Florence Ion

While 2023 was a big year in consumer tech and had some clever innovations to show off, not everything was a smash hit, to say the least. Whether it was subpar performance, a troubled launch, or a glaring design flaw, these products disappointed us the most. This year’s picks, like the Apple iMac or the GoPro Hero 12, aren’t categorically terrible products, but they left us completely underwhelmed and wanting more. As you’ll see, failing to live up to the hype could be just as much a letdown…

CES is about more than just the gadgets you hold in your hand or sit at the desk to use. It’s about the stuff in your bathroom, too, which is why Kohler is using the annual trade show to debut its latest in connected fixtures. The new items include a new shower sprayer, a ventilation fan that helps with humidity after a long shower, and my favorite, the PureWash Bidet Seat with Google and Alexa built-in. The PureWash Bidet Seat is as standard as any other, but I like that you can talk to it. I…

Every year I attend CES, I often regret leaving something behind. The thing is, I’m not a heavy packer; I’ve been at this work travel game long enough that I figured out how to fit a week’s worth of clothing, amenities, and comforts in a suitcase that fits in the overhead bin. But I need a ton of stuff to make the six or so odd days I’m covering the show as smooth sailing as possible. That means packing not only the right kind of gadgets and other tech stuff that helps me do my job but also what…

I’m a sucker for a 2-in-1, and doubly so if it’s featuring the two operating systems I rely on daily. Lenovo has announced its laptop lineup for the year in tandem with CES 2024. The upcoming refreshes include updates to its gaming and work laptops and the ThinkBook series, including the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid, which boasts Android and Windows. There’s also a new affordable Android tablet on the horizon, plus colorful accessories that give me hope Lenovo is finally adopting color into its p…

Gizmodo got a quick hands on with the wearable advanced motion capture technology at CES. PalmPlug One is available for preorder now.

I love mechanical keyboards. And I love that companies have finally caught on that CES is the show to debut their wares. I got to see a PC peripheral maker’s first-ever mechanical keyboard. HYTE launched the aptly named Keeb TKL. It lights up in tandem with other desk accessories and apps; it’s fully customizable with hot-swap capabilities and is just plain fun. HYTE is also debuting its switches, which feel soft but not mushy. The Keeb TKL is a ten-keyless keyboard, hence the moniker. It is a…

It would be nice to tune into the world without taking off my headphones. That’s the premise behind Auracast, a new broadcasting feature coming to Bluetooth. Not only can the headphones and earbuds you use now tap into the capability, but so can hearing aids. I got to try out the technology at CES 2024, and I can already imagine how it will improve my long convention days and help me avoid overstimulation. Auracast has been around for a couple of years, but it’s about to take off significantly…

CES 2024 was certainly interesting this year; while we did anticipate AI being inserted into everything from TVs to cars, there were some genuine surprises from the show floor here in Las Vegas. Despite going to what felt like a million press conferences and keynotes, the Gizmodo team did manage to find loads of cool, interesting, and just plain weird gadgets from this year’s show. LG Signature Series T OLED One of the first big stories to come out of CES 2024 was LG’s gorgeous transparent…

No matter what phone you’re carrying around, the one thing that can’t falter is battery life. That’s why we test every smartphone that comes through our review desk for its relative longevity. So far, Android smartphones are taking the lead from the iPhone 15 Pro Max, previously the best-performing phone battery in Gizmodo’s battery benchmark tests. Now that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and the OnePlus 12 have gone through the review rigamarol, the iPhone finally has some competition in the bat…

Samsung still needs to officially announce which of its new Galaxy AI offerings in the Galaxy S24 series will make it to older devices. But a model comparison page offered by Samsung UK and a seemingly well-researched Reddit post may have confirmed at least four AI-powered features coming to your older Galaxy smartphone. The features include Google’s Circle to Search, which makes sense considering it’s on Pixel devices, and Live Translate, Note Assist, and Photo Assist. The latter three are in…

