Big tech firms file weird patents all the time and Google is no exception. Recently, the Mountain View, California, company filed a patent for a particular kind of power cord — one with an accelerometer and motion-sensing lights.
Filing a patent doesn’t necessarily mean a product will end up on store shelves, sometimes it’s just a preventative measure to get a leg up on the competition. But the patent published on Thursday describes a device that solves a common and pernicious problem some of us face on a daily basis.
You’re in bed, the lights are off, you’re about to fall asleep and you remember you forgot to plug in your phone. Wonderful. Now you have to fumble for your nightstand, grab your phone, and light up the screen to find your power cord. The patent aims to put an end to this minor annoyance, by putting a series of accelerometers and LED lights directly into a USB Type-C power cord.
“A user may have many power cords used for various different devices in a particular location, and the different cords are often difficult to distinguish, particularly in dim light and when the cords are tangled and jumbled together,” the patent reads, painting a moving portrait of a struggle we all face.
The cord described in the patent is able to help out by lighting itself up when it detects your clumsy human hands. The LEDs are in the plug end of the power cord and would provide enough light to illuminate not only the cord but the outlet on the device you’re trying to plug in.
It’s bizarre but this patent application provides a window into the industrial design processes at work in major tech companies. Even if this little idea never gets used by Google, they will rake in licensing fees when someone else attempts to make this kind of power cord. It’s a common-sense solution to a minor, but common, irritation and that makes it an excellent design to patent.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.