Hardware

Amazon revives its Echo Spot with an upgraded look and improved audio

Amazon has released an all-new version of its Echo Spot ahead of Prime Day, the company announced on Monday. The 2024 version of the Alexa-enabled smart alarm clock costs $79.99, but is currently on sale for $44.99 for Prime members. The company says the latest iteration of the product comes with better visuals and improved […]

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LG acquires smart home platform Athom to bring third-party connectivity to its ThinQ ecosytem

LG has acquired an 80% stake in Athom, a Dutch smart home company and maker of the Homey smart home hub. According to LG’s announcement, it will purchase the remaining 20% of Athom within the next three years. However, the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. LG plans to integrate Athom’s Homey platform,

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Beauty tech startup Boldhue raises capital to ship its ‘Keurig for makeup’

Have you ever wanted a personalized makeup dispenser? Well, Boldhue‘s co-founder and CTO Karin Layton has built just that: A device that aims to be the “Keurig for makeup.” Boldhue’s device essentially scans your face and dispenses a customized foundation formula that matches your skin tone. The beauty tech startup on Tuesday said it had

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Vaire Computing raises $4.5M for ‘reversible computing’ moonshot which could drastically reduce energy needs

With the rise of AI, energy and heat efficiency have once again become pressing concerns for companies that use and build chips. The skyrocketing demand for hardware to run AI models is dragging up energy bills, as these servers require vast numbers of chips and enormous cooling setups. Vaire Computing, based in London and Seattle,

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MIT’s soft robotic system is designed to pack groceries

The first self-checkout system was installed in 1986 in a Kroger grocery store just outside of Atlanta. It took several decades, but the technology has finally proliferated across the U.S. Given the automated direction grocery stores are heading, it seems that robotic bagging can’t be too far behind. MIT’s CSAIL department this week is showcasing

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Austin-based Ironspring Ventures raised $100M to invest in the industrial revolution

When Ironspring Ventures launched in 2020 to back startups in industrial sectors like construction and manufacturing, it was one of very few early-stage venture firms paying attention to those capital-intensive sectors. Now, the firm is doubling down. The Austin, Texas-based firm raised $100 million for its second fund to focus on industrial startups. This is

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Apple stresses device longevity, extends self-service repair to Europe

It wasn’t long ago that Apple products routinely raised the ire among repairability advocates. The iPhone maker has more fully embraced user repairability in recent years, owing, in part, to both sustainability concerns and the growing right to repair movement. Actions like parts pairing continue to rankle critics, including iFixit, which retroactively dropped the iPhone

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Circular will pay competitor Oura royalties to sell its smart ring in the US

Smart ring makers Oura and Circular Tuesday announced a settlement in an ongoing patent suit. The agreed-upon terms find the French company entering into a multi-year agreement with Oura, wherein it will license the market leader’s intellectual property for devices sold in the U.S. Financial details of the agreement have been kept confidential. Oura has

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Etched is building an AI chip that only runs one type of model

As generative AI touches a growing number of industries, the companies producing chips to run the models are benefitting enormously. Nvidia in particular, which commands an estimated 70% to 95% of the market for AI chips, wields massive influence. Cloud providers from Meta to Microsoft are spending billions of dollars on Nvidia GPUs, wary of

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