Victoria Song, Author at Gizmodo

How to Get In on Apple’s $9.75 Million Powerbeats 2 Class Action Settlement

If you bought a pair of Powerbeats 2, you may be entitled to some sweet, sweet cash, as Apple has agreed to settle for $9.75 million. To get that moolah, you can mosey on over to the lawsuit’s website and submit a claim form online (or if you prefer snail mail, you can also download…

Tech News Victoria Song

I Definitely Didn’t Need a Program to Make a Sandwich, But I Did It Anyways

This morning began as any other Thursday morning would have. I was hungry, in need of coffee, and in Slack, sifting through the garbage fire news cycle for a morning blog. Like magic, a coworker shared a link to a blog titled “Optimal Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches.” The blog focuses on the perfect peanut…

Culture Victoria Song

Amazon’s New Fitness Tracker Sounds Like a Body-Shaming, Tone-Policing Disaster

There are bad ideas, and then there is Amazon’s attempt to get into the health tracker market with a new health subscription service and accompanying tracker, Amazon Halo and Amazon Halo Band. The pitch here is that Halo Band is a more holistic health tracker. In its press release announcing the device and service, Amazon…

Commerce Victoria Song

A Teen Threw Scots Wiki Into Chaos and It Highlights a Massive Problem With Wikipedia

Back in 2013, a 12-year-old American with an enthusiasm for the Scots language decided to contribute to the Scots Wikipedia. For seven years, they edited tens of thousands of articles with little oversight. Then, a Reddit post blew everything up. The problem here was the teen in question is not a native Scots speaker and…

Culture Victoria Song

Alleged Teen Brony Has Filled the Scots Wiki With Thousands of Fake Translations [Update: Confirmed Teen, No Longer Brony]

Before today, I had never visited Scots Wikipedia. In fact, my only brush with Scots was reading the novel Trainspotting about 10 years ago and that took a lot of concentration because I have never been to Scotland, do not know anyone from Scotland, and do not speak Scots. However, my editor then dropped this…

Culture Victoria Song

iRobot’s Cheapest Roombas Might Finally Be Worth Buying

Robot vacuums have always been dubiously “smart” for the average person. Sure, high-end models do a pretty good job at automated cleaning, but cheaper models tend to be more hit-or-miss. But today, iRobot has released a new AI platform for its wifi-connected Roombas and Brava jet robomops that might actually make buying a cheaper, more…

Gadgets Victoria Song

Fitbit Just Pulled Several Miracles Out of Its Ass With Its New Wearable Lineup

Fitbit really needed to impress this fall. Not only did Samsung just up the ante in the smartwatch realm with its excellent Galaxy Watch 3, but Apple also has some neat features lined up for the Apple Watch with watchOS 7. And when it comes to budget trackers and smartwatches, players like Xiaomi and Amazfit…

Gadgets Victoria Song

I Tried Razer’s Productivity Keyboard and Mouse Because I’m an Adult Now

Would it kill companies to make sleek, non-mushy keyboards and mice for non-gamers that don’t look like they came straight out of the 1980s?

Reviews Victoria Song

Apple Has Finally Gotten Too Big for Its Britches

What started out as a battle between Apple and Epic over direct in-app purchases in Fortnite has evolved into an ill-advised, petty revenge scheme. On Sunday, Epic filed a new motion to bar Apple from revoking iOS and macOS support for its Unreal Engine while its other beef is ongoing. To back up a bit,…

Tech News Victoria Song

So This Is the Smart Ring Everybody’s Been Talking About

Not long after the pandemic was in full swing, wearables makers big and small began to explore whether their devices could help researchers detect covid-19. While the range of wearables included well-known brands like Apple, Fitbit, and Garmin, the one that’s gotten the most attention is the Oura Ring. The hype around the Oura Ring…

Accessories & Wearables Victoria Song

You Can Now Use Your Sony Camera to Look Less Like a Potato on Video Calls

Given the spike in Zoom calls driven by the global pandemic, several camera-makers have released apps to help you turn your camera into a webcam. Sony is the latest. Today it released new software that lets you hook up your Sony camera to a Windows 10 computer with just a USB cable. The app is…

Gadgets Victoria Song

Leaks Hint Fitbit Might Launch an ECG Smartwatch Soon… and Yet Another Versa

Since the Apple Watch Series 4, wearable makers have been scrambling to add electrocardiogram functions to their smartwatches. Now, leaked renders from WinFuture suggest that Fitbit is ready to introduce its own ECG-capable smartwatch, along with an updated Inspire 2 tracker and… unsurprisingly, a Versa 3. The actual details from WinFuture, a German tech site…

Gadgets Victoria Song

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 Is the Android Smartwatch I’ve Been Waiting For

Samsung’s latest flagship smartwatch is stylish, functional, and ambitious while fixing previous issues in the lineup.

