LG is carrying over much of its 2024 soundbar lineup to 2025, but the company has one all-new model that it plans to debut this year. At CES, I got a preview of the compact speaker, the S20A, that will provide a boost to your TV audio without taking up too much space. The 2.0-channel unit offers 50 watts of power and works best with LG's TVs.
When paired with one of the company's televisions, you can expect its Wow Interface that allows you to make sound adjustments through the TV UI. There's also AI Sound Pro tech that calibrates the audio based on each scene. LG will offer a three-band EQ on the S20A, so you can tweak treble, mids and bass to fit your preferences.
Billy Steele for Engadget
During a quick demo of the S20A, I was impressed with the punchy highs and clarity from the smaller unit. LG says it won't come with a subwoofer as the company uses the soundbar's drivers for that low-end tone. Of course, this setup doesn't provide the booming bass that a standalone wireless sub would, but the company doesn't see that as an issue here. We'll look forward to testing that theory later in the year when the S20A is available for review.
There's no word on pricing or availability just yet as LG is only teasing this new soundbar here at CES. That info, as well as more detailed specs, should arrive closer to launch.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/lg-previews-the-compact-s20a-soundbar-at-ces-2025-191337487.html?src=rss
If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to upgrade your Kindle Scribe, now wouldn’t be a bad time — Amazon is running its first sale on the new model, which has only been out for a month. Normally $450, the 2024 Kindle Scribe is 19 percent off, bringing the 64GB model down to $365. With the latest generation, Amazon tweaked the appearance of the tablet and added some AI features, along with some new note-taking options.
The second-gen Kindle Scribe has white bezels around the screen and either a green (Metallic Jade) or gray (Tungsten) border, in contrast to the previous model’s thick black border. The discount applies to both colors and, for the gray version, all storage options (16GB, 32GB and 64GB). When we tried out the new Kindle Scribe, we liked the new design and found the reading and writing experiences to be smooth.
The new Kindle Scribe uses AI to help you clean up and summarize your notes, with the Summarize and Refine tools — and you can apply these to individual pages or the entire Notebook. These features worked out pretty well for us. In her review, Engadget’s Deputy Editor of Reviews Cherlynn Low found the Scribe was able to “make sense of a disorganized plan” she’d written out by properly putting list items in sequential order, and she saw “largely accurate results” when it summarized her notes. “Any mistake the system made felt reasonable, since I have horrible handwriting,” she wrote.
There’s also now a better way to write directly on ebooks. With the 2024 Kindle Scribe, Amazon introduced Active Canvas — a little box that will pop up when you put your pen to whatever you’re reading. The box can be resized and won’t disappear when you leave the page. You’ll also soon be able to write in collapsible margins, a feature expected to arrive early this year. One of our biggest gripes about the new Kindle Scribe was the relatively high cost, so if it appeals to you, don’t miss your chance to get it at a discount.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-second-gen-kindle-scribe-is-on-sale-for-the-first-time-184403045.html?src=rss
Belkin has a new phone accessory at CES 2025 that somehow brings something fresh to the crowded field of magnetic charging accessories (in other words, MagSafe and non-Apple-certified alternatives). The company’s Stage PowerGrip is a wireless power bank, camera-like grip and stand rolled into one. It even has a little screen and comes in several fun colors.
Belkin pitches the PowerGrip as an accessory for creators and travelers. While modern smartphones are all most people need for photography, holding a candy-bar-shaped handset in landscape mode for long periods doesn’t feel as comfortable or natural as the heartier grip of a dedicated camera. This accessory remedies that with a thick bulge similar to what you’d find on a DSLR or mirrorless camera.
Belkin
Inside that lump is its 10,000mAh battery, which offers 7.5W magnetic wireless charging. An LED on its backside gives you a quick way to check its battery level. And a retractable USB-C cable is tucked inside the accessory, so you don’t need to remember to throw a separate one in your bag.
Belkin says the PowerGrip will be available in powder blue, sandbox, fresh yellow, pepper and lavender (the company’s press images show a sixth black option, too). It’s scheduled to ship this May. Unfortunately, Belkin hasn’t yet announced pricing.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/belkins-new-accessory-is-a-magnetic-power-bank-and-camera-grip-rolled-into-one-170057685.html?src=rss
Robot vacuums can remove the dust and dirt on your floor, but you still have to pick up stray socks and and any item strewn about your home. Now Roborock, a Chinese company that manufactures robot vacuums and other household cleaning appliances, has unveiled a new model that can pick up small objects so you don't have to. The Roborock Saros Z70 has a foldable robotic arms that the company calls the "OmniGrip." It has five axis and can lift objects under 300 grams like socks, light sandals and small dog toys to put them away.
