There were multiple great bags we tried whose features or designs just didn’t add up to a place in the top spots above. However, everyone has something different they’re looking for in a toiletry bag, so while not perfect for us, some of these options may still be perfect for you.
Photograph: Kat Merck
Patricks BB1 Bathroom Bag for $189: This crush-resistant, shock-absorbing rectangular bag is basically a heavier-duty, unisex version of the Flat Lay, below, except it costs four times as much. I tested it in the Triple Black colorway, which is “strictly limited to 1,000 pieces globally.” This one’s got two interior flaps with a slim, shallow zippered pouch on either side, but otherwise is just one big compartment that led to too much clinking and clanking of contents during my test. It’s great for full-sized products, but my testers and I all preferred bags that hold the products securely upright, as in the less expensive Parallelle Kit, above.
Flat Lay Makeup Box Bag for $37: Available in opaque-fabric and clear (“jelly”) styles, this unassuming pouch looks like a chubby rectangle with a handle on the end but actually unzips into a flat tray for easy access. There’s only one compartment, so I didn’t love it as a toiletry bag, but I did love it as a pool and beach accessory bag for sunscreen and makeup.
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Monos Metro Toiletry Case for $95: This durable, structured case, available in either nylon or vegan leather, exhibits the class and quality construction Monos is known for. It has one main roomy compartment with three small pockets inside; one zippered. It did a great job of protecting its contents while still being squishable enough to fit in a tightly packed carry-on, though I did find myself wishing it had a handle for carrying.
Calpak Clear Cosmetics Case for $85: Constructed largely of water-resistant, wipe-clean PVC, this clear cosmetic case (I tested the Medium size) zips all the way around and folds flat to reveal two zippered compartments and one smaller zippered mesh bag. It also looks like a cute little purse with its 16 trendy color options, dual handles, and metal bottom studs. However, contents aren’t as easy to access as other cosmetic bags that just open from the top—you have to lay the Calpak flat to open both sides, which requires a 16-by-10-inch footprint.
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Photograph: Kat Merck
Vera Bradley Toiletry Bags for $30: The erstwhile must-have accessory of both early-aughts Southern sorority girls and their grandmothers, Vera Bradley bags are back with a new spokesperson (Zooey Deschanel), new designs, and updated fabrics like smooth twill and cotton gabardine. (Die-hard fans can rest assured that the staple quilted paisley options are still available.) The new line includes multiple styles of toiletry bags and makeup bags that are lightweight, giftable, and can add a pop of color and personality to your travel setup. I tested several, and my favorite was the Lay-Flat Travel Organizer—its two interior clear zippered compartments and three mesh slip pockets were roomy yet snug enough to keep all contents of my morning routine secure, and a rather large spill of soap in the large pocket cleaned up quickly. However, even though the fabric is padded, which provides some protection for the interior contents, the exterior is somewhat absorbent and not machine washable (though other designs are), so be forewarned that light-colored options could attract stains.
Photograph: Kat Merck
Bagsmart Blast 4.5L Toiletry Bag for $30: This rectangular toiletry bag can sit on a counter (with about a 10 x 5-inch footprint) or hang with a 360-degree rotating hook. It’s machine washable and has a bright orange interior for visibility, sporting five mesh pockets. Both my testers and I liked it a lot. The only thing that kept it from nabbing a top spot is how much space it took up when not hanging, and when it did hang, it stuck out more than the traditional flat hanging styles.
Beis the Dopp Kit for $68: I’ve had Beis’ Dopp Kit for four years now, and it’s still my go-to for any trip. The poly canvas material is durable and easy to spot-clean. Plus, I opted for the black version to mask the inevitable scuffs and smaller stains. What I love the most, though, are the compartments. The water-resistant section is a total game-changer when packing liquids or fragrances. If something leaks, a quick wipe gets the job done. The waterproof bottom is also a huge bonus when I’m getting ready at a bathroom sink. —Boutayna Chokrane
Photograph: Kat Merck
Thule Aion Toiletry Bag for $65: This spacious, 5-liter bag with an 11 x 5-inch footprint features many thoughtful touches, including a wipe-clean interior with a rubbery, water-resistant bottom to protect it from wet countertops. (Though there’s also a handy strap that snaps to hang on any-diameter hook or rack.) The sides snap down to compress, almost like a packing cube, and I like that it’s squishable to fit into a smaller suitcase. It also comes with a removable translucent bag for taking liquids through the airport security line. However, it does take up a lot of space when not snapped down, and the waxed canvas does attract a lot of lines and marks, which may not be to everyone’s aesthetic taste.
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Nex Dopp for $73: The small and large Dopp kits I tested, part of Nex’s 2024 Hawaii collection, consisted of a roomy, single compartment with a dual zippered strip. They’re made of microfiber leather, which is a higher-quality synthetic leather, said to be softer and more durable. The bags were stiff and well-structured, which felt protective of my cosmetics when jammed into my carry-on. There is a slight synthetic smell from the microfiber leather, which is hard to miss, since you must lean your face quite close to the bag to see the contents in the cavernous single compartment. I also felt that when the bag was unzipped, the zippered strip was either in the way or had to be splayed out, which took up too much space on my tiny hotel-bathroom shelf. Otherwise, this is a fine option that offers both a lifetime warranty and an unlimited trade-in program.
