Before you throw out your old USB drives, do this first - Engadget

Deleting the files isn't enough.

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Given the current state of memory and storage prices, it might seem counterintuitive to even consider throwing away functional USB drives, but we all have a couple of old ones lying around that are either too slow or too limited in capacity to be particularly useful anymore. In such cases, it makes perfect sense to properly recycle or dispose of older storage drives. However, simply deleting the files stored on the drive isn't enough to ensure your data is safely erased. All this does is mark the space that was occupied by the files as available for new data.

Claude Vs ChatGPT: How These AI Assistants Differ - Engadget

For many, there's a clear winner in this battle of the artificial minds.

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ChatGPT was probably most people's first encounter with an LLM, considering how many users it picked up shortly after its launch in 2022. It also enjoyed the privileged position of having no real competition until Anthropic released Claude a few months later in March 2023. Since then, both companies have constantly improved their models and added new features. But because there's an overlap in features — both platforms have a coding mode and a dedicated workspace mode — it can be difficult to decide which tool is best for you.

Your phone's USB-C port does a lot more than just charge - Here's what else it can do - Engadget

You might be surprised at how versatile it really is.

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Amid legal battles, Suno says it will start watermarking songs

Suno, the service that allows users to create AI-generated songs, today announced new tools to mark tracks made on its platform, limit downloads, and update community guidelines to prevent copycat songs. The changes come as Suno faces numerous lawsuits from labels and artist bodies.

NASA's PUNCH mission can now accurately predict when solar storms will hit Earth - Engadget

It was accurate to within a half hour during initial tests.

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In March 2025, NASA launched the Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission in an effort to better understand solar weather. It consists of a constellation of four microsatellites, monitoring the sun 24/7. Those satellites started taking images of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are explosive expulsions of materials from the sun into space, as soon as they arrived in orbit. Now, the PUNCH team has taken those images and data to show how much the mission can improve solar storm forecasts.

NASA’s new dark energy space telescope can also detect killer asteroids

At the end of August, NASA is set to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Its quest is to help us better understand how the universe works, from the glue-like dark matter that keeps galaxies together to the elusive dark energy that drives the expansion of the cosmos. But Roman could also serve another purpose: defending Earth from killer asteroids. In September, a multi-institutional team of planetary scientists and astronomers will outline how the space telescope is uniquely placed to scan asteroids, and provide information about their trajectories, sizes and compositions.

Wispr Flow launches a Granola-styled meeting notetaker

Update August 5, 12.10 am PT: Wispr Flow has officially launched its notetaker for Mac. The notetaker, similar to the one of Granola’s, uses system audio to transcribe a meeting without joining one. It also cleans up transcripts, creates action items, and lets users query across meeting history with the help of AI. Users can see a live transcript and ask AI to catch them up as well.

NJ antitrust suit accuses Amazon of unlawfully wielding power over delivery contractors - Engadget

The company's "dominant buyer power" leads to "lower wages and worse working conditions," the complaint alleges.

New Jersey's attorney general has sued Amazon, accusing the company of unlawfully wielding power over delivery contractors and their workers. The antitrust lawsuit claims Amazon prevents Delivery Service Partner (DSP) drivers from unionizing and limits competition for labor among contractors in the network. The company's "dominant buyer power" leads to "lower wages and worse working conditions" for "everyday workers in New Jersey — and likely across the country — who provide the delivery services Amazon demands," the filing alleges.

Apple claims that even more ex-employees may have given trade secrets to OpenAI - Engadget

The company is requesting expedited discovery in an ongoing lawsuit.

Apple has claimed that even more former employees may have given trade secrets to OpenAI, according to a report by TechCrunch. The company is seeking a preliminary injunction in its case against OpenAI, which would stop the AI company from moving forward with the development of any devices that are suspected of being based on Apple's technology.

How to change and customize your Apple Watch face - Engadget

You can do more than just switch between faces.

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Few products are as stylish and practical as the Apple Watch. Equal parts fashion statement, notification hub and fitness tracker, Apple's flagship timepiece is considered an essential gadget for its millions of users. And while the Cupertino giant continues to add new features, including an AI-infused Siri update that has some users buzzing about a future of wrist-bound supercomputers, you're never going to be fully satisfied with your Apple Watch if it doesn't match your aesthetic.