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Latest by V. Vivek

ChatGPT on iPhone

Personal chats with ChatGPT are increasingly appearing in courts. You should be wary

Chatbot conversations can contain years of intimate thoughts, intentions, and questions, but they currently lack the legal privilege protecting conversations with lawyers
Whoop 5.0 Meridian

Whoop’s $149 jewelry band costs more than Google’s entire Fitbit Air

Whoop’s new $149 Meridian band dresses the Whoop 5.0 in jewelry-inspired metal mesh, but its design forces you to remove the tracker whenever it needs charging.
Electronics, Phone, Mobile Phone

I loved the Motorola Razr Fold, but Android 17 could make its weakest part much better

Motorola has detailed its Android 17 update, including a refreshed interface, smarter notifications, new sharing tools, stronger security, and support across dozens of phones.
Lucia sweaty punching a punching bag.

Skip the leaks, GTA 6 is taking Red Dead Redemption 2’s obsession with realism even further

New GTA 6 details reveal dynamic body changes, visible exhaustion, reactive NPCs, deeper relationships, and a Leonida designed to remember how you live inside it.
The Witcher 3 Remastered

I watched Gamescom 2026 so you don’t have to — these 6 games are worth waiting for

Gamescom 2026 delivered dozens of trailers and announcements, but these six games — from Metro 2039 to Nodus Fall — are the ones still stuck in my head.
Gears of War E-Day supports DLSS 4.5

Nvidia’s DLSS 4.5 has a lot going on, so here’s what actually matters to gamers

Nvidia has released DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction in early access, giving every RTX GPU a smarter AI denoiser alongside upgraded Super Resolution and frame generation.
JBL Quantum 520X featured

JBL’s updated Quantum gaming headsets keep the punch, even when you spend less

JBL’s new $50 Quantum 120 shares its 50mm carbon drivers, Spatial Sound, Hi-Res support, and detachable boom mic with the $130 wireless Quantum 520X.
Lenovo Legion C700 Android Gaming Handheld

Lenovo’s first Android gaming handheld has a clever answer to your terrible Wi-Fi

Lenovo’s Legion C700 is a $327 Android gaming handheld with a 120Hz screen, huge battery, and a clever way to stream PC games without internet access.
Marshall Jimi Hendrix 60th Anniversary Collection

Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze takes over Marshall’s collection of speakers, headphones, and amp

Marshall has expanded its Jimi Hendrix anniversary collection with psychedelic versions of the Major V headphones, Emberton III speaker, and a $2,500 tube amp.
The Witcher 3 Song of the Past

The Witcher 3 is 11 years old, and CD Projekt Red still has remasters and expansions to keep us hooked

The Witcher 3 is getting a free remaster with major gameplay improvements this September, followed by Geralt’s final full expansion, Songs of the Past, in 2027.
Metro 2039

Metro 2039 has no heroes. It trades hope for revenge, and I’m all for this new direction

Metro 2039’s new Renegade gameplay trailer takes us back underground with denser environments, new survival tools, brutal combat, and another ominous Dark Ones tease.
Nodus Fall Trailer

Genshin Impact creator goes dark with an RPG that looks part Elden Ring, part Monster Hunter

HoYoverse has revealed Nodus Fall, a dark fantasy co-op action game filled with colossal mythical beasts and a dramatically grimmer look than Genshin Impact.
Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold running Motion Assist 2

Android 17 just added the Pixel feature my motion-sick self has been waiting for

Android 17’s new Motion Assist feature is reaching Pixel 11 phones, using animated screen cues designed to reduce the sensory mismatch that causes motion sickness.
Electronics, Speaker, Computer Hardware

ASUS’s $600 ROG soundbar lets you trash-talk without a headset, and it’s finally in the US

ASUS’ first ROG gaming soundbar combines 2.1.2 Dolby Atmos, a wireless subwoofer, and built-in noise-canceling microphones designed for headset-free multiplayer.
Electronics, Phone, Mobile Phone

ChatGPT Plus is getting throttled again, and it’s apparently for your own good

OpenAI is restoring five-hour usage limits for ChatGPT Work and Codex on Plus accounts, ending a roughly six-week stretch where only weekly limits applied.
Sony Xperia 10 VIII Featured

Sony’s latest Xperia has the hardware I wish the Pixel 10a offered

Sony’s Xperia 10 VIII keeps the headphone jack, expandable storage, physical camera button, and front speakers, taking a very different approach from Google’s software-first Pixel 10a.
iphone 18 pro

The iPhone 18 Pro could cost $1,199, and that’s Apple showing restraint

Apple reportedly plans to raise iPhone prices, yet Samsung and Google’s relatively modest increases could help keep the iPhone 18 Pro around $1,199.
Nokia 300 Charge all color options

Nokia just made the dumb phone I’d happily keep as my backup device

The Nokia 300 Charge combines more than 40 days of standby time with a removable 3,700mAh battery, reverse charging, USB-C, and a powerful built-in flashlight.
Hidden cameras

A device designed to find hidden cameras could leave you feeling safer than you really are

Researchers found consumer spy-device detectors provided only a small improvement in finding hidden cameras and trackers, while confusing alerts could create dangerous false reassurance.
Xiaomi XRING O3

The flagship phone chip race just got another monster

A new 3nm smartphone processor is claiming record-breaking CPU and GPU performance, LPDDR6 support, 200-TOPS AI compute, and an AnTuTu V11 score above 5.2 million.
Electronics, Mobile Phone, Phone

Google’s $899 Pixel 11 can’t properly play Genshin Impact, and we’ve been here before

Pixel 11 owners are reporting severe graphical corruption in Genshin Impact, with Google and HoYoverse now working on a fix for an upcoming game update.
ASUS Zenbook A14 Review Top Lid 2

ASUS Zenbook A14 (2026) review: The dreamy ultraportable laptop I’ve been waiting for, almost.