Cotopaxi Nido Accessory Bag Cada Día for $50: Cotopaxi’s trim little bag is meant not just for hygiene items, but any collection of odds and ends. It’s made from light recycled deadstock nylon (so, probably not for you if you are carrying glass bottles or anything that needs padding) and weighs in at a modest 6.5 ounces. Your colorway will be unique! I like the surprisingly capacious 4-liter capacity spread over three different compartments, with a big middle compartment for your quart-size, TSA-approved bag of liquids and two other compartments with separate, smaller pockets. I do have to admit, though, that I like hooks better than loops, and hanging is more convenient with a clamshell toiletry bag design than with this one, which can’t be hung while open. —Adrienne So
Photograph: Kat Merck
Kusshi Hair Tools Bag for $89: Unlike similar bags that just bunch up your hair tools into a roll, this hair tool carrier has two organized pocket sections; a zippered pouch in the middle for hair products or, in my case while I was testing, attachments for my Shark FlexFusion; and a pocket on the outside for rubber bands or small accessories like lip balm. It’s also made of neoprene that’s heat-resistant up to 380 degrees Fahrenheit, so you don’t have to worry about waiting for your tools to cool down before packing them away. Keep in mind, though, that the initial off-gassing is strong with this one—you may want to let it sit in a well-ventilated area for several days before packing it in your suitcase, lest it make everything else smell plasticky. This included the air from my hair dryer when I used it. There are also reports online of it not accommodating some Dyson tools, though it did fit an Airstrait and Corrale.
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Photograph: Kat Merck
Aer Travel Kit 2 Ultra for $79: Does the average traveler need a toiletry bag made partially of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), which is 15 times stronger than steel by weight? Perhaps not, but it definitely makes for an interesting bag. Part of Aer’s 10th Anniversary Ultra Collection, this hardy, chunky little Dopp kit incorporates the collection’s Ultra400X fabric (in black only) by Challenge Sailcloth, known for its high-performance sails for yacht racers and kite surfers. Despite its strength, the Travel Kit is still pretty lightweight at 8 ounces. However, the hook is thick plastic and too small for a towel rack, and the rubbery “Aer” brand tags on the outside and inside seem to accumulate toothbrush and soap residue, as does the mesh zippered pouch in the top compartment. Both proved somewhat difficult to clean.
Eagle Creek Pack-It Trifold Toiletry Kit for $50: Eagle Creek’s travel accessory game is extremely strong. Its toiletry bags, packing cubes, and various organizers are affordable, sturdy, and exceedingly well designed, and this toiletry bag is no exception. At first glance, it looks like two toiletry bags snapped together, but each side unzips to make a hanging organizer with six compartments. The only problem is that one side of the bag holds products upside down until it’s unfurled, which led to items falling out in my tests.
Photograph: Kat Merck
State Bags Benson Toiletry Kit for $65: This is a solid, simple bag with three mesh pouches and a snap-in/snap-out plastic envelope that can hold a toothbrush and toothpaste or shower items like soap. The navy version I tested had a coated polyester wipe-clean exterior and interior made from recycled bottles, and I liked that it had the option to hang. However, the organization was more rudimentary than similar-category bags we tested, and it was missing some of the thoughtful details featured on other bags in the same price range, like a quick-access pouch on the back and a larger hook with a rubber tip to prevent slipping. (This bag’s thick, small plastic hook wasn’t even wide enough to hang on a towel rack.)
Cuyana Travel Beauty Case for $298: Those still chasing the quiet luxury aesthetic will love this elegant zippered cosmetic case, available in black or pale pink. It’s made of high-end-feeling Italian pebbled leather both inside and out, with gold hardware and “Cuyana” discreetly printed on the bottom. It opens clamshell-style, and the lid contains a snap-close cover concealing a brush holder with elastic loops. A removable pouch snaps onto that lid cover, and the main compartment has a pocket for securing tubes, bottles, and small tools. Contents aren’t as immediately accessible as they are in other cosmetic cases I tested, but they are more secure. This bag is also on the heavy side, even for a cosmetics case, weighing in at 1.6 pounds, but if you can swing the price, this is a well-made, timeless investment for your travel arsenal.
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Photograph: Kat Merck
Cincha the Toiletry Bag for $55: After testing nearly every style of toiletry bag in existence, I thought I had seen it all, but this thoughtfully designed bag from Cincha surprised me. The large size is essentially the tackle box of toiletry bags. It zips open in the middle to reveal four roomy compartments—two on each side, each topped with a small, translucent vinyl zippered pouch. I could not believe the amount of stuff I was able to fit into this thing, and yet I never had trouble closing it, despite packing it to the absolute max. I ended up taking it on a five-day getaway where I had to share a bathroom with two other people, and I found that I loved being able to flip it over and lift the “lid” of whatever side I needed, in order to keep the counter footprint small.
