-chief, to talk about their new book, and the history of punk and hardcore music.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Todd Werkhoven's work can be read at numerous publications and he co-authored a personal finance book called "Zombie…

Topics

Wearables

Slacked off all summer? Here are 3 fitness trackers that’ll help you stay accountable as you head back to school

Three trackers, three price points, three totally different approaches to keeping you honest about your own goals.

A person wearing the Whoop 5.0.

Summer break did what it usually does. Your sleep schedule drifted, workouts happened less often than you'd hoped, and by the time August rolled around, you were feeling it. You've got a plan to get back on track once the school year starts and your days have more structure, but you know how that usually goes. The first two weeks are solid, then the routine quietly slips.

A fitness tracker won't get you off your couch. What it will do is put a number in front of you every day, one that makes it obvious whether you stuck to your goal or slacked off. That small bit of visibility is often the difference between meaning to work out and actually doing it. Back-to-school season is a good time to buy in, since you're already resetting more than one part of your routine, and the overlap makes the habit more likely to stick. To keep the odds in your favor, here are three fitness trackers that can help you stay accountable and actually hit your goals.

Wearables

Galaxy Watch 9 vs. Watch Series 11: Has Apple finally met its smartwatch match?

From AI-powered health coaching to outdoor fitness tracking, here's how Samsung's Galaxy Watch 9 stacks up against Apple's Watch Series 11.

Wristwatch, Arm, Body Part

These days, the real battleground between smartwatches is who can turn a wrist-worn, sensor-loaded device into something that resembles a personal fitness trainer, and this year's crop of flagship wearables takes that fight more seriously than ever.

Samsung just refreshed its mainstream Galaxy Watch line with a new silicon and a batch of clinically-backed health tools, landing squarely on Apple's home turf of preventive wellness tracking. Apple, for its part, has spent the better part of a year letting its Series 11 sit as the reigning pick for anyone inside its ecosystem, propped up by a software catalog few rivals match feature-for-feature.

Wearables

Instagram is finally going after Ray-Ban Meta-wearing creeps

Two pickup-artist accounts with over a million followers each are already gone, but the crackdown seems more like damage control than an actual fix.

The Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses and case.

Getting filmed without your knowledge by someone wearing Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses might soon have real consequences, at least on Instagram. Business Insider reports the platform has started pulling videos showing wearers harassing strangers, covering everything from staged pickup-line encounters to workplace pranks aimed at cashiers and fast-food employees. Instagram head Adam Mosseri addressed the issue in a recent Instagram Story, saying the platform is "trying to fight that every way we can."

Two accounts down, but the rulebook is missing