Discounty adds some bite to cozy life sims

There's a pleasing rhythm to cozy life sims. The virtual days pass, filled with chores of tending crops or running a business, punctuated by strange mysteries or evolving relationships. At their best, these games merge busywork with exploration and storytelling, in a way that makes them hard to step away from. Discounty, from developer Crinkle […]

Why do Waymos keep loitering in front of my house?

When a Waymo pulls up and parks in front of her home on a residential street in West Los Angeles, 10-year-old Morgan rushes to the window. "The Waymo is home!" she says, calling to her parents, Lisa Delgin and Zach Tucker. It is by no means the first time a Waymo has come "home" to […]

Showrunner wants to turn you into a happy little content prompter for the ‘Netflix of AI’

As one of the cofounders behind Oculus Story Studio, Edward Saatchi knows how hard it can be to sell people on new tech that bills itself as revolutionary. Even though Story Studio snagged an Emmy for one of its three animated features, a general lack of public interest in VR movies led Meta to shutter […]

TikTok is now letting everyone DM each other with voice memos and pictures

Every platform wants to be the place you hang with friends — even Spotify as of this week — so it’s apparently time for TikTok to shore up its direct messaging feature! It told TechCrunch that over the next few weeks, all users should see voice messages and image sharing options arrive in their DMs. […]

Microsoft’s next annual update for Windows 11 is in Release Preview testing

The schedule of annual updates for Windows 11 that arrive in the second half of the year will hold steady for 2025, and today, Microsoft announced that the 25H2 package is available now for testing in the Release Preview Channel. So, will you see new UI features or more AI tweaks included on your desktop […]

Leak suggests new Philips Hue lights will have direct Matter support

There’s already been a number of leaks of upcoming Philips Hue products that are expected to be announced next week ahead of IFA. But one thing that hasn’t been mentioned was support for Matter-over-Thread. While there’s no confirmation that support is coming, there’s compelling evidence to suggest it might be.  First off, packaging for two […]

Framework actually did it: I upgraded a laptop’s entire GPU in just three minutes

On Tuesday, I told you how the modular computer company Framework was finally fulfilling its promise of the "holy grail for gamers" - a laptop with modular, swappable discrete graphics cards so easy to swap, practically anyone can do it at home. The first futureproof gaming laptop, perhaps? Today, I can confirm the system actually […]

Tesla asks court to toss wrongful death verdict that cost it $243 million

Lawyers for Tesla filed a motion in court Friday to throw out a jury verdict that found the company’s Autopilot software had contributed to the death of a woman in a crash from 2019. Earlier this month, a jury found Tesla partially responsible for the death of 22-year-old Naibel Benavides, who was killed by a […]

The future of AI hardware isn’t one device — it’s an entire ecosystem

I dream of a gadget that can do it all. Instead, when I leave for the office, I pack one or two phones, a portable battery bank, a laptop, a Kindle, a new product I'm testing, and at least one pair of earbuds. In my backpack, there's a pouch full of cords and adapters. On […]

Hisense’s take on the Samsung Frame TV is $300 off

It’s hard to realize that Labor Day weekend — signalling the end of summer — is already here. It would be a bit depressing, except that the weekend also brings with it some really good deal. For example, you can nab a Hisense S7N 55-inch TV at Best Buy and Amazon for $699.99, a solid […]