Ding dong, The drone is dead. Pixy, Snap’s tiny flying selfie camera, is no more.
Technically, you can still buy one, but The Wall Street Journal report This week that equipment is completed. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel has told employees that the company will soon stop making $230 gizmo. Instead, Snap will “reposition” its development efforts elsewhere.
The tiny drone has a short lifespan. (The same can be said for the battery.) Pixy almost appeared out in thin air in April. Now, less than four months later, its propellers are no longer spinning.
This isn’t the first time Snap has jerked the wheel in its hardware strategy. Instead of trying to mass-produce products and create the next big thing, Snap remains an eccentric outsider in the realm of consumer technology. The company has made some try in AR glasses, but they never really went beyond being a marketing stunt. Its newest glasses not even offered for sale. Similarly, Snap has never seemed to aim too high with Pixy. They have a limited supply and say they will sell the device as long as supplies last.
Last month, Snap reported that they had made less revenue than ever, which shocked the company’s shareholders and prompted it to downsize its hiring. Unlike the incompetent Pixy, Snap’s future is still a long way off.
Here’s this week’s other consumer tech news.
Motorola Gets Edge Again
Motorola smartphones have been plagued with problems for a while. Most notably, they often lack key competitive features and offer only limited software updates. Thankfully, Moto is working around some of those bugs with its latest handset, the Motorola Edge. Does that name sound familiar? Yes, there was the Motorola Edge+ 2022 earlier this year, but that phone is $1,000. The new model is half the price, but it will get better software support: three OS upgrades and four years of bi-monthly security updates. It also has an NFC sensor, so you can use touch to pay anywhere it’s accepted.
The Motorola Edge runs Android 12 and has an impressive list of specs for its price, including a 6.6-inch display, 144-Hz OLED display, wireless charging and two days of battery life – thanks to a 5,000 mAh battery. It is also powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 1050 chipset, which adds support for 5G sub-6 and mmWave (and also C-Band). We’ll have to wait and see how its dual camera system outperforms competitors like Samsung Galaxy A53 5G and Google Pixel 6Aalthough Edge loses points because IP52 . rated water resistance (it is only safe in rain and spills, not in the pool).
More interestingly, this is Motorola’s first smartphone to be “fully carbon-offset” and it will be packaged in plastic-free packaging, which aims to reduce 5.7 tons of plastic waste and CO.2 emissions 83 tons. (It’s a pity that things took so long!) The new Edge will go on sale at T-Mobile in the coming weeks for $498, and it’ll be coming to other carriers and as a device unlocked at Amazon and Best Buy for $500 at a later date. However, this is a “limited time launch price” — after a while, it will cost $599.
Ultimate Ears Wonderboom
We here at WIRED tend to really like Ultimate Ears’ wireless speakers. (There are three of them in our guide to Best Bluetooth speaker.) They sound great, beat fast, float on water and even pretty cute. They also emit 360-degree sound around them, so no one in the hot tub is allowed to leave the blast zone.
Ultimate Ears’ latest Bluetooth speaker was announced this week. The Wonderboom 3 is an update to the company’s hand grenade-sized audio transmitter. The company says the new version features 14 hours of battery life, improved wireless range, and an IP67 water and dustproof rating. It will cost $99 and will start shipping on August 31.
Google wants search less attractive
Google Search is a mess. Try to look for any random thing and you will probably find that the top links are sponsored ads or wrong information or useless websites that just exploit SEO algorithms to gain a better position on the page. Detect really helpful Search results can be a pain.
Now, Google says it’s working on fixing all of that. In one notification On Wednesday, Google said it plans to tweak its Search settings to prioritize “useful content created by and for people.” The goal is to remove low-impact content designed primarily for search optimization. Google hasn’t shared the specifics of how that works. (After all, it’s all bullshit in the backend proprietary algorithm.) But in developer blog, the company says that its automated systems will scan the pages for obvious SEO bait and strip them. If something is considered spam, it will be tagged in the system as “unhelpful content”. Then, hopefully, you’ll be able to see better looking pages without those links cluttering your results.
