Brian Heater
Hardware Editor
The Latest from Brian Heater
New smartphone figures highlight continued struggles to grow market
In some corners, the smartphone market is showing its first signs of life in some time. Recent figures from Canalys indicate a small but notable uptick in the European market as shipments grew 3%, yea
The ACLU wants details about videos of Boston Dynamics robot in police exercises
Back in April at our robotics event at UC Berkeley, Boston Dynamics head Marc Raibert showed off video of the company’s Spot robot in a number of different real world scenarios. Some, like construct
European smartphone shipments grew in Q3, driven by Samsung
Europe bucked global smartphone stagnation in the third quarter, marking an 8% year over year growth in device shipments. That number, provided by Canalys, puts the region at the top of smartphone gro
Remrise raises $8.2M to deliver tailored, plant-based sleep solutions
Sleep is big business. Casper, Leesa and a dozen other mattress companies have driven the point home in recent years. It’s something we all want, but none of us are getting enough of. In 2017, sleep
Motorola throws back to the future with a foldable Razr reboot
The rebirth of the Razr has been rumored for several months now. And honestly, such a product is a bit of a no-brainer. The Lenovo-owned company is embracing the burgeoning (if sputtering) world of fo
Echo Studio is Amazon’s lower-cost answer to the HomePod
Amazon kickstarted the smart speaker market with the original Echo, way back in late-2014. Like many of the company’s hardware offerings, it was very much a utilitarian device. The first Echo was sm
Can a combined Google/Fitbit take on the Apple Watch?
In January 2014, Google announced plans to acquire Nest for $3.2 billion; the acquisition was completed the following day, but since then, Nest’s integration has been a controlled burn. Initiall
Google is acquiring Fitbit for $2.1 billion
Just days after it was reported that Google was close to buying Fitbit, Google and Fitbit today confirmed the purchase: Google will pay $7.35 per share for the wearables company in an all-cash deal th
How I Podcast: I’m Listening’s Anita Flores
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
For the first time in two years, the smartphone market shows signs of life
All is not lost for smartphone manufacturers. On the heels of two years’ of global stagnation, the category is finally showing some signs of life. Much of the bounce back comes as manufacturers are
Wearable spending forecasted to increase 27% in 2020
New numbers from Gartner mark another major increase for global wearable spending in 2020. The analyst firm forecasts a 27% jump in end-user spending over this year, from $40.5 billion to $51.5 billio
DJI announces the smallest Mavic drone yet
The Mavic Pro was a revelation when DJI announced it a little over three years ago. The foldable drone was precisely the shot in the arm the industry needed to help make the technology more accessible
Apple’s AirPods Pro set a pricey new standard for earbuds
“These $250 earbuds are nice.” That’s the first thing I wrote to a co-worker after unboxing and trying on the new AirPods. After wearing them around the New York City streets, the subway and int
Samsung teases a clamshell foldable form factor
Last year at its developer conference, Samsung showed off an early glimpse of its upcoming foldable. In hindsight, the Galaxy Fold’s rollout could have gone more smoothly, but sometimes first-gen pr
Razer targets gamers with low latency wireless earbuds
Everyone’s in the wireless earbuds business these days. Razer, never one to be left out of a trend, is entering the category this week with Hammerhead True Wireless, a pair of fully wireless earbuds
Amazon Echo Buds review
It’s a wonder that Echo Buds didn’t arrive sooner. Earbuds (I still can’t write “hearables” without cringing a bit) are the clearest path to making Alexa work outside of the home. Amazon, af
Pixelbook Go review: A Chromebook in search of meaning
Few, if any, saw coming the Chromebook’s utter dominance of the K-8 category. In hindsight, it’s easy to see why the systems have been such a success story, of course: low prices, coupled with eas
OnePlus’ second 5G phone will be a T-Mobile exclusive
OnePlus’ 5G strategy has marked something of a shift for a company that has traditionally prided itself in a slow and steady approach to new features. Following the arrival of the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G t
Huawei’s foldable Mate X is launching in China next month
Huawei was understandably cautious in the lead up to the Mate X. Watching Samsung’s Galaxy problems unfolding in what seemed like slow motion caused the company to rethink its strategy. Shortly afte