Apparently, the AI-powered vacuum marks objects it can lift while going about cleaning the floor and then circles back to pick them up when it's done. It then cleans the areas underneath the objects during its second pass. The OmniGrip uses its equipped precision sensors, camera and LED light to determine its position and whether an item is too heavy to pick up. Before you can use it, you will have to activate the arm through the Roborock app, where you can also set what kind of objects it can interact with and where they should be placed. While not quite Rosey the Robot, Saros Z70 has the potential to make tidying up a lot easier. And it's not just a prototype — Roborock is planning to make it available for purchase this year.
In addition to Saros 270, Roborock has also launched two more robot vacuums, a lineup of handheld wetdry vacuum cleaners, as well as three all-in-one washer-dryers. It will be showcasing its home cleaning products at CES this year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/roborocks-new-flagship-robot-vacuum-has-an-arm-that-can-grab-small-objects-170020390.html?src=rss
Belkin just unveiled a unique bundle at CES 2025 that’s being described as a “comprehensive toolset designed to meet the needs of budding creators.” The appropriately-named Creator Bundle comes with a bunch of useful accessories and “offers everything needed for hands-free recording.”
So what comes in the bundle? It ships with a pair of tiny wireless clip-on microphones with a 100m transmission range. These mics are battery-powered and last up to 5.5 hours per charge. They operate via a handy push-button design, making it easy for folks to mute, record or make adjustments to the sound.
The kit ships with a sturdy tripod and a magnetic mount for a smartphone. The tripod reaches 1.7m in height and the mount can be adjusted to suit different shooting angles. The Belkin Creator Bundle also comes with a USB-C cable for charging up those mics.
The combo of a tripod, a mount and wireless microphones will indeed allow for hands-free recording. However, the camera won’t track people as they move around the room, so creators will have to stay in the center of the frame. The company does note that the bundle has been designed to integrate with its Auto-Tracking Stand Pro, which does track movement, but that costs an extra $180.
Speaking of pricing, Belkin hasn’t announced how much this bundle will cost. That’ll likely come closer to the launch date, which is in May.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/belkins-new-creator-bundle-makes-hands-free-recording-easy-170006787.html?src=rss
United Airlines has announced plans to start testing Starlink on flights in February, and eventually add SpaceX's satellite internet service to its entire fleet. The company first announced a partnership with SpaceX to "set a new standard of inflight connectivity" in September 2024.
After testing, United expects the first commercial flight with Starlink to be on a United Embraer E-175 in the spring. The rest of the the airline's "two-cabin regional fleet" will have Starlink installed throughout 2025, and United says it will have the "first mainline Starlink-enabled plane in the air" before the end of year.
Starlink will available for free to all members of United's MileagePlus program. Besides improving the quality of inflight Wi-Fi, United sees Starlink as an opportunity to "unlock new partnership" for its members. Do not be surprised if United cooks up new deals with streaming services to offer more free content during flights.
United is joining both Delta and Hawaiian Airlines in partnering with Starlink for inflight Wi-Fi. SpaceX originally announced its intentions to offer 350 Mbps internet speeds to planes in 2022, and both Delta and Haiwaiian Airlines have either tested Starlink or committed to offering it on their planes.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/united-will-start-testing-starlink-on-flights-in-february-130047392.html?src=rss
FILE PHOTO: The One World trace Center and the New York skyline are seen while United Airlines planes use the tarmac as pilots from United Airlines take part in an informational picket at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, U.S., May 12, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo
Samsung is the 800-pound gorilla of CES, a global electronics giant that produces mobile devices, TVs and home theater products and kitchen appliances — just to name a few. It's traditionally used CES to remind the world that it's a major competitor in all those arenas, while offering a peek behind the curtain of some more cutting-edge tech.
