At the start of the summer, I impulse-purchased a pair of JisuLife Life10 S fans from Costco, which at CDN $25 each (or $32.99 through Amazon), are among the most basic offerings from the company. JisuLife’s extensive lineup includes some fan models costing close to $100 with features like reverse-charging to power your phone and 100 different speed settings. I want all those features, but my goal was to not spend several hundred dollars on personal cooling devices that could easily go missing or get damaged during the chaos of summer activities.
On the back of the fan is a USB-C charging port and a sliding power switch that prevents the fan from accidentally turning on while it’s being jostled around inside a bag.
The Life10 S’ functionality is comparatively basic, but also easy to use. A sliding power switch on the back prevents it from accidentally turning on while banging around inside a backpack, and a single button on the front cycles through five different fan speeds. There’s also a basic LCD display showing the battery’s remaining charge when the fan is first powered on and the current speed setting. It’s simple, but the Life10 S does its one job quietly and for a surprisingly long time.
A single button cycles through the fan’s five different speed settings.
When Dyson announced its first handheld fan in April, I assumed the company that had developed an expertise in moving air had created a personal cooling device that would outperform everything else on the market. My spouse loves their Dyson hair dryer, and I was sure the HushJet Mini Cool would be my secret weapon for surviving hot and humid summers, even if at $99 it was a splurge. But having used both Dyson’s personal fan and JisuLife’s $25 alternative, I only reach for the latter when braving the world without AC.
The basic LCD display on the front of the fan is sometimes hard to see because it’s hidden behind a reflective black cover, but the fan is easy to use without being able to see it.
Dyson’s HushJet Mini Cool wraps impressive engineering in an eye-catching design, and at its highest setting, it easily out blasts JisuLife’s even with the Life10 S set to full power. But even at its lowest setting, the HushJet is loud with a high-pitched whine reminiscent of Dyson’s vacuums. I don’t mind that sound when it’s limited to short bursts of cleaning at ground level, but not when coming from a tiny fan designed to be used close to your face and ears. The JisuLife fan produces sound at a much lower frequency, making it easier to tolerate for hours, even if it’s far from whisper quiet at full power.
What impresses me more about the JisuLife fan is how long its 5,000mAh battery keeps it running. At half power, which we find is strong enough to cool us down on even the hottest days, the fan ran for just over 16 hours before needing a charge. That’s far longer than my son lasted at the water park. For comparison, Dyson estimates the HushJet Mini Cool will run for up to six hours at its lowest setting, and at full power, I had it die after just over an hour.
I haven’t tested the even pricier Shark ChillPill that combines a fan with a metal cooling plate the company claims can lower skin temperature by up to 16 degrees Fahrenheit in seconds. You can cool down by pressing it all over your body, but it only cools for as long as the fan has power. SharkNinja estimates the ChillPill will run for up to 11 hours at its lowest setting, or just an hour-and-a-half at max power. That approach could be very effective, but I’m not spending $150 to find out.
I’ve also tested the wearable neck fans that seem to be very popular among the cashiers at my local Costco, but I didn’t find them to be as effective as I’d hoped. The breeze is spread out across the length of the fan and doesn’t feel as intense as a handheld fan, and wearing it positions the motor right below your ear at all times, so it’s a constant drone. I see why they’re useful, but it’s not an experience anyone in my family enjoyed.
After a successful summer with these fans, I’m already keeping an eye out for sales on other JisuLife models, including a hands-free version you wear hanging from your neck. But I’m also expecting these cheaper alternatives will continue to be the first thing we pack when heading out on adventures for the rest of the summer and probably for years to come.
Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
At the start of the summer, I impulse-purchased a pair of JisuLife Life10 S fans from Costco, which at CDN $25 each (or $32.99 through Amazon), are among the most basic offerings from the company. JisuLife’s extensive lineup includes some fan models costing close to $100 with features like reverse-charging to power your phone and 100 different speed settings. I want all those features, but my goal was to not spend several hundred dollars on personal cooling devices that could easily go missing or get damaged during the chaos of summer activities.
On the back of the fan is a USB-C charging port and a sliding power switch that prevents the fan from accidentally turning on while it’s being jostled around inside a bag.
The Life10 S’ functionality is comparatively basic, but also easy to use. A sliding power switch on the back prevents it from accidentally turning on while banging around inside a backpack, and a single button on the front cycles through five different fan speeds. There’s also a basic LCD display showing the battery’s remaining charge when the fan is first powered on and the current speed setting. It’s simple, but the Life10 S does its one job quietly and for a surprisingly long time.
A single button cycles through the fan’s five different speed settings.
When Dyson announced its first handheld fan in April, I assumed the company that had developed an expertise in moving air had created a personal cooling device that would outperform everything else on the market. My spouse loves their Dyson hair dryer, and I was sure the HushJet Mini Cool would be my secret weapon for surviving hot and humid summers, even if at $99 it was a splurge. But having used both Dyson’s personal fan and JisuLife’s $25 alternative, I only reach for the latter when braving the world without AC.
The basic LCD display on the front of the fan is sometimes hard to see because it’s hidden behind a reflective black cover, but the fan is easy to use without being able to see it.
Dyson’s HushJet Mini Cool wraps impressive engineering in an eye-catching design, and at its highest setting, it easily out blasts JisuLife’s even with the Life10 S set to full power. But even at its lowest setting, the HushJet is loud with a high-pitched whine reminiscent of Dyson’s vacuums. I don’t mind that sound when it’s limited to short bursts of cleaning at ground level, but not when coming from a tiny fan designed to be used close to your face and ears. The JisuLife fan produces sound at a much lower frequency, making it easier to tolerate for hours, even if it’s far from whisper quiet at full power.
What impresses me more about the JisuLife fan is how long its 5,000mAh battery keeps it running. At half power, which we find is strong enough to cool us down on even the hottest days, the fan ran for just over 16 hours before needing a charge. That’s far longer than my son lasted at the water park. For comparison, Dyson estimates the HushJet Mini Cool will run for up to six hours at its lowest setting, and at full power, I had it die after just over an hour.
I haven’t tested the even pricier Shark ChillPill that combines a fan with a metal cooling plate the company claims can lower skin temperature by up to 16 degrees Fahrenheit in seconds. You can cool down by pressing it all over your body, but it only cools for as long as the fan has power. SharkNinja estimates the ChillPill will run for up to 11 hours at its lowest setting, or just an hour-and-a-half at max power. That approach could be very effective, but I’m not spending $150 to find out.
I’ve also tested the wearable neck fans that seem to be very popular among the cashiers at my local Costco, but I didn’t find them to be as effective as I’d hoped. The breeze is spread out across the length of the fan and doesn’t feel as intense as a handheld fan, and wearing it positions the motor right below your ear at all times, so it’s a constant drone. I see why they’re useful, but it’s not an experience anyone in my family enjoyed.
After a successful summer with these fans, I’m already keeping an eye out for sales on other JisuLife models, including a hands-free version you wear hanging from your neck. But I’m also expecting these cheaper alternatives will continue to be the first thing we pack when heading out on adventures for the rest of the summer and probably for years to come.
Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
Andrew Liszewski
#dont #splurge #expensive #handheld #fan #beat #heatDeals,Gadgets,Hands-on,Reviews,Tech,Verge Shopping">You don’t need to splurge on an expensive handheld fan to beat the heat
Despite what influencers may say, you don’t need to spend $99.99 on Dyson’s HushJet Mini Cool or $149.99 for the Shark ChillPill to survive the summer whenever you leave the comfort of air-conditioning. My family has found all the comfort it needs to survive humid baseball games, sweltering concerts, and sweaty hikes with a couple of affordable handheld fans from a Chinese company called JisuLife that has spent the past decade honing its hardware.
At the start of the summer, I impulse-purchased a pair of JisuLife Life10 S fans from Costco, which at CDN $25 each (or $32.99 through Amazon), are among the most basic offerings from the company. JisuLife’s extensive lineup includes some fan models costing close to $100 with features like reverse-charging to power your phone and 100 different speed settings. I want all those features, but my goal was to not spend several hundred dollars on personal cooling devices that could easily go missing or get damaged during the chaos of summer activities.
On the back of the fan is a USB-C charging port and a sliding power switch that prevents the fan from accidentally turning on while it’s being jostled around inside a bag.
The Life10 S’ functionality is comparatively basic, but also easy to use. A sliding power switch on the back prevents it from accidentally turning on while banging around inside a backpack, and a single button on the front cycles through five different fan speeds. There’s also a basic LCD display showing the battery’s remaining charge when the fan is first powered on and the current speed setting. It’s simple, but the Life10 S does its one job quietly and for a surprisingly long time.
A single button cycles through the fan’s five different speed settings.
