Robotics

SSDs (solid state drives) are the perfect portable storage solution, and far better that the older HDDs (hard disk drives) with their spinning disks that are vulnerable to vibration and shock. Also: The best external hard drives you can buyBut the downside to many portable SSDs is that they can’t cope with even a little bit of water or dust. That means that they prefer an air-conditioned office much more than a dusty truck or wet tent. But the more I’m involved in outdoor photography and videography with drones, the more I need portable storage that doesn’t mine getting wet and dirty.Crucial has a new drive that’s up to the job, and it comes in multiple storage amounts: the X10 More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Valortiva Octa A1 integrated amp is available on Amazon for $399. This integrated amp is so easy to set up that anyone can be dancing to their favorite tunes in minutes. The Octa A1 amp only produces 35W of power. –> Have you ever wanted to stream music (or a […] More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Sandmarc Telephoto 2x lens is available now for $155. The lens attaches to your iPhone and makes images more vivid, adding a professional quality to your shots (and is cheaper than a DSLR). It is not available for Android and occasionally warps close-up images. –> Since I could hold a […] More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Acefast Acefit Pro open-ear headphones are available on Amazon for $125. The Acefit Pro offer a high level of clarity, outstanding custom EQ, and an elegant lighting effect for nighttime activities. You’ll definitely want to use the app so you can make adjustments to the EQ as needed. –> Within […] More

Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNETApple finally entered the AI race at last year’s Worldwide Developer Conference when it revealed Apple Intelligence. However, some of the biggest updates announced at WWDC 2024 — such as a new and improved Siri and an AI that’s aware of your personal context from your daily phone use — have yet to deploy, leaving users frustrated. Still, I think there is hope. Apple has done a lot well with the limited features it has shipped — and offered a promising glimpse of what’s to come. For example, many of the new features — including Genmoji, voice memo transcriptions, and photo clean-up — are useful and easy to access, while also not being forcefully pushed to iOS users. Also: Forget Siri: Apple Intelligence’s true potential on iPad and Mac lies in third-party appsMost importantly, Apple’s A18 chip provides the iPhone 16 models with the infrastructure and compute necessary for Apple to support more compute-heavy AI features, while keeping Apple’s promise of on-device processing that can preserve your information’s privacy and security. Although the full Apple Intelligence suite of tools has yet to be revealed, the foundation is there. Here are three features that would make me a believer in Apple Intelligence. 1. A more Siri-ous voice assistantWhile Siri has a new look, with the screen glow showing up every time it’s activated and a new way to interact with the AI via text, it’s still trailing behind most AI voice assistants.   The biggest perk of conversational chat with a voice assistant is having it provide you — almost instantly —  with feedback on anything you may be thinking of, from simple tasks such as the weather and notifications to more complex ones such as advice and math problems. Siri doesn’t yet have the knowledge or intelligence to support this breadth of assistance.  More

Simple Habit / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETHabits can be good or bad, motivating or distracting. The goal should be to create and develop good habits so your daily life is easier and more enjoyable. But sometimes, it’s hard to see the patterns your habits create. Without recognizing those patterns, making effective change can be a challenge.That’s where habit trackers come into play. These tools provide a visual representation of your habits and progress to help you maintain accountability and stay motivated as you work to improve your daily routine. Also: 5 Android browsers that are better than Chrome (and why I prefer them)There are several quality habit trackers available for Android, and I’ve curated a list just for you. 1. Loop Habit Tracker Loop Habit Tracker is a free and open-source app that offers a simple interface, habit scores, detailed charts and graphics, flexible schedules, reminders, and calendar views to visualize progress. Loop Tracker allows manual tracking with customizable notifications and supports exporting data. Even better, Loop Habit Tracker works offline, so you don’t have to worry that a third party has access to your data. Also: I made 5 simple changes on Android to instantly make my phone sound betterThis habit tracker is ad-free and can be installed directly from the Google Play Store. More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Oukitel WP300 is available now via Kickstarter, but will soon be available on Amazon for $599 The WP300 phone is modular with a module that serves as a smartwatch and one that serves as a Bluetooth headset and very bright LED light Like all Oukitel phones, the WP300 is very […] More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Samsung Galaxy XCover7 Pro is available now for $599. The phone is built to perform in all conditions with a MIL-STD-810H certification, removable battery, and multiple hardware buttons for quick access in the field. The phone is powered by an older processor and limited to 128GB of internal storage. –> […] More