Latest Technology

Don’t you hate it when they give everything away in the headline? So, a belated spoiler warning that, indeed, the iPhone 14 is almost certainly going to be the big headline announcement at Apple’s September event. A few other things seem close to certain, as well, including the Apple Watch Series 8. As ever, there may be one or two wildcards at the event. It will be interesting to see precisely how much Apple ends up announcing next week. The company was more than happy to spread announcements across events, in the two+ years when everything suddenly went online. The simple truth is it’s a lot easier to ask people to drop everything to cover your event when it involves sitting in front of a computer instead of flying across the U.S. This one, on the other hand, is most likely going to be worth the flight (I mean, I hope — no refunds on the tickets). Go for launch. Tune in for a special #AppleEvent on September 7 at 10 a.m. PT.  Tap the and we’ll send you a reminder on event day.

Firewalla , maybe the only company that can say that its hardware firewalls have something of a cult following, today announced the latest addition to its portfolio: the $569 Firewalla Gold Plus. The Gold Plus will feature four 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces and its deep packet inspection hardware can handle up to 5 Gigabits at a time. With this addition, Firewalla now offers a full set of products from the 100 Mbit Red (which is probably too slow for most users at this point) to the $329 Purple  with up to a Gigabit of inspection bandwidth — and a few other variants in between and now the Gold Plus at the top end of the line. The regular Firewalla Gold will set you back $485 during the pre-buy phase, but its inspection hardware can handle up to 3 Gigabits of data. The Gold Plus is something of a flagship device for Firewalla, being the most expensive and capable of its combined firewall and router devices yet. With its four 2.5 Gigabit ethernet interfaces and 5 Gigabits of inspe

Tired: JBL announced the Tour PRO 2 earbuds with active noise cancellation (ANC). Wired: The case has a touchscreen. That’s right. In the off-chance you didn’t have enough screens in your life, the new earbuds’ case adds another 1.4-inch LED touch display. Users can flick through multiple screens like different watch faces that allow them to manage multimedia playback and shuffle through different noise cancellation modes. Image Credits: JBL Users can also receive notifications from social media apps, take a look at incoming messages and handle calls directly from the JBL Tour Pro 2 case’s screen. Sadly, there’s no keyboard on the screen, so you can’t really reply to any messages. It’s hard to buy the argument that users can leave their phones in their pocket and use the case as a lot of people also just put them in their pockets. The idea sounds bizarre, but JBL might be trying to target users who don’t have a smartwatch. Notably, the JBL Tour Pro 2 case doesn’t have LTE con

Don’t you hate it when, after going just five or 10 meters underwater, you lose signal completely? Now this vexing limitation of modern technology is being addressed by researchers at the University of Washington, who have made an underwater communication app that uses sonic signals to pass messages to your other submerged friends. It may sound silly, but millions of people could use this tech in both recreational and professional diving situations. The communication problem underwater is simple: Rradio waves are absorbed by water, and no signal our phones send or receive can travel more than a few inches without being completely lost. That’s one reason submersibles and the like need a tether: to pass data back and forth to the surface. Sound waves, on the other hand, travel through water quite readily, and are used by countless aquatic species to communicate. Not humans, though — because the way we make sound only works well in air. So for as long as anyone can remember, divers have

Millions around the world suffer strokes every year, and millions more are in recovery from one they’ve suffered. Regaining the use of affected limbs and capabilities is a long road, but one that can be shortened by intensive rehabilitation efforts — which Neurofenix has shown can take place in the home rather than during frequent trips to the hospital. Its Neuroball device and home therapy platform have led to $7 million in new funding to expand and deepen its platform. The problem with existing stroke rehabilitation techniques is not that they aren’t effective, but that they’re mostly located in hospitals and thus limit how often they can be engaged with. “For many, many years rehabilitation, especially neural rehabilitation, has been focused on big bulky equipment in facilities,” explained Gillem Singla, CEO and co-founder (with CTO Dimitrios Athanasiou) of Neurofenix. “We’ve extracted the essence of what needs to be done in neural rehabilitation: it has to be intensive, engaging

The first pitching machine dates back well over 100 years. Obviously things have come a long way since that injury-inducing, gunpowder-fueled machine made its debut at Princeton University, but most modern systems are more or less the same. A ball is manually or mechanically dropped into a spinning wheel or wheels, which propel it toward the battery at high velocity. It’s gotten the job done, so why quibble, right? But there’s a lot of potential room for innovation here. Advances in AI, stat tracking, advanced metrics and robotics could fit together nicely for a proper 21st-century twist on a classic. This is my first time seeing the Trajekt Arc, but the product seems to speak for itself. It’s a pitching robot designed to learn and re-create real-world pitches from real-world pitchers. The Athletic ran a nice spot the other week about how the Cubs are using the system to mimic Madison Bumgarner in practice. The system adjusts to the World Series hero’s left arm release point, and se