In 2024, for instance, Samsung's CES press conference covered all the usual iterative updates — new TVs, new projectors, new soundbars — but also offered up some genuinely futuristic product first looks as well. And while we won't see the transparent MicroLED screens at the local Best Buy anytime soon, you can already buy the Music Frame speaker that was first shown off at CES 2024. But it's the Ballie robot, a two-time CES veteran, that we're most hoping will make a return appearance — ideally with a real-world release date this time.
What to expect at the Samsung CES 2025 press conference
Or perhaps Ballie will be more autonomous this time around. That would better fit the "AI for All: Everyday, Everywhere" theme that the company has announced for its presentation in Las Vegas. (If that sounds familiar, that's because it's nearly identical to the CES 2024 theme.) The Korea-based giant has already posted several weeks worth of early CES announcements in its online newsroom, touting AI-enhanced refrigerators and appliances with built-in screens. But there's non-AI stuff, too: Samsung has preannounced a 27-inch QD-OLED gaming monitor, and the company is teaming up with Google (!) to deliver Eclipsa, a new 3D audio technology that is apparently aiming to be an alternative to Dolby Atmos and DTS.
There are two things you shouldn't expect to see in Vegas from Samsung. The first is the presumed Galaxy S25 smartphone line. If it follows its recent scheduling, Samsung will likely slate that unveiling for the second half of January, when it will have the tech news spotlight to itself. (Last year it was a January 17 event, which was announced on January 11.)
The second is an on-stage appearance from director Michael Bay. His 2014 mid-presser walk-off is still the stuff of CES legend, and the sort of thing Samsung's media team will no doubt ensure never happens again.
Samsung's CES 2025 livestream
You can watch the Samsung CES press conference as it happens here. The feed will start Monday, January 6 at 5:00PM ET. (We'll add the embed once it becomes available.)
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/samsung-ces-2025-press-conference-watch-it-here-monday-at-5pm-et-005529946.html?src=rss
These are the new releases that caught our attention this week: a (surprisingly refreshing) post-apocalyptic tale, and an exorcism thriller.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/what-to-read-this-weekend-the-friends-you-make-in-the-apocalypse-150002035.html?src=rss
Microsoft has published a lengthy piece talking about its vision for artificial intelligence development over the next four years, under the incoming Trump administration. In the piece, the company has revealed that it's spending a total of $80 billion on AI-enabled data centers in 2025. Microsoft said it's building out the data centers to be able to train and deploy AI models, as well as to power its cloud-based applications. While that's the entirety of its budget for projects around the world, more than half of it will go towards building data centers in the United States.
The company explained that none of the progress on AI the industry has achieved thus far would be possible "without new partnerships founded on large-scale infrastructure investments." It's now calling for the incoming Trump administration to expand the government's support for the advancement of AI within the US, such as providing the National Science Foundation and US universities more funding for research.
Microsoft admitted in the piece that it knows AI will "disrupt the economy and displace some jobs," but it also said its "confidence has grown that AI will create new opportunities that will outweigh many of the challenges ahead." The key, Microsoft explained, is to train Americans so that they'd be able to use AI as a tool for their jobs, similar to how they're currently using smartphones and laptops. Finally, it said that the third critical priority for 2025 is the promotion of American AI exports. There will be a race between the United States and China to spread their technologies to other countries, so the US needs a smart strategy because the race "will be won by the fastest first mover."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/microsoft-is-spending-80-billion-on-data-centers-this-year-130016150.html?src=rss
Streams on TikTok Live were used to exploit children, according to a newly unredacted lawsuit filed by Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes. The lawsuit says that TikTok was not only aware that TikTok Lives were exposing minors to concerning messages from adults, but the company also directly profited off of some of the exchanges through TikTok Live's virtual gifting system.
Following an investigation by Forbesinto TikTok Live, TikTok conducted its own review called "Project Meramec," according to the suit. The company found that "hundreds of thousands of children" were getting around TikTok's age restrictions, hosting livestreams and interacting with adults.
Because TikTok pockets a portion of the sale of digital gifts in livestreams, the company was technically making money on "transactional gifting" over "nudity and sexual activity" that happened during streams. And since TikTok's algorithm favors livestreams where virtual gifts are being exchanged, the lawsuit says, some of these sexually exploitative streams were also distributed more widely than they would have been otherwise.
The lawsuit details another TikTok investigation, "Project Jupiter," that looked in to whether TikTok Live's gifting feature was being used to launder money. As it turns out, it was. According to the lawsuit, the company found that "criminals were selling drugs and running fraud operations" during livestreams.
