Builders who pick up the box for LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings Minas Tirith (set #11377) will be in for a treat, since this is one of the company’s largest sets ever. An impressive 8,278 pieces snap together to produce a model standing 23+ inches tall, 25 inches wide, and 14.5 inches deep. For those in the know, early access to this beast begins on June 1st for LEGO Insiders for $649.99, with the rest of us receiving it on June 4th.
Google announced its Googlebook laptops this morning as the next chapter in personal computing. These machines arrive later this fall from familiar names like Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo, and they mark a clear shift away from the old Chromebook formula while keeping many of the things people already like about simple, reliable devices.
Climbing into the open metal cage of Unitree’s GD01 feels like slipping behind the wheel of something from another era of imagination. Founder Wang Xingxing does exactly that in the one-minute demonstration video released today. He buckles into the central seat, grips the controls, and sets the machine in motion across an indoor workshop floor. The robot responds with smooth, deliberate steps on its beastly red legs.
Strange Inventions set out to create a clock that would stand out from the crowd. Water becomes the focal point of the show, with the numerals formed by little bottles filled to various levels. The display consists of four grids arranged side by side. Each grid contains 15 tiny bottles placed neatly in a 3×5 design. Some bottles contain blue-dyed water, while others are empty. The arrangement of full and empty bottles produces a clear image of the current hour and minute.
Rumors about Sony’s next PlayStation console have grown louder in recent weeks, painting a picture of a major hardware jump paired with real uncertainty about when it will actually reach players. One detailed report claims Sony aims to release both a home version of the PS6 and a matching portable device by the end of 2027, with both arriving at the same time around the world. Development on the two systems is happening together, and each will run games from the PS4 and PS5 libraries without any extra steps. The home model will still accept physical discs, giving fans the choice they have come to expect.
Photo credit: WSJ
Colin Angle, the co-founder who transformed the humble vacuum into a household staple, left iRobot in 2024 to pursue a new business, Familiar Machines & Magic. His most recent creation, Familiar, a four-legged companion, adds a unique element to living rooms. The prototypes, Daphne and Winston, are about the size of a bulldog. They have soft artificial fur to give them a cuddly appearance, and a touch sensitive layer underneath to detect how people interact with them. Their huge, round bear-cub ears and doe eyes draw them up for a conversation.
Users who text friends or family on Android devices will notice their conversations in the Messages app feel more secure right away. RCS messaging now supports end-to-end encryption by default, meaning no one else can read those messages while they travel between phones. A small lock icon appears at the top of any encrypted RCS chat so everyone knows the protection is active, and an Encrypted label shows up as well. The system turns encryption on automatically over time for both new chats and older ones, with no extra steps required from the user beyond having a supported carrier plan.
Prices for computer memory and storage continue to rise every few months, driven by demand for new AI features across the industry. At the moment, you can get a high-end 14.2-inch MacBook Pro for $1,849 (was $2,100), and this model has the M5 CPU, 32GB of unified memory, and 1TB of SSD storage.
Kia designers have pushed the Vision Meta Turismo concept to a point where a fastback version already stands 90% complete and ready for the assembly line. Engineers built this model on a fresh platform created just for high-performance electric vehicles, and every major element from body shape to interior layout matches what buyers would see in showrooms.
Researchers at MIT reached back to 1985 and pulled an old design out of storage. What they built with 3D printers now turns three floppy plastic strips into a solid beam in seconds. The device carries a simple name: the Y-zipper. Its triangular profile locks parts together so tightly that soft tentacles become load-bearing supports. Engineers can print the whole assembly in ordinary plastic and watch it switch states on command.