Tech

It’s a customized Cisco and you can’t have it. Nobody tell Dom.

The Permanent Outdoor Lights 2 Pro sport a dual-layer design that allows “the upper and lower light zones to display different colors and effects simultaneously,” according to Govee. They’ll cost $499.99 for 100 feet when they launch on September 7th.

First revealed at CES, Govee’s Sky Ceiling Light uses AI to create “personalized lighting based on users’ moods and daily needs.” The 21-inch Matter-compatible light also automatically adjusts its color, temperature, and brightness depending on the time and weather. It launches on September 4th.

The NBA has announced penalties from its investigation into cap circumvention allegations around the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard, and a string of companies that inked shady “endorsement” deals with the star: Aspiration, Daktronics, Boingo Wireless, and Lockton Insurance, as detailed in a report from the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

The union representing The New York Times staffers rallied against the deal, but a source tells Front Office Sports that the opposition “did not prompt or play any role” in the decision to abandon it. Kalshi and The Athletic continue to explore advertising and “other commercial opportunities,” Front Office Sports reports.

Acer, which has owned the historic PC brand since 2008, has resurrected it in a line of cheap, cheerful, and exceedingly colorful hardware, ranging from a 14-inch laptop to a portable food steamer. It all goes on sale in Q4 this year, though for now it’s only hitting the market in Europe.

A selection of Binsky’s videos will appear on Netflix starting September 19th, similar to the streamer’s deals with Kevin Langue, Nick DiGiovanni, and Mythical Entertainment, as reported by Variety. YouTube has reportedly offered creators millions not to cross-post their videos to Netflix.

Samsung announced a new Galaxy Book6 laptop at IFA. It’s a 14-inch notebook with Intel Wildcat Lake processors, starting with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. And it’ll start at $799.

The Amazon-owned robotaxi company was just approved to make passenger trips to and from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. Airports can be chaotic environments, and regulators want to be sure that robotaxis won’t add to the chaos. As the first robotaxi company approved for airport trips, Zoox will have its work cut out for it.

A Play Store listing spotted by 9to5Google said “Look up” allows you to “highlight a concept you want to explore, a new word, a trip destination, and more.” Screenshots captured by the outlet show the app pulling up a definition for a highlighted word, as well as showing tracking information for a highlighted flight number.

According to MacRumors, Apple gave macOS app developers permission to drop support for Intel-based Macs, which got their final OS update last year with macOS Tahoe. Intel Macs won’t get updates for any apps that drop support, but as MacRumors notes, the last compatible version of those apps will continue working.

The layoffs, which affect around 3,300 employees, comes as part of efforts to “make Uber simpler and faster,” according to a memo published by CEO Dana Khosrowshahi.

The $99 Prio squeezes full-size controls into a design that spins around and folds in half clamshell-style, and supports phones up to seven inches. It doesn’t look as comfortable as my Razer Kishi Ultra, but it’s definitely more portable.

Nearly a decade after it launched on the original Switch the game is getting new Switch 2 features through a free update available now. In addition to faster load times and improved visuals, up to eight players can now compete on one screen while both cameras and GameChat are now supported so you can see your opponents.

The Xiaomi 18 Fold has been officially unveiled alongside its September 7th launch date in China, meaning it’ll be available two days before the iPhone event that’s expected to launch Apple’s own wide-style foldable phone. Samsung beat both when it launched the wider Galaxy Z Fold 8 in July, which was itself preceded by Huawei’s China-only Pura X Max launched in April.

The social media app for neighborhoods is doubling-down on local business discovery with a new “Local Faves” hub that promotes verified neighbor recommendations to combat fake online reviews. “Local businesses have always grown through word of mouth. Online, though, reviews can be bought, manipulated, or faked,” says Nextdoor CEO Nirav Tolia. “Nextdoor’s approach mirrors the value of real word of mouth: a real neighbor, in a real neighborhood, sharing a business they’ve actually used.”

Alongside a laptop / handheld hybrid concept, Acer is expanding its Predator Atlas line with a smaller 7-inch model. The Windows 11 handheld comes with up to an Intel Arc G3 Extreme CPU and Arc B390 GPU. It’s due in Q4, after the Atlas 8 releases this month. Pricing for both remains unknown.

Acer’s $1,199 Nitro XV275X P is coming Q1 2027, and it has some appealing specs. Its 27-inch matte IPS screen has 2,304-zone Mini LED backlighting (up to 1,400 nits), with support for 5K via HDMI 2.1, USB-C or DisplayPort 1.4 at 165Hz refresh rate and a fast 0.5-millisecond response time, or 330Hz at QHD. It seems just as good for productivity as for gaming with its 90W USB-C charging, KVM switch, and picture-in-picture settings.

Acer is announcing the Vero 16: a 16-inch laptop with tool-free internal access. The battery and SSD are user-replaceable, and the hinge and ports are also removable. Acer also says the processor can be upgraded for “at least two generations.”

Text predictions are like Marmite (Vegemite), you either hate them or you love them. It turns out that a lot of people hate them in Word and Outlook, so Microsoft is turning them off by default. The feature was supposed to help you write documents and emails faster by guessing what word you’d type next, but Microsoft’s predictive text could often be more of a distraction. The change is rolling out on Word for Windows, iOS, and Android, as well as Outlook on Windows and Mac.

Alienware has been on a tear with its recent OLEDs. Now, its next big monitor is the AW3226Q, a 4K 32-inch tandem OLED with 165Hz refresh and RGB stripe subpixels for clearer text — expected this fall for $699.99.

Before Tuesday’s handover, Tim Cook spoke to the staff in the store at the Apple Visitor Center. He also assured them he would be making many more Apple Store visits in the future, which Bloomberg notes comes with a salary cut, going from $3 million to $2 million annually. An SEC filing from Apple revealed Cook is in line for a compensation package worth around $47 million, while Ternus’ is about $58 million.