Author: Press Room

I often wear more than one smart ring at a time. Not because I’m so data-obsessed that I need three rings and a smartwatch to tell me what I already suspected (that I slept badly), but because I’m usually testing and comparing different models. They aren’t all that subtle, though, so along with the occasional dodgy look (fair enough, I do look like I’m wearing knuckle dusters), people often ask whether a smart ring is worth it and what they are supposed to track. Whether it’s worth it depends entirely on the kind of person you are. If you want…

Does extraterrestrial life exist? Well, the universe is impossibly vast and the great majority of it is unexplored, so the odds are good. But we have yet to actually see any proof. That’s where science fiction authors come in. Writers have been imagining what first contact might look like for decades, and the best books tend to be those where the alien species are stranger than most humans are even capable of imagining. Remembrance of Earth’s Past The Trisolarans are coming Credit: Tor Books Let’s start with a well-known example. The Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy is widely celebrated series of…

I still think about the shed. Not because it’s some dazzling piece of production design — it’s a plain, dusty backyard shed in rural Illinois, the kind you’d walk past without a second glance. But open the trapdoor inside it, ride the elevator down, and you step out onto an alien planet below a sky that never quite looks like ours. That image is the whole pitch for Night Sky, and it’s why I burned through all eight episodes over a long weekend in 2022, convinced I’d found the next big thing on Prime Video. Six weeks later, Amazon canceled…

When Valve announced the Steam Machine, there was a lot of dismay (and rightfully so) over its price, and it was possible to even assemble a more powerful PC for roughly the same budget. But specs only tell half of the story. The Steam Machine also has a bunch of other tricks up its sleeve, something which many will find expensive (or in some cases, outright impossible) to implement. Whether it’s the custom, tiny Mini-ITX form factor or the whisper-quiet, low-power internals, the Steam Machine still excels in a few areas. One of these areas would be HDMI-CEC support —…

Summary Operation Bluebird is reviving the Twitter name with a new social network unaffiliated with X Corp. Twitter.now charges $20 for early access, but its terms do not guarantee that you can keep your chosen handle. Free alternatives such as Bluesky already offer a familiar Twitter-like experience without charging for usernames. Twitter is back, or, at least the name is. Operation Bluebird has opened early access to twitter.now, a new social network that promises to rebuild the town square around trust and user control. Paying $20 supposedly makes you a “Founder,” gets you in before the public, locks your handle,…

IFA is one of the world’s biggest annual consumer technology expos and it gets underway in Berlin, Germany next week. Indeed, as it welcomes in the public too, it’s by far the biggest such show in terms of attendance, with over 215,000 people roaming the vast halls. As usual, it’s taking place at the massive Messe Berlin fairground which as usual will have 26 halls and 160,000 square metres full of new smart home tech, kitchen appliances, PC, hi-fi, headphones and home theater gear. The Stuff team will be on the ground in Berlin, covering the cream of the announcements…

Another weekend approaches, which means another opportunity to get cozy on the couch and take in some new shows and movies on Netflix. Because Netflix is always adding new content to its library; it’s just a matter of knowing what’s worth watching. This is our guide to the biggest and best new releases. The Airport Chaplain Elrond at the airport Credit: SBS The Airport Chaplain is an Australian drama about an airport “fixer” named Tobias Wallace (Hugo Weaving) who is dedicated to his job to the point where he doesn’t think the airport can run without him. He has an unusual…

Humanoid robots have become almost ridiculously impressive over the past few years. We’ve seen them running, dancing, doing backflips, folding clothes, making drinks, and performing all sorts of tasks that would have seemed impossible not that long ago. Tesla is developing Optimus, Boston Dynamics has completely reinvented Atlas, and companies including Figure, Agility Robotics, 1X, and Unitree are all pushing ahead with their own increasingly capable machines. The humble smartphone is beyond dull, in comparison. Sorry, phone. But I’ve always wondered how much any of this really matters outside a carefully controlled demo. Watching a robot fold a T-shirt is…

For the first time ever, Rakuten Kobo has launched its award-winning line of eReader in over 500 Best Buy stores across the United States. Previously, U.S. customers could purchase Kobo eReaders online through kobo.com, or in person at Staples, and Target. Now, book lovers can visit their local Best Buy to see and try out Kobo’s latest devices, including the waterproof Kobo Clara Colour and Kobo Clara BW, as well as the feature-rich Kobo Libra Colour. Related This is the better Kindle alternative that most people don’t consider Kobo beats Kindle on library books, format flexibility, and physical buttons Here’s…

Apple’s September invite has landed, and while the tagline “Surprise and Shine” doesn’t confirm that the company will introduce its first folding phone – especially given the long-rumoured device will hardly be a surprise (we’ve had longer-running theories about it than some conspiracy podcasts) – we at least now know the official date it is expected to appear.  The “surprise” element could be anything from the long-rumoured HomePod Display to AirPods with built-in cameras, but while unlikely to shock, the folding iPhone is expected to steal the show. After waiting eight years for Apple to catch up with Samsung on…