Hacker News with Generative AI: Consumer Electronics

Google is killing software support for early Nest Thermostats (theverge.com)
Google has just announced that it’s ending software updates for the first-generation Nest Learning Thermostat, released in 2011, and the second-gen model that came a year later.

Google, Hardware, Software Updates, Consumer Electronics

13 points by ohmyblock 16 hours ago | 14 comments

EU Energy labelling will apply to phones and tablets from June 2025 (europa.eu)
Energy labelling and ecodesign requirements will apply to these products from June 2025.

EU Regulations, Consumer Electronics, Sustainability, Technology, Energy Efficiency

88 points by sohkamyung 2 days ago | 81 comments

Synology now requires Synology-branded drives for some consumer NAS systems (tomshardware.com)

Hardware, Storage, Synology, Consumer Electronics, NAS

7 points by CharlesW 8 days ago | 2 comments

The Atari 1200XL fiasco (goto10retro.com)
The Atari 1200XL was the third Atari 8-bit computer. Announced in late 1982 and available in early 1983, it was designed as a replacement for the Atari 800, which was becoming increasingly expensive to produce, and to serve as a better competitor to the upstart Commodore 64.

Retro Computing, Atari, History, Video Games, Consumer Electronics

85 points by rbanffy 9 days ago | 84 comments

PS5 price rises substantially in UK and Europe (theverge.com)
Sony has raised the price of most of its PlayStation 5 console hardware in the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand by 10-15 percent, blaming “a challenging economic environment.”

Gaming, Consumer Electronics, Economics

6 points by bentobean 11 days ago | 0 comments

Razer pauses direct laptop sales in the US as new tariffs loom (theverge.com)
With tariffs set to kick in tonight, Razer’s new Blade 16 and other laptops are no longer available to purchase directly.

Tariffs, Razer, Laptops, Consumer Electronics, United States

7 points by doener 18 days ago | 0 comments

Framework temporarily pausing some laptop sales in the US due to tariffs (fosstodon.org)

Framework Laptops, Tariffs, United States, Consumer Electronics

194 points by leotravis10 18 days ago | 44 comments

Apple Customers Rush to Buy iPhones Amid Fears Tariffs Could Cause Price Hikes (macrumors.com)
Ahead of when new reciprocal tariffs go into effect on April 9, Apple customers are scrambling to buy devices before prices go up.

Apple, Consumer Electronics, Tariffs, Economics

4 points by alwillis 18 days ago | 0 comments

Keyboardio's open letter to U.S. customers (keyboard.io)

Open Source, Hardware, Consumer Electronics

17 points by Eric_WVGG 19 days ago | 2 comments

Staggering price of new iPhone after Trump's tariffs (msn.com)
The price of an iPhone is set to skyrocket under President Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs crackdown, experts have warned.

Politics, Economics, Mobile Devices, Consumer Electronics

4 points by galaxyLogic 20 days ago | 0 comments

Cheap TVs' incessant advertising reaches troubling new lows (arstechnica.com)
TVs offer us an escape from the real world. After a long day, sometimes there’s nothing more relaxing than turning on your TV, tuning into your favorite program, and unplugging from the realities around you.

Consumer Electronics, Advertising, Entertainment

10 points by LinuxBender 25 days ago | 2 comments

After borking my Pixel 4a battery, Google borks me, too (arstechnica.com)
It is an immutable law of nature that when you receive a corporate email with a subject line like "Changes coming to your Pixel 4a," the changes won't be the sort you like. Indeed, a more honest subject line would usually be: "You're about to get hosed."

Consumer Electronics, Google, Customer Service, User Experience

23 points by MBCook 32 days ago | 7 comments

GM blocks dealers from using Apple CarPlay, Android Auto aftermarket kits (dealershipguy.com)
General Motors $GM ( ▲ 1.97% ) has reportedly forced a dealer to pull the plug on an aftermarket kit that retailers could install that restores phone-mirroring systems for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in its Ultium-platform electric vehicles.

Automotive, Technology, Business, Consumer Electronics

46 points by hnburnsy 33 days ago | 22 comments

Cheap earbuds got damn good (therectangle.substack.com)
There was a time, not that long ago, when cheap wired earbuds were an unbridled assault on my sweet hearing holes.

Audio Equipment, Consumer Electronics, Reviews

10 points by olyellybelly 33 days ago | 5 comments

Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008) (oncontracts.com)
Monster Cables, which makes extremely high-priced stereo cables, has apparently sent a cease-and-desist letter to Blue Jeans Cable, alleging various kinds of infringement. Bad move – the president of Blue Jeans Cable, Kurt Denke, is a former litigator who responded pretty forcefully:

Legal Disputes, Business, Consumer Electronics

565 points by wallflower 35 days ago | 198 comments

U.S. Atari parts store still open after 41 years (tomshardware.com)

Retro Gaming, Business, History, Consumer Electronics

12 points by speckx 40 days ago | 1 comments

Sonos reportedly scraps its long-expected streaming video device (engadget.com)
Sorry to everyone who was waiting for Sonos to release a streaming video device — it seems that's not happening anytime soon.