When reached for a comment on the lawsuit, TikTok shared the following statement:
This lawsuit ignores the number of proactive measures that TikTok has voluntarily implemented to support community safety and well-being. Instead, the complaint cherry-picks misleading quotes and outdated documents and presents them out of context, which distorts our commitment to the safety of our community.
We stand by our efforts, which include: robust safety protections and screen time limits for teen accounts enabled by default, Family Pairing tools for parents to supervise their teens, strict livestreaming requirements, and aggressive enforcement of our Community Guidelines on an ongoing basis.
Utah's AG filed the redacted version of this lawsuit in June 2024, following a different suit from 2023 concerning the addictive design of the TikTok app. The Utah lawsuit isn't the first time the company has come under scrutiny for its handling of child safety. The FTC has investigated TikTok's handling of child privacy, and the ban of the app — now headed to the Supreme Court on appeal — was partially pushed over concerns with how social video app could be used to influence children.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/utah-lawsuit-alleges-tiktok-knew-minors-were-being-exploited-on-livestreams-220851340.html?src=rss
FILE PHOTO: The TikTok logo is pictured outside the company's U.S. head office in Culver City, California, U.S., September 15, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
Be it for the Walkman portables and Trinitron TVs of old or the PlayStation consoles, Alpha cameras and superlative headphones of the twenty-first century, Sony has long been a mainstay at CES. But for the past couple of years at the world's biggest electronics trade show, Sony has opted to focus on a different field: Automotive. The Afeela electric vehicle dominated Sony's 2023 and 2024 CES press conferences, and we know that trend will continue for 2025, with an appearance at the Sony event (and a followup press conference) already confirmed.
What to expect at Sony's CES 2025 press conference
The Afeela is the first product from Sony Honda Mobility, a joint venture between the Japanese electronics and transportation giants. After a surprise rollout at CES 2023, the Sony CES presser teed up additional details on the EV's LiDAR-heavy sensor array and AI-enhanced cabin tech (the latter coming with an assist from Microsoft) at CES 2024. If the car's previously announced scheduling waypoints — preorders in 2025 ahead of 2026 availability — remain intact, we're hoping to hear which of the Afeela's concept car niceties will actually make the cut once it enters the streets of the real world.
Of course, it won't be all Afeela all the time in Vegas. Expect Sony to spend time talking up its imaging, gaming or maybe even its movie studio division. And with any luck, we'll get more info on the company's XR headset, which was shown off at the 2024 show, only to never be seen again. CES 2025 would be the perfect place to show off a meaty update of a possible competitor to the Apple Vision Pro.
Sony's CES 2025 livestream
You can watch the Sony CES press conference as it happens below. The feed will start Monday, January 6 at 8:00PM ET.
The separate Afeela press conference will take place on Tuesday, January 7 at 4:30PM PT, and will be streamed on YouTube as well.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/sony-ces-2025-press-conference-watch-it-here-monday-at-8pm-et-212207358.html?src=rss
Meta has nuked a bunch of its AI-generated profiles from Facebook Instagram, the company confirmed, after the AI characters prompted widespread outrage and ridicule from users on social media.
The AI-generated profiles, which were labeled as “AI managed by Meta,” launched in September of 2023, rolling out alongside the company’s celebrity-branded AI chatbots (also discontinued). Meta doesn’t seem to have updated any of these profiles for several months, and the pages seem to have been largely unnoticed until this week, following an interview published by the Financial Times with Meta’s VP of Generative AI, Connor Hayes.
In the interview, Hayes spoke about the company’s goal to eventually fill its services with AI-generated profiles that can interact with people and function “kind of in the same way that accounts do.” Those comments brought attention to the extant fMeta-created AI profiles and, well, users were not exactly impressed with what they found.
With handles like “hellograndpabrian,” a supposed “retired textile businessman who is always learning” and “datingwithCarter,” an AI “dating coach,” the chatbots were meant to showcase “unique interests and personalities” for users to chat with. On Instagram, their profiles also featured AI-generated posts that, as 404 Media noted, looked a lot like the AI spam that’s become prevalent in many corners of Facebook.
