All the Gear We Loved in September
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Cully WrightEyeing the Future, Snap Debuts Two New Styles of Spectacles
At first, Snap’s latest camera-enabled Snap Spectacles don’t look unlike shades you might wear otherwise, until you press record and a ring of LEDs light up around the camera on the side. Since earlier this summer, Snapchat now allows you to export your HD-only videos and stills in square and horizontal formats. You can also auto-save Snaps to your phone’s camera roll. Snap’s investment into hardware after the mass exodus from its social app leads us to wonder: How, exactly, does Snap envision its future? Read the full story here.
Native InstrumentsDigital DJs Have New Ways to 'Spin' Their Tracks
Native Instruments is releasing redesigned versions of its popular hardware controllers for DJs. The flagship of the new series is the Kontrol S4 ($899) designed with all of the pro-level features top-tier DJs would need. The refresh adds some haptic feedback to the motorized jog wheels to more closely recreate the feel of real turntables. The smaller Kontrol S2 ($299) lacks some of the advanced features found in the S4, but it’s still an attractive choice for beginners. It’s USB powered, so you can plug it into a laptop and not worry about AC power while you bring the house down. Read the full story here.
Elijah Nouvelage/ReutersiOS 12 Has Arrived—Here's What to Expect
Turns out you can teach an old iPhone new tricks. The iOS 12 update introduces a slew of new features, from screen-time management tools to smarter Siri functions. iOS 12’s built-in Measure app uses augmented reality tech to help you find the dimensions of stationary objects. The new layout of Photos is more organized, too. Remember the dark days, when group chats crowded your lock screen? Now, lock screen notifications are grouped together automatically after a few have accumulated. Welcome to the new world. Read the rest of the story here.
AppleThe iPhone Xr Is a Bigger, Cheaper, More Colorful iPhone
The iPhone Xr passes the Goldilocks test of iPhones—it’s not too big, not too small, and at $749, its price point is just right. The Xr keeps the same form factor that last year’s iPhone X introduced, but with a 6.1-inch diagonal display. While the Xs and Xs Max have glossy OLED displays, the Xr sticks with LCD. The iPhone Xr comes with the same A12 Bionic chip that graces its more expensive cousins, meaning you get the same computational might. And who could resist all of the pretty colors it comes in? Read the full story here.
Rothy'sWith an Eco-Friendly Sneaker, Rothy’s Treads on New Ground
Rothy’s—the brand known for its eye-catching flats made from recycled water bottles—announced its latest offering: a machine-washable slip-on sneaker. The Sneaker is made from the same sustainable materials as the other shoes. Its color selection is impressive, too, boasting vivid hues like teal and electric lemon. After all, according to Rothy’s creative director Erin Dempsey Lowenberg, the appeal of a Rothy’s shoe isn’t just that you’ll save the planet: “It’s that you’ll look beautiful.” Read the full story here.
GilletteGillette’s New Heated Razor Sharpens Your Shave
Gillette’s new Heated Razor adds a “warming bar” that keeps its cartridge toasty throughout your shave. With the push of a button, it takes less than a second to heat the warming bar to either 113 or 122 degrees Fahrenheit. At $150, this razor is unabashedly priced for a premium crowd. But the Heated Razor gives the shaving industry something it hasn't seen in a while: innovation. Read the full story here.
Jon ChuJon M. Chu Shot This Short Film Entirely on an iPhone XS Max
To shoot this short film for WIRED, Crazy Rich Asians director John M. Chu used nothing but an iPhone Xs Max and its native camera app. The short film, titled Somewhere, is a view into B-Boy legend Luigi Rosado’s dance practice, in his garage in Los Angeles. To take an aerial shot of Rosado, Chu didn’t use a grip-stand. Chu says, "There was a hanging piece of wood on the ceiling, and I put the phone on it and angled it down. It was as raw as that." Read the full story here.
JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty ImagesFacebook Is Testing Its Dating Service. Here’s How It’s Different From Tinder
The latest online-dating platform doesn’t involve swipes or gamification. That’s because Facebook’s new Dating service has a much more powerful asset: the trove of data it already has about users. Users will create separate profiles just for Facebook Dating, where they can choose to match with people who attend the same events or who are part of the same Facebook groups. If the stars align, they might just update their relationship status, too. Read the full story here.
Kelsey McclellanThis Smart Telescope Finds the Heavenly Bodies for You
Point your Vaonis’s smartphone-connected Stellina scope to the heavens, and you’ll never gaze at the night sky the same way again. The companion app precisely aims the robotic telescopes at your favorite constellation within a few seconds. And at just under 2 feet tall, it’s easy to bring to family camping trips and romantic hikes under the stars. Read the full story here.
Andrew Burton/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesIs There an Echo in Here? All the Hardware Amazon Announced
To Amazon, Alexa isn’t only a voice assistant—it’s a lifestyle. Amazon announced more than a dozen new hardware hardware products, along with several software updates, all aimed at bringing its Alexa to more devices. Smart home aficionados can look forward to an updated Echo Dot, Echo Plus, and Echo Show speakers, newly equipped with a web browser. For audiophiles, there’s the Echo Link, Echo Link Amp, Echo Sub, and Echo Input. Still haven’t gotten your Echo fix? Amazon also introduced the Echo Auto, a tiny device that gives you Alexa capabilities while you’re driving. Read the full story here.
HotlittlepotatoMost Dangerous Object in the Office: Segway Drift W1 E-Skates
For WIRED’s 25th anniversary, we revived our series “Most Dangerous Object in the Office.” This time around, the WIRED staff careened precariously about the office on Segway Draft W1 E-Skates. These gliders have no boots or straps—just grippy platforms that hold your shoes in place. You control the direction and speed by pressing down with your toes. The skates reach speeds of up to 7.5 mph, if you can manage to stay upright for that long. Watch the video here.
AmazonIn Defense of Amazon's Alexa Microwave
Do we need a voice control microwave? No, definitely not. But Amazon’s Alexa microwave still might make your life easier. With a touch of the Alexa button, you can ping a nearby Echo speaker, which will let you tell the microwave what you want to cook. Saying “Alexa, heat two cups of frozen peas” is a lot less time-consuming than pushing some maddening combo of buttons. Standard microwaves can’t learn new tricks, but Alexa can, meaning a voice-connected microwave may actually get better over time. Fewer spaghetti sauce explosions, you say? Alexa, count me in. Read the full story here.
iFixitThe Clever Engineering Behind the New iPhone XS Battery
If you crack open your new iPhone Xs, you’ll find a battery with a most unlikely shape. (Note: Please don’t crack open your new iPhone Xs.) Unlike the X and the Xs Max, which rely on two dual-cell batteries placed perpendicular to each other, the Xs is fueled by a single, continuous L-shaped battery. By eliminating the gap between two batteries, the single battery maximizes capacity. The engineering behind the single-cell design, and safeguarding it against chemical susceptibility, took some innovative engineering that might just just shape the future of tiny, high-power batteries. Read the full story here.
OculusOculus’ $399 Quest to Take VR Mainstream
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has a lofty goal: to get one billion people using virtual reality technology. A new VR headset, made by Facebook-owned Oculus, takes a big step in that direction. The Quest has six degrees of freedom, or “6DoF”, which allows your head to be tracked positionally, rather than rotationally. In other words, you can move around your virtual environment, not just look around. Oculus plans to ship the Quest next spring, for $399. The only question remains: Will you be ready (player one) for it? Read the full story here.
