Brian Fagioli

Despite owning a fancy iPhone 16 Pro Max, I also have an iPad Air. Why? Well, even though my iPhone has a pretty big screen, sometimes I just want even bigger. Plus, I can use it when my iPhone is charging.

Why didn’t I go with an iPad Pro? Quite simply, Apple’s Pro tablets are too expensive for what I mostly use them for -- media consumption. Hell, I don’t need an expensive iPad Pro for watching TikTok on the toilet.

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Back in January, we told you about the all-new Smart Thermostat Essential from ecobee. Is it an innovative product? Not at all. However, this new thermostat doesn’t need to break new ground. Instead, it aims to offer a reliable experience at an affordable price. Quite frankly, that’s really all a homeowner wants from a thermostat these days.

ecobee promised the Smart Thermostat Essential would hit stores in March, and wouldn’t you know it, we are now in March. And so, staying true to its word, the affordable thermostat can be purchased immediately.

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Today, Xiaomi introduces its latest flagship devices -- the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro. The lineup also includes the Xiaomi 15 smartphone and Xiaomi Pad 7. Yes, there are Pro and non-Pro variants of both the smartphone and tablet.

Xiaomi says the 15 Ultra is designed with photography in mind, featuring a quad-camera system developed with Leica. The main camera includes a 1-inch 50MP Sony LYT-900 sensor with a variable ƒ/1.63-ƒ/4.0 aperture for improved light control and depth of field. It also uses a Leica Summilux optical lens with an 8P aspherical high-transmittance design and dual anti-reflection coating to reduce glare.

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If you are a photographer or videographer, you know just how important lighting is. You can have fancy high-end cameras, but if your lighting sucks, the end result can really suffer. Wouldn’t it be cool to scientifically monitor lighting rather than trust your gut?

Well, if you like that idea, I have great news. You see, Datacolor has launched a really cool new product called “LightColor Meter.” This diminutive device is designed to measure both light intensity and color temperature.

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Transcend has launched a new solid state drive that is largely unremarkable. Called “MTE255S,” it features a PCIe Gen4 x4 interface and reaches read speeds of up to 7,400MB/s and write speeds of up to 6,500MB/s. While this performance is hardly the best on the market, it is still quite respectable.

With 1TB and 2TB storage options, the MTE255S comes equipped with a graphene heatsink to assist in cooling.Transcend includes LDPC error correction, though this model sadly lacks a DRAM cache and RAID engine -- something to strongly consider if you need sustained high-speed writes.

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The subway in NYC has received a huge upgrade, but it’s probably not at all what you’d expect. No, it is not coming in the form of new trains or renovations to stations (even though that would be great). Actually, the MTA is testing a system that effectively transforms Google Pixel Android smartphones into powerful diagnostic tools for tracking rail defects!

The project, called “TrackInspect,” attaches Google Pixel phones to subway cars. Then, by using the Android devices’ built-in microphones and motion sensors, it detects vibrations and sound patterns. These sounds can indicate areas of track that may need maintenance. How cool is that?

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OpenAI has just announced GPT-4.5! While the company says the model is its most advanced AI yet, there’s definitely more to this release than meets the eye. Version 4.5 is a clear warning for anyone betting against OpenAI, including Elon Musk.

GPT-4.5 is being labeled a “research preview,” meaning OpenAI is still testing its strengths and weaknesses. With that said, it is apparently smarter, more natural in conversations, and better at avoiding mistakes than previous models. That could signal big trouble for xAI’s Grok, which Musk has been pushing as an alternative to OpenAI’s models.

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If you are a fan of crafts, you definitely have reason to be excited today. You see, Cricut is back with two new cutting machines designed to make crafting easier, faster, and even more affordable!

The Cricut Explore 4 and Cricut Maker 4 will be available starting tomorrow. These machines will appeal to stay-at-home moms (or stay-at-home dads for that matter) looking for a creative hobby or even a potential side hustle. With the ability to cut materials twice as fast as before, users can churn out custom vinyl decals, t-shirts, greeting cards, and more in record time. You'll be amazed by all the cool things you can make with it.

