Ninja Quietly but Drastically Improved Its Slushie Machines
Other Slushie Machines I Liked
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
GreenPan
Frost Slushie Machine
The slushie machine from Belgian-founded wellness brand GreenPan is maybe the only slushie machine I’d describe as being even slightly attractive, or pleasant on a countertop—available in a trendy pistachio color scheme that a 21-year-old co-tester called “cute.” The slush produced by this device also had quite a nice consistency, perhaps due to a tighter auger around the cylinder that roiled the slush a little more. My colleague Martin Cizmar, who also tested this device, was able to recreate a Philly recipe for Italian-style water ice with Meyer lemons, and declared himself an unending fan.
The GreenPan slushed admirably, making a full chamber’s worth of spiked slush in about 25 minutes. This is nowhere near as fast as the XL or the Twist on slushing speeds, alas. The fill chamber is a little shallow, which means you have to pour slowly or you’ll make a mess. If you accidentally leave the handle down, you’ll also make a mess. Some reports online of cracks in the cylinder over use are also reason for pause. But if aesthetics are a prime consideration, this will slush handily. And look a little better while doing it.
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
The original Ninja Slushi was quite simply a triumph of industrial design when it arrived in 2024—the machine that managed to bring the cocktail bar or convenience-store slushie to the home kitchen countertop. Among many imitators, Ninja’s original design remained the most user-friendly and reliable until the next-generation Ninjas supplanted it.
I’ve made coconut-lime daiquiris for a family of visiting Brazilians, who joked that they planned to take the machine back with them on the airplane. I’ve entertained a party full of children with the nonalcoholic version of slushie. And I’ve made silly frozen cocktails at home, whether lime Jarritos slushies or tamarind michelada slushies. Everything frozen is better, it turns out. Freezing a cocktail adds fun and removes shame.
But it’s been replaced. I consider the original Slushi a good value model, but it’s no longer the top of the market. The original Slushi doesn’t slush as well on higher-alcohol slushies as the newer XL and Twist, even for ABV below 16 percent. (Really, with an OG Ninja Slushi, the sweet spot is around 10 to 12 percent ABV if you want good consistency.) Milkshakes/soft-serve are not really feasible on the original Ninja either, always either foamy or ice-gritty.
Which is all to say, buy the Slushi when it’s on a good sale at $250 or less—or when it’s updated with a compressor as good as the one on the XL or Twist.
Other Slushie Machines Tested
Ever since Ninja took slushies to the home market, the Amazon directories have filled with newer brands you’ve likely never heard of and whose names sometimes seem subject to a randomizer engine: Inoviva, Chivalz, Vibofrost, Friwest, Aekda, Syintao, Vischic, Ranvaira, Rinvotio, and the list goes on. Most are available at discounts compared to Ninja or other more recognizable brands.
I’ve tested three such brands: Chivalz, Invoviva, and Vibofrost. All three have had one form of reliability issue or another: basic design defects, inconsistency of performance, or simply disappearing from the market.
Chivalz Slushie Machine (no longer in stock): This was previously WIRED’s budget pick, which my co-tester Kat Merck called, without insult, “a quite respectable Ninja Slushi knockoff.” The device arrived with a welcome digital temp readout and a removable back panel that made cleaning easier on the slush chamber. Performance was comparable to the original Ninja, though the user interface was a bit janky. But since last year, the brand’s slushie machines seem to have disappeared, as the brand’s focus moved to air purifiers and humidifiers.
Vibofrost Slushie Machine ($235, sold out after Prime Day): This Vibofrost, like the Chivalz, freezes slushies comparably to the original Ninja Slushi. And like the Chivalz, it has a somewhat irritating child-lock feature, and a timed feature that seems of limited utility. Though it will slush within around 20 to 30 minutes, the oddly designed spout can spray wildly if there’s any liquid in the machine, the drip tray does not attach securely, and it kinda moans like a dying tauntaun while in operation.
Inoviva Slushie Machine for $120: I tested this Inoviva slushie machine twice. The first time, the device registered much louder than competitors, the drip tray arrived stuck to the machine, and the compressor began to fail after a week’s testing. The second time, it was still loud, and the user interface had a difficult-to-navigate locking feature, but freezing was indeed more consistent. The inconsistency in quality control makes this device difficult to recommend. But maybe you’re willing to brave this for a steeply discounted price. The Inoviva also has one terrific feature: The ability to adjust thickness for each drink setting.
My co-tester Kat Merck (on the now-discontinued Chivalz) and I made so very many slushies with each machine, from dairy to nondairy to coffee slushies to straight-up bottles of wine. Specifically, we tested every version of slush that a machine advertised. If Ninja or GreenPan says a machine can make frappés and milkshakes and frozen juices, we made frappés and milkshakes and frozen juices, tinkering where necessary. I froze orange juice and strawberry juice, slushed a bouquet’s worth of rosé, and made slushies from daiquiri to margarita to whiskey Coke. I slushed tamarind micheladas (an excellent idea) and Twisted Tea (a terrible idea).
Photograph: Kat Merck
I also raced the freezing capabilities of all three machines by pouring a 16-ounce can of delicious Mango Mike’s Harder Lemonade in each, then seeing which machine was fastest. (For the XL, I used a 24-ounce can.) And I made smooth and dense coconut-lime daiquiris with coconut milk, according to Ninja’s recipe, to test how well each machine’s dispenser handled a genuine dense-textured challenge.
How Do Home Slushie Machines Work?
The tech is pretty simple, almost ingeniously so: A beefy cylindrical freezing core in the center of the drink chamber continually cools any liquid in contact with it. It’s encircled by a plastic spiral auger attached to a motor. The auger mixes the drink, keeps it slushing instead of freezing solid, and also pushes the resulting slush toward the dispenser nozzle so you can have some. The resolute simplicity of this design allowed Ninja and others to scale down the commercial slushie maker for home consumers thirsty for frozen treats.
The main requirement is that the frozen beverage have more than 4 percent sugar—or between 3 percent and 16 percent alcohol—in order to lower the freezing point of the resulting concoction and make slushing possible. Some slushie machine vendors recommend percentages more like 15 percent sugar, for perfect consistency. But I often balk at this. Coca-Cola and orange juice are each around 11 percent sugar—so that’s very sweet. Some hero of the internet has made a slush calculator for easy reference.
A minimum of 16 ounces of liquid is required for most 88-ounce home machines, for simple reasons: The liquid needs to be in physical contact with the core in order to slush up and also to keep ice from forming on the central cylinder’s surface. The Slushi XL requires a 24-ounce minimum, because it’s bigger.
Can You Put Diet Soda in a Slushie Machine?
No and yes. Slushies rely on a helpful property of water: Sugar (or salt) dissolved in water lowers its freezing point below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Why? Solubles like sugar are chaos agents. Sugar molecules move randomly, refuse to dissolve into ice, and interfere with water’s ability to form hydrogen bonds and turn crystalline. Some water molecules freeze, but sugar water doesn’t. Tada! Slush.
If you try to make a slushie out of sugar-free soda, or sugar-free anything, ice crystals will instead form easily. The stainless steel freezing core will ice over and scrape on the auger, and ice cubes or hunks will gather mass in the slushie machine. The cylinder will start to shake, then the machine will clunk, then eventually you’ll probably break your machine: Low-sugar fail-safes on these devices have not been overly reliable, alas. So don’t try this at home!
This doesn’t mean you’re doomed to massive calories if you want to make a slushie. Not every artificial sweetener lowers the freezing point appropriately, but the one that Ninja recommends for diet slushies is allulose, a rare but naturally occurring sugar that’s 70 percent as sweet as basic sugar but is not metabolized effectively by the human digestive system. This means it’s low in calories and doesn’t cause insulin spikes—but as with a lot of indigestibles, note that side effects can include bloating or GI distress for some.
For easiest use in a slushie, buy liquid allulose. Powdered versions also exist, but to use them, you’ll need to make a simple syrup by heating up the powder in water to help it dissolve, then let it cool. If you just try to drop the allulose powder into your machine with some Diet Coke, it might not dissolve, and you might still get ice formation. Or at least, I definitely still got ice formation when I tried this on the OG Ninja, and had to stop my machine.
How Can You Stop Milkshakes From Getting Foamy in a Slushie Machine?
Bet you didn’t expect a lesson in milk proteins today! But here’s the deal: Milk proteins start to separate when agitated. Churning milk is, in fact, how butter gets made. Proteins separate out, and you get butter on the one side and buttermilk on the other. Both are delicious, but neither is wanted in a milkshake.
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
If you try to make a milkshake in a churning slushie machine using just milk, you’ll eventually start to see the effects of these milk proteins separating out from buttermilk—which will manifest first as an undesirable foaminess. To avoid this, Ninja recommends also adding heavy cream or half-and-half to any milkshake recipe. The higher fat content will keep things smoother.
Note it’s easiest to use fruit syrups, rather than just juice, and add vanillin, or it’ll be a bit boring: The heavy fat tends to overwhelm any subtle fruit flavors. Another deep secret of the tasty milkshake? Salt. Add a tiiiinny pinch; it’ll help bring out flavor. A 16-ounce McDonald’s milkshake has 260 milligrams of sodium—about 1/16th of a teaspoon of table salt, or approximately the amount that fits between your index finger and your thumb.
But temper your expectations here. None of the slushie machines we tested made a texture comparable to a classic milkshake. On most machines, which don’t have compressors as powerful as the new-model Ninjas that are now our top picks, the texture is often a little ice-gritty and not as richly textured or integrated as the milkshake you’ll get from your local burger joint, let alone the soft serve from the famously broken ice cream machines at McDonald’s. Slushie machines also can’t handle chunks of frozen fruit, often the best part of a milkshake.
On the newer Ninjas, with their more powerful freezing power, I was able to get the smoothness and freeze I wanted. But because most recipes call for a high-fat mix of 2:1 milk and heavy cream in order ot avoid churning foam and butter, the results still weren’t quite a light milkshake. It was more like a dense, rich, quite tasty soft serve.
Now, do I like being able to make 20-minute soft-serve in my home? From milk and heavy cream and sugar and a dash of vanilla? Heck yes, I do.
#Ninja #Quietly #Drastically #Improved #Slushie #Machineskitchen,shopping,household,food and drink,amazon
The slushie machine from Belgian-founded wellness brand GreenPan is maybe the only slushie machine I’d describe as being even slightly attractive, or pleasant on a countertop—available in a trendy pistachio color scheme that a 21-year-old co-tester called “cute.” The slush produced by this device also had quite a nice consistency, perhaps due to a tighter auger around the cylinder that roiled the slush a little more. My colleague Martin Cizmar, who also tested this device, was able to recreate a Philly recipe for Italian-style water ice with Meyer lemons, and declared himself an unending fan.
The GreenPan slushed admirably, making a full chamber’s worth of spiked slush in about 25 minutes. This is nowhere near as fast as the XL or the Twist on slushing speeds, alas. The fill chamber is a little shallow, which means you have to pour slowly or you’ll make a mess. If you accidentally leave the handle down, you’ll also make a mess. Some reports online of cracks in the cylinder over use are also reason for pause. But if aesthetics are a prime consideration, this will slush handily. And look a little better while doing it.
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
The original Ninja Slushi was quite simply a triumph of industrial design when it arrived in 2024—the machine that managed to bring the cocktail bar or convenience-store slushie to the home kitchen countertop. Among many imitators, Ninja’s original design remained the most user-friendly and reliable until the next-generation Ninjas supplanted it.
