The Palma is a strange product. It’s a small e-reader with far bigger gadget ambitions. On its site, Boox describes the product as a “distraction-free device that lets you reclaim your focus in the exact middle between tech and life.” In a lot of ways, the company’s ambitions appear to mirror those of Light Phone’s by […]
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On Monday, Bloomberg reported on Apple’s plans to fully overhaul its laptop line. That’s exactly the kind of rumor you don’t want to drop in the week between the announcement and launch of a new MacBook Pro. A deeper dive reveals that the planned revamp is coming at some point in 2026. It’s still very […]
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iMac is the rock of Apple’s desktop line. Over the past decade we’ve seen the iMac Pro come and go, Apple struggling to crack the Mac Pro, and largely forgetting the Mac Mini existed for more than a decade. With two years and two models under its belt, the jury is still out on the […]
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For years, the Mini was the odd man out in the Mac desktop lineup. Apple has given plenty of love to the iMac over the years. The Mac Pro has had a few false starts, but the company is clearly committed to offering a true professional-grade desktop experience. The Studio is the new kid on […]
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Roomba maker iRobot is laying off 105 employees — about 16% of the company’s workforce, per an SEC filing — saying the cuts are part of an “operational restructuring plan.” The move comes after iRobot slashed roughly 350 jobs — about 31% of its workforce — earlier this year. Those cuts were made after plans […]
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Apple is warning investors that its new and future products might never be as profitable as the iPhone. The disclosure comes as the company is pursuing newer technologies like artificial intelligence and mixed-reality headsets. Apple added the warning in its latest annual report under the “business risks” section, as first reported by the Financial Times. […]
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Nvidia on Tuesday exceeded Apple’s market capitalization to become the world’s largest company, on the strength of a global AI push. As Bloomberg notes, the chipmaker has experienced an astronomical 850% growth since the tail end of 2022. Nvidia was valued at $3.43 trillion at the close of market, topping Apple’s $3.38 trillion. This isn’t […]
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The European Union has tossed a wrench in the works of chipmaker Nvidia’s proposed acquisition of Tel Aviv-based AI workload management startup Run:ai. The deal, which was announced back in April — with a price tag of $700 million per our sources — will be reviewed by the bloc after a request by competition regulators in […]
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Automation skeptics ask: Why humanoids? There are many benefits and drawbacks of the robotics form factor, but Boston Dynamics’ latest electric Atlas video showcases one of the most underdiscussed factors: costumes. “Why build a humanoid robot?” the company rhetorically posits. “Because the world is designed for humans, including all the best Halloween costumes.” A day […]
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Disrupting the top-heavy mobile industry once is hard enough. Carl Pei has done it twice. Following the success of OnePlus, Pei founded Nothing. The London-based hardware firm aims to make the stodgy world of smartphones fun again.Watch as Pei discusses how he founded the hardware startup and built Nothing from nothing. Subscribe for more on […]
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Apple on Wednesday wrapped up Macweek (well, Mac half week) by introducing an updated MacBook Pro. Apple’s most premium laptop is catching up to is brethren with the addition of M4 chips. The Pro and Mini are the first two Macs getting the new chip. The Pro will also be the first to sport the […]
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Apple wrapped up a half week of Mac announcements Wednesday by debuting the latest addition to the M-series of chips. A day after announcing the M4 Pro alongside the tiny new Mac mini, the company is showcasing the M4 Max, which is coming to the MacBook Pro line. Like the other members of the M4 […]
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Boston Dynamics’ new humanoid has been quietly improving by leaps and bounds behind the scenes. Announced in April, we caught some brief insight into the electric Atlas’ strength in August through a video of the robot doing pushups. The latest video, released Wednesday, showcases the robot doing work in a demo space, moving engine parts […]
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October was an exciting month for reading devices. We got a new iPad mini, a couple of products from Boox, and this strange yet compelling iPhone e-reader adapter from Astropad. The biggest splash of all, however, came from Amazon. It’s unsurprising, as the retail giant commands around 80% of the devoted e-reader market. The past […]
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Apple went to unusual lengths to ensure it accounted for and neutralized all the pollution that the new Mac Mini might produce.
