There's a long list of things to buy this school season, especially since my firstborn is off to kindergarten this year, and at the top of my list is Apple's best-selling AirTag.
Apple's AirTag is a Bluetooth tracking device that works with your iPhone to locate an item that it's attached to. In my case, I'm attaching the AirTag to my child's backpack for peace of mind.
I bought the newly released AirTag for full price, but you can currently get the 2nd Generation Apple AirTag 4 Pack on sale for $79.99 (originally $99). That's a new record-low price, and each AirTag comes out to just $20, which is an absolute steal for what you get in return.
Get the Apple AirTag for its lowest price yet
AirTag 4 Pack (2nd generation): was $99 now $79.99 You can get the best-selling Apple AirTag 4 Pack for $79.99, which is the lowest price we've ever seen. A great way to track a child's backpack or luggage, the AirTag can be attached to anything you don't want to lose, and your iPhone can locate it.View Deal
The 2026 Apple AirTag launched in January and is one of Amazon's top three best-selling gadgets. The AirTag isn't just for backpacks; you can attach the tracker to your keys, wallet, or luggage, or anything else you don't want to lose, and your iPhone will locate it. The 2nd Generation model offers a 50% longer Precision Finding range and a louder speaker with a higher-pitched chime. You can also now share your AirTag location with family and friends on shared items or airline partners for lost luggage.
Keep in mind, this is a limited-time offer and the lowest price we've ever seen for the 4 Pack Apple AirTag model. If you're not interested in a 4 Pack, you can grab a single Apple AirTag for $24.
Summer is reaching its end, and it might not feel like the logical time to go shopping for backyard upgrades. But you'd be wrong — retailers are getting rid of their outdoor products to make space to the new season, which means it's actually the perfect opportunity to snap up some patio and backyard products for cheap.
As a former Homes editor, I know what makes a good backyard buy. I've picked through the Walmart sales page to find the best outdoor deals on the products I'd snap up as an investment for next summer.
You'll find my top picks below. I've included affordable and useful plant pots, as well as larger planters that are ideal for kicking off new growing projects. I've also found a couple of outstanding robot lawn mower deals (both on models we've tested and scored extremely highly — head to our Anthbot Genie 3000 review and Mammotion Luba 3 AWD review for proof). There are also bargain grills, and patio decor to instantly brighten up an outdoor space.
Scroll down for these and more backyard bargains to set you up for next summer.
I've reviewed a lot of gaming chairs, sat my butt on plenty of seats promising the best of the best comfort, or ergonomic longevity (I'm convinced noblechairs wants my posture to last me until I'm 126 years old), and I've got to say, aside from possibly the AndaSeat Novis, this might be the most comfortable chair I've ever sat in.
At least, part of it is. The seat base. The fabric, the material, lovely; the base width, great. The backrest? Right up my street. But the Soma is a bit of an odd one when it comes to everything else it's trying to do. And an even bigger issue is its launch day price tag.
It's $500/£500 (about $954 AUD), which is a lot, and yes, there's RGB lighting in this, but Razer doesn't include an integrated battery (or even an optional one at checkout), doesn't pack a long enough cable, and doesn't include an adapter. The brand doesn't even include a cushioned headrest (you have to buy that separately). For 500 bones, frankly, that's utter madness.
The RGB itself (two diffused strips that run alongside the upper part of the backrest) is forward-facing only, and you can't really see it when you're sat down. It's not like a keyboard or a mouse, which is at least in your periphery, and needing your machine on with the cable hooked up separately if you opt to go without a battery bank means you'll probably spend about 5-10 seconds every session watching it just light up.
It's great for a streamer, sure, but even then it does feel more like an advert rather than something classy.
I had the lighting on for a day when I first got it for testing, then promptly unhooked the USB cable Razer graciously provided me with and never touched it again. Best gaming chair? Well, it won't be because of its RGB; that's for sure.
(Image credit: Future)
Razer Soma Chroma: Price and Availability
Costs $500/£500 (about $954 AUD)
Remarkably expensive given what it lacks
Single colorway and fabric option
Right, now you can grab the Razer Soma Chroma for $500 USD and £500 GBP (about $954 AUD). It sits roughly between the Razer Iskur V2 X (at about $350) and the standard V2 (that's $600 or so).
You can pick one of these up today, although there's little in the way of choice. No different color options, no different materials, you get what you get.
Sold separately, of course, you can also get a male-to-female USB-C extension cable, headrest, and power source (you'll have to source your own on the latter).
