FCC’s import ban on the best new drones starts today
US drone makers are happy—US drone hobbyists, not so much.
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Scharon Harding
Senior Technology Reporter
scharon.harding@arstechnica.com
Scharon is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica writing news, reviews, and analysis on consumer gadgets and services. She's been reporting on technology for over 10 years. Before Ars, Scharon managed Tom’s Hardware’s computer peripherals coverage and wrote laptop and other gadget reviews for the site. Other prior roles include reporting on breaking news, conducting analysis, and writing research reports about the IT channel with bylines at Channelnomics and CRN UK. Scharon has a Bachelor's Degree from Fordham University in Communication and Media Studies. She’s based in Brooklyn but would love to get out of the city for a nice hike.
Recent stories by
Scharon Harding
The Splay is a subpar monitor but an exciting portable projector
Splay can be a monitor and takes a lot of the stress out of projectors, too.
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LG TVs’ unremovable Copilot shortcut is the least of smart TVs’ AI problems
LG says it’ll let people delete the Copilot icon. But TV chatbots aren’t going away.
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Peacock showing ads upon launch opens the door for more disruptive streaming ads
Subscribers will start seeing ads when selecting a user next year.
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How to break free from smart TV ads and tracking
Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options.
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Chatbot-powered toys rebuked for discussing sexual, dangerous topics with kids
“… AI toys shouldn’t be capable of having sexually explicit conversations, period.”
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Cable channel subscribers grew for the first time in 8 years last quarter
Sports and YouTube TV played big roles, MoffettNathanson report says.
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Paramount tries to swipe Warner Bros. from Netflix with a hostile takeover
Paramount has already proven it can get a controversial merger done.
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Most Read
Streaming service makes rare decision to lower its monthly fees
This could be just what Fubo and its subscribers need.
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Netflix’s $72B WB acquisition confounds the future of movie theaters, streaming
Netflix’s plans to own HBO Max, DC Comics, Harry Potter to face regulatory scrutiny.
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Engineer proves that Kohler’s smart toilet cameras aren’t very private
Kohler is getting the scoop on people’s poop.
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Prime Video pulls eerily emotionless AI-generated anime dubs after complaints
In some cases, better dubs already existed.
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Mad Men’s 4K debut botched by HBO Max streaming episode with visible crewmembers
Producer Lionsgate reportedly contributed to the gaffe.
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HP plans to save millions by laying off thousands, ramping up AI use
Product development, internal operations among teams expected to be hit hardest.
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Plex’s crackdown on free remote streaming access starts this week
Roku users will be hit first.
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Arduino’s new terms of service worries hobbyists ahead of Qualcomm acquisition
“Why is reverse-engineering prohibited… for a company built on openly hackable systems?”
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Science-centric streaming service Curiosity Stream is an AI-licensing firm now
Curiosity Stream’s owner has more content for AI companies than it does for subscribers.
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HP and Dell disable HEVC support built into their laptops’ CPUs
HEVC licensing gets more expensive in January.
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247
Ryanair tries forcing app downloads by eliminating paper boarding passes
Ryanair CEO admits “there’ll be some teething problems.”
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Apple TV execs dismiss introducing an ad tier, buying Warner Bros.
Apple execs say Apple TV shows and movies are about “emotional” experiences.
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Higher prices, simpler streaming expected if HBO Max folds into Paramount+
The end of HBO Max is “certainly plausible.”
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YouTube TV’s Disney blackout reminds users that they don’t own what they stream
“This is a hard lesson for us all.”
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New HDR10+ Advanced standard will try to fix the soap opera effect
Can more creator control fix motion smoothing?
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Disney+ gets HDR10+ via “over 1,000” Hulu titles
Disney+ joins Netflix, Apple TV in supporting the Dolby Vision rival.
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Samsung makes ads on $3,499 smart fridges official with upcoming software update
Update introduces two ways for the fridges to show ads.
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AWS outage reminds us why $2,449 Internet-dependent beds are a bad idea
“Would be great if my bed wasn’t stuck in an inclined position …”
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HBO Max prices increase by up to $20 today
HBO Max subscription fees have risen every year for the past three years.
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127
Ring cameras are about to get increasingly chummy with law enforcement
Amazon’s Ring partners with company whose tech has reportedly been used by ICE.
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177
12 years of HDD analysis brings insight to the bathtub curve’s reliability
Backup firm brings a unique, informed perspective to HDD failure rates.
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Apple TV and Peacock bundle starts at $15/month, available on Oct. 20
The bundle starts at $15/month, compared to $21/month if purchased separately.
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DirecTV screensavers will show AI-generated ads with your face in 2026
Like other companies with streaming businesses, DirecTV is leaning into ads more.
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Apple’s streaming service gets harder to tell apart from its streaming app, box
Apple unifies its streaming offerings by dropping the “+”.
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People regret buying Amazon smart displays after being bombarded with ads
“I’m about to just toss the whole thing…”
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Bose SoundTouch home theater systems regress into dumb speakers Feb. 18
Ending support for SoundTouch may help Bose avoid a Sonos situation.
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Rubik’s Cube gets a $299 update, complete with IPS screens and its own apps
The Rubik’s WOWCube is a 2×2 cube with modern twists.
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Logitech will brick its $100 Pop smart home buttons on October 15
Logitech’s interest in the smart home has appeared to wane in recent years.
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