Brian Heater
Hardware Editor
The Latest from Brian Heater
Mid-range flagships like the Honor 20 Pro are giving premium phones a run for their money
Phone sales have been trending downward for some time now. There are a number of reasons for this — many of which you can read about in this piece I published last week. The creeping cost of premium
Select Bose smart speakers get Google Assistant
A week after Sonos added long-promised Google Assistant integration to a pair of speakers, Bose is following suit. The company’s bringing the popular smart home AI to a trio of existing models, the
SmileDirectClub plans to 3D print 50,000 teeth-straightening molds a day
The medical industry has long been considered one of the most promising sources of growth for industrial 3D printing. It makes sense — getting a good fit requires the sort of exact measurements that
How I Podcast: Criminal/This Is Love’s Lauren Spohrer
The beauty of podcasting is that anyone can do it. It’s a rare medium that’s nearly as easy to make as it is to consume. And as such, no two people do it exactly the same way. There are a wealth o
With foldable phones in limbo, foldable display laptops are on the horizon
With the Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X currently in limbo for very different reasons, PC makers are apparently jumping at the chance to make their own foldable display ambitions known. It’s been cle
Select FCC leaders announce support for T-Mobile, Sprint merger
It’s been more than a year since T-Mobile and Sprint formally announced a merger agreement. This morning, members of FCC leadership have issued statements voicing their support for the $26 billion p
Game of Thrones petition reaches 1M signatures ahead of finale
Life is short, difficult and, most likely, ultimately meaningless. In this age of immediate fan service, it’s important to remember that you can’t always get what you want. That goes double when i
Google reportedly suspends select business with Huawei over U.S. ban
The Trump administration Huawei ban is sure to have wide-ranging and long lasting effects for all parties. In the meantime, it seems, a number of those involved in the periphery are treading lightly i
Is a $600 smart oven ever worth it?
Part of closely following tech is the often mistaken belief that newer, better technologies can help right some of the wrongs older ones caused in the first place. Behold the Wii and the Fitbit — tw
How the (plant-based) sausage is about to be made
It’s been a big year for Impossible . The bay area based food startup kicked the year off with a new take on its titual burger, and just last week announced the closing of a $300 million round hot o
Powerbeats Pro are the Bluetooth earbuds to beat
Let’s get the bad out of the way first, shall we? For starters, that charging case is huge. There’s no way around it. It’s something that’s become more and more apparent as the weather is warm
Spotify is test driving a car hardware thing called ‘Car Thing’
For anyone following Spotify, this no doubt felt like an inevitably. As the streaming service looks to diversify, the company’s already had some loose partnerships with hardware companies like Might
Alphabet’s Wing drone deliveries are coming to Finland next month
Slowly but surely, Wing is spreading. Just last month, the one-time Google moonshot started deliveries for select locales in Australia’s capital city, Canberra. Now it’s moving into Finland, takin
The state of the smartphone
Earlier this month, Canalys used the word “freefall” to describe its latest reporting. Global shipments fell 6.8% year over year. At 313.9 million, they were at their lowest level in nearly half a
Asus’ $499 ZenFone 6 has a flip-up camera and a giant battery
Premium smartphone manufacturers have moved the needle on pricing, but 2019 may well go down as a kind of golden age for budget flagships. Apple, Google and Samsung are all in that business now, and O
Samsung’s 5G phone hits Verizon, Sprint getting two 5G devices this month
With 5G, when it rains, it pours. A few hours after Verizon officially started selling the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, Sprint announced that it will be offering two 5G devices for its network by the end of
Anchor’s new feature lets listeners leave voice messages for podcast hosts
February’s acquisition of Anchor was a savvy move on Spotify’s behalf. It’s a clever and rapidly growing company that will help the music service get a big leg up in its bid to build its podcast
Samsung reportedly readying Galaxy Fold for release after finding ‘fix’
Samsung’s been mostly quiet on the Fold front after recalling review units and indefinitely delaying the phone’s release. Understandably so. It couldn’t have been easy going back to the drawing
The White House wants to know if you’ve been ‘censored or silenced’ by social media
It’s no secret that the Trump administration has been at war with social media. In the past year, the president has accused several online giants of censoring conservative voices, in particular gian
New FCC proposal would make it easier for carriers to block robocalls
The current FCC commissioners’ stances haven’t always made them the most popular with consumers (see: net neutrality), but new, stricter robocall rules could help them win over some fans. Ajit Pai