Brian Heater
Hardware Editor
The Latest from Brian Heater
ChatGPT is a squeeze away with Nothing’s upgraded earbuds
Nothing today announced a pair of refreshes to its earbud line. The naming conventions are a touch convoluted here, but the Nothing Ear is an update to the Nothing Ear (2), while the Nothing Ear (a) i
Alphabet X’s Bellwether harnesses AI to help predict natural disasters
The world is on fire. Quite literally, much of the time. Predicting such disasters before they get out of hand — or better yet, before they happen — will be key to maintaining a reasonable
Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robot goes electric
Atlas lies motionless in a prone position atop interlocking gym mats. The only soundtrack is the whirring of an electric motor. It’s not quiet, exactly, but it’s nothing compared to the hydraulic
Formlabs says new 3D printer ‘rivals injection molding’
This month marks five years since the release of the Form 3, Formlabs’ last major 3D printer refresh. To celebrate the occasion, the MIT spinoff has unveiled the long-awaited Form 4. At the top of t
A humanoid robot is on its way from Mobileye founder
Mentee Robotics hasn’t been in stealth, exactly. The Israeli firm caught a small wave of press at the tail end of 2022, following Tesla’s initial humanoid robotics announcement. As that was the ye
Atlas shrugged: Boston Dynamics retires its hydraulic humanoid robot
Now that humanoids are all the rage in the robotics industry, Boston Dynamics on Tuesday officially retired theirs. The Hyundai-owned firm has always marched to the beat of its own drummer. Even so, i
These 74 robotics companies are hiring
It’s tough out there — and yet, doing my semi-regular jobs post always gives me hope. Seems every time I post one of these, the number increases. At 74 companies, this is undoubtedly the l
Walmart will deploy robotic forklifts in its distribution centers
The story of warehouse robotics is a story of attempting to keep up with Amazon. It’s been more than a decade since the online giant revolutionized its delivery services through its Kiva Systems acq
Humane’s $699 Ai Pin is now available
Humane today announced the availability of its first product, the Ai Pin. The Bay Area-based hardware startup has been kicking around since 2017, a year after co-founders Bethany Bongiorno and Imran C
European car manufacturer will pilot Sanctuary AI’s humanoid robot
Sanctuary AI announced that it will be delivering its humanoid robot to a Magna manufacturing facility. Based in Canada, with auto manufacturing facilities in Austria, Magna manufactures and assembles
Apple opens access to used iPhone components for repair
On Thursday, Apple announced that it has opened its iPhone repair process to include used components. Starting this fall, customers and independent repair shops will be able to fix the handset using c
Humane’s Ai Pin considers life beyond the smartphone
Nothing lasts forever. Nowhere is the truism more apt than in consumer tech. This is a land inhabited by the eternally restless — always on the make for the next big thing. The smartphone has, b
Muscle tissue harvested from mice cells move ‘biohybrid’ robots
Sometimes nature provides the best blueprints for building effective robots. It also can provide the best material. Billions of years of natural selection has built some pretty impressive machinery, s
Collaborative Robotics is prioritizing ‘human problem solving’ over humanoid forms
Humanoids have sucked a lot of the air out of the room. It is, after all, a lot easier to generate press for robots that look and move like humans. Ultimately, however, both the efficacy and scalabili
Dyson’s new AR feature shows where you have (and haven’t) vacuumed
If this had been announced exactly a week prior, it would have been easy to mistake for some corporate April Foolery. Dyson, however, assures us that augmented reality vacuuming is real and coming in
Fairphone launches easy-to-repair earbuds
The right to repair has been a hot topic for several years now, hitting a kind of critical mass with domestic and international legislation. Advocates note that these proposals give users more control
Shure MV7+: The best USB podcast mic gets better
I was happy — excited, even — to check out Shure’s latest USB microphone. Its predecessor, the MV7, has been my default podcasting mic since it was launched toward to end of 2020. I’ve
China tensions underline US investment in TSMC
The United States Department of Commerce Monday proposed investing as much as $6.6 billion to fund a third Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) fab in Arizona. The funding would a
Ten years later, Facebook’s Oculus acquisition hasn’t changed the world as expected
Every year, Time Magazine issues a list of the 200 best inventions of the past 12 months. Frankly, I don’t know how the editors do it. The dirty secret of this job is that true, game-changing invent
Agility Robotics lays off some staff amid commercialization focus
Agility Robotics on Thursday confirmed that it has laid off a “small number” of employees. The well-funded Oregon-based firm says the job loss is part of a company-wide focus on commercialization