Does your favorite movie star or pop singer really love the Kremlin? Though the ads in your Facebook feed may lead you to believe such a thing, it’s just not true. In recent months, a major disinformation campaign has run rampant on Meta and X (aka Facebook and Twitter). The …
Read More »Samsung’s End-of-Year Sale Cuts Prices on Our Favorite Phones, TVs, and Tablets
It's that time of year again. The holidays? Nope! Winter solstice? Try again. OK, I'll just tell you: It's Samsung's quarterly Discover event. I know, I know—it's less exciting than wintry festivities, but if you're in the market for any Samsung products (for yourself or others), this event is big …
Read More »Tesla Is Recalling Nearly All Vehicles Sold in US to Fix an Autopilot Fault
Tesla is recalling more than 2 million vehicles, nearly all of the vehicles it has sold in the US to date, to fix a flawed system designed to make sure drivers are paying attention when they use Autopilot. Rather than physically recalling vehicles, documents posted today by the US National …
Read More »Who Knew That Rothy’s Made Men’s Shoes? They’re Great!
I used to feel a little embarrassed by my home clothes—anything I wore when no one could see me. That included ratty shoes, shirts with holes, and old shorts I should have gotten rid of long ago. When I got a dog, my embarrassment swelled because I was too lazy …
Read More »Why Even a Partial Digital Detox Is a Good Idea This Christmas
This Christmas I will leave the frigid state of Iowa to spend the holidays with my daughter, Kristil, in Paris. Despite my excitement at reuniting with her after a year apart, I'm also grappling with the unintended strain digital tools have put on our relationship during past visits. Before the …
Read More »How to Use Double Tap on WatchOS
A smartwatch is designed to make your life easier and get you off your phone. Every time you have to dig your phone out of your pocket to read a notification, a digital fairy dies. However, a smartwatch is also less useful if you have to drop whatever you’re doing …
Read More »Panasonic’s New Powder-Powered Batteries Will Supercharge EVs
Sila, a Californian company cofounded in 2011 by Tesla’s seventh staffer, is going to supply Panasonic with a US-made silicon powder for EV batteries that could banish range anxiety, slash charge times, and even reduce reliance on China. Panasonic’s main US customer is Tesla, and produces around 10 percent of …
Read More »Sony’s New Access Controller Reveals a Big Problem in Adaptive Gaming
For the past five years, engineers at Sony have been developing the PlayStation 5’s answer to the Xbox Adaptive Controller, finally completing a triumvirate of accessibility-focused controllers for all three current-gen consoles, including the Nintendo-licensed Hori Flex. The palm-sized, turtle-shaped Access controller arrives three years into the lifecycle of the …
Read More »13 Great Deals on Headphones, Wireless Earbuds, and Gaming Headsets
Arguably, the best time to get new audio gear is … well, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. However, just because the shopping event to end all shopping events (and our collective sanity) is over, it doesn't mean there are no deals left. We've found a ton of sales on WIRED-tested …
Read More »Green Chat Bubbles Aren’t the Problem—Texting Is
When an Android user sends a text message to an iPhone user, their chat bubble shows up in iOS shaded green rather than iMessage's default blue. This color coding signals to the iPhone user that the incoming text is arriving from outside the Apple ecosystem. But the divide goes beyond …
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