Welcome to Tech Beat, your daily look at what's moving in the world of technology.
Meta's smart glasses just got a little less smart for free users. The company is capping its voice-boosting feature — designed to amplify the voices of people nearby — at just three hours of free use before hitting a paywall. It's a reminder that hardware can quietly become a subscription business once it's already on your face.
Shifting to a broader concern about the information landscape — a piece circulating today asks whether traditional media remains democracy's best defense in an era shaped by algorithms and AI-curated feeds. It's a question without a clean answer, but the tension between editorial accountability and algorithmic scale is one that shapes what millions of people believe is actually true.
And on a more practical note, Wired is flagging seven Google account settings that most people have never touched — covering everything from ad personalization to which parts of your profile are visible to the public. Given how much of daily life flows through a Google account, a few minutes adjusting those defaults is probably time well spent.
Keep surfing. Tech Beat out.
