Brian Heater

Hardware Editor, TechCrunch

Brian Heater is the Hardware Editor at TechCrunch. He worked for a number of leading tech publications, including Engadget, PCMag, Laptop, and Tech Times, where he served as the Managing Editor. His writing has appeared in Spin, Wired, Playboy, Entertainment Weekly, The Onion, Boing Boing, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Beast and various other publications. He hosts the weekly Boing Boing interview podcast RiYL, has appeared as a regular NPR contributor and shares his Queens apartment with a rabbit named Juniper.

Brian Heater

We all fall down sometimes. Astronauts are no exception. You need to be in peak physical condition for space travel, but bulky space suits and lower gravity levels can be…

Astronauts fall over. Robotic limbs can help them back up.

When triggered, the AI-powered feature will automatically lock the device down.

Android’s new Theft Detection Lock helps deter smartphone snatch and grabs

The space is available from the launcher and can be locked as a second layer of authentication.

Google’s new Private Space feature is like Incognito Mode for Android

It ran 110 minutes, but Google managed to reference AI a whopping 121 times during Google I/O 2024 (by its own count). CEO Sundar Pichai referenced the figure to wrap…

Google mentioned ‘AI’ 120+ times during its I/O keynote

The keynote kicks off at 10 a.m. PT on Tuesday and will offer glimpses into the latest versions of Android, Wear OS and Android TV.

Google I/O 2024: Watch all of the AI, Android reveals

The system effectively listens for “conversation patterns commonly associated with scams” in-real time. 

Google will use Gemini to detect scams during calls

This is a great example of a company using generative AI to open its software to more users.

Google TalkBack will use Gemini to describe images for blind people

You can expect plenty of AI, but probably not a lot of hardware.

Google I/O 2024: What to expect

Apple devoted a full event to iPad last Tuesday, roughly a month out from WWDC. From the invite artwork to the polarizing ad spot, Apple was clear — the event…

Apple iPad Pro M4 vs. iPad Air M2: Reviewing which is right for most

iRobot has announced the successor to longtime CEO, Colin Angle. Gary Cohen, who previous held chief executive role at Timex and Qualitor Automotive, will be heading up the company, marking a major…

iRobot names former Timex head Gary Cohen as CEO

We’re still well over a month out from WWDC, but Apple went ahead and snuck in another event. On Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET, the company…

Apple iPad event 2024: Watch Apple unveil new iPads right here

Google, it seems, couldn’t wait until I/O next week to show off the latest addition to the Pixel line. For the past several years, the company has used its annual…

Google’s budget Pixel 8a delivers updated silicon, Gemini access for $499

When we reviewed the Pixel Tablet roughly this time last year, we noted in no uncertain terms, “It’s all about the dock.” It was, after all, the one thing that…

Google’s Pixel Tablet is now available without the thing that makes it interesting

Researchers at MIT CSAIL and Project CETI believe that they have unlocked a kind of sperm whale alphabet with the aid of machine learning technologies. Results from the study, which…

Machine learning aids in discovery of sperm whale ‘alphabet’

Shocking as it may seem, it’s been nearly a decade since the first Apple Pencil was announced, way back in 2015. The stylus hasn’t seen much in the way of…

Apple’s $129 Pencil Pro arrives with a squeeze sensor and Find My functionality

As anticipated, Apple’s iPad Pro was the star of Tuesday’s “Let Loose” event. The arrival of the seventh-generation device marks the first major upgrade to the premium tablet since 2022.…

Apple iPad Pro gets an M4 chip and OLED display

Featured Article

Apple iPad event: What to expect

So far, the biggest surprise about May 7’s “Let Loose” event is that it’s happening at all. We’re just over a month out from Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference, and yet the company determined there was enough news to warrant a stand-alone event. iPads (including the iPad Pro and iPad Air) will be the focus,…

3:12 pm PDT • May 6, 2024
Apple iPad event: What to expect

The first bit of news out of the Automate conference this year arrives by way of Alphabet X spinout Intrinsic. The firm announced at the Chicago event on Monday that it…

Alphabet-owned Intrinsic incorporates Nvidia tech into robotics platform

Apple on Thursday reported a 10% drop in iPhone sales for the second fiscal quarter, dropping from $51.33 billion to $45.96 billion, year-over-year. The slowdown was fueled, in part, by…

Apple earnings see 10% iPhone sales drop, massive buyback fuels stock jump

Microsoft, it seems, is hedging its bets when it comes to general-purpose robotics AI. At the end of February, the Windows maker spearheaded a massive $675 million Series B in…

Microsoft taps Sanctuary AI for general-purpose robot research

A harsh truth: As bad as North American wildfires have grown over the past several years, things are only going to get worse. Climate change continues to accelerate the issue,…

CMU is developing low-flying drones to map wildfires

The Federal Trade Commission hit Razer with a $1.1 million fine Tuesday. The order claims that the gaming accessory maker misled consumers by claiming that its flashy Zephyr mask was…

Razer hit with $1.1M FTC fine over glowing ‘N95’ mask COVID claims

Featured Article

Humanoid robots are learning to fall well

The savvy marketers at Boston Dynamics produced two major robotics news cycles last week. The larger of the two was, naturally, the electric Atlas announcement. As I write this, the sub-40 second video is steadily approaching five million views. A day prior, the company tugged at the community’s heart strings when it announced that the…

1:15 pm PDT • April 28, 2024
Humanoid robots are learning to fall well

Sanctuary AI often isn’t mentioned in the same breath as humanoid robotics firms like Boston Dynamics, Agility, Figure and 1X, but the Canadian company has been operating in the space…

Sanctuary’s new humanoid robot learns faster and costs less

Featured Article

Rabbit’s R1 is a little AI gadget that grows on you

If there’s one overarching takeaway from last night’s Rabbit R1 launch event, it’s this: Hardware can be fun again. After a decade of unquestioned smartphone dominance, there is, once again, excitement to be found in consumer electronics. The wisdom and longevity of any individual product or form factor — while important — can be set…

1:05 pm PDT • April 24, 2024
Rabbit’s R1 is a little AI gadget that grows on you

When Trace’s future co-founders Greg Tran, Martin Smith and Sean Couture joined Magic Leap in spring/summer of 2015, it was about as hot as startups come. After years of secrecy,…

Former Magic Leapers launch a platform for AR experiences

Apple just dropped an invite for its next event. Scheduled for May 7, the “Let Loose” presentation appears to be happening exclusively online — something that became standard fare for…

Apple’s next iPad event is May 7

Framework Computer was ahead of the curve. The company was founded in 2019, as 20 U.S. states began exploring potential right to repair bills. It delivered its first product, the…

Framework’s repairability philosophy is set to expand beyond the laptop

A few weeks back, TechCrunch ventured out to New Jersey to pay an early visit to HAX’s Newark offices. As much as I complained about the 90-minute commute in from…

Here are the 30+ startups showcasing at HAX’s May 1 Demo Day

Amazon confirmed it is ending Prime Air drone delivery operations in Lockeford, California. The Central California town of 3,500 was the company’s second U.S. drone delivery site, after College Station,…

Amazon ends California drone deliveries