The AI boom has made building a competitive new PC genuinely painful. Memory and storage prices have surged to levels we haven't seen in years, and the parts that used to be afterthoughts now dominate the budget. So it feels almost contradictory to say that the same boom has made building a home server or lab easier than ever, but it truly has lowered the bar in ways that have nothing to do with price.

It's no secret that Microsoft wants to get rid of the password. This time last year, we saw Microsoft scrap passwords as the default option for new Microsoft accounts. You could still add one if you wanted, but the company would initially push for you to use a passkey or biometrics before you set one. Now, Microsoft Edge will no longer use a master password to unlock its password manager, and its alternatives should be a lot more secure.

Google has provided users with a huge amount of free storage for a long time, but that gravy train has come to an end. You can still get the storage, but now there's another requirement: your phone number. New accounts will get only 5GB of cloud storage, compared to the 15GB they previously received. If you want the full amount, you'll need to hand over your digits. While that might not sound like a big deal, there are significant downsides to being required to give your number, particularly from a privacy perspective.

You know what they say: if you want to hide something, do it in plain sight. That’s exactly what Microsoft did with the AI Action tools in Windows 11 File Explorer. For who knows how long, I right-clicked images and somehow just ignored the AI actions menu right there. Whenever I wanted to do only some basic editing, like blurring or removing a background, I would first open the full editor and wait for it to load, only to realize I had spent more time opening the editor than doing the actual edit. Then one day, I actually took my time reading each option when I right-clicked and found the tools I would try first before opening the photo editing app.

The design hasn’t changed much from the original Proteus, which was announced in 2022. | Image: Amazon Amazon has announced a new version of its fully autonomous warehouse robot, Proteus, that will can interact using language instead of code. The expanded capabilities come as part of a growing pivot toward automation as the e-commerce giant replaces its human workers with robots. Amazon says the AI-powered upgrade means its human employees can assign the robot tasks in the same way they'd communicate with colleagues. Previously, workers would need to use specialized software to direct the floor-level, tortoise-like systems, which are designed for heavy lifting and moving large carts throughout Amazon's warehouses. "You tell it what needs to …Read the full story at The Verge.

Canonical made us all a little nervous when it announced that it plans to add AI tools to Ubuntu. However, as we saw more into what Canonical actually plans to add, things began to make sense. Not only would the AI tools be open-source and easy to remove, but they would primarily focus on enhancing accessibility, leveraging AI to make life better for those who struggle to use their computers. We've been given a peek into the first AI tool Ubuntu will get, and it sounds very useful.

Why would a company, especially in the cutthroat hardware segment, willingly make a last-generation offering a better deal than it was before? The very foundation of AMD's latest move to support FSR 4.1 on older hardware raises this question.

Chargers are an essential part of everyday life, and while I have a beefy 140W model that is my primary go-to, I don't always like to lug it around if I'm just going on a quick trip, especially if I just need to charge up my phone and other smaller accessories.

The OpenDots 2 are designed to be more comfortable than traditional wireless earbuds that sit inside the ear. | Image: Shokz Shokz has announced two new versions of its open earbuds. Like the original OpenDots One that launched in May 2025, the new Shokz OpenDots 2 and OpenDots Air are both designed to be worn clipped to the back of your ear with their drivers positioned to project sound toward your ear canals without blocking them. It's a design that potentially offers more comfort and environmental awareness than traditional wireless earbuds, while the two new versions cater to specific needs.The OpenDots Air are an entry-level version available in black or daybreak purple color options for $129.95 which is over $70 cheaper than the original. They feature Shok …Read the full story at The Verge.

One of the great things about USB-C becoming so popular in all kinds of devices is that it's an incredibly capable port — plus it's more durable than the micro-USB of old — so it has enabled all kinds of accessories to be paired with modern phones. A popular option these days is to use a controller like the Backbone, which plugs into the USB-C port and lets you play console-style games in a much more comfortable way.

Nintendo is planning to launch versions of Switch 2 hardware in the EU that will let users easily replace the battery. To meet its obligations from a new EU regulation that's set to go into effect on February 18th, 2027, Nintendo says on its website that it is "implementing measures to comply with these requirements by preparing versions of products to meet the Regulation."Thanks to EU regulations, gadgets with user-replaceable batteries are making a comeback, as my colleague Dominic Preston wrote recently. Starting on that February 2027 date, EU rules mandate that many types of gadgets, including portable game consoles, must allow users t …Read the full story at The Verge.

Claude has been my default chatbot for most of this year now and I don't see that changing any time soon. Most of my AI work runs through it on any given day, whether I'm working on something serious or just chasing down whatever random rabbit hole has caught my attention that afternoon.