Articles by Derrek Lee

The committee gives Amazon a deadline to tell the truth.

What you need to know

The U.S. House Judiciary Committee is accusing Amazon of lying to Congress.
Committee members say that the company lied about product discrimination on its platform.
The committee has given Amazon until November 1 to provide proof to corroborate its testimony.

Amazon has two weeks to prove that it does not discriminate against other products sold on its online platform, a deadline imposed by the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee.

A letter addressed to Amazon on Monday suspects the company of misleading the committee and lying to Congress when it said that it does not promote its own products more than others and that it does not use seller data to create competing products.

The letter directly cites investigations from Reuters and The Markup, which claim that Amazon “ran a systematic campaign of creating knockoffs and manipulating search results to boost its own product lines in India, one of t…

Google has everyone’s attention with the Pixel 6 launch event.

What you need to know

Poll responses indicate most of our readers are anxiously awaiting the Pixel 6 launch.
Readers are also looking forward to the upcoming Galaxy Unpacked Part 2.
Apple and Sony’s events were much less popular.

With all the tech events happening in such close succession, we wanted to know which upcoming Techtober launch you were most excited about. Out of just over 400 responses, 80% were highly anticipating Google’s Fall Pixel launch more than anything, with the search giant set to fully announce the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.

Behind the Pixel launch was Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Unpacked Part 2 with just over 9% of votes. This event was a tad unexpected since the company isn’t expected to launch any significant new hardware until at least January. Still, the company decided to squeeze its event in the same week as Apple and Google. That said, the most recent teaser seems to suggest that we are get…

Techtober is back!

Tech companies love to lump events together. Oftentimes, we’ll get several events in the span of one month, with Apple, Google, Microsoft, and even Samsung fighting for your attention. October is usually one of those times, which is why it’s lovingly referred to as “Techtober.” This year is no different, so we have several significant events scheduled for roughly the same week, Which you’re looking forward to the most?

Which Techtober event are you most excited for?

Apple Unleashed

While the Pixel 6 launch date was already announced, Apple decided to take some of Google’s thunder by scheduling a launch event the day before. Since the company just had its big iPhone 13 event, it’s expected that Cupertino will launch its latest MacBook models rocking mini-LED and new chips.

Apple’s event is scheduled for Monday, October 18, at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET.

Google Pixel Fall Launch

Google’s upcoming Pixel 6 event might arguably be the biggest of the bunch thanks to th…

In case Google’s Pixel 6 launch doesn’t give you enough.

What you need to know

Pixel Superfans are receiving invited to a Pixel 6 event on October 19.
The Tech Talk will discuss Pixel 6 features, design, and build, and is open to the first 10,000 members that RSVP.
The event will happen the same day as the full Pixel 6 unveiling.

Google is sending out invites to members of its exclusive Pixel Superfans group to attend an October 19 “Tech Talk” discussing the new Pixel 6.

The event was reported by 9to5Google, with plenty Reddit users having received invites already. One user posted the text from the email describing the event:

Learn about Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro from the product teams who made them. They’ll be giving you a first look on new features, design inspiration, and how the phones were made.

The event will run for 90 minutes, with speakers discussing the history of Pixel phones, the software experience, the cameras, and more.

The Tech Talk will last 90 minutes, so…

Are we getting more foldable color options?

What you need to know

Samsung continues to tease its upcoming Unpacked event.
The latest video teases foldables will be involved, possibly with more color options.
Galaxy Unpacked Part 2 is scheduled for October 20 at 10 a.m. PT.

Samsung has something colorful planned for its upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event, and the latest teaser suggests it has something to do with foldables.

On Friday, Samsung posted a teaser video (below) for the event featuring little aliens in a “Galaxy Studio” factory. The video shows the aliens playfully scrolling through a color pallet on a computer screen.

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 aren’t mentioned in the video, but a line of text at the end of the video hints that they could be the focus of the event.

Get ready to unfold something unmistakably you.

It’s hard not to relate that to Samsung’s foldables, and it suggests that we might be presented with more color options for the devices.

…

You’ll need Spotify Premium to use it, though.

What you need to know

Spotify opens up the waitlist for its first hardware product.
The Car Thing connects to a smartphone in order to stream music to your car.
The device costs $80 and requires Spotify Premium to work.

Spotify has a Car Thing, and soon you can have a Car Thing too. The company announced on Thursday that it is opening up the waitlist to purchase the device, which costs $80.

Car Thing is Spotify’s first hardware product and features a large, easy-to-use dial for scrolling through menus, or you can control the device via the touch-screen or “Hey Spotify” voice commands.

At launch, the device was given limited release, based on an invite-only system, but now that’s no longer the case.

Interestingly, the device is completely dependent on your smartphone; it connects to iOS or the best Android phones using Bluetooth in order to play music in your car, which is only possible from your phone’s Bluetooth or AUX connectio…

Twitter, please stop.

What you need to know

Twitter is testing putting ads in conversation threads.
The ads will show up after the first, third, or eighth responses in a conversation.
Twitter wants to figure out how this can benefit creators and is testing thread ads on iOS and Android.

Twitter has been making moves to give creators more ways to monetize their content, and the latest move might be the easiest way to do so.

On Thursday, Twitter’s revenue and product lead, Bruce Falck, announced that the platform is testing a new place to put ads; smack dab in the middle of your conversation. According to Falck, ads may appear after the first, third, or eighth response in a tweet conversation thread.

Starting today, we’re trying something different and testing a new ad format in Tweet conversations. If you’re a part of this test (which is global; on iOS & Android only), you’ll see ads after the first, third or eighth reply under a Tweet. ?️ pic.twitter.com/kvIGeYt2vp—…

Nanoleaf is at it again with some fine lines for your home.

What you need to know

Nanoleaf launches its latest modular smart lights.
The new Nanoleaf Lines feature dual-color zones and can connect at 60-degree angle increments.
The smart lights will be compatible with Thread and the upcoming Matter standard.
Nanoleaf Lines retail for $200 and are available for preorder.

Nanoleaf offers several different types of smart lighting options which are among the best smart lights for gaming, but now the company is launching Nanoleaf Lines, new light bars that offer even greater design possibilities.

Similar to the company’s other smart lighting products like the Nanoleaf Canvas, the new Nanoleaf Lines takes a modular approach, allowing owners to create all sorts of different shapes with the sleek new bar design. The bars can connect at 60-degree increments, which should make it easy to get creative.

The Nanoleaf Lines feature dual-color zones so that each bar can cast two co…

Another affordable Google TV option besides the Chromecast dongle.

Update, Oct 13 (1500 ET): Realme launches the Google TV stick

What you need to know

Realme is preparing to launch a Google TV stick.
This will mark the second streaming device to launch with the platform after the Chromecast with Google TV.
The Realme 4K Smart Google TV Stick will support HDMI 2.1 and HDR10+.
The launch will happen on October 13, where we should learn about pricing and availability.

When it comes to Google TV, you really have two options. You can either purchase the Chromecast with Google TV dongle or buy a whole new TV with the platform built-in. However, Realme is about to throw itself in the ring as another option with the imminent launch of its 4K Smart Google TV Stick.

The company has revealed the launch of its upcoming Google TV stick, which will happen on October 13.

As gleaned from the launch event page, the device will support 4K60, HDMI 2.1, and HDR10+. Unfortunately, it doesn’t se…

Qualcomm is totally not bitter about Google making its own chip. Not at all.

What you need to know

Qualcomm pokes fun at Google for designing its own chip instead of using Snapdragon.
The Google Tensor chip is an in-house design that will power the upcoming Google Pixel 6.
Qualcomm has powered every Pixel smartphone up until now.

With the Pixel 6 on the way, there’s much excitement brewing over the capabilities of the new Google Tensor chip. However, Qualcomm is not as excited since it means Google is more or less abandoning the chipmaker to make its own SoC.

The company took to Twitter to take part in the red flag meme. If you’re not in the know, the meme simply points out scenarios that are seen as red flags, followed by a series of red flag emoji. In this case, the red flag is the Google Tensor chip.

“We’ve decided to make our own smartphone SoC instead of using Snapdragon” ?????????????????????— Snapdragon (@…