Gadgets

The momentum of Thanksgiving — which saw consumers spend a record $33.6 billion spent globally online on the day — looks like it continued into Black Friday, with a bang. Adobe said that in the U.S., consumers made a record-breaking $10.8 billion of purchases, up 10.2% on last year. Meanwhile, Salesforce is giving a much

After the European Union opened a competition investigation into Corning earlier this month, citing concerns over alleged exclusive dealing, the Gorilla Glass maker has offered a raft of changes to its contract clauses aimed at settling the probe. The U.S. company is a supplier to major electronics brands including Apple’s iPhone, and the changes could

Smart ring maker Oura announced on Tuesday that it has received a $75 million investment from glucose device maker Dexcom. The investment marks Oura’s Series D funding round and brings the company’s valuation to more than $5 billion. The partnership paves the way for the two companies’ devices and apps to be used together, which

Google is releasing the first developer preview of Android 16 to speed up feature rollouts in devices. This is a major change in the Android rollout schedule as, over the past few years, Google released its first Android developer beta around Q2, with a stable release coming out post-July. With the new schedule, Android 16’s

Marc Benioff famously got into tech as a child coder writing games. He’s always loved tech gadgets. During an episode of TechCrunch’s Equity, when asked about his latest gadgets, he showed off his Oura ring. But then he considered and said that his favorite gadget these days is his car. “I think my car is

What’s the best gift you can get someone? Why, the gift of travel, of course. The next best is something to enhance the travel experience. As fun and enlightening as seeing new places is, the whole part of getting there can detract from the overall experience, especially for those who find themselves traveling a lot

In August, I did something I never imagined myself doing: I bought a house. After spending most of my adult life in New York City, I moved a couple hours north to the Hudson Valley. It’s been every bit as major an adjustment as I’d expected. Along with your standard new homeowner surprises — like

Fitbit’s Ace LTE, the smartwatch designed for ages 7+, is introducing new features to help families stay connected and get active together.  On Wednesday, Fitbit announced a slew of new features, including group chats, family quests, a new mini-game, and two new watch faces. There’s also a new direct message feature for siblings to text

Artinoise, the Italian startup behind re.corder — a smart device reimagining the traditional plastic recorder we all played in school — has introduced its latest product: Zefiro. The portable device, shaped like the mouthpiece of a recorder, can be plugged into any smartphone, tablet, or PC with a USB-C port, effectively transforming into a musical

Apple is set to expand its smart home presence, according to Ming-Chi Kuo. The well-sourced analyst reported on Tuesday that the iPhone maker is working on an IP (internet protocol) camera with an expected 2026 shipping date. The analyst notes that Chinese component maker, Goertek, is set to assemble the product, which Apple expects to

Apple will soon let users share the location of lost or missing items — such as an iPhone, MacBook, or something with an AirTag attached — via the Find My app with people who are not in their contacts using a link. The company is currently testing this feature on the iOS 18.2 public beta

In August, I did something I never imagined myself doing: I bought a house. After spending most of my adult life in New York City, I moved a couple of hours north to the Hudson Valley. It’s been every bit as major an adjustment as I’d expected. Along with your standard new homeowner surprises —

The Palma is a strange product. It’s a small e-reader with far bigger gadget ambitions. On its site, Boox describes the product as a “distraction-free device that lets you reclaim your focus in the exact middle between tech and life.” In a lot of ways, the company’s ambitions appear to mirror those of Light Phone’s by

For years, the Mini was the odd man out in the Mac desktop lineup. Apple has given plenty of love to the iMac over the years. The Mac Pro has had a few false starts, but the company is clearly committed to offering a true professional-grade desktop experience. The Studio is the new kid on

iMac is the rock of Apple’s desktop line. Over the past decade we’ve seen the iMac Pro come and go, Apple struggling to crack the Mac Pro, and largely forgetting the Mac Mini existed for more than a decade. With two years and two models under its belt, the jury is still out on the

