Launch
OpenAI Put a $230 Control Panel on the AI Intern’s Desk
OpenAI’s $230 Codex Micro turns AI-agent management into a tactile desktop ritual. It is a niche flex, but the useful kind.
Review
Huawei Gave the Pura 90s Pro Max a Passport and a 200MP Cannon
Huawei's Pura 90s Pro Max looks like a terrific camera phone with a 200MP telephoto, huge battery, and global-market weirdness that somehow adds to the charm.
Consumer Tech
XREAL Built $299 AR Glasses for People Tired of Holding Screens Up
XREAL's $299 a01+ makes face screens weirdly practical: light, bright, a little flimsy, and much smarter about its niche than most AR hardware.
Review
Fi Put Starlink on Your Dog. The Battery Already Looks Winded.
Fi's Ultra dog tracker adds Starlink backup for real off-grid panic prevention, but the price and battery life make this peace of mind gloriously specific.
Gaming
Xbox Game Pass Packed July With Tony Hawk, Palworld, and Fresh Tier Math
Xbox's July 7 Game Pass wave adds Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, The Planet Crafter, and Palworld 1.0. The lineup rules; the membership logic is still gloriously Microsoft.
Review
Nothing Made Phone (4b) for People Who Think Beige Is a Crime
Nothing's Phone (4b) pairs bold design, a huge battery, and long software support with a less thrilling chip and some extremely performative repair vibes.
Review
Meta PCs Put SteamOS in a Wood-Trimmed Box and Called It Freedom
The $1,299 Steamroller turns SteamOS into a prebuilt desktop with upgradeable parts and living-room identity issues. More sensible than it sounds.
Launch
OpenClaw Put AI Agents on Your Phone. The Lobster Still Needs Adult Supervision.
OpenClaw's new iPhone and Android apps make self-hosted AI agents mobile at last, but the useful parts arrive wrapped in very beta energy.
AI
vivo X Fold6 Stuffed a 7,000mAh Battery Into a Foldable and Called It Productivity
vivo's June 26 X Fold6 packs a 7,000mAh battery, Zeiss cameras, and big-screen multitasking into one foldable. Excessive? Absolutely. Tempting? Also yes.
Consumer Tech
Razer Turned a Gaming Chair Into a 300-Game Light Show
Razer's $499.99 Soma Chroma adds reactive RGB to a gaming chair and somehow makes battlestation excess look almost thoughtful.
Consumer Tech
Instagram Put Reels on Your TV and Called It Family Time
Instagram's June 22 TV expansion makes Reels more social, more horizontal, and much more like streaming. I hate the premise. I also see the logic.
Consumer Tech
Meta Glasses Dropped Ray-Ban and Put Kylie Jenner on the Camera Problem
Meta launched $299 Meta Glasses with Kylie Jenner, Muse Spark AI, and no Ray-Ban badge. The hardware is clever. The trust problem is not.