Brian Heater
Hardware Editor
The Latest from Brian Heater
Verizon and AWS announce 5G Edge computing partnership
Just as Qualcomm was starting to highlight its 5G plans for the coming years, Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg hit the stage at AWS re:Invent to discuss the carrier’s team up with the cloud computing giant
Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon 865 and 765 platforms
This morning at its annual Snapdragon summit in Hawaii, Qualcomm offered a glimpse at two new Snapdragon chips. You know how this works: the chipmaker offers some insight into the components that will
Amazon Robotics head Tye Brady will be speaking at TC Sessions: Robotics+AI 2020 at UC Berkeley
We’re gearing up for another great TC Sessions: Robotics+AI March 3 at UC Berkeley, and we’ve got some big names to announce. Last week, it was AI expert Stuart Russell, and today we’re pleased
T-Mobile opens pre-orders on two 5G phones as low-band network goes live
The 5G question has long been carts and horses. The next-generation wireless network has always been an inevitability, of course, but the rollout has always felt a bit piecemeal. T-Mobile, to its cred
Twitter will free up handles by deleting inactive accounts
Those who’ve attempted to snag their preferred Twitter handle know what a pain the process can be. Users can squat on an account for years, holding onto handles in spite of long stretches of inactiv
Gift Guide: 10 suitcase-friendly gifts for frequent flyers
Once again, TechCrunch has asked me to put together a list of travel-friendly gadgets, and once again, I find myself between back-to-back international flights. If nothing else, all of the travel for
New smartphone figures highlight continued struggles to grow market
In some corners, the smartphone market is showing its first signs of life in some time. Recent figures from Canalys indicate a small but notable uptick in the European market as shipments grew 3%, yea
The ACLU wants details about videos of Boston Dynamics robot in police exercises
Back in April at our robotics event at UC Berkeley, Boston Dynamics head Marc Raibert showed off video of the company’s Spot robot in a number of different real world scenarios. Some, like construct
European smartphone shipments grew in Q3, driven by Samsung
Europe bucked global smartphone stagnation in the third quarter, marking an 8% year over year growth in device shipments. That number, provided by Canalys, puts the region at the top of smartphone gro
Remrise raises $8.2M to deliver tailored, plant-based sleep solutions
Sleep is big business. Casper, Leesa and a dozen other mattress companies have driven the point home in recent years. It’s something we all want, but none of us are getting enough of. In 2017, sleep
Motorola throws back to the future with a foldable Razr reboot
The rebirth of the Razr has been rumored for several months now. And honestly, such a product is a bit of a no-brainer. The Lenovo-owned company is embracing the burgeoning (if sputtering) world of fo
Echo Studio is Amazon’s lower-cost answer to the HomePod
Amazon kickstarted the smart speaker market with the original Echo, way back in late-2014. Like many of the company’s hardware offerings, it was very much a utilitarian device. The first Echo was sm
Can a combined Google/Fitbit take on the Apple Watch?
In January 2014, Google announced plans to acquire Nest for $3.2 billion; the acquisition was completed the following day, but since then, Nest’s integration has been a controlled burn. Initiall
Google is acquiring Fitbit for $2.1 billion
Just days after it was reported that Google was close to buying Fitbit, Google and Fitbit today confirmed the purchase: Google will pay $7.35 per share for the wearables company in an all-cash deal th
How I Podcast: I’m Listening’s Anita Flores
The beauty of podcasting is that anyone can do it. It’s a rare medium that’s nearly as easy to make as it is to consume. And as such, no two people do it exactly the same way. There are a wealth o
For the first time in two years, the smartphone market shows signs of life
All is not lost for smartphone manufacturers. On the heels of two years’ of global stagnation, the category is finally showing some signs of life. Much of the bounce back comes as manufacturers are
Wearable spending forecasted to increase 27% in 2020
New numbers from Gartner mark another major increase for global wearable spending in 2020. The analyst firm forecasts a 27% jump in end-user spending over this year, from $40.5 billion to $51.5 billio
DJI announces the smallest Mavic drone yet
The Mavic Pro was a revelation when DJI announced it a little over three years ago. The foldable drone was precisely the shot in the arm the industry needed to help make the technology more accessible
Apple’s AirPods Pro set a pricey new standard for earbuds
“These $250 earbuds are nice.” That’s the first thing I wrote to a co-worker after unboxing and trying on the new AirPods. After wearing them around the New York City streets, the subway and int