PLUS: My ridiculous solar-powered scooter.
Last week brought new Kindles; this week, more tablets. Except Amazon didn’t announce new Fire tablets. Instead, it’s officially killing the Fire brand to make way for a more premium offering: the Alexa Tablet. Spanning three tiers—the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, Alexa Tablet 11, and Alexa Tablet 8, with kids editions sprinkled in—these aluminum slates are an upgrade over their plastic predecessors in every way (and priced accordingly). The biggest shift? They run proper Android, complete with Google Play Store access. With Android and Alexa front and center, this is the closest look yet at what a modern Amazon smartphone could be—if the company is bold enough to try again after the Fire Phone disaster.
Arguably more ridiculous-looking than Jaguar’s new electric vehicle, the solar-powered scooter I’ve been riding for the past two weeks has stopped pedestrians and cyclists every few miles just to ask what on earth it is. It’s called the Lightfoot, and it has two large solar panels on its sides to soak up the sun’s rays when it’s parked on the street. Under optimal sun, the claim holds up—it gave me 20 percent back in two days when I wasn’t using the scooter. It costs $4,495 and launched in California this week, though the company plans to expand across the Sun Belt soon.
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All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
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By Julian Chokkattu
The three new aluminum Alexa Tablets now run Android with full access to the Google Play Store. There are versions for kids too.
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By Julian Chokkattu
Amazon is rumored to be making a smartphone, and the Alexa-powered experiences on its new tablets give us a taste of what might come if that happens.
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By Julian Chokkattu
Otherlab’s Lightfoot looks like a box on wheels, but this head-turning urban scooter is designed to go farther thanks to the power of the sun.
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Collecting CDs sounds time-consuming, expensive, and unnecessary—and that’s exactly the point. Music streaming services make music discovery almost too easy, to the point where listening to music requires no intention or thought. I could benefit from thinking a bit more about what’s blasting in my earbuds. As a Spotify user, I often find myself half an hour deep into a recommended-for-you queue, realizing I have no sense of what I’ve been listening to. Here’s WIRED’s guide to collecting CDs for those who want to bring a healthy dose of inconvenience back to music listening.—writes Elana Klein.
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By Jeremy White
Following a viral rebrand and two years without selling a new vehicle, the British marque takes the covers off the most divisive electric car yet seen.
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By Boone Ashworth
Xreal’s long-hyped Aura glasses arrive soon for $1,279. Here’s how they fare against Meta’s recently announced VR Glasses.
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By Les Shu
Keurig is ready to ditch the K-Cup with a compostable and plastic- and aluminum-free coffee pod, but the price is steep.
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By Matt Kamen
This pocket-size Raspberry Pi handheld has a fantastic retro-ready screen, but awful controls and awkward software deal it a losing hand.
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By Jeremy White
With no new 007 actor named and no film in the near future, Omega has had to get creative to keep its lucrative spy-watch train running.
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By Louryn Strampe
Prime Day might be over, but the discounts are still going. We’ve tracked down the best last minute Prime Day deals on all the gear our team recommends.
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