You can always count on Nintendo for a surprise. This is the company that followed the Game Boy with a strange dual-screened handheld and broke out of its GameCube slump with a console focused on motion controls. It’s the company that lost its lead with the Wii U and then gambled on another innovation — the portable hybrid known as the Switch — to ultimately get back on top. All of those were big, risky swings that seemingly exemplified the company’s playful, experimental ethos.
The Switch 2, on the other hand, is… a bigger, better Switch. It’s kind of boring. But it’s also exactly the right move from Nintendo. At a time when people expect their games and experiences to carry over between devices, the old console paradigm of starting over with a new generation doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. And since Nintendo hit a home run with the original Switch, it has the runway to be a little bit boring this time.
Today’s reveal video didn’t detail a whole lot about the Switch 2 in terms of specs, but there are still some clear improvements over the original, like the bigger display (though we don’t know the exact screen size) and redesigned Joy-Con controllers. More details are coming...
The Comfy JT-200T calculator’s solar panel is located on its top edge where you won’t see it. | Image: Casio Japan
Calculator aesthetics are apparently very important to some people, so Casio Japan has announced a new Comfy JT-200T solar-powered model that relocates its solar cell to the top edge keeping it out of sight while you’re crunching numbers.
The calculator is also available in five muted colors to better match your desk decor: off white, dark gray, grayish pink, grayish green, and grayish blue. It will be released on January 30th, 2025 in Japan for ￥3,850, or around $25.
Image: Casio Japan
The calculator is available in off white, dark gray, grayish pink, grayish green, and grayish blue color options.
There’s no indication the new position of the solar panel will affect its exposure to indoor lighting and power generation capabilities, but it is slightly angled upwards and a bit larger than the solar panels on Casio’s other design-focused models.
The company says the new model will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the very first calculator Casio released in 1965. However, the Comfy JT-200T has more in common with the company’s first personal calculator, as it uses the same key font as the Casio Mini released in 1972.
The calculator’s case is made from a mix of recycled plastic and mica which helps hide scratches, there’s a spring-loaded stand on the back that will elevate it about eight degrees, and it features a 12-digit segmented LCD display. Its number-crunching capabilities are basic, but it does include dedicated tax buttons potentially making it appealing to accountants not entirely devoted to spreadsheets.
Image: Casio Japan
Other models in Casio’s design-focused line of calculators feature a small solar panel located just above their displays.
Similar to the game, director David F. Sandberg’s Until Dawnrevolves around a group of people who find themselves trapped in a time loop that resets as they’re each murdered in a number of different horrific scenarios. When Melanie (Maia Mitchell) goes missing under mysterious circumstances, her younger sister Clover (Ella Rubin) recruits her friends Max (Michael Cimino), Megan (Ji-young Yoo), Nina (Odessa A’zion), and Abel (Belmont Cameli) on a mission to find her. In the trailer, group’s search brings them to what looks to be an inn run by Hill (Peter Stormare), an odd man who warns them that wandering farther up the road will only bring trouble into their lives.
Though one seems all that bothered by how the weather acts strangely around Hill’s inn, they know something is up when their car vanishes, and they find Melanie’s signature written in a dusty old guest log. Things only get spookier as night falls, and something starts lurking in the darkness around Clover and her friends. But it isn’t until people start dying that they realize they’re somehow being resurrected and challenged to survive until the morning as various ghouls try to kill them in inventive ways.
The trailer makes it seem like, despite revolving around new characters, it’ll hit many of the classic Until Dawn beats. And when the movie hits theaters on April 25th, it’ll probably keep audiences guessing as to who exactly is going to make it out alive.
Polestar may be facing a possible ban in the US, but the Sweden-by-way-of-China manufacturer isn’t going to let that stop it from releasing new products. The company provided a business update on Thursday, during which it announced a new model, the Polestar 7 compact SUV, that will be produced in Europe.
Little was revealed about the Polestar 7 — we didn’t even get a look at a prototype — but the company said it will be a “very progressive SUV” with “a strong USP,” or unique selling point. It’s unclear when the vehicle will go into production or even where in Europe it will be built. (Sweden seems like a likely bet.)
“We will enter the compact SUV segment, by the way the biggest and fastest growing segment in the world, and we will obviously make sure it comes with all the Polestar DNA,” the company’s new CEO, Michael Lohscheller, said.