I’ve made coconut-lime daiquiris for a family of visiting Brazilians, who joked that they planned to take the machine back with them on the airplane. I’ve entertained a party full of children with the nonalcoholic version of slushie. And I’ve made silly frozen cocktails at home, whether lime Jarritos slushies or tamarind michelada slushies. Everything frozen is better, it turns out. Freezing a cocktail adds fun and removes shame.
But it’s been replaced. I consider the original Slushi a good value model, but it’s no longer the top of the market. The original Slushi doesn’t slush as well on higher-alcohol slushies as the newer XL and Twist, even for ABV below 16 percent. (Really, with an OG Ninja Slushi, the sweet spot is around 10 to 12 percent ABV if you want good consistency.) Milkshakes/soft-serve are not really feasible on the original Ninja either, always either foamy or ice-gritty.
Which is all to say, buy the Slushi when it’s on a good sale at $250 or less—or when it’s updated with a compressor as good as the one on the XL or Twist.
Other Slushie Machines Tested
Ever since Ninja took slushies to the home market, the Amazon directories have filled with newer brands you’ve likely never heard of and whose names sometimes seem subject to a randomizer engine: Inoviva, Chivalz, Vibofrost, Friwest, Aekda, Syintao, Vischic, Ranvaira, Rinvotio, and the list goes on. Most are available at discounts compared to Ninja or other more recognizable brands.
I’ve tested three such brands: Chivalz, Invoviva, and Vibofrost. All three have had one form of reliability issue or another: basic design defects, inconsistency of performance, or simply disappearing from the market.
Chivalz Slushie Machine (no longer in stock): This was previously WIRED’s budget pick, which my co-tester Kat Merck called, without insult, “a quite respectable Ninja Slushi knockoff.” The device arrived with a welcome digital temp readout and a removable back panel that made cleaning easier on the slush chamber. Performance was comparable to the original Ninja, though the user interface was a bit janky. But since last year, the brand’s slushie machines seem to have disappeared, as the brand’s focus moved to air purifiers and humidifiers.
Vibofrost Slushie Machine ($235, sold out after Prime Day): This Vibofrost, like the Chivalz, freezes slushies comparably to the original Ninja Slushi. And like the Chivalz, it has a somewhat irritating child-lock feature, and a timed feature that seems of limited utility. Though it will slush within around 20 to 30 minutes, the oddly designed spout can spray wildly if there’s any liquid in the machine, the drip tray does not attach securely, and it kinda moans like a dying tauntaun while in operation.
Inoviva Slushie Machine for $120: I tested this Inoviva slushie machine twice. The first time, the device registered much louder than competitors, the drip tray arrived stuck to the machine, and the compressor began to fail after a week’s testing. The second time, it was still loud, and the user interface had a difficult-to-navigate locking feature, but freezing was indeed more consistent. The inconsistency in quality control makes this device difficult to recommend. But maybe you’re willing to brave this for a steeply discounted price. The Inoviva also has one terrific feature: The ability to adjust thickness for each drink setting.
My co-tester Kat Merck (on the now-discontinued Chivalz) and I made so very many slushies with each machine, from dairy to nondairy to coffee slushies to straight-up bottles of wine. Specifically, we tested every version of slush that a machine advertised. If Ninja or GreenPan says a machine can make frappés and milkshakes and frozen juices, we made frappés and milkshakes and frozen juices, tinkering where necessary. I froze orange juice and strawberry juice, slushed a bouquet’s worth of rosé, and made slushies from daiquiri to margarita to whiskey Coke. I slushed tamarind micheladas (an excellent idea) and Twisted Tea (a terrible idea).
Photograph: Kat Merck
I also raced the freezing capabilities of all three machines by pouring a 16-ounce can of delicious Mango Mike’s Harder Lemonade in each, then seeing which machine was fastest. (For the XL, I used a 24-ounce can.) And I made smooth and dense coconut-lime daiquiris with coconut milk, according to Ninja’s recipe, to test how well each machine’s dispenser handled a genuine dense-textured challenge.
How Do Home Slushie Machines Work?
The tech is pretty simple, almost ingeniously so: A beefy cylindrical freezing core in the center of the drink chamber continually cools any liquid in contact with it. It’s encircled by a plastic spiral auger attached to a motor. The auger mixes the drink, keeps it slushing instead of freezing solid, and also pushes the resulting slush toward the dispenser nozzle so you can have some. The resolute simplicity of this design allowed Ninja and others to scale down the commercial slushie maker for home consumers thirsty for frozen treats.
The main requirement is that the frozen beverage have more than 4 percent sugar—or between 3 percent and 16 percent alcohol—in order to lower the freezing point of the resulting concoction and make slushing possible. Some slushie machine vendors recommend percentages more like 15 percent sugar, for perfect consistency. But I often balk at this. Coca-Cola and orange juice are each around 11 percent sugar—so that’s very sweet. Some hero of the internet has made a slush calculator for easy reference.
A minimum of 16 ounces of liquid is required for most 88-ounce home machines, for simple reasons: The liquid needs to be in physical contact with the core in order to slush up and also to keep ice from forming on the central cylinder’s surface. The Slushi XL requires a 24-ounce minimum, because it’s bigger.
Can You Put Diet Soda in a Slushie Machine?
No and yes. Slushies rely on a helpful property of water: Sugar (or salt) dissolved in water lowers its freezing point below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Why? Solubles like sugar are chaos agents. Sugar molecules move randomly, refuse to dissolve into ice, and interfere with water’s ability to form hydrogen bonds and turn crystalline. Some water molecules freeze, but sugar water doesn’t. Tada! Slush.
If you try to make a slushie out of sugar-free soda, or sugar-free anything, ice crystals will instead form easily. The stainless steel freezing core will ice over and scrape on the auger, and ice cubes or hunks will gather mass in the slushie machine. The cylinder will start to shake, then the machine will clunk, then eventually you’ll probably break your machine: Low-sugar fail-safes on these devices have not been overly reliable, alas. So don’t try this at home!
This doesn’t mean you’re doomed to massive calories if you want to make a slushie. Not every artificial sweetener lowers the freezing point appropriately, but the one that Ninja recommends for diet slushies is allulose, a rare but naturally occurring sugar that’s 70 percent as sweet as basic sugar but is not metabolized effectively by the human digestive system. This means it’s low in calories and doesn’t cause insulin spikes—but as with a lot of indigestibles, note that side effects can include bloating or GI distress for some.
For easiest use in a slushie, buy liquid allulose. Powdered versions also exist, but to use them, you’ll need to make a simple syrup by heating up the powder in water to help it dissolve, then let it cool. If you just try to drop the allulose powder into your machine with some Diet Coke, it might not dissolve, and you might still get ice formation. Or at least, I definitely still got ice formation when I tried this on the OG Ninja, and had to stop my machine.
How Can You Stop Milkshakes From Getting Foamy in a Slushie Machine?
Bet you didn’t expect a lesson in milk proteins today! But here’s the deal: Milk proteins start to separate when agitated. Churning milk is, in fact, how butter gets made. Proteins separate out, and you get butter on the one side and buttermilk on the other. Both are delicious, but neither is wanted in a milkshake.
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
If you try to make a milkshake in a churning slushie machine using just milk, you’ll eventually start to see the effects of these milk proteins separating out from buttermilk—which will manifest first as an undesirable foaminess. To avoid this, Ninja recommends also adding heavy cream or half-and-half to any milkshake recipe. The higher fat content will keep things smoother.
Note it’s easiest to use fruit syrups, rather than just juice, and add vanillin, or it’ll be a bit boring: The heavy fat tends to overwhelm any subtle fruit flavors. Another deep secret of the tasty milkshake? Salt. Add a tiiiinny pinch; it’ll help bring out flavor. A 16-ounce McDonald’s milkshake has 260 milligrams of sodium—about 1/16th of a teaspoon of table salt, or approximately the amount that fits between your index finger and your thumb.
But temper your expectations here. None of the slushie machines we tested made a texture comparable to a classic milkshake. On most machines, which don’t have compressors as powerful as the new-model Ninjas that are now our top picks, the texture is often a little ice-gritty and not as richly textured or integrated as the milkshake you’ll get from your local burger joint, let alone the soft serve from the famously broken ice cream machines at McDonald’s. Slushie machines also can’t handle chunks of frozen fruit, often the best part of a milkshake.
On the newer Ninjas, with their more powerful freezing power, I was able to get the smoothness and freeze I wanted. But because most recipes call for a high-fat mix of 2:1 milk and heavy cream in order ot avoid churning foam and butter, the results still weren’t quite a light milkshake. It was more like a dense, rich, quite tasty soft serve.
Now, do I like being able to make 20-minute soft-serve in my home? From milk and heavy cream and sugar and a dash of vanilla? Heck yes, I do.
Source link
#Ninja #Quietly #Drastically #Improved #Slushie #Machines
Last month, Louisville, Kentucky-based creator Luke The Maker showed off a bizarre, 3D-printed, pistol-shaped case design for the popular minimalist Xteink X4 e-reader. The X4 lies vertically atop the plastic gun’s slide, with a cutout on the side to access its buttons. Though the frame was digitally modeled after a real gun, this “case” can’t shoot bullets. Squeezing the trigger does nothing at all. He calls his contraption the “Gundle.”
In a post showing off the wacky accessory, Luke (whose last name is Blackford) can be seen flipping through Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian and J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye before tossing the gun e-reader case in his car’s center console.
“The perfect e-reader for public reading,” text reads over the clip.
But even though this internet experiment is clearly intended as a joke or commentary, it’s possible future 3D printers won’t see it that way. Lawmakers in multiple states are pushing for laws mandating gun-blocking software on all new printers sold. This still-evolving technology would, in theory, scan every file before it’s physically printed and try to algorithmically determine whether it’s a firearm or firearm part. If the software decides that the thing being printed looks enough like a gun, it stops the printer from completing the job. That is, if it even works. Lawmakers in New York and California are leaving it up to a panel of industry experts to weigh whether the proposed vision is even technically feasible. Despite that cloud of uncertainty, legislation mandating this blocking tech has already become law in New York and passed California’s state assembly.
“I didn’t want it to be so publicly available. I just didn’t want tons of them out there.”
That may sound reasonable enough, but makers and industry experts previously told The Verge that the tech is underdeveloped and risks introducing false positives where non-guns that look gun-like get unnecessarily blocked. Blackford’s e-reader case falls directly in that detection gray area. Blackford says he didn’t explicitly make the Gundle to challenge the proposed laws, but he also didn’t shy away from expressing his opinion about them.
“I’m not for that kind of thing because I’m big into open software,” Blackford says. “It’s just a wild frontier right now, so I definitely don’t trust [gun blueprint scanning tech] now.”
“If people want to 3D print a gun, they’re going to do it,” he adds. “I don’t think it’s up to the people making the slicers to control that kind of thing.”
Those pushing for these mandates, meanwhile, wouldn’t say whether their proposed tech would stop Blackford from making a harmless case. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office didn’t respond to questions about Blackford’s device specifically, or the implications false positives could have for a maker’s ability to freely express themself.
“Governor Hochul is laser-focused on improving public safety and reducing gun violence in New York,” deputy communications director at the Office of Governor Kathy Hochul and spokesperson Jess D’Amelia tells The Verge. “This law relies on the expertise of leading subject matter experts to evaluate and harness emerging technologies while addressing the real and growing threat of ghost guns and illegally manufactured weapons of war. The Governor is confident these measures will make all New York communities safer.”
“The intent of the law is not to block prints like this, but I think this print is a really good example of why that’s hard.”
