Technology

If getting fit is one of your New Year’s resolutions, or if you, like me, are ending the holiday season feeling so bloated you can barely carry your own weight from all of that food (true story), today’s Apple Watch Series 7 discount couldn’t have arrived at a better time. Both sizes of the Series 7, Apple’s latest model that boasts a larger display than its predecessor, are discounted at Amazon. At the moment, the retailer is selling the 45mm, GPS-equipped model with a blue aluminum case and a blue Sport Band for $379 instead of $429. Have a smaller wrist or prefer a smaller watchface? The 41mm, GPS-only version is currently selling for $349 in select styles (normally $399), meaning there’s a way to save no matter the size you’re after. Read our review. For Samsung fans, the flagship Gala...

This year, the clean energy sector finally started grappling in earnest with one of its biggest challenges: how to get enough minerals to build solar panels, wind turbines, and big batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage. Figuring that out will be critical for escaping fossil-fueled ecological disaster. It’ll also be crucial for policymakers and industry to move forward without throwing certain communities under the bus in the transition to clean energy. Instead of cutting through landscapes with oil and gas wells and pipelines, clean energy industries and their suppliers will open up the Earth to hunt for critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, and copper. Compared to a gas-fired power plant, an onshore wind turbine requires nine times more mineral resources, according to the I...

LG is the maker of some of our favorite OLED TVs, so when the company says it’s improved on its basic panel technology, it’s worth paying attention. Today it did just that, with LG Display announcing its next-generation OLED technology — dubbed OLED EX — which the company says will increase brightness by up to 30 percent, boost picture accuracy, and allow for smaller bezels in finished products. These improvements are due to two key changes. The first is the use of an element known as deuterium in the chemical make-up of LG’s OLED panels, and the second is the incorporation of algorithmic image processing. LG says the latter will predict the usage of each individual light emitting diode in your TV based on your personal viewing habits to “precisely [control] the display’s energy input to m...

Alphabet’s self-driving car company Waymo is partnering with Chinese automaker Geely to create a fleet of all-electric, self-driving robotaxis. The cars will be designed in Sweden (where Geely owns Swedish carmaker Volvo) and will be adapted from Geely’s all-electric five-door Zeekr. Waymo will then outfit the cars with the hardware and software necessary for autonomous driving. Waymo said in a blog post that it plans to deploy the vehicles in the US as part of its existing fleet of self-driving robotaxis some time “in the years to come.” Concept images of finished vehicle shared by Waymo show a car that is designed specifically for autonomous ride-hailing trips. It has a flat floor, low step-in height, and B-pillarless design for easy entry and exit, as well as sliding doors, reclining se...

The first phone I ever owned was a Motorola Razr. The Razr’s buttons are some of the finest ever to grace a mobile device. The keypad is laser-etched out of a sheet of shimmering aluminum, and when pressed, ignites in a lambent blue glow that looked like the sci-fi future. But there was one button that I was terrified to press. In all my years of owning a Razr, I can’t say I tapped it more than once or twice, and never on purpose: the internet button. Located on the upper left side of the keypad, the internet button was emblazoned with a blue globe and would open the Razr’s built-in internet browser. The problem, of course, was that in the heady days of 2007, when I first got a cellphone, I didn’t pay for data. Which meant that pressing the button was a recipe for getting hit with dreaded ...

Shokz has released an updated take of its flagship Aeropex headphones, dubbed the Openrun. The UK-based brand — which was formerly known as Aftershokz — has revisited its famed bone conduction headphones, and updated them with a host of new features, including a quick-charge function. Boasting up to 8 hours in battery life (and 1.5 hours from just 10 minutes of charging), the Openrun is the brand’s most convenient model to-date. Bluetooth functionality, water-resistance, powerful bass and higher volume is fitted into a 26g lightweight titanium frame, which comfortably fits around the back of the neck. Available in a host of colors, Shokz’s Openrun Bone Conduction Wireless Headphones are available to buy now from the brand’s online webstore, retailing at £129.95 (approximately $175 USD). In...

LG just announced its latest lineup of smart kitchen appliances. Fine, but what’s notable this time is a service that could make life just a little bit easier. LG says the ThinQ Recipe app and service is “new for 2022” and will let users seamlessly select from thousands of recipes for delivery directly from Walmart or Amazon Fresh without ever leaving the app. The LG ThinQ Recipe app is powered by SideChef, which LG has been partnering with since at least 2019. According to an LG press release, ThinQ Recipe offers “10,000 one-click shoppable recipes” that can be added to a shopping list within the app for delivery by Walmart or Amazon Fresh. If it’s as seamless as it sounds, the service could take some of the pain out of the weekly grocery shopping experience, especially for large families...

Instagram is looking to bring the competition to TikTok next year by doubling down on video content. Looking ahead to 2022, Instagram head Adam Mosseri posted a video on Twitter sharing some of the key focuses the social media platform will work on in the year to come, placing great emphasis on both video content and safety controls. On the video front, the executive says Instagram will “consolidate all of our video products around Reels and continue to grow that product,” no doubt learning from the massive success of TikTok and hoping to capitalize on that trend. On top of more promotion, the platform will also create new ways for content creators to monetize their work, hopefully drawing more quality content to the service. As for the safety controls, Mosseri acknowledged the concern man...

Competition for top talent in the tech world has been at an all-time high. With Facebook‘s owner, Meta Platforms Inc. stepping into the industry with major change announcements, Apple is hoping to shell out in an effort to retain some of their greatest talents. Bloomberg has reported that Apple has issued some significant stock bonuses for its top engineers ranging from $50,000 USD to even $180,000 USD in some cases. While most engineers have received between approximately $80,000 USD to $120,000 USD in shares, Apple is evidently rewarding their highest performers. According to the publication, “Apple is waging a talent war with companies in Silicon Valley and beyond, with Meta emerging as a particular threat.” Met has recently hired 100 ex-Apple engineers in the past few months, while App...

A ruling (pdf) on Tuesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has backed up an April 2020 decision by the FCC to open up 1,200MHz of spectrum in the 6GHz band for unlicensed use. Unlicensed means anyone can use it, as long as they do so responsibly, covering uses like your future Wi-Fi 6E home network. While Wi-Fi 6 connections make more reliable and efficient use of the same spectrum that’s been in use for the last couple of decades, especially when multiple devices are connected, Wi-Fi 6E routers will work at 2.4GHz and 5GHz plus the new 6GHz band. That has enough room for up to seven maximum capacity Wi-Fi streams to broadcast in the same area at once without interfering with each other or using any existing spectrum. Beyond that, there’s already work on a ...

LG Display is set to unveil transparent OLED designs at CES 2022. The first OLED concept titled, “OLED Shelf,” utilizes two transparent OLED displays and is meant to showcase TV programs and gallery paintings. The next design titled, “Shopping Managing Showcase,” features a transparent OLED display inside a wooden stand and is intended to reimagine the shopping experience. The concept is meant to work in tandem with physical displays that exist at department stores and other retailers. LG Display has further plans to elevate the shopping experience with its “Show Window” concept that utilizes four 55-inch transparent OLED displays and is intended to expand advertising potential with window displays. The fourth design from the tech company is the “Smart Window,” which is designed to transfo...