Articles by Brian Heater
HTC One A9 Review: A Marshmallow Handset That Blends Into The Crowd
It may share the iPhone's good looks, but this otherwise middling handset isn't the blockbuster HTC is looking for.
The iPad Pro is Available for Online Order Wednesday, And Set to Hit Apple Stores by Week’s End
Apple's new businessy tablet is set to arrive in Apple Stores and other retail locations this week.
New Japanese 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Trailer Brings Unseen Footage And Lots Of BB-8
Lots more mysterious footage and some Japanese subtitles to boot. The force is awakening, little bit little. The latest trickle in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens deluge comes in the form of a new trailer released through Disney's YouTube account that offers a few familiar scenes and a whole chunk of previously unseen content from the forthcoming J.
Twitter Trades Stars For Hearts and Wants You to Call Them ‘Likes’
Twitter goes all hearts. Take a look at your Twitter page. Notice anything different? There's been a Lucky Charms-style sea change, as the company has officially abandoned its long-standing star system in favor of the arguably more straight-forward heart icon.
The SIAM 7x Handset Hits Kickstarter With Two Screens, An Earprint Reader, and Audio Support From 50 Cent
A new handset with two screens and a few other cool tricks. How many screens is enough screens for a smartphone? You probably answered "one screen," as in, "don't be ridiculous, Brian.
Motorola Droid Turbo 2 Review: A Rugged, Long-Lasting Handset Wrapped Up In Verizon Red Tape
The latest Droid sports a shatterproof screen, tremendous battery life, and a whole lot of Verizon. You can keep your 4K screens and 41-megapixel cameras.
Amazon Has Opened An Honest To Goodness Bookstore In Seattle
Amazon shocks the retail world by opening up a brick-and-mortar shop in its hometown ahead of the holidays.
Nintendo’s First Smartphone Game 'Miitomo' Is Coming In March, Won't Star Mario
Nintendo announces a Mii-centric smartphone title. After what seems like an eternity of heel dragging, Nintendo is finally joining the rest of the world in the mobile space—but naturally, the company is doing so on its own terms.
The New OnePlus X Offers Premium Smartphone Looks On A $249 Budget
The Chinese handset maker hits back with a new 5-inch handset. It was one of the worst-kept secrets in an industry full of them, and now OnePlus's latest budget take on the premium smartphone space is ready for its time to shine.
Motorola’s Shatterproof Droid Turbo 2 Has Been Officially Rebranded The Moto X Force For Global Consumers
It's got a rugged display and 48 hours of battery life. Mere days after unveiling the Droid Turbo 2 at a joint press release with Verizon, Motorola has dropped yet another handset—and once again, nothing cracked in the process.
Hands-On With Motorola's Droid Maxx 2
We try out Motorola and Verizon's other new Droid. Someone's got to play the second fiddle, right? Motorola and Verizon promised Droids at today's New York City event, and the companies certainly delivered in that plurality, spending most of the time talking up the Turbo 2, in all of its shatterproof splendor.
Hands-On With Motorola's New Shatterproof Droid Turbo 2
We play around with Motorola's rugged new handset. What's not to love about a handset you can repeatedly drop on a cinder block? Particularly one that doesn't look like the sort of device that we tend to associate with words like "rugged" and "tough.
Motorola Droid Maxx 2 Makes Its Debut, Packing An Impressive 48 Hours Of Battery Life
Motorola and Verizon show of the new Droid Maxx 2, which sports a big old battery. As Motorola noted, today's event was about Droids, plural. And while the Turbo 2 was the centerpiece of the show, the company also gave the Maxx 2 a little time to shine.
Motorola and Verizon Show Off and Drop the Droid Turbo 2, A Rugged and Shatterproof Android Handset
The Droid Turbo 2 is designed to take a licking. A half dozen years after launching the first Droid handset, Verizon and Motorola are back to introduce the latest entries in the line once synonymous with Google's mobile operating system.
Blue’s Lola Are a Slimmer, More Lightweight Version of the Company’s Terrific Mo-Fi Headphones
Blue Microphones slims down its terrific Mo-Fi line. I tried Blue Microphones' Mo-Fi headphones out a while back. They're big, beautiful, and a lot more terrific sounding than I was honestly expecting from a company best know for its USB podcasting mics.