When Dyson announced its first handheld fan in April, I assumed the company that had developed an expertise in moving air had created a personal cooling device that would outperform everything else on the market. My spouse loves their Dyson hair dryer, and I was sure the HushJet Mini Cool would be my secret weapon for surviving hot and humid summers, even if at $99 it was a splurge. But having used both Dyson’s personal fan and JisuLife’s $25 alternative, I only reach for the latter when braving the world without AC.
The basic LCD display on the front of the fan is sometimes hard to see because it’s hidden behind a reflective black cover, but the fan is easy to use without being able to see it.
Dyson’s HushJet Mini Cool wraps impressive engineering in an eye-catching design, and at its highest setting, it easily out blasts JisuLife’s even with the Life10 S set to full power. But even at its lowest setting, the HushJet is loud with a high-pitched whine reminiscent of Dyson’s vacuums. I don’t mind that sound when it’s limited to short bursts of cleaning at ground level, but not when coming from a tiny fan designed to be used close to your face and ears. The JisuLife fan produces sound at a much lower frequency, making it easier to tolerate for hours, even if it’s far from whisper quiet at full power.
What impresses me more about the JisuLife fan is how long its 5,000mAh battery keeps it running. At half power, which we find is strong enough to cool us down on even the hottest days, the fan ran for just over 16 hours before needing a charge. That’s far longer than my son lasted at the water park. For comparison, Dyson estimates the HushJet Mini Cool will run for up to six hours at its lowest setting, and at full power, I had it die after just over an hour.
I haven’t tested the even pricier Shark ChillPill that combines a fan with a metal cooling plate the company claims can lower skin temperature by up to 16 degrees Fahrenheit in seconds. You can cool down by pressing it all over your body, but it only cools for as long as the fan has power. SharkNinja estimates the ChillPill will run for up to 11 hours at its lowest setting, or just an hour-and-a-half at max power. That approach could be very effective, but I’m not spending $150 to find out.
I’ve also tested the wearable neck fans that seem to be very popular among the cashiers at my local Costco, but I didn’t find them to be as effective as I’d hoped. The breeze is spread out across the length of the fan and doesn’t feel as intense as a handheld fan, and wearing it positions the motor right below your ear at all times, so it’s a constant drone. I see why they’re useful, but it’s not an experience anyone in my family enjoyed.
After a successful summer with these fans, I’m already keeping an eye out for sales on other JisuLife models, including a hands-free version you wear hanging from your neck. But I’m also expecting these cheaper alternatives will continue to be the first thing we pack when heading out on adventures for the rest of the summer and probably for years to come.
Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
#Smart #Cutting #Machine #Depends #Youre #Makingandhousehold,shopping,accessories and peripherals,smart home,diy,gadgets">The Best Smart Cutting Machine for You Depends on What You’re Making—and How Many
More than once, Leonardo threw up a generic error pop-up with no explanation of how to fix the problem. You’re forced to dismiss the message before doing anything else, which feels like hitting a dead end before trying to troubleshoot yourself or looking up the error code in Leonardo.
Connectivity, luckily, is super simple and seamless. The Romeo connects to your computer over Wi-Fi instead of Bluetooth, which sounds like a minor detail until you’ve wrestled with the quirks that Bluetooth can sometimes pose (looking at you, Design Space). During my testing of the Explore 5, I’d occasionally lose my Bluetooth connection, requiring me to disconnect the machine from my computer, reconnect, and try again. I’m not sure if that’s a Design Space issue or my laptop juggling too many Bluetooth devices, but it can be a headache. Through my testing, I never once had the Romeo machine unexpectedly disconnect.
Making Space
There’s no getting around it: The Romeo is big—it’s got twice the cutting width of the Explore 5. It’s not the type of machine that sits easily on a closet shelf when you’re not using it. Most people will want to dedicate a table to it. That’s not necessarily a downside, but it’s intended to exist like a permanent fixture in your workspace. (And remember to account for clearance behind the machine, since materials feed through the rear!). But it is sturdy and built well; it never shifted on the table while cutting, there was very little vibration, the carriage moved seamlessly with no rattles, and nothing flexed or creaked.
Its open design is another trade-off. Unlike the Explore 5, which folds up, everything stays exposed on the Romeo. I haven’t noticed any buildup yet, but I do worry about pet hair and dust getting into the internals, and it’s something that I’ll keep an eye on over time.
When it cuts, the Romeo bleeps and chirps like a dial-up internet, while the Cricut hums and whirs more like an old inkjet printer. Neither is particularly loud, but worth noting if you share a workspace.
Time to Graduate?
Photograph: Nicole Kinning
After spending time with both machines, my biggest takeaway is that the Cricut is designed to remove as many decisions and points of friction as possible. The Romeo hands you the controls and expects you to learn how to use them.
#Smart #Cutting #Machine #Depends #Youre #Makingandhousehold,shopping,accessories and peripherals,smart home,diy,gadgets
More than once, Leonardo threw up a generic error pop-up with no explanation of how…
I first slipped on Halliday’s original smart glasses at CES 2025. I was not a fan. The glasses had a tiny, movable display window embedded into the frame that was incredibly finicky to see, and my 30-minute demo left me with achy eyeballs. It was an interesting concept with terrible execution, especially compared to the several other smart glasses on the show floor. So I was skeptical when a few weeks ago, Halliday reached out to say its second attempt at smart glasses was much better.
Well, having tried the Halliday Gen 2, I’m happy to report these are better glasses. That secret display window is gone, replaced by more traditional but discreet waveguides. They’re not like the Meta Display’s nigh-invisible screens. You can still spot the reflection if angled just right, but they’re considerably easier to see. And inside of a single-lens display, the Gen 2 has one for each eye, giving you a much larger screen to look at. Spec-wise, the Gen 2’s displays are monochrome green, with a maximum brightness of 1,600 nits and 600 by 300 pixel resolution per eye.
On my face, the Gen 2 has a nondescript design but is very lightweight compared to other display glasses I’ve tried. The display was also easily visible inside a dark bar, though I didn’t get a chance to see how it’d fare in direct sunlight. The four-mic array was able to pick up commands despite the ambient noise, and Halliday told me that it gets about 12 hours of typical use. That’s partly because these aren’t camera glasses. The exclusion of the camera was a deliberate choice, both for privacy and to extend battery life. That’s because these are more so meant to be a tool for work meetings.
With the Gen 2, Halliday is launching a feature called Meeting Flow. It’s meant to help you follow along in a conversation, using AI to surface context or facts without needing to look at your laptop or phone. I’ve seen this in other smart glasses to varying degrees of success. (Mostly non-success.) More interesting are the so-called Thread Tracker, Decision Confirmation, and Commitment Check features. The idea is to provide real-time updates about what decisions have been made in a meeting, what items need following up on, and a visualization of a meeting’s overall conversation flow. For example, Thread Tracker might show that a team meeting started off talking about budget allocations, before moving on to potential new hires and timelines for those hires. Decision Confirmation might show that the meeting concluded that all new hires should be finished by a specific date. Lastly, Commitment Check verifies if action items have been assigned (and to whom) with a clear deadline. The glasses will also provide post-meeting transcripts and summaries.
I saw a brief glimpse of what this could look like at my demo, albeit a product interview is less conducive to these kinds of features than a typical planning meeting. That said, the glasses also support more general-use AI features like captioning, real-time translations for over 45 languages, the ability to take phone calls, and teleprompters/notecards for public speakers. Users can also make use of the Halliday AI assistant for voice control.
Overall, this is a much more tightly focused vision for a pair of smart glasses than Halliday’s original glasses. That said, we’ll have to see if the AI features are all that useful. So far, I’ve had little success with AI wearables successfully intuiting what I actually need surfaced in a conversation, or deriving the correct conclusions for to-do items. And at $599, the Gen 2 comes with a pretty steep price tag for the average person. That’s not including any extra costs for prescription lenses. (Halliday claims it’ll be able to handle my prescription, which is -10 in one eye and -8.75 in the other with monster astigmatism. We shall see!)
The Halliday Gen 2 are available for preorder starting today with a $10 deposit and a subsequent $100 discount on the final price. The glasses are expected to ship in September.
I first slipped on Halliday’s original smart glasses at CES 2025. I was not a fan. The glasses had a tiny, movable display window embedded into the frame that was incredibly finicky to see, and my 30-minute demo left me with achy eyeballs. It was an interesting concept with terrible execution, especially compared to the several other smart glasses on the show floor. So I was skeptical when a few weeks ago, Halliday reached out to say its second attempt at smart glasses was much better.
Well, having tried the Halliday Gen 2, I’m happy to report these are better glasses. That secret display window is gone, replaced by more traditional but discreet waveguides. They’re not like the Meta Display’s nigh-invisible screens. You can still spot the reflection if angled just right, but they’re considerably easier to see. And inside of a single-lens display, the Gen 2 has one for each eye, giving you a much larger screen to look at. Spec-wise, the Gen 2’s displays are monochrome green, with a maximum brightness of 1,600 nits and 600 by 300 pixel resolution per eye.
On my face, the Gen 2 has a nondescript design but is very lightweight compared to other display glasses I’ve tried. The display was also easily visible inside a dark bar, though I didn’t get a chance to see how it’d fare in direct sunlight. The four-mic array was able to pick up commands despite the ambient noise, and Halliday told me that it gets about 12 hours of typical use. That’s partly because these aren’t camera glasses. The exclusion of the camera was a deliberate choice, both for privacy and to extend battery life. That’s because these are more so meant to be a tool for work meetings.
With the Gen 2, Halliday is launching a feature called Meeting Flow. It’s meant to help you follow along in a conversation, using AI to surface context or facts without needing to look at your laptop or phone. I’ve seen this in other smart glasses to varying degrees of success. (Mostly non-success.) More interesting are the so-called Thread Tracker, Decision Confirmation, and Commitment Check features. The idea is to provide real-time updates about what decisions have been made in a meeting, what items need following up on, and a visualization of a meeting’s overall conversation flow. For example, Thread Tracker might show that a team meeting started off talking about budget allocations, before moving on to potential new hires and timelines for those hires. Decision Confirmation might show that the meeting concluded that all new hires should be finished by a specific date. Lastly, Commitment Check verifies if action items have been assigned (and to whom) with a clear deadline. The glasses will also provide post-meeting transcripts and summaries.
I saw a brief glimpse of what this could look like at my demo, albeit a product interview is less conducive to these kinds of features than a typical planning meeting. That said, the glasses also support more general-use AI features like captioning, real-time translations for over 45 languages, the ability to take phone calls, and teleprompters/notecards for public speakers. Users can also make use of the Halliday AI assistant for voice control.
Overall, this is a much more tightly focused vision for a pair of smart glasses than Halliday’s original glasses. That said, we’ll have to see if the AI features are all that useful. So far, I’ve had little success with AI wearables successfully intuiting what I actually need surfaced in a conversation, or deriving the correct conclusions for to-do items. And at $599, the Gen 2 comes with a pretty steep price tag for the average person. That’s not including any extra costs for prescription lenses. (Halliday claims it’ll be able to handle my prescription, which is -10 in one eye and -8.75 in the other with monster astigmatism. We shall see!)
The Halliday Gen 2 are available for preorder starting today with a $10 deposit and a subsequent $100 discount on the final price. The glasses are expected to ship in September.
I first slipped on Halliday’s original smart glasses at CES 2025. I was not a fan. The glasses had a tiny, movable display window embedded into the frame that was incredibly finicky to see, and my 30-minute demo left me with achy eyeballs. It was an interesting concept with terrible execution, especially compared to the several other smart glasses on the show floor. So I was skeptical when a few weeks ago, Halliday reached out to say its second attempt at smart glasses was much better.
Well, having tried the Halliday Gen 2, I’m happy to report these are better glasses. That secret display window is gone, replaced by more traditional but discreet waveguides. They’re not like the Meta Display’s nigh-invisible screens. You can still spot the reflection if angled just right, but they’re considerably easier to see. And inside of a single-lens display, the Gen 2 has one for each eye, giving you a much larger screen to look at. Spec-wise, the Gen 2’s displays are monochrome green, with a maximum brightness of 1,600 nits and 600 by 300 pixel resolution per eye.
On my face, the Gen 2 has a nondescript design but is very lightweight compared to other display glasses I’ve tried. The display was also easily visible inside a dark bar, though I didn’t get a chance to see how it’d fare in direct sunlight. The four-mic array was able to pick up commands despite the ambient noise, and Halliday told me that it gets about 12 hours of typical use. That’s partly because these aren’t camera glasses. The exclusion of the camera was a deliberate choice, both for privacy and to extend battery life. That’s because these are more so meant to be a tool for work meetings.
With the Gen 2, Halliday is launching a feature called Meeting Flow. It’s meant to help you follow along in a conversation, using AI to surface context or facts without needing to look at your laptop or phone. I’ve seen this in other smart glasses to varying degrees of success. (Mostly non-success.) More interesting are the so-called Thread Tracker, Decision Confirmation, and Commitment Check features. The idea is to provide real-time updates about what decisions have been made in a meeting, what items need following up on, and a visualization of a meeting’s overall conversation flow. For example, Thread Tracker might show that a team meeting started off talking about budget allocations, before moving on to potential new hires and timelines for those hires. Decision Confirmation might show that the meeting concluded that all new hires should be finished by a specific date. Lastly, Commitment Check verifies if action items have been assigned (and to whom) with a clear deadline. The glasses will also provide post-meeting transcripts and summaries.
I saw a brief glimpse of what this could look like at my demo, albeit a product interview is less conducive to these kinds of features than a typical planning meeting. That said, the glasses also support more general-use AI features like captioning, real-time translations for over 45 languages, the ability to take phone calls, and teleprompters/notecards for public speakers. Users can also make use of the Halliday AI assistant for voice control.
Overall, this is a much more tightly focused vision for a pair of smart glasses than Halliday’s original glasses. That said, we’ll have to see if the AI features are all that useful. So far, I’ve had little success with AI wearables successfully intuiting what I actually need surfaced in a conversation, or deriving the correct conclusions for to-do items. And at $599, the Gen 2 comes with a pretty steep price tag for the average person. That’s not including any extra costs for prescription lenses. (Halliday claims it’ll be able to handle my prescription, which is -10 in one eye and -8.75 in the other with monster astigmatism. We shall see!)
The Halliday Gen 2 are available for preorder starting today with a $10 deposit and a subsequent $100 discount on the final price. The glasses are expected to ship in September.
I also have for you the movie of the summer, a great update to a great note-taking app, a new app for organizing your photos, and much more. Let’s go.
(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you reading / watching / playing / listening to / soldering together this week? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, forward it to them and tell them to subscribe here.)
The Odyssey. I’ll be honest: I expected this movie to not be great. Hot director bites off too big a story, not even Christopher Nolan can hit every time, right? WRONG. The reviews are amazing, the whole thing actually feels very current, and I absolutely cannot wait to plant myself in an IMAX theater and soak in the epic-ness of this one. Several dozen times.
Bear 2.9. Bear’s tag-based system has always felt a little too limiting to me, but expanding the idea into Workspaces makes it way more powerful without being any more complex. So clever, so useful, still one of the best apps to write in across Apple devices.
The World Cup final. By just about any measure, Sunday’s game will be the biggest thing on TV… until we do this again in four years. This year’s tournament has been spectacular, and whether you like soccer or not, the final tends to be good TV. Treat it like the Super Bowl! Have a party!
“How Microtransactions (Almost) Ruined Gaming, with Dan Soder.” Really good episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out that makes an imperfect but very compelling argument that we have almost completely lost the plot when it comes to gaming. But the fight is not yet entirely lost.
Aphera. I’ve been hearing good things about this new Mac-based photo editor, which is fast and powerful and aimed directly at replacing the ever-rising price of Adobe’s tools. Ditching Lightroom is a lot to ask, but I’m excited to give this a real shot.
Parchment. Chris Lawley, friend of Installer, shipped his notes-and-tasks app for Apple devices this week, and it’s really well done! It goes hard on just showing you what matters right now and hiding everything else, and I kind of appreciate that.
The Loading Museum. What a fun idea: a repository of all the things that have made us wait on our computers. Watch a photo load like it’s 1997, remember what it felt like to wait for the internet to connect, and learn what designers have always known about how to make slow things feel faster.
The Codex Micro. I love a shortcut button, and while I think $230 is an absurd price to pay for a bunch of buttons you could re-create with a Stream Deck or any number of other things, I do think these agent-controlling keys are pretty delightful. Work Louder stuff just tends to feel good.
(Tiny housekeeping note: From now on, when we do a special section like this, it’ll be in place of Screen Share for that week. I’ve heard from a bunch of folks that some issues are actually too much, and this feels like a good trade that also makes my life easier. Win-win!)
They say reading is dead. They are, in fact, incorrect. A couple of weeks ago, I asked you all to share your reading setups — the gadgets, the apps, the bookstores, the bookmark brands, the highlighter colors, everything. As always, you delivered! Since a bunch of you asked, before we get into all your great gear and advice, here’s my current setup:
I read mostly on one of three devices: a Kindle Paperwhite, an iPad Mini, or a Boox Palma 2. The iPad is for when I need to take lots of notes and highlights, the Palma goes everywhere with me, and the Paperwhite lives next to my bed. Almost all of my ebooks are in the Kindle universe; I wish that weren’t the case, and should probably switch to something more open, but it’s a hard change to make.