Cliff Braun, associate director of technology policy and research at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who has spoken critically of California’s proposal, says it’s unclear whether the proposed system would flag Blackford’s design. While the technology exists, Braun says it’s currently in a “limited form.” Critics say a more cautious detection system that relies on hashes to flag known firearms and parts from a database could be trivially easy to sidestep by simply making small changes to a file’s design. A more expansive approach using AI to analyze a file’s geometry and predict if it’s a gun, by contrast, may be more prone to mistakes. Things that look gun-ish but aren’t, in other words, might get swept up. Lawmakers in both states are leaving it to expert panels to iron out the details of implementation, but the final result, Braun says, will have to grapple with an unavoidable tradeoff between false positives and false negatives.
“The intent of the law is not to block prints like this, but I think this print is a really good example of why that’s hard,” Braun says.
Handguns like the one Blackford modeled his design on are particularly problematic. In 2022, the ATF updated its rules clarifying that the only parts of a firearm that legally require a serial number are those that provide the housing or structure for the weapon’s “primary fire control component.” In AR-15s and other long guns, that’s the receiver. Braun notes that the shapes of receivers are relatively unique and distinguishable, as are machine gun conversion devices. That’s not quite the same with a handgun. There, the part that requires a serial number is the frame. And unlike receivers, frames are visually far more ambiguous. Water hoses, toy guns, and power tools all share somewhat similar shapes.
Dartmouth College associate professor of engineering Solomon Diamond tells The Verge that whether Blackford’s e-reader case gets blocked really depends on the type of technology that particular printer deploys. A more conservative hashing approach would fall flat because Blackford’s device wouldn’t match one of the exact hashes on a database of prohibited files. A different system using computer vision and AI to evaluate where an object likely resembles a gun, however, could flag it by mistake.
“Basing blocking tech on visual resemblance is where the false positive concerns arise because a prop and a real functional firearm resemble one another,” Diamond told The Verge. “The technical challenge here is that depending on training data and algorithms used, setting decision thresholds that have acceptably low false positive rates might have unacceptably high false negative rates and vice versa.”
“Visual resemblance might be fooled by [the] gun-shaped e-reader case,” he added.
Diamond noted a third option, “geometric identification,” could potentially thread the needle. This approach, which is currently being deployed to guide quality control in manufacturing, can be fine-tuned for what Diamond refers to as “exact geometric match,” where a zero false-positive rate is at least theoretically possible. This approach is still relatively new when it comes to 3D print blocking tech.
“Geometric Identification would not be fooled by your gun-shaped e-reader case,” he said.
3D printer manufacturers and the experts setting the standards for how blocking software mandates will work are then left with a complex choice. Requiring systems that are both actually effective at detecting guns and technically feasible to introduce in the near future will necessarily mean some non-guns get caught in the crossfire. Pretty quickly, that starts limiting how makers, hobbyists, and artists can express themselves.
“If you’re going to try and block all of those wonderfully creative humans, you’re going to make it very hard to print props or make social commentary,” Braun said.
Blackford says making the Gundle was relatively straightforward. He first went online and did a simple search for “free gun model,” which turned up the blueprints for the gun shell part of the case. He then uploaded that to Fusion 360, his preferred modeling program, and added the e-reader on top and built the case around it. The Xteink X4 is one of the cheaper e-readers on the market, and though it has limited functionality, its devoted community regularly works to improve it. With the digital design finalized, Blackford sent it off to his Bambu Lab H2D printer. The entire process, from initial idea to printed product, took less than 24 hours.
Even though the device doesn’t shoot, Blackford says he still hasn’t taken it out in public. He’s since published the files on his website, where anyone with a 3D printer can download them and make their own. Blackford admits he did this with some hesitation. The case isn’t a gun, but it looks enough like one that someone brandishing it in the open, or revealing it during a confrontation with law enforcement, could find themselves in a seriously dangerous misunderstanding. He talked things over with his wife before publishing, and ultimately decided to avoid larger marketplaces like Thingiverse or Printables so it wouldn’t spread too widely. This way, he says, people can still find it if they are interested but won’t randomly stumble upon it.
“I didn’t want it to be so publicly available,” Blackford says. “I just didn’t want tons of them out there.”
“If you’re going to try and block all of those wonderfully creative humans, you’re going to make it very hard to print props or make social commentary.”
There’s also some question as to whether walking around with the case would violate already existing federal laws requiring toys or other “look-alike firearms” to have distinctive markings. These so-called “orange tip laws” are why fake guns and airsoft guns have blaze-orange plastic tips attached to their muzzles when they are manufactured and sold. But the e-reader case isn’t really a toy or a fake gun, but an art project.
Regardless, Blackford says if he ever did take it out in public, he’d print a version in a different color to make clear it isn’t imitating a real weapon. That’s not an overreaction. Walking around in public with something that resembles a gun, even if it is functionally useless, can make interactions with police and other gun owners dangerous, or even deadly. In 2014, Cleveland police shot and killed a 12-year-old boy named Tamir Rice after he reached for a toy gun. A 2016 Washington Post report estimated that over the span of two years, police shot and killed 86 people who were holding realistic-looking toy weapons and pellet and airsoft guns.
Supporters of blueprint scanning mandates say it’s necessary to close an enforcement gap that’s giving those with felony convictions and others access to guns when they shouldn’t have them. Various laws prohibiting the manufacture and sale of 3D-printed ghost guns (untraceable firearms without serial numbers) already exist across the country. But people print in the privacy of their own homes, making enforcing those laws nearly impossible. Hochul has called this dynamic the “plastic pipeline” and warns of criminals printing guns on their kitchen tables. Mandating scanning software would shift the responsibility onto printer manufacturers, stopping the illegal guns before they are ever made.
Whether the threat posed by 3D-printed guns actually justifies such a transformative change to how printers work remains up for debate. The guns are certainly getting better in terms of performance. There are also more of them. In 2024, the NYPD said it recovered 109 mostly 3D-printed guns from crime scenes. That’s up from just one recorded three years prior. A separate 2024 report from the gun control advocacy group Everytown found similar results in 20 other cities.
But Blackford says he wasn’t convinced 3D-printed guns pose an especially immediate danger. In his view, they are still primarily made by tinkerers and gun enthusiasts with a passion for the process and plenty of time on their hands. In most cases, he’s convinced, getting a real gun is still much easier than printing one.
3D printing, Blackford says, “is too much of a pain in the ass.”
And if legislation like New York’s or California’s ever reaches Kentucky, Blackford says he’s ready to get creative, either by using VPNs or figuring out some other workaround. He’s likely not alone.
“Some companies are going to be putting those locks in place, but I think open-source software is always going to prevail,” Blackford says.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
Last month, Louisville, Kentucky-based creator Luke The Maker showed off a bizarre, 3D-printed, pistol-shaped case design for the popular minimalist Xteink X4 e-reader. The X4 lies vertically atop the plastic gun’s slide, with a cutout on the side to access its buttons. Though the frame was digitally modeled after a real gun, this “case” can’t shoot bullets. Squeezing the trigger does nothing at all. He calls his contraption the “Gundle.”
In a post showing off the wacky accessory, Luke (whose last name is Blackford) can be seen flipping through Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian and J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye before tossing the gun e-reader case in his car’s center console.
“The perfect e-reader for public reading,” text reads over the clip.
But even though this internet experiment is clearly intended as a joke or commentary, it’s possible future 3D printers won’t see it that way. Lawmakers in multiple states are pushing for laws mandating gun-blocking software on all new printers sold. This still-evolving technology would, in theory, scan every file before it’s physically printed and try to algorithmically determine whether it’s a firearm or firearm part. If the software decides that the thing being printed looks enough like a gun, it stops the printer from completing the job. That is, if it even works. Lawmakers in New York and California are leaving it up to a panel of industry experts to weigh whether the proposed vision is even technically feasible. Despite that cloud of uncertainty, legislation mandating this blocking tech has already become law in New York and passed California’s state assembly.
“I didn’t want it to be so publicly available. I just didn’t want tons of them out there.”
That may sound reasonable enough, but makers and industry experts previously told The Verge that the tech is underdeveloped and risks introducing false positives where non-guns that look gun-like get unnecessarily blocked. Blackford’s e-reader case falls directly in that detection gray area. Blackford says he didn’t explicitly make the Gundle to challenge the proposed laws, but he also didn’t shy away from expressing his opinion about them.
“I’m not for that kind of thing because I’m big into open software,” Blackford says. “It’s just a wild frontier right now, so I definitely don’t trust [gun blueprint scanning tech] now.”
“If people want to 3D print a gun, they’re going to do it,” he adds. “I don’t think it’s up to the people making the slicers to control that kind of thing.”
Those pushing for these mandates, meanwhile, wouldn’t say whether their proposed tech would stop Blackford from making a harmless case. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office didn’t respond to questions about Blackford’s device specifically, or the implications false positives could have for a maker’s ability to freely express themself.
“Governor Hochul is laser-focused on improving public safety and reducing gun violence in New York,” deputy communications director at the Office of Governor Kathy Hochul and spokesperson Jess D’Amelia tells The Verge. “This law relies on the expertise of leading subject matter experts to evaluate and harness emerging technologies while addressing the real and growing threat of ghost guns and illegally manufactured weapons of war. The Governor is confident these measures will make all New York communities safer.”
“The intent of the law is not to block prints like this, but I think this print is a really good example of why that’s hard.”
Cliff Braun, associate director of technology policy and research at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who has spoken critically of California’s proposal, says it’s unclear whether the proposed system would flag Blackford’s design. While the technology exists, Braun says it’s currently in a “limited form.” Critics say a more cautious detection system that relies on hashes to flag known firearms and parts from a database could be trivially easy to sidestep by simply making small changes to a file’s design. A more expansive approach using AI to analyze a file’s geometry and predict if it’s a gun, by contrast, may be more prone to mistakes. Things that look gun-ish but aren’t, in other words, might get swept up. Lawmakers in both states are leaving it to expert panels to iron out the details of implementation, but the final result, Braun says, will have to grapple with an unavoidable tradeoff between false positives and false negatives.
“The intent of the law is not to block prints like this, but I think this print is a really good example of why that’s hard,” Braun says.
Handguns like the one Blackford modeled his design on are particularly problematic. In 2022, the ATF updated its rules clarifying that the only parts of a firearm that legally require a serial number are those that provide the housing or structure for the weapon’s “primary fire control component.” In AR-15s and other long guns, that’s the receiver. Braun notes that the shapes of receivers are relatively unique and distinguishable, as are machine gun conversion devices. That’s not quite the same with a handgun. There, the part that requires a serial number is the frame. And unlike receivers, frames are visually far more ambiguous. Water hoses, toy guns, and power tools all share somewhat similar shapes.
Dartmouth College associate professor of engineering Solomon Diamond tells The Verge that whether Blackford’s e-reader case gets blocked really depends on the type of technology that particular printer deploys. A more conservative hashing approach would fall flat because Blackford’s device wouldn’t match one of the exact hashes on a database of prohibited files. A different system using computer vision and AI to evaluate where an object likely resembles a gun, however, could flag it by mistake.
“Basing blocking tech on visual resemblance is where the false positive concerns arise because a prop and a real functional firearm resemble one another,” Diamond told The Verge. “The technical challenge here is that depending on training data and algorithms used, setting decision thresholds that have acceptably low false positive rates might have unacceptably high false negative rates and vice versa.”
“Visual resemblance might be fooled by [the] gun-shaped e-reader case,” he added.
Diamond noted a third option, “geometric identification,” could potentially thread the needle. This approach, which is currently being deployed to guide quality control in manufacturing, can be fine-tuned for what Diamond refers to as “exact geometric match,” where a zero false-positive rate is at least theoretically possible. This approach is still relatively new when it comes to 3D print blocking tech.
“Geometric Identification would not be fooled by your gun-shaped e-reader case,” he said.