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TP-Link is one of my favorite networking brands thanks to its high quality and affordable prices. Today, that company launches the Archer GE650 -- an absolutely gorgeous Wi-Fi 7 gaming router.

The Archer GE650 delivers up to 11Gbps across three bands, including 5764Mbps on 6GHz, 4323Mbps on 5GHz, and 574Mbps on 2.4GHz. The router features one 5Gbps WAN port, one 5Gbps LAN port, and three 2.5Gbps LAN ports. Yeah, this router is absolutely loaded with multi-gig ports, making Gigabit seem downright ancient.

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BlueAnt has launched the X5i Party Speaker. This speaker offers 120W peak power, seven LED modes, two wireless microphones, and solid, long-lasting battery life. Whether it’s a party, karaoke night, or casual listening session, the X5i should be more than up for the task.

CEO Taisen Maddern describes the X5i as an all-in-one audio experience. “It’s been engineered for all audio forms; from punk to pop, from metal to melodic, we’ve ensured audio is the king with the X5i,” he said. “The experience across the board, from the lighting to the battery, makes this the one-stop speaker for all occasions. With amazing bass, even at low volume levels, it makes the music feel live and helps create life’s memorable moments.”

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Mozilla has long positioned itself as a champion of privacy and open-source software, but its latest move really makes me worry that the organization could be drifting away from those values. You see, Mozilla has introduced Terms of Use for Firefox for the first time ever. Additionally, there is an updated Privacy Notice. And while Mozilla frames this as a move toward transparency, the actual terms are raising some major red flags for me.

Mozilla claims these new terms are necessary due to a changing “technology landscape,” yet the fine print tells a far different story. One of the most troubling aspects is that users must grant Mozilla all rights necessary to operate Firefox, including a “nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license” to use information entered through the browser. Mozilla insists this is meant to help users navigate the web, but the vague wording leaves a dangerous amount of room for interpretation. Could this include personal data, saved passwords, or browsing history? Mozilla simply fails to say.

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Imagine for just a moment an advanced bird feeder that feels like a piece of nature itself, carved from eco-friendly bamboo. However, this IP66 waterproof feeder is also equipped with Wi-Fi, solar charging, and an AI camera to bring birdwatching into modern times. There is no need to imagine this product, as it is a reality!

The “VINGUYS Smart Bird Feeder V-Feeder Bamboo” is more than just a pretty perch -- it’s got a 2.5K UHD camera that captures both photos and videos. It connects to your home Wi-Fi, albeit 2.4Ghz only, so you can watch the camera on your smartphone.

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If you thought solid state drive manufacturers were going to be slowing down their progress, you should think again. Today, Samsung unveils its 9100 PRO series, and it’s insanely fast. Using PCIe 5.0, it achieves up to 14,800 MB/s read and 13,400 MB/s write speeds! That’s twice as fast as its predecessor. So, yeah, this is a pretty big deal.

There are two variants of the SSD -- the standard 9100 PRO and a version with a heatsink for better cooling. Samsung has equipped these drives with a power-efficient 5nm controller, reducing energy use by nearly 50 percent. Impressively, random read/write speeds can hit 2,200K/2,600K IOPS.

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Plugable has launched the PS-10CC, a USB-C charger with 10 ports. Following a Kickstarter campaign in October, it goes on sale today for an introductory price of $84.95, which is less than its MSRP of $99.95.

Created to eliminate cable clutter and completely improve charging efficiency, the PS-10CC uses precise, real-time current sensing to allocate power to each port that needs it. Devices connected to the ports farthest to the left get charged faster. Users should consider this when plugging in laptops and phones so they receive priority.

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Pardon my crude language, but Apple Intelligence sucks. Sorry, but there’s no way to sugarcoat it. Apple is literally worth trillions of dollars, and despite having what is essentially unlimited resources, its AI service is absolutely horrid. In fact, it is so bad, that many users just turn it off entirely. Hell, there is even an entire subreddit dedicated to its failures.

What makes Apple Intelligence so terrible? Well, there are many things, but the most comical is the horrible job it does with summarizing notifications. Case in point, if my doorbell camera detects a person in the morning, and a person in the afternoon, Apple Intelligence will later warn me that multiple people are detected -- making it sound like a gang of people are on my front porch at the same time.

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