As a result, I mostly read books in the Kindle app, but all of the rest of my digital reading happens in Readwise Reader. I frequently dabble with both Instapaper and Matter, but Reader’s search, organization tools, and ability to parse and convert PDFs into a nice reading experience are just unmatched.
I use Feedbin for RSS reading. On my computer, I use Feedbin’s website; on mobile I mostly use Unread.
When I buy physical books, which I’m trying to do a lot more now that I have a toddler who sees me looking at screens all the time, I try to buy them from Bookshop.org. Or from my local library / bookstore. My book collection is growing for the first time in forever, and it’s a delight.
But enough about me! Here are the things I heard the most about from you:
The library! Yay libraries! So many of us are using Libby and Hoopla and MyLibro and Sora and so many other tools to make the most of our library cards. Absolutely love to see it.
The Kindle and the iPad Mini are the big winners among reading devices. No big surprise there, really. But I also heard from Kobo fans (both Clara and Libra), more than one devoted iPod Touch fan, and lots of believers in the Xteink X4. Oh, and of course, the Boox Palma remains a winner.
The most popular reading apps were, also unsurprisingly, Kindle and Apple Books. But there are some devoted BookFusion fans out there, too, and Bookshop.org’s app appears to be catching on.
We love a way to track our collection, and our progress. Both The StoryGraph and Book Tracker have a lot of fans, and practically everyone either quit or is looking to quit Goodreads.
Lots of us like to listen to books, which of course means Audible came up a few times. But a lot of us are also making good use of the 15 hours of audio that come with Spotify Premium.
BookBub, a great site for finding ebook sales, came up a bunch. So did Chirp, its sister site for audiobooks.
Saving and syncing highlights is an ongoing project for a lot of us. Lots of Readwise users out there, syncing stuff to Notion and Craft and Obsidian, but also a lot of folks building their own apps to make this easier.
I heard about, conservatively, 50 different RSS readers. Unread and Reeder were the RSS favorites, and Instapaper, Readwise Reader, and Wallabag are the go-tos for saving stuff for later.
One last note: I heard from a lot of people that keeping up with newsletters is a hard and unsolved problem. Do you send everything to a reading app? An RSS feed? Try to manage it in Gmail? Who knows! As you may have guessed, I also have a lot of newsletters I don’t know how to manage. If you have tips, I’m all ears. And thanks to everyone who shared their reading setups!
Here’s what the Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you’re into right now as well! Email installer@theverge.com or message me on Signal — @davidpierce.11 — with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we’ll feature some of our favorites here every week. For even more great recommendations, check out the replies to this post on Threads and this post on Bluesky.
“I’m moving from Google (Gmail) to a fantastic European alternative: Cirrux. With a sync service you can untie yourself from Big Tech, without losing your emails.” — Olaf
“The Ghost in the Shell anime on Amazon is the best looking thing on TV. It’s as lore-dense as a concrete brick, but if you can look past that, it’s absolutely worth the watch.” — B Carzo
“Gravity is the best / simplest note-taking app. Most note apps, as you take notes, they get lost as you add more, losing their relevance; with Gravity you can snap any note to the top of the page. The simplicity is brilliant.” — Andrew
“Thanks to Rohit for the 4×3 suggestion in last week’s Installer. The other game on the site, Smush, is also fantastic. Both are wonderful fresh takes on games from the New York Times.” — Kurt
“I ordered the Pebble Index 01 ring. I desperately want to dictate little notes to myself and opening an app on my phone is a lot of friction.” — Anna
“I just finished the book Seek Immediate Shelter by Vincent Yu. It follows a bunch of people in a small town as they get an emergency ‘incoming missile’ text, then the ‘false alert’ message about 20 minutes later, and how each person reacts during and after the alert. It was fantastic.” — Matt
“Recently stumbled upon Joon Lee’s YouTube channel. Fantastic deep dives on current sports/culture from an independent perspective. Spoiler – Most things have been ruined by gambling & private equity. In an age of hot takes and clickbait, he’s the breath of fresh air sports media fans need.” — Brett
“I’ve been playing around with Hypertexting, a new app that treats RSS (and your personal blog) like an open social network. It’s really interesting and has a lot of potential.” — Chris
“This week I’ve been reading The Interface Series, which was a sci-fi/horror web serial from about 10 years ago. Each chapter is posted as a comment in a random, unrelated Reddit thread, but it’s all been collated at /r/9M9H9E9. Fascinating speculative fiction that makes the most of its medium.” — Andie
I’ve always appreciated the size and power of an IMAX screen, but until I heard Matt Damon recently explain how strange it is to act into an IMAX camera, I don’t think I really understood how remarkable and complicated the technology really is. So of course I loved this Tested video on how IMAX is projected, this Christopher Nolan interview on how he thinks about formats, this dive into the dying art of 70mm, and this excellent explainer on the overall technology. Fine, Chris, I’ll drive halfway across the state to see this movie properly. You win.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
I also have for you the movie of the summer, a great update to a great note-taking app, a new app for organizing your photos, and much more. Let’s go.
(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you reading / watching / playing / listening to / soldering together this week? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, forward it to them and tell them to subscribe here.)
The Odyssey. I’ll be honest: I expected this movie to not be great. Hot director bites off too big a story, not even Christopher Nolan can hit every time, right? WRONG. The reviews are amazing, the whole thing actually feels very current, and I absolutely cannot wait to plant myself in an IMAX theater and soak in the epic-ness of this one. Several dozen times.
Bear 2.9. Bear’s tag-based system has always felt a little too limiting to me, but expanding the idea into Workspaces makes it way more powerful without being any more complex. So clever, so useful, still one of the best apps to write in across Apple devices.
The World Cup final. By just about any measure, Sunday’s game will be the biggest thing on TV… until we do this again in four years. This year’s tournament has been spectacular, and whether you like soccer or not, the final tends to be good TV. Treat it like the Super Bowl! Have a party!
“How Microtransactions (Almost) Ruined Gaming, with Dan Soder.” Really good episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out that makes an imperfect but very compelling argument that we have almost completely lost the plot when it comes to gaming. But the fight is not yet entirely lost.
Aphera. I’ve been hearing good things about this new Mac-based photo editor, which is fast and powerful and aimed directly at replacing the ever-rising price of Adobe’s tools. Ditching Lightroom is a lot to ask, but I’m excited to give this a real shot.
Parchment. Chris Lawley, friend of Installer, shipped his notes-and-tasks app for Apple devices this week, and it’s really well done! It goes hard on just showing you what matters right now and hiding everything else, and I kind of appreciate that.
The Loading Museum. What a fun idea: a repository of all the things that have made us wait on our computers. Watch a photo load like it’s 1997, remember what it felt like to wait for the internet to connect, and learn what designers have always known about how to make slow things feel faster.
The Codex Micro. I love a shortcut button, and while I think $230 is an absurd price to pay for a bunch of buttons you could re-create with a Stream Deck or any number of other things, I do think these agent-controlling keys are pretty delightful. Work Louder stuff just tends to feel good.
(Tiny housekeeping note: From now on, when we do a special section like this, it’ll be in place of Screen Share for that week. I’ve heard from a bunch of folks that some issues are actually too much, and this feels like a good trade that also makes my life easier. Win-win!)
They say reading is dead. They are, in fact, incorrect. A couple of weeks ago, I asked you all to share your reading setups — the gadgets, the apps, the bookstores, the bookmark brands, the highlighter colors, everything. As always, you delivered! Since a bunch of you asked, before we get into all your great gear and advice, here’s my current setup:
I read mostly on one of three devices: a Kindle Paperwhite, an iPad Mini, or a Boox Palma 2. The iPad is for when I need to take lots of notes and highlights, the Palma goes everywhere with me, and the Paperwhite lives next to my bed. Almost all of my ebooks are in the Kindle universe; I wish that weren’t the case, and should probably switch to something more open, but it’s a hard change to make.
As a result, I mostly read books in the Kindle app, but all of the rest of my digital reading happens in Readwise Reader. I frequently dabble with both Instapaper and Matter, but Reader’s search, organization tools, and ability to parse and convert PDFs into a nice reading experience are just unmatched.
I use Feedbin for RSS reading. On my computer, I use Feedbin’s website; on mobile I mostly use Unread.
When I buy physical books, which I’m trying to do a lot more now that I have a toddler who sees me looking at screens all the time, I try to buy them from Bookshop.org. Or from my local library / bookstore. My book collection is growing for the first time in forever, and it’s a delight.
But enough about me! Here are the things I heard the most about from you:
The library! Yay libraries! So many of us are using Libby and Hoopla and MyLibro and Sora and so many other tools to make the most of our library cards. Absolutely love to see it.
The Kindle and the iPad Mini are the big winners among reading devices. No big surprise there, really. But I also heard from Kobo fans (both Clara and Libra), more than one devoted iPod Touch fan, and lots of believers in the Xteink X4. Oh, and of course, the Boox Palma remains a winner.
The most popular reading apps were, also unsurprisingly, Kindle and Apple Books. But there are some devoted BookFusion fans out there, too, and Bookshop.org’s app appears to be catching on.
We love a way to track our collection, and our progress. Both The StoryGraph and Book Tracker have a lot of fans, and practically everyone either quit or is looking to quit Goodreads.
Lots of us like to listen to books, which of course means Audible came up a few times. But a lot of us are also making good use of the 15 hours of audio that come with Spotify Premium.
BookBub, a great site for finding ebook sales, came up a bunch. So did Chirp, its sister site for audiobooks.
Saving and syncing highlights is an ongoing project for a lot of us. Lots of Readwise users out there, syncing stuff to Notion and Craft and Obsidian, but also a lot of folks building their own apps to make this easier.
I heard about, conservatively, 50 different RSS readers. Unread and Reeder were the RSS favorites, and Instapaper, Readwise Reader, and Wallabag are the go-tos for saving stuff for later.
One last note: I heard from a lot of people that keeping up with newsletters is a hard and unsolved problem. Do you send everything to a reading app? An RSS feed? Try to manage it in Gmail? Who knows! As you may have guessed, I also have a lot of newsletters I don’t know how to manage. If you have tips, I’m all ears. And thanks to everyone who shared their reading setups!
Here’s what the Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you’re into right now as well! Email installer@theverge.com or message me on Signal — @davidpierce.11 — with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we’ll feature some of our favorites here every week. For even more great recommendations, check out the replies to this post on Threads and this post on Bluesky.
“I’m moving from Google (Gmail) to a fantastic European alternative: Cirrux. With a sync service you can untie yourself from Big Tech, without losing your emails.” — Olaf
“The Ghost in the Shell anime on Amazon is the best looking thing on TV. It’s as lore-dense as a concrete brick, but if you can look past that, it’s absolutely worth the watch.” — B Carzo
“Gravity is the best / simplest note-taking app. Most note apps, as you take notes, they get lost as you add more, losing their relevance; with Gravity you can snap any note to the top of the page. The simplicity is brilliant.” — Andrew
“Thanks to Rohit for the 4×3 suggestion in last week’s Installer. The other game on the site, Smush, is also fantastic. Both are wonderful fresh takes on games from the New York Times.” — Kurt
“I ordered the Pebble Index 01 ring. I desperately want to dictate little notes to myself and opening an app on my phone is a lot of friction.” — Anna
“I just finished the book Seek Immediate Shelter by Vincent Yu. It follows a bunch of people in a small town as they get an emergency ‘incoming missile’ text, then the ‘false alert’ message about 20 minutes later, and how each person reacts during and after the alert. It was fantastic.” — Matt
“Recently stumbled upon Joon Lee’s YouTube channel. Fantastic deep dives on current sports/culture from an independent perspective. Spoiler – Most things have been ruined by gambling & private equity. In an age of hot takes and clickbait, he’s the breath of fresh air sports media fans need.” — Brett
“I’ve been playing around with Hypertexting, a new app that treats RSS (and your personal blog) like an open social network. It’s really interesting and has a lot of potential.” — Chris
“This week I’ve been reading The Interface Series, which was a sci-fi/horror web serial from about 10 years ago. Each chapter is posted as a comment in a random, unrelated Reddit thread, but it’s all been collated at /r/9M9H9E9. Fascinating speculative fiction that makes the most of its medium.” — Andie
I’ve always appreciated the size and power of an IMAX screen, but until I heard Matt Damon recently explain how strange it is to act into an IMAX camera, I don’t think I really understood how remarkable and complicated the technology really is. So of course I loved this Tested video on how IMAX is projected, this Christopher Nolan interview on how he thinks about formats, this dive into the dying art of 70mm, and this excellent explainer on the overall technology. Fine, Chris, I’ll drive halfway across the state to see this movie properly. You win.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
David Pierce
#apps #gadgets #tools #readerAI,Gadgets,Installer,Streaming,Tech">The apps, gadgets, and tools every reader needs
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 136, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, hope your neighborhood isn’t as smoky as mine, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)
I also have for you the movie of the summer, a great update to a great note-taking app, a new app for organizing your photos, and much more. Let’s go.
(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you reading / watching / playing / listening to / soldering together this week? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, forward it to them and tell them to subscribe here.)
The Odyssey. I’ll be honest: I expected this movie to not be great. Hot director bites off too big a story, not even Christopher Nolan can hit every time, right? WRONG. The reviews are amazing, the whole thing actually feels very current, and I absolutely cannot wait to plant myself in an IMAX theater and soak in the epic-ness of this one. Several dozen times.
Bear 2.9. Bear’s tag-based system has always felt a little too limiting to me, but expanding the idea into Workspaces makes it way more powerful without being any more complex. So clever, so useful, still one of the best apps to write in across Apple devices.
The World Cup final. By just about any measure, Sunday’s game will be the biggest thing on TV… until we do this again in four years. This year’s tournament has been spectacular, and whether you like soccer or not, the final tends to be good TV. Treat it like the Super Bowl! Have a party!
“How Microtransactions (Almost) Ruined Gaming, with Dan Soder.” Really good episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out that makes an imperfect but very compelling argument that we have almost completely lost the plot when it comes to gaming. But the fight is not yet entirely lost.
Aphera. I’ve been hearing good things about this new Mac-based photo editor, which is fast and powerful and aimed directly at replacing the ever-rising price of Adobe’s tools. Ditching Lightroom is a lot to ask, but I’m excited to give this a real shot.
Parchment. Chris Lawley, friend of Installer, shipped his notes-and-tasks app for Apple devices this week, and it’s really well done! It goes hard on just showing you what matters right now and hiding everything else, and I kind of appreciate that.
The Loading Museum. What a fun idea: a repository of all the things that have made us wait on our computers. Watch a photo load like it’s 1997, remember what it felt like to wait for the internet to connect, and learn what designers have always known about how to make slow things feel faster.
The Codex Micro. I love a shortcut button, and while I think $230 is an absurd price to pay for a bunch of buttons you could re-create with a Stream Deck or any number of other things, I do think these agent-controlling keys are pretty delightful. Work Louder stuff just tends to feel good.
(Tiny housekeeping note: From now on, when we do a special section like this, it’ll be in place of Screen Share for that week. I’ve heard from a bunch of folks that some issues are actually too much, and this feels like a good trade that also makes my life easier. Win-win!)
They say reading is dead. They are, in fact, incorrect. A couple of weeks ago, I asked you all to share your reading setups — the gadgets, the apps, the bookstores, the bookmark brands, the highlighter colors, everything. As always, you delivered! Since a bunch of you asked, before we get into all your great gear and advice, here’s my current setup:
I read mostly on one of three devices: a Kindle Paperwhite, an iPad Mini, or a Boox Palma 2. The iPad is for when I need to take lots of notes and highlights, the Palma goes everywhere with me, and the Paperwhite lives next to my bed. Almost all of my ebooks are in the Kindle universe; I wish that weren’t the case, and should probably switch to something more open, but it’s a hard change to make.
As a result, I mostly read books in the Kindle app, but all of the rest of my digital reading happens in Readwise Reader. I frequently dabble with both Instapaper and Matter, but Reader’s search, organization tools, and ability to parse and convert PDFs into a nice reading experience are just unmatched.
I use Feedbin for RSS reading. On my computer, I use Feedbin’s website; on mobile I mostly use Unread.
When I buy physical books, which I’m trying to do a lot more now that I have a toddler who sees me looking at screens all the time, I try to buy them from Bookshop.org. Or from my local library / bookstore. My book collection is growing for the first time in forever, and it’s a delight.
But enough about me! Here are the things I heard the most about from you:
The library! Yay libraries! So many of us are using Libby and Hoopla and MyLibro and Sora and so many other tools to make the most of our library cards. Absolutely love to see it.
The Kindle and the iPad Mini are the big winners among reading devices. No big surprise there, really. But I also heard from Kobo fans (both Clara and Libra), more than one devoted iPod Touch fan, and lots of believers in the Xteink X4. Oh, and of course, the Boox Palma remains a winner.
The most popular reading apps were, also unsurprisingly, Kindle and Apple Books. But there are some devoted BookFusion fans out there, too, and Bookshop.org’s app appears to be catching on.
We love a way to track our collection, and our progress. Both The StoryGraph and Book Tracker have a lot of fans, and practically everyone either quit or is looking to quit Goodreads.