July Hanging Toiletry Bag for $85: I own and love July’s carry-on suitcase, so I was excited to try the brand’s popular hanging toiletry bag. It’s a great design with a zippered pouch on the back, plus a body that zips flat to reveal PVC and pouch zip compartments and a large, rubber-tipped metal hook that tucks away. It looks well-made and stylish with leather trim and gunmetal hardware, but my husband took it on a business trip and found that its pockets are actually quite small, confirming a worry I had when I tested it in my bathroom at home. It wouldn’t be an issue if the bag itself were small, but it took up a full quarter of the carry-on.
Tumi Alpha Bravo Response Kit for $225: This rugged-looking, ballistic nylon bag has the classic Tumi Tracer inside to help facilitate its return to you if it gets lost, as well as an antimicrobial lining. It can hang, stand up, or lie flat and has several convenient internal pockets and an external zipped pouch. It’s a lot of money for a toiletry bag with many of the same features as ones half the price, but if you’re a Tumi fan and need a toiletry bag to match your luggage, you could do worse than this model.
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Photograph: Kat Merck
Beautifect Go Mini for $177: WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe loved the larger Beautifect Box, and I tested the Mini to see if it would work for travel. While the smaller size does make it more portable (along with a purse-like carry strap), the multifunction lighted mirror and its battery made the lid top-heavy, so it kept flopping forward when I tried to use it on a soft, uneven surface like my lap or a bed. It’s also got a very hard case and is a bit heavy at almost 2.5 pounds, so as much as I wanted to take it with me on a plane, I ended up bringing a smaller bag instead. Worth a buy if you want a makeup case with a lighted mirror, but it’s definitely best for day trips.
Fjallraven Kanken Toiletry Bag for $60: I love this thing, which makes me feel like a Red Cross nurse on the battlefields of World War II. It’s made from a proprietary Fjallraven fabric blend that combines organic cotton with recycled polyester, so it feels like fabric but is more waterproof and durable. It has a clamshell design with a sturdy interior plastic hook. My quart bag of bottles goes into the enormous lower zip compartment, my toothbrush and deodorant in the top compartment, and there are mesh pockets and MOLLE webbing so that your tiny things are easily visible. However, its dimensions are very large, so this might not be for you if you’re a minimalist with just a toothbrush and a comb. —Adrienne So
Photograph: Kat Merck
Tom Beckbe Canvas Dopp Kit for $195: Known for its high-end jackets, field hats, and vests for fishing and waterfowl hunting, Birmingham, Alabama-based sports outfitter Tom Beckbe also makes a Dopp kit made of full-grain distressed leather and the brand’s proprietary Field Canvas. It matches the genteel Southern vibe of Tom Beckbe’s collection of other travel bags and related accessories like camo whiskey totes and insulated shooting gloves. If the Marlboro Man ever left the ranch, this is definitely the Dopp kit he would have used. The only downside is that the bag is relatively large—and dark inside—for what’s essentially one compartment.
Eagle Creek Pack-It Isolate Quick Trip for $25: This little bag is a simple design, made from recycled bottles, with a zipper on the top and on the side. However, its light weight and semi-structured shape make it perfect for holding a wallet and keys at the gym, or even as a tech pouch for work purposes.
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Kusshi Neoprene Wristlet Clutch for $39: It’s a purse! It’s a toiletry bag! It’s a purse that doubles as a toiletry bag! This clutch is the perfect size for a larger phone, e-reader, or small tablet, with a couple of mesh pockets for makeup. I used it to tote a day’s worth of makeup and skincare around town and found it was just heavy enough to be burdensome, but if you like the neoprene look and your essentials are lightweight, this clutch, like most Kusshi products, is sturdy and well-made.
Sympl Dopp Kit for $75: I liked this bag’s durable Cordura exterior and stow-away clip for hanging, as well as the fact it has a lifetime warranty. The bag opens clamshell-style to reveal four simple waterproof zip pockets—two thin and horizontal, one small rectangle, and one larger rectangle. It’s an interesting idea, but in practice, this severely limits utility since a user is restricted to specific toiletry-sized products that fit the shape of each of the pockets. (My deodorant did not fit, nor did a toothbrush in a case.)
Photograph: Kat Merck
Bagsmart Paz Hanging Toiletry Bag for $35: With its stylish, padded exterior; generously sized carry handle; and ability to transport up to eight full-sized products, this one had me reaching for it long after the testing period was over. The thin, tipped metal hanger makes it easy to hang anywhere, and there’s an easy-access compartment on the front with loops for makeup brushes or other long, thin items. In fact, this is almost a small toiletry briefcase rather than a bag—the whole thing unfurls into a 33-inch-long organizer with four separate compartments (two with sections to hold full-sized products). It will almost certainly be too much for anyone who likes to travel light, but if you check your luggage, will be on the road for a long time, or just don’t want to deal with decanting your personal care products, this is a well-designed and easy-to-use solution.
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Saltyface Everywhere Bag for $36: Technically designed to store Saltyface self-tanners and bronzers, this puffy black fabric bag spent an indordinate amount of time on my counter, simply because I liked how it looked. Practically speaking, though, the handle was too small for an adult-sized hand, and I found myself becoming irritated with the single zipper pull, so it’s not ideal as a general-purpose travel toiletry bag.
FAQs
For bags our team hasn’t already been using for years, I spend a four-week period rotating new toiletry bags during my morning routine. I note any annoyances or unique details, volume, how easy it is to store and retrieve items, how much space each one takes up on the vanity, how they survive being splashed with water and soap, and, if the bag can hang, how easy it is to retrieve items once hanging.
