All the Gear, Gadgets, and Apps We Loved in May
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Facebook/WIRED02Facebook Dating
At its F8 developer conference, Facebook announced Facebook Dating, an in-app feature that will spice up the social media platform with some romance, meaningful romance—or so Facebook hopes. The feature bears striking similarity to the dating app Hinge, which allows users to scroll through detailed profiles and start conversations not by merely saying hello but by commenting on a specific profile item. For example, you can click on a picture of a crush's trip to Morocco and mention that you've been there, too. You can also simply "like" an image, video, or question response to signify your interest. So far, Hinge's creators have played off the similarities as a compliment, and there’s not much else they can do about it anyway.
Google05Lens, Google's Visual Search Tool, Gets Its Most Significant Update Yet
Google Lens' big May update emphasizes shopping, text-reading, and additional language support. Now, you’ll be able to point your camera at just about anything and Google Lens will tell you what it is and where you can buy it. There are billions of objects in the world, so you’ll have to cut Lens a break when it doesn’t recognize your vintage leather vest from grandma. If you're a native speaker of Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, or Italian, you can run a version of Lens in that language. Google has also convinced a bunch of handset partners to offer Lens as an option right in the native camera app.
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WHOOP07Whoop's Subscription Plan for Its Wearable
Would you wear your watch more if you were paying a subscription fee for it? Whoop, the company that lists the NFL and NBA as clients, is now rolling out a subscription service for access to its wrist band and its data platform. The nylon band might look unremarkable, but Whoop claims it offers a level of granularity other wearable makers can't match, with an emphasis on recovery periods for athletes. For newcomers, the only way to get your wrists on this wearable is to pay a $30 monthly subscription fee.
May was Bike to Work Month, so new bike commuters, listen up. If somebody really wants to steal your bike, there isn't a lock on the planet strong enough to keep them from doing so. But you can better your luck with the Bulldog Mini, a strong lock that is recognizable to thieves as something that's difficult to compromise. If you need a simple lock that isn't heavy or bulky, this is the lock to get. Check out a bunch of other must-have bike gear here.
Beth Holzer for Wired09You Need a New Kitchen Knife
You won’t know what your kitchen knife set is missing until you test out one of these three specialty knives. There’s one from Shun, a rectangular, glistening beauty designed to make quick work out of vegetables. The other two from Kikuichi Cutlery are a Japanese take on a Western-style chef's knife known as a gyuto, and a six-inch bunka for finer work. Mostly, they feel good in your hands and let you dice a shallot into perfect little cubes without putting out your back. Just one of these blades cost you hundreds of dollars, which could be the price of the perfect French onion soup.
Alyssa Foote11Tinder’s Days as a Hookup App May Be Over
Tinder may be growing up. Soon after Facebook announced its plan to add a dating feature, the hook-up app announced its own new feature: Places. Currently being tested in Australian and Chilean cities, Places aims to offer new ways to connect with users based on shared interests and frequently visited locations. The feature, which will be entirely opt-in, won’t broadcast where your hottie is at the moment. But if you have the feature enabled, you'll be able to swipe on people who like to hang out at the same spots as you. So users will have the opportunity to connect on a level deeper than just proximity.
Hotlittlepotato15Apple's HomePod Gets Closer to Working Like It’s Supposed To
HomePod owners rejoice; Apple is finally updating your smart speaker. The update released this month adds HomePod stereo pairing and AirPlay 2 support. Particularly optimized for Apple Music, the update will let iOS users connect two HomePods together wirelessly, and add some Siri support to non-Apple smart speakers. The speakers are still rather limited, but the update does bring the HomePod closer, feature-wise, to competing speakers like Google Home, Amazon Echo, and Sonos One.
