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Energy must remain affordable amid AI push, says PM

Anwar Ibrahim says rising electricity demand from AI, semiconductors, and data centres is straining infrastructure, which could transfer the cost burden to consumers.

WiiM expands its whole-home ecosystem with a new soundbar

WiiM, the audio company that's challenged the idea that audiophile-level performance requires a small loan, is expanding its whole-home ecosystem with the WiiM Bar, which releases in July. Much like its other speakers and audio components, the WiiM Bar supports a bunch of streaming options and expandability at an affordable price - in this case, […]

Rest of World

EVs are getting more affordable worldwide — except in the U.S.

The U.S. is impaired by a lack of supportive policy and subsidies, the unavailability of affordable Chinese models, and a preference for big cars.

An affordable, long-lasting AirTag alternative is $15 right now

There are many solid Bluetooth trackers for iPhones that tap into Apple’s expansive Find My network. Some are thin, some are a bit chunkier. And, evidently, some look like tiny soccer balls. Ugreen’s FineTrack 2 glows in the dark, and it has a loud 110-decibel alarm when you need to find it. It’s just $14.99 […]

IEEE Spectrum

Why Sardinians Are Fighting the Renewable Energy Transition

“Not in my backyard” is the rallying cry of citizens everywhere resisting projects proposed for their locality. Whether it’s affordable housing, a waste treatment plant, or a new data center, they may recognize the benefit of the activity. They just don’t want it near them. And the roots of that resistance differ from place to place. When it comes to the ongoing transition from fossil fuels to renewables, companies and policymakers need to know where, exactly, people are coming from. The Italian island of Sardinia is a textbook example. As IEEE Spectrum’s power and energy editor Emily Waltz discovered when she traveled there last October, Sardinian opposition to wind and solar projects runs deep. It spurred a quarter of the voting population to queue up in public squares in 2024 to sign a petition banning all construction of renewable energy. Waltz was surprised. She went there to see a promising new grid-scale energy storage system that uses domes inflated with carbon dioxide. While reporting on that project, she interviewed residents, engineers, activists, and professors about their attitudes toward climate change and the Italian government’s grand plans for renewable energy on the island. And Waltz soon learned of Sardinians’ profound antipathy toward renewable energy and its deep ties to a history of invasion, occupation, and exploitation stretching back 2,700 years. It started with the Phoenicians and then extended through the Romans, the Byzantines, and the Iberians. Sardinia was absorbed into a newly unified Italy in 1861, and it became an autonomous region of Italy in 1948. The island’s population is justifiably suspicious of outsiders, including the Italian government. “When you’re in Sardinia, the weight of history—you can feel it like in the air,” Waltz told me. “And it gets passed down from one generation to the next.” Now, Italy needs Sardinia to produce even more power to meet the country’s climate goals—something that Sardinians see as Rome’s problem, not theirs. “Sardinia already exports about 30 percent of its electricity. It’s not like they need more,” Waltz says. “So it’s hard to make the case to build, build, build.” The result of Waltz’s old-fashioned shoe leather reporting is this month’s cover story. She notes that the Sardinians she talked to aren’t climate-change deniers, and they don’t object to renewables per se. They just don’t like the way corporations and Italian policymakers are trying to plug into Sardinia like it’s one giant battery rather than the home of an ancient and proud people. “I think Sardinians would be more receptive to renewable projects if it was more of a ground-up, grassroots approach,” Waltz says. Indeed, this homegrown approach is already working in some places in Sardinia. She knows of more than 50 projects, called energy communities, where the residents are deploying renewables themselves. The idea also holds promise for other places struggling to get locals to buy into the renewable-energy transition. The Sardinian experience is both a cautionary tale and a blueprint. Ignore the weight of history that communities carry and your project risks failure. Meet the people where they are and you might just get somewhere. The same lesson applies whether you’re in Sulawesi or sub-Saharan Africa. You just have to show up to learn it.

Some of our favorite art TVs are more than 40 percent off this weekend

Art TVs aren’t exactly known for being affordable, which is why Woot’s latest sale is notable. Now through June 26th, the retailer is discounting Samsung’s 2025 Frame TV and Hisense’s 2025 CanvasTV. The 65-inch CanvasTV is down to $779.99 ($520 off) — its best price of the year — while Samsung’s like-minded Frame TV is […]

The golden age of handheld gaming is already over

For a few glorious years, a $399 portable gadget could run almost anything you'd want to play. In 2022, the Steam Deck finally made PC gaming portable and affordable. I played through the vast majority of Elden Ring on a Steam Deck, agape that such a rich world could comfortably fit between my two hands. […]

You can print, slice, and engrave using this desktop crafting machine

xTool has announced a new multi-purpose crafting machine that could potentially be one of the most affordable ways to start an Etsy shop. Its modular design facilitates a CMYK print head that works on multiple materials including paper, wood, and felt. It can later be swapped with laser-based cutting and engraving tools. You can use […]

Andhra Pradesh emerges as a pioneer in AI-driven healthcare innovations, says Minister

Satya Kumar Yadav promotes AI-driven diagnostic tests, says that these not only provide accurate results but also improve the speed of delivery of healthcare services and make tests affordable for people

Wired

Google Fitbit Air Review: Barely There, Always Running

Google’s latest Fitbit strips away the screen without sacrificing features, delivering the most approachable and affordable wearable yet.

The Register