About every three months, my family goes on trips that require stays in hotels. I always take different groups of bags and determine how easy it is to use multiple bags at once in a small space, if hook designs allowed for multiple places to hang, and whether the contents spilled in or otherwise dirtied the bags, and if so, how easy they are to clean. For bags I am not able to take on trips, I lend them to friends and family members who are traveling and take down their notes to consider alongside my own home testing.
How Does WIRED Obtain Toiletry Bags for Testing?
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Some toiletry bags are review samples requested from the manufacturer, while others are purchased and expensed. Review samples are only accepted without promise of editorial coverage. Toiletry bags chosen as picks are reused for durability testing purposes, while all other bags are donated upon completion of testing.
What Kind of Toiletry Bag Do You Need?
Dopp kits, cosmetics cases, hanging bags … the differences between categories aren’t always clear. Here are some of the more common types of toiletry bags you’ll come across, and what to consider with each.
Dopp kit: Named for leather craftsman Charles Doppelt, who provided “Dopps,” or toiletry kits, for WWII soldiers. “Dopp kit” has evolved over time to indicate any kind of portable toiletry organizer, but commercially, toiletry bags labeled “Dopp kits” tend to be smaller and hold just a handful of necessities for short trips as opposed to larger fold-up hanging bags and cosmetics cases.
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Cosmetics case: Designed for those who need more than just the necessities, a cosmetics case is usually a much larger boxlike container with specialized compartments for makeup, skin care, hair care, and other necessities. They often come with extras like brush holders and mirrors.
Hanging toiletry bag: A bag that, as the name indicates, comes with a hook so that it can be hung on a hook, towel rack, tree, or someplace it won’t take up space on the counter. Often, the user needs to hang them to be able to access all the storage compartments. Something to consider is that hooks can be used up quite quickly if everyone in your hotel room has a hanging bag. All the hooks in our bathroom were taken almost immediately, so my husband ended up having to hang his bag over the toilet, which he wasn’t thrilled about. A good hanging toiletry bag will also have a hook that’s thin enough to slip over just about any hook, and be rubber-tipped so it won’t slide off.
Apple is taking Apple TV off the screen and into the real world with a public fan event designed to showcase its growing slate of original series.
Apple TV 4K
The company will host a free “Think Apple TV” activation at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles across two weekends, running April 23 through April 26 and April 30 through May 3. Interactive experiences tied to shows include Pluribus, Shrinking, Your Friends & Neighbors, The Morning Show, Slow Horses, Stick, and Margo’s Got Money Troubles. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
As child social media bans spread across Europe and beyond, Estonia isn’t having it. On Friday, the country’s education minister said the bans won’t “actually solve problems,” while warning that the kids will find a way regardless.
A growing list of countries looked at the negative data and concluded that the answer was to ban social media altogether for children. Although the age cutoff varies, legislation has been floated or enacted in Australia, Greece, France, Austria, Spain, Indonesia, Malaysia, the UK and Denmark — just to name a few.
Estonia’s education minister believes these countries are coming at the very real problem from the wrong angle. “The way to approach this, to me, is not to make kids responsible for that harm and start self-regulating,” Kristina Kallas said at a Politico forum in Barcelona. She added that “kids will find very quickly the ways to go around and to still use social media.”
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Instead, she said the responsibility lies with governments and corporations. “Europe pretends to be weak when it comes to big American and international corporations,” she added. But she called that a “pretense,” challenging the EU to “actually take this power and start regulating the big American corporations.”
Another argument against the bans is that it’s a short path from the well-meaning to a more sinister erosion of basic freedoms. In February, France suggested that the next logical step after passing an under-15 social media ban would be to go after VPNs. After all, once you pass the ban, you need to enforce it — and that can mean snuffing out the tools children could use to work around it.
Syndio’s new leadership, top row from left: Erik Darby, Shonna Waters, Devin Luquist. Bottom row: Erin McClintock, Elizabeth Temples, Manuj Bahl and Meredith Conroy. (LinkedIn Photos)
— Syndio, a Seattle startup that helps companies analyze and address pay equity, announced seven new additions to its leadership team.
“This next phase of growth requires innovation and velocity,” said Maria Colacurcio, Syndio’s CEO, adding that the new hires bring “proven track records of transforming innovative enterprise solutions into industry-defining brands.”
Several of the new hires come from BetterUp, a professional coaching and training platform. The new leaders include:
Erik Darby, president, previously co-founded Motive Software, a San Francisco Bay Area startup using AI to understand employee and customer experience that was acquired by BetterUp in 2021.
Devin Luquist, senior vice president of product, was previously at BetterUp after holding technology and leadership roles at multiple companies.
Erin McClintock, SVP of marketing, joined from Workhuman and was formerly at BetterUp.
Elizabeth Temples, SVP of revenue, joined from the revenue platform Clari and was previously at BetterUp.
Shonna Waters, SVP of executive engagement and insights, is an organizational psychologist and adjunct professor at Georgetown University, and was at BetterUp.