3D printer manufacturers and the experts setting the standards for how blocking software mandates will work are then left with a complex choice. Requiring systems that are both actually effective at detecting guns and technically feasible to introduce in the near future will necessarily mean some non-guns get caught in the crossfire. Pretty quickly, that starts limiting how makers, hobbyists, and artists can express themselves.
“If you’re going to try and block all of those wonderfully creative humans, you’re going to make it very hard to print props or make social commentary,” Braun said.
Blackford says making the Gundle was relatively straightforward. He first went online and did a simple search for “free gun model,” which turned up the blueprints for the gun shell part of the case. He then uploaded that to Fusion 360, his preferred modeling program, and added the e-reader on top and built the case around it. The Xteink X4 is one of the cheaper e-readers on the market, and though it has limited functionality, its devoted community regularly works to improve it. With the digital design finalized, Blackford sent it off to his Bambu Lab H2D printer. The entire process, from initial idea to printed product, took less than 24 hours.
Even though the device doesn’t shoot, Blackford says he still hasn’t taken it out in public. He’s since published the files on his website, where anyone with a 3D printer can download them and make their own. Blackford admits he did this with some hesitation. The case isn’t a gun, but it looks enough like one that someone brandishing it in the open, or revealing it during a confrontation with law enforcement, could find themselves in a seriously dangerous misunderstanding. He talked things over with his wife before publishing, and ultimately decided to avoid larger marketplaces like Thingiverse or Printables so it wouldn’t spread too widely. This way, he says, people can still find it if they are interested but won’t randomly stumble upon it.
“I didn’t want it to be so publicly available,” Blackford says. “I just didn’t want tons of them out there.”
“If you’re going to try and block all of those wonderfully creative humans, you’re going to make it very hard to print props or make social commentary.”
There’s also some question as to whether walking around with the case would violate already existing federal laws requiring toys or other “look-alike firearms” to have distinctive markings. These so-called “orange tip laws” are why fake guns and airsoft guns have blaze-orange plastic tips attached to their muzzles when they are manufactured and sold. But the e-reader case isn’t really a toy or a fake gun, but an art project.
Regardless, Blackford says if he ever did take it out in public, he’d print a version in a different color to make clear it isn’t imitating a real weapon. That’s not an overreaction. Walking around in public with something that resembles a gun, even if it is functionally useless, can make interactions with police and other gun owners dangerous, or even deadly. In 2014, Cleveland police shot and killed a 12-year-old boy named Tamir Rice after he reached for a toy gun. A 2016 Washington Post report estimated that over the span of two years, police shot and killed 86 people who were holding realistic-looking toy weapons and pellet and airsoft guns.
Supporters of blueprint scanning mandates say it’s necessary to close an enforcement gap that’s giving those with felony convictions and others access to guns when they shouldn’t have them. Various laws prohibiting the manufacture and sale of 3D-printed ghost guns (untraceable firearms without serial numbers) already exist across the country. But people print in the privacy of their own homes, making enforcing those laws nearly impossible. Hochul has called this dynamic the “plastic pipeline” and warns of criminals printing guns on their kitchen tables. Mandating scanning software would shift the responsibility onto printer manufacturers, stopping the illegal guns before they are ever made.
Whether the threat posed by 3D-printed guns actually justifies such a transformative change to how printers work remains up for debate. The guns are certainly getting better in terms of performance. There are also more of them. In 2024, the NYPD said it recovered 109 mostly 3D-printed guns from crime scenes. That’s up from just one recorded three years prior. A separate 2024 report from the gun control advocacy group Everytown found similar results in 20 other cities.
But Blackford says he wasn’t convinced 3D-printed guns pose an especially immediate danger. In his view, they are still primarily made by tinkerers and gun enthusiasts with a passion for the process and plenty of time on their hands. In most cases, he’s convinced, getting a real gun is still much easier than printing one.
3D printing, Blackford says, “is too much of a pain in the ass.”
And if legislation like New York’s or California’s ever reaches Kentucky, Blackford says he’s ready to get creative, either by using VPNs or figuring out some other workaround. He’s likely not alone.
“Some companies are going to be putting those locks in place, but I think open-source software is always going to prevail,” Blackford says.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
Mack DeGeurin
#ereader #case #gunTech">Is this e-reader case a gun?
Is an e-reader case as dangerous as a Glock 19?
Last month, Louisville, Kentucky-based creator Luke The Maker showed off a bizarre, 3D-printed, pistol-shaped case design for the popular minimalist Xteink X4 e-reader. The X4 lies vertically atop the plastic gun’s slide, with a cutout on the side to access its buttons. Though the frame was digitally modeled after a real gun, this “case” can’t shoot bullets. Squeezing the trigger does nothing at all. He calls his contraption the “Gundle.”
In a post showing off the wacky accessory, Luke (whose last name is Blackford) can be seen flipping through Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian and J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye before tossing the gun e-reader case in his car’s center console.
“The perfect e-reader for public reading,” text reads over the clip.
But even though this internet experiment is clearly intended as a joke or commentary, it’s possible future 3D printers won’t see it that way. Lawmakers in multiple states are pushing for laws mandating gun-blocking software on all new printers sold. This still-evolving technology would, in theory, scan every file before it’s physically printed and try to algorithmically determine whether it’s a firearm or firearm part. If the software decides that the thing being printed looks enough like a gun, it stops the printer from completing the job. That is, if it even works. Lawmakers in New York and California are leaving it up to a panel of industry experts to weigh whether the proposed vision is even technically feasible. Despite that cloud of uncertainty, legislation mandating this blocking tech has already become law in New York and passed California’s state assembly.
“I didn’t want it to be so publicly available. I just didn’t want tons of them out there.”
That may sound reasonable enough, but makers and industry experts previously told The Verge that the tech is underdeveloped and risks introducing false positives where non-guns that look gun-like get unnecessarily blocked. Blackford’s e-reader case falls directly in that detection gray area. Blackford says he didn’t explicitly make the Gundle to challenge the proposed laws, but he also didn’t shy away from expressing his opinion about them.
“I’m not for that kind of thing because I’m big into open software,” Blackford says. “It’s just a wild frontier right now, so I definitely don’t trust [gun blueprint scanning tech] now.”
“If people want to 3D print a gun, they’re going to do it,” he adds. “I don’t think it’s up to the people making the slicers to control that kind of thing.”
Those pushing for these mandates, meanwhile, wouldn’t say whether their proposed tech would stop Blackford from making a harmless case. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office didn’t respond to questions about Blackford’s device specifically, or the implications false positives could have for a maker’s ability to freely express themself.
“Governor Hochul is laser-focused on improving public safety and reducing gun violence in New York,” deputy communications director at the Office of Governor Kathy Hochul and spokesperson Jess D’Amelia tells The Verge. “This law relies on the expertise of leading subject matter experts to evaluate and harness emerging technologies while addressing the real and growing threat of ghost guns and illegally manufactured weapons of war. The Governor is confident these measures will make all New York communities safer.”
“The intent of the law is not to block prints like this, but I think this print is a really good example of why that’s hard.”
Cliff Braun, associate director of technology policy and research at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who has spoken critically of California’s proposal, says it’s unclear whether the proposed system would flag Blackford’s design. While the technology exists, Braun says it’s currently in a “limited form.” Critics say a more cautious detection system that relies on hashes to flag known firearms and parts from a database could be trivially easy to sidestep by simply making small changes to a file’s design. A more expansive approach using AI to analyze a file’s geometry and predict if it’s a gun, by contrast, may be more prone to mistakes. Things that look gun-ish but aren’t, in other words, might get swept up. Lawmakers in both states are leaving it to expert panels to iron out the details of implementation, but the final result, Braun says, will have to grapple with an unavoidable tradeoff between false positives and false negatives.
“The intent of the law is not to block prints like this, but I think this print is a really good example of why that’s hard,” Braun says.
Handguns like the one Blackford modeled his design on are particularly problematic. In 2022, the ATF updated its rules clarifying that the only parts of a firearm that legally require a serial number are those that provide the housing or structure for the weapon’s “primary fire control component.” In AR-15s and other long guns, that’s the receiver. Braun notes that the shapes of receivers are relatively unique and distinguishable, as are machine gun conversion devices. That’s not quite the same with a handgun. There, the part that requires a serial number is the frame. And unlike receivers, frames are visually far more ambiguous. Water hoses, toy guns, and power tools all share somewhat similar shapes.
Dartmouth College associate professor of engineering Solomon Diamond tells The Verge that whether Blackford’s e-reader case gets blocked really depends on the type of technology that particular printer deploys. A more conservative hashing approach would fall flat because Blackford’s device wouldn’t match one of the exact hashes on a database of prohibited files. A different system using computer vision and AI to evaluate where an object likely resembles a gun, however, could flag it by mistake.
“Basing blocking tech on visual resemblance is where the false positive concerns arise because a prop and a real functional firearm resemble one another,” Diamond told The Verge. “The technical challenge here is that depending on training data and algorithms used, setting decision thresholds that have acceptably low false positive rates might have unacceptably high false negative rates and vice versa.”
“Visual resemblance might be fooled by [the] gun-shaped e-reader case,” he added.
Diamond noted a third option, “geometric identification,” could potentially thread the needle. This approach, which is currently being deployed to guide quality control in manufacturing, can be fine-tuned for what Diamond refers to as “exact geometric match,” where a zero false-positive rate is at least theoretically possible. This approach is still relatively new when it comes to 3D print blocking tech.
“Geometric Identification would not be fooled by your gun-shaped e-reader case,” he said.
3D printer manufacturers and the experts setting the standards for how blocking software mandates will work are then left with a complex choice. Requiring systems that are both actually effective at detecting guns and technically feasible to introduce in the near future will necessarily mean some non-guns get caught in the crossfire. Pretty quickly, that starts limiting how makers, hobbyists, and artists can express themselves.
“If you’re going to try and block all of those wonderfully creative humans, you’re going to make it very hard to print props or make social commentary,” Braun said.
Blackford says making the Gundle was relatively straightforward. He first went online and did a simple search for “free gun model,” which turned up the blueprints for the gun shell part of the case. He then uploaded that to Fusion 360, his preferred modeling program, and added the e-reader on top and built the case around it. The Xteink X4 is one of the cheaper e-readers on the market, and though it has limited functionality, its devoted community regularly works to improve it. With the digital design finalized, Blackford sent it off to his Bambu Lab H2D printer. The entire process, from initial idea to printed product, took less than 24 hours.
Even though the device doesn’t shoot, Blackford says he still hasn’t taken it out in public. He’s since published the files on his website, where anyone with a 3D printer can download them and make their own. Blackford admits he did this with some hesitation. The case isn’t a gun, but it looks enough like one that someone brandishing it in the open, or revealing it during a confrontation with law enforcement, could find themselves in a seriously dangerous misunderstanding. He talked things over with his wife before publishing, and ultimately decided to avoid larger marketplaces like Thingiverse or Printables so it wouldn’t spread too widely. This way, he says, people can still find it if they are interested but won’t randomly stumble upon it.
“I didn’t want it to be so publicly available,” Blackford says. “I just didn’t want tons of them out there.”
“If you’re going to try and block all of those wonderfully creative humans, you’re going to make it very hard to print props or make social commentary.”
There’s also some question as to whether walking around with the case would violate already existing federal laws requiring toys or other “look-alike firearms” to have distinctive markings. These so-called “orange tip laws” are why fake guns and airsoft guns have blaze-orange plastic tips attached to their muzzles when they are manufactured and sold. But the e-reader case isn’t really a toy or a fake gun, but an art project.