Consumer Electronics, Streaming, Sonos

5 points by CharlesW 44 days ago | 0 comments

Global smartwatch sales fall for first time (bbc.com)
Global sales of smartwatches have fallen for the first time, new figures indicate, in large part due to a sharp decline in the popularity of market leader, Apple.

Consumer Electronics, Market Trends, Apple

7 points by billybuckwheat 45 days ago | 0 comments

Apple Products Are Struggling (trendlinehq.com)
Apple’s products have been struggling in recent years. Iphone sales have been flattish, while sales for other product lines are declining. Vision Pro hasn’t been as much of a success and Apple has stopped working on cars. They need a new product. Seems like thats’s what they are going on announce on Feb 19.

Apple, Technology, Consumer Electronics, Business, Product Development

15 points by samspenc 45 days ago | 27 comments

The first wi-fi earbuds are here (whathifi.com)

Consumer Electronics, Audio, Technology, Wireless

5 points by geox 45 days ago | 2 comments

Xiaomi First to deliver on Qualcomm's promise of Wi-Fi earbud (theverge.com)
Xiaomi has given a European launch to its Buds 5 Pro, the first earbuds to use Qualcomm’s S7 Pro chip to stream audio over Wi-Fi, in addition to Bluetooth, with no increase in power consumption.

Consumer Electronics, Technology, Xiaomi, Audio Technology, Qualcomm

3 points by ksec 52 days ago | 0 comments

Why China's Xiaomi Can Make an Electric Car and Apple Can't (nytimes.com)
Xiaomi, which produces smartphones and consumer electronics, delivered 135,000 E.V.s last year after tapping China’s robust manufacturing supply chain.

Electric Vehicles, China, Apple, Xiaomi, Consumer Electronics

16 points by bookofjoe 53 days ago | 2 comments

The HP-35: Consumer Electronics, an Origin Story (codex99.com)
Sometime in late 1971, Peter Nelson, from Hewlett-Packard’s Corporate Relations Department in Palo Alto, enlisted Karen Cambria, from the Automatic Measurement Division (conveniently, in the same building), to pose with their new electronic device, a scientific calculator they named the HP-35. Norton Pearl took several photos of Karen with the calculator and it was this photo that ended up in the press kit.

Consumer Electronics, History, Calculators, Hewlett-Packard

79 points by wyclif 60 days ago | 42 comments

Tariffs result in 10% laptop price hike in U.S. says Acer CEO (tomshardware.com)

Tariffs, Laptops, Hardware, Consumer Electronics, Economics

282 points by pseudolus 67 days ago | 516 comments

Huawei launches $3,660 trifold phone (cnbc.com)

Huawei, Smartphones, Technology, Mobile Devices, Consumer Electronics

14 points by belter 67 days ago | 65 comments

Sony FX-300 Jackal: A technological marvel of the late 70s (2021) (swling.com)
I’m a child of the 1970s and I’m glad I never knew about the Sony FX-300 “Jackal 300.” It would have been the ultimate unobtainable machine of my dreams…this, even despite the lack of shortwave.

Technology, History, Consumer Electronics

138 points by cainxinth 67 days ago | 55 comments

An Update on Micro LED (arstechnica.com)
New (and cheaper) Micro LED TVs have been announced.

Micro LED, Televisions, Consumer Electronics, Technology, Display Technology

5 points by LorenDB 73 days ago | 5 comments

Nvidia's RTX 5090 power connectors are melting (theverge.com)
Ah shit, here we go again. Two owners of Nvidia’s new RTX 5090 Founders Edition GPUs have reported melted power connectors and damage to their PSUs.

Hardware, Graphics Cards, Nvidia, Technology, Consumer Electronics

416 points by ambigious7777 74 days ago | 511 comments

New iPhone SE Coming Soon (bloomberg.com)
Apple Inc. plans to unveil a long-anticipated overhaul of the iPhone SE in the coming days, a move that will modernize its lower-cost model in a bid to spur growth and entice consumers to switch from other brands.

Apple, Smartphones, Technology, Mobile Devices, Consumer Electronics

21 points by hedora 78 days ago | 35 comments

Conversational Alexa being unveiled on Feb 26 (9to5mac.com)
A new conversational Alexa is expected to be revealed at an Amazon media event on February 26, with press invitations sent out yesterday.

Amazon, Alexa, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Consumer Electronics

7 points by o_nate 79 days ago | 1 comments