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Thomas Ricker

Thomas Ricker

Deputy Editor

Deputy Editor

    More From Thomas Ricker

    Thomas Ricker
    Thomas Ricker
    Starlink Mini actually works in a backpack.

    I’m working on a full review in a variety of scenarios but I’m shocked it works at all in the outer sleeve of this Peak Design backpack connected to a USB-C power bank. Once it gets satellite lock it holds on to it reasonably well for an average of 54Mbps down and 11Mbps up, despite the dish’s vertical alignment and 110-degree field of view.

    I don’t know why you’d do this, but you can!

    <em>The 27,600mAh (99.36Wh) 140W USB-C PD 3.1 power bank I carried could have powered this connected walk for up to three hours.</em>
    <em>Here’s what it looks like walking through a forest with the overhead tree coverage causing the outages. The Mini would reengage just as soon I entered a clearing.</em>
    1/2
    The 27,600mAh (99.36Wh) 140W USB-C PD 3.1 power bank I carried could have powered this connected walk for up to three hours.
    Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
    Thomas Ricker
    Thomas Ricker
    Passkeys are getting portable.

    The alliance managing the passwordless login standard is working on a way to securely move passkeys between password managers offered by 1Password, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Okta, etc. The draft specifications for secure credential exchange are now in community review.

    Hopefully this will get sorted soon as passkeys inch closer to going mainstream. The last thing users want is to have their passwords locked to a tech ecosystem.

    FIDO Alliance Publishes New Specifications to Promote User Choice and Enhanced UX for Passkeys - FIDO Alliance

    [FIDO Alliance]

    Thomas Ricker
    Thomas Ricker
    Voyage 2-in-1 Qi2 charger review.

    It’s from Native Union and it fast charges compatible devices like my iPhone 15 Pro, and Air Pods Pro or Apple Watch Ultra — pick two or get a 3-in-1 Qi2 charger instead. The MagSafe compatible magnets keep everything attached and aligned. It folds up super small but at $99 it’s not cheap and you still have to supply a 27W (or above) USB-C PD wall charger.

    Score: 7

    <em>It feels good and hefty in the hand, but just short of premium which is a problem for the price.</em>
    <em>It unfolds and pulls a maximum of 18W when charging only the iPhone to ensure there’s enough left over (due to heat loss) to charge the phone at Qi2’s maximum rate of 15W. The charger pulls a maximum of 21W when adding the Apple Watch Ultra.</em>
    <em>Yes, it’ll also charge AirPods Pro and any Qi-compliant device.</em>
    <em>USB-C as all things should be in 2024. The sides are held together magnetically. It’ll still charge one device on a table when folded like this.</em>
    <em>Here you can see the charger pulling an 18W maximum when only the iPhone is charging. Qi2 is only capable of delivering 15W currently. Apple’s new proprietary magnetic wireless MagSafe can now do 25W. Apple is a Qi contributor so maybe Qi3?</em>
    <em>The charger ships with a pouch, nice braided USB-C cable, and the charger. Sorry, this is BYOWC (bring your own wall charger) which is a shame for the price.</em>
    1/6
    It feels good and hefty in the hand, but just short of premium which is a problem for the price.
    Lynk & Co’s first EV is meant to be shared to lower its priceLynk & Co’s first EV is meant to be shared to lower its price
    Thomas Ricker
    Thomas Ricker
    Investors not convinced.

    Tesla shares are trading down as much as six percent premarket, a few hours after digesting the Cybercabs and ruBOvehns.

    Samsung apologizes for making just $6.8 billion last quarterSamsung apologizes for making just $6.8 billion last quarter
    Thomas Ricker
    Thomas Ricker
    Qi2 3-in-1 wireless charging station review.

    This one’s the $79.99 Kuxiu X40Q tri-folding magnetic wireless charger, but it’s available under many names and prices on Amazon or Temu. I love the design having owned a less-powerful no-name Qi version for about a year. It folds up super small for travel and unfurls into a “Z” to simultaneously charge my iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods while I sleep, all from a single USB-C cable.

    <em>The box says it charges iPhones at 15W and Apple Watches and AirPods at 5W each. In practice, I was seeing it pull a maximum of 14W when charging only my iPhone 15 Pro and no more than 23W total when charging the phone, AirPods Pro, and Apple Watch Ultra simultaneously.</em>
    <em>A reasonably strong MagSafe-compatible magnet holds the iPhone in place vertically or horizontally to take advantage of StandBy mode. There’s a weaker magnet on the folding Apple Watch puck, while the AirPods are held in place by gravity.</em>
    <em>The aluminum alloy charging stand feels heavy in the hand, while the hinges have good resistance to maintain whatever shape you fold the stand into. </em>
    <em>Here, you can read the rated specs for this Qi2 wireless charging stand branded with Kuxiu, model X40Q.</em>
    <em>It ships with a 36W USB-C charger, cable, and carrying case.</em>
    <em>It pulls as much as 23W when charging three devices, in my testing. Usually, it pulls less, however, which is normal.</em>
    <em>The iPhone pulling 14W, just shy of the 15W maximum allowed by Qi2. Thanks, heat.</em>
    <em>It can still charge in this shape if you only need to charge your iPhone. An LED indicator on the back next to the USB-C jack lights up briefly and then turns off so it doesn’t interrupt your sleep.</em>
    <em>I love how small and portable this 3-in-1 stand is. A soft touch coating adds to the tactility, giving the overall build a feeling of high quality.</em>
    1/9
    The box says it charges iPhones at 15W and Apple Watches and AirPods at 5W each. In practice, I was seeing it pull a maximum of 14W when charging only my iPhone 15 Pro and no more than 23W total when charging the phone, AirPods Pro, and Apple Watch Ultra simultaneously.
    Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
    Thomas Ricker
    Thomas Ricker
    Apple’s own 5G modem cometh.