Regardless, Blackford says if he ever did take it out in public, he’d print a version in a different color to make clear it isn’t imitating a real weapon. That’s not an overreaction. Walking around in public with something that resembles a gun, even if it is functionally useless, can make interactions with police and other gun owners dangerous, or even deadly. In 2014, Cleveland police shot and killed a 12-year-old boy named Tamir Rice after he reached for a toy gun. A 2016 Washington Post report estimated that over the span of two years, police shot and killed 86 people who were holding realistic-looking toy weapons and pellet and airsoft guns.
Supporters of blueprint scanning mandates say it’s necessary to close an enforcement gap that’s giving those with felony convictions and others access to guns when they shouldn’t have them. Various laws prohibiting the manufacture and sale of 3D-printed ghost guns (untraceable firearms without serial numbers) already exist across the country. But people print in the privacy of their own homes, making enforcing those laws nearly impossible. Hochul has called this dynamic the “plastic pipeline” and warns of criminals printing guns on their kitchen tables. Mandating scanning software would shift the responsibility onto printer manufacturers, stopping the illegal guns before they are ever made.
Whether the threat posed by 3D-printed guns actually justifies such a transformative change to how printers work remains up for debate. The guns are certainly getting better in terms of performance. There are also more of them. In 2024, the NYPD said it recovered 109 mostly 3D-printed guns from crime scenes. That’s up from just one recorded three years prior. A separate 2024 report from the gun control advocacy group Everytown found similar results in 20 other cities.
But Blackford says he wasn’t convinced 3D-printed guns pose an especially immediate danger. In his view, they are still primarily made by tinkerers and gun enthusiasts with a passion for the process and plenty of time on their hands. In most cases, he’s convinced, getting a real gun is still much easier than printing one.
3D printing, Blackford says, “is too much of a pain in the ass.”
And if legislation like New York’s or California’s ever reaches Kentucky, Blackford says he’s ready to get creative, either by using VPNs or figuring out some other workaround. He’s likely not alone.
“Some companies are going to be putting those locks in place, but I think open-source software is always going to prevail,” Blackford says.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
Until the legal battle works itself out and OpenAI’s broader hardware ambitions materialize, the most the startup has to offer is Micro — a funky little keypad clearly engineered to delight the tech industry’s code monkeys.
OpenAI sent TechCrunch a Micro test unit. The first big thing you notice when initially handling the keypad is that it’s a sturdy little device — enough so that if the AI accessory thing doesn’t end up working out, it could easily double as a paperweight. The other thing you might notice (and I am not the only one to point this out), is that the packaging — an immaculate white box with a sleek, clean aesthetic — is pretty Apple-coded. Make of that what you will.
The keypad’s layout involves six frosted “agent” keys at the top of the pad, which can be customized to carry out specific tasks within ChatGPT or its agentic coding tool Codex. Below them are six command keys, which can be used to control those programs. You can pair your Micro with your computer either through a Bluetooth connection or a USB cable.
Image Credits:Lucas Ropek/TechCrunch
Perhaps the most convenient thing Micro offers is a button for voice dictation — meaning you simply tell the app what you want done and it will get busy working on your behalf. Just hold down the dictation button and start talking. When you’re done, tap the “send” button next to it to submit your request.
You can customize your Micro keypad within ChatGPT itself, where a Micro tab allows you to adjust everything from the brightness of the light from the keys to the specific commands and projects you want tied to those keys.
Hard-core coders — the device’s actual target audience — haven’t exactly embraced it. Reviews by Redditors have largely negative, with one Reddit user calling it “a prank and not a real product,” and others saying serious coders won’t touch it. A review by the smaller independent outlet Aftermath was even harsher, calling the $230 price tag hard to justify next to cheaper DIY and off-the-shelf alternatives. (The title of that review: “OpenAI’s expensive macropad feels engineered to piss me off specifically.”)
It’s definitely the case that new users may need some time to figure out how Micro works and what to do with it.
Once I figured out how to program the keypad to my liking, I found it was actually pretty fun. You can assign various ChatGPT sessions to specific keys, which then allows you to easily toggle back and forth between all of your various projects. When you combine that with the dictation button, it makes the whole experience considerably more efficient and enjoyable.
But there’s still a learning curve. Micro’s buttons are color-coded. White means an agent is idle, blue means its thinking, green means a task is complete, and red means there’s been an error. You’ll need to memorize that, along with memorizing which specific projects are coded to each key.
The big question is whether the Micro keypad is functionally easier to use than just continuing to work on your laptop. In short: Why would I spend a week learning how to program and operate this thing when I already know how to use my computer’s mouse and keyboard?
Ultimately, your experience with the Micro will depend heavily on how much you use ChatGPT. Since I don’t use AI much day to day, I’m probably not the target audience for it.
That said, if you’re a ChatGPT power user, have $230 to spare, and like vintage-looking hardware with clicky buttons, Micro probably isn’t the worst purchase you could make — it might even brighten your day a little.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Until the legal battle works itself out and OpenAI’s broader hardware ambitions materialize, the most the startup has to offer is Micro — a funky little keypad clearly engineered to delight the tech industry’s code monkeys.
OpenAI sent TechCrunch a Micro test unit. The first big thing you notice when initially handling the keypad is that it’s a sturdy little device — enough so that if the AI accessory thing doesn’t end up working out, it could easily double as a paperweight. The other thing you might notice (and I am not the only one to point this out), is that the packaging — an immaculate white box with a sleek, clean aesthetic — is pretty Apple-coded. Make of that what you will.
The keypad’s layout involves six frosted “agent” keys at the top of the pad, which can be customized to carry out specific tasks within ChatGPT or its agentic coding tool Codex. Below them are six command keys, which can be used to control those programs. You can pair your Micro with your computer either through a Bluetooth connection or a USB cable.
Image Credits:Lucas Ropek/TechCrunch
Perhaps the most convenient thing Micro offers is a button for voice dictation — meaning you simply tell the app what you want done and it will get busy working on your behalf. Just hold down the dictation button and start talking. When you’re done, tap the “send” button next to it to submit your request.
You can customize your Micro keypad within ChatGPT itself, where a Micro tab allows you to adjust everything from the brightness of the light from the keys to the specific commands and projects you want tied to those keys.
Hard-core coders — the device’s actual target audience — haven’t exactly embraced it. Reviews by Redditors have largely negative, with one Reddit user calling it “a prank and not a real product,” and others saying serious coders won’t touch it. A review by the smaller independent outlet Aftermath was even harsher, calling the $230 price tag hard to justify next to cheaper DIY and off-the-shelf alternatives. (The title of that review: “OpenAI’s expensive macropad feels engineered to piss me off specifically.”)
It’s definitely the case that new users may need some time to figure out how Micro works and what to do with it.
Once I figured out how to program the keypad to my liking, I found it was actually pretty fun. You can assign various ChatGPT sessions to specific keys, which then allows you to easily toggle back and forth between all of your various projects. When you combine that with the dictation button, it makes the whole experience considerably more efficient and enjoyable.
But there’s still a learning curve. Micro’s buttons are color-coded. White means an agent is idle, blue means its thinking, green means a task is complete, and red means there’s been an error. You’ll need to memorize that, along with memorizing which specific projects are coded to each key.
The big question is whether the Micro keypad is functionally easier to use than just continuing to work on your laptop. In short: Why would I spend a week learning how to program and operate this thing when I already know how to use my computer’s mouse and keyboard?
Ultimately, your experience with the Micro will depend heavily on how much you use ChatGPT. Since I don’t use AI much day to day, I’m probably not the target audience for it.
That said, if you’re a ChatGPT power user, have $230 to spare, and like vintage-looking hardware with clicky buttons, Micro probably isn’t the worst purchase you could make — it might even brighten your day a little.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
#OpenAIs #keypad #fun #coders #slightly #mystifying #TechCrunchAI,ChatGPT,codex,micro,OpenAI">I tried out OpenAI’s new AI keypad — which will be fun for some coders and slightly mystifying to everyone else | TechCrunch
OpenAI launched its first piece of hardware last week — a fancy little keypad built to pair with ChatGPT. Micro, which was developed in collaboration with specialty keyboard designer Work Louder, is essentially an artisanal workplace novelty that many tech enthusiasts will love and that may leave everyone else a little puzzled.
OpenAI’s entrance into the hardware market hasn’t arrived without drama. Several weeks ago, Apple sued the AI lab and accused it of trade theft — kicking off what’s certain to be a long-simmering legal battle. Meanwhile, news of another smart home product in development at OpenAI has also raised eyebrows, as the supposed device — which is being built to pair with ChatGPT — was reportedly developed by former Apple engineers.
Until the legal battle works itself out and OpenAI’s broader hardware ambitions materialize, the most the startup has to offer is Micro — a funky little keypad clearly engineered to delight the tech industry’s code monkeys.
OpenAI sent TechCrunch a Micro test unit. The first big thing you notice when initially handling the keypad is that it’s a sturdy little device — enough so that if the AI accessory thing doesn’t end up working out, it could easily double as a paperweight. The other thing you might notice (and I am not the only one to point this out), is that the packaging — an immaculate white box with a sleek, clean aesthetic — is pretty Apple-coded. Make of that what you will.
The keypad’s layout involves six frosted “agent” keys at the top of the pad, which can be customized to carry out specific tasks within ChatGPT or its agentic coding tool Codex. Below them are six command keys, which can be used to control those programs. You can pair your Micro with your computer either through a Bluetooth connection or a USB cable.
Image Credits:Lucas Ropek/TechCrunch
Perhaps the most convenient thing Micro offers is a button for voice dictation — meaning you simply tell the app what you want done and it will get busy working on your behalf. Just hold down the dictation button and start talking. When you’re done, tap the “send” button next to it to submit your request.
You can customize your Micro keypad within ChatGPT itself, where a Micro tab allows you to adjust everything from the brightness of the light from the keys to the specific commands and projects you want tied to those keys.
Hard-core coders — the device’s actual target audience — haven’t exactly embraced it. Reviews by Redditors have largely negative, with one Reddit user calling it “a prank and not a real product,” and others saying serious coders won’t touch it. A review by the smaller independent outlet Aftermath was even harsher, calling the $230 price tag hard to justify next to cheaper DIY and off-the-shelf alternatives. (The title of that review: “OpenAI’s expensive macropad feels engineered to piss me off specifically.”)
It’s definitely the case that new users may need some time to figure out how Micro works and what to do with it.
Once I figured out how to program the keypad to my liking, I found it was actually pretty fun. You can assign various ChatGPT sessions to specific keys, which then allows you to easily toggle back and forth between all of your various projects. When you combine that with the dictation button, it makes the whole experience considerably more efficient and enjoyable.
But there’s still a learning curve. Micro’s buttons are color-coded. White means an agent is idle, blue means its thinking, green means a task is complete, and red means there’s been an error. You’ll need to memorize that, along with memorizing which specific projects are coded to each key.
The big question is whether the Micro keypad is functionally easier to use than just continuing to work on your laptop. In short: Why would I spend a week learning how to program and operate this thing when I already know how to use my computer’s mouse and keyboard?
Ultimately, your experience with the Micro will depend heavily on how much you use ChatGPT. Since I don’t use AI much day to day, I’m probably not the target audience for it.
That said, if you’re a ChatGPT power user, have $230 to spare, and like vintage-looking hardware with clicky buttons, Micro probably isn’t the worst purchase you could make — it might even brighten your day a little.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
launch of five new devices at its Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event in London. Three foldable handsets were unveiled, along with the Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, in addition to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. The newest additions feature improved technology, slimmer form factors, Galaxy AI, and health monitoring capabilities. Preorders for the new products have already been opened in various markets, and they will be available starting from early August.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8
The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is built with people who prefer a larger foldable device in mind. For that reason, it comes with a passport-like design, which makes the device relatively shorter but gives a wider cover screen. This type of device enables easy completion of daily activities without unfolding it. The device has a 5.5-inch cover screen and a 7.6-inch foldable OLED screen. Both displays support an adaptive refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz.