The update, which took the form of a professionally produced sit-down interview with Lohscheller, didn’t touch on Polestar’s regulatory trouble in the US. The Biden administration recently finalized a ban on connected vehicle software from China, a move that Polestar has said would “effectively prohibit” it from selling EVs in the US.
This represents a significant shift in the company’s position from the past few years. Polestar was laser-focused on the US market with the Polestar 3, a three-row SUV manufactured at its factory in South Carolina in order to qualify for generous incentives under the Biden administration. EV sales were looking strong when the Polestar 3 was announced, but now sales have slowed thanks to high prices, charging challenges, and politics. Many of those incentives put in place by President Joe Biden are likely to be eliminated under President-elect Donald Trump.
In a statement, Polestar said it was in the process of adapting its operations to comply with the new regulations. “The U.S. is and will remain an important market for Polestar and we always ensure that our cars comply with regulations in the countries in which we operate,” Polestar spokesperson Michael Ofiara said. “The now finalized legislation is expected to be implemented with the model year 2027. We are in advanced stages to adapt our future models to make sure they comply with the regulation in terms of hardware, software and suppliers. Therefore, we will make sure to comply with all regulations.”
Polestar also reported its third quarter earnings today (the company is lagging behind other companies in reporting its earnings), including a $323 million net loss. It sold 12,548 cars, which was down 8 percent compared to its Q3 sales in 2023.
The company also said it no longer expects similar revenue in 2024 as it earned in 2023, nor a positive gross profit margin for the fourth quarter. Instead, Polestar is expecting “a mid-teens percentage decline in revenue and a negative gross margin around the same level as full year 2023, as the fourth quarter product mix was negatively impacted by fewer than expected Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 sales.”
But amid these challenges, Lohscheller said he was convinced that Polestar was still on the right track. He predicted “positive” adjusted earnings for 2025 and free cash flow, in which Polestar would be generating more money from its business operations than it is losing in 2027.
“Really, 2024 is a transitional year for Polestar,” said Lohscheller, who previously served as CEO of the Stellantis-owned Opel. “But I feel we are well positioned now going into 2025 with the right cars, with the right distribution, and obviously a much much better focus on significant cost reduction and increasing efficiency.”
Update January 16th: Updated to include a statement from a Polestar spokesperson.
The blacked-out Leica lettering of the SL2-S returns on the new model. | Image: Leica Camera
Leica has a new camera for pros who shoot both video and stills. The $5,295 Leica SL3-S, which launches today, is a full-frame mirrorless hybrid camera optimized for fast-action stills and 6K video. Like the SL3 it’s based on, the SL3-S has a compact body and 3.2-inch tilting touchscreen display. But where the SL3 with its 60mp sensor is mainly for still photography, the SL3-S is optimized for speed: its 24mp sensor can shoot video at 6K with 12-bit raw footage, and it can capture stills at up to 30fps with continuously tracking autofocus.
Image: Leica Camera
The new Leica SL duo: the Leica SL3 (left) and SL3-S (right).
The SL3-S’s newfound video chops mean it supports open-gate 6K (5952 x 3968 resolution) recording of its full 3:2 sensor at up to 30fps, or up to 60fps in 4K, and it can record directly to an SSD via USB-C connection. While it doesn’t have an especially high-resolution sensor for stills, it makes up for that with speed and focusing ability. The SL3-S has 779 phase-detect autofocus points, more than double the SL3’s 315 points. It also has improved object detection and tracking focus, and it shoots fast enough to enable 48- and 96-megapixel high-res multi-shot composites without a tripod.
Otherwise, the SL3-S shares a lot with the SL3 — utilizing the same body design with dual card slots (one UHS-II SD and one CFExpress Type B), tilting touchscreen, color-coded menu system (red for photo / yellow for video), and that quirky light-up power button. (Seriously, why is the power button not a nice physical switch like every other camera?) It’s a similar approach to the one Leica took with its last-generation SL2 and SL2-S, with the SL3-S once again looking identical to its pricier counterpart, aside from some blacked-out Leica lettering.