Facebook’s Mobile Notifications Tab Is Getting A Lot More Useful Content
Facebook is beefing up the notifications tab on its iOS and Android apps. Up to now, the Notifications tab on Facebook's mobile app has been the realm of comments and likes.
Chase Is In the Digital Wallet Business Now, Too
Chase launches a new digital wallet system that is due out in mid-2016. Seems like everyone's got a digital wallet system these days, from Apple and Google, to Paypal and MasterCard.
There’s a Mechanical Fan Company Called Wozfans, Started by a Different Steve Wozniak
Not the Apple guy. When your name is Steve Wozniak, you can't help but innovate, whether its co-founding the company that would forever alter humankind's relationship with technology, or building a better patio fan.
London’s Mayor Wants Those Little Hoverboard Scooters Legalized on His Sidewalks
London mayor Boris Johnson calls for an end to his city's hoverboard ban. London mayor Boris Johnson gets it. Kind of, sort of. He doesn't exactly know what to call it, but he gets it.
T-Mobile Hires Skywriters to Send a Message in Skies Above Verizon’s Offices
T-Mobile has employed prop planes to write messages above Verizon's New Jersey offices. As far as promotional stunts go, this one is, well, uniquely T-Mobile.
Twitter And CBS Are Teaming Up For The Upcoming Democratic Presidential Debate In Iowa
Twitter and CBS are partnering to stream the second Democratic debate of 2015. A presidential debate is nothing without its hashtag. For those following along at home, it'll be #DemDebate when the Democratic candidates take the stage at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
Google Nexus 5X Review: The Best Android Phone $379 Can Buy
Android 6.0 gets the budget handset it deserves Poor LG. The company could really use a hit. The conversations about premium handsets are nearly always dominated by Apple and Samsung, while a slew of Chinese brands have been nibbling away at the Korean company's low-end devices.
Google Nexus 6P Review: Android 6.0 Gets The Well-Rounded Flagship It Deserves
A review of Huawei's terrific new 5.7-inch Android Marshmallow handset. The phone that makes Huawei a household name here in the States may not even bear its name at all.
Barnes & Noble Surprises With A Brand New Nook E-Reader, The Waterproof And Dustproof GlowLight Plus
Barnes & Noble brings a long-awaited update to its e-reader line. You can't keep a good e-reader manufacturer down. Barnes & Noble has been quiet on that front for some time now, as rivals Amazon and Kobo have continued their game of oneupmanship, but the once-ubiquitous bookseller is set to make a splash yet again with a brand new Nook, the company's first to feature a waterproof and dustproof build.
Martian Aviator Review: A Smartwatch With An Analog Heart
Martian's wearables marry smartwatch technology with old-school timekeeping. I bought a Martian Notifier a while back, and I like it a lot. For starters there's the fact that it's ridiculously discounted by 60 percent over on Amazon right now.
Apple’s iMac Line Gets A Retina Display Refresh
Apple's iMac line goes 4- and 5K Retina Display. Cupertino slipped out an unexpected update this morning to its perennial favorite iMac line, bringing the beloved desktop super hi-res Retina Displays.
Roomba 980 Review: iRobot's Terrific Wi-Fi-Enabled Robot Vacuum Will Clean Up Your Floors, Bank Account
iRobot's latest Roomba is packed with some terrific new features like smartphone integration, smart charging, and improved navigation. And it's got a price tag to match.
iPhone 6s Review: Apple's Flagship Learns Some Cool New Tricks
It may look a lot like last year's model, but the iPhone 6s has some great new features up its sleeve.
Kobo Touch 2.0 Review: A Utilitarian E-Reader Without All the Extra Shine
Kobo's made some slight upgrades to its low-end e-reader. No one ever said taking on Amazon was going to be easy. If titans of industry like Sony and Barnes & Noble can't hang on, what hope is there for a plucky little Canadian hardware maker? Yet somehow Kobo has hung on in spite of it all.
Exclusive Preview: CBLDF’s Liberty Annual 2015, Featuring Art Spiegelman, Peter Bagge, and Jeffrey Brown
We've got some exclusive pages from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's new benefit comic.
