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CARI, or Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute, is an online community dedicated to developing a visual lexicon of consumer ephemera from the 1970s until now. We hope that you will participate with us in researching and developing this new medium of cataloging design history. If you like what we're doing, please consider donating using the link above to further support our research.
Are you ready for fall? The official arrival of fall is the autumnal equinox, which occurs in the Northern Hemisphere on Monday. After a hot summer, the September equinox marks a welcome shift in the seasons for many folks. But what exactly is an equinox? It's all about Earth and its relationship with the sun. Here's how to understand, visualize and celebrate the autumnal equinox. Don't miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source. When is
The microphones in your earbuds probably suck. You know, I know it, and apparently Nothing knows it too. Its fix? Better microphones — but in the charging case, not the buds. The Ear 3 buds feature what the company calls “Super Mic.” What that really means is a pair of microphones built into the earbuds’ case, with a button to activate those mics instead of the ones built into the buds. Nothing’s pitch is that the beamforming microphones in the case can deliver clearer audio and better noise c
Kerry Wan/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways Samsung issued a patch for a zero-day vulnerability. Android devices are affected by ongoing attacks in the wild. Samsung users should accept security updates immediately. Samsung recently issued a patch to resolve a critical vulnerability impacting its Android smartphone users. All impacted phone models will receive the fix, which patches a vulnerability tracked as CVE-2025-21043. The security fla
Is three better than two? Apparently, we're about to find out again. Samsung is expected to launch its Galaxy Z TriFold in South Korea on Sept. 29 in its third Unpacked event of 2025, according to Korean news sites. At the same time, the company will introduce its Project Moohan mixed-reality headset and AI smart glasses, reports said. CNN later reported that Samsung is considering introducing the phone in the US and other markets outside Korea. If Samsung does indeed unleash the Galaxy Z Tri
Superman, the first big-screen release from James Gunn's rebranded DC Studios, commanded theaters when it premiered earlier this year. Whether you're interested in revisiting the superhero hit or you missed it when it was in theaters, the Man of Steel is coming to streaming. Color me excited. Gunn's movie, which he wrote and directed and is mostly inspired by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's All-Star Superman comic, is a joyful homage to the iconic Kryptonian. It posits the idea that kindness
James Martin/CNET NordVPN and Surfshark are two of the best virtual private network providers on the market, and while they share some similarities -- including the same parent company -- each packs unique offerings. NordVPN is our pick for the fastest VPN, based on our hands-on testing, while Surfshark earns our vote for the best value VPN. Both VPNs deliver fast speeds, user-friendly apps, handy privacy features and excellent streaming service content unblocking. Overall, I’d recommend Surfs
In a major collaboration that would have been hard to imagine just a few years ago, Nvidia announced today that it was buying a total of $5 billion in Intel stock, giving Intel's competitor ownership of roughly 4 percent of the company. In addition to the investment, the two companies said that they would be co-developing "multiple generations of custom data center and PC products." "The companies will focus on seamlessly connecting NVIDIA and Intel architectures using NVIDIA NVLink," reads Nvi
Days after someone revealed the news on social media, Samsung confirmed today that it is showing advertisements on some US customers’ smart fridges. Samsung said the ads showing on some Family Hub-series fridges are part of a pilot program, but we suspect that they may become more permanent additions to Samsung fridges and/or other types of screen-equipped smart home appliances. In a statement sent to Ars Technica, Samsung confirmed that it is “conducting a pilot program to offer promotions and
We had reached out to Samsung for a statement, and this is what a Samsung spokesperson said: Samsung is committed to innovation and enhancing every day value for our home appliance customers. As part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen that value, we are conducting a pilot program to offer promotions and curated advertisements on certain Samsung Family Hub refrigerator models in the U.S. market. As a part of this pilot program, Family Hub refrigerators in the U.S. will receive an over-the-net
In a major collaboration that would have been hard to imagine just a few years ago, Nvidia announced today that it was buying a total of $5 billion in Intel stock, giving Intel's competitor ownership of roughly 4 percent of the company. In addition to the investment, the two companies said that they would be co-developing "multiple generations of custom data center and PC products." "The companies will focus on seamlessly connecting NVIDIA and Intel architectures using NVIDIA NVLink," reads Nvi
