Nicole Lee

Senior Editor

Nicole Lee worked at Yahoo as a senior commerce editor covering tech. With 20+ years of experience in technology journalism, she has contributed to outlets such as Engadget, CNET and Wired. Media appearances include ABC News and BBC World Service, plus various podcasts. Her passion lies in gadgets of all kinds, including kitchen and home tech.

Articles by Nicole Lee

Facebook Portal adds Zoom support and other work-from-home features
The most significant announcement: all Portal devices will now support the Zoom video conferencing platform. All four video chat platforms will be available on Portal Mini, Portal and Portal+ in September, with Portal TV support coming later on.
Anova's $600 convection-steam combo oven is finally available to order
It’s available for pre-order today starting at $599. It’s actually a combination convection-steam oven, otherwise known as a “combi.” The Precision Oven has a water tank for this purpose. Still, the Anova Precision Oven isn’t the first consumer-grade countertop combi oven.
Epic Games asks court to stop Apple pulling its developer tools next week
Epic Games has filed yet another lawsuit against Apple.
Life online: Subscribe to everything, own nothing
“It’s an access lifestyle rather than an ownership lifestyle.” But if I have a customer that’s paying me a monthly subscription fee, the longer I keep them.” “They just want a curated selection that’s personalized for them that’s going to show up at their doorstep every month.”
Colgate's latest AI-powered smart toothbrush starts at $50
Called “hum by Colgate,” it’s a smart toothbrush that’s more affordable. In general, smart toothbrushes aren’t necessarily better than regular run-of-the-mill electric toothbrushes.
Belarus is reportedly blocking and throttling Twitter in reaction to protests
Twitter has acknowledged that it is being blocked and throttled in Belarus, likely due to protests contesting the legitimacy of recent election results.
Facebook forms financial group to focus on payments
Facebook has decided to delve deeper into commerce with the creation of a new group focused on payments.
Reels is a worthy TikTok rival lost in Instagram bloat
Earlier this week, Facebook finally released its latest attempt at a TikTok rival. It’s called Instagram Reels, and as its name suggests, it’s actually a feature that lives inside Instagram, without an app of its own. While incorporating Reels directly inside an already popular app gives it a good chance at succeeding, it also adds clutter and bloat to the Instagram experience, and after trying it out, risks confusing users.
Security flaw in Twitter Android app might have exposed Direct Messages
Twitter acknowledged today that there was a security vulnerability in its Android app that would have exposed private data such as Direct Messages if exploited by an attacker through a malicious app (via CNBC). The issue is now fixed and is related to an underlying Android OS security issue that only affects OS versions 8 and 9. According to Twitter, around 96 percent of people using Twitter for Android already have a security patch for this vulnerability.
Trump says TikTok has until September 15th to sell US operations or close
According to the New York Times, President Donald Trump said at a White House briefing that TikTok must sell its US operations by September 15th, or be forced to shut down. “I don’t mind whether it’s Microsoft or someone else, a big company, a secure company, a very American company buys it,” Trump told reporters, according to Bloomberg. “It’ll close down on Sept. 15 unless Microsoft or somebody else is able to buy it and work out a deal, an appropriate deal, so the Treasury of the United States gets a lot of money.”
Impossible Burger continues its rapid expansion with Publix
Impossible Foods announced today that its plant-based Impossible Burger will now be available at more than 1,200 Publix stores.
Tampa teenager and two others arrested for Twitter Bitcoin hack
Authorities in Tampa, Florida have arrested a 17-year-old for being the alleged “mastermind” behind the Twitter Bitcoin hack that targeted several high-profile accounts on July 15th, 2020.
Amazon doubled its profits last quarter thanks to COVID-related demand
Net sales also increased 40 percent to $88.9 billion this quarter. They also make up a heavy component of the aforementioned online grocery sales. “This was another highly unusual quarter,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO.
Impossible Burger's fake meat is coming to 2,000 Walmart stores
Impossible Foods has announced that its plant-based Impossible Burger will be available at Walmart starting today, which is the most significant rollout of its faux meat product so far.
Big tech CEOs release opening statements before antitrust hearing
But all four CEOs -- Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sundar Pichai of Google, Tim Cook of Apple, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook -- have released their opening statements early. Unsurprisingly, Bezos, Pichai, Zuckerberg and Cook claimed that their businesses are good for the American economy.
XPrize launches $5 million competition to speed up COVID-19 testing
One of the biggest obstacles in our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is how terrible the state of testing is right now. Not only is there a shortage of testing supplies, there’s often a slow turnaround for results, which makes it that much harder to reopen schools and offices safely. In an effort to find a solution, XPrize has partnered with OpenCovidScreen, a non-profit focused on COVID-19 testing, to come up with a new $5 million Rapid Covid Testing competition that it is announcing today.
Amazon's redesigned Alexa app puts your most-used features up front
Amazon’s Alexa app is finally getting a much-needed revamp. Starting today, the Alexa app will have a whole new home screen with updated navigation that highlights Alexa-centric skills and a more personalized experience. According to Amazon, customers will see controls for currently active features, so you could, for example, adjust the volume level for the Echo Buds right then and there.
Fox Sports' virtual baseball fans are just plain weird
But Fox Sports has a different idea: virtual fans. According to Marchand, Fox Sports had “technical difficulties” that prevented the virtual fans from being used. The concept of virtual fans isn’t new. In the end, even Fox Sports acknowledges that it’s not fooling anyone with its virtual fans.
Intel debuts slightly slower, slightly cheaper version of its 10-core 10900K chip
Intel has unveiled a new member to its Comet Lake family today, with the arrival of the i9-10850K. According to Intel, “the i9-10850K is based on immediate feedback we’ve received from customers, including to further expand options and different price points.” Critics, however, have said that it’s possible that Intel is having trouble with chips that can’t quite reach the 10900K’s clock speeds, and is thus selling them in this slower, cheaper model.
Apple will provide 'hacker-friendly' phones to security researchers
Apple has claimed for years that its devices are more secure than the competition, but it was often through restricting access to its software. It will begin loaning out special “Security Research Device” (SRD) iPhones to security researchers so that they can truly suss out the device’s security vulnerabilities. Apple said that they’re not designed for personal use and must stay put at the premises of the researchers at all times.

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