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MRIs are an indispensable tool for surgeons, though the technology certainly has its limitations. Take, for instance, surgeons using the machines to guide their procedures. The current process entails putting the patient into a machine to get an image, before pulling them out to advance a needle one centimeter at a time. It’s a time-consuming […]
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The week of Macs keeps rolling along with a brand-new Mac Mini. The rumors were true: The M4 edition finds the company scaling the little desktop down to not much larger than an Apple TV. The Mini enclosure measures 5 x 5 inches, versus the Apple TV 4K’s 3.66 x 3.66. The significantly smaller size […]
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The week of Mac announcements chugs along, as Apple introduces the latest addition to its line of first-party silicon. The new M4 is debuting as an upgradeable option for the just-announced palm-size Mac Mini. The Pro follows the May release of the original M4. That chip bucked the standard Apple Silicon cycle by debuting on […]
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This article is part of our special report, “Reinventing Invention: Stories from Innovation’s Edge.”
Duncan Turner is the managing director at Hax, a startup accelerator that specializes in “hard tech”—innovations in physical science and engineering. Hax offers up to US $500,000 in funding alongside resources that include chemical, mechanical, and electronics labs, and access to a global team of engineers and scientists. Turner’s group has worked with more than 300 hard tech companies with the goal of accelerating their pace of innovation to match that of software companies.
The pandemic, and the supply-chain issues that followed, were a hurdle for start-ups. Do these issues continue to challenge inventors?
Duncan Turner: [Pre-pandemic] investors were realizing that with climate issues, you need to start investing in the hardware that makes a difference. That interest and capital was met by supply-chain challenges. It was felt by our later-stage companies in the consumer sector, who found it hard to get parts. The good news is the supply-chain challenges have died down. We’ve seen an incredible uptake in interest and investors in hard tech, that previously had gone into software.
Why does Hax have a presence in India and China?
Turner: There are areas with national incentives to do things within borders, but in general you need a global supply chain. [In Shenzhen, China] we had a presence, then pulled it back and changed it. We had moved towards deeper tech, the size of which had grown beyond even what could fit in a [shipping] container, so we asked, What is the point of coming over to China to do this? But we realized for electrical engineering and for manufacturing of PCBs on a quick turnaround, there’s just no other option. And when companies like Apple put manufacturing in India, you get an ecosystem of suppliers. We wanted two equal supply chains to source from.
Have geopolitical trade tensions changed how you can support innovators?
Turner: A lot of the [U.S.] Inflation Reduction Act is centered around technologies we’re investing in, but there’s a theme of fully “made in America.” We’re not there yet. I think it’s going to take a decade, but we want to be a part of that. That doesn’t mean we’re abandoning a global approach. But when we see a company doing something that was done offshore, onshore in the United States, and it’s helping with the environment, we want to dig in.
Artificial intelligence is a massive trend. How are you helping inventors navigate it?
Turner: AI is focusing investment into areas investors had been hesitant about. Between a third and a half of our portfolio is in robotics. Investors understood the opportunity of robotics but were stuck on the machine learning aspects. Now they’re seeing the potential. We’re also looking at what we can do with materials in the energy sector, and to decarbonize manufacturing. You’ll see AI used to discover materials that meet these goals.
Going into 2025, what are the big themes innovators need to think about?
Turner: Corporations are responsible for positive changes in how their products impact [greenhouse gas] emissions. The commitment will vary, but it won’t disappear. Another theme is infrastructure and reindustrialization. I think there’s so much opportunity for innovators to come with a fresh approach and say, “Look, we can disrupt this one area.” Any way you can bring manufacturing onshore and make it sustainable is a wonderful place to be.
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