Lots of us like to listen to books, which of course means Audible came up a few times. But a lot of us are also making good use of the 15 hours of audio that come with Spotify Premium.
BookBub, a great site for finding ebook sales, came up a bunch. So did Chirp, its sister site for audiobooks.
Saving and syncing highlights is an ongoing project for a lot of us. Lots of Readwise users out there, syncing stuff to Notion and Craft and Obsidian, but also a lot of folks building their own apps to make this easier.
I heard about, conservatively, 50 different RSS readers. Unread and Reeder were the RSS favorites, and Instapaper, Readwise Reader, and Wallabag are the go-tos for saving stuff for later.
One last note: I heard from a lot of people that keeping up with newsletters is a hard and unsolved problem. Do you send everything to a reading app? An RSS feed? Try to manage it in Gmail? Who knows! As you may have guessed, I also have a lot of newsletters I don’t know how to manage. If you have tips, I’m all ears. And thanks to everyone who shared their reading setups!
Here’s what the Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you’re into right now as well! Email installer@theverge.com or message me on Signal — @davidpierce.11 — with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we’ll feature some of our favorites here every week. For even more great recommendations, check out the replies to this post on Threads and this post on Bluesky.
“I’m moving from Google (Gmail) to a fantastic European alternative: Cirrux. With a sync service you can untie yourself from Big Tech, without losing your emails.” — Olaf
“The Ghost in the Shell anime on Amazon is the best looking thing on TV. It’s as lore-dense as a concrete brick, but if you can look past that, it’s absolutely worth the watch.” — B Carzo
“Gravity is the best / simplest note-taking app. Most note apps, as you take notes, they get lost as you add more, losing their relevance; with Gravity you can snap any note to the top of the page. The simplicity is brilliant.” — Andrew
“Thanks to Rohit for the 4×3 suggestion in last week’s Installer. The other game on the site, Smush, is also fantastic. Both are wonderful fresh takes on games from the New York Times.” — Kurt
“I ordered the Pebble Index 01 ring. I desperately want to dictate little notes to myself and opening an app on my phone is a lot of friction.” — Anna
“I just finished the book Seek Immediate Shelter by Vincent Yu. It follows a bunch of people in a small town as they get an emergency ‘incoming missile’ text, then the ‘false alert’ message about 20 minutes later, and how each person reacts during and after the alert. It was fantastic.” — Matt
“Recently stumbled upon Joon Lee’s YouTube channel. Fantastic deep dives on current sports/culture from an independent perspective. Spoiler – Most things have been ruined by gambling & private equity. In an age of hot takes and clickbait, he’s the breath of fresh air sports media fans need.” — Brett
“I’ve been playing around with Hypertexting, a new app that treats RSS (and your personal blog) like an open social network. It’s really interesting and has a lot of potential.” — Chris
“This week I’ve been reading The Interface Series, which was a sci-fi/horror web serial from about 10 years ago. Each chapter is posted as a comment in a random, unrelated Reddit thread, but it’s all been collated at /r/9M9H9E9. Fascinating speculative fiction that makes the most of its medium.” — Andie
I’ve always appreciated the size and power of an IMAX screen, but until I heard Matt Damon recently explain how strange it is to act into an IMAX camera, I don’t think I really understood how remarkable and complicated the technology really is. So of course I loved this Tested video on how IMAX is projected, this Christopher Nolan interview on how he thinks about formats, this dive into the dying art of 70mm, and this excellent explainer on the overall technology. Fine, Chris, I’ll drive halfway across the state to see this movie properly. You win.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
Nopia is built around harmonic interplay in a unique way. Rather than a few knobs and a keyboard controlling a single synth patch, it blends multiple modules — keys, bass, arp, and pad — into a single performance, not unlike a drumless groovebox. There’s a one-octave keyboard called the Chord Builder, a 12-button Tonal Selector, and an Extensions Dial that dictate the key and voicing of the chords. The idea is to let you play complex harmonies with just a finger or two.
Additional performance features include a strum plate in the top-right corner for plucking specific notes from a chord and a slider for full chord pitch bends.
In addition to the virtual analog and sample-based synth engines, there are basic effects like delay, reverb, tape emulation, and beat repeat, as well as a ton of connectivity options, including per-module MIDI output for controlling other instruments with Nopia’s harmonic engine.
Nopia is built around harmonic interplay in a unique way. Rather than a few knobs and a keyboard controlling a single synth patch, it blends multiple modules — keys, bass, arp, and pad — into a single performance, not unlike a drumless groovebox. There’s a one-octave keyboard called the Chord Builder, a 12-button Tonal Selector, and an Extensions Dial that dictate the key and voicing of the chords. The idea is to let you play complex harmonies with just a finger or two.
Additional performance features include a strum plate in the top-right corner for plucking specific notes from a chord and a slider for full chord pitch bends.
In addition to the virtual analog and sample-based synth engines, there are basic effects like delay, reverb, tape emulation, and beat repeat, as well as a ton of connectivity options, including per-module MIDI output for controlling other instruments with Nopia’s harmonic engine.
#years #teasing #viral #Nopia #synth #basically #finishedEntertainment,Gadgets,Music,News,Tech">After years of teasing, the viral Nopia synth is ‘basically finished’
After setting the music gear corner of the internet on fire back in 2023 with the first glimpse at the Nopia, creators Martin Grieco and Rocío Gal are almost ready to bring it to market. The duo brought it to theMusicRadar offices for an in-depth first look and revealed that it will be launching in “a couple of months” for around £550.
Nopia is built around harmonic interplay in a unique way. Rather than a few knobs and a keyboard controlling a single synth patch, it blends multiple modules — keys, bass, arp, and pad — into a single performance, not unlike a drumless groovebox. There’s a one-octave keyboard called the Chord Builder, a 12-button Tonal Selector, and an Extensions Dial that dictate the key and voicing of the chords. The idea is to let you play complex harmonies with just a finger or two.
Additional performance features include a strum plate in the top-right corner for plucking specific notes from a chord and a slider for full chord pitch bends.
In addition to the virtual analog and sample-based synth engines, there are basic effects like delay, reverb, tape emulation, and beat repeat, as well as a ton of connectivity options, including per-module MIDI output for controlling other instruments with Nopia’s harmonic engine.
However, the images and audio might not be directly available to the user. Here’s how the FT describes one way the glasses could use the data:
In one proposed system, raw footage and audio would not be stored by Meta or made available to the user, several people said. Instead, the metadata from that audio and images would be extracted and uploaded to the server for Meta’s AI to query, which proponents argue would have fewer privacy implications.
But currently, Meta is planning for the LED recording indicator to remain off in “super sensing” mode, the FT reports. In a July 2025 whitepaper, the company said that it would reserve the LED indicator for “active capture” scenarios where the user is saving photos or videos, and leave it off during “AI Feature” use — such as scanning a menu — to avoid users becoming too used to the indicator. (If the indicator was on during the “super sensing” mode, it might also be harder to know when the glasses are actually recording video.)
Meta is also discussing if it would use the captured data for training its AI models. It may also bring the “super sensing” features to glasses it has already released, the FT says.
“While we don’t comment on internal prototypes, we’re committed to getting our glasses right because they need to be loved by both people wearing them and those around them,” Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold says in a statement to The Verge. Arnold also notes that “Our approach has been to develop new technologies that will help people throughout their day, with privacy built in from the ground up.”
Meta hasn’t been shy about some type of always-aware glasses being a possibility. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call, said that he was “really excited to see the glasses evolve from being able to answer questions to being able to be a personal agent that’s with you all day long, helping you remember things and achieve your goals.” In a March blog post about new Ray-Ban Meta glasses, the company wrote that “with ongoing software updates, Meta AI on glasses will transition from something you have to prompt with a question each time, to a more continuous, in-the-moment assistant that can help throughout the day.”
However, the images and audio might not be directly available to the user. Here’s how the FT describes one way the glasses could use the data:
In one proposed system, raw footage and audio would not be stored by Meta or made available to the user, several people said. Instead, the metadata from that audio and images would be extracted and uploaded to the server for Meta’s AI to query, which proponents argue would have fewer privacy implications.
But currently, Meta is planning for the LED recording indicator to remain off in “super sensing” mode, the FT reports. In a July 2025 whitepaper, the company said that it would reserve the LED indicator for “active capture” scenarios where the user is saving photos or videos, and leave it off during “AI Feature” use — such as scanning a menu — to avoid users becoming too used to the indicator. (If the indicator was on during the “super sensing” mode, it might also be harder to know when the glasses are actually recording video.)
Meta is also discussing if it would use the captured data for training its AI models. It may also bring the “super sensing” features to glasses it has already released, the FT says.