    Gurman said it would come in 2025 or 2026 and now 9to5Mac is citing a trusted source saying it’ll make its debut inside the iPhone SE 4 coming next year:

    Codenamed “Centauri,” the modem is quite ambitious and will also handle Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS [...] The new modem will drastically reduce battery consumption, especially when users switch on Low Power Mode on the iPhone.

    This one’s been rumored forever given Apple’s dislike of Qualcomm, desire to control its own destiny, and purchase of Intel’s modem business in 2019.

    iPhone SE 4 to feature Apple’s first 5G modem, A18 chip, same cameras as iPhone 15

    [9to5Mac]

    Thomas Ricker
    Thomas Ricker
    Xgimi MoGo 3 Pro review.

    At $449, this all-in-one Google TV projector is a good choice if portability is important and you already own a battery with USB-C PD 3.0 output. The speaker is good enough, and the auto-positioned 1080p image looks best at night but remains watchable during the day. A $499 bundle incudes a wobbly PowerBase Stand for about two hours of playback. Mine toppled over onto concrete but the projector survived!

    <em>The MoGo 3 Pro can automatically hunt for the best image placement, level it, square off the corners, and focus it all while avoiding obstacles. Xgimi makes it easy to then tweak its best guess placement or turn off the ISA 2.0 tech entirely.</em>
    <em>It’s small but not that small, measuring 299 x 159 x 145mm and 1.1kg. And you still have to provide power because this is BYOB: bring your own battery.</em>
    <em>The projector can rotate up to 120 degrees which is not enough to point the image at the ceiling. </em>
    <em>It can also be used as a Bluetooth speaker when in Ambient Light mode (slightly opened) with colors that seem to flicker instead of actually syncing to the beat of the music. </em>
    <em>If you’re not happy with the sound produced by the integrated 2 x 5W speakers at the base of the unit, you can pair your own over Bluetooth 5.1. The MoGo 3 Pro also has GoogleCast built-in, but you’ll need to install MagiCast for Apple’s AirPlay support. </em>
    <em>Even in Eco mode you get a decently bright and large image that can be enjoyed during the day, so long as it’s not too sunny outside. A brighter Performance mode takes better advantage of its maximum output of 450 ISO lumens but it’s only available when powered by the included 65W AC wall adapter. Unfortunately, this mode also causes the fan to kick on at a very loud 67dB, which is about as loud as a microwave!</em>
    <em>I had to manually adjust the image to fit into this oddball space at dusk. Here, I’d turn off the ISA 2.0 tech at startup or when the unit is moved to avoid having to resize everything manually again.</em>
    <em>The PowerBase Stand consists of two 16.1-inch sections to create a short tripod or a longer 26.1-inch tripod with 20,000mAh battery. In my testing, that’s enough power for about two-hours of continuous playback when the projector is in Eco mode.</em>
    <em>A better look at everything that comes in the box with the $499 PowerBase Stand bundle.</em>
    <em>Standard tripod mount.</em>
    <em>ISA 2.0 automatic keystone correction kicking in. This can be set to happen at startup, when the device is moved, or never.</em>
    <em>This flap doesn’t always close which is annoying. Otherwise the build quality is pretty good, if a little too plastic-y.</em>
    <em>The USB and Micro HDMI (ARC supported) ports.</em>
    <em>Attaching the </em><a href="https://us.xgimi.com/products/xgimi-creative-optical-filter"><em>$49 Creative Optical Filter</em></a><em> to the front of the projector and downloading the XGIMI Wall app lets you project giant magnified lightshows around your space. Cute, but only worthwhile in very dark rooms. You don’t need this.</em>
    1/14
    The MoGo 3 Pro can automatically hunt for the best image placement, level it, square off the corners, and focus it all while avoiding obstacles. Xgimi makes it easy to then tweak its best guess placement or turn off the ISA 2.0 tech entirely.
    Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
    Thomas Ricker
    Thomas Ricker
    Musk’s $44 billion Twitter now valued at just $9.4b as X.

    The markdown comes courtesy of Fidelity which now values its initial $19.66 million investment in X at just $4.18 million.

    The asset manager, which helped Musk acquire the social network formerly known as Twitter, has further reduced the value of its holding in X to a total markdown of 78.7 percent as of August’s end, based on newly released disclosures from Fidelity’s Blue Chip Growth Fund.

    Fidelity has cut X's value by 79% since Musk purchase

    [TechCrunch]

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