A tiny smartphone gadget can detect some of the nastiest chemicals in your water

Researchers in Japan have developed a compact smartphone-connected sensor that detects extremely low concentrations of toxic forever chemicals in water, potentially making contamination testing faster, cheaper, and more accessible.

Comets carried life’s building blocks, but getting them to Earth was another story

A Cambridge-led study suggests comets rarely delivered useful quantities of life’s molecular ingredients to early Earth because impacts destroyed them and surviving material wouldn’t have stayed concentrated at the surface for long.

Amazon’s new Echo line is here: the 6 biggest updates
Amazon’s new Echo line is here: the 6 biggest updates

Amazon has just taken the wraps off a bunch of new devices as part of a string of fall announcements. Today’s news focuses largely on new Echo speakers, with a few new smart home gadgets sprinkled in. Here’s a roundup of all of the updates Amazon revealed on Wednesday. Echo Show 16 adds a larger […]

Amazon’s Alexa Home Map is getting a smarter 3D redesign
Amazon’s Alexa Home Map is getting a smarter 3D redesign

Amazon’s smart home map interface that shows you where all your connected devices are has been overhauled with new graphics, features, and dynamic effects. The new Alexa Home Map is now an interactive 3D view of not just everything that’s inside your property, but outside of it too – using compatible Ring cameras to provide […]

Our first look at Amazon’s big new Echo Show 16
Our first look at Amazon’s big new Echo Show 16

Amazon’s latest Echo Show smart display is big, gorgeous, and eye-wateringly expensive. Announced today, the Echo Show 16 costs $499.99 (wall mount included) and is available to preorder now. There’s a Nanomatte display option for $569.99, plus a $100 preorder discount ahead of its release later this year. After spending time with the device at […]

Amazon’s new Echo Studio speaker has a camera
Amazon’s new Echo Studio speaker has a camera

Amazon is giving its premium smart speaker a camera. The new Echo Studio with Home Camera, announced today as part of Amazon’s big blast of announcements, has a built-in camera for monitoring a room while you’re away, showing things to Alexa, and, soon, to use with video calls on Fire TV devices. It’s an iteration […]

How a grocery merger could expand a surveillance network
How a grocery merger could expand a surveillance network

Kroger’s $1.65 billion proposed acquisition of Giant Eagle might not only consolidate the grocery market, but also a vast surveillance network that includes Flock cameras, a new report warns. Beyond standard concerns that a merger could decrease competition and increase prices, the American Economic Liberties Project (AELP), which advocates for competition policy reforms, says that […]

Amazon’s first digital picture frame lets you add voice notes to photos
Amazon’s first digital picture frame lets you add voice notes to photos

Amazon’s screen-equipped smart speakers have long been able to display your family’s photos, but its new Alexa Photo Frame is purpose-built for that task. It’s designed to compete with other digital picture frames from companies like Aura, and Amazon’s incorporates a smart speaker with access to Alexa Plus’ capabilities through voice commands. However, unlike the […]

Some Galaxy Watches may be too old for Samsung’s biggest sleep apnea upgrade

Samsung’s upgraded sleep apnea tracking adds breathing disturbance frequency levels, but Wear OS requirements mean some older Galaxy Watches will remain limited to basic alerts when the feature launches in South Korea.

Gemini Notebook can now record lectures and meetings without the upload shuffle

Gemini Notebook’s mobile app now has a built-in recorder for capturing lectures and meetings as sources. You can record directly where you’ll use the material, skipping the separate recording app and the file upload afterward. Google announced the feat…