“While we don’t comment on internal prototypes, we’re committed to getting our glasses right because they need to be loved by both people wearing them and those around them,” Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold says in a statement to The Verge. Arnold also notes that “Our approach has been to develop new technologies that will help people throughout their day, with privacy built in from the ground up.”
Meta hasn’t been shy about some type of always-aware glasses being a possibility. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call, said that he was “really excited to see the glasses evolve from being able to answer questions to being able to be a personal agent that’s with you all day long, helping you remember things and achieve your goals.” In a March blog post about new Ray-Ban Meta glasses, the company wrote that “with ongoing software updates, Meta AI on glasses will transition from something you have to prompt with a question each time, to a more continuous, in-the-moment assistant that can help throughout the day.”
#Meta #reportedly #working #smart #glasses #recording #timeGadgets,Meta,News,Privacy,Tech,Wearable">Meta is reportedly working on smart glasses that would be recording all the time
Meta might be the next company to make an always-on AI wearable. The company is working on prototype “super sensing” always-aware smart glasses that could continuously record audio and snap photos “every few seconds,” according to the Financial Times. The wearer could then ask Meta AI about the captured audio and images.
However, the images and audio might not be directly available to the user. Here’s how the FT describes one way the glasses could use the data:
In one proposed system, raw footage and audio would not be stored by Meta or made available to the user, several people said. Instead, the metadata from that audio and images would be extracted and uploaded to the server for Meta’s AI to query, which proponents argue would have fewer privacy implications.
But currently, Meta is planning for the LED recording indicator to remain off in “super sensing” mode, the FT reports. In a July 2025 whitepaper, the company said that it would reserve the LED indicator for “active capture” scenarios where the user is saving photos or videos, and leave it off during “AI Feature” use — such as scanning a menu — to avoid users becoming too used to the indicator. (If the indicator was on during the “super sensing” mode, it might also be harder to know when the glasses are actually recording video.)
Meta is also discussing if it would use the captured data for training its AI models. It may also bring the “super sensing” features to glasses it has already released, the FT says.
“While we don’t comment on internal prototypes, we’re committed to getting our glasses right because they need to be loved by both people wearing them and those around them,” Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold says in a statement to The Verge. Arnold also notes that “Our approach has been to develop new technologies that will help people throughout their day, with privacy built in from the ground up.”
Meta hasn’t been shy about some type of always-aware glasses being a possibility. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call, said that he was “really excited to see the glasses evolve from being able to answer questions to being able to be a personal agent that’s with you all day long, helping you remember things and achieve your goals.” In a March blog post about new Ray-Ban Meta glasses, the company wrote that “with ongoing software updates, Meta AI on glasses will transition from something you have to prompt with a question each time, to a more continuous, in-the-moment assistant that can help throughout the day.”
Meta might be the next company to make an always-on AI wearable. The company is…
Samsung has announced that its next Galaxy Unpacked launch event will be held on July 22nd, with the tagline: “A new shape unfolds.”
It’s long been rumored that Samsung is about to expand its foldable phone line to a third format, with a shorter and wider version of its big book-style foldables, to match Huawei’s Pura X Max and Apple’s expected foldable iPhone. Today’s announcement adds to that impression, showing a tall ticket with the stub torn off, leaving it shorter than before.
Alongside the wider foldable, Samsung is expected to announce updated versions of its existing Flip and Fold phones, with the latter potentially rebranded to the Z Fold 8 Ultra to differentiate it from the new form factor. New Galaxy Watches are likely too, with potential updates to both the mainline Galaxy Watch and the more premium Ultra model.
Galaxy Unpacked will be held in London, UK, kicking off at 9am ET on July 22nd.
Samsung has announced that its next Galaxy Unpacked launch event will be held on July 22nd, with the tagline: “A new shape unfolds.”
It’s long been rumored that Samsung is about to expand its foldable phone line to a third format, with a shorter and wider version of its big book-style foldables, to match Huawei’s Pura X Max and Apple’s expected foldable iPhone. Today’s announcement adds to that impression, showing a tall ticket with the stub torn off, leaving it shorter than before.
Alongside the wider foldable, Samsung is expected to announce updated versions of its existing Flip and Fold phones, with the latter potentially rebranded to the Z Fold 8 Ultra to differentiate it from the new form factor. New Galaxy Watches are likely too, with potential updates to both the mainline Galaxy Watch and the more premium Ultra model.
Galaxy Unpacked will be held in London, UK, kicking off at 9am ET on July 22nd.
#Samsung #launch #wide #foldable #July #22ndFoldable Phones,Gadgets,Mobile,News,Phones,Samsung,Tech,Wearable">Samsung will launch its new wide foldable on July 22nd
Samsung has announced that its next Galaxy Unpacked launch event will be held on July 22nd, with the tagline: “A new shape unfolds.”
It’s long been rumored that Samsung is about to expand its foldable phone line to a third format, with a shorter and wider version of its big book-style foldables, to match Huawei’s Pura X Max and Apple’s expected foldable iPhone. Today’s announcement adds to that impression, showing a tall ticket with the stub torn off, leaving it shorter than before.
Alongside the wider foldable, Samsung is expected to announce updated versions of its existing Flip and Fold phones, with the latter potentially rebranded to the Z Fold 8 Ultra to differentiate it from the new form factor. New Galaxy Watches are likely too, with potential updates to both the mainline Galaxy Watch and the more premium Ultra model.
Galaxy Unpacked will be held in London, UK, kicking off at 9am ET on July 22nd.
From tightening loose screws on furniture to repairing electronics, the PixelDrive is designed to handle a wide range of household projects. Hoto includes 30 screwdriver bits that cover many of the most common screw types, all neatly organized in a small cylindrical case. It also offers six adjustable torque settings, allowing you to use less power when working with fragile electronics or increase it when putting together a desk, bookshelf, TV stand, or other furniture. You can also switch between a slower 80RPM mode for more precise work and a faster 200RPM mode with the press of a button.
Hoto also added several features that make assembling projects a little easier. A built-in display lets you quickly check your current torque setting and remaining battery life, while an integrated LED light helps illuminate dim spaces, whether you’re working under a desk or inside a cabinet. The rechargeable 2,000mAh battery also charges over USB-C, so you won’t need to keep buying disposable batteries.
From tightening loose screws on furniture to repairing electronics, the PixelDrive is designed to handle a wide range of household projects. Hoto includes 30 screwdriver bits that cover many of the most common screw types, all neatly organized in a small cylindrical case. It also offers six adjustable torque settings, allowing you to use less power when working with fragile electronics or increase it when putting together a desk, bookshelf, TV stand, or other furniture. You can also switch between a slower 80RPM mode for more precise work and a faster 200RPM mode with the press of a button.
Hoto also added several features that make assembling projects a little easier. A built-in display lets you quickly check your current torque setting and remaining battery life, while an integrated LED light helps illuminate dim spaces, whether you’re working under a desk or inside a cabinet. The rechargeable 2,000mAh battery also charges over USB-C, so you won’t need to keep buying disposable batteries.
#Hotos #PixelDrive #screwdriver #matching #priceDeals,Gadgets,Tech,Verge Shopping">Hoto’s PixelDrive screwdriver is down to $60, matching its best price
If your Prime Day purchases included a new desk, TV stand, bookshelf, or other furniture you still haven’t assembled, Hoto’s PixelDrive cordless screwdriver can help speed up the process. It’s currently on sale for $59.99 ($20 off) at Amazon, matching its best price to date.
From tightening loose screws on furniture to repairing electronics, the PixelDrive is designed to handle a wide range of household projects. Hoto includes 30 screwdriver bits that cover many of the most common screw types, all neatly organized in a small cylindrical case. It also offers six adjustable torque settings, allowing you to use less power when working with fragile electronics or increase it when putting together a desk, bookshelf, TV stand, or other furniture. You can also switch between a slower 80RPM mode for more precise work and a faster 200RPM mode with the press of a button.
Hoto also added several features that make assembling projects a little easier. A built-in display lets you quickly check your current torque setting and remaining battery life, while an integrated LED light helps illuminate dim spaces, whether you’re working under a desk or inside a cabinet. The rechargeable 2,000mAh battery also charges over USB-C, so you won’t need to keep buying disposable batteries.
The updated MacBook Pro, which will keep the 14-inch screen size, will have a design that’s “in line” with what Apple is planning for the touch screen MacBooks it also has in the works, Bloomberg says. Those new touch screen laptops are set to be released between “the end of this year and early next year,” and Bloomberg has previously reported that they will get a Dynamic Island-like pill at the top of the screen.
Apple last updated the base MacBook Pro in October with an M5 chip bump. The company is working on an M6 processor, and Bloomberg says that Apple “finished work months ago” a different base MacBook Pro upgrade that keeps the laptop’s present design and is scheduled to launch this year. Apple will quickly move to the M7 line in 2027, including new Pro and Max chips, Bloomberg previously reported.
