A portable monitor isn't always on my travel packing list, but after bringing a 14-inch monitor with me on my recent work trip, I don't know if I can travel without one. But a good portable monitor can be useful for more than just productivity and travel; it can be a necessary piece of home lab equipment.

Strava is suing its long-time partner Garmin, and is seeking to permanently block the company from selling most of its current fitness and cycling gadget lineup. The lawsuit filed in the US District Court of Colorado on September 30th, first reported by DC Rainmaker, alleges that Garmin violated an agreement between the companies by infringing on Strava’s patents for segments — route sections where athletes can compare performance times — and heatmaps that show popular areas for activity.Strava is seeking a permanent injunction to prohibit Garmin from selling or offering any products that provide segments or heat mapping features, arguing that “monetary relief alone is inadequate.” Those demands target Garmin’s Connect fitness tracking platform and the majority of Garmin’s devices, including Edge bike computers, and Forerunner, Fenix, and Epix watches.The lawsuit is surprising, given that these are two of the most recognizable brands in fitness tech and share a lot of integrations between their respective platforms. A trend report that Strava published last year even revealed that Garmin’s decade-old Forerunner 235 was the most popular smartwatch among its worldwide users.The patent for Strava’s segments feature was filed in 2011 and granted in 2015, detailing a system that allows athletes to compare their performances on user-defined routes. Garmin launched the Edge 1000 cycle computer in 2014, which featured its own Garmin Connect segments system. The company later signed a Master Cooperation Agreement (MCA) with Strava in 2015 to bring Strava Live Segments to Garmin devices.In its complaint, Strava says that Garmin violated MCA terms by expanding Garmin-branded segments outside the permitted Strava‑built experience. Separately, Strava claims that Garmin used its patented segment tech to build a competing system across the Garmin Connect platform and hardware ecosystem.Strava also alleges that heat mapping and route suggestion features for Garmin’s devices and Connect platform infringe on two additional patents. One focused on activity heatmaps was filed in 2014, and granted in 2016, with the second covering popularity-based routing features being filed in 2016, and granted in 2017. As DC Rainmaker notes, however, Garmin first introduced heatmaps to Garmin Connect in 2013, prior to Strava’s patent filings.“Garmin received limited permission from Strava to implement Strava Segments on their devices; however, they leveraged this access to carefully study those features, painstakingly copy them, and then release them as Garmin features, and as a result, Strava has sued Garmin to protect its patented inventions,” Strava spokesperson Brian Bell said in a statement to The Verge. “Garmin rejected Strava’s repeated attempts to address Garmin’s infringement informally, forcing Strava to take a stand on the matter and file suit. We do not intend to take any actions that would disrupt the ability of Garmin users to sync their data with Strava, and hope Garmin values our shared users in the same way.”Garmin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

T-Mobile has expanded its satellite-to-cell service to several popular apps in the US, allowing users to stay connected without cellular coverage. The Starlink-powered “T-Satellite” service now supports WhatsApp, Google Maps, X, AccuWeather, and T-Mobile’s customer service app T-Life, alongside the AllTrails, CalTopo, and onX outdoor exploration apps.T-Satellite is free on most T-Mobile subscriber plans, or can be purchased for $10 a month. Users with eligible devices will be automatically connected to the satellite network when cellular or Wi-Fi is unavailable. Supported apps will be limited to providing critical content instead of “full data-heavy experiences” over satellite, according to T-Mobile’s announcement.WhatsApp connectivity will allow users to send messages, voice notes, and images, and supports voice and video calls, even in group chats. For X, the limited service lets you post text, photos, GIFs, or videos, and explore feeds while controlling when to load high-resolution media to conserve data.The service already provides connectivity to native apps on select iPhone, Pixel, and Samsung phone models, such as Google Messages and Find Hub, Apple Music, Fitness, Maps, and Weather, and Samsung’s Weather app. The expansion to third-party apps is a notable milestone for T-Satellite, which only supported text messaging and location-sharing when it launched in July.

Everybody loves a good deal, especially when it comes to PC components. The ever-increasing prices of other parts means hunting for bargains has become more prevalent than ever, but thankfully, flash storage has become much more affordable in recent years. But how cheap is too cheap? Despite some potential for savings, the cheapest NVMe SSDs come with a steep cost that's never reflected by the price tag.