Meta
An AI persona called “Liv” sparked particular outrage. The Instagram profile identified “Liv” as a “proud Black queer momma of 2 & truth-teller.” Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah posted a series of screenshots in which she interrogated “Liv” about how Meta trained the AI, with “Liv” sharing that it was created by a “predominantly white team.” Independent journalist Mady Castigan posted another conversation in which “Liv” said that its creators had been inspired in part by Sophia Vergara’s character from Modern Family, a character that is neither queer nor Black.
“There is confusion: the recent Financial Times article was about our vision for AI characters existing on our platforms over time, not announcing any new product,” a spokesperson told Engadget. “The accounts referenced are from a test we launched at Connect in 2023. These were managed by humans and were part of an early experiment we did with AI characters."
Beyond sparking ridicule for their responses and attempts to appropriate marginalized identities, users found the AI profiles were impossible to block, for reasons unknown. Rather than fix the issue, Meta's solution was to kill the experiment entirely. "We identified the bug that was impacting the ability for people to block those AIs," a spokesperson said, "and are removing those accounts to fix the issue.”
While this trial run has gone up in flames, the company doesn’t seem to be abandoning its plans to bring more AI-generated “characters” to its apps. Earlier this year, the company teased AI clones of human creators capable of holding lifelike video calls. Creators can already train their own chatbots to respond to followers on their behalf. Meta also began experimenting with inserting its own AI-generated imagery into users’ Facebook feeds.
In an interview last year, Hayes told me that Meta likely will become more “proactive” about surfacing AI-generated content over time, comparing it to the shift from showing recommended content instead of posts from people you follow.
“In the beginning of social apps … the corpus of stuff that you could see on a given day was sort of constrained by who you followed or were friends with. And over the last like, five or six years, a lot of apps — ourselves included — have moved to, you know, relax that constraint and start recommending content from accounts you don't follow.
“I think probably the next leap that's going to happen there is relaxing the constraint of what humans can create, and actually getting to feeds of content that are a combination of things that, you know, humans have created, but also that are entirely machine generated.”
It may still be awhile before Meta fully realizes that vision. But if the reaction to its early experimentations is any indication, the company still has a lot of work to do to convince people AI personas are worth interacting with in the first place.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-sends-its-ai-generated-profiles-to-hell-where-they-belong-204758789.html?src=rss
The first few days of the year are typically sleepy for deals — and 2025 is proving no different. Since most Black Friday sale prices have expired, big ticket items are back to full price, but we found a few new discounts on smaller tech and accessories from brands we recommend, like Anker, Sony, Amazon Echo and JBL. You can get an Anker charging station for 40 percent off and pick up the Apple Watch Series 10 for $329, a return to its all-time low. An Amazon Echo display is also selling for close to a record low. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
8Bitdo
8Bitdo Ultimate Wired Controller (Xbox) for $30 ($15 off): Here's a record low price for a licensed Xbox controller from a brand we recommend in a few of our best of lists. It’s compatible with the Xbox Series X, Series S, Xbox One and Windows 10 and above, so it can work with either a console or PC. It has hall effect joysticks and impulse triggers, a 3.5mm audio jack on the back, and two extra buttons that aren’t included with the official controller, which could be useful for mapping with PC games.
Anker 9-in-1 Charging Station for $36 ($24 off): This small tower has been a boon for my messy and small work area, letting me charge and power the various phones, batteries, tablets and other electronics that are a necessary part of a tech-heavy work life. It's got four USB-C ports, two USB-A and two AC outlets, plus the wall adapter is nice and slim. I just wish I had bought mine on sale.
Ugreen Revodok Pro 109 USB-C hub for $39 ($16 off with Prime): Prime members can save 30 percent off the 9-in-1 dock we named the best of the bunch after testing for our USB-C hub guide. It lets you connect two 4K monitors and has a good array of other ports plus the longer 10-inch cable gives you more options for where to put it on your desk.
Roku Streaming Stick 4K for $29 ($21 off): If your TV feels a little slow as it streams its built-in apps, this is one of the cheapest ways to help. The $29 price tag is one we've seen often these past few months, and it's about $4 more than its all-time low, but it does match the largest discount we've seen this past year. The discount was previously available from multiple retailers, but it appears Amazon is the only site sticking with the discount.
Sony WH-1000XM4 ANC headphones for $198 ($150 off): This deal is so old, it's got whiskers on it, but still worth mentioning for anyone looking for a quality set of headphones. Sony's XM4s were the top pick in our guide to wireless headphones until the latest generation (the XM5s, currently $300) knocked them off their throne. They're four years old at this point, but if that's not an issue, it's a good way to save on a premium set of cans.
Beats Pill bluetooth speaker for $100 ($50 off): This is the same price we saw for Black Friday on the Beats' return to the Bluetooth speaker market. The completely redesigned Pill earned a spot on our Bluetooth speaker guide and an 83 in our review. It offers much improved sound quality with impressive bass and full mids. You also get a long, 24-hour battery life and lossless audio over USB-C. Also at Best Buy.
Zagg screen protectors for 20 percent off: If you got a new phone or smartwatch for the holidays, you may want to slap a screen protector on it to avoid cracks and chips. Right now through January 4, Target is selling a range of the Zagg accessories for 20 percent off.
Nimble Champ Pro portable charger for $80 ($20 off): I’ve tested nearly 50 batteries for our power bank guide and this is the one I take with me when I travel. It’s compact but packs a high, 20,000mah capacity that can refill a large smartphone nearly three times — and quickly. It’ll even juice up an iPad just under two times. The fact that the company is a certified B Corp doesn't hurt.
Amazon Echo Show 8 for $85 ($65 off): You can grab Amazon's 8-inch smart display for $85, down from its usual $150. The Echo Show can display the weather, videos, show your connected doorbell feeds and do all the things Alexa is good for — like adding butter to your Trader Joe's shopping list and controlling your smart home devices.
Amazon Echo Show 5 for $45 ($45 off): You can also pick up the smaller Echo Show for half price. It went for $10 less back in 2023, but this is the lowest price we've tracked since then. The Echo Show 5 has a smaller screen (smaller than most smartphones) so it's better for compact spaces like bedside tables or cozy kitchens.
Anker Docking Station 575 for $140 ($30 off): We tested the Anker's 575 for our guide to docking stations, but it wasn't one of our top picks as it had trouble supporting a MacBook Pro. It did great with a Dell PC, however, so if you're not an Apple user, this could be a good way to get more utility out of your laptop.
Anker Nano 65W USB C Charger for $30 ($26 off): If you need a fast charger, you can hardly do better than one from Anker. This Nano charger has three USB ports, one Type A and two Type C. Its max output of 65 watts should quickly charge phones, tablets and even laptops at their max speeds.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/8bitdos-wired-xbox-controller-is-just-30-plus-the-rest-of-this-weeks-best-tech-deals-175952340.html?src=rss
It's hard to find a company that had a better 2024 than NVIDIA. Even after some choppiness in recent weeks, the chip giant's stock price finished last year up 178 percent, and its market cap of more than $3.3 trillion dollars — with a T — is currently second only to Apple. That's thanks to the fact that the ongoing AI revolution is powered largely by NVIDIA processors, which is raking in billions on its hardware even as its customers stay firmly in the red.
So what does founder and CEO Jensen Huang do for an encore? It's a great question, but we won't have to wait long for an answer. Huang is kicking off CES 2025 in Las Vegas with the first keynote address. He'll be taking the stage at the Mandalay Bay on Monday, January 8 at 9:30PM ET — and you can watch his remarks live right here.
What to expect at NVIDIA's CES 2025 press conference
In addition to plenty of AI-centric partnerships and services, NVIDIA had a PC gamer-friendly slate of announcements at its CES 2024 press conference, with new RTX 40 Super GPU cards and upgrades to its GeForce Now game streaming platform.
For 2025, look for the inevitable sequels, with rumors suggesting a blazing fast RTX 5090 for starters. Of course, Wall Street will be more focused on the details Huang will undoubtedly share on the status of NVIDIA's AI hardware. We're likely to hear more news on the company's Blackwell AI chips, which should begin shipping in greater volume this year after first entering the market in late 2024.
NVIDIA's CES 2025 livestream
You can watch NVIDIA's CES presser as it happens right here — we'll add the YouTube embed ahead of the event's start time on Monday, January 6 at 9:30PM ET.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/watch-the-nvidia-ces-2025-press-conference-live-monday-930pm-et-174947756.html?src=rss
Hisense unveiled its latest L9 series laser TV — the L9Q — at CES 2025. The “television” (an ultra-short-throw laser projector paired with a screen) comes with one of five screen sizes, ranging from 100 to 150 inches. The L9Q is the first in the series with auto screen alignment to ease the transition when you project it onto a different-sized screen.
