Brian Heater
Hardware Editor
The Latest from Brian Heater
Calm and Room made a $4,000 branded ‘meditation booth’
Call it clever branding. Call it peak Silicon Valley. Either way, the Calm Booth by Room will run you $4,195. Perhaps it’s worth it for the peace of mind — and the dozen annual Calm subscriptions
Eureka Robotics’ new robotic arm is designed for optical lenses and mirrors
Last year, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore had a small viral sensation on its hands with the release of Ikea Bot. The robot did laps around its inept human counterparts by autonomously ass
What the hell is up with this Essential device?
Essential CEO Andy Rubin has been pretty silent over the past year for, well, lots of reasons — both business and otherwise. The company has struggled to sell devices, reportedly shipping only 8
How I Podcast: Broken Record’s Justin Richmond
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
Sony’s next console is… the PlayStation 5, arriving holidays 2020
Part of me wishes Sony had gone for something a little flashier. The PlayStation Unicorn or PlayStation Trebuchet or something. But there’s something to be said for consistency. Simplicity. The next
Amazon introduces a Kindle for kids
While it’s true that many parents are doing their best to reduce screen time as much as possible, there’s something to be said for the Kindle Kids Edition. The best and worst things about the devi
Apple’s MacOS Catalina is now available
For years now, Apple’s been judicious with its MacOS updates. Understandably so. Given the massive online outcry every time Facebook changes the placement of a button, it’s in UX designers’ best
HTC stopped innovating on smartphones, new CEO admits
Several months back, we invited HTC co-founder and CEO Cher Wang to appear onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt. Sometimes, however, life happens. Two weeks ago, the company announced that Wang would be step
HTC’s new CEO discusses the phonemaker’s future
On September 17, HTC announced that cofounder Cher Wang would be stepping down as CEO. In her place, Yves Maitre stepped into the role of Chief Executive, after more than a decade at French telecom gi
Lora DiCarlo founder says CES award snub did company ‘a pretty big favor’
CES parent the Consumer Technology Association created a public relations disaster in January when it unceremoniously revoked an award from sex tech startup, Lora DiCarlo and its product Osé. “Vela
Samsung pulls the plug on Chinese smartphone production
Samsung this morning confirmed with Reuters that it has shuttered handset production in China. The move comes as the company continues to struggle in the world’s No. 1 smartphone market. As we noted
Traptic uses 3D vision and robotic arms to harvest ripe strawberries
At some unspecified time, somewhere down the road, Traptic would love to expand its robots to pick a wide variety of crops. For now, however, the South Bay-based team is focused solely on strawberries
Flir purchases IP and assets from defunct drone company, Aria
Back in March, Aria Insights suddenly went dark. The news was a bit of a surprise from a startup that had just announced a name change and pivot in tech focus. Today, thermal imaging company Flir anno
Here’s everything Microsoft announced at today’s Surface event
This morning’s Surface event was all about “flow.” It was hard to miss, honestly. The company must have collectively uttered the word dozens of times onstage in New York. The word of
Microsoft teases Neo dual-screen Surface, set to debut holiday 2020
Rumored in 2008 and officially canceled two years later, Courier is one of the great “what ifs” of the consumer hardware space. Somewhere out there is an alternative timeline where the dual-screen
Microsoft just announced a dual-screen Surface phone
In spite of everything else leaking out at this morning’s Surface event, Microsoft was still able to save one big surprise for the end. The company’s getting back into phones. Not only tha
Microsoft’s new wireless earbuds work with Office — no, seriously
Microsoft just introduced the followup to its good Surface headphones — and get this, they’re designed specifically to work with Office. Priced at a lofty $249, the wireless earbuds have a
Microsoft’s latest Surface Laptop arrives in 13- and 15-inch models
The rumors for this morning’s Microsoft event are one-for-one. The first piece of hardware shown off this morning in New York is the latest version of the company’s very good Surface Lapto
Duet adds Android tablet support for its second screen app
Sidecar is great. It’s my favorite software thing Apple has introduced in years. I’m using it right now, as I type this, in fact. For many app developers, however, the feature’s arrival with mac
Here’s what Microsoft will probably announce at tomorrow’s Surface event
It’s hardware season, and now it’s Microsoft’s turn to deliver the goods. The company will be holding its big Surface event bright and early tomorrow morning in New York. If past years’ events