As for the iPad Pros, Bloomberg says that they’ll retain 11-inch and 13-inch screens. Apple last updated the iPad Pro line last October with the M5 chip.
The updated MacBook Pro, which will keep the 14-inch screen size, will have a design that’s “in line” with what Apple is planning for the touch screen MacBooks it also has in the works, Bloomberg says. Those new touch screen laptops are set to be released between “the end of this year and early next year,” and Bloomberg has previously reported that they will get a Dynamic Island-like pill at the top of the screen.
Apple last updated the base MacBook Pro in October with an M5 chip bump. The company is working on an M6 processor, and Bloomberg says that Apple “finished work months ago” a different base MacBook Pro upgrade that keeps the laptop’s present design and is scheduled to launch this year. Apple will quickly move to the M7 line in 2027, including new Pro and Max chips, Bloomberg previously reported.
As for the iPad Pros, Bloomberg says that they’ll retain 11-inch and 13-inch screens. Apple last updated the iPad Pro line last October with the M5 chip.
#Apples #entrylevel #MacBook #Pro #redesignApple,Gadgets,iPad,Laptops,News,Tech">Apple’s entry-level MacBook Pro could be up for a redesign
Apple is working on a “revamped” version of its entry-level MacBook Pro that it could launch as soon as the first half of 2027, Bloomberg reports. The company is also testing four new iPad Pros that are set to launch in the spring with a focus on “internal improvements.”
The updated MacBook Pro, which will keep the 14-inch screen size, will have a design that’s “in line” with what Apple is planning for the touch screen MacBooks it also has in the works, Bloomberg says. Those new touch screen laptops are set to be released between “the end of this year and early next year,” and Bloomberg has previously reported that they will get a Dynamic Island-like pill at the top of the screen.
Apple last updated the base MacBook Pro in October with an M5 chip bump. The company is working on an M6 processor, and Bloomberg says that Apple “finished work months ago” a different base MacBook Pro upgrade that keeps the laptop’s present design and is scheduled to launch this year. Apple will quickly move to the M7 line in 2027, including new Pro and Max chips, Bloomberg previously reported.
As for the iPad Pros, Bloomberg says that they’ll retain 11-inch and 13-inch screens. Apple last updated the iPad Pro line last October with the M5 chip.
Apple is working on a “revamped” version of its entry-level MacBook Pro that it could…
Focus and productivity apps abound, all to help you stave off the many distractions coming from your phone. Or the annoying people at your open-office desk. Digital well-being tools can silence notifications, limit apps like TikTok and Instagram, and help you focus on the task at hand. But you can also turn them off very easily as soon as you feel like you haven’t endlessly scrolled enough.
This is where Flipper’s Busy Bar comes in, a hardware clock with an LED screen that doubles as a clock and a dedicated timer. Slap the big button in the middle, and the screen displays a bright red “BUSY” sign or another message that lets the people around you know you’re, well, busy. (Maybe try “GO AWAY” or “GET OUT OF MY ROOM, MOM.”) The bar goes on sale today and costs $249.
“How do you let people know politely, yet firmly, that you don’t want to be disturbed?” says Callum Tennent, a creative writer at Flipper. “We decided the politest way to do it was a massive red light on your desk.”
Courtesy of Flipper Devices
Flipper Devices made the Flipper Zero, a $200 portable hacking tool that got big on TikTok in 2022 for using a Tamagotchi-esque dolphin character to detect wireless frequencies and potentially break RFID-controlled locks. It was a device that raised a variety of security concerns. Canada proposed a ban on the device out of fear that it might enable car thefts. In 2023, the US Customs and Border Protection seized 15,000 Flipper Zero devices, then ultimately released them. Flipper is currently working on another model, the Flipper One, that has even more advanced capabilities.
In between those more controversial devices comes the Busy Bar. The bar also works with the separate Busy app, yet another one of those productivity and focus tools living on your phone. What it doesn’t have is the capability of hacking anything. “It’s being made by us here at Flipper, but there’s no real connection to them,” Tennent says. “They’re totally disconnected products.”
Fundamentally, the Busy Bar is a pricey “On Air” light. It offers many of the same productivity capabilities that are likely already baked into your phone’s operating system—like blocking notifications on your phone. But Flipper is making the case that—much like the Brick, a hardware gadget you tap to block access to certain apps—having a hardware option to shut off the distractions around you is meaningfully different than just trying to use software productivity tools on your device.
Focus and productivity apps abound, all to help you stave off the many distractions coming from your phone. Or the annoying people at your open-office desk. Digital well-being tools can silence notifications, limit apps like TikTok and Instagram, and help you focus on the task at hand. But you can also turn them off very easily as soon as you feel like you haven’t endlessly scrolled enough.
This is where Flipper’s Busy Bar comes in, a hardware clock with an LED screen that doubles as a clock and a dedicated timer. Slap the big button in the middle, and the screen displays a bright red “BUSY” sign or another message that lets the people around you know you’re, well, busy. (Maybe try “GO AWAY” or “GET OUT OF MY ROOM, MOM.”) The bar goes on sale today and costs $249.
“How do you let people know politely, yet firmly, that you don’t want to be disturbed?” says Callum Tennent, a creative writer at Flipper. “We decided the politest way to do it was a massive red light on your desk.”
Courtesy of Flipper Devices
Flipper Devices made the Flipper Zero, a $200 portable hacking tool that got big on TikTok in 2022 for using a Tamagotchi-esque dolphin character to detect wireless frequencies and potentially break RFID-controlled locks. It was a device that raised a variety of security concerns. Canada proposed a ban on the device out of fear that it might enable car thefts. In 2023, the US Customs and Border Protection seized 15,000 Flipper Zero devices, then ultimately released them. Flipper is currently working on another model, the Flipper One, that has even more advanced capabilities.
In between those more controversial devices comes the Busy Bar. The bar also works with the separate Busy app, yet another one of those productivity and focus tools living on your phone. What it doesn’t have is the capability of hacking anything. “It’s being made by us here at Flipper, but there’s no real connection to them,” Tennent says. “They’re totally disconnected products.”
Fundamentally, the Busy Bar is a pricey “On Air” light. It offers many of the same productivity capabilities that are likely already baked into your phone’s operating system—like blocking notifications on your phone. But Flipper is making the case that—much like the Brick, a hardware gadget you tap to block access to certain apps—having a hardware option to shut off the distractions around you is meaningfully different than just trying to use software productivity tools on your device.
#Busy #Bar #Gadget #People #Leavehacks,gadgets,smart home,apps,distractions,productivity,design">The Busy Bar Is a Gadget to Get People to Leave You Alone
Focus and productivityapps abound, all to help you stave off the many distractions coming from your phone. Or the annoying people at your open-office desk. Digital well-being tools can silence notifications, limit apps like TikTok and Instagram, and help you focus on the task at hand. But you can also turn them off very easily as soon as you feel like you haven’t endlessly scrolled enough.
This is where Flipper’s Busy Bar comes in, a hardware clock with an LED screen that doubles as a clock and a dedicated timer. Slap the big button in the middle, and the screen displays a bright red “BUSY” sign or another message that lets the people around you know you’re, well, busy. (Maybe try “GO AWAY” or “GET OUT OF MY ROOM, MOM.”) The bar goes on sale today and costs $249.
“How do you let people know politely, yet firmly, that you don’t want to be disturbed?” says Callum Tennent, a creative writer at Flipper. “We decided the politest way to do it was a massive red light on your desk.”
Courtesy of Flipper Devices
Flipper Devices made the Flipper Zero, a $200 portable hacking tool that got big on TikTok in 2022 for using a Tamagotchi-esque dolphin character to detect wireless frequencies and potentially break RFID-controlled locks. It was a device that raised a variety of security concerns. Canada proposed a ban on the device out of fear that it might enable car thefts. In 2023, the US Customs and Border Protection seized 15,000 Flipper Zero devices, then ultimately released them. Flipper is currently working on another model, the Flipper One, that has even more advanced capabilities.
In between those more controversial devices comes the Busy Bar. The bar also works with the separate Busy app, yet another one of those productivity and focus tools living on your phone. What it doesn’t have is the capability of hacking anything. “It’s being made by us here at Flipper, but there’s no real connection to them,” Tennent says. “They’re totally disconnected products.”
Fundamentally, the Busy Bar is a pricey “On Air” light. It offers many of the same productivity capabilities that are likely already baked into your phone’s operating system—like blocking notifications on your phone. But Flipper is making the case that—much like the Brick, a hardware gadget you tap to block access to certain apps—having a hardware option to shut off the distractions around you is meaningfully different than just trying to use software productivity tools on your device.
