Gadgets

The price increase reportedly follows higher prices from chip manufacturer TSMC, and could impact everything from AMD’s GPUs to its motherboard chipsets. Intel is reportedly planning a similar price hike, and Qualcomm and Nvidia also raised prices earlier this year.

After 100 years this Leica I was suffering from light leaks as a result of shutter curtains that had become porous. This satisfying ASMR video shares the two and a half hour process of the camera being disassembled, cleaned, repaired, and put back together by an expert technician.

HBO’s Hacks was a magnet for well-deserved Emmys, and I was personally delighted to hear that the complete series would come to Blu-ray. The set recently went up for preorder, costing $69.99 at Amazon, and includes cast screen tests, deleted scenes, bloopers, table reads, and more detailed at Blu-ray.com.

They’ve opened “at least one criminal probe” following complaints about the glasses being used to film women on the street in public without their consent, Reuters reports. France’s data protection authority also says businesses are “increasingly” asking if they can ban smart glasses at work, similar to a ban under consideration in Australia.

Clicks is offering another updated look at the much-awaited Communicator and a couple of pleasant surprises for those who have already pre-ordered the device: more RAM, a slightly bigger battery, and Android 17 included as standard.

The annual Small World in Motion Competition has yielded another five bangers. The first place entry used a 100X magnification to capture the abnormal airway cilia inside a child with a genetic disorder affecting respiratory function. Sad, but beautiful. ABC News (Australia) has a roundup.

If you’re looking for a GPU upgrade, but don’t want to shell out $800 or more for an RTX 5070, Newegg has the Gigabyte RX 9070 GRE, a capable card for 1440p gaming, discounted to $500 when you click “Extra discount available. Unlock it here” on the product page and then enter your email. The deal also includes Onimusha: Way of the Sword, although you’ll have to redeem the code by October 24th, 2026.

Want to win the gadgets I call in for my Today I’m Toying With videos? I boxed up the latest three winners’ items yesterday, and we’re now on TITW Giveaway #12! If you’re in the US you can enter to win right here anytime before 9AM ET Wednesday, or via our email entry option.

Late last night, we published my video about trying Snap’s Specs AR glasses at the company’s headquarters. The hardware, which costs $2,195, is interesting, but the experience of actually using them was rather finicky. Despite yesterday’s splashy launch event, the Specs also don’t yet have a firm release date beyond sometime this fall.

Following trials earlier this year, Japan’s Haneda, Narita, Kumamoto, and Naha airports are starting a full-scale implementation of machines that can compress clothing into much smaller cubes in about a minute so tourists have more room in their suitcases. The machines don’t use vacuum bags and don’t damage clothing, according to SoraNews24.

Spiegel just wrapped us up. I got to try the Specs, check out my story!

Heap is a Specs “visionary” (a celebrity partner), and she’s interacting with digital elements she can see in the Specs to make a song in real-time. It’s all very sci-fi.

Spiegel is trying it out now. He’s been flipping through a virtual book to try out different experiences, and got a letter from a virtual owl that was “sitting” on his arm. He’s also doing a Wingardium Leviosa spell.

The “SPECS First Look” opens at Westfield Century City in LA on October 1st, where you can “experience SPECS in person, meet members of the team, and check out what we’re building,” Snap says. Meta has also used pop-up shops as a way to show off its hardware.

The case, available as part of a bundle for $2,395 (a $200 increase over the Specs on their own), gives you an option to more easily get internet while wearing the Specs. In the US, Snap is working with Verizon to offer data plans and financing options.

After a brief interlude about how Specs can work in enterprise environments, Spiegel is pitching how Specs can help you learn things. Spiegel is down a live demo showing himself practicing drawing. He’s using a real pen to trace a digital alien mascot that’s layered over a real piece of paper.

I usually can’t see his eyes — they’re hidden behind the digital content he’s looking at.

We’ll see how this goes! Right now, he’s showing some menus, including quick access items that he pulled up by looking at his palm.

He’s giving an overview of the Specs AR glasses, which were initially announced in June. He says we’ll get live demos.

Made a friend walking in the door. I should have asked what he’s looking at.

A Reuters report claims SK Hynix is considering leasing part of Intel’s Ohio chip factory or forming a venture with Intel and other companies.

Following an already busy year of releases, Xteink’s new S4, which is launching in China first, is the company’s first pocketable E Ink device to run Android 11 giving it access to both the Kindle and Kobo mobile apps. The S4 also features a 4.3-inch frontlit touchscreen, 32GB of storage, a proper USB-C port, and a generous 1,400mAh battery, according to Good e-Reader.

That’s according to Gal Silver, a technician at GameTraderZero who’s modded and repaired more than 1,000 Switch 2 Joy-Cons over the past year. You can read their findings on NintendoLife but despite using older thumbstick tech, the new Joy-Cons have much improved durability with fewer issues and no instances of “drift issue straight out of the box.”

Alongside the new Palma 3 announced yesterday, Boox’s Picco, a direct competitor to Xteink’s tiny e-readers, is now listed for preorder for $99.99. The Picco has a 3.97-inch, 235ppi, frontlit E Ink touchscreen, physical page turn buttons, and a 920mAh battery. It also uses microSD for storage, and includes a USB-C port for charging.

The Pixel Watch 2 and later are getting Gemini Personalization, allowing the AI assistant to learn from past conversations and connected Google apps. The 3 and on also get new double-pinch gesture controls, while the 4 gets a performance bump to raise-to-talk. A similar September update is rolling out to Pixel phones too.