There are very few AI tools that ever make it into my daily use list, and Google’s NotebookLM was the first one that managed to do it. NotebookLM is a personalized research assistant, and it’s a tool I open multiple times every day, both for college and work.

During the Nintendo Direct presentation for September 2025, Nintendo had a surprising reveal that long-time Nintendo fans did not expect to see. The library of Virtual Boy games is being added to the Switch Online service as Virtual Boy Classics that can be played on the Nintendo Switch 2. In addition, an accessory that recreates the experience of playing Virtual Boy titles is being released in conjunction with the games being added to the service. For many people, the Virtual Boy was one of the few major failures for the company back in 1995. Although support for the system came to an abrupt end in 1996, it has become part of the company's legacy in various ways over the years.

To WikiHow, Google is both tormentor and savior. And on Wednesday, as the search giant mounted its defense in the ongoing ad tech remedies trial, the how-to site came to Google's rescue. WikiHow CEO Elizabeth Douglas described to a court how websites like hers are the middle of an "AI apocalypse." WikiHow, a website that gives step-by-step practical advice, is suffering from a new paradigm shift in how people find information online. Thanks to new AI tools including AI chatbots and Google's own AI Overviews in its search results pages, users across the web are clicking through to websites less and less - and as a result, seeing and clickin …Read the full story at The Verge.

Touchscreens are typically found everywhere, aside from one place... your PC. It makes sense; it's designed to be operated with a mouse and keyboard, and sure, there are computers out there with touchscreens built in, and there are add-ons you can get to bring that compatibility over, but by and large, they're rather rare here. In an effort to add touchscreen support to my PC because, I don't know, vibes I guess, I turned an ESP32 into a tool to control my PC with.

Big monitor, little pop-up camera. HP is announcing a new jumbo-sized ultrawide monitor designed for productivity and office use. The HP Series 5 Pro 49-inch Conferencing Monitor uses a 32:9 VA IPS panel with 5120 x 1440 resolution, 165Hz refresh, and an 1800R curvature. Like other monitors of this size and resolution, it’s equivalent to using two 27-inch displays side by side. But unlike offerings from Samsung, Dell, Lenovo, and LG, the Series 5 Pro sports a hidden 5-megapixel webcam that extends from its top when you push to unlock it. I got to briefly see the 49-incher at a preview event, where HP reps demoed software that lets it act as two or three virtual displays for multi-monitor-like use. The panel looked decently bright and contrasty in a well-lit office environment, and its rear has HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4, ethernet, and some USB ports (complete with KVM functionality). While the panel goes up to 165Hz and covers 99 percent of the sRGB color space, its 5ms response time and 8-bit color depth make it less than ideal for gaming or color-sensitive content creation.Pricing will be revealed closer to the monitor’s November launch.

Taylor Swift’s label, Republic Records, is a division of Universal Music Group, one of the two labels reportedly close to an AI deal. Universal Music and Warner Music, record labels whose catalogs include Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and Charli XCX, are within weeks of striking licensing deals that could redefine how the music industry handles the AI era, according to the Financial Times.  Talks are underway with tech heavyweights like Google and Spotify and a slew of AI startups including Klay Vision, ElevenLabs, and Stability AI, the report says. Some — notably music-generating ventures Suno and Udio — are actively involved in copyright disputes with the labels.Negotiations have reportedly focused on how labels license their songs for training AI models and creating AI-generated music. Compensation is a big part of it, and labels are apparently pushing for something like streaming, where each play earns a micropayment. To make this work, AI companies would need to develop software to track how and when music is used.

The term "future-proof" gets thrown around a lot in PC enthusiast circles, and while the term isn't as prevalent as it once was, it's still something you hear every now and again. I remember fawning over "future-proofed" builds in my teens; PCs with insane core counts, 4 GPUs in SLI or CrossFire, running Crysis at triple-digit framerates. It was hard to imagine that the hardware in those rigs would eventually be completely obsolete. How could we, consumers, possibly need anything more powerful?

There was a time when multi-monitor setups were something you’d only see in movies — the hacker’s desk or the corporate exec’s office. Fast-forward to today, you seldom see anyone using just a single screen. While a multi-monitor setup definitely has a long list of benefits, one of the biggest drawbacks (other than typically being expensive) is that it ties you to a desk.