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Everything announced at Made by Google ’26: Pixel 11, Pixel Watch 5, Pixel Tag, and tons of Gemini features

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  Google is holding its Made by Google 2026 event on Wednesday, unveiling the Pixel 11 series, the Pixel Watch 5, and even a competitor to Apple’s AirTag. The tech giant also used the event to show off new Gemini-powered features across its devices. Gemini gets more useful on Pixel Google spent a good portion of the event talking about Gemini and other AI features coming to its devices. One of the more notable accessibility updates is an expansion of “Live Transcribe” to support American Sign Language . Using the Pixel Camera, users can have sign language translated into text, giving people another way to communicate without relying on typing. Google also introduced “Rambler,” a new voice-input feature designed to better understand the way people actually talk. Rather than requiring carefully phrased sentences, Rambler is designed to handle run-on sentences, filler words, and less structured speech while still figuring out what the user is trying to say. There are a few smaller add...
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Who really needs a cocktail robot?

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  Bartesian’s cocktail makers would be best described like a Keurig or Nespresso machine, but for alcoholic drinks. The Bartesian Duet model that I tested certainly lives up to that description — it’s really easy to serve a bunch of different cocktails with the push of a button, plus your own liquor. But as I sipped on my raspberry ginger gimlet, I couldn’t shake the nagging question: Who is actually going to buy a $300 cocktail robot? There’s nothing wrong with the product. And it does exactly what it says! In the sleekly designed machine, you add your spirits of choice (between one and four types of liquor, depending on which model you’re using) and plop in a Bartesian capsule with hyper-concentrated mixes for multi-ingredient drinks like espresso martinis, watermelon margaritas, mai tais, and cosmos. There’s a barcode on the capsule that your machine scans to determine which spirit (or spirits) you need in your drink, and then you can select how strong you want your drink to be...
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Thrive’s Joshua Kushner chides Silicon Valley VCs over AI euphoria

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  In Thrive Capital’s first-ever investor letter, founder Joshua Kushner has some unexpected things to say about his venture capital rivals on the West Coast. “It is difficult to overstate the magnitude of the opportunity,” Kushner wrote about AI in the letter, leaked to Bloomberg . “It would also be a grave error in our minds to let excitement weaken our investment discipline. … Within Silicon Valley in particular, the industry can become fixated on hyperincremental technological turns rather than where the technology ultimately leads.” While his secretive New York-based firm, just like those in Silicon Valley, is betting heavily on AI, Thrive is doing so differently, he argues. There’s no so-called spray-and-pray investing . Thrive tends to go big on the companies it backs. Bloomberg estimates about 90% of its capital is poured into the top 15 investments in each fund. That makes Thrive, he contends, a company of independent thinkers. “We are independent because markets move betw...
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Hyperscalers might regret embracing natural gas if new forecast proves correct

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  After years of snapping up wind and solar developments, hyperscalers like Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft are betting that natural gas will power the data centers behind their lofty AI ambitions. But a new research report suggests they may regret their newfound affinity for the fossil fuel . Natural gas prices could triple in some parts of the U.S. in the coming years as hyperscaler demand collides with declining supply growth and rising exports of liquefied natural gas, according to  Noreva , an energy research firm. Hyperscalers might not be prepared for future price shocks. “I think everyone in the energy markets has been lulled into a sense that gas prices can’t go up,” Peter Gardett, CEO of Noreva, told TechCrunch. “You just need simple arithmetic to get to a much tighter gas market than you were in just a few years ago.” Hyperscalers’ big bets Cheap gas has pushed hyperscalers to lock up part of the market. In March, Meta said it would build a massive 7.5-gigawatt ...
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7 desk gadgets that can make your workday better

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  We spend dozens of hours at our desks each week (if not more), so it’s worth creating a workspace that’s productive and enjoyable. The right desk gadgets can help you reduce clutter, stay focused, and add a little extra convenience to your day. From ambient lighting to smart mugs, there are a lot of products designed to make the time you spend at your desk better, so we’ve combined a list of some options. Whether you’re working from home or in an office, these gadgets can help transform your workspace. Anker Nano Charging Station — $80 The Anker Nano Charging Station combines plugs, USB-C and USB-A ports with retractable charging cables into a single compact charger. The station has a 1.3-inch LCD screen that displays real-time power output and temperature. You can charge a laptop, phone, tablet, earbuds, and other devices on the same station, getting of the need for multiple chargers around your workspace. The retractable cables make it easy to plug in a device when needed with...
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