The SL line is aimed at pros who need their fancy German camera to be more of an all-around workhorse, with high-res video recording and autofocus, instead of a slower-paced, specialized tool for photography like a Leica M rangefinder. So it makes sense that Leica is baking its Content Credentials into the SL3-S, utilizing Adobe’s Content Authenticity Initiative for image verification like it first did on the M11-P. Strangely, this feature isn’t available in the standard SL3, which launched in March 2024, and won’t be added via firmware upgrade. Leica spokesperson Nathan Kellum-Pathe told The Verge that the SL3 lacks the necessary hardware and that while software-based content authentication is possible, it “does not meet Leica’s standard for encryption of this important data.”
If you have Leica money, but not infinite Leica money, the SL3-S feels like the better value for all but the pickiest pixel peepers.
The arrival of the Nintendo Switch 2 heralds some much-needed improvements over its predecessor, especially its Joy-Con controllers. Here’s a quick breakdown of what the announcement trailer showed us about the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons.
Before the official reveal of the console, there were rumors alluding to how the new Joy-Cons would work and their internal mechanisms. The most significant rumor was that they were held to the console via magnets, and in the reveal video, that appears to be the case. The video features the Joy-Con seemingly snapping to a cover as though attracted by a magnetic force.
Gif: Nintendo
The new Joy-Cons snap to everything as though powered by magnets.
The video shows that the Joy-Cons have a protrusion that fits into an oval depression in the main body of the console, plugging into ports (with that iconic Nintendo Switch “snap” sound) instead of sliding down rails. There’s also a button at the top of each controller that is ostensibly how the Joy-Cons detach from the main console, but the reveal video didn’t show that in action. According to some of the Switch 2 rumors reported on by The Verge, pressing that button actuates a pin that will push the Joy-Cons away from the console, and in the video, you can see on the inside track of each controller a small circle at the top that looks like it pushes out.
Gif: Nintendo
You can see a tiny protrusion at the top of the Joy-Con that is likely what detaches the controller from the console.
The Joy-Cons, like the Switch 2 itself, are larger. In the version of the console shown in the announcement video, they’re black with accents in the traditional red and blue colors from the original Switch. Other elements from the previous Joy-Cons are still there, like the indicator lights and the SL / SP buttons that are visible when the Joy-Cons are being used individually. The left Joy-Con still has its square screenshot button and the right one has the home button, but directly below that is a new button whose function is still unconfirmed.
The biggest problem plaguing the original Switch Joy-Cons was a condition known as Joy-Con drift. Users reported that their analog sticks would display movement without input from the player, kind of like a cursor moving on a computer screen without moving the mouse. Nintendo didn’t share any information about the internal mechanisms powering the Joy-Cons, so we don’t know how susceptible they will be to this problem.
The events will span North America, Asia, Oceania, and Europe and kick off in April — which is also when Nintendo will be hosting a Direct event to share more details on its new console. Here’s the full schedule, and you can keep an eye out for tickets right here. Nintendo says the tickets “will be made available through a free-to-enter, randomly selected drawing.”
Nintendo is finally making a new Mario Kart. While the official announcement of the Switch 2 didn’t feature much in the way of game announcements, the company did tease the next entry in the Mario Kart series. We don’t know anything about it really, though. There’s currently no title or details about the game. That should change later this year, as Nintendo is planning a Switch 2 Direct event for April.
Now that Nintendo’s reveal of the Switch 2 has put to rest years of anticipation and rumormongering, it’s time to hear more information about the console and, importantly, all the games. The company has announced it will hold a Switch 2 Direct scheduled for April 2nd.
The Switch 2 reveal trailer showed footage that looks to be a new Mario Kart game, which is a good indication it’ll be a launch title. There’s speculation that the forthcoming Metroid Prime 4might straddle both consoles the way Breath of the Wild launched on both the Wii U and the Switch back in 2017. The Switch 2 Direct might also reveal the follow-up to Super Mario Odyssey. Who knows?
But we do know that it is a truth universally acknowledged that a person in possession of a Switch 2 must be in want of games to play on it, and we’ll get a good idea of what those games will be in early April.
It’s finally time: after months of teases and rumors, Nintendo has finally revealed the successor to the Switch. A new console generation is always a big deal, but this is an especially pivotal one for Nintendo.
Nintendo has a new console on the way, but you can still hang onto those old games. The company has confirmed that the just-announced Switch 2 device will support cartridges from the original Switch.
The news shouldn’t be too surprising. Late last year, Nintendo confirmed that the then-unnamed console would be backward-compatible with the Switch. However, that original statement — “Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to Nintendo Switch” — wasn’t clear on whether that included physical games as well as digital. Now we know for sure. Additionally, Nintendo Switch Online, which includes a growing library of retro games and other features like a music app, will also carry over between the two devices for subscribers.
