Hardware

Posts on batteries, photonics, connected devices, and physical computing systems.

Neurophos and the Case for Computing With Light

Neurophos is building photonic AI chips that aim to reduce the power and scaling limits of modern inference. If its approach works, the impact could reshape the economics of AI deployment well beyond datacenters.

March 8, 2026 Read

Donut Lab’s Solid-State Battery Is Worth Watching

Solid-state batteries have spent years in the category of technologies that always seem close, but never quite arrive. That is part of why Donut Lab got my attention. When the company first announced its battery, the claims sounded unusually aggressive: around 400 Wh/kg, charging in about five minutes, operation across a wide temperature range, and a “clay-like” form that could be shaped to fit the product rather than forcing the product to conform to a rigid pack.

March 7, 2026 Read

Filtrete Touchscreen WiFi-Enabled Programmable Thermostat

Last fall I purchased and installed the Filtrete Touchscreen WiFi-Enabled Programmable Thermostat in our home after reading about it here on Scott Hanselman’s blog. It does exactly what it sounds like, plus it comes with a pretty cool iPhone app (I am sure there is an android version as well). Now that we have it installed, it would be hard to imagine life without it. It seems really lazy (and it is) but the thought of having to actually get up and interact with a device on the wall seems like a lot work.

April 13, 2012 Read