I think it’s fair to say Meta doesn’t boast a particularly glowing reputation at the moment.

With privacy concerns surrounding its Meta Glasses that no amount of celebrity endorsement can fix, plus issues around shielding children and vulnerable people from harmful content online, it really doesn’t feel like Meta is taking its responsibility to keep people safe very seriously.

However, it would appear that Meta is trying to combat this by launching a camera-free pair of smart glasses. Yep, the Ray-Ban Meta Audio sheds itself of the creepy camera and is designed for users to listen to music and chat to Meta’s AI assistant (Muse) without needing headphones.

I completely understand why there’s a rise in open-ear headphones. Unless I’m travelling on a plane or sitting in a busy office or cafe, proper noise cancelling headphones no longer appeal to me, especially when I’m out walking or on a run. The thought of being so unaware of my surroundings feels dangerous and an unnecessary risk to take when out on my own. With that in mind, I really do understand the idea behind the Ray Ban Meta Audio specs, as you can listen to audio content while staying alert and present of the space around you. 

Advertisement

Plus, you can call on Meta AI to get answers to questions without needing to get your phone out. Okay, let’s be honest, no one would ever really do this, but it’s an unignorable option. 

Advertisement

And then there’s the design. As there’s no bulky camera to find space for, Meta doesn’t need to use the larger Ray-Ban Wayfarer or Starfire styles for its glasses and can call upon other iconic but more lightweight designs from the brand, like Burbank or my personal favourite, Clubmaster. 

Finally, you can add your prescription to the specs too and choose between standard or tinted lenses too. So, theoretically, if you need a new pair of glasses and a new pair of open-ears, then the Ray Ban Meta Audio could be a good compromise.

The counter-argument

So yes, there genuinely are valid reasons why someone might splurge on the audio only pair. However, with a starting price of £319, the Ray Ban Meta Audio is a seriously hefty investment for specs with built-in speakers and microphones. In fact, the pair is only £90 less than the full-blown Meta Glasses 3rd Gen – so that might sway users to just opt for the camera-cladded alternative. 

Advertisement

Then there’s Meta’s AI assistant Muse. Yes, it probably can come in handy when you have a question that needs answering right away, and you have no time to get your phone out or to ask someone for the answer – but how often will those instances actually come up?

During my time at a Meta event, I was prompted to use the glasses to ask Muse about the health benefits of sourdough. It’s good to know, don’t get me wrong, but I think I naturally would have just Googled the question, rather than muttering it to my glasses to reveal the answer. 

Advertisement

Which brings me to my next qualm. Can you imagine being caught actually chatting to the AI assistant that lives in your glasses? The thought is genuinely mortifying. 

Advertisement

In fact, and I know I’ll sound like a hypocrite for even saying this, but at least the standard pair has cameras that can come in handy, say if you want to translate a menu or identify a plant. Of course this does not sway my overarching opinion that the Meta Glasses are creepy, but it does at least offer some justification. 

There are some genuine pros to the Ray Ban Meta Audio specs. Not only are they available in stylish designs and can be used as your everyday prescription glasses, but they allow you to listen to audio content without needing to don earbuds or headphones. The glasses also keep you aware of your surroundings – something that more of us are choosing to do to stay safe.

However, with a hefty price tag and not much else going for it, the Ray Ban Meta Audio doesn’t seem like much of a worthwhile option. The AI is a decent addition, but I doubt people will really use it enough to warrant the splurge. Having said that, if you’re keen to get your hands on Meta Glasses, then I would definitely say go for the audio-only iteration rather than ones with a camera.

Advertisement

I for one am going to stick with my normal prescription glasses and use open-ear models like the Shokz OpenDots Air while I’m out and about.

Advertisement

Japanese company Tamura Electric sold the Lumitime as a stylish desk or wall clock throughout the mid to late 1970s, giving buyers the futuristic look of digital numerals when affordable LED and LCD panels were still dim, tiny, or simply not ready for living rooms. Mark Furneaux opened one of these machines and found no counters, no decoder chips, and no real-time clock module. A synchronous motor tied directly to the 60 hertz household line supplies both power and timing, spinning at a fixed rate so the clock stays accurate as long as the grid stays stable.