Manuj Bahl, VP and head of architecture, joined from Talent.com and previously held roles at Seattle-area companies Microsoft, OfferUp, Apptivate.IO and RealNetworks.
Meredith Conroy, VP of account management, joined from Clari.
Rajeev Rajan. (LinkedIn Photo)
— Rajeev Rajan joined Stripe to serve as business lead for the payment company’s Revenue and Financial Automation (RFA) division, in which he will oversee product and engineering.
“I’ve long admired the company’s focus on engineering excellence, developer experience, and its ambition to increase the GDP of the internet,” Rajan said on LinkedIn.
Rajan began his career at Microsoft, where he spent 22 years — starting as a software design engineer in 1994 and rising to corporate VP for Office 365. He went on to serve as VP of engineering at Meta, leading the company’s Pacific Northwest engineering hub, before joining Atlassian as chief technology officer. He stepped down from that role last month amid company layoffs.
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Nick Cecil. (LinkedIn Photo)
— Nick Cecilwas promoted to chief technology officer for avante, a Seattle startup whose software helps companies reduce HR administrative workload and provides employees with an AI assistant for benefits guidance.
“What makes Nick unusual as an engineering leader is that he is just as obsessed with the customer as he is with the code. He spends real time understanding the pain our customers feel,” said Rohan D’Souza, avante’s CEO, on LinkedIn.
Cecil joined avante in 2023 as founding head of engineering. Previous roles include leadership positions at Salesforce, Tableau Software and Yapta.
— Levent Besik has joined SailPoint, an Austin-based cybersecurity company, as chief product officer. He comes from Microsoft, where he spent four years as VP of product management for the company’s identity authentication platform, covering both human and agentic AI users.
“With the rapid rise of AI, enterprises are urgently seeking solutions to secure, govern, and protect agents end to end,” Besik said in a statement. “The world demands an identity solution that provides AI security and governance across all clouds and platforms.”
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Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Besik previously held roles at Okta and Google. He also has an earlier chapter at Microsoft, having joined in 2002 as a software engineer working on Internet Explorer — a tenure that lasted nearly a decade.
Hélène Bouffard. (LinkedIn Photo)
— Hélène Bouffardhas left Amazon after more than 17 years, most recently serving as HR director for the Seattle company’s new Artificial General Intelligence division.
She said on LinkedIn that it was “the privilege of a lifetime” to work for the tech giant.
Bouffard is now chief people officer at Circana, a Chicago-based market research and data analytics company. Her role will include aligning employees’ jobs and skills with Circana’s AI-driven efforts.
Chris Atkins. (LinkedIn Photo)
— Chris Atkins, director of Amazon Worldwide Operations Sustainability, has resigned after 15 years with the company. In his most recent role, Atkins helped align Amazon’s fulfillment and transportation operations with its climate goals.
“For me, my time at Amazon was truly transformative,” Atkins said on LinkedIn. “I started as a night shift frontline manager working on the ship dock and finished leading ops sustainability for the world’s largest logistics organization.”
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Before joining Amazon, Atkins served as an operations manager in the U.S. Army following his graduation from West Point. He is taking a few weeks off before starting a new role, which he plans to announce at a later date.
Jake Oster. (LinkedIn Photo)
— Jake Oster, Amazon director of energy, environment and sustainability policy, has resigned after nearly a decade. Oster joined the company in 2017, with his tenure including a stint in Belgium leading policy for AWS.
“It was never dull and constantly rewarding. Every project, document, or accomplishment was the result of collaborative work with some of the smartest people that I have known,” he said on LinkedIn. Oster didn’t indicate his next career move, saying he was taking a “quick respite.”
Prior to Amazon, Oster worked at Seattle’s EnergySavvy, a startup that helped utilities manage their relationships with customers and was acquired in 2019.
Carol MacKinlay. (LinkedIn Photo)
— Carol MacKinlay is the new chief people officer for Tanium, a Kirkland, Wash.-based cybersecurity company. MacKinlay, who is based in Carmel, Calif., joins from Pebl where she served for two years.
MacKinlay has worked as a CPO and in other human resource leadership roles for more than 20 years with previous jobs at Binance, UserTesting and Matterport.
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— Eric Emansis now chief financial officer for Insurity, a Connecticut startup providing software for insurance carriers and brokers. Emans joins Insurity from the Bellevue, Wash.-based workflow automation company Nintex, where he was CFO for four years. He was previously CFO for Lighthouse and A Place for Mom.
— Seattle’s Remitly appointed Adam Messinger, the former CTO of Twitter (now X), to its board of directors. The global remittance company disclosed the news in an SEC filing. Messinger left Twitter a decade ago.
Stephanie Rogers. (LinkedIn Photo)
— Paper Crane Factory, a Seattle-based creative branding agency that works exclusively with startups, has named Stephanie Rogers as head of communications and public relations. Rogers will lead the agency’s new East Coast expansion and run its operations there. She joins from DataRobot and brings more than 15 years of experience in communications and PR.
“As we continue to grow, bringing in leadership across disciplines allows us to better support founders at the earliest and most critical stages — from defining their story to scaling it in market,” said Cal McAllister, Paper Crane Factory founder and creative director, in a statement.