Daniella Ramirez/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways Samsung refrigerators will soon display ads, the company says. There's no option to turn ads off. You can avoid ads by changing your cover to art or picture mode. If you have a Samsung smart fridge, you might see commercials in your kitchen soon. Earlier this year, at a presentation in New York City, Samsung teased "a world where Samsung Ads brings your brand message to every screen in the c
As I said in my AirPods Pro 3 review, wireless earbuds have reached a ceiling. Generally, the basics—sound, active noise cancellation (ANC), and battery life—can only be improved by so much each generation. The feature that arguably gets the least attention is microphone quality. I’m constantly asking people on calls and Zooms whether they can hear me and if my voice sounds clear or not. The answer is typically no to both if I’m asking. Tech startup Nothing—you know them for their transparent wi
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and other crypto executives took to Capitol Hill this week as part of a regulatory showdown between the industry and banks with potentially trillions at stake. Banking advocacy groups are urging lawmakers to prohibit crypto exchanges like Coinbase from offering customers rewards that are structured like interest payments banks offer. "I'm not sure why the banks would want to bring that up again at this point, but they should have to compete on a level playing field
If you’ve just shelled out thousands of dollars on one of Samsung’s smart fridges , you’d be forgiven for expecting it to leave you alone, rather than encouraging you to spend even more money. But that is no longer the case — following a recent update, you’ll start seeing ads on the fridge’s display. According to Android Authority , the new software update is being rolled out to Samsung’s Family Hub refrigerators in the US, and will now display ads and promotions while the display is idle. In a
is The Verge’s senior AI reporter. An AI beat reporter for more than five years, her work has also appeared in CNBC, MIT Technology Review, Wired UK, and other outlets. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. The explosive growth of AI chatbots in the past three years, since ChatGPT launched in 2022, has started to have some really noticeable, profound, and honestly disturbing effects on some users. There’s a lot to unpack there — it can be prett
A slew of people are reporting that the Starbucks app is completely broken. With too-perfect irony, the thing that is breaking it is an app satisfaction survey … Multiple users are reporting that the app forces you to complete the survey before you can use the app to do anything radical like, oh, I don’t know, ordering a cup of coffee. The problem is that even after you have completed the survey, it still doesn’t let you in: it just loops back to the survey. Twitter user Ike found a workaround
Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways Nothing announces the Ear 3, the third generation of its flagship earbuds. A functioning microphone inside the charging case is the standout feature. The earbuds will be available to preorder for $179 on Sept. 18. Following the release of its capable flagship smartphone and nothing-short-of-interesting over-ear headphones, Nothing is releasing the next generation of its flagship earbuds, the Ear 3. Nothing introduce
The god-like rogue-like dungeon crawler game Hades is one of the most popular games in recent memory — and one of my personal all-time favorite games. The gameplay feels smooth, it's easily replayable and the game's writing is full of heart and emotion. The game's developer Supergiant Games is gearing up to release Hades 2 soon, but if you missed playing the original — or want to replay it — you can on Xbox Game Pass starting on Sept. 19. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, a CNET Editors' Choice award pi
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Modern earbuds often tout how many microphones they have on each bud, each helping contribute to crystal-clear calls and heavy duty noise cancellation. Nothing’s Ear 3, announced today, may be the first to boast about how many they have on the charging case instead. There are two, for what it’s worth, and they make up a system Nothing is calling “Super Mic.” Activated by a surprisingly prominent “Talk” butt
Lanh Nguyen / Android Authority TL;DR Samsung will reportedly launch its Project Moohan headset on October 21. This will apparently be an online launch, but there’s no word on geographical availability. Samsung’s “tri-fold” device will reportedly launch at a separate event. Samsung has been working on an Android XR headset, codenamed Project Moohan, in partnership with Google for a while now. We’ve previously heard launch date rumors, but a reliable outlet has now revealed a different date.
