Author: News Room

The original Minimal Phone built its entire identity around an E Ink screen that made scrolling annoying on purpose. The black-and-white E Ink screen intentionally made watching videos or scrolling through social media posts look less colorful or appealing to the human eye. So, when The Minimal Company announced its successor with an AMOLED display that supports a higher refresh rate, I was a bit surprised. I wasn’t expecting the company to walk back the hardware choice that made it quite interesting. But that doesn’t mean that the Minimal Phone 2 isn’t worth a look.  Why ditch the display that…

Assassin’s Creed creator Patrice Désilets has moved mountains to bring his passion project 1666: Amsterdam to fruition. The witchcraft-focused action-adventure game was originally conceived over 15 years ago while Désilets was still at Ubisoft. Through a series of tumultuous events, the project has changed studios and been at the center of a years-long lawsuit over rights ownership between Ubisoft and Désilets. Now that 1666: Amsterdam will finally see the light of day, I traveled overseas to its namesake city to play an hour-long build Panache Digital Games prepared for media, which I do at the Amsterdam Dungeon, a local horror attraction…

If you’ve stared blankly at your car’s dashboard warning light, searching the internet for what it means, Ford has something for you. The company has officially begun rolling out an AI assistant today through its Ford and Lincoln apps.  As the automaker says, it is built specifically to answer real questions about your own vehicle.  So what can this assistant actually do? Unlike a general chatbot, Ford’s AI assistant is tied directly to your specific vehicle. In other words, it can pull real-time data, like your current fuel level, oil life, or tire pressure, the moment you ask.  You can…

The US Federal Communications Commission is considering a move that could make things pretty awkward for drone buyers. The agency wants to expand its existing restrictions to cover certain drones with features such as LiDAR sensing, thermal imaging, and aerosol-dispersing systems. The weird part? Some of these drones were already approved for sale in the US. In a report by DJI’s own blog, this new development puts several DJI models in the spotlight, including the Air 3S, Avata 360, and Mini 5 Pro. Under the proposal, these drones could potentially be pulled from the US market, even though the FCC…

When Whoop introduced its eponymous screen-free wearable band, I didn’t expect it to become such a hit. Apparently, there’s a huge market for fitness trackets that don’t tie you into the trap of a distracting screen. Whoop’s formula was copied by multiple brands over the years, with the latest one being Fitbit Air by Google. Apple could be next in line. According to Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly planning a wearable device without a screen as navigates the realities of a market that continues to evolve across different form factors, including rings and earbuds. “The good news is, Apple is indeed…

Tech companies have spent years promising that AI will help people accomplish more in less time. Inside several companies leading that race, some employees are describing an awkward consequence. More productive tools haven’t necessarily produced shorter working days. Workers at OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Google told the BBC about punishing schedules and AI projects consuming nights and weekends. The twist is that their employers increasingly have evidence that AI really can help people get more done. AI really can help workers do more OpenAI says Codex has become the primary AI work tool across every department, including Legal, Finance, and…

Brain implants, like the ones made by Elon Musk’s Neuralink, typically involve open-skull surgery. But a Chinese startup says it can skip that step entirely, threading its device into the brain through a vein in a procedure that reportedly takes as little as ten minutes. According to the South China Morning Post, Shanghai-based StairMed Technology is one of several companies pursuing this approach, as the country pushes to expand its homegrown brain-computer interface (BCI) industry. Faster than Neuralink, on paper Unlike Neuralink’s implant, which requires a surgical robot to open the skull and place ultra-fine electrode threads directly into brain…

Hoy wants sending something from your Mac to feel as casual as dropping a file onto someone’s desk. Instead of opening another app, you drag it onto that person’s face sitting in the menu bar. The pre-release Mac app folds file sharing, voice notes, and screen recording into one lightweight interface. The person you’re sending something to effectively becomes the shortcut, which makes Hoy feel less like another messenger and more like a communication layer built into macOS. How does Hoy actually work Once someone joins a channel, Hoy puts their avatar in your Mac’s menu bar. You can drag…

Google is testing a small but useful change to Chrome for Android that could make downloading files less frustrating. Instead of automatically opening files such as PDFs in Chrome, the browser could soon send them directly to the app you have chosen to handle that file type. The feature is currently being tested through a Chrome Canary flag called “Open downloads in preferred app.” According to PiunikaWeb, the flag allows downloaded items to open in the user’s preferred application for that particular file type. It addresses a fairly familiar annoyance on Android. Download a PDF in Chrome today, and depending…

Mac developers keep finding new ways to make their laptops do things Apple never intended. Earlier this year, an app went viral for making MacBooks moan when slapped. Another unique app lets you feel a webpage’s buttons through the trackpad before you click them. Now, a developer has built one that makes the trackpad purr like a cat. PurrPad makes use of the Taptic Engine built into MacBook trackpads, so instead of hearing a purr through your speakers, you feel one under your palm. Developer Francesco Pavanetto, who shared the app on Reddit, says he tuned the vibration to the…