— Barbara Schmid is leaving Starbucks after nearly 22 years, resigning from the role of Global Coffee and Cocoa Sustainability program manager. Schmid expressed gratitude to the company and colleagues in a LinkedIn in post, adding she is grateful “most of all to the coffee and cocoa producers, without whom none of this would have been possible, and who remain the reason behind it all.”
CoreWeave stocks jumped to around $97 a share yesterday (9 April). Prices have since settled at around $92.
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“This is another example that leading companies are choosing CoreWeave’s AI cloud to run their most demanding workloads,” said Michael Intrator, the co-founder, CEO and chairperson of CoreWeave.
The US cloud compute provider is one of the prime beneficiaries of the AI race, having previously inked an expanded $22.4bn deal with OpenAI last year.
Today (10 April), Anthropic has also agreed to rent data centre capacity from CoreWeave to help train its Claude model. The multi-year agreement will bring compute online starting later this year.
Meanwhile, Meta, much like its AI rivals, has been ramping up spending to bolster its position in the race. Earlier this year, the company announced a planned spending of up to $135bn in 2026.
Earlier this week, the company’s Superintelligence Labs launched its debut product Muse Spark, a multimodal, “purpose-built” model for Meta’s own products. The model will be rolled out to several countries via Meta’s Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp platforms, as well as the company’s AI glasses.
Besides a wealth of Fortnite skins based on Disney IP, it hasn’t really been clear what the entertainment company has gotten in return for its $1.5 billion investment in Epic from 2024. That could change this November, Bloomberg reports, when Epic releases a Disney-themed extraction shooter. The game is one of three Disney projects the publisher is currently working on, and is reportedly expected to be Epic’s comeback after the company laid off 1,000 employees in March due to a “downturn in Fortnite engagement.”
The game is reportedly similar to Arc Raiders, a multiplayer shooter where players fight for resources before escaping through an extraction point, but with Disney characters fighting enemies instead of post-apocalyptic survivors. Bloomberg writes that internal reviewers have worried that the game’s mechanics are “not very original,” but the project is the most promising of the three Epic is developing. The second title received middling internal reviews, according to Bloomberg, and Epic moved resources off the third project “after reports that Disney was disappointed by Epic’s release timeline.”
While details of Epic’s work for Disney are coming into focus, it’s still unclear whether this new extraction shooter will be a standalone game or incorporated as a mode in Fortnite. In its efforts to sell the title as a “multiverse” and a competitor to Roblox, Epic has introduced multiplegames inside Fortnite over the last few years with distinct mechanics. The developer announced that it would shut down three of those titles — Rocket Racing, Ballistic and Fortnite Festival Battle Stage — as part of its recent round of layoffs. According to current and former Epic employees Bloomberg spoke to, several affected employees were also working on these unannounced Disney games.
When it invested in Epic in 2024, Disney suggested it would build an “entertainment universe” with the developer, where players could “play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar, and more.” Epic’s current plans sound far less ambitious than that, but if they manage to increase engagement with Fortnite and Disney’s brand, that might not matter.
In short:Amazon’s satellite internet service, rebranded from Project Kuiper to Amazon Leo in November 2025, entered enterprise beta on April 8, 2026, with commercial availability targeted for mid-2026 per Andy Jassy’s annual shareholder letter. The service offers three terminal tiers delivering up to 1 Gbps for enterprise users, with Verizon, AT&T, Vodafone, JetBlue, and NASA among the beta partners. Amazon has approximately 210 to 241 satellites in orbit against a Federal Communications Commission requirement of 1,618 by July 30, 2026, has applied for a two-year deadline extension, and has contracted 22 additional launches to close the gap.
From Project Kuiper to Amazon Leo, the rebrand and the beta
Amazon received Federal Communications Commission approval for a 3,236-satellite low-earth-orbit constellation in 2020, then spent five years building the hardware, regulatory infrastructure, and carrier partnerships needed to turn that approval into a commercially viable service. The first production satellites launched in April 2025 aboard an Atlas V rocket operated by United Launch Alliance, and by November 2025 Amazon had enough operational hardware in orbit to retire the Project Kuiper name in favour of Amazon Leo, a rebrand that signals a deliberate shift from development programme to commercial product. A business preview programme opened to select enterprise partners shortly after the rebrand. The full enterprise beta launched on April 8, 2026. The following day,Jassy’s annual letter to shareholdersconfirmed mid-2026 as the commercial launch window, placing Leo alongside Amazon’s $50 billion Trainium chip investment as one of the defining bets in the company’s current capital allocation cycle. Beta customers span Verizon and AT&T in North America, Vodafone and Vodacom across Europe and Africa, JetBlue for in-flight connectivity, NBN Co in Australia, Vrio in Latin America, and NASA, along with enterprise logistics clients Hunt Energy and Crane Worldwide Logistics.