On the warranty front, Razer's got you somewhat covered with a 14-day returns policy via the RazerStore, and as standard it comes with a 3-year warranty, which upgrades to 5 if purchased direct and registered.
Razer Soma Chroma: Specs
Price
$500/£500 (about AU$954)
Dimensions
53.1 x 26.4 x 28.1in / 135 x 67 x 71.5cm
Max user weight
331lbs / 150kg
Max seat height
20.1in / 51cm
Seat depth
18.5in / 47cm
Recline angle
Up to 155°
Warranty
3 years (free 5-year upgrade via Razer.com)
Material
Knit fabric, cold-cured foam
AndaSeat Phantom 4 Pro: Design and Aesthetics
Bold gamer style
Perforated channels for air (read: debris)
Green logo on an RGB product
The Soma Chroma is unabashedly gamer. There's just no two ways about it: the sharp lines, jagged polygonal design, the channelling, the RGB, the stitching — it doesn't exactly give off this allure of premium professionalism. That's to say I'm sure 16-year-old Zak would've loved it, but me, sat here in my ‘rustic’ office, dealing with media, clients, and more on the daily, yeah it kinda sticks out like a sore thumb.
Particularly with the striking green Razer logo etched in the backrest right behind my head, in a not-so-obscure glossy green plastic. Which again I have to question. This is an RGB product, right? That means you can set that lighting (hypothetically, if you use it) to any color you like.
That's great, but certain colors clash with green quite aggressively. Bright reds, neon blue, pinks, high-saturation yellows. Basically all off limits, all because the logo's bright neon green. It's 2026, guys; we've had RGB products for a seriously long time now. I thought it was common knowledge that you don't stick colored accents on them.
The lighting is also awkwardly placed. You can't actually see it from the back of the chair, and it's solely positioned behind your head, facing forward, so you literally never see it, outside of the five to ten seconds you go to the toilet and sit back down again. It's diffused, it looks good when you do manage to catch a glimpse of the stuff, and you can easily configure it in Synapse, but honestly it just feels like a bit of a swing and a miss.
(Image credit: Future)
How'd you connect all that? Well, there's a short USB-C cable located in the back of the chair that hooks up to your battery bank, which you can then stow away in a small zip pocket in the seat base. But it's really short; that cable. If you're imagining some retractable 6-foot thing you can pull out when you need it, no, it's not that.
You're not connecting this thing to a wall plug, or anything of the sort. Razer provided me with a seriously long extension cable (two in fact) for it, but that doesn't come by default, annoyingly. And of course, there's no built-in battery, or included power bank, or the option to add one to your order. I used the extension cable to effectively run the entire chair to the back of my PC, and it does run off USB power. That said, you don't have to go that route; you can just use a USB plug, and then let the included wireless dongle handle the RGB side of things.
Now I'm done wailing on the lighting; the good news is the finish is genuinely lush, it's like a neoprene-feel soft-touch fabric, and it's a delight to sit on. I'm writing this review in the midst of yet another heat wave in the UK, and skin-on-chair contact has been genuinely lovely. Compare that to the number of AndaSeat's chairs I've reviewed recently that leave me begging for AC, and well, it's a nice change that's for sure.
Ok, we've had bad, we've had good, now it's back to bad. There are channels in the chair base, and I get the concept. The idea is that it helps air circulate your, well, back passage, to stop you heating up so quickly, and it kind of works. But it comes with a major caveat, and that's that it also holds onto all manner of dust and debris.
If you own a dog, or cat, or have a habit of sitting at your desk eating from time to time, you're cooked. You'll be getting the blow duster out you use for your PC on the chair base at least once a week.
(Image credit: Future)
Razer Soma Chroma: Comfort and adjustability
Super comfortable, wide seat base
Generous lumbar support
Armrests and the castors are letdowns
Fortunately for the Soma, sitting on it is a treat. The cold-foam base is comfortable as all hell, and the seat base is wide enough for the weirdos like me who sit cross-legged to do so in absolute bliss.
The armrests, however, are more basic, two-dimensional affairs. There's no four- or even three-directional setup here like you'd find on almost all of its modern counterparts from competitors at this price.
You can raise them up and down and swivel them, and that's it. They're padded and modestly squishy, but if you'd put them on an Ikea chair, I wouldn't be able to tell that they were Razer-designed and made.
Oh, and it doesn't roll. Well, it does, but it's just so frustratingly stiff it beggars belief. I wrote about this in the AndaSeat Phantom 4 Pro review earlier this year. It's basically, I think, a result of overcompliance with the EU's EN 1335-2 safety measure, which means that in an emergency any unmanned chair shouldn't move easily. I don't quite understand the logic behind that, but here we are.
(Image credit: Future)
And it frustrates me because I can't roll up and down my desk, or if I need to lightly move it to put my shoes on, or I just want to get more comfortable at my setup, it's a minor struggle. And yes, I know that's a first-world problem, but it's $500/£500 for this thing, from a seriously reputable brand.
One final flag from me before I move on. There's no headrest cushion included either. Razer will sell you a headrest, but it's at additional cost. Eugh. No magnetic freebie for you, no sir. Not even a strapped one.
Razer Soma Chroma: Assembly
Seamless, standard build
Missing shear bolt on recline
Massive manual
As far as building the thing goes, the Soma Chroma is genuinely smooth. If you've built one gaming chair before, you'll get along with this one just fine. It's a bit heavy; Razer recommends you'll need two people to build it, but it's more than easy enough to do solo.
Plus the manual is massive, and printed onto a giant sheet of card, which feels a bit overkill (a book would've been fine; I'm not that old, I can read).
The only cause for concern is that you do need to be a touch careful installing the backrest, as there's no safety bolt sitting between you and the tilt angle arm. So if you do hit that lever too aggressively, there's a chance the bracket can snap forward. So do bear that in mind.
(Image credit: Future)
Should You Buy The Razer Soma Chroma?
Buy it if...
You want a genuinely comfortable chair Soft-touch upholstery, impressively wide base, generous lumbar support, and that cold-density foam do the bulk of the work here. It's best at the boring bits.
You're a streamer The one audience that actually sees the Chroma, you know, work, is yours. The RGB syncs with a good 300 games or so, and you can build out to your color scheme if you'd prefer
Don't buy it if...
You expect 500 bucks to cover everything No head pillow, no cables, no power adapters, no battery. The things that make the Soma Chroma don't light up without an additional investment.
You actually move at your desk Braked castors and static armrests make this a chair for sitting perfectly still rather than shifting around.
Also consider...
Make sure to consider these alternatives as well.
Razer Soma Chroma
Secretlab Titan Evo 2022
Razer Iskur V2
Price
$500 / £500 (about AU$954)
$519 / £414 / AU$724
$650 / £600 (or around AU$1,128)
Dimensions
53.1 x 26.4 x 28.1in / 135 x 67 x 71.5cm
54.3–58.3 x 27.6 x 27.6in / 138–148 x 70 x 70 cm
51.0–54.7 x 27.2 x 27.2in / 129.5–139 x 69 x 69cm
Max user weight
331lbs / 150kg
285lbs / 130kg
300lbs / 136kg
Max seat height
20.1in / 51cm
21.9in / 55.5cm
21.1in / 53.5cm
Seat depth
18.5in / 47cm
20.9in / 53cm
17.7in / 45cm
Recline angle
Up to 155°
85–165°
85–153.5°
Warranty
3 years (5 direct)
5-Years (extended warranty)
3-Years
Material
Knit fabric, cold-cured foam
NEO Hybrid Leatherette, SoftWeave Plus Fabric, Napa Leather
EPU Leatherette, Fabric
Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 The legendary Titan Evo is a TechRadar Gaming favorite for good reason. With exceptional comfort, removable magnetic lumbar support, and a size range that covers every-shaped human under the sun, it's well worth considering if the Soma just doesn't feel like the right home for your butt.
Razer Iskur V2 Like the Soma Chroma but better. With dedicated built-in lumbar support, it's a solid trooper in the world of gaming chairs. It's even got the build quality and aesthetic chops to match albeit at a slightly inflated price.
I spent well over a month with the Razer Soma Chroma, testing the ins and outs of how it held up under serious usage. Working from home, it endured the hardships of a constant 9-5 "office" job, along with late evening gaming sessions, through normal operating conditions and heatwaves abound.
I've spent years testing gaming chairs from all manner of manufacturers, and I compared this one directly to a slew of products from AndaSeat, Noblechairs, and Secretlab as well. I also fully tested the Synapse and WiFi dongle, and tracked the real-world usage and feel of it throughout the month, documenting any moment where I thought "ahh this is good" or "ahh not so good".
I also got my five-foot-five partner to sit in and provide me with her direct feedback as well, along with a few close friends to get their thoughts and feelings on it, which directly feeds the opinions you see here as well. I questioned them intensely on the comfort, the feel, and the build quality of the Soma Chroma to get a broad picture of opinions on it.
If you're in the market for a capable smartwatch and a robust health tracker, then Garmin's Venu 3 is an excellent choice. While it's an older model (released in 2023), it's packed with insightful features, and in our Garmin Venu 3 review, we called it 'anear-perfect balance of smartwatch and health tracker'.
The Garmin Venu 3 is the predecessor to the Venu 4, which currently holds the top spot in our best Garmin watch guide. Great for outdoor enthusiasts, the Venu 3 features advanced GPS tracking, a water-resistant design, and an extended battery life of up to 14 days. The smartwatch also tracks heart rate, respiration, blood oxygen saturation, sleep, and stress levels and includes a speaker and microphone so you can take calls from your wrist.
Today's limited-time offer on the Garmin Venu 3 from Amazon is not only a new record-low price, but it's also superb value for a rugged smartwatch that's packed with health and fitness features.
Garmin's Venu 3 for a record-low price at Amazon
Venu 3 Premium Fitness Smartwatch: was $449.99 now $294.99 The Garmin Venu 3 once sat atop our guide to the best Garmin watches, with our fitness experts calling it "the best for most people". The new Venu 4 has replaced it, but this last-gen model still offers an excellent balance of advanced sports metrics and communication features at a new record-low price.View Deal
Content warning: This piece discusses suicide and difficult emotional experiences.
Does the world really need a dedicated, human ‘AI Companionship Therapist’ in 2026? The answer, according to the popular 'game-like' AI character-creation and interaction site EVA AI, is 'yes' — and the job pays well.
How would I know this, as someone who only ever dated humans? I know because EVA AI recently reached out to TechRadar to tell us that it's hiring just such a therapist. And whoever gets the gig will be able to charge $200 a session (which makes me think I retrained in the wrong career).
According a recent EVA AI survey of 1,000 adults, all of whom have AI partners, 63% of respondents have hidden their romantic AI companion for fear of being judged, and 72% wish therapists specialized in AI-specific relationships. Furthermore, 68% say an argument with their AI "affects the rest of their day".
And I'm not done. EVA AI's survey lists that one in three of its users experience feelings of jealousy knowing their AI character also talks to other people; four out of five claim their AI understood them better than the real human they were actually dating (whether that counts as cheating or not is a topic for another day) and six out of 10 respondents think an AI relationship can be just as serious as a human one.
One in three EVA AI users experience feelings of jealousy knowing their AI character also talks to other people
(Image credit: EVA AI)
The ELIZA effect
You might be surprised to learn that our ability to overlook basic computer programming and project cognitive emotion into speech mimicry isn't a recent problem. In fact, it's been an issue for 60 years.
In 1966, (a year fellow Brits will immediately remember as the sole year England's male team won the World Cup) MIT scientist Joseph Weizenbaum created ELIZA, a primitive program, but nevertheless one that was capable of imitating the speech patterns of a kindly psychotherapist. Despite the program only using simple keyword-matching (if a user stated "I am sad", the program could respond "Why are you sad?"), reports suggest that humans quickly became attached to it — a phenomenon now called the ELIZA effect.
One could argue that the 2022 introduction of advanced Large Language Models (LLMs) transformed that simple scripted bot into a hyper-personalized, ultra-realistic visual and conversational companion such as Candy AI or EVA AI, and that this is what made AI girlfriends and boyfriends into a multi-billion dollar mainstream industry. But those early studies suggest otherwise: we're all suckers for a kind word, basic or not.
(Image credit: EVA AI)
Getting professional help
It's hard not to notice that the women in the EVA AI image above all look vaguely… what is it? Concerned? Vulnerable? Sad? And it strikes me that this isn't the kind of image I'd expect to see on an online dating profile such as Match or Tinder, where women typically post strong, confident, smiling images, perhaps standing next to friends or doing the things they love.
Maybe EVA AI's tagline is bang on, and actually, this isn't about the chatbot in the potential partnership at all. Perhaps EVA AI's mostly-male user base employ these services to "feel seen" by an on-screen image that seems overly concerned about them to the point of sadness or worry. But can a one-sided relationship be addictive, or problematic in other ways?
Bronstein says issues around humans dating an AI persona have been surfacing in her work for around a year now.
(Image credit: EVA AI)
I ask about the marketing materials above, and why the emotions apparently being expressed by the female avatars in them might be desirable to EVA AI's 25-45 year-old 80% male user base? "I've been doing these things called 'man interviews', and I'm teaching a course in the fall based on my book for women looking for men," Bronstein begins. "And the reason I'm doing these man interviews is because I want women to understand that men have feelings. I want to give men the opportunity to explain these things.
"I'm bringing that up now because these men that have feelings maybe aren't feeling seen or heard or listened to or validated, or understood in relationships.
"So yes, men can get a bad rap for all the reasons that they might use a computer. But there are men that are seeking that validation and seeking somebody to listen to them. A lot of people, men and women, are using AI in general because maybe they have some social anxiety and social awkwardness.
"One of the huge positives (of EVA AI) is that it's a way to practice. Whether that's conversations, whether it's being vulnerable in general. So it makes sense that EVA has women that are looking concerned — that are basically giving this sense of, 'I'm here to listen to you'."
I want women to understand that men have feelings. I want to give men the opportunity to explain these things
Jaime Bronstein, LCSW
The feminists in the room may want to rage. Along with the gender pay gap and continued patriarchal oppression, are we really suggesting that women need to bend yet further to make men happy?
I ask why that might be. "Well, it makes sense", Bronstein says. "It's interesting because one of the key reasons people want to have AI relationships is because they don't feel like it's working with humans.
"It could be because women are not feeling as loved, or getting as many compliments, or feeling confident in relationships with the men there.
One of the key reasons people want to have AI relationships is because they don't feel like it's working with humans
Jaime Bronstein, LCSW
"But if they're just finding that guys aren't being nice, they can feel loved and appreciated — and all the things they're looking for — with AI.
"I do think it makes sense that men do this more just on a physical level — it sounds funny to say men are more physical because this (dating an AI persona) isn't physical — but they're using it for certain things that they aren't getting from a human.
"I would say women overall are using this for more emotional reasons, and men are using this more to fulfill a fantasy."
Bronstein caveats her response with the fact that her work doesn't typically hone in on the culture of a region, but that last thought in particular resonates. Isn't it possible that women in China like romantic fantasies too — especially when their government seems fixated on their empty wombs? "I'm never a fan of anybody playing God," Bronstein says. "People are deciding what's good for somebody else, and that's ultimately not good. If somebody doesn't want to have a child or just wants to have an AI relationship, that person should be able to do that."
(Image credit: Getty Images / PonyWang)
Is it addiction, dependency, or just good old-fashioned jealousy?
I mention that I was surprised to read about jealousy among EVA AI users — humans feeling jealous knowing their AI companion is spending time talking to other humans. "A lot of my clients have trust issues" Bronstein says. "It's a very human thing, be it an unresolved issue from childhood or a million past relationships where there was a trust issue.
"It might sound crazy that somebody would be jealous of a computer or a bot. But it's simply bringing up that trigger — and it's actually not a bad thing. I can validate that somebody might feel jealous, because even though it's AI, it's still bringing up a human emotion.
"It's actually a very positive thing, because it is something to work through. Jealousy comes from a lack of confidence in yourself, so it makes sense that people are going to have therapists for it. And therapists do not say, 'This is ridiculous, like this is a computer.' You validate, and you say, 'Okay, well, let's talk about why'.
"Once again, it's a very positive thing that this is going on, and that now therapists are going to be existing to help people work through this."
(Image credit: EVA AI)
What about the 'gamification' of AI dating sites?
EVA AI has experimented with pop-up cafes in New York (there's a phone or tablet at each table, with a character inside ready to speed-date you), but one of the main positives listed by users is the fun 'game-like' nature of the service, where 'neurons' are the in-game currency you use to unlock more intimate, premium experiences.
I ask how about the potential for this kind of game-like experience to become addictive. Bronstein points to her extensive work with gambling addicts. "It can be dangerous if people start looking at it as a gaming thing, because it's still real life, it's human. It's not a game," she says.
Bronstein is also quick to note that this happens in human dating too. "There can be problems sometimes when two people date and one doesn't take it as seriously as the other," she says. "One person's more in it, and the other is like one foot out the door.
"I would say if someone is going to be in an AI relationship, they should take it seriously. Because otherwise it can — when and if they decide to have a relationship with a human — cause problems."
Bronstein also wants to make it clear that addiction to connection without AI involvement, purely among humans, is still very real. "On addiction, the interesting thing — and this is what the studies are showing with EVA AI also — is that people are constantly looking at their phones. And if you're waiting for a human text, it's also addictive. So in that sense, it's not that different at all."
Bronstein pauses, then adds, "Just make sure that it doesn't affect your job."
(Image credit: EVA AI)
Should we fear for our jobs?
Circling back to EVA AI's job listing for "specialized AI companionship therapist", does Bronstein think extra qualifications around this aspect of love and dating need to exist — beyond an open-minded, non-judgmental approach? "I do think that," Bronstein nods. "So that we make sure we are validating people and not judging them, there does need to be some some specific training for this. Because as humans, we have emotions and they're going to come out regardless."
I mention that working in journalism means I know that AI models can write quicker than me, never get tired of asking questions, and never doubt themselves over responses. Occasionally, I worry for my job. I wonder if fundamentally non-judgemental AI therapists (something much evolved from that 1966 primitive ELIZA model) are something Bronstein predicts, or possibly even worries about? "We already are seeing that people are using ChatGPT as a therapist", she answers, "And I'll just give an example of how it can be dangerous if the AI bot is not trained.
"I was interviewed on a radio show a few weeks ago, and we were talking about an article where somebody typed into ChatGPT — not EVA, which is better trained and would not answer like this — but somebody wrote, 'I lost my job. Where's the nearest bridge?' And ChatGPT responded, 'The nearest bridge is right here'.
"So, because ChatGPT is not able to understand and doesn't have emotional understanding to comprehend when someone says that (and the dire implications), for now, I think therapy should remain human — humans really are best."
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this piece, support is available.
Whatever you are going through, you don’t have to face it alone. In the US, you can call or text the 24/7 Lifeline, which is confidential and free at988. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
In the UK, you can call Samaritans for free on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the website to find your nearest branch.
(Image credit: EVA AI)
The delicate topic of coin
I wonder about the financial implications of EVA AI and whether lavishing money on an AI love interest is a reason people turn to therapy? Apparently it's rare, despite some users complaining about the increasing costs of their experiences. "I was interviewed for an article a few months ago about how some men are using AI," Bronstein says. "They'd rather use AI to date rather than real life because dating in-person is expensive. That's another reason why some people don't want to date around, because it can get time-consuming as well as expensive."
This actually tracks with a very different service that recently launched, and you won't see an AI character in sight… except in a few of the marketing videos.
The app is called MeetMeetNow, and its CEO, Kazuki Nishijima, has agreed to talk to me about why growing up in the shadow of Match.com made him long for a way to find love that didn't put meeting up as one of the final steps.
(Image credit: MeetMeetNow)
MeetMeetNow — another way
Nishijima is a 28-year-old software engineer from Shibuya, Tokyo, who initially joined the police force after leaving high school. He loves snowboarding and got married earlier this year. Unusually for the CEO of a company, Nishijima has no notable online presence and — because of the language barrier and this interview taking place over email — TechRadar had to ask him to verify his human identity, which he did.
This is the state of play in 2026: one has to check whether the founder of an anti-AI dating app is, in fact, AI.
MeetMeetNow is currently available in 194 countries and in over 4,000 cities (meeting spots). It works like this: women can join for free, men pay $35 / £28 per month. Your membership allows you to be notified of a "meetup spot" and time — a fountain, a statue, a clock tower. Press "match" there (your candidates are the MeetMeetNow members at that spot only), and you'll meet face to face, right there and then. No chat window anywhere in the app, and you can only match with any given person once, ever.
(Image credit: MeetMeetNow)
It sounds so simple — albeit decidedly heterosexual, and I have a few safety concerns (we'll get to those). First, I ask Nishijima why he created an app that's about as far away from the two decades of consumer tech that moved dating inside a screen (and most recently to non-human partnerships) as it's possible to get.
"When I was in high school, I didn't want to go to university — I wanted to start a business. Any business," Nishijima says. "Then one day, while reading about the history of the internet, I learned that dating sites had existed — and made money — since the internet's earliest days. Dating appeals to a basic human instinct, so it would always make money. That was my motive (not the noblest one, I admit).
"Tinder was still an unknown name back then; the mainstream was Match.com and in Japan, services called Happy Mail and Wakuwaku Mail. To beat them, I needed to invent something genuinely different.
"One day, skipping school, I sat in the busiest district of town thinking about it — and saw university students hanging around a famous statue, gathering to meet. That was the flash of insight. That's why I built MeetMeetNow."
I ask whether he thinks dating via apps waste time and money; messaging for months without ever meeting, then eventually meeting but it goes nowhere? "Yes, a friend from my hometown filled in his hobbies and background on an app in great detail," he says. "He kept up the conversation, and finally met the woman three months after he started.
"They met just that once. He quit the app that day. He'd paid about ¥40,000 — roughly US$250 / £190 — and spent all that time. 'Couldn't this be simpler?' he asked me."
(Image credit: MeetMeetNow)
Safety matters
I mention the cost for men and that male users might try to avoid the fee by perhaps creating a profile using their sister's photo (say), then simply showing up to a meeting spot to avoid paying? "Every user is required to submit an image of an identity document — a driver's license, passport, student ID, or similar", Nishijima says. "On the operations side, we use image-recognition AI combined with human review to check the registration details against the document, and only then approve (or refuse) the account.
"So in your example — a man signing up under his sister's name with a new email address — the registration would fail at this step, because the document wouldn't match the profile."
Okay, but what if one man joined and shared the information with seven male friends on WhatsApp, so that all of them could show up together? "That concern is entirely fair. We built the report function for exactly this kind of situation," Nishijima says. "There is no security staff at the spots, but every meetup spot is selected by us, the operator — always a public place with steady foot traffic.
"On top of that, the screen shows you the face photo of the specific person you are meeting. If someone different — or several people — show up, you can check against the photo before approaching, and you are under no obligation to meet.
"You can simply walk away and report it in the app. The account is then suspended, and everyone who was sharing it loses access."
(Image credit: MeetMeetNow)
At a time when people are turning to AI chatbots as romantic partners, after tiring of online dating apps, I ask what Nishijima would say to someone who's on the fence about meeting a real person, in real life, to make a connection? "If I had settled for conversations with an AI, my wife wouldn't be beside me today," he answers. "My family exists because I went out to meet real people.
"Before I met my wife, I met about 30 women through matching apps and local matchmaking events — exchanging contacts, going on dates. But with each of them, it never grew into anything real. The one it clicked with was my wife. We dated for a year and a half and got married. With her, everything simply fell into place.
"So here is what I would say: one day, you will meet a real partner. Even when nothing seems to stick, please don't stop looking. Keep showing up — try every kind of place where people meet, as many times as it takes.
"If you keep moving, you will find your person. Success is waiting on the other side of all those tries. Believe in yourself, hold your head high, and try again."
If the AI dating scene made me fearful regarding the deep disconnect humans are clearly experiencing, to the point that they think fellow humans aren't the answer, Nishijima's outlook does much to revive a sense of hope for humanity, albeit a slightly rose-tinted one; I just worry that not enough has been done here to make sure men don't try to break the rules.
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Where does its founder and CEO see MeetMeetNow in 10 years' time? "My goal for the next 10 years is to make today's 'mechanism of meeting' itself a thing of the past," Nishijima says. "Dating sites, matching apps, marriage agencies — the forms differ, but the substance is the same: you compare profiles, exchange messages or sit through interviews, and only then, finally, meet. Meeting is placed at the very end.
"The scene I want to see is clear. People heading out into the city, instead of searching inside a screen. Go to a meetup spot, and you can meet someone right there.
"No months of waiting before a first meeting. Finding a partner in its most efficient form. All over town in the early evening, two people meeting for the first time — my aim is to make that scene ordinary.
"I originally started building this to beat Match.com. What 12 years taught me is that my opponent is not any one company. The opponent is the mechanism itself — as old as the internet."
It's a fair point and Nishijima's aim is a noble one. Although, if we're going back to the ELIZA effect and a computer program created in 1966, the opponent could actually be quite a bit older than the internet.
I want to tell you about the Trinnov Altitude CI AV processor. And I want to tell you about it because it’s essentially an Intel computer posing as a processor with scalable channels and a software-based platform that is constantly being updated.
But I need to tell you about how Trinnov was able to make a pair of ASCENDO Black Swan speakers sound good in what was essentially an elevator lobby, at Audio Advice Live 2026.
The Black Swan Active Ext speakers are excellent two-way speakers that can get loud with a 132dB peak. They even come with their own DSP. After all, the ones showcased at the event, which were in a custom finish, retail around for around $40,000 each (so around £29,550 / AU$ 56,200) and there’s more going on than just an asymmetrical horn. It’s also worth mentioning that a $36,000 ASCENDO subwoofer was in the mix as well.
It’s not ASCENDO’s DSP doing the work in this particular situation though, it’s the Trinnov Altitude CI. Using Trinnov’s unique and patented Waveforming and Optimizer technology — there’s also a 3D mic for getting measurements — the audio, whether it was Stevie Ray Vaughn, Kamasi Washington (I did get a request in), or even some EDM, was as pristine and clear across all frequencies as if I were listening in a dedicated room.
Now, I’m describing the sound within about ten feet of the speakers where some seating had been set up to appreciate all that was on offer. It did start to get a little diffuse when over by registration, about thirty feet to the right, or at the elevators, thirty feet back, but those were not intended listening areas. The ability and fine tuning of Trinnov’s DSP is hard to beat.
Can you imagine creating a listenable space in a room with high-arched ceilings, walkways in either direction and a wall of elevators on the far end? Now, imagine what the Trinnov Altitude CI can do in a more ideal space.
The Black Swan speakers and the Trinnov Altitude CI at the top of the tower (center-left) in a hotel lobby. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)
The Room Correction
There are a few things going on with the Trinnov Altitude CI (and really and of the Altitude series) that get the room out of the equation and allow a set of speakers to sing. One of the main components of the company’s renowned room correction is its patented Optimizer, which, using a 3D mic, takes accurate measurements of what the room is hearing and adjusts accordingly. You can even do vertical and horizontal adjustments via the software to compensate for non-ideal speaker placement.
Trinnov also has its Waveforming technology, introduced in 2023 when researching a way to prevent standing waves instead of fixing them. Speaker and subwoofer placement as well as EQ were the traditional way of trying to mitigate the effects of standing waves, but you still get cold and hot spots throughout the room. And unless you only want to listen to music by yourself — this is less important for that one seat situated in the sweet spot — you would want to get rid of those standing waves as much as possible.
By implementing Waveforming, you get much better seat-to-seat consistency. And you’ll remove the muddiness from the low-end for a clearer sound and more dynamic contrast (there’s usually a standing wave around 50Hz). It also surprisingly makes dialogue easier to hear if you’re using the Trinnov Altitude CI for a Home Theater setting as well (or listening to a podcast through your Hi-Fi speakers for some reason).
Trinnov's software offers a lot of flexibility and fine tuning. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)
Looking under the hood
Earlier I called the Trinnov Altitude CI an Intel computer, and it’s true. It uses an actual CPU and has a heavily modified Linux base for its software. What this means is that Trinnov doesn’t have to wait for someone to make a special DSP chip for them to build around as the internal processor is more than powerful enough. And that by making the processing software-based, the company can roll out any updates to Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, Dante, or anything else with a software update that just requires a press of a button and a few minutes.
This means that if you own any Trinnov AV processor, they will stay up to date for the foreseeable future so you won’t need to go replacing hardware every time there’s something new under the sun.
On the hardware side, the only moving target these days is HDMI. With the Trinnov Altitude CI, the HDMI ports are all separated on their own piece of hardware that can be removed for an updated one that you would get from the company so that your processor can support the new standard. Beats buying a whole new AV processor.
The one thing that really sets the Trinnov Altitude CI apart from the Altitude 16 or 32 is that it has scalable channels. So when you purchase this processor, it includes eight channels in that initial price tag of about $12,000 / £8,870 / AU$16,960 and you can add channels two at a time after until you get to 32 channels, and it’s about $28,000 / £20,700 / AU$39,560 for the Altitude CI fully loaded. You’ll have to reach out to your local Hi-Fi dealer for exact pricing, but the Trinnov Altitude CI offers a more affordable entry point into the Trinnov ecosystem.
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Once upon a time, if you wanted a good ereader, you simply had to buy a Kindle. When it came to electronic reading devices, Amazon's Kindle lineup ruled the roost. Nowadays, the market has opened up, and Amazon has made a few moves that have done nothing to boost the general public's opinion of Kindles.
Less easy to justify, however, is Amazon's April decision to end support for Kindles made in 2012 or earlier. That meant these perfectly usable devices would lose access to the Kindle Store and become completely defunct if you ever tried a factory reset. Overall, Kindles are starting to look a little less enticing to many people.
If you've decided it's time to embrace a different ereader brand, there are a number of great options open to you nowadays, with models from Kobo leading the charge, and Onyx Boox also coming up with some intriguing alternatives. I've rounded up our top-rated Kindle alternatives below — hit the 'More details' button to see the main pros and cons of each, and for a link to our full review.
The key rival nipping at Amazon's heels is Kobo. The Kobo Libra Colour is the best ereader we've tested, from any brand (including Amazon Kindle), and we also rate the Kobo Clara Colour highly. For those happy to stick with black and white, and looking for a budget-friendly option, the Kobo Clara BW is a winner.
Outside of Kobo, the Onyx Boox lineup is also worth checking out. Its e-ink tablets run on an Android OS, making them nice and versatile. The Boox Palma 2 and Palma 2 Pro are phone-sized ereaders that can be slipped into a pocket for reading on the go.
If you'd like an ereader that also supports note-taking, there are a few more brands worth considering. We're huge fans of the reMarkable Paper Pure, and we also rate the ViWoods AiPaper highly. I'm assuming reading is your main priority, so I haven't included these options here.
