Connect with us

Tech

Mini Kindle Pods are trending on TikTok, but these devices arent what they seem

Published

on

Two pictures of

Among passionate TikTok communities, BookTok, may be the most influential.

BookTok is where book lovers and e-reader obsessives to come together to discuss their favorite books and device hacks. For readers who use e-readers, Kindle, Kobo, and Boox lead the charge as the most popular devices, so it's notable when a new device goes viral. "Mini Kindles" appear to be the latest device to cause a stir on BookTok, with hundreds of videos showcasing the tiny e-readers.

On TikTok, searching for "mini Kindle" (or "mini Kindle pods") brings up dozens of user videos showing someone walking into a Barnes & Noble or Target and then cutting to an unboxing of a so-called "mini Kindle". As someone who tests e-readers for a living, this confused me.

I have no reason to believe these e-readers are actually being purchased at Barnes & Noble, nor do they have any apparent affiliation with Amazon Kindles.

In fact, the devices being hyped in these videos appear to be sold by the users who post them.

In a since-deleted video, user @aurealeaf directs viewers to the website NovaLeaf, where the "NovaLeaf Mini Kindle" is listed. (Editor's note: As of this writing, the @aurealeaf account is no longer available.) Another user, @hydro_scope, directs viewers to their website with a listing for a NOVA Mini Pink Kindle. Both devices claim to be pocket-sized e-readers under the Kindle name, despite no affiliation with Amazon.

We reached out to both @aurealeaf and @hydro_scope, and we'll update this post if we receive a response.

Are mini Kindle pods actually Kindles?

These mini Kindles do not seem to be actual Kindle e-readers or associated with Amazon at all, nor does Amazon sell any mini version of the Kindle e-readers. We reached out for comment from Amazon and have not heard back at the time of publication.

By performing reverse image searches on Nova and NovaLeaf websites, I found that the "mini Kindles" listed for sale there are visual matches for devices manufactured by a company called Oilsky. They appear to be 4-inch touchscreen MP3 and 1080p video players. With built-in access to the Google Play store, the Kindle app is available to download onto the device; however, that appears to be the only connection to Amazon.

The Oilsky MP3 player and copycat versions are currently listed on Amazon. These TikTok-based sellers have their mini Kindles listed for $79.99, about $10 more than the direct Oilsky listing on Amazon. Oilsky MP3 players are not listed for sale at Barnes & Noble or Target.

In short, the viral TikTok videos are using the word "Kindle" to refer to any e-reader-like device and may be at risk of legal action from Amazon.

As of this writing, the @aurealeaf TikTok account is no longer available.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tech

Take to the skies with nearly half off the DJI Neo Fly More Combo

Published

on

By

DJI Neo Fly More Combo on pink and light green abstract background

SAVE $90: As of April 22, get the DJI Neo Fly More Combo for $259 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $349 with an on-page coupon. That's a discount of 26%.



DJI Neo Fly More Combo on white background

Credit: Amazon

$259
at Amazon

$349
Save $90

Clip on-page coupon

Whether you're looking to get into flying drones or just want to add another to your collection, DJI is the brand to shop. Despite news of DJI drones being banned in the United States, there are still ways to get around the ban if you look hard enough. You can still keep the drones you own, and you can still shop those on sale at retailers like Amazon. And we've got one that you can snap up right now for an excellent price.

As of April 22, get the DJI Neo Fly More Combo for $259 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $349 with an on-page coupon. That's $90 off and a discount of 26%.

This bundle includes the DJI Neo drone, a remote controller, RC cable, flight battery, two-way charging hub, propeller guards, spare propellers, spare propeller screws, a screwdriver, gimbal protector, and a Type-C to Type-C cable.

The DJI Neo Fly More Combo is a lightweight and simple to fly option for users of any skill level. It's lighter than your phone, in fact, and small enough that you don't need to register with the FAA to fly it. You can use your phone to operate it, and it can take off from your hand with a single button push, so it's already simple to use right out of the box.

You can just fly the drone around, or you can take photos from a bird's eye point of view with smart subject tracking and quickshots that your drone can take all on its own. You can also control it via voice or RC depending on your preference.

With 4K ultra stabilized video, you can also stack plenty of crisp, high definition video while flying, all without complex setups that confuse and potentially frustrate.

if you're ready to get into drone photography or just want a chance to fly one without breaking the bank, this combo is well worth splurging on.

Continue Reading

Tech

Google Wallet now lets you track flights from your lock screen. How to try it.

Published

on

By

Google Wallet logo on phone screen

Google just made life a tiny bit easier for Android users who love to travel.

9to5google spotted a new lock screen widget for Android 16 that gives you persistent progress updates on your flights. It's very simple and straightforward: It shows your departing airport, your destination airport, your estimated arrival time, and a progress bar measuring how deep into the flight you are.

As 9to5google noted, this is on top of some already-existing features for travelers who add their boarding passes to the Google Wallet app. Those include push notifications about flight changes, but the flight progress widget is brand-new, having been promised by Google last year.

If you want to try it, well, you'd better have a flight lined up first. Add the boarding pass to Google Wallet, and the widget should appear shortly before takeoff. In other words, you don't really have to do anything other than put your boarding pass in your phone.

This marks another step forward for Google Wallet, which replaced Google Pay in 2024 as the go-to destination for credit cards and other important kinds of digital documentation on Android devices. By all accounts, it's been a successful transition for Android users, and if Google keeps adding neat little conveniences like this flight tracker widget, it'll only get better.

Continue Reading

Tech

Meta will track employee mouse movements and keystrokes for AI training, report says

Published

on

By

Meta logo on smartphone screen

Meta is about to ramp up surveillance of its employees, Reuters reports, but in a very 2026 twist, it's not meant to catch people slacking off.

Reuters reports that Meta is installing tracking software that can capture mouse movements and keystrokes on U.S.-based employees' computers. While this sort of surveillance isn't unheard of in corporate America, the motivation here is slightly novel: Meta is reportedly going to use the data to train AI agents, per a company memo seen by Reuters.

This will be done through a tool called Model Capability Initiative, or MCI.

Meta's memo said the idea is to help AI agents improve at tasks they currently struggle with, such as using keyboard shortcuts. And in a different memo reportedly sent to employees on Monday, CTO Andrew Bosworth said to expect more internal data collection in order to make agents better at replicating human work. The goal, per Bosworth, is for agents to do most of the work while humans sit back and monitor the situation.

“The vision we are building towards is ​one where our agents primarily do the work and our role is to direct, review and help them improve," Bosworth said, per Reuters.

While Meta did not explicitly say any of this was meant to replace human workers down the line, it's reasonable to wonder if that's where this is eventually going. Tens of thousands of people lost their jobs because of AI last year, and Meta has already laid off a quadruple-digit number of people (though those were unrelated to AI) earlier this year, with more cuts coming later in May.

If, at some point in the future, Meta reduces its workforce with the aim of having AI agents do the work instead, it may have been those same Meta employees who trained the AI in the first place.

In the meantime, Reuters reports that Meta assured employees that the data will not be used in performance reviews.

Meta hasn't had a great year, privacy-wise, and we're only four months into 2026.

In March, the company was accused of sending Meta Ray-Ban user recordings, including intimate images, to offshore Meta workers, also for AI training. Earlier this month, we reported on the case of a former Meta employee under criminal investigation for downloading private Facebook photos. And after a report that Meta was planning to add facial recognition technology into its smart glasses, a group of 70 organizations, including the ACLU, signed a public letter urging Meta to reverse course.

Continue Reading

Trending