November 21, 2024

China’s complicated role in climate change

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. “Well, what about China?” This is a comment I get all the time on the topic of climate change, both in conversations and on whatever social media site is currently en vogue.…

July 2023

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S9 arrives with new chip and water resistance

July 26, 2023
Samsung’s Unpacked hardware parade continues with the Galaxy Tab S9. The tablet was destined to be something of an also-ran during an event that features a pair of new foldables and smartwatches. Much like the company’s non-folding flagship smartphones, the Galaxy Tab line is mature now, and most upgrades are destined to be somewhat iterative. […]

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 finally fixes the foldable’s biggest problem

July 26, 2023
The Pixel Fold may be my personal favorite foldable of the moment, but the Galaxy Z Flip is the device that made me believe — and you can never take that away from it. The first Galaxy Fold was novel, of course, but the product has always been a bit unwieldy and prohibitively expensive. The […]

Samsung Galaxy Watch Classic: The bezel is back (again)

July 26, 2023
The spinning bezel is the best thing about Samsung Watches. And yet, every few generations, the company drops the hardware feature, customers push back and then it magically returns. If I was a more cynical person, I would suggest that this is all a bit to drive engagement, but the more likely answer is that […]

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 5 gets upgraded chip, thinner body and $1,800 price

July 26, 2023
The foldable market has changed dramatically since the beginning of 2019. For starters, there actually is a foldables market to speak of. There was plenty of skepticism around the form factor in the pre-pandemic era, and early hardware issues didn’t help matters much. Foldables remain a drop in the overall smartphone bucket, of course, but […]

Dioxycle raises $17 million for its electrolyzer that turns CO2 into ethylene

July 26, 2023
Dioxycle is a carbon transformation startup that is working on a new process to produce ethylene at scale using recycled carbon emissions. Ethylene is used in packaging, clothing, PVC-based sewage pipes, car interiors and more. And the company recently raised a $17 million funding round co-led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Lowercarbon Capital, with Gigascale […]

Shein sued Temu. Temu sued Shein. The war over fast fashion is heating up.

July 26, 2023
This story first appeared in China Report, MIT Technology Review’s newsletter about technology developments in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. Even though I know that Temu and Shein, two Chinese e-commerce platforms, occupy the same off-price shopping space, I have to admit I didn’t expect the tensions between them to escalate…

Apple and Amazon face UK class action damages suit over price collusion claim

July 26, 2023
Apple and Amazon are facing a class-action style damages lawsuit in the UK alleging they abused their market power by colluding to increase the price of Apple products. The suit, which has been filed in front of the Competition Appeals Tribunal today, is seeking compensation of at least £500 million (~$645M) on behalf of millions of […]

These moisture-sucking materials could transform air conditioning

July 26, 2023
A surprising set of materials could soon help make more efficient air conditioners that don’t overtax the electrical grid on hot days. As extreme heat continues to shatter records around the globe, electricity demand for air conditioning is expected to triple in the next few decades—an increase of about 4,000 terawatt-hours between 2016 and 2050,…

Dial-up a therapist like an Uber? Wangie aims at Gen-Zs and the time-poor

July 26, 2023
It would be fair to say there’s no global solution for instant 24/7 access to mental health support. Yes, there are a few ‘marketplaces’ where you can schedule a call with a therapist in advance. Online solutions now include Better Help, Talk Space, and TeenCounselling. Then there are platforms connected with public healthcare such as […]

India’s food delivery giant Swiggy launches credit card

July 26, 2023
Swiggy has become the latest Indian startup to offer its customers a credit card as the food delivery giant broadens its efforts to drive engagement and retention. The Bengaluru-headquartered startup is co-launching the credit card with HDFC Bank, India’s largest private bank. The credit card will offer customers a 10% cashback on spends on Swiggy […]