The ASUS Zenbook A14 combines a 0.99kg chassis, excellent battery life, and impressive Snapdragon X2 Elite performance, but its 60Hz display keeps it from greatness.
Electronics, Mobile Phone, Phone

Before you spend over $1,000 on a Pixel 11 Pro, consider these 5 phones

The Pixel 11 Pro is an excellent camera phone, yet its $1,099 price also puts faster flagships, lighter phones, huge batteries, and folding screens within reach.
RayNeo GT Max Smart Glasses Featured

A new $399 pair of glasses can turn your handheld into a 307-inch gaming setup

RayNeo’s new GT and GT Max AR glasses target movies and gaming with native 3DoF tracking, Bang & Olufsen audio, and virtual screens reaching 307 inches.
Magic Capture on the Google Pixel 11 Pro Featured

I tried the Pixel 11 Pro’s Magic Capture on my cat, and I love each hilarious frame

Magic Capture automatically pulled photos from videos of my very uncooperative cat, and even this rough first test showed why Google's new Pixel camera idea works.
Baseball Cap, Cap, Clothing

That Sony neck fan might look geeky, but scientists say it’s actually better than desk fans

Researchers found that wearable face and neck fans can deliver nearly the comfort of desk fans while consuming less power and creating fewer unwanted drafts.
Motorola Edge 70 Max with a magnetic charger

Motorola’s slick new charging puck joins Android’s tiny magnetic club

Leaked images reveal Motorola’s Moto Snap magnetic wireless charger, potentially giving the Qi2-equipped Edge 70 Max its own Pixelsnap-style charging accessory.
Google Pixel 11 Pro Night Sight Featured

The Pixel 11 Pro made me fall in love with Night Sight once again

Instant Night Sight makes low-light photos dramatically quicker on the Pixel 11 Pro, and after years of taking Google’s camera wizardry for granted, I’m impressed again.
Rollme ProView AI Smart Glasses Featured

$100 smart glasses can now see, listen, and translate the world around you

A new pair of $99.99 AI smart glasses combines a 12MP Sony camera, visual recognition, live translation, open-ear audio, and voice assistance in ordinary-looking frames.
Electronics, Mobile Phone, Phone

Pixel 11 just got more expensive, but Google may have found a way to stop the bleeding

Google reportedly plans to move all Pixel manufacturing out of China in 2027, potentially giving future Pixels some breathing room as component and trade costs rise.
Apple iPad Pro 2025 on a table

iPad photographers may get the camera button they never asked for

A newly granted Apple patent depicts tablets with a pressure-sensitive control resembling the iPhone’s Camera Control, supporting taps, swipes, presses, and haptic feedback.
Framework Laptop 12 in bright color options

Framework’s cheapest laptop just got serious about taking on the MacBook Neo

Framework’s modular Laptop 12 now gets Intel Core Series 3 processors, Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 7, and improved battery life while its prebuilt price starts at $699.
Sony PlayStation Pulse Elevate Speakers

Sony’s $220 PlayStation speakers pack one feature I wish every desktop setup had

Sony’s first PlayStation wireless speakers finally have a price and release date, bringing planar magnetic drivers, wireless gaming audio, and headset-free voice chat for $219.99.
UGREEN Nexode Pro 100W 4-Port GaN Charger with Smart Display Featured

Ugreen’s latest travel adapter packs 100W, four ports, and a screen into one charger

Ugreen’s compact Nexode Pro charger delivers up to 100W across four ports while its built-in display shows wattage, charging protocols, and temperature in real time.
Close-up of three circular cameras on the back of the white Galaxy S25 FE

Samsung’s cheaper Galaxy S26 FE may get one camera feature I absolutely loved

Leaked Galaxy S26 FE hands-on videos show Samsung’s upcoming phone running One UI 9 and apparently inheriting the S26 series’ excellent Horizontal Lock video mode.
YouTube

YouTube is making view counts bigger, but creators aren’t getting any richer

YouTube will soon count a public view from the moment a video starts playing across long-form videos, Shorts, and livestreams, sending visible view totals higher.
JBL Go 5 Supreme Speaker Featured

Supreme put its box logo on JBL’s tiny speakers, because just red wasn’t enough

Supreme has given JBL’s tiny Go 5 speaker its signature red makeover, complete with white branding and controls, while leaving the hardware underneath unchanged.
Watch Duty app now supports flood warnings

America’s breakout wildfire app has much bigger disasters in its sights

Watch Duty built its reputation tracking fast-moving wildfires, and nationwide flood coverage is the first step toward turning the nonprofit into a much broader disaster-warning platform.