The L9Q uses a proprietary Hisense triple-laser light engine, which helps the TV reach 110 percent of the BT.2020 (aka Rec. 2020) color space — a good omen for lifelike colors that pop. This model also boosts the brightness from previous models, reaching up to 5,000 lumens and a 5,000:1 contrast ratio.
The laser projector’s paired ambient light rejection (ALR) screen comes in five sizes: 100, 110, 120, 136 and 150 inches. (ALR screens tend to have better contrast and viewing angles in brightly lit environments.) In addition to auto screen alignment, the projector has manual keystone correction to adjust for any proportional irregularities in the image.
Hisense says the L9Q is the first laser TV with a 6.2.2 surround sound system. It supports Dolby Atmos, DTS Virtual X and eARC audio technologies.
The projector has a “sleek black walnut décor panel” with brushed metal finishes. It has HDMI 2.1 and supports Wi-Fi 6E and NEXTGEN TV (ATSC 3.0) for broadcast channels. It runs Google TV and can be controlled by Google Assistant, Alexa and Apple HomeKit.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/hisenses-new-laser-tv-projector-boosts-the-brightness-and-contrast-172431429.html?src=rss
Anthropic has partly resolved a legal disagreement that saw the AI startup draw the ire of the music industry. In October 2023, a group of music publishers, including Universal Music and ABKCO, filed a copyright infringement complaint against Anthropic. The group alleged that the company had trained its Claude AI model on at least 500 songs to which they held rights and that, when promoted, Claude could reproduce the lyrics of those tracks either partially or in full. Among the song lyrics the publishers said Anthropic had infringed on included Beyoncé’s “Halo” and “Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5.
In a court-approved stipulation the two sides came to on Thursday, Anthropic agreed to maintain its existing guardrails against outputs that reproduce, distribute or display copyright material owned by the publishers and implement those same measures when training its future AI models.
At the same time, the company said it would respond “expeditiously” to any copyright concerns from the group and promised to provide written responses detailing how and when it plans to address their concerns. In cases where the company intends not to address an issue, it must clearly state its intent to do so.
“Claude isn’t designed to be used for copyright infringement, and we have numerous processes in place designed to prevent such infringement," an Anthropic spokesperson told Engadget. "Our decision to enter into this stipulation is consistent with those priorities. We continue to look forward to showing that, consistent with existing copyright law, using potentially copyrighted material in the training of generative AI models is a quintessential fair use."
As mentioned, Thursday’s pact doesn’t fully resolve the original disagreement between Anthropic and the group of music publishers that sued the company. The latter party is still seeking an injunction against Anthropic to prevent it from using unauthorized copies of song lyrics to train future AI models. A ruling on that matter could arrive sometime in the next few months.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/anthropic-agrees-to-work-with-music-publishers-to-prevent-copyright-infringement-154742806.html?src=rss
LG has announced two new projectors for CES 2025, which it calls successors to last year's CineBeam Q. The PF600U may look like a stand fan, but it's actually a projector that's also a Bluetooth speaker and a LED mood lamp. Its lighting has nine colors and five brightness levels, so you can customize it to create the ambiance you want. Tilt its head, and you've got yourself a projector that can produce images up to 120 inches in size with an FHD (1,920 x 1,080) resolution and 300 ANSI lumens of brightness. It can stream movies, shows and other content from streaming platforms via LG's webOS.
The company's other projector is CineBeam Q's direct successor. CineBeam S is now LG's smallest 4K Ultra Short Throw projector and weighs in at only 5.5 pounds. It's capable of delivering images as big as 100 inches — with a 4K UHD resolution and with 500 ANSI lumens of brightness — while only needing "a few inches of wall clearance." It has Dolby Atmos capability, and like the PF600U, it's powered by LG's webOS. The device has a metallic finish and was designed to be portable, so you can easily set it up anywhere you want. Since it was made to be moved around, LG gave it intuitive features that can automatically align its screen, adjust its colors based on the wall, as well as resize its picture to fit the room's dimensions.
LG has yet to reveal the projectors' prices and availability, but it willy likely announce more details at CES 2025. To note, the CineBeam Q became available for preorder in March 2024 and sold for $1,299.