Three terminals, three speed tiers
Amazon has engineered three terminal models to address distinct market segments without forcing a single hardware compromise across all of them. The Leo Nano is the consumer and light-enterprise unit: seven inches square, 2.2 pounds, and rated to 100 Mbps download. The Leo Pro is aimed at small businesses, rural operators, and mobile backhaul deployments: eleven inches square, 5.3 pounds, priced at under $400, and rated to 400 Mbps. The Leo Ultra is the enterprise flagship, a 20-by-30-inch installation weighing 43 pounds and capable of 1 Gbps download with 400 Mbps upload, designed for maritime vessels, commercial aircraft, and large-campus enterprise deployments. Jassy claimed in his shareholder letter that Leo terminals deliver six to eight times better uplink performance and twice the downlink performance compared with the satellite internet alternatives currently available to enterprise customers, a claim that will be scrutinised closely once commercial service begins and independent benchmarks are possible.
The FCC deadline and the launch shortfall
Amazon’s FCC licence for its Generation 1 constellation requires exactly half the planned 3,236 satellites, or 1,618, to be in orbit and operational by July 30, 2026. As of early April 2026, Amazon has between 210 and 241 satellites in orbit, a figure that makes the original deadline effectively unreachable. The company filed a formal request with the FCC in January 2026 for a two-year extension, citing a shortage of available launch vehicles. Alongside the extension filing, Amazon disclosed ten additional Falcon 9 launch contracts with SpaceX and twelve additional New Glenn contracts with Blue Origin.Bezos is betting heavily on orbital infrastructurebeyond Leo itself: Blue Origin separately filed with the FCC for a 51,600-satellite Project Sunrise constellation and a 5,408-satellite TeraWave optical backhaul network, making the New Glenn launch pipeline central to multiple overlapping ambitions simultaneously. The FCC separately approved Amazon’s Generation 2 constellation in February 2026, clearing the path to a potential 7,727-satellite network once the current launch bottleneck is resolved. The contracted vehicle fleet now spans Atlas V and Vulcan Centaur (United Launch Alliance), Falcon 9 (SpaceX), Ariane 6 (Arianespace), and New Glenn (Blue Origin).
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Taking on Starlink, and the Globalstar play
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Starlink is not a vulnerable incumbent. SpaceX’s satellite internet service generated $10.6 billion in revenue in 2025 at a 54 per cent EBITDA margin and serves more than 10 million paying subscribers across more than 100 countries, operating a constellation of 7,600 to 8,000-plus satellites.SpaceX has filed for the largest IPO in history, seeking to raise $75 billion at a valuation of up to $1.75 trillion, potentially as early as June 2026, which would cement Starlink’s position as a capital-markets-validated infrastructure business before Amazon Leo has completed its initial rollout. Amazon’s response involves two distinct moves. The first is distribution: Leo is being sold primarily through carrier partners and enterprise integrators in its launch phase, using Verizon’s, AT&T’s, and Delta’s existing customer relationships rather than competing for consumers directly. Delta has contracted Leo for in-flight Wi-Fi across 500 aircraft starting in 2028, with free access available to SkyMiles members. The second move is spectrum acquisition.Amazon is reportedly in talks to acquire Globalstarfor approximately $9 billion, a deal that would give Leo access to L-band spectrum currently anchoring Globalstar’s existing satellite network and Apple’s emergency satellite connectivity service. Apple holds a 20 per cent stake in Globalstar through a $1.5 billion investment, adding complexity to any acquisition. If the deal closes, Amazon would arrive at commercial launch with not just a new constellation but a second frequency band and an established spectrum position.The year 2025 established satellite internetas a serious enterprise infrastructure market rather than a connectivity experiment, and Amazon Leo’s mid-2026 commercial launch arrives precisely as that market enters its most contested phase.
8849 TANK Pad Ultra1080p projector accurately projects clear images from 0.5 to 4 meters
Night vision camera captures usable images even in near-total darkness conditions
Rugged chassis resists drops, dust, and water for harsh environments
The 8849 TANK Pad Ultra is a rugged Android tablet which combines a 10.95 inch FHD 1200 x 1920 display with a built-in 1080p DLP projector rated at 260 lumens.
The projector can auto-focus and project images from 0.5 to 4 meters, supported by a micro-ranging laser which helps fine-tune the focal distance.
The design is intended for outdoor use, temporary presentations, and fieldwork where a separate projector would be impractical or expensive.
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Night‑Vision camera and rugged features
The 8849 TANK Pad Ultra features a 10.95 inch FHD panel, flanked by stereo speakers using a smart PA configuration and a waterproof receiver for calls.
On the rear, it has the projector lens, night vision camera cluster, and a 2.5 inch-style speaker cutout, while the side and bottom edges host the charging port, PTT keys, and waterproof connector caps.
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The tablet’s IP-rated, reinforced chassis aims to withstand drops, dust, and moisture, while the projector remains enclosed and protected when not in use.
On the imaging side, the TANK Pad Ultra stacks a 50MP rear main camera with an IMX766 sensor and a 64MP AF night vision camera using an OV64B sensor.
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The night vision array adds four infrared LEDs that illuminate scenes in near-total darkness, allowing the camera to capture usable images without a visible light flash.
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The rugged tablet also includes a camping lamp module with red and blue warning lights, magnetic modular accessories, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Buttons for power, volume, and two PTT keys are built into the ruggedized frame, which is designed to work with protective handheld leather covers and waterproof interface plugs.
Under the hood, the tablet runs a MediaTek Dimensity 8200 platform with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of internal storage.
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It supports 5G NR on both FDD and TDD bands, along with LTE Advanced, Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth 5.3, enabling fast wireless data and screen mirroring to external displays.