The company uses a new Flex Titanium display structure to strengthen the folding screen. Samsung has redesigned the hinge for better performance and a less noticeable crease. It is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip. The device features up to 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of internal memory. It includes a 50 MP primary sensor, a 50 MP ultra-wide lens, and a pair of 10 MP selfie shooters.
A 4,800mAh silicon-carbon battery keeps the phone running and supports 45W fast charging. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 ships with Android 17 and One UI 9. It also includes Galaxy AI tools such as Now Nudge, Gemini Intelligence, and Gemini Notebook. Buyers also get six months of Google AI Pro at no extra cost. The phone starts at $1,899.99 and is available in Lavender, Cream, Graphite, and an online-only Pistachio finish.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra
The latest addition to the line-up of the company’s top-selling foldable model is the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. The new smartphone replaces the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and offers a slimmer form factor. Its thickness measures 4.1 mm when unfolded, and 8.9 mm when folded. Samsung has also introduced a toughened Flex Titanium frame along with the improved hinge, which increases the strength of the display and minimizes the crease effect. The Fold 8 Ultra has a 6.5-inch outer screen and an 8-inch folding screen with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor. It comes with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. Samsung also upgrades the camera system. The phone includes a 200MP main camera, a 50MP ultra-wide camera, and a 10MP telephoto camera. It also has two 10MP selfie cameras, one on each display.
The Fold 8 Ultra includes a 5,000mAh silicon-carbon battery with 45W wired charging support. It runs Android 17 with One UI 9 and includes Galaxy AI features like Now Nudge, Gemini Intelligence, and Gemini Notebook. Samsung offers the phone in Violet Shadow, Cream, Graphite, and an online-only Green Shadow color. The device starts at $2,099.99, while preorder buyers can take advantage of Samsung credit and trade-in deals.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8
The Galaxy Z Flip 8 is the latest folding clamshell from Samsung. The company retains its classic design, but now makes the device slimmer and even more advanced. The features of the new Galaxy Z Flip 8 include the 6.9-inch foldable display and the 4.1-inch FlexWindow cover display.
Galaxy Z Flip 8 comes with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor in America. Overseas versions have the Samsung Exynos 2600 chipset. This model features 12GB RAM along with up to 512GB of internal memory. It has a camera system that comprises 50MP main, 12MP ultra-wide, and 10MP selfie cameras.
The phone runs Android 17 with One UI 9. Samsung includes Galaxy AI features that work directly on the FlexWindow display. Personalized Now Brief updates and Gemini Intelligence help users complete tasks more quickly. The Galaxy Z Flip 8 also packs a 4,300mAh battery with 25W wired charging. It is available in Pink, Cream, Graphite, and an online-only Mint finish. It starts at $1,199.99, and preorder buyers can take advantage of Samsung credit and trade-in deals.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2
The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is Samsung’s newest premium smartwatch. The watch features LTE connectivity as standard across all models. Samsung also redesigned the titanium body to make it thinner than before. The wearable includes a 47mm display with a peak brightness of 5,000 nits. It is powered by the Snapdragon Wear Elite platform and includes 2GB RAM and 64GB storage. Samsung equips the watch with a larger 800mAh battery. The company says it can deliver up to 60 hours of battery life with the Always-On Display enabled.
Samsung adds several new health and fitness features to the watch. These include Heart Health Score, Daily Cardio Load, Trail Run mode, and Nutrition Alert. The watch also provides hydration guidance during workouts. Samsung plans to release a Diving app later this year. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 has an IP69K rating and comes in Titanium Gray and Titanium Silver. It starts at $699.99, while preorder buyers can receive Samsung credit and trade-in savings.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 9
Samsung has launched the Galaxy Watch 9 as its more affordable smartwatch. The watch comes in 40mm and 44mm sizes. Buyers can choose between Bluetooth and LTE models. The 40mm version is available in Cream and Graphite, and the 44mm model comes in Silver and Graphite. Samsung powers the watch with the Snapdragon Wear Elite processor. It includes 2GB RAM and 32GB storage. The display offers up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. The 40mm model packs a 390mAh battery, while the 44mm version includes a 445mAh battery. Samsung claims up to 30 hours of battery life with the Always-On Display turned on.
The Galaxy Watch 9 introduces new health and fitness features. Users get Heart Health Score, Daily Cardio Load, Sleep Apnea detection, and Vitals tracking during sleep. The watch also warns users about unsafe environmental noise levels. Samsung gives the smartwatch MIL-STD-810H and IP68 ratings for durability. Pricing starts at $379.99, with LTE models priced $50 higher. Samsung also offers a 60-day Strava trial and a two-month iFIT membership for new buyers.
launch of five new devices at its Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event in London. Three foldable handsets were unveiled, along with the Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, in addition to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. The newest additions feature improved technology, slimmer form factors, Galaxy AI, and health monitoring capabilities. Preorders for the new products have already been opened in various markets, and they will be available starting from early August.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8
The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is built with people who prefer a larger foldable device in mind. For that reason, it comes with a passport-like design, which makes the device relatively shorter but gives a wider cover screen. This type of device enables easy completion of daily activities without unfolding it. The device has a 5.5-inch cover screen and a 7.6-inch foldable OLED screen. Both displays support an adaptive refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz.
The company uses a new Flex Titanium display structure to strengthen the folding screen. Samsung has redesigned the hinge for better performance and a less noticeable crease. It is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip. The device features up to 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of internal memory. It includes a 50 MP primary sensor, a 50 MP ultra-wide lens, and a pair of 10 MP selfie shooters.
A 4,800mAh silicon-carbon battery keeps the phone running and supports 45W fast charging. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 ships with Android 17 and One UI 9. It also includes Galaxy AI tools such as Now Nudge, Gemini Intelligence, and Gemini Notebook. Buyers also get six months of Google AI Pro at no extra cost. The phone starts at $1,899.99 and is available in Lavender, Cream, Graphite, and an online-only Pistachio finish.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra
The latest addition to the line-up of the company’s top-selling foldable model is the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. The new smartphone replaces the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and offers a slimmer form factor. Its thickness measures 4.1 mm when unfolded, and 8.9 mm when folded. Samsung has also introduced a toughened Flex Titanium frame along with the improved hinge, which increases the strength of the display and minimizes the crease effect. The Fold 8 Ultra has a 6.5-inch outer screen and an 8-inch folding screen with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor. It comes with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. Samsung also upgrades the camera system. The phone includes a 200MP main camera, a 50MP ultra-wide camera, and a 10MP telephoto camera. It also has two 10MP selfie cameras, one on each display.
The Fold 8 Ultra includes a 5,000mAh silicon-carbon battery with 45W wired charging support. It runs Android 17 with One UI 9 and includes Galaxy AI features like Now Nudge, Gemini Intelligence, and Gemini Notebook. Samsung offers the phone in Violet Shadow, Cream, Graphite, and an online-only Green Shadow color. The device starts at $2,099.99, while preorder buyers can take advantage of Samsung credit and trade-in deals.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8
The Galaxy Z Flip 8 is the latest folding clamshell from Samsung. The company retains its classic design, but now makes the device slimmer and even more advanced. The features of the new Galaxy Z Flip 8 include the 6.9-inch foldable display and the 4.1-inch FlexWindow cover display.
Galaxy Z Flip 8 comes with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor in America. Overseas versions have the Samsung Exynos 2600 chipset. This model features 12GB RAM along with up to 512GB of internal memory. It has a camera system that comprises 50MP main, 12MP ultra-wide, and 10MP selfie cameras.
The phone runs Android 17 with One UI 9. Samsung includes Galaxy AI features that work directly on the FlexWindow display. Personalized Now Brief updates and Gemini Intelligence help users complete tasks more quickly. The Galaxy Z Flip 8 also packs a 4,300mAh battery with 25W wired charging. It is available in Pink, Cream, Graphite, and an online-only Mint finish. It starts at $1,199.99, and preorder buyers can take advantage of Samsung credit and trade-in deals.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2
The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is Samsung’s newest premium smartwatch. The watch features LTE connectivity as standard across all models. Samsung also redesigned the titanium body to make it thinner than before. The wearable includes a 47mm display with a peak brightness of 5,000 nits. It is powered by the Snapdragon Wear Elite platform and includes 2GB RAM and 64GB storage. Samsung equips the watch with a larger 800mAh battery. The company says it can deliver up to 60 hours of battery life with the Always-On Display enabled.
Samsung adds several new health and fitness features to the watch. These include Heart Health Score, Daily Cardio Load, Trail Run mode, and Nutrition Alert. The watch also provides hydration guidance during workouts. Samsung plans to release a Diving app later this year. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 has an IP69K rating and comes in Titanium Gray and Titanium Silver. It starts at $699.99, while preorder buyers can receive Samsung credit and trade-in savings.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 9
Samsung has launched the Galaxy Watch 9 as its more affordable smartwatch. The watch comes in 40mm and 44mm sizes. Buyers can choose between Bluetooth and LTE models. The 40mm version is available in Cream and Graphite, and the 44mm model comes in Silver and Graphite. Samsung powers the watch with the Snapdragon Wear Elite processor. It includes 2GB RAM and 32GB storage. The display offers up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. The 40mm model packs a 390mAh battery, while the 44mm version includes a 445mAh battery. Samsung claims up to 30 hours of battery life with the Always-On Display turned on.
The Galaxy Watch 9 introduces new health and fitness features. Users get Heart Health Score, Daily Cardio Load, Sleep Apnea detection, and Vitals tracking during sleep. The watch also warns users about unsafe environmental noise levels. Samsung gives the smartwatch MIL-STD-810H and IP68 ratings for durability. Pricing starts at $379.99, with LTE models priced $50 higher. Samsung also offers a 60-day Strava trial and a two-month iFIT membership for new buyers.
#Biggest #Samsung #Launches #Galaxy #Unpacked #JulySamsung">5 Biggest Samsung Launches from Galaxy Unpacked July 2026
Samsung has expanded its Galaxy lineup with the launch of five new devices at its Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event in London. Three foldable handsets were unveiled, along with the Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, in addition to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. The newest additions feature improved technology, slimmer form factors, Galaxy AI, and health monitoring capabilities. Preorders for the new products have already been opened in various markets, and they will be available starting from early August.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8
The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is built with people who prefer a larger foldable device in mind. For that reason, it comes with a passport-like design, which makes the device relatively shorter but gives a wider cover screen. This type of device enables easy completion of daily activities without unfolding it. The device has a 5.5-inch cover screen and a 7.6-inch foldable OLED screen. Both displays support an adaptive refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz.
The company uses a new Flex Titanium display structure to strengthen the folding screen. Samsung has redesigned the hinge for better performance and a less noticeable crease. It is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip. The device features up to 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of internal memory. It includes a 50 MP primary sensor, a 50 MP ultra-wide lens, and a pair of 10 MP selfie shooters.
A 4,800mAh silicon-carbon battery keeps the phone running and supports 45W fast charging. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 ships with Android 17 and One UI 9. It also includes Galaxy AI tools such as Now Nudge, Gemini Intelligence, and Gemini Notebook. Buyers also get six months of Google AI Pro at no extra cost. The phone starts at $1,899.99 and is available in Lavender, Cream, Graphite, and an online-only Pistachio finish.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra
The latest addition to the line-up of the company’s top-selling foldable model is the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. The new smartphone replaces the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and offers a slimmer form factor. Its thickness measures 4.1 mm when unfolded, and 8.9 mm when folded. Samsung has also introduced a toughened Flex Titanium frame along with the improved hinge, which increases the strength of the display and minimizes the crease effect. The Fold 8 Ultra has a 6.5-inch outer screen and an 8-inch folding screen with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor. It comes with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. Samsung also upgrades the camera system. The phone includes a 200MP main camera, a 50MP ultra-wide camera, and a 10MP telephoto camera. It also has two 10MP selfie cameras, one on each display.