Gears reduce the motor speed dramatically, gradually reducing it with a long chain of gears until you reach the three main shafts, which happen to be turning over at the correct pace for displaying minutes and hours. These shafts include patterned metal plates around which springy contacts move back and forth. Each plate has been carved out such that the contacts close and then open in the precise proper order to illuminate the appropriate neon lighting for each digit from 0 to 9. What you end up with is the classic look of a 7-segment display, all connected with good old mechanical switches. Behind the segments, the neon bulbs glow a nice warm orange, and out on the side, there’s a spinning star shape with a simple but effective moiré pattern that shows you how many seconds have passed.

Amazon Echo Show 15 (newest model), Full HD 15.6″ kitchen hub for home organization, with built-in Fire…

• MEET ECHO SHOW 15 – A stunning 15.6″ Full-HD (1080p) smart display that’s perfect for your kitchen and ready to show you more. Use customizable…
• FAMILY ORGANIZATION HUB – See your top widgets at a glance, like your family’s calendars and to-do lists, local weather, smart home, and more.
• ALL YOUR FAVORITES, ALL RIGHT HERE – Built-in Fire TV unlocks endless entertainment, so you can enjoy your favorite content from thousands of apps…

The physical contacts function as a mechanical decoder drum, moving up and down past a set of plates, with one set handling the minute unit, another the tens minute, and a third the hours, with each one cut off so that only the correct bits receive power at the correct moment. To keep things from getting too exciting, resistors are placed between the power source and the lamps to keep the current under control. When a digit changes, and this is all part of the design, the contacts will temporarily make and then lose contact, flashing on and off intermittently. A handful of the versions even went so far as to include additional plates and levers for an alarm function that operated in the same manner.

Time and wear eventually take their toll on vintage clocks, and the most typical issue is dried out grease inside the motor, which, when seized, brings the entire thing to a halt. Then you’ll need to clean the bearings, add some new oil, and, if you’re lucky, reset the little ratchet that ensures the motor always begins in the correct direction. If you don’t get it properly, the motor will just spin backward and the display will begin counting down rather than up. After around forty years, the plastic gears in the reduction train begin to wear out.

The concept is still valid, and it’s beautiful. Here, a little bit of regular household electricity serves as both clockwork and logic. Tamura was even bold enough to name some of them “NO ICS,” emphasizing that there were no integrated circuits to be found, only a neatly designed series of spinning metal plates. So the Lumitime lies there, frozen in a delightful moment in time when people desperately wanted digital readouts but the cheapest method to get them was still this quite charming device.
[Source]

Last year, Maddie Kowalski was a regular sophomore attending the University of Florida. Then a series of burner accounts on X started proliferating explicit, nonconsensual videos of her. This week, Zoë Schiffer sits down with WIRED’s senior writer Ej Dickson to discuss the burnerverse, a sprawling, loosely organized network of anonymous accounts that have turned the sexual humiliation of young women into an online participatory sport.

You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky at @zoeschiffer and Ej Dickson on Bluesky at @ejdickson. Write to us at [email protected].

How to Listen

You can always listen to this week’s podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here’s how:

If you’re on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts and search for “uncanny valley.” We’re on Spotify too.

Transcript

Note: This is an automated transcript, which may contain errors.

Zoë Schiffer: A quick content warning before we dive in. This conversation includes descriptions of nonconsensual sexual content and references to self-harm. Please take care while listening.

Maddie Kowalski: When I heard that someone had sent a nude photograph of me to his friends at FSU, and in this picture I was heavily intoxicated.

Zoë Schiffer: This is Maddie Kowalski.

Maddie Kowalski: So right after this, I started getting flooded with messages that I was being talked about all over my school’s Yik Yak.

Zoë Schiffer: Yik Yak is a platform popular among college students where you can post anonymously if you’re within a specific geographic radius.

Maddie Kowalski: Everything was just happening really fast, and I couldn’t comprehend any of it.

Zoë Schiffer: What Maddie had heard about was a single photo, but there were a series of videos in which she was visibly out of it, naked, and performing sexual acts. Maddie remembers, well, she was really drunk that night.

Maddie Kowalski: I felt really detached from the girl in the videos because I had so little memory of the events.

Zoë Schiffer: Obviously, she hadn’t consented to any of this, not to being filmed, and certainly not to those films being posted online. But now, it was all over X.

Maddie Kowalski: And at this moment, I just felt my whole world collapse. Everything was being shared and reposted so fast, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.