However, there appear to be some restrictions, as Nintendo notes that “certain Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2.” It’s not clear yet which games that might include.
Image: Nintendo
The big reveal of the Switch’s successor comes after a long period of leaks and rumors, culminating in today’s official announcement. Here’s the full video of the reveal, which includes the tidbit about backward compatibility.
Nintendo shared the first details about the Nintendo Switch 2 in a video published Thursday. Nintendo doesn’t give a specific release date for the console besides “2025.”
The console looks a lot like the original, but it’s bigger. In the video, the Joy-Con controllers are black with colored accents, and they attach to the side of the console instead of sliding on and off. The Joy-Cons appear to snap on quite easily — leaks have suggested they could be attached via magnets.
There’s a new button under the home button on the right Joy-Con, which had shown up in leaks. The video also appears to show the Joy-Cons being used similarly to a mouse. And the SL and SR buttons on the Joy-Cons are bigger than they are on the original Switch’s Joy-Cons.
On top of the Switch 2, there’s a new USB-C port next to the 3.5mm headphone jack. The kickstand has a new design — it’s shaped more like a U. The dock for the Switch 2 has a more rounded design. And, like with the original Switch, there will also be a separate controller grip that you can snap the Joy-Cons into.
The only game shown is what appears to be a new Mario Kart title. But the console will be backward-compatible with both physical and digital Nintendo Switch games — though the video cautions that “certain Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2.”
Nintendo is promising to share more details in a Nintendo Switch 2-focused Direct on April 2nd, 2025. The specific time will be shared “at a later date.”
Your first chance to try it could come at a series of events in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas that are scheduled over several days later in April — ticket registration will be available here on Nintendo’s website starting January 17th at 3PM ET.
The first Switch was also a massive sales hit. The company says that, so far, it’s sold 146.04 million units, making the console its second-highest-selling video game system behind the original Nintendo DS, which sold 154.02 million units. The Switch’s sales figures also mean that it has surpassed the Nintendo Wii (101.63 million units), the Game Boy (118.69 million units), and the Nintendo 3DS (75.94 million units).
While we’ve been waiting years for a true Switch successor, the console had mid-cycle hardware refreshes along the way. The Nintendo Switch Lite was a great way to play Switch games on a smaller device, and the Nintendo Switch OLED added a beautiful display and a handful of other nice upgrades.
Starting in December, supposed information about Nintendo’s next console began to trickle out from accessory manufacturers. Dbrand, for example, gave us what it believed to be actual dimensions of the hardware and said that its “understanding” was that the Joy-Con controllers would be magnetically attached. And at CES 2025, Genki showed off a 3D-printed mockup of what it believed the Switch’s successor would look like.
The Insta360 Flow 2 Pro is able to keep multiple subjects in frame, even while they’re all moving. | Image: Insta360
Insta360 has announced a new version of its Flow Pro stabilized smartphone gimbal after releasing the original last July. The new Insta360 Flow 2 Pro introduces the company’s upgraded Deep Track 4.0 AI tracking technology that can now track multiple people while also providing more flexibility in how tracked subjects are framed. The company says it has also strengthened the gimbal’s retractable tripod legs, improving its use as a hands-free autonomous camera operator.
The Insta360 Flow 2 Pro is available starting today for $159.99 in stone gray and summit white color options. That’s about $10 more expensive than the Flow Pro but the same price as Insta360’s first Flow gimbal that debuted in early 2023.
Image: Insta360
The gimbal can track people using Apple’s DockKit framework if you prefer the iPhone’s native camera app.
As with the original Flow Pro, the Flow 2 Pro supports Apple’s DockKit framework, allowing the gimbal to track people while using the iPhone’s native Camera app as well as other third-party camera apps, including Blackmagic Camera. A glowing ring light on the gimbal lets users know when tracking is active and working.
Image: Insta360
Filming a dance routine? Insta360’s camera app can now ensure a group of performers remains centered in frame.
But the Flow 2 Pro becomes far more capable when used with Insta360’s own camera app, available for iOS and Android. Using its Deep Track 4.0 technology, the app can now track multiple subjects and ensure that an entire group remains centered in frame, even while they’re moving. It also supports tracking nonhuman subjects like animals and random objects and tracking while zoomed in on a subject up to 15x.