The Fold 8 Ultra includes a 5,000mAh silicon-carbon battery with 45W wired charging support. It runs Android 17 with One UI 9 and includes Galaxy AI features like Now Nudge, Gemini Intelligence, and Gemini Notebook. Samsung offers the phone in Violet Shadow, Cream, Graphite, and an online-only Green Shadow color. The device starts at $2,099.99, while preorder buyers can take advantage of Samsung credit and trade-in deals.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8
The Galaxy Z Flip 8 is the latest folding clamshell from Samsung. The company retains its classic design, but now makes the device slimmer and even more advanced. The features of the new Galaxy Z Flip 8 include the 6.9-inch foldable display and the 4.1-inch FlexWindow cover display.
Galaxy Z Flip 8 comes with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor in America. Overseas versions have the Samsung Exynos 2600 chipset. This model features 12GB RAM along with up to 512GB of internal memory. It has a camera system that comprises 50MP main, 12MP ultra-wide, and 10MP selfie cameras.
The phone runs Android 17 with One UI 9. Samsung includes Galaxy AI features that work directly on the FlexWindow display. Personalized Now Brief updates and Gemini Intelligence help users complete tasks more quickly. The Galaxy Z Flip 8 also packs a 4,300mAh battery with 25W wired charging. It is available in Pink, Cream, Graphite, and an online-only Mint finish. It starts at $1,199.99, and preorder buyers can take advantage of Samsung credit and trade-in deals.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2
The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is Samsung’s newest premium smartwatch. The watch features LTE connectivity as standard across all models. Samsung also redesigned the titanium body to make it thinner than before. The wearable includes a 47mm display with a peak brightness of 5,000 nits. It is powered by the Snapdragon Wear Elite platform and includes 2GB RAM and 64GB storage. Samsung equips the watch with a larger 800mAh battery. The company says it can deliver up to 60 hours of battery life with the Always-On Display enabled.
Samsung adds several new health and fitness features to the watch. These include Heart Health Score, Daily Cardio Load, Trail Run mode, and Nutrition Alert. The watch also provides hydration guidance during workouts. Samsung plans to release a Diving app later this year. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 has an IP69K rating and comes in Titanium Gray and Titanium Silver. It starts at $699.99, while preorder buyers can receive Samsung credit and trade-in savings.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 9
Samsung has launched the Galaxy Watch 9 as its more affordable smartwatch. The watch comes in 40mm and 44mm sizes. Buyers can choose between Bluetooth and LTE models. The 40mm version is available in Cream and Graphite, and the 44mm model comes in Silver and Graphite. Samsung powers the watch with the Snapdragon Wear Elite processor. It includes 2GB RAM and 32GB storage. The display offers up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. The 40mm model packs a 390mAh battery, while the 44mm version includes a 445mAh battery. Samsung claims up to 30 hours of battery life with the Always-On Display turned on.
The Galaxy Watch 9 introduces new health and fitness features. Users get Heart Health Score, Daily Cardio Load, Sleep Apnea detection, and Vitals tracking during sleep. The watch also warns users about unsafe environmental noise levels. Samsung gives the smartwatch MIL-STD-810H and IP68 ratings for durability. Pricing starts at $379.99, with LTE models priced $50 higher. Samsung also offers a 60-day Strava trial and a two-month iFIT membership for new buyers.
![Is this e-reader case a gun?Is an e-reader case as dangerous as a Glock 19?Last month, Louisville, Kentucky-based creator Luke The Maker showed off a bizarre, 3D-printed, pistol-shaped case design for the popular minimalist Xteink X4 e-reader. The X4 lies vertically atop the plastic gun’s slide, with a cutout on the side to access its buttons. Though the frame was digitally modeled after a real gun, this “case” can’t shoot bullets. Squeezing the trigger does nothing at all. He calls his contraption the “Gundle.”In a post showing off the wacky accessory, Luke (whose last name is Blackford) can be seen flipping through Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian and J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye before tossing the gun e-reader case in his car’s center console.“The perfect e-reader for public reading,” text reads over the clip.But even though this internet experiment is clearly intended as a joke or commentary, it’s possible future 3D printers won’t see it that way. Lawmakers in multiple states are pushing for laws mandating gun-blocking software on all new printers sold. This still-evolving technology would, in theory, scan every file before it’s physically printed and try to algorithmically determine whether it’s a firearm or firearm part. If the software decides that the thing being printed looks enough like a gun, it stops the printer from completing the job. That is, if it even works. Lawmakers in New York and California are leaving it up to a panel of industry experts to weigh whether the proposed vision is even technically feasible. Despite that cloud of uncertainty, legislation mandating this blocking tech has already become law in New York and passed California’s state assembly.“I didn’t want it to be so publicly available. I just didn’t want tons of them out there.” That may sound reasonable enough, but makers and industry experts previously told The Verge that the tech is underdeveloped and risks introducing false positives where non-guns that look gun-like get unnecessarily blocked. Blackford’s e-reader case falls directly in that detection gray area. Blackford says he didn’t explicitly make the Gundle to challenge the proposed laws, but he also didn’t shy away from expressing his opinion about them.“I’m not for that kind of thing because I’m big into open software,” Blackford says. “It’s just a wild frontier right now, so I definitely don’t trust [gun blueprint scanning tech] now.”“If people want to 3D print a gun, they’re going to do it,” he adds. “I don’t think it’s up to the people making the slicers to control that kind of thing.”Those pushing for these mandates, meanwhile, wouldn’t say whether their proposed tech would stop Blackford from making a harmless case. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office didn’t respond to questions about Blackford’s device specifically, or the implications false positives could have for a maker’s ability to freely express themself.“Governor Hochul is laser-focused on improving public safety and reducing gun violence in New York,” deputy communications director at the Office of Governor Kathy Hochul and spokesperson Jess D’Amelia tells The Verge. “This law relies on the expertise of leading subject matter experts to evaluate and harness emerging technologies while addressing the real and growing threat of ghost guns and illegally manufactured weapons of war. The Governor is confident these measures will make all New York communities safer.”“The intent of the law is not to block prints like this, but I think this print is a really good example of why that’s hard.”Cliff Braun, associate director of technology policy and research at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who has spoken critically of California’s proposal, says it’s unclear whether the proposed system would flag Blackford’s design. While the technology exists, Braun says it’s currently in a “limited form.” Critics say a more cautious detection system that relies on hashes to flag known firearms and parts from a database could be trivially easy to sidestep by simply making small changes to a file’s design. A more expansive approach using AI to analyze a file’s geometry and predict if it’s a gun, by contrast, may be more prone to mistakes. Things that look gun-ish but aren’t, in other words, might get swept up. Lawmakers in both states are leaving it to expert panels to iron out the details of implementation, but the final result, Braun says, will have to grapple with an unavoidable tradeoff between false positives and false negatives.“The intent of the law is not to block prints like this, but I think this print is a really good example of why that’s hard,” Braun says.Handguns like the one Blackford modeled his design on are particularly problematic. In 2022, the ATF updated its rules clarifying that the only parts of a firearm that legally require a serial number are those that provide the housing or structure for the weapon’s “primary fire control component.” In AR-15s and other long guns, that’s the receiver. Braun notes that the shapes of receivers are relatively unique and distinguishable, as are machine gun conversion devices. That’s not quite the same with a handgun. There, the part that requires a serial number is the frame. And unlike receivers, frames are visually far more ambiguous. Water hoses, toy guns, and power tools all share somewhat similar shapes.Dartmouth College associate professor of engineering Solomon Diamond tells The Verge that whether Blackford’s e-reader case gets blocked really depends on the type of technology that particular printer deploys. A more conservative hashing approach would fall flat because Blackford’s device wouldn’t match one of the exact hashes on a database of prohibited files. A different system using computer vision and AI to evaluate where an object likely resembles a gun, however, could flag it by mistake.“Basing blocking tech on visual resemblance is where the false positive concerns arise because a prop and a real functional firearm resemble one another,” Diamond told The Verge. “The technical challenge here is that depending on training data and algorithms used, setting decision thresholds that have acceptably low false positive rates might have unacceptably high false negative rates and vice versa.”“Visual resemblance might be fooled by [the] gun-shaped e-reader case,” he added.Diamond noted a third option, “geometric identification,” could potentially thread the needle. This approach, which is currently being deployed to guide quality control in manufacturing, can be fine-tuned for what Diamond refers to as “exact geometric match,” where a zero false-positive rate is at least theoretically possible. This approach is still relatively new when it comes to 3D print blocking tech.“Geometric Identification would not be fooled by your gun-shaped e-reader case,” he said.3D printer manufacturers and the experts setting the standards for how blocking software mandates will work are then left with a complex choice. Requiring systems that are both actually effective at detecting guns and technically feasible to introduce in the near future will necessarily mean some non-guns get caught in the crossfire. Pretty quickly, that starts limiting how makers, hobbyists, and artists can express themselves.“If you’re going to try and block all of those wonderfully creative humans, you’re going to make it very hard to print props or make social commentary,” Braun said.Blackford says making the Gundle was relatively straightforward. He first went online and did a simple search for “free gun model,” which turned up the blueprints for the gun shell part of the case. He then uploaded that to Fusion 360, his preferred modeling program, and added the e-reader on top and built the case around it. The Xteink X4 is one of the cheaper e-readers on the market, and though it has limited functionality, its devoted community regularly works to improve it. With the digital design finalized, Blackford sent it off to his Bambu Lab H2D printer. The entire process, from initial idea to printed product, took less than 24 hours.Even though the device doesn’t shoot, Blackford says he still hasn’t taken it out in public. He’s since published the files on his website, where anyone with a 3D printer can download them and make their own. Blackford admits he did this with some hesitation. The case isn’t a gun, but it looks enough like one that someone brandishing it in the open, or revealing it during a confrontation with law enforcement, could find themselves in a seriously dangerous misunderstanding. He talked things over with his wife before publishing, and ultimately decided to avoid larger marketplaces like Thingiverse or Printables so it wouldn’t spread too widely. This way, he says, people can still find it if they are interested but won’t randomly stumble upon it.“I didn’t want it to be so publicly available,” Blackford says. “I just didn’t want tons of them out there.”“If you’re going to try and block all of those wonderfully creative humans, you’re going to make it very hard to print props or make social commentary.”There’s also some question as to whether walking around with the case would violate already existing federal laws requiring toys or other “look-alike firearms” to have distinctive markings. These so-called “orange tip laws” are why fake guns and airsoft guns have blaze-orange plastic tips attached to their muzzles when they are manufactured and sold. But the e-reader case isn’t really a toy or a fake gun, but an art project.Regardless, Blackford says if he ever did take it out in public, he’d print a version in a different color to make clear it isn’t imitating a real weapon. That’s not an overreaction. Walking around in public with something that resembles a gun, even if it is functionally useless, can make interactions with police and other gun owners dangerous, or even deadly. In 2014, Cleveland police shot and killed a 12-year-old boy named Tamir Rice after he reached for a toy gun. A 2016 Washington Post report estimated that over the span of two years, police shot and killed 86 people who were holding realistic-looking toy weapons and pellet and airsoft guns.Supporters of blueprint scanning mandates say it’s necessary to close an enforcement gap that’s giving those with felony convictions and others access to guns when they shouldn’t have them. Various laws prohibiting the manufacture and sale of 3D-printed ghost guns (untraceable firearms without serial numbers) already exist across the country. But people print in the privacy of their own homes, making enforcing those laws nearly impossible. Hochul has called this dynamic the “plastic pipeline” and warns of criminals printing guns on their kitchen tables. Mandating scanning software would shift the responsibility onto printer manufacturers, stopping the illegal guns before they are ever made.Whether the threat posed by 3D-printed guns actually justifies such a transformative change to how printers work remains up for debate. The guns are certainly getting better in terms of performance. There are also more of them. In 2024, the NYPD said it recovered 109 mostly 3D-printed guns from crime scenes. That’s up from just one recorded three years prior. A separate 2024 report from the gun control advocacy group Everytown found similar results in 20 other cities.All of that is a drop in the bucket compared to conventional guns collected at crime scenes. In 2025 alone, then-Mayor Eric Adams claimed the NYPD seized more than 5,200 illegal guns. The total number of firearms in the country more broadly has been estimated to outnumber people.But Blackford says he wasn’t convinced 3D-printed guns pose an especially immediate danger. In his view, they are still primarily made by tinkerers and gun enthusiasts with a passion for the process and plenty of time on their hands. In most cases, he’s convinced, getting a real gun is still much easier than printing one.3D printing, Blackford says, “is too much of a pain in the ass.”And if legislation like New York’s or California’s ever reaches Kentucky, Blackford says he’s ready to get creative, either by using VPNs or figuring out some other workaround. He’s likely not alone.