Thomas Ricker

Glasses are the defining feature of the nerd emoji, 🤓 but add a dark tint to those lenses, and suddenly you and the emoji are cool. 😎 Glasses with chips are for “glassholes” and reading glasses are for olds — and nothing, I think we can agree, is lamer than an over-40-year-old like me. So what happens if you combine reading glasses with sunglasses and put a chip in that so discretely that nobody can even tell? That’s what Deep Optics has done with its latest 32°N-branded Muir sunglasses tha…

Ampler — one of our favorite European e-bike makers — is back with a 2024 model refresh that includes a new all-road variant of the sporty Curt. The Curt Anyroad is available with either a high- or low-step frame, the latter being easier to step through when sitting on a fully loaded bike. Both are otherwise identical, offering wider tires, fork mounts for some light gear bags, and a new 10-speed pedal-assisted drivetrain. That should make it suitable for more terrain but it lacks any kind of…

“Wow, what an entrance!” said a well-coiffed woman as other patrons seated at the sidewalk cafe, now standing, began to applaud my exit from the electric bubble car like I was stepping out of a limousine. That really happened in one of Amsterdam’s wealthiest neighborhoods, on a street dotted with Range Rovers and a G-Class Merc costing nearly ten times as much as the little BMW Isetta throwback I was driving. What followed was a bevy of questions I had already answered dozens of times in my one…

Gazelle, the very popular Dutch bike brand owned by industry giant Pon Holdings, is launching its first Class 3 electric bike in the US. Gazelle says that its new Eclipse is the “first and only Class 3 e-bike in the US to feature Bosch’s Smart System,” which fully integrates the bike’s motor and electronics with the Bosch Flow app for a personalized ride that will receive continuous over-the-air bug fixes and feature updates long after purchase. Class 3 in the US is defined as pedal-assist onl…

The “Your apps” row is getting a refresh with rounded app icons and more of them as well as a new shortcut to free channels and quick access to reorder apps and add more. Google says the tweaks are rolling out starting today and coming to all devices over the “next few months.” [Attachment: https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QyoEaJFeXoVlX0X8ldUfLy1l57A=/0x0:1280x720/1280x720/filters:focal(640x360:641x361)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25309212/image__9_.png]

Swiss company Micro — maker of the happy little Microlino electric bubble car — just unveiled a production version of its Microlino Lite at the Geneva Motor Show. With a 45km/h (28mph) top speed, it goes half as fast as the standard Microlino but can be driven by anyone with a moped license from the age of 14 in some European countries. An entry-model will cost CHF149 per month (about €156 or $169) to lease starting this summer. Although the Microlino Lite is targeting Europe on day one, Micro…

We already know that Apple dethroned Samsung by selling the most phones globally in 2023, now we can see the model mix according to data compiled by Counterpoint Research. Samsung’s lucrative flagship phones were a no-show on the list, with only mid-range devices taking up the bottom three positions. [Attachment: https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RwH8GnvUnQ3aKYKPkWRE0eL33ms=/0x0:1732x1272/1732x1272/filters:focal(866x636:867x637)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25297053/y11PPwp.png]

Bluetti’s SwapSolar is a battery-powered portable refrigerator, freezer, and ice maker that can also be plugged into solar, your car, or wall jack for long-term use. It’s the latest off-grid gadget for people who just can’t do without modern luxuries and is very similar to the EcoFlow Glacier I reviewed in December... but better, I think. To start with, the dual-zone fridge and freezer compartments have slightly more capacity (40L versus 38L), and its much bigger battery uses improved LFP batte…

It’s not often that a truly useful new technology is released that both increases performance and undercuts the cost of the tech it replaces. But that’s exactly what the new Qi2 magnetic wireless charging standard has done for iPhone owners — and soon, Android — now that the first products have arrived. For the past two weeks, I’ve been testing a new Qi2 charging mount for cars that matches the performance of Apple’s MagSafe-certified chargers and costs less. Hell, it’ll also work with Android…

Cowboy, the boutique Belgian maker of e-bikes, is taking the training wheels off its On-Demand offering of ad hoc services previously being tested in just a few cities. That means owners of Cowboy e-bikes across Europe can now request flat tire fixes, bike setup, general maintenance, and the installation of child seats or rear racks right in the Cowboy app with prices starting at €69 / £69. Best of all, you don’t have to visit one of the company’s bike store partners since a technician will be…