Earlier this month, startup Embodied announced that it is going out of business and taking its Moxie robot with it. The $800 robots, aimed at providing emotional support for kids ages 5 to 10, would soon be bricked, the company said, because they can’t perform their core features without the cloud. Following customer backlash, Embodied is trying to create a way for the robots to … Continue reading Startup set to brick $800 kids robot is trying to open source it first

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Microsoft in a wide-ranging probe that will examine whether the company’s business practices have run afoul of antitrust laws, according to people familiar with the matter. In recent weeks, FTC attorneys have been conducting interviews and setting up meetings with Microsoft competitors. One key area of interest is how the world’s largest software provider packages popular Office products together … Continue reading FTC launches probe of Microsoft over bundling

It started, like so many overwrought home optimization projects, during the pandemic. My wife and I, like many people stuck inside, were ordering takeout more frequently. We wanted to support local restaurants, reduce the dish load, and live a little. It became clear early on that app-based delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats were not the best way to support local businesses. If a … Continue reading I keep turning my Google Sheets into phone-friendly webapps, and I can’t stop

For $2,100, you could buy over a dozen upper-quality mechanical keyboards. Alternatively, you could buy just one mechanical keyboard kit. Costing the same as a desktop computer, The Icebreaker keyboard commands one of the highest price tags you’ll see for a keyboard, and that’s more due to its appearance than its capabilities. The Icebreaker, spotted by Tom’s Hardware, became available for preorder on Thursday. The … Continue reading $2,100 mechanical keyboard has 800 holes, NYC skyscraper looks

I’d describe myself as a skeptic of the generative AI revolution—I think the technology as it currently exists is situationally impressive and useful for specific kinds of tasks, but broadly oversold. I’m not sure it will vanish from relevance to quite the extent that other tech fads like the metaverse or NFTs did, but my suspicion is that companies like Nvidia and OpenAI are riding … Continue reading You can love or hate AI, but it’s killed crappy 8GB versions of pricey PCs and Macs