Brian Heater
TechCrunch
New York, United States
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Recent articles by Brian:
iPadOS preview –
Microsoft drew a line in the sand with Windows 10, presenting an operating system designed for both PCs and tablets alike. The move fostered hardware designers to go all in on convertibles — devices that performed double duty as laptops or slates, with adjustable keyboards to match. For most of its history, the iPad has […] → Read More
macOS 10.15 Catalina preview –
There might be no better microcosm of 2019 Apple than Catalina. The latest version of macOS arrives during a transitional time for the company. The desktop is a showcase for increased focus on content, a continued push toward cross-platform compatibility and a renewed push to court creative professionals. For a few years now, the desktop […] → Read More
DJI looks to assemble drones in California as government concerns mount –
With increased pressure on Chinese manufacturers like Huawei and ZTE, Shenzhen-based drone giant DJI has no doubt had cause for concern of late. In late-2017, the U.S. government’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement office raised concern that the company’s camera-equipped flying machines could be sending data back to China. A few weeks back, the Department of […] → Read More
Samsung releases a trio of smart home products –
Samsung’s approach to the smart home has been — “uneven” seems like a nice way of putting it. None of this has really been helped along by the fact that Bixby and the company’s long-promised smart speaker, the Galaxy Home, are still lost in the woods. SmartThings, the home automation startup the company acquired in […] → Read More
Echo Show 5 review –
The Echo team must have started sweating when the Lenovo Smart Clock was announced during CES. Deep inside Seattle’s Day One building, Amazon was reading the release of the Echo Show 5, a pint-sized version of the company’s smart screen that bore more than a passing resemblance to Lenovo’s Google Assistant device. Amazon, of course, […] → Read More
Google says it’s not making any more tablets –
The writing has been on the slate for some time now. Roughly this time last year, we reported that Google had wiped all tablet sales off its site. Turns out that was just a bug, but it seemed like an ominous portent of things to come. Google still went ahead and launched the Pixel Slate […] → Read More
Apple issues voluntary recall of 2015 MacBook Pro batteries due to overheating concern –
Apple this morning announced a “voluntary” recall of MacBook Pro batteries due to potential overheating and safety risk. The recall only applies to mid-2015 15-inch MacBook Pros with Retina displays. As the company notes in a press release, these models were primarily sold between September 2015 and February 2017. Concerned users can see if their […] → Read More
Samsung’s Galaxy S10 5G arrives on Sprint tomorrow –
You surely know the whole deal about carts and horses by now. When Samsung’s first 5G handset, the Galaxy S10 5G, arrives on Sprint tomorrow, users will be able to get those blazing fast mobile speeds in all of four markets: Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Kansas City. Those all launched last week, after the arrival […] → Read More
Adobe Lightroom arrives in the Mac App Store –
The pro-focused photo editing tool Lightroom is now available on the Mac App Store, marking the first major Adobe app to be available through the revamped version of the platform. The title joins the more lightweight Photoshop Elements, but is the sole pro app currently available through the venue. Unlike Element’s flat $70 a month […] → Read More
iRobot acquires education startup, Root Robotics –
In a bid to expand its educational offerings, iRobot has acquired local Massachusetts-based startup, Root Robotics. The company is the creator of the eponymous coding robot, a two-wheeled device designed to draw on whiteboards and other surfaces, scanning colors, playing music and otherwise playing out coding instructions. We had the company at our CES stage […] → Read More
Samsung exec says the Galaxy Fold is ‘ready to hit the market’ –
As we asked back in February, “We’re ready for foldable phones, but are they ready for us?” The answer, so far, has been an enthusiastic, “not really.” The Galaxy Fold was pushed back, after multiple review units crapped the proverbial bed. And just last week, Huawei noted that it was holding off on its own […] → Read More
Apple expands authorized repairs to ~1,000 Best Buy stores –
Since 2001, Apple has staked its claim across the world with its own first-party brick and mortar locations. But the U.S. is a big country, and the 270 or so stores can only cover so much ground. In the past three years, the company says it has expanded repair coverage to three times as many […] → Read More
Amazon adds color adjustable lighting to its best Kindle –
For e-reader devotees, it doesn’t get better than the Kindle Oasis. Amazon’s the last giant player standing in the category (unless you consider what Barnes & Noble is doing “standing”), and the Oasis is ounce for ounce the best Kindle device it has produced. I reviewed the last iteration of the device back in late […] → Read More
This $99 AirPower knockoff is available for order now –
There are a number of key differences between Apple’s AirPower and lookalike knockoff, AirUnleashed. The most pertinent one, however, is that one of the two is actually available for purchase. Apple gave up the AirPower ghost back in March, after having gone silent on the product for some time, citing an inability to “achieve […] → Read More
VidAngel ordered to pay $62.4M for copyright infringement –
The VidAngel story seemingly ended in late 2017 when it declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But the bad news wasn’t over for streaming service, which promised to edit all of the dirty bits out of other people’s films. This week a federal jury in California ordered the Provo, Utah-based startup to pay $62.4 million to studios […] → Read More
Google Calendar is down, it’s not just you –
Snow day. All meetings are canceled until further notice. Google Calendar has been hit with what appear to be some pretty widespread issues. The company has confirmed service interruptions via its G Suite Status Dashboard, noting, “We’re investigating reports of an issue with Google Calendar. We will provide more information shortly. The affected users are […] → Read More
Dr. Mario is in (on iOS and Android) July 10 –
After years of heel dragging, Nintendo finally opened itself up to the smartphone world in late-2016. The gaming giant hasn’t exactly opened the floodgates in the intervening years, but Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Dragalia Lost have filled the void in some form or other. There’s something to be said for the […] → Read More
New iOS feature prompts you to cancel subscriptions when uninstalling apps –
There are operating system updates that feel tacked on or otherwise not particularly useful. Then there are those that genuinely alter the way you interact with a device. This new addition by way of iOS 13’s second beta falls firmly into the latter, prompting users to cancel a subscription upon uninstalling from an app. Spotted […] → Read More
Dishcraft launches with a massive robotics-powered dishwashing system –
Bay Area-based robotics startup Dishcraft has unveiled a massive robotics and AI-powered dishwashing system. Like much of the rest of the industrial robotics industry, the company’s looking to automate a dull task with a high turnover rate, which amounts to about a month of employment on average. It’s a beast of a system from the […] → Read More
Palm’s tiny phone is available unlocked at $350 –
The first time I showed the Palm phone to the TechCrunch staff, they were excited. At the very least, it was a unique take on the category, designed to be a second phone for those moments that didn’t require a larger, bulkier device. But reality set in pretty quickly. The device’s capabilities were severely limited […] → Read More