Ryan Haines / Android Authority iOS 26 was released a couple of days ago, and I immediately got the notification to install it on my test iPhone 13 Pro Max. A four-year-old phone, which sits at my desk and doesn’t serve me most of the time, has the latest software available with all its Liquid Glass questionable glory. My iPad Mini also received iPadOS 26, and my Apple Watch Series 6 got watchOS 26. It’s the last update my watch will get, but that’s not a bad record for a watch launched in 2020
Nothing has unveiled its latest premium earbuds, the Ear 3 ($179), which look ready to pair tastefully with its newest Phone 3. The company has refined its headphone series with an aluminum finish (in places) across both the buds and the case. Also housed inside the case is the Ear 3’s new standout feature/gimmick: the Super Mic. It’s like a walkie-talkie for your wireless headphones, pitched as a noise-banishing mic option — but I’ll get to that later. A slightly revamped design apparently gi
Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways Nothing announces the Ear 3, the third generation of its flagship earbuds. A functioning microphone inside the charging case is the standout feature. The earbuds will be available to preorder for $179 on Sept. 18. Following the release of its capable flagship smartphone and nothing-short-of-interesting over-ear headphones, Nothing is releasing the next generation of its flagship earbuds, the Ear 3. Nothing introduce
We had reached out to Samsung for a statement, and this is what a Samsung spokesperson said: Samsung is committed to innovation and enhancing every day value for our home appliance customers. As part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen that value, we are conducting a pilot program to offer promotions and curated advertisements on certain Samsung Family Hub refrigerator models in the U.S. market. As a part of this pilot program, Family Hub refrigerators in the U.S. will receive an over-the-net
TL;DR Samsung is allegedly rolling out a new software update for some of its smart refrigerators. The update adds advertisements to the display on the refrigerator door on certain themes. The changelog frames the ads as a feature, but users can avoid them by selecting specific ad-free themes — for now. Update, September 18, 2025 (04:38 AM ET): Samsung has shared a statement with us on this software update bringing ads to its smart refrigerators. Original article, September 17, 2025 (11:02 AM
The Sun — usually so predictable — is exhibiting some surprising behavior and that has scientists very intrigued. Astronomers had predicted that our host star was entering a period of relative quiet back in 2008, but NASA scientists have published a new study in The Astrophysical Journal Letters that found that the Sun has instead defied expectations by becoming more active, with increased sunspots and solar flares. "All signs were pointing to the Sun going into a prolonged phase of low activi
Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind the chatbot Claude, is trying to carve out a spot as the Good Guy in the AI space. Fresh off being the only major AI firm to throw its support behind an AI safety bill in California, the company grabbed a headline from Semafor thanks to its apparent refusal to allow its model to be used for surveillance tasks, which is pissing off the Trump administration. According to the report, law enforcement agencies have felt stifled by Anthropic’s usa
Ryan Haines / Android Authority TL;DR Alliance for Open Media announced it will launch AV2 later this year, which should be a big upgrade for streaming video. The next-generation video codec is said to offer better compression, enhanced support for AR/VR applications, and will operate over a wider visual quality range. It’s expected that 88% of AOM members — which include brands like Samsung, Google, Microsoft, and Apple — will adopt AV2 within two years. The AV1 video codec is about to make
picture alliance/Contributor/picture alliance via Getty Images Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways CR says that Windows 10's end of support will strand millions of PC owners. It calls Microsoft's actions "hypocritical" and cites national security concerns. CR also calls for continued free security updates. Consumer Reports (CR), the venerable consumer rights organization known for its in-depth product testing, sent a letter to Microsoft CEO Satya N