Image: Insta360
Insta360’s camera app now offers more flexible framing options while tracking subjects.
Insta360 is also introducing another new tracking feature called Pro Framing Grid. Users can select one of nine different grid squares to change where a tracked subject appears in frame, allowing for more creativity with framing than just having the target centered at all times.
The new Insta360 Flow 2 Pro is slightly lighter than its predecessor — 357 grams compared to 366 grams, respectively — with the same estimated 10 hours of battery life while perched on a flat surface using its tripod legs. When using it handheld, which requires continuous stabilization, battery life will be reduced, but Insta360 doesn’t say by how much.
Image: Insta360
A small mirror on the back of the gimbal allows the subject to frame themselves while using a smartphone’s rear camera to shoot selfies.
A new mirror on the back of the gimbal’s mount allows users to frame themselves while shooting selfies using their smartphone’s higher-quality rear cameras when the screen isn’t visible. For other times when the screen isn’t visible, like when a subject is filming themselves at a distance, Insta360 now allows the gimbal and recording to be controlled remotely using either an additional smartphone or an Apple Watch. Framing can be adjusted by swiping the Apple Watch’s screen to pan the gimbal around, while its zoom can be changed by turning the Digital Crown.
ChargePoint has had enough of vandalizing thieves who saw through EV charger cables to steal valuable copper — so now it’s making new “cut-resistant” cables and adding alarm systems in an attempt to mitigate the damage.
ChargePoint’s VP of product management Steve Farrell tells The Verge the cable uses a patent-pending technology that includes strategically placed steel to provide protection. Although the design may make the cables a bit larger and less flexible, Farrell wrote that usability won’t be impacted, and that most users “will not notice the difference” with the changes. The new cable can be retrofitted on commercial and fleet charging stations (both AC and DC models) made by the company.
Farrell also says the cables were tested against “commonly used devices,” including wirecutters, bolt cutters, and battery powered tools. ChargePoint was “satisfied with its ability to significantly increase the time, effort, and resources (i.e. tools) required to sever cables.”
ChargePoint is planning to license out the new cable design to other “select” EV charger OEMs that may want to try it out to combat copper crooks. Vandalized EV stations are a rising problem that adds to the already unreliable electric vehicle infrastructure in the US. The new cables are expected to be available for licensing by the middle of 2025.
Tougher cables aren’t the only theft deterrent ChargePoint is launching soon. The company has also developed new “ChargePoint Protect” security software that turns its EV stations into “highly effective” alarm systems. The software can detect tampering with the cables in real-time and engage alarms to scare thieves away while also sending out text messages and email alerts to EV stall owners.
ChargePoint Protect works on most of the company’s existing commercial EV charger models except for some older models, according to Farrell. The update is free to station owners, will arrive over the air, and will be available later this month.
Realme’s 14 Pro and 14 Pro Plus turn blue in the cold, even underwater. | Image: Realme
Realme just launched its 14 Pro phones in India, and they come with a party trick: the phones can change color in the cold. That’s in addition to a triple camera flash and a triple IP rating that should protect the phone from extreme water conditions.
Both the Realme 14 Pro and 14 Pro Plus share the color-sensitive tech, though it’s limited to the pearl white versions, with purple and gray models stuck on one lousy color. Co-designed with Danish studio Valeur Designers, the pearlescent phones include thermochromic pigments that start out as white, but pick up blue hues when the temperature drops below 16 degrees Celsius (about 61 degrees Fahrenheit), reversing as it warms up again.
Image: Realme
Realme says that the colder the temperature, the faster the phone will change. It’s even possible to create short-lived patterns by only cooling specific spots, which Indian YouTubers are already enjoying putting to the test.
It does come with one meaty caveat in the small print though: “The cold-sensitive color-changing function will gradually lose effect due to daily use and is not a quality issue.” How long it will last remains to be seen, but even Realme’s own website only promises the effect “during initial use.”
The color-changing design isn’t the only oddity to the 14 Pro series. The rear cameras include three separate flash modules, a design which Realme says “automatically restores natural skin tones in low-light conditions.” On the 14 Pro Plus those flashes sit in between three camera lenses, though the 14 Pro pulls a bit of a fast one, including two rear cameras and a third circle that only looks like a lens, but is in fact empty.