Zoë Schiffer: The videos had officially gone viral. #MaddieKowalski was trending on X nationwide, and it was viewed more than 8.5 million times. For the next 24 hours, Maddie sat paralyzed on her couch while anonymous internet people harassed her. They posted old photos from before the night the videos were taken. They called and texted her parents all throughout the night. One anonymous man told her father that he’d had sex with her and had since tested positive for HIV. People on X were placing bets on whether by the end of the week she would either start an OnlyFans or kill herself. Here’s the thing. The people behind this weren’t strangers in some far-off corner of the internet. In many cases, they were her literal classmates hiding behind anonymous burner accounts, mostly used to celebrate college sports. From WIRED’s Uncanny Valley, I’m Zoë Schiffer, contributing editor. WIRED senior writer Ej Dickson spent months following Maddie’s story and what’s become known as the burnerverse, a sprawling, loosely organized network of anonymous accounts that has turned the sexual humiliation of young women into a kind of participatory sport. Ej, thank you so much for coming on.

Editor’s take: Sony is actively trying to break new ground with AI technology, cloud services, and other questionable consumer solutions after stating that PlayStation physical games will soon be discontinued. The company is going as far as constantly tracking users’ devices so that one or more LLMs might vibe-code a fix for new software issues.

In 2025, Sony filed an AI-focused patent with the USPTO. The recently published patent reveals a diagnostics and troubleshooting system designed to rely heavily on automation, with large language models acting as both the “brain” and the developer – tasked with fixing issues found on customers’ devices.

Sony’s patent application describes a remote AI server that’s constantly monitoring a user’s device. The device could eventually signal that something is wrong, and the server can write its own small diagnostic tool to send back to the device. After examining the diagnostic data, the system can either fix the issue by itself or file a new ticket to be reviewed by a human troubleshooter at a later date.

The system includes a cloud-based “brain” that can choose between multiple LLMs to get the job done, even writing and uploading software fixes for on-device firmware, operating systems, and more.

In theory, the AI-based troubleshooting technology could help diagnose and fix issues on gaming consoles, TVs, headsets, and other types of consumer electronics sold by Sony.

If the system works as intended, users wouldn’t even be notified that their device had downloaded updated firmware. Consumers would be left with a perfectly working device, while Sony could gain access to massive troves of valuable diagnostic data to further refine and train its LLMs.

Sony’s approach might prove troublesome in a number of ways. The cloud system would act as an always-on monitoring system for consumer devices, posing potential threats to users’ privacy and data security. Vibe-coding LLMs might be the best thing since sliced bread for AI enthusiasts, but automatic systems are still prone to generating hallucinations, security issues, and difficult-to-maintain code.

It’s worth noting that tech companies file patents on a constant basis, and many of these supposedly “revolutionary” solutions never come to fruition.

For now, the AI-based troubleshooting system has already received a rejection from a USPTO examiner. Sony could keep pushing its patent application within the USPTO, asking for a new review after amending the original application.

Popular pharmacy chain CVS has been hit with a lawsuit that alleges the company sold data from customers who shopped on its websites (cvs.com and cvshealth.com) or the mobile app. 

The lawsuit alleges that CVS disclosed private health information, browsing data and more from users to advertising company Criteo and other third parties, though the pharmacy denies any wrongdoing. It has settled to the tune of $20.5 million to avoid additional expenses by continuing the lawsuit and other business disruptions. 

Email notifications (PDF) for potential class members were sent out earlier in September, but the deadline to submit the claim form is Nov. 16, 2026. If you’ve ever shopped on any of the CVS websites or mobile apps prior to July 27, 2026, you’re considered eligible to receive payment, but you must still submit a claim. 

According to the official settlement website, customers who submit a claim without documentation may receive up to $5, and those who submit a claim with valid documentation of belonging to the class may receive up to $10, but the amount may be reduced depending on the number of valid claims submitted. 

As is typical with class action lawsuits, potential class members may also opt out of the settlement. Opting out of the settlement will prevent payment, but will allow you to maintain your rights to directly sue the company yourself. The final date to opt out of the settlement is Nov. 1, 2026.

The final hearing is set to take place on Dec. 1, 2026, and if the court approves the settlement, payments will be issued 120 days after approval. Class members can be paid via check, PayPal, Venmo or Zelle.

Blake has over a decade of experience writing for the web, with a focus on mobile phones, where he covered the smartphone boom of the 2010s and the broader tech scene. When he’s not in front of a keyboard, you’ll most likely find him playing video games or watching horror movies.