Accessories & Wearables Victoria Song

Facebook Just Told Oculus Users to Go Get Fucked

It’s official. Starting this October, a Facebook account will be mandatory for all future Oculus headsets. While there’ll be a grace period for anyone with a separate Oculus account, Facebook will end support for those on January 1, 2023. The decision was announced today on both Oculus’s Twitter and in a press release. The gist…

Social Media Victoria Song

Ex-Apple Engineer Says U.S. Government May Have Built a Top-Secret Geiger Counter Out of an iPod

Back in 2005, before the iPhone, Apple purportedly helped a U.S. Department of Energy contractor modify a 5th-generation iPod to secretly record and store data. The exact reason why remains a mystery, but an ex-Apple engineer involved in the project thinks it could have been a surreptitious Geiger counter. This bonkers story comes courtesy of…

Tech News Victoria Song

Google’s Planned Updates for Wear OS Are Underwhelming

Google’s smartwatch platform, Wear OS, doesn’t get as much love—or regular updates—as its rivals, but today we got a nice surprise: Google detailed some new updates coming to the platform this fall. That said, don’t crack open the champagne just yet. Most of these updates are of the small, maintenance-focused variety. In the Android Developers…

Tech News Victoria Song

The Death of Bon Appétit Is Proof Media Companies Have No Idea What Makes Videos Work

There are a zillion reasons why I have been mourning the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen. The one that hurts most is that the slow, drawn-out death of one of the most joyful YouTube channels on the internet could have easily been prevented. If you haven’t been keeping up with the drama, the shit first hit…

Tech News Victoria Song

Sigh, Apple Is Apparently Launching Subscription Bundles This Fall

What does everyone want? Fewer subscriptions. What are we getting? Unfortunately, according to Bloomberg, a series of subscription bundles from Apple alongside the new iPhones this fall. The bundles, which are collectively dubbed “Apple One,” are an obvious ploy to hook more people on Apple’s services as smartphone sales produce diminishing returns. Bloomberg cites Apple…

Tech News Victoria Song

NJ Court Says the Fifth Amendment Doesn’t Protect Your Phone From the Police

In a tale of an allegedly crooked sheriff caught abusing his power, the New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that forcing a suspect to unlock their iPhones doesn’t run afoul of the Fifth Amendment. The gist of the story, which was first reported by Ars Technica, goes like this: Former Essex County Sheriff Robert Andrews…

Tech News Victoria Song

This Transparent Xiaomi TV Reminds Me That No One Wants This Shit

No one: Literally no one: Xiaomi: Hey, guys, what if we celebrated our 10th anniversary by being the first to target consumers with this ridiculous transparent OLED TV? The 55-inch Mi TV LUX OLED Transparent Edition will, according to Xiaomi, be the world’s first mass-produced transparent TV and will cost 50,000 yuan (or roughly $7,200).…

Gadgets Victoria Song

Victoria Song

How to Get In on Apple’s $9.75 Million Powerbeats 2 Class Action Settlement

I Definitely Didn’t Need a Program to Make a Sandwich, But I Did It Anyways

Amazon’s New Fitness Tracker Sounds Like a Body-Shaming, Tone-Policing Disaster

A Teen Threw Scots Wiki Into Chaos and It Highlights a Massive Problem With Wikipedia

Alleged Teen Brony Has Filled the Scots Wiki With Thousands of Fake Translations [Update: Confirmed Teen, No Longer Brony]

iRobot’s Cheapest Roombas Might Finally Be Worth Buying

Fitbit Just Pulled Several Miracles Out of Its Ass With Its New Wearable Lineup

I Tried Razer’s Productivity Keyboard and Mouse Because I’m an Adult Now

Apple Has Finally Gotten Too Big for Its Britches

So This Is the Smart Ring Everybody’s Been Talking About

You Can Now Use Your Sony Camera to Look Less Like a Potato on Video Calls

Leaks Hint Fitbit Might Launch an ECG Smartwatch Soon… and Yet Another Versa

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 Is the Android Smartwatch I’ve Been Waiting For

Facebook Just Told Oculus Users to Go Get Fucked

Ex-Apple Engineer Says U.S. Government May Have Built a Top-Secret Geiger Counter Out of an iPod

Google’s Planned Updates for Wear OS Are Underwhelming

The Death of Bon Appétit Is Proof Media Companies Have No Idea What Makes Videos Work

Sigh, Apple Is Apparently Launching Subscription Bundles This Fall

NJ Court Says the Fifth Amendment Doesn’t Protect Your Phone From the Police

This Transparent Xiaomi TV Reminds Me That No One Wants This Shit

Feds Sniffing Around Polymarket After Suspicious Bets

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Don’t Get Too Attached to Any AI App

‘Paradise’ Writer Teases What’s Coming in Season 3 After That Huge Twist

Trump’s New White House App Is Mildly Concerning and Weird for a Lot of Reasons

Bloodsucking Ticks Can Survive Inside Your Home Longer Than You Might Think

The Best New Toys of March 2026

Judge Denies Liking LinkedIn Post Critical of Elon Musk But Reassigns His Cases Anyway

Amazon Slashes 50% Off Keurig K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker, Now a Budget Alternative to Breville and Nespresso Espresso Machines

Sun’s Latest Outburst Complicates Planned Launch of Artemis 2

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets