Paying more in rent? Landlords are using AI tools to jack up prices. Also, why I’m skipping Airbnb (and maybe you should too). Plus, in-store tracking tech, gunshot-detecting AI, and a weird stat about men and voice assistants.
The future of laptops
My job is to keep you ahead of the curve, so you know what’s worth your hard-earned money and what’s just hype. One reader recently asked me: Where are laptops going next? Let’s break it down.
🤖 AI is baked in
As AI gets better, imagine a bot that automates boring laptop tasks like booking flights, ordering groceries or organizing your files. Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs promise to do just that.
AI-powered laptops will also soon learn your habits, adjusting settings based on how you work. Think battery optimizations on the fly, automatic background noise cancellation and predictive typing that actually gets it right.
Should you buy an AI-powered laptop now? Nope. Wait until the end of the year when the tech is more developed.
🔮 Designs are futuristic
Laptops haven’t changed very much over the last five years. They’re all basic clamshells, but that’s starting to shift. Thinner screens, dual-display setups and foldable laptops are on the rise. The Asus Zenbook Duo has two built-in screens, while Lenovo just showed off a laptop with a screen that expands on demand, compact when you carry it, bigger when you need it.
Future laptops could let you swap out components like LEGO blocks instead of replacing the entire machine. Imagine upgrading your processor, storage or RAM just by snapping in a new piece.
🕺🏼Who wants a laptop dance?
In the next five years, expect to see gesture and voice controls, maybe eye-tracking or brain-controlled interfaces (seriously). Instead of a trackpad or touch screen, you might just think about what you want to do and your laptop will respond.
We’ll also have laptops powered by kinetic energy (think: charging your laptop just by typing).
Holographic displays will replace traditional screens. Imagine opening your laptop and seeing a floating, 3D workspace instead of a physical screen. Your next laptop might not even have a screen at all — just a virtual display that adjusts to wherever you’re working.
We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.
“Everything’s computer” but in a bad way: Tucker Carlson’s brand new Chevy truck screen lit up with a message that said, “Stop, we’re downloading information from the internet,” and he took that personally. No second chances. He took the truck back to the dealer. The man wants horsepower, not spyware. Somewhere, his 1987 Silverado is grinning. PSA: Enter your VIN at Privacy4Cars to see what your car is tracking.
🧳 Get that job: Don’t send the same resume everywhere. Ask your favorite chatbot to tailor your skills for each role. Just say, “Update my resume for the [Title] role at [Company] by focusing on key skills from the job description.” Copy and paste your current resume and the job listing. This helps you beat those application tracking systems.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Want a distraction-free YouTube? Add -nocookie to the URL to skip tracking cookies. Whoa. That was a good one!
⌚ Watch for noise: Your Apple Watch’s built-in Noise app can check if the sounds around you are too loud. Open the app on your watch and tap Enable to start tracking. To see how often you’re in noisy spots, go to the Health app > Browse (bottom right) > Hearing > Environmental Sound Levels. Now your watch can judge your eardrum choices, too.
From Lisa in Texas: “Kim, I’m done with Big Tech snooping. Is StartMail really private?” You bet! StartMail is built for privacy — no tracking, no ads, just secure email. You can even import all your old messages and contacts, hassle-free. Save 60% now with my exclusive link!
🛍️ Buy Now, Pay Later is now Buy Now, Regret Publicly: The WSJ (paywalled) says credit bureaus have officially started tracking your “Buy Now, Pay Later” shopping. So yes, that $89 “ergonomic” beanbag you split into four payments? It might now haunt your credit report. Suddenly, Klarna feels a lot less like a fun hack and more like a fiscal breadcrumb trail leading directly to your FICO score.
I’m scratching my head on this one: People who use a Garmin smartwatch are upset about a monthly fee, and it’s not that they are still using a Garmin. The app’s new AI health and fitness tracking tools cost $6.99 a month ($69.99 per year). Apple Watch, anyone?
We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.
📦 Remember the iPhone porch pirates? It was a major crime ring (paywall link). Hackers built software to scrape FedEx tracking numbers, then bribed AT&T employees to leak delivery addresses and order details for thousands of phones. Once the package showed up, a runner would grab it. Wild.
This company has your data – March 29th, Hour 1
One of the biggest ad companies quietly admitted it’s been tracking nearly everyone online. A man in Phoenix lost $900,000 to a crypto scam that started with a friend request. Jeff Bezos is engaged and, of course, the internet has opinions. Meanwhile, 23andMe just filed for bankruptcy. If your DNA is still sitting in their system, now’s the time to delete it. And yes, people are using ChatGPT for bedroom inspiration.
🛑 Stop ad trackers: It makes it harder for advertisers and data brokers to snoop on you. On iPhones, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking and toggle off Allow Apps to Request to Track. For Androids, open Settings > Google > Ads, then enable Opt out of Ads Personalization.
📷 Not just for tracking steps: The Apple Watch looks like it will get a camera to “see” the world using AI-enabled visual intelligence (paywall link). That means you could scan a flyer to add an event to your calendar or look up a restaurant on the spot. ETA? 2027.
🍪 Crumble the cookie’s Edge: To keep the trackers away in Edge, click the three dots (top-right corner) for Settings. Click on Privacy, Search, and Services and find Tracking Prevention. Set it to either Basic, Balanced (Edge’s recommendation) or Strict for more protection.
🏈 Kicking off the ad dollars: All 32 NFL teams got busted for not warning fans that their websites and apps were collecting sensitive data and probably selling it all to advertisers. No notices, no easy opt-out, just silent tracking of your online behavior and location. You’ll start seeing privacy prompts now. As if the NFL doesn’t make enough money.
Tell Instagram to stop tracking you: Go to your profile and click the three-line icon > Accounts Center. Choose Ad Preferences > Manage info > Activity information from ad partners. Tap Review Settings, then No, don’t make my ads more relevant. Press Confirm. Voila.
🐌 Sloooow down: On your Mac, adjust how fast your cursor whips around the screen. Hit the Apple menu > System Settings > Mouse or Trackpad Select Click Point & Click, then drag the Tracking speed slider to your liking.
See who’s secretly tracking you online
The Markup’s Blacklight reveals hidden ad trackers, keyloggers, and session recorders in seconds. Find out what’s lurking behind the sites you visit.
Gotta close my rings: Fitness influencers are all over a new “hack” for more accurate step tracking: Strapping a smartwatch to your ankle instead of your wrist. One woman tried it with a 10-minute jaunt around Target. On her wrist, the watch recorded 91 steps; on her ankle, 835 steps. If you try it, know you’re losing out on features like heart rate and CO2 tracking. Another downside is you look like a prisoner with an ankle monitor.
Assume any photo you post can be traced: This tech is something else. GeoSpy analyzes every single pixel, background object, shadow and landmark in your photos to identify the exact spot it was taken. Within seconds, they can pass that along to the government, police or anyone else willing to pay. The old way of tracking using the photo’s metadata is over.