See full bio

Advertisement

Black Friday 2026 lands on November 27. Phone pricing tends to see some of the sharpest movement of the entire year during this window. Refurbished listings for recent flagship models typically see the steepest cuts, since new-device pricing stays firm for months after launch. Resale inventory also grows once trade-ins pick up. Here’s a breakdown of what’s worth watching across the iPhone and Galaxy lineups.

iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pro specs and refurbished pricing

Anyone tracking iPhone Black Friday pricing should watch the iPhone 16, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max specifically. All three models see meaningful refurbished discounts once a new generation launches. The iPhone 16 runs on Apple’s A18 chip. It pairs with a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display and a 48-megapixel main camera with a secondary ultra-wide lens. Storage options run from 128GB to 512GB. The phone supports 5G connectivity across sub-6GHz and mmWave bands depending on the region.

The iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max both carry the A17 Pro chip, built on a 3-nanometer process. They feature a titanium frame, which cut weight compared to the stainless steel design of prior Pro models. The camera system includes a 48-megapixel main sensor with 3x optical zoom on the telephoto lens. Refurbished pricing on both models tends to sit well below the 16s, given the extra year of depreciation, with the Pro Max carrying the widest gap due to its higher original retail price.

The best Black Friday phone deals this year tend to favor buyers who skip the newest chip. Refurbished iPhone 16 and 15 Pro listings deliver comparable specs to new retail units at a lower price point. Condition grading is attached to each listing, so buyers know exactly what they’re purchasing before checkout.

Galaxy S25 Ultra: Specs Worth Comparing

The Galaxy S25 Ultra pairs a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset with a 6.9-inch AMOLED display. The display runs at a 120Hz refresh rate. It includes a 200-megapixel main camera and a built-in S Pen stylus. Battery capacity sits at 5,000mAh. The phone supports up to 1TB of internal storage on higher-tier configurations.

Refurbished S25 Ultra units tend to hold value better than most competing flagships. This is largely due to strong resale demand tied to the S Pen feature set, which has no direct equivalent in Apple’s current lineup. Buyers comparing Samsung against iPhone will often find the price gap between refurbished and new narrows less on the S25 Ultra than it does on comparable Apple models.

Why sim-free refurbished phones are the smartest Black Friday deal

Sim-free refurbished phones remove the pricing structure carriers build around multi-year contracts. A discount only unlocks through a locked-in monthly plan in that structure. A SIM-free device shows its cost upfront, without a bundled service fee obscuring the price. This distinction matters most during Black Friday. Carrier promotions frequently advertise markdowns that only apply within a two-year commitment.

Refurbished vs New: What’s the difference

Refurbished and new devices have the same hardware specs. Refurbishment is a cosmetic condition and battery health, not internals. Each device sold through a reputable refurbished marketplace is inspected. They are graded and listed for sale after testing for screen condition, battery capacity, and full functionality. Back Market is a leading global marketplace for verified refurbished electronics. Its grading system covers each of these categories, with a warranty attached regardless of the condition tier selected.

How to choose the right phone deal on Black Friday

Choosing well comes down to comparing storage tier, condition grade, and warranty length side by side. The size of the advertised discount matters less than these three factors. The price difference between Excellent and Good condition units frequently exceeds the gap between refurbished and new at the same storage tier. This makes the condition grade the most important variable to check first. Confirming warranty terms before purchase remains the clearest way to separate a solid deal from one that only looks favorable at first glance.

In Guadalajara, Mexico, many high schools have motivated teachers and talented students with an interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, but they lack access to advanced tools such as robotics laboratories. The resources shortfall limits the students’ opportunities for hands-on learning on cutting-edge applications.

A team from ITESO, Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara, is working to change that. Through the EPICS in IEEE initiative, a multidisciplinary group of 15 engineering students, faculty advisors, and IEEE Guadalajara Section volunteers developed RoboMeshA. The portable, self-contained educational platform brings robotics and AI experiences into classrooms.

EPICS is administered by IEEE Educational Activities and funded by the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society.

A mobile laboratory

Rather than requiring a school to build a dedicated computer lab or install complex software, RoboMeshA operates as an all-in-one mobile learning network.

“RoboMeshA brings robotics and AI to students who don’t have access to specialized facilities or preinstalled software,” says team member Fernando Vidal Luna, an IEEE student member and a mechatronics engineering major at ITESO.

Students connect directly to the platform from a user-friendly web browser. They can interact with the robot manually or use its control modes to watch it move and detect and avoid obstacles.

“The project combines mechanical design, embedded systems, control engineering, computer vision, and AI into a single robotic system that functions as a mobile learning laboratory,” says faculty advisor Jorge A. Lizarraga.

