Samsung’s new phone repair tools are the best.

Samsung officially introduced The repair kit program in the US this week. Now anyone who owns one of the Galaxy phones included in the program can order the parts, tools and instructions needed to repair the device themselves.

The company first announced the maintenance program in April. Thanks to some laws in Europe requiring devices to indicate how repairable they are, a similar law guaranteeing consumers’ right to repair their own phones, laptops and gadgets seems all but inevitable in the US. Companies like Samsung and Apple are eager to get ahead and set the tone for what device repair means. The problem is, now that these companies have announced their repair kit programs, they seem to be offering more recovery services than a full buffet.

Samsung has made repair kits available only for some of its products, namely the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S21 phones and the Galaxy Tab 7+. That’s seven devices in total, out of hundreds of Samsung gadgets still in use. Moreover, only certain parts of each device can be repaired: the screen, charging port and back panel glass. (Galaxy Tab owners can also replace the battery.) Samsung’s repair kit rollout is limited, but it’s still an easier process than when Apple introduced its repair program in April. Apple’s kits were expensive, useless, and often more trouble than they were worth.

Samsung has partnered with iFixit, which owns repair rights from Google (which makes parts and accessories for its Pixel phones). It’s a good partnership and a step forward towards a more streamlined future. But right now, that future is only unfolding in fits and starts. Samsung, Apple and other companies need to step up their efforts if they want to build a robust self-repair program before the regulatory hammer comes down.

Here’s some more news from the Gear desk.

Hey Alexa, sweep my floor

Say what you will about Amazon, but there’s no denying that it’s just a big ol’ hungry bear that wants to undercut everything around it. The latest entity to scurry through Amazon vacuums is the robot, the company that makes Roomba vacuums. Amazon will take the company for $1.7 billion in cash, a significant turnaround from last month’s $3.9 billion acquisition of OneMed. (That’s right, Amazon is now a healthcare provider, too.)

To be sure, there are all kinds of privacy implications from this purchase, especially when you consider that Amazon may soon own a map of your home’s floor plan collected by sensors on iRobot’s vacuums. But hey, think of the other options: put cameras in a robotic lawnmower! Flying Dustbuster drones that listen to your conversations! In fact, everything is possible.

The clubhouse divides itself

Remember the clubhouse? In the early days of the 2020 pandemic, the voice-based social network provided relief from isolated isolation and many of us felt tired. (Ha ha, I’m glad that’s over, aren’t you?) Since access to the app was invite-only, it gave the clubhouse experience a sense of exclusivity that made it feel fun. Before long, the clubhouse became the go-to place for Silicon Valley bigwigs to enjoy each other’s company. Then the app opened up to the general public, and the appeal caught on faster than hot La Croix.

Now, Clubhouse is trying to recapture some of its old cool by making its rooms exclusive again. A new feature allows users to split their rooms into multiple clubhouses (clubhouses?), allowing them to keep their conversations private. Clubhouse is now taking applications to create “houses” but releasing them on a case-by-case basis.

Clearly, Clubhouse hopes these smaller, more concentrated experiences will lure users away from many other, more popular audio chat services. When Announcing the behavior On Twitter, Clubhouse CEO Paul Davison wrote: “The best social experiences are not open to everyone. They are small and compact. This is what creates intimacy, trust and friendship.

Instagram NFTs

After a controversial move to prioritize TikTok clone Reels in user feeds, Instagram is digging into another tumultuous online trend: NFTs. In May, the CEO of Instagram, Adam Moseri announced As the social platform dips its toes into the then-tap-hot NFT waters. Of course, the NFT market has slowed significantly since May. However, this week Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that his company is expanding its plans to enable NFTs on Instagram in more than 100 countries. The feature allows users to create posts like NFTs and buy or sell them using digital wallets.

Speaking of intangible assets…

Take NFT, it lasts for a long time

A hallmark of NFTs is that they are always digital. NFTs allow artists to create a token on the blockchain that indicates the originality of their work. Otherwise, the piece itself is infinitely re-created like any other online GIF. (Okay, it’s actually more complicated than that, so here’s a guide that explains exactly how NFTs work.)

Now, thanks to companies like Infinite Objects and Tokenframe, you can take that digital art and post it on your wall. On this week’s Gadget Lab podcast, WIRED’s Lauren Good and Michael Calore talk about the strange world of NFTs and how physical frames for digital art can be made accessible to the uninitiated.