T-Mobile and SpaceX have announced that Starlink satellites launched next year will be able to connect directly to the carrier’s phones over existing cellular bands. The companies hope to enable global roaming wherever satellite coverage exists, and the service may potentially be added for free to existing T-Mobile plans. SpaceX’s Elon Musk and T-Mobile’s Mike Sievert announced the “technology alliance” at the space company’s Starbase in Texas. “It’s a lot like putting a cellular tower in the sky, just a lot harder,” said Sievert. “Your phone doesn’t really know it’s connecting for space. It’ll think it’s connected to a cell tower, because that phone is using industry standard technology communication protocols and it has the spectrum already built in, as the vast majority of phones in circulation today do.” Indeed that is exactly what Lynk demonstrated last year , focused on providing emergency messaging available anywhere from a handful of satellites. But admittedly Starlink does

We’ve had a Samsung review blitz over the past two weeks, covering all the products the company announced at its recent Unpacked event. In my write-up of the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro , I noted how understated the product line was, in contrast to its flash, bombastic foldables . The Galaxy Watch line, meanwhile, exists somewhere between the two. Some years are flashier than others, and frankly, Samsung’s a bit all over the place with its updates as it has looked for the winning formula to remain competitive in the category. While no one is close to touching the 800-pound Apple Watch gorilla, Samsung has managed to carve out a formidable piece of the overall market. Recent figures from Counterpoint put Apple at 36.1% of the global market, with Samsung at about 10%. Second place is a perfectly respectable spot — particularly as far as it presents a kind of dominance for Android compatible smartwatches. Also notable is that the company’s recent switch from Tizen to Wear OS meant a practically

Sony is raising the price of PlayStation 5 in most major markets, citing “challenging economic conditions” such as high global inflation rates and adverse currency trends, the latest in a series of challenges engulfing the current generation gaming console. The new price  — which largely varies between $30 to $100 — will affect customers in Europe, the UK, Japan, China, Australia, Mexico and Canada, the company said . The U.S. is not impacted by the price hike, the company confirmed. “While this price increase is a necessity given the current global economic environment and its impact on SIE’s business, our top priority continues to be improving the PS5 supply situation so that as many players as possible can experience everything that PS5 offers and what’s still to come,” the Japanese conglomerate said in a blog post. The new price is as follows: Europe PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive – €549.99 (previously €499) PS5 Digital Edition – €449.99 (previously €399) UK PS5 wit

Galaxy Buds are the longtime workhorse of Samsung’s premium line. Perhaps the fact that they’re nearly always launched as a kind of afterthought to flashier phablets and foldables. Maybe it’s the fact that they’ve always kind of been quietly good and therefore not deserving of an overhaul like, say, the Pixel Buds. You can’t blame the fact that they’re built specifically for Samsung devices. That’s essentially how the market is now. For most people with most phones, I generally recommend purchasing buds from the same company that made your handset. Devices that are designed together tend to work better together. Certainly that’s the case here with the Pixel Buds. They’re a great pair of headphones that work better with Galaxy devices. You can certainly pair them the standard Bluetooth way with any phone, but you’ll lose certain key features — including two of the biggest new differentiators: auto device switching and 24-bit audio. The latter, mind you, is also one of the bigger sell

Chinese smartphone titan Oppo will keep Germany as its main operational hub for its European business despite recently withdrawing sales from the country, Billy Zhang, the firm’s vice president of overseas sales and services, said told media on Monday. Oppo halted sales in Germany this month after losing a patent lawsuit to the Finnish telecoms giant Nokia, which alleged that Oppo’s use of certain 4G and 5G signaling technologies had infringed on its patents. OnePlus, which was folded into Oppo as a sub-brand last year, has also suspended sales in Germany. Realme, a young phone brand associated with the Chinese electronics behemoth BBK, which is also credited for spawning Oppo, Vivo, and OnePlus, said it is “closely monitoring the situation” of Oppo’s patent challenges in Germany, Madhav Sheth, president of Realme’s international business group, said on a press call in early August. Germany is a popular regional base for Chinese tech companies’ Europe expedition. Huawei’s Europe

The Pixel Watch remains the big looming question mark over the horizon for Google’s wearable ambitions, but for now, the Fitbit lines are carrying on like nothing much has changed. At a launch event this morning, the Alphabet-owned firm unveiled a trio of wearables, including two new smartwatches. The topline products are the Versa 4 and Sense 2. The smartwatches are — for most intents and purposes — largely the same. The pricier Sense line, which debuted in late-2020, builds on the popular Sense device, bringing added sensors and a mindfulness focus to the device. Looking beyond the standard fitness and sleep sensing by attempting to address stress and mental health concerns is clearly a key next step these days, so Fitbit’s certainly ahead of the curve there. And, of course, given the years of work the company has put into building up its platform, hardware and brand, it certainly makes sense to keep these products around for a while — at least until the Pixel Watch finds its footi

