Talking Points

What is the role of tech in our life? It has to do two things: either make our life easier, or get us some joy. Most gadgets can do the first fairly well. But only a few can manage the second, and in 2025 I found that for me the Nikon Z8 did it.

Buying a TV has become an exercise in wrestling with buzzwords and marketing terms. Use this handy guide to cut through the noise to focus on the basics of a television. Because it is these basics that should guide your TV buying decision.

A fabricated press release about a listed company or a synthetic video of a bank CEO could trigger panic selling before regulators or fact-checkers can intervene. The same scale that is India's digital strength also makes it ground zero for the risks of synthetic deception.

This week Google is doing googly things, the things that apparently only it can do. The Gemini 3 and Nano Banana Pro, two new AI tools from Google, are so good that other AI companies must be wondering if it is game over for them.

Earlier almost all flagship Android phones used to come with Qualcomm Snapdragon. In 2025, not only do we have a number of flagship phones that use MediaTek 9500 chipset but there is also little difference between these top chips from MediaTek and Qualcomm.

Foldable phones are getting better. But they still want users to make certain compromises compared to premium flagship phones. In other words, not recommended. But if you are set on getting one, you should take a look at the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold. 

In 2025, Windows is all over the place and Mac is so polished that if you are asking whether you should get a Windows laptop or a MacBook, you are asking the wrong question. If you have the budget, you should get a Mac. Though certain exceptions are applicable.

One big update in the recently-launched iPhone 17 series is the selfie camera. Now benchmarks confirm what we subjectively said in our iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro review: the new iPhone selfie camera is also the best. 

One casualty of the wireless era has been the sound quality. Limited by Bluetooth and more focussed on smart features, headphones and earphones now come with more generic sound. Although some, like JBL, are trying to change it.  

One big trend this year is AI in phones. From Google to OnePlus, everyone is going big on AI. But the success of the iPhone 17 shows something else — it shows that AI features are not yet a must to sell phones.

Apple is often criticised for pricing its products, including the just launched iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air, higher than industry average. But there is a reason for that and now a viral image of iPhone Air shows us this reason in flesh and blood.

Like every other year, we again have four new iPhones — the iPhone 17, the iPhone 17 Pro, the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 Pro Max. But unlike previous years, this time choosing between one over another is not easy because each seems to be meant for a specific set of users. 

Dimensity, Snapdragon, Gen this and Gen that. Buzzwords fly as soon as you look at a smartphone that you are trying to buy. All phone companies try to tell you how fast their phone is going to be. But this fast talk about chipsets in phones is also looser than you realise. 

The new Google Pixel devices — the Pixel 10 series phones and the Pixel Watch 4 — are fine gadgets. They show that Google has fixed most of the issues with Pixels. Most but not all because some still remain.

Before smartphones made compact cameras irrelevant we all used to have one. Now it seems that if you want a camera, there are only two options: your phone, which might not be adequate, and a large and complex mirrorless or DSLR camera. But there are hints that some change is in the air.