Gear News and Events

The latest news and updates on gear, gadgets, and consumer tech. Plus, dispatches from the events that shape your world.

Name Game

Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ Becomes ‘Assisted Driving’ in Europe

The automaker has been criticized for misleading drivers with the feature’s name. Now it’s renaming it for European regulators.

Aarian Marshall

Dual Fuel

America’s Hybrid Hype Has Hit the Used Market

Aarian Marshall

Second Coming

The New Alexa Tablets Feel Like a Blueprint for an Amazon Phone

Julian Chokkattu

News and Events

Amazon Snuffs Out the Fire and Rebrands Its Slates as Alexa Tablets

The three new aluminum Alexa Tablets now run Android with full access to the Google Play Store. There are versions for kids too.

Julian Chokkattu

The New ChatGPT Is More Show Than Tell

OpenAI is updating ChatGPT for all users with an “Intelligent UI” that’s more visual—generating interactive elements as part of the chatbot’s outputs.

Reece Rogers

I Put on Meta and Xreal’s XR Glasses. Face Computers Are Finally Getting Good

Xreal’s long-hyped Aura glasses arrive soon for $1,279. Here’s how they fare against Meta’s recently announced VR Glasses.

Boone Ashworth

OpenAI Wants Its New Agent to Run Your Life. Mine Said It Loved Me

Dots are designed to automate online tasks, like buying furniture. In my initial experience, the always-on agent was a bit buggy and couldn’t complete a captcha.

Reece Rogers

Trends

16 Products From Women Designers You Need to Know

From electric trucks to health trackers, women designers are guiding consumer tech to a better place.

Chris Haslam and Jeremy White

AI Use in the Job Market Is Creating an Infinite Doom Loop

Job seekers are trying to game the application process using AI. It’s not working, and not for the reasons you might think.

Jill Duffy

Influencers and Resellers Are Turning Empty Boxes Into Big Cash

As the appetite for “authenticity” grows online, content creators are buying up empty boxes for luxury goods—and resellers are cashing in for “crazy prices.”

Sophie Charara

I Wore an Electrical Muscle Stimulation Body Suit to Zap Myself Into Fitness

Can electrifying your workout offer a shortcut to a stronger, fitter you? I sweated in a skintight EMS suit for two months to find out.

Christopher Null

How To and Advice

How to Collect CDs

Fed up with paying to stream music you’ll never actually own? Give the little silver disc a spin. Here’s how to start a CD collection or get more out of one you already have.

Orlando Mendiola

How to Beat Surveillance Pricing Before It Bleeds You Dry

Consumer advocate Lindsay Owen’s new book, Gouged, traces how corporations use software—from ever-changing prices to opaque algorithms—to squeeze every penny from you.

Reece Rogers