The team says young students are interested in technology, programming, and robotics but don’t have an opportunity to work with systems that combine mechanics, electronics, software, and control.

“RoboMeshA allows students to see how all these disciplines work together in a tangible and understandable way,” says team member José S. González, who also is studying mechatronics engineering.

The team has built two units and is developing a modular coupling framework to expand the system’s capabilities for research and classroom demonstrations. The structured system design approach connects independent software components while minimizing internal dependencies, enabling four RobotMeshA robots to operate together.

Overcoming design challenges

The team faced significant hurdles while designing the project.

“One key challenge involved the robot’s structural design,” Luna says. “It wasn’t only about making a chassis where all the components fit and the design had sufficient stability, rigidity, and weight distribution. It was also about ensuring that the electronics were protected while still being accessible for maintenance, testing, and modifications.”

“It was also challenging to design a platform that could be used by students with different levels of experience,” González adds.

“When students realize the technology they develop can inspire others and improve lives, engineering becomes far more meaningful.” —Luis Fernando Luque-Vega

The team partnered with the CETI Colomos and Prepa ITESO high schools to validate the platform in classroom settings.

“We wanted the first interactions with the robot to be simple and intuitive,” González says, “such that students could simply power the robot, connect to its network, and begin interacting with it, rather than having to deal with software installation, extensive configuration, or troubleshooting.”

Engineering with social impact

Many of the students who participated were from ITESO’s applied professional projects program. The experience offered them practical training in project management, system integration, and user-centered design.

The team also presented a research paper and a project poster in May at the Engineering Congress of the Jesuit University System.

“Seeing a design move from a digital model to a physical system was invaluable,” González says. “Working with students from different backgrounds taught us to listen to end users and design for their actual needs.”

Project lead Luis Fernando Luque-Vega, an IEEE member, says he’d like the venture to serve as a blueprint for engineering education.

“I hope RoboMeshA is adopted by schools, universities, and IEEE student branches across Mexico and internationally as a model for integrating technical innovation with community engagement,” Luque-Vega says.

By pairing engineering talent with community service, initiatives such as EPICS in IEEE demonstrate how targeted support can turn academic concepts into real-world solutions.

“When students realize the technology they develop can inspire others and improve lives, engineering becomes far more meaningful,” Luque-Vega says.

For more information on service-learning opportunities, visit the EPICS website.

Forward-looking: Geely Automotive says its next-generation EV charging system uses artificial intelligence to charge a battery from 10% to 70% in four minutes and 30 seconds. The system will debut with Geely’s latest smart-charging station, which can deliver up to 2,250 kilowatts of peak power. The rollout puts Geely in closer competition with BYD as Chinese automakers use charging technology to differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded EV market.

The Chinese automaker said it tested the system on a Zeekr 001 sedan and a Lynk & Co 10 hybrid. In both cases, the vehicles reached a 97% charge in less than nine minutes. Geely said its software predicts battery temperature during charging and adjusts power flow accordingly.

The company explains that high-speed charging is not simply about delivering more electricity. Batteries can overheat or degrade if they are pushed too hard, particularly at high states of charge. Geely says its algorithms help manage those limits by anticipating changes in battery temperature and tailoring the charging process in real time.

Earlier this year, BYD introduced a charging system that it said could take a battery from 10% to 70% in five minutes. Both companies are betting that faster charging will become a bigger selling point as China’s EV market becomes increasingly crowded.

For automakers, cutting charging times could help address one of the persistent concerns around electric vehicles: how long drivers must wait at a charger, especially on longer trips. Battery range remains important, but charging speed, charger availability, and the ability to maintain high power without damaging the battery are increasingly part of the purchasing decision.

Geely has been building out its own battery and charging technology as it seeks to narrow the gap with BYD, China’s top-selling auto brand since 2023. BYD has also surpassed Tesla to become the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer.

Based in Hangzhou, Geely has been developing products that compete directly with BYD’s vehicles, batteries, and charging systems. Its latest announcement suggests the company wants to compete not only on vehicle models and pricing, but also on the charging experience that supports those vehicles.

The company briefly pulled ahead of BYD in sales during the first two months of the year, recording its largest lead over the rival since 2022. Geely fell behind again in the months that followed, however.

Geely’s reported result is only 30 seconds faster than BYD’s claim for charging from 10% to 70%. But the company is also emphasizing the role of AI in managing the process. If the system works as described outside controlled tests, Geely could use it to make ultra-fast charging more reliable across different vehicle models and battery conditions.