On Monday, Bloomberg reported on Apple’s plans to fully overhaul its laptop line. That’s exactly the kind of rumor you don’t want to drop in the week between the announcement and launch of a new MacBook Pro. A deeper dive reveals that the planned revamp is coming at some point in 2026. It’s still very

On Wednesday, the European Union opened an investigation of U.S. manufacturer Corning over possible anti-competitive practices. Corning may not be a name that’s super familiar to the average tech consumer, but you are almost certainly within touching distance of its products as its a leading supplier of speciality toughened glass for mobile devices, including Apple’s

Apple could soon let users share the location of lost or missing items — such as an iPhone, Macbook, or something with an Airtag attached — via the Find My app with people who are not in their contacts using a link. Macrumors spotted the updated feature in the iOS 18.2 developer beta, and noted

After more than a decade of waiting, Amazon’s first color Kindle has stumbled out of the gate. An issue with the new display has left Colorsoft buyers leaving unfavorable reviews. At last count, the e-reader is hovering around 2.7 stars. The company confirmed the display issues affecting a “small number” of units in a statement

October was an exciting month for reading devices. We got a new iPad mini, a couple of products from Boox, and this strange yet compelling iPhone e-reader adapter from Astropad. The biggest splash of all, however, came from Amazon. It’s unsurprising, as the retail giant commands around 80% of the devoted e-reader market. The past

Two mobile operating systems currently comprise nearly 100% of the global smartphone market. Building one is hard, and for most phone makers, there are better uses of resources, especially when Android is right there for the taking. While it’s a potential differentiator, these companies have largely opted to maintain Google’s mobile OS, customized by skins and

Smart ring maker Oura on Thursday announced that it has acquired Sparta Science, a Bay Area-based health tracking startup. TechCrunch spoke to Sparta back in 2018 at the offices of Playground Global, a key investor. The deal marks Oura’s third acquisition in two years. The company purchased digital identity platform, Proxy, in May 2023. This

Apple wrapped up a half-week of Mac announcements Wednesday by debuting the latest addition to the M-series of chips. A day after announcing the M4 Pro alongside the tiny new Mac Mini, the company is showcasing the M4 Max, which is coming to the MacBook Pro line. Like the other members of the M4 line,

Apple on Wednesday wrapped up Macweek (well, Mac half week) by introducing an updated MacBook Pro. Apple’s most premium laptop is catching up to is brethren with the addition of M4 chips. The Pro and Mini are the first two Macs getting the new chip. The Pro will also be the first to sport the

The week of Mac announcements chugs along, as Apple introduces the latest addition to its line of first-party silicon. The new M4 is debuting as an upgradeable option for the just-announced palm-size Mac Mini. The Pro follows the May release of the original M4. That chip bucked the standard Apple Silicon cycle by debuting on

After much hype, Apple Intelligence, the company’s suite of AI features, finally shipped to users this week with the iOS 18.1 update. I used these features for months through beta software and realized that the feature set rolling out this week is more about creating convenience for users rather than letting users plan or brainstorm

Apple’s EU mandated transition from Lightning to USB-C has already affected most of its hardware. There have been a few stragglers, however. Near the top of the list are its desktop accessories, the Magic Mouse, Magic Keyboard, and Magic Trackpad. On Monday, the company finally addressed the issue. Along with an M4 refresh to the

Apple kicked off “Mac week” by unveiling a refresh to its perennial favorite all-in-one, the iMac. The big news here is the addition of the newish M4 chip, which the company says is 2x more powerful than the original M1 iMac. The new desktop notably arrives alongside the general availability of Apple Intelligence, which debuts

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m new to the projector game. Anker won me over at the end of last year with its Nebula series. The Capsule prioritizes ease of use and portability, above all. While not cheap at $800, it’s a good starter projector in the sense that it’s self-contained and largely

A federal jury ruled Friday that Masimo smartwatches infringed Apple patents, but Apple isn’t getting a big payday. Bloomberg Law reports that the company was only seeking the statutory minimum of $250, and that’s all it was awarded. Apple’s attorney John Desmarais reportedly told jurors, “We’re not here for the money.” Instead, he said the