“Some companies are going to be putting those locks in place, but I think open-source software is always going to prevail,” Blackford says.Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Mack DeGeurinCloseMack DeGeurinPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Mack DeGeurinTechCloseTechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All Tech#ereader #case #gunTech](https://i3.wp.com/platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/3D_gun.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C10.732984293194%2C100%2C78.534031413613&w=1200&ssl=1 "Is this e-reader case a gun?Is an e-reader case as dangerous as a Glock 19?Last month, Louisville, Kentucky-based creator Luke The Maker showed off a bizarre, 3D-printed, pistol-shaped case design for the popular minimalist Xteink X4 e-reader. The X4 lies vertically atop the plastic gun’s slide, with a cutout on the side to access its buttons. Though the frame was digitally modeled after a real gun, this “case” can’t shoot bullets. Squeezing the trigger does nothing at all. He calls his contraption the “Gundle.”In a post showing off the wacky accessory, Luke (whose last name is Blackford) can be seen flipping through Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian and J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye before tossing the gun e-reader case in his car’s center console.“The perfect e-reader for public reading,” text reads over the clip.But even though this internet experiment is clearly intended as a joke or commentary, it’s possible future 3D printers won’t see it that way. Lawmakers in multiple states are pushing for laws mandating gun-blocking software on all new printers sold. This still-evolving technology would, in theory, scan every file before it’s physically printed and try to algorithmically determine whether it’s a firearm or firearm part. If the software decides that the thing being printed looks enough like a gun, it stops the printer from completing the job. That is, if it even works. Lawmakers in New York and California are leaving it up to a panel of industry experts to weigh whether the proposed vision is even technically feasible. Despite that cloud of uncertainty, legislation mandating this blocking tech has already become law in New York and passed California’s state assembly.“I didn’t want it to be so publicly available. I just didn’t want tons of them out there.” That may sound reasonable enough, but makers and industry experts previously told The Verge that the tech is underdeveloped and risks introducing false positives where non-guns that look gun-like get unnecessarily blocked. Blackford’s e-reader case falls directly in that detection gray area. Blackford says he didn’t explicitly make the Gundle to challenge the proposed laws, but he also didn’t shy away from expressing his opinion about them.“I’m not for that kind of thing because I’m big into open software,” Blackford says. “It’s just a wild frontier right now, so I definitely don’t trust [gun blueprint scanning tech] now.”“If people want to 3D print a gun, they’re going to do it,” he adds. “I don’t think it’s up to the people making the slicers to control that kind of thing.”Those pushing for these mandates, meanwhile, wouldn’t say whether their proposed tech would stop Blackford from making a harmless case. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office didn’t respond to questions about Blackford’s device specifically, or the implications false positives could have for a maker’s ability to freely express themself.“Governor Hochul is laser-focused on improving public safety and reducing gun violence in New York,” deputy communications director at the Office of Governor Kathy Hochul and spokesperson Jess D’Amelia tells The Verge. “This law relies on the expertise of leading subject matter experts to evaluate and harness emerging technologies while addressing the real and growing threat of ghost guns and illegally manufactured weapons of war. The Governor is confident these measures will make all New York communities safer.”“The intent of the law is not to block prints like this, but I think this print is a really good example of why that’s hard.”Cliff Braun, associate director of technology policy and research at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who has spoken critically of California’s proposal, says it’s unclear whether the proposed system would flag Blackford’s design. While the technology exists, Braun says it’s currently in a “limited form.” Critics say a more cautious detection system that relies on hashes to flag known firearms and parts from a database could be trivially easy to sidestep by simply making small changes to a file’s design. A more expansive approach using AI to analyze a file’s geometry and predict if it’s a gun, by contrast, may be more prone to mistakes. Things that look gun-ish but aren’t, in other words, might get swept up. Lawmakers in both states are leaving it to expert panels to iron out the details of implementation, but the final result, Braun says, will have to grapple with an unavoidable tradeoff between false positives and false negatives.“The intent of the law is not to block prints like this, but I think this print is a really good example of why that’s hard,” Braun says.Handguns like the one Blackford modeled his design on are particularly problematic. In 2022, the ATF updated its rules clarifying that the only parts of a firearm that legally require a serial number are those that provide the housing or structure for the weapon’s “primary fire control component.” In AR-15s and other long guns, that’s the receiver. Braun notes that the shapes of receivers are relatively unique and distinguishable, as are machine gun conversion devices. That’s not quite the same with a handgun. There, the part that requires a serial number is the frame. And unlike receivers, frames are visually far more ambiguous. Water hoses, toy guns, and power tools all share somewhat similar shapes.Dartmouth College associate professor of engineering Solomon Diamond tells The Verge that whether Blackford’s e-reader case gets blocked really depends on the type of technology that particular printer deploys. A more conservative hashing approach would fall flat because Blackford’s device wouldn’t match one of the exact hashes on a database of prohibited files. A different system using computer vision and AI to evaluate where an object likely resembles a gun, however, could flag it by mistake.“Basing blocking tech on visual resemblance is where the false positive concerns arise because a prop and a real functional firearm resemble one another,” Diamond told The Verge. “The technical challenge here is that depending on training data and algorithms used, setting decision thresholds that have acceptably low false positive rates might have unacceptably high false negative rates and vice versa.”“Visual resemblance might be fooled by [the] gun-shaped e-reader case,” he added.Diamond noted a third option, “geometric identification,” could potentially thread the needle. This approach, which is currently being deployed to guide quality control in manufacturing, can be fine-tuned for what Diamond refers to as “exact geometric match,” where a zero false-positive rate is at least theoretically possible. This approach is still relatively new when it comes to 3D print blocking tech.“Geometric Identification would not be fooled by your gun-shaped e-reader case,” he said.3D printer manufacturers and the experts setting the standards for how blocking software mandates will work are then left with a complex choice. Requiring systems that are both actually effective at detecting guns and technically feasible to introduce in the near future will necessarily mean some non-guns get caught in the crossfire. Pretty quickly, that starts limiting how makers, hobbyists, and artists can express themselves.“If you’re going to try and block all of those wonderfully creative humans, you’re going to make it very hard to print props or make social commentary,” Braun said.Blackford says making the Gundle was relatively straightforward. He first went online and did a simple search for “free gun model,” which turned up the blueprints for the gun shell part of the case. He then uploaded that to Fusion 360, his preferred modeling program, and added the e-reader on top and built the case around it. The Xteink X4 is one of the cheaper e-readers on the market, and though it has limited functionality, its devoted community regularly works to improve it. With the digital design finalized, Blackford sent it off to his Bambu Lab H2D printer. The entire process, from initial idea to printed product, took less than 24 hours.Even though the device doesn’t shoot, Blackford says he still hasn’t taken it out in public. He’s since published the files on his website, where anyone with a 3D printer can download them and make their own. Blackford admits he did this with some hesitation. The case isn’t a gun, but it looks enough like one that someone brandishing it in the open, or revealing it during a confrontation with law enforcement, could find themselves in a seriously dangerous misunderstanding. He talked things over with his wife before publishing, and ultimately decided to avoid larger marketplaces like Thingiverse or Printables so it wouldn’t spread too widely. This way, he says, people can still find it if they are interested but won’t randomly stumble upon it.“I didn’t want it to be so publicly available,” Blackford says. “I just didn’t want tons of them out there.”“If you’re going to try and block all of those wonderfully creative humans, you’re going to make it very hard to print props or make social commentary.”There’s also some question as to whether walking around with the case would violate already existing federal laws requiring toys or other “look-alike firearms” to have distinctive markings. These so-called “orange tip laws” are why fake guns and airsoft guns have blaze-orange plastic tips attached to their muzzles when they are manufactured and sold. But the e-reader case isn’t really a toy or a fake gun, but an art project.Regardless, Blackford says if he ever did take it out in public, he’d print a version in a different color to make clear it isn’t imitating a real weapon. That’s not an overreaction. Walking around in public with something that resembles a gun, even if it is functionally useless, can make interactions with police and other gun owners dangerous, or even deadly. In 2014, Cleveland police shot and killed a 12-year-old boy named Tamir Rice after he reached for a toy gun. A 2016 Washington Post report estimated that over the span of two years, police shot and killed 86 people who were holding realistic-looking toy weapons and pellet and airsoft guns.Supporters of blueprint scanning mandates say it’s necessary to close an enforcement gap that’s giving those with felony convictions and others access to guns when they shouldn’t have them. Various laws prohibiting the manufacture and sale of 3D-printed ghost guns (untraceable firearms without serial numbers) already exist across the country. But people print in the privacy of their own homes, making enforcing those laws nearly impossible. Hochul has called this dynamic the “plastic pipeline” and warns of criminals printing guns on their kitchen tables. Mandating scanning software would shift the responsibility onto printer manufacturers, stopping the illegal guns before they are ever made.Whether the threat posed by 3D-printed guns actually justifies such a transformative change to how printers work remains up for debate. The guns are certainly getting better in terms of performance. There are also more of them. In 2024, the NYPD said it recovered 109 mostly 3D-printed guns from crime scenes. That’s up from just one recorded three years prior. A separate 2024 report from the gun control advocacy group Everytown found similar results in 20 other cities.All of that is a drop in the bucket compared to conventional guns collected at crime scenes. In 2025 alone, then-Mayor Eric Adams claimed the NYPD seized more than 5,200 illegal guns. The total number of firearms in the country more broadly has been estimated to outnumber people.But Blackford says he wasn’t convinced 3D-printed guns pose an especially immediate danger. In his view, they are still primarily made by tinkerers and gun enthusiasts with a passion for the process and plenty of time on their hands. In most cases, he’s convinced, getting a real gun is still much easier than printing one.3D printing, Blackford says, “is too much of a pain in the ass.”And if legislation like New York’s or California’s ever reaches Kentucky, Blackford says he’s ready to get creative, either by using VPNs or figuring out some other workaround. He’s likely not alone.“Some companies are going to be putting those locks in place, but I think open-source software is always going to prevail,” Blackford says.Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Mack DeGeurinCloseMack DeGeurinPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Mack DeGeurinTechCloseTechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All Tech#ereader #case #gunTech")
Post Comment