Lenovo is now selling the smartphone-sized Chromebox Micro, a tiny ChromeOS computer that’s intended for retail signage but may be useful to hobbyists, tinkerers, and DIYers. On paper, theChromebox Microis a proper ChromeOS desktop computer. Its Celeron N4500 processor, while somewhat weak, is also used in several consumer-grade Chromebooks. The port selection is excellent, with Gigabit Ethernet (Wake on LAN-enabled), a 4K-capable HDMI 1.4b output, plus two pairs of USB-A and USB-C connectors....

UPDATE: 2025-08-14 15:50 EST BY CORBIN DAVENPORT Now Available For Pre-Order The Logitech Reach isnow available for pre-order on Indigogo, with a limited-time price of $259 for the earlist orders, and a final price tag of $399. It’s a bit strange that Logitech is using a crowdfunding platform for the Reach, but it’s already fully funded and Logitech is an established hardware company, so there’s no reason to think the webcam might never ship....

Quick Links Summary The Meta Quest 3 is expected to launch later in 2023 with a starting price tag of around $450. It will reportedly be slimmer than Quest 2 and offer MR and VR experiences. Plus, it is said to feature the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chip, Pancake lenses, and five cameras. The Meta Quest 3, the successor of the company’s popularQuest 2 VR headset, is long overdue. But even though we are probably months away from its release, several details about it have trickled down through the grapevine....

Quick Links Gaming is my primary hobby, and like any long-term hobby, sometimes you have to take a good hard look at whether you’re still having a good time or not. It’s been an interesting year, but in 2025 I’ll be making some changes to minimize my frustration with my favorite pastime. 5Buy Even Fewer Games About halfway through 2024, I decided to put amoratorium on buying gamesand I almost managed to stick to it....

Summary After collecting games from sales, bundles, and elsewhere, I have over 200 games in my Steam library and not enough time to play them all. This called for some prioritization. Here’s how I prioritized the games that are worth my time. What’s In My Game Library: The Assessment Step Clearing my gaming backlogrequired a defined process. The first thing I did was to set aside the games that had a recommended playthrough time of less than 20 hours....

Google just revealed the latest Android Feature Drop. While it isn’t as robust as the upcomingAndroid 14 update, it contains plenty of useful new features, including an upgraded Assistant At a Glance widget for non-Pixel users. These improvements should arrive on your Android phone within the coming weeks or months, depending on how quickly your smartphone’s manufacturer delivers firmware updates. The highlight of this Android Feature Drop is an improvedAssistant At a Glance widget....

Editors who shun proprietary software have reason to celebrate, as the folks behind Kdenlive have released a new version of the open source, non-linear video editor with some major improvements and new features. New Object Detection With a Meta Model A major new feature for Kdenlive version 25.04.0 is an “object segmentation” plugin. Using an visual AI model, it can automatically detect an object and track it frame-by-frame, allowing you to easily do things like background removal or apply video effects and filters to only specific people and things in your video....

Summary It seems that passkeys are the new security tech that everybody is talking about. This new passwordless technology is easy to use, fast, and, most importantly, secure. Still, though, I don’t think they’ll quite kill passwords completely—and I’m not the only one. What’s a Passkey? Passkeys area bit complicated “under the hood,” but the short version is that they replace passwords with a kind of call-and-reply system. Normally, when you create an account with a service, you also create a set of credentials with the service, made up of your username (or email) and a password....

Quick Links Summary ThePITAKA MagEZ Slider 2is an ergonomic desktop charging station that delivers a decent supply of wireless power to your iPhone, AirPods, Apple Watch, and a few non-Apple devices, too. And while it’s a solid peripheral, there are a few problem areas that could do with some addressing. The compact 3-in-1 wireless charger for your Apple essentials. Design: A Space-Saving Desktop Buddy No larger than your typical coffee mug, thePITAKA MagEZ Slider 2may look small, but literally every part of this charging station has some kind of power feature to take advantage of....

Quick Links Google’s latest mid-ranger, the Pixel 9a, is here, and it’s going toe to toe with Samsung’s Galaxy A56. Both devices offer amazing value, but depending on the type of user you are, one might be a significantly better deal. Price and Availability Both thePixel 9aand the Galaxy A56 start at $499, with the base model of both devices sporting 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. Both devices offer up to 256GB storage, but only the A56 comes with a 12GB variant....

Summary The year is 2024, and I haven’t had cable in over five years at this point. All of my content is consumed through a streaming media player, and the latest2024 Roku Ultrahas almost convinced me to ditch my Apple TV 4K. Roku Ultra (2024) The Roku Ultra (2024) offers a compelling feature set with Wi-Fi 6, HDMI 2.1b, and a snappy user experience. While the UI could still use a more modern update, and the 10/100 Ethernet port is quite outdated, the overall feel of the Roku Ultra is fantastic....

The Samsung Galaxy S24 arrived with several exciting new software features in One UI 6.1, most notably the new suite ofGalaxy AI tools. And now, that same software experience and Galaxy AI goodies are about to arrive for select older phones and tablets. Earlier this year, Samsung confirmed that some of the Galaxy AI experience wouldeventually come to older phones. In late February, it was revealed that the One UI 6....

Spotify Wrapped, the yearly summary of music habits, is introducing a new feature for its 2024 release. A personalized podcast was created with Google’s NotebookLM for many users. TheSpotify Wrapped of 2024’s podcast, “Your Spotify Wrapped AI Podcast,” gives an audio summary of what you listened to over the year. It uses two AI hosts to guide you through your favorite songs and artists, looking at your listening trends from 2024....