Image: Realme
The Realme 14 Pro looks like it has three rear cameras, but looks can be deceiving.
This is also the latest phone to feature an IP69 rating for protection against dust and jets of water at high temperatures and pressure, joining the OnePlus 13, Moto G Power, and Honor Magic 7 Pro in adopting the stringent standard, which until recently was limited to the bulkiest rugged phones. The 14 Pro is also rated IP68 for submersion in water and IP66, which also applies to jets of water but for higher water volume at lower pressures and longer distances.
Otherwise, the two Realme phones are typical midrangers. They both feature 50 megapixel main cameras and middle-of-the-line chipsets, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 in the Pro Plus model and a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 in the Pro. The large 6,000mAh batteries and 80W charging speeds are still impressive, though. Both phones are out in India now, and start at ₹22,999 (about $265).
Some big concerns for Biden to raise in his final days in office. | Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images, Nathan Howard
President Biden used his final public address from the Oval Office to warn the nation about the dangers presented by the spread of misinformation and power-hungry tech leaders.
“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”
In his farewell message on Wednesday, Biden called back to warnings that President Dwight Eisenhower gave about the military-industrial complex causing a “disastrous rise of misplaced power.”
“Six decades later, I’m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country as well,” Biden said. Despite praising US technology leadership for its innovation and ability to transform lives, Biden said he was concerned about “a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people,” warning that there could be alarming consequences “if their abuse of power is left unchecked.”
While he didn’t specify names, Biden’s oligarch remark likely refers to Elon Musk, who has landed himself a leadership role in a not-really-government-department of the incoming administration after spending an estimated $250 million of his own money to help get Donald Trump elected.
“Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power,” Biden warned. “The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.”
On Monday, tech CEOs including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai, and Mark Zuckerberg are expected to attend Trump’s inauguration, seated in a position of honor on the dais alongside former presidents and family members. These same CEOs — either through their companies or via personal contributions — have reportedly donated $1 million apiece to Trump’s inauguration fund.
New Glenn launching from Cape Canaveral this morning. | Image: Blue Origin
The billionaire space race entered a new phase today when Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin successfully launched its 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
At 2:03AM ET this morning, New Glenn’s seven reusable BE-4 engines ignited to propel the NG-1 rocket into space, with the second stage and payload reaching orbit to achieve Blue Origin’s primary mission goal. It also successfully activated its Blue Ring Pathfinder payload vehicle which is “receiving data and performing well.”
In parallel, the first stage booster — dubbed, “So You’re Telling Me There’s A Chance” — autonomously descended to its landing platform located several hundred miles downrange in the Atlantic. As it approached the Jacklyn barge, the booster lost contact with control and stopped sending data. Blue Origin confirmed that the booster was lost during landing. The company will try again in the spring.
Nevertheless, Blue Origin’s goal for today’s uncrewed launch was for New Glenn to reach orbit. Anything beyond that would be a bonus. “No matter what, we will learn a lot,” said Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp ahead of today’s launch.
Image: Blue Origin
Today’s flight profile. Success meant launching into orbit, everything else was a “bonus.”
The launch comes after almost a decade of development and puts Elon Musk’s SpaceX on notice. New Glenn has about the same carrying capacity as SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, and is meant to shuttle cargo into space on the reusable launch platform. This includes satellites for Amazon’s rival to Starlink’s high-speed low-latency internet service. The first of these 3,236 Project Kuiper satellites are expected to launch into low Earth orbit soon, aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket before New Glenn can take over the heavy lifting.
“I’m incredibly proud New Glenn achieved orbit on its first attempt,” said Limp. “We knew landing our booster on the first try was an ambitious goal. We’ll learn a lot from today and try again at our next launch this spring.”
Update, January 16th: Added additional mission success details and quote from Limp.
LG Display didn’t have its usual exhibit of flashy, breakthrough new screens at this year’s CES. This resulted in an odd situation where it was actually Panasonic that shared the most details about LG Display’s latest and greatest OLED panel. Even before any official announcement, it was already the centerpiece of 2025 flagships like Panasonic’s Z95B and the LG G5 from LG Electronics (not to be confused with the display division).
