What's New

Earlier this year, WIRED published a story that asked a question that seemed to encapsulate internet culture in 2017: What does 'covfefe' mean? The nonsense term was tweeted out by President Donald Trump, and the internet went into a fit trying to define it. As WIRED culture writer Angela Watercutter wrote, "Nearly every great meme starts with an obscure word, hashtag, or image that is then grante...

The most annoying part of vacuuming is the prep work. If you want to avoid making thousands of little tiny passes with an awkward push vacuum, you have to invest a significant amount of time picking up and putting away toys, cleaning up clothes, and moving furniture. Unfortunately, many robot vacuums do not offer significant improvements in this regard. Their instruction manuals warn you to tidy u...

Recently, someone asked me if I thought people were cooking at home less frequently than they used to. I bristled at the query, probably because I was worried that it might be true. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Handing your child a teddy bear with an embedded camera is a bad idea. But a kid-friendly tablet, with carefully curated content under direct parental supervision, is another thing altogether. Our recommended tablet for kids is the Amazon Fire HD 8 for Kids, which we reviewed earlier this year. Its parental controls and rugged design make it ideal for your tot, but there are five things you should...

When I worked at Texas Monthly magazine, there was no surer way to capture a reader's attention than to put Willie Nelson on the cover or in the headline. It seems WIRED's version of the Red-Headed Stranger is one Elon Musk. This year, the Tesla CEO (probably better known as a hat salesman) finally launched the car company's Model 3 and unveiled an electric big rig to much fanfare—and to much inte...

Every year more movies hit theaters than any sane person could ever hope to try to see. Yet we here at WIRED are crazy enough to try to see as many as we can. And in the process we often catch films that might fall under the radar (or just get overlooked in lieu of a second, or third, viewing of Thor: Ragnarok or Star Wars: The Last Jedi). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com...

In an NFL game, every big play is a content earthquake. The moment Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones catches a touchdown by ripping the ball out of a hapless defender's hands, the effects ripple far and wide. Somebody in the stands with a good view uploads their video to Instagram. Fantasy scores and online gamecasts update. Twitter goes nuts. Friends text "DID YOU SEE THAT" with a bunch o...

The most convincing lie Steve Jobs ever told was "you already know how to use it." For years, Apple crowed about its ability to build gadgets that were so simple and obvious, they were practically ingrained—as if you could emerge from decades of cryogenic freeze and instinctively understand how to 3D-Touch the camera app icon and snap a selfie. Need proof? Just look at this adorable video of a two...

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It’s impossible to write a review of any smart thermostat without addressing the elephant in the room—the Nest thermostat. As WIRED’s David Pierce has said, the Nest has been the gateway to smart thermostat ownership for millions. It was my family's first smart thermostat. When the Nest first came out, we installed it, downloaded the app, and rubbed our hands together gleefully. Learn more about y...

The San Francisco company Mafia Bags has been making beautiful and functional bags out of recycled materials for years. The brand's trademark medium is sailcloth, the remnants of spent boating sails and kites that would otherwise end up in the trash. Last month, Mafia teamed up with Adam Savage to make the EDC One, an all-white sailcloth utility bag. Now, the company has teamed with noted designer...

‘Tis the season to pause and take stock. Have you been nice to the cars in your life? The automotive suppliers? The Uber drivers? How about the family? If you’ve got some making up to do, Jack Stewart has you covered, with seven last-minute gift ideas for the auto lover in your life. Speaking of folks who probably owe some sorrys: Uber capped off its year of suck with the release of a potentially...

Yes, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is in theaters and that’s all you really need to know. Well, that and the fact that it made a lot of money and has been surprisingly divisive amongst fans. (Maybe.) Now you're all caught up. Let’s just get on with things, shall we? The Source: The cinemas around the world Probability of Accuracy: Entirely on point. The Real Deal: Turns out, a lot of people wanted to s...

You have to be a hardcore avgeek to enjoy flying these days. People shuffling from one line to the next, shoes off, laptops out, passports checked, power failures, where’s the bar? But airlines, airport operators, and security staff, are turning to tech to ease the pain. Here are some of the latest airport innovations to look out for. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adch...

All Michael Tucker wanted was to learn how to be a better writer. Film school had given him a solid background in film theory and plenty of directing experience, but when he moved to Los Angeles a couple of years after graduation, Tucker decided his weakest asset was his screenwriting. "If I want to be serious and get to the next level," he told himself, "I need to have a script that is good. Lear...

I love the smell of neoprene in the morning, and that’s not just an Apocalypse Now reference. It’s the truth. If you've ever surfed, the smells of neoprene, wax, and salt water all have powerful memories attached to them. It’s just too bad that neoprene, as a material, is terrible for the environment. It’s made from petrochemicals in a process that is extremely energy-intensive, and it doesn’t eve...

The scale of the future does not have numbers or dials. It does not tweet out your body fat percentage, nor does it calculate how much water you're currently retaining. The scale of the future will not scream at you when you’ve come home after a long night of drinking and ordered an entire pizza, fully loaded, to eat by yourself. It knows when you’ve done this, of course. It just doesn’t tell you....

Another December, another massive opening for a Star Wars movie—this time to the tune of $450 million worldwide. That alone isn't really surprising; Star Wars fans tend to be the See It Opening Weekend type. What is surprising, though, is how divisive the film turned out to be. (Star Wars fans also tend to be the Argue About Changes to Their Fave Franchise type, too, apparently. Learn more about y...

Whether you loved it or hated it (most people liked it), everyone can agree there's a lot to unpack in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. It's 2 hours and 35 minutes of drama, space fights, switched sides, and creatures—at least one of which Mark Hamill drinks from. That's kind of a lot. But don't say Rian Johnson never gave you anything. And really, fans should expect nothing less from him. Learn more abo...

Last week, I spent two days holed up in a drab Sheraton hotel just outside of downtown San Diego. My only company came from Alexa, in the form of Amazon's new Echo Spot. This is the company's newest Echo device, yet another way to bring Alexa inside your house. It's also the second Echo with a screen and a camera, after the Echo Show. The Spot is a similar thing, only a lot smaller and a lot bette...

I know there's one big reason you're reading this review, so I'll get right to it: The Google Home Max sounds just fantastic. It's a big speaker, powerful and dramatic. It's deep and weighty on the bottom, clear everywhere else, and well-rounded overall. It's voice is better than I expected, and also much louder. As much as I wanted to turn it up while I was testing it, I kept nervously nudging th...

The best smart home gadgets are the ones that you can set and forget: A scheduled robot vacuum comes in the night and picks up all your crumbs while you’re sleeping, like a magical crumb fairy. A microwave’s internal sensors defrost a hunk of frozen pork without scorching. To wit: A great device is one that lets you be as stupid as you want. Here’s how effective the August Smart Lock Pro is: I kee...

When the Ford GT won its class in the famously grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race last year, it wasn't just a celebration for the team which developed the all new supercar. It was a relief. The victory in the GTE Pro class came 50 years after Ford's historic 1966 win with the GT40, when the American automaker proved (mostly to spite Ferrari) that it could dominate the track in Europe as w...

Who can even manage to get into the holiday spirit considering the whirlwind week that just passed? Not only was Southern California on fire, but several politicians resigned amidst sexual harassment claims while others continued to run for office despite facing their own sexual abuse allegations. Yes, time continued to speed up last week, but what else happened? Just a few small things. Keep read...