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Daily Authority: 🤖 Amazon ASTRO early verdicts
August 25, 2025
☕ Good morning! Looking forward to flying to Barcelona tomorrow… not looking forward to the 4:30am alarm!
Amazon ASTRO is really wheeling about
Remember Amazon’s ASTRO home robot?The $1,450 wheelie-guythat Amazon announced back at its Fall 2021 hardware event, and caught all kinds of flak after Amazon sources called it a “disaster”… well, it’s out now, and it’s bringing people beer:
The Vergefound a bunch of YouTube videos from seemingly regular people showing what the robot actually does in the house. And that doesn’t include “throwing itself down a flight of stairs” as was originally warned.
How does ASTRO look outside of Amazon’s glossy studio? Cute, funny, but limited.
Video evidence:
👉 Details here fornew Snapdragon Wear 5100 chipsets for next Wear OS watches: next-gen hardware(Android Authority).
🤔OnePlus is readying a new Nord productand it’s not a phone: earbuds?(Android Authority).
.🥽 Sony finally released a first look at the upcoming PlayStation VR2: looks pretty similar to the Meta/Oculus Quest but that’s not a bad thing. What really matters: the gaming ecosystem to come(Android Authority).
👉 vivo sub-brand launchesiQOO 9 Pro flagshipfor $870, India-only for now?(The Verge).
💸Fraud at Samsung’s chip division under investigationafter huge order loss: seems like Samsung Foundry didn’t address yield issues because execs “fabricated data” about it being better than it was, now its 3nm production has lost Qualcomm orders (SamMobile).
🔊Spotify Car Thing is finally out: a $90 thingthat plays Spotify in your car. You pair it to your phone over Bluetooth, and to the car via either 3.5mm cable or Bluetooth. If your counter argument is “just use your phone,” I hear you. This is a little more hands-free, I guess?(Ars Technica).
🔫 Huh:The Call of Duty series is reportedly taking a break in 2023— there’s been a new game every year since 2005(The Verge).
📺 Netflix tests itsTikTok-like comedy feedon TVs: Fast Laughs(Engadget).
⛔Bethesda will shut down its PC launcher in May, pushing purchases over to Steam (Engadget).
⌚This $4,700 retro digital watchonly displays the time for a few seconds when you push a button, aaannnnnd it’s sold out(Gizmodo).
⛏Intel has joined the Bitcoin mining ASIC game. It showed off its slightly older, first-gen Bonanza Mine System which offers 40 THash/s at 3600 Watts, which is not bleeding edge. The second-generation product, the Bonanza Mine 2, is coming later this year, and will want to do better(Bitcoin Magazine).
🔑 “What life hack became your daily routine?” (r/nostupidquestions).
Weirdness Wednesday
Sony’s World Photography Awards are a highlight each year, as one of the biggest in the world.
The shortlist includes just hands-down some of the most amazing compilations.
Tristan Rayner, Senior Editor
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