You probably upgraded to the iPhone 15 over the holiday season. But now that Samsung has just finished its flagship launch fanfare for the Galaxy S24 series, it’s time to start talking about what’s next. The next major smartphone we expect from Apple is the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro series. The rumors on this iPhone 16 began almost as soon as the iPhone 14 launched in late 2022. Back then, the gossip was that Apple would do away with the notch entirely in favor of a more seamless design. But…

Great news for those of you holding out on trading up for a Galaxy S24 Ultra. Samsung has announced that its Galaxy AI features are coming to more smartphones. That means Circle to Search, Live Translation, Instant Slow-Mo, and Generative Edit are coming to an older Samsung device near you. The Galaxy AI features are rolling out through a long-speculated software update. The update is for OneUI 6.1, which refers to Samsung’s version of Android. This package will include all the marquee Galaxy…

I did not have Lenovo rolling out the red carpet for see-through laptops on my bingo card, but here we are. I saw the ThinkBook transparent display concept laptop in person a few weeks ago. I didn’t get to do much with it besides touching it, though I did get to sit there and imagine devices soon looking like they did in the six-season run of The Expanse. Lenovo’s ThinkBook is not it, however, and you’ll want to keep reminding yourself this is conceptual when you look at my photos in a bit. Le…

Android is becoming the platform of AI fever dreams. At this year’s MWC, an overseas tradeshow where Google typically has a booth to remind the world that its mobile platform is global, the Android maker has announced new ways to interact with Gemini from inside Google Messages as if Gemini were just another buddy. Beginning this week, Google will roll out the ability to access Gemini right from within Google Messages on any Android device. It’s called Chat with Gemini, and like a chatbot in a…

I tried to wear the OnePlus Watch 2 for a short weekend workout but couldn’t. The watch is too big for me and too dense. It’s not just me, either; I asked my partner if his wrists would be interested in trying on the smartwatch, and he rejected it after seeing the relatively ginormous 47mm display. “That’s way too big for me. You know that’s why I hate wearing a watch.” The Watch 2 is OnePlus’s second attempt at a smartwatch, and while it’s so much better than the first-generation release, ther…

Samsung smartphones are known for their big, beautiful AMOLED displays, so I was curious when I saw its Windows laptops get similar treatment. The 16-inch display on Samsung’s latest Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 is one of the sharpest, most responsive laptop displays I’ve pawed at in a while. In the Windows world, you typically choose between a high-resolution display or a touchscreen, but the Galaxy Book 4 Pro 360 doesn’t make you compromise between the two. I’ve been curious about life in the so-ca…

iOS 17.2 brought with it the Apple Journal app, created to help balance out the unstructured, too-free-flowing nature of the Notes app. Apple Journal is for secret thoughts and feelings and taking notes about specific times in life. Those posts can all have images, locations, and other relevant information attached to them, but they are for your eyes only. Apple Journal is secured with FaceID, and the company states on its privacy page that the feature is end-to-end encrypted.p The Wall Street…

As the cliche saying goes, the best camera is the one you always have on you. That is why smartphones have become essential pieces of kit. They help document our lives and give us a window into what’s happening at any given time. For most users, the best smartphone camera has to be ample enough that its photos are shareable on social media or printed out and hung up on the wall with little editing beforehand. Fortunately, this is the status quo, especially if you pick from the vast mid-range t…

OnePlus sure picked a heck of a time to launch its flagship stateside. Every Android manufacturer jumped out earlier this year, and the shelves seem slightly more stocked than usual. It’s good news for you if you’re buying an Android phone. The OnePlus 12 is already out in China, but today is its official debut in the U.S. and Canada. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve been wielding so far, mainly because even with a 6.8-inch display, the OnePlus 12 isn’t ginormous like Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra, which I…

It’s the year my kid gets to pick out new furniture in her room now that she’s graduating from a convertible crib to a Big Kid Bed. I’m hoping some of Ikea’s new Brännboll gaming collection, which launches in September, catches her eye. Ikea says the new furniture is inspired “by the evolving and diverse needs of gamers and those who live with them.” All gamers seem represented, from the esports trainers to cozy gamers who love to lounge around in their most comfortable pair of sweatpants. If…