Motorola's Rizr is back as a concept phone with a rollable screen

Three years after the debut of its wildly popular Razr phone, Motorola gave the world the Rizr. While beloved by many, the product never managed to capture the same level of cultural cache as its predecessor. The two devices shared some key design languge, with the Rizr distinguishing itself by way

Google announces new features for Android and Wear OS

Google has announced a slew of new features for Android, Chromebook and Wear OS that are designed to improve connectivity, productivity and accessibility. The announcement was timed to coincide with Mobile World Congress (MWC), which is kicking off in Barcelona today. Among the new features is upco

OnePlus' gaming concept phone has glowing liquid cooling

The days of a cautious OnePlus release cycle appear to be behind us. In January, the Oppo-owned mobile brand unveiled its new flagship, the OnePlus 11. Earlier this month, the 11R arrived, focused on the growing Indian smartphone market. These days, the company also offers last year's 10T and 1

Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi are bringing satellite communication to their devices through Qualcomm

Qualcomm announced at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) that multiple phone makers, including Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Motorola, Nothing and Honor, are bringing satellite communication capabilities to their phones. However, manufacturers didn’t provide details about what devices will first have thes

Nokia phone maker HMD Global to move some manufacturing to Europe

HMD Global, the Finnish phone maker and inheritor of the Nokia mobile phone brand, has revealed plans to transition some of its manufacturing to Europe. The company said the move is designed to meet a “surge in customer demand” for locally produced devices, due in part to security and s

Review: PlayStation VR2 is a huge leap that still can’t escape its niche

The PlayStation VR2 is a simultaneously exciting and disappointing development in the virtual reality space. Well-specced, easy to set up and reasonably light and comfortable, Sony’s latest still can’t shake the fundamental issues that have prevented VR from going mainstream: a lack of

How are global chipmakers preparing for the US-China chip war?

“Great results can be achieved with small forces,” Sun Tzu wrote in “The Art of War” some 2,500 years ago. That quote is so old it's now an adage. But it appears the U.S. isn't content to wager that small actions can achieve the wide-ranging impacts necessary to gain an edge ove

What we expect from MWC 2023

In a word: “telecom.” Network and enterprise have long played a key part in Barcelona's big mobile show, but more than ever, such topics are going to have an outsized role at the event. The consumer element appears to be taking an increasing back seat at the event, which kicks off in earnes

Two days in the Bay

It was genuinely a bit surreal seeing deep green hills in the South Bay last week. Growing up in Fremont, I know the change from brown to green is about as close as we get to having seasons, but it's been so long since I've seen them, I'd genuinely forgotten they can exist. It's an

Amazon Fire TV devices can now directly stream audio to Cochlear hearing implants

Amazon teamed up with hearing implant company Cochlear to launch Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA) support to compatible Cochlear devices, the company announced today. Now, select Fire TV devices — such as Fire TV Omni Series, Fire TV Omni QLED Series, Fire TV 4-Series, Fire TV Cube (2n

Meta Quest users can now tap and swipe in VR without controllers

Today, Meta announced new improvements to the Quest platform as part of the v50 OS update, including an experimental feature called “Direct Touch,” which lets users tap and swipe with their bare hands. The company also rolled out an in-game multitasking feature to Meta Quest 2 and upgraded the

Current Surgical is developing a 'smart' needle designed to treat cancerous tumors

D.C.-based Current Surgical this week announced a $3.2 million seed. The round, which brings the firm's total raise up to $4 million, was led by True Ventures and features 1517 Fund and SciFounders. It will be used, in part, to modestly grow the startup's team, hiring between 6-8 engineers

Quell's gamified home fitness tech drums up $10M

Home fitness had a huge moment at the outset of the pandemic — and understandably so. People were stuck at home, gyms closed and suddenly workout options seemed to dramatically decrease. As with the teleconferencing revolution, plenty of startups were waiting in the wings to pounce on the sud

Toyota Research Institute SVP on the difficulty of building the perfect home robot

Earlier this week, the Toyota Research Institute opened the doors of its Bay Area offices to members of the media for the first time. It was a day full of demos, ranging from driving simulators and drifting instructors to conversations around machine learning and sustainability. Robotics, a longtim