Little more than two minutes behind the wheel of the 2020 Bentley Flying Spur, an opportunity to test its 626 horsepower presents itself. The narrow, twisting streets of Monaco are filled with tourists, rich residents, and buzzing scooters, and few seem motivated to allow the driver of a six-figure luxury sports sedan out from the shadow of the storied Hôtel de Paris and into the hectic traffic.
The Pixelbook Go hides its design charms on the bottom, which seems a pretty strange place at first glance, but then you have to think about how Google's new Chromebook is actually going to be used. The textured base is at odds with what's otherwise a fairly sober, sensible design, but it has some advantages beyond just looking distinctive.
First things first: I can't tell you how the new Google Pixel Buds sound. Here at Google's big product gush in New York City, all of the functional second-generation wireless earbuds are safely tethered down or in the cautious hands of the company's demo team. That's because, while they may be getting announced alongside the Pixel 4, the Pixel Buds aren't going to launch alongside them.
Google's Pixel 4 is probably the worst-kept secret in smartphones in recent years; all that was missing was the new Android flagship being inadvertently left in a bar and sold. Still, it's a testament to just how excited phone-buyers and tech-followers are about things like Google's computational photography that, even with the cat well and truly out of the bag, interest in the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL remains so high.
There's a new Google Nest Mini, and while it may not look any different, Google promises its smallest and most affordable smart speaker should be louder, smarter, and more flexible. The new second-generation Mini looks just like its predecessor, a compact, circular blob that's topped with a speaker grille made from recycled plastic bottles.
Google has officially announced the new Pixel Buds, the latest generation of its fully wireless headphones. Unlike the first-generation Pixel Buds, the much-derided cord that ran between the two earbuds has been removed completely, with each side now completely untethered.
Beats' most important headphones are getting a huge update, with the new Beats Solos Pro adding active noise cancellation to the best-selling wireless headphones. The new on-ear cans tap Apple's H1 chip for easier Bluetooth pairing, but Beats has added its own spin on how its Pure Adaptive Noise Cancelling (Pure ANC) system interacts with the outside world.
You'd need to have been hiding under a pretty big rock not to have heard of Fortnite, but the huge online game has cranked up the stakes for players by destroying its entire map in seriously spectacular way. Fortnite 'The End' was promised for this weekend, as Epic Games hit reboot on the current map and paved the way for a new one, but even the most avid players probably weren't expecting something quite so dramatic.
The two-row midsize SUV space is getting another option, with the 2020 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport making its official debut today. A five-seat version of the full-sized Atlas, it's shorter and lower than its three-row brethren, but combines that more easily-parked scale with no reduction in wheelbase.
Whether it's a planned outage or an unexpected one, losing power at home is never fun, but with some straightforward preparation it needn't be a nightmare. With big chunks of California going offline this week - myself included - it's been a good opportunity to test out my emergency plan, including some low-tech preparation and some high-tech gadgets like the latest battery backups. Here's what has worked for me, and how it might help you.
Talk about a glow-up: Toyota's fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) has flourished from caterpillar to butterfly, with the 2021 Mirai promising to be an eco-friendly car you actively want to drive. Previewed as the 2021 Toyota Mirai Sedan Concept ahead of the second-generation car's full debut in late 2020, the new model promises an increase in range from its hydrogen drivetrain, along with more engaging driving dynamics.
Apple may not have been able to figure out AirPower, but that isn't stopping Nomad from making a wireless charging pad that promises to top up your phone regardless of where you set it down. The Nomad Base Station Pro debuts Aira's FreePower technology, which removes the need to precisely set down a Qi-compatible gadget on a charging pad.