Servify, a startup that manages lifecycle of devices for several popular smartphone vendors including Apple and Samsung in many markets, has raised $65 million as it eyes becoming a public company in two years. Singularity Growth Opportunity Fund led the Mumbai-headquartered startup’s Series D funding. AmTrust and family offices including Pidilite and existing investors Iron Pillar, Beenext, Blume Ventures and DMI Sparkle Fund also participated in the round. The round hasn’t closed and the startup said a few other investors are looking to back Servify. It anticipates raising another $5 million to $10 million in the current round. The seven-year-old startup, which has raised over $110 million to date, works with over 75 electronics device manufacturers including OnePlus and Xiaomi and offers them whitelabeled after-sales services such as damage protection and extended warranty. Partner firms also use Servify’s eponymous platform to offer trade-ins, upgrade and financing programs to

You have your work in front of you, a cup of coffee on your desk, some gentle tunes without words playing on the stereo and you’re ready to do some work. Your phone buzzes, and 90 minutes later you look up filled with self-loathing and regret. Your coffee is cold, the cursor on your Word document is blinking at you mockingly and you wonder what the hell happened. Unpluq is a little NFT tile that helps you lock and unlock your phone with mindfulness, to avoid distractions. The company started with a Kickstarter project about a year ago, when it sold about $10,000 worth of products. It recently started shipping regularly, and can be bought for $50 or so. The idea is simple; if you have to use a “key” to unlock the apps that distract you, it means that you have to make an active decision to use your phone to unlock, say, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or my personal “Jesus, where did that hour go?” — hip-hop dance videos on TikTok. Initially, I was torn by the device. Do we really need

We all knew this day was coming. With the film world hungry for failed tech fodder on the heels of titles like The Drop Out and WeCrashed, some producer was bound to hit upon BlackBerry on the way to the inevitable 20-part Juicero miniseries. The beloved and beleaguered smartphone firm formerly known as Research in Motion has become fodder for a new film, simply titled “BlackBerry,” which recently wrapped up shooting in the company’s native Canada. Variety was first to note that the film, based on the 2015 book “Losing the Signal:  The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry ,” has announced two of its leads. Glenn Howerton has been cast as former BlackBerry co-CEO Jim Balsillie, which could explain the “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star’s shaved head on that show’s companion podcast. Canadian Judd Apatow acolyte Jay Baruchel plays co-founder Mike Lazaridis, per the report. Cary Elwes also features in the film from Toronto-born director Ma

Apple this morning is rolling out iPadOS 16.1 beta to enrolled developer devices. It’s a break from the standard release cadence, which has tied together the tablet operating system with its smartphone counterpart, iOS, since its first release in 2019. In a comment to TechCrunch, the company notes, “This is an especially big year for iPadOS. As its own platform with features specifically designed for iPad, we have the flexibility to deliver iPadOS on its own schedule. This Fall, iPadOS will ship after iOS, as version 16.1 in a free software update.” In other words, Apple will be skipping the iPadOS 16.0 release in the fall and going straight to 16.1. This means the first version of iPadOS 16 will ship to non-beta users after the arrival of the first iOS version. It seems likely the two 16.1 releases will arrive at – or around – the same time, though Apple hasn’t confirmed the speculation. The move is unique, but not unprecedented,  for Apple software releases. It may also represent

Fresh produce is an important cornerstone of a healthy diet, and if Click & Grow gets a say, it wants to make that easier by inviting you to grow your own food, right at home. The company today launches the Click & Grow 25, which it says is designed “to provide a farmers’ market food experience.” The company’s product comes with a plant subscription, and is aiming to “disrupt inefficient food supply chains and lower the cost of enjoying healthy food,” focusing in particular on leafy green vegetables. The benefit is two-fold; of everything you have in your fridge, leafy greens get sad the fastest — according to some studies, 60% of ’em go to waste before we get a chance to make like rabbits and wolf ’em down. Leafy greens are also one of the most readily available sources of vitamin A, vitamin C and other nutrients. Red and dark green leafy vegetables are high in antioxidants, Vitamin B6 and other nutrients. Click & Grow is offering an opportunity to make food hyper local

It looks like Miko’s participation in the Disney Accelerator is paying off in a big way, as the company is bringing Disney and Pixar characters to its Miko 3 robot for kids. The company launched its Disney collaboration today, available to customers in more than 140 countries. The funky little robot can play animated story books with stories featuring stars from “Moana,” “Frozen,” “The Lion King,” “Toy Story,” “Big Hero 6,” “Coco” and a bunch of other well-loved stories. “Bringing the imaginative worlds of Disney and Pixar to our platform represents a big step in kids robotics” Sneh Vaswani, Miko co-founder and CEO said in an email to TechCrunch. “Miko is thrilled to be the first robotics platform to have such an innovative collaboration with Disney, and we look forward to raising the benchmark for kids engagement together.” The company has more than 170 employees globally and offices in the innovation hubs of Silicon Valley and Mumbai. It was founded in 2015, and was the only part