LG
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/lgs-new-projector-looks-like-a-stand-fan-140048366.html?src=rss
The festive lights, time off and cute scarfs can only conceal the truth for so long: Winter can be pretty bleak. I don't mean to be a downer, but it's cold all of the time, dark most of the time and this lasts far beyond the most wonderful time of the year. Here at Engadget, we've tried so many tools and products to make winter more bearable from therapy lamps to heaters. We've invested in tea sets, wrapped ourselves in heated blankets and learned to grow herbs indoors — really, anything that will make these three-plus months more bearable, we've tried.
Here, you'll find some of the best winter tech getting us at Engadget through the coldest months as warm, comfortable and content as possible, from wool socks to humidifiers to hydroponic home gardens and everything in between.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/the-best-winter-tech-to-get-you-through-the-coldest-months-130009205.html?src=rss
The Hatch Restore 2 sleep machine sits on my bedside table. There's a glass of water and a stack of books in the background. The bed's headboard and pillow are to the right of the image.
We're ringing in 2025 with everything we're expecting to see at CES! That includes new video cards from AMD and NVIDIA, a holographic windshield from Hyundai and potentially more satellite enabled phones. AI will still be a major topic — like the next generation of AI PCs — but it also seems like we'll be hearing a lot more about classic CES stories. In addition, we explore why Meta wants to start adding AI users to Facebook and Instagram.
Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!
CES 2025 Preview: LG’s bendable 5K OLED, AI PCs, and a broadening satellite phone market – 2:17
New video cards from AMD and NVIDIA at CES – 12:09
2024’s biggest losers in tech – 18:46
Meta announces AI personas are coming to Instagram and Facebook – 32:22
Pop culture picks – 41:02
Credits
Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Cherlynn Low Producer: Ben Ellman Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
Livestream
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/engadget-podcast-gearing-up-for-the-ai-and-gpus-at-ces-2025-123022943.html?src=rss
The Sixth Circuit US Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that the FCC does not have the "statutory authority" to implement net neutrality rules.
Since the rules were established in 2015, the FCC argued that classifying ISPs as "telecommunication services" gives it broad authority to regulate them. The decision to redefine ISPs as "information services" during the first Trump Administration led to the repeal of net neutrality in 2017.
The current FCC voted to restore net neutrality on April 25 last year. The difference between 2015 and now is the Supreme Court's recent, radical reinterpretation of an important legal doctrine. The Chevron doctrine said that if Congress doesn't weigh in on an issue, courts are supposed to defer to the interpretation of government agencies. Now, interpretation falls to the individual judge, and the Sixth Court doesn't agree with the FCC.
This is the end of the road for the FCC’s attempts to wrench a little bit of the power from internet providers and carriers and level speeds and access regardless of service. Net neutrality rules will remain in California and other states, but anything at the federal level will require either an act of Congress or, for this case, be appealed to (and succeed in front of) the Supreme Court.
Tesla delivered around 1.78 million vehicles in 2024, but the company delivered 1.81 million total in 2023. Company shares fell by as much as seven percent at the news, but has since rallied a couple of points. This follows similar news from Q1 of 2024, but that was just for a single quarter. Tesla doesn’t publish actual sales numbers in the US, but numbers are down in Europe, with a 14 percent decline in 2024 when compared to last year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.
Class members could get up to $20 per Siri-enabled device.
Apple will settle a five-year-old class action lawsuit over Siri privacy. Reuters reports that the company agreed to pay $95 million to class members, estimated to be tens of millions of Siri-enabled device owners. The lawsuit stemmed from a 2019 report that Apple quality control contractors could regularly hear sensitive info accidentally recorded by the voice assistant’s “Hey Siri” feature. The clips were said to include medical information, criminal activities and even “sexual encounters.” Reuters notes that $95 million in cash amounts to about nine hours of profit for the company. If you owned a Siri-enabled mobile product during that period (and Judge White approves the settlement), you might get a heady $20 per device.
In 1972, Time named the computer ‘Man of the Year’
Well, machine of the year.
Time
42 years ago, long before Time was awarding it to ‘you’, groups of scientists or even women (gasp!) it awarded the personal computer its 'man of the year' award. Time publisher John A. Meyers wrote: "Several human candidates might have represented 1982, but none symbolized the past year more richly, or will be viewed by history as more significant, than a machine: the computer."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121617627.html?src=rss