But now the company is ready to spill the full details on its new four-layer tandem OLED design. “33 percent brighter than the previous generation and optimized for the AI TV era, it is the industry’s first-ever OLED display to achieve a maximum brightness as high as 4,000 nits,” LG Display wrote in a press release that went out tonight. The AI mention made me roll my eyes a bit, but there’s no doubting that this is a very impressive panel.
Here’s the rundown on what’s so innovative, according to LG Display:
The new panel’s innovation centers on a Primary RGB Tandem structure, which is LG Display’s proprietary technology that uses independent stacks of RGB elements to produce light. It had previously used a three-stack light source, with two layers of blue elements emitting relatively short energy wavelengths alongside red, green, and yellow elements in a single layer.
The Primary RGB Tandem structure applied to the fourth-generation OLED TV panel organizes the light source into four stacks by adding two layers of blue elements and independent layers of red and green elements. It improves maximum brightness by increasing the amount of light produced by each layer compared to the previous structure.
Graphic: LG Display
The latest-gen OLED display uses a four-layer structure to maximize brightness — this time without any micro-lens array technology.
Of course, seeing as we’re squarely in the OLED brightness wars, Samsung Display has its own brighter-than-ever QD-OLED screen that’s going into Samsung’s S95F, which was also announced in Las Vegas. But whereas Samsung is going all in on its glare-free display finish, LG is sticking with a more traditional glossy finish — though it uses “ultra-low reflective technology” to lessen any potential distractions.
Energy efficiency has improved again with the fourth-gen LG Display OLED, and the company says that color brightness can reach 2,100 nits, which is a 40 percent improvement compared to the prior version. These peak brightness numbers are what the panel is technically capable of, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that TV makers like Panasonic will necessarily push it that hard in consumer sets.
Either way, OLED keeps getting brighter and more vibrant while still retaining all of its trademark strengths like perfect blacks, fantastic viewing angles, and fast response times for gaming. The best ones don’t come cheap, but they’re worth saving up for. If you’re after more info on the new panel, I recommend these great videos from Caleb Denison at Digital Trends and Vincent Teoh at HDTVTest.
LG Display’s rival, Samsung Display, did have a CES showcase that my colleague Sean Hollister caught during the show, so be sure to give that a watch as well.
The last-gen Kindle Scribe is nearly identical to the new model, only with a few minor upgrades.
If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative to the new Kindle Scribe, we’ve got good news: the first-gen model is on sale for a couple hundred dollars less than the second-gen model. Normally $349.99 in new condition, Amazon is currently selling it with in refurbished configuration with 16GB of storage, a Basic Pen, and a one-year warranty for just $233.99 as a part of a limited-time lightning deal. You can also buy it at Amazon with 32GB of storage for $259.99.
Both of Amazon’s note-taking ebook readers sport a spacious 10.2-inch 300 ppi display and an adjustable warm light, though the latest Scribe builds upon the original with thinner bezels, a textured display, and a soft-tipped Premium Pen. The most significant changes come in the form of software features, which are available on the first-gen model via a free download. That means no matter which e-reader you buy, you can finally write notes directly on pages. You’ll also be able to take advantage of various AI features, including AI-generated summaries and a tool that lets you refine your handwriting. The only difference is that the new Scribe comes with these features baked in.
The Beats Powerbeats Pro are down to $99.99 (half off) at Best Buy, which is their lowest price to date. The wireless earbuds are still exceptionally comfortable despite their age, with over-ear hooks that keep them securely in place during intense workouts. They also continue to deliver good sound, pair well with Apple devices, and last up to nine hours on a single charge, though you’ll still need a Lightning cable to charge them. Read our review.
Amazon and Best Buy are selling the Apple Pencil Pro for$99 ($20 off), which is one of its best prices to date. The stylus is compatible with the latest iPad Pro, iPad Air, and iPad Mini; however, unlike the Apple Pencil (USB-C), the Pro model features Find My support so you can quickly locate it. It also comes with extra creative capabilities, including pressure sensitivity, double-tap tool switching, and a “barrel roll” feature that lets you twist your digital brush’s orientation by turning the stylus as you paint.
You can pick up the Chipolo One Point at Amazon for $22 ($5 off), an all-time low. The puck-shaped Bluetooth tracker is perfect for keeping tabs on various items, whether it be a set of keys or a pet collar. The keyring tracker also features a user-replaceable battery, IPX5 water resistance, and support for Android’s Fast Pair feature, though keep in mind it only supports Google’s Find My platform, not Apple’s.