The device includes dual-band GPS, Glonass, Galileo, and Beidou for relatively precise location tracking, as well as NFC for reading and card mode interactions.
A 23,400mAh battery delivers long runtime, replenished over a 66W USB-C fast charging input, with the same port doubling as a reverse charging source for other gadgets.
This device also supports dual nano SIM cards plus a microSD card for additional storage expansion, and it ships with Android 15 out of the box.
The in-development word game “Character Limit” faced testers in the last two months, but as TestFlight got underway, an unexpected game convention opportunity went especially well.
A tale of two tests: TestFlight and a gaming convention.
Back in early February, Character Limit had reached a good stopping point to get some testing done with real players. A lot of the work had been done, so now it was time to get some bug fixing and polishing done, and to get some real feedback. This previously came in the form of visits to meet other game developers in Cardiff for brief sessions. But you can only go so far in terms of feedback from a kind audience. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
Words have no meaning when Black Friday falls in April and lasts two weeks. Originally coined to denote the pandemonium and chaos when holiday shopping met football games after Thanksgiving, Black Friday has come to blankly mean “discounts whenever.”
And so when The Home Depot says they’ve got a “Spring Black Friday” sale going, what they seem to be trying to say is that springtime might as well be Christmas for the DIY and backyard set. It’s when you buy stuff. Except probably for yourself.
Anyway, most of this sale is not a barn-burner. But Home Depot loves a BOGO tool sale on the Milwaukee tools used and recommended by WIRED tester Scott Gilbertson. And Weber grills are $50 to $100 off, including a couple of WIRED’s favorite grills on earth.
Here are the deals WIRED is tracking on the Home Depot Black Friday Spring Sale, ending April 22. Or just check out the whole Home Depot Black Friday deals below.
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$50 off the Best Gas Grill for Most Families
Weber
Spirit E-210 Gas Grill
For years, we’ve been recommending Weber’s straightforward 200-series Sprit grills as some of the best grills at the intersection of value and performance. The build quality is good, the cook is even, and the heat on the propane burners is easy to adjust. Like all Webers, you can build your grill’s workspace out with accessories and snap-on options until it’s tong heaven. Spirit already starts out pretty affordable, with a 10-year warranty and porcelain-coated cast iron grill grates that make for easy clean-up and clean cooks. An extra $50 off is a nice cherry on top.
But note that while a Spirit is likely all the grill you’ll ever need for a large family, grill cooks who throw a lot of parties might upgrade to the Genesis E-325 ($849) for the larger searing area and higher BTUs, added storage and prep, and the option on a top grill. That’s also on sale in April, for $100 off list price.
BOGO Deals on Milwaukee, Dewalt, and Ryobi Tools
The other thing The Home Depot likes to do is offer BOGOs on tools—in this case packaging a $200 tool with a free $200 power pack. This is, needless to say, a nice deal.
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On the Milwaukee tool ecosystem used by WIRED reviewer and inveterate DIYer Scott Gilbertson—favored for its mix of value, durability and pure power, an assortment of tools come with a free power pack.
But these BOGos can be a bit maddening to sort out on Home Depot’s website. So I’ve done a little legwork for you. Here are the links to the BOGO deals for Milwaukee, Ryobi, and DeWalt. You’re welcome.
Steep Discounts on Ryobi Yard Tools
Longtime WIRED reviewer Parker Hall has long held the belief that Ryobi yard tools are the most most slept-on tool ecosystem for home gardeners and landscapers, from mowers to chain saws to trimmers.
Part of the reason is service: At least in our region (the Pacific Northwest), Ryobi doesn’t make you send in tools to be serviced somewhere else. They instead keep a repairman on retainer, and he comes to you and fixes your mower. This is a wonderful thing. In any case, Hall says that he’s rarely had cause to call on his repairman. He just likes to know he’s there.
A 20-year-old man was arrested by the San Francisco Police Department after allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s house, The New York Times reports.
In a statement shared on X, SFPD wrote that it responded to a request for a fire investigation in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco around 7:12 AM ET / 4:12AM PT. “At the scene, officers learned that an unknown male subject threw an incendiary destructive device at a home, causing a fire at an exterior gate.” After the man fled on foot, police found and arrested him around an hour later while responding to a business’ complaint about an “unknown male subject threatening to burn down the building.” That business turned out to be OpenAI’s headquarters and the subject happened to be the same man who threw the Molotov at Altman’s house.
“Early this morning, someone threw a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman’s home and also made threats at our San Francisco headquarters. Thankfully, no one was hurt,” an OpenAI spokesperson confirmed in a statement to Wired. “We deeply appreciate how quickly SFPD responded and the support from the city in helping keep our employees safe. The individual is in custody, and we’re assisting law enforcement with their investigation.”
As it’s become more commonplace, artificial intelligence has also become more divisive. While more and more people continue to use AI tools, public reaction to the encroachment of the technology, whether in gaming or customer service, is increasingly negative. Altman’s warnings of AI’s impact on employment, and a recent New Yorker investigation digging into his allegedly manipulative leadership style at OpenAI, have also raised questions about the CEO’s prominent role as a steward of the technology.
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