Another CES, another opportunity for the technology industry to lob a trebuchet’s worth of molten lead at the last vestiges of my dignity. This year, it’s EcoFlow that is showing off this delightful solar hat that does more for then planet, and your phone, than it does your personal brand. Admittedly, if you’re wearing a suitably outdoorsy ‘fit, it’s probably not going to look too out of place, but its aesthetics are second to its function.
As the name implies, the EcoFlow Power Hat has small solar panels embedded in the brim that, when you’re out and about, will help charge your portable devices. The brim is segmented, and each section has a little set of Monocrystalline Silicon cells with a rated efficiency of 24 percent.
Photo by Daniel Cooper
On the underside of the brim, there’s a little plastic box with an LED light showing you the hat is generating a charge. Pull back the attached rubber tabs and you’ll find a USB-A and USB-C port, letting you charge one or two devices at a time.
EcoFlow says it’ll output a maximum of 5V / 2.4A, so you can expect it to keep your phone or tablet topped up rather than producing anything too life-saving. There’s no battery on board, naturally, so you’ll need to keep a long wire handy to run from your cap down to whichever pocket you keep your devices near.
Photo by Daniel Cooper
The company says it’s sturdy enough, with each panel on a discrete segment you can fold down to near pocket size. It’s IP65-rated for water and dust ingress, but steer clear of immersing it in water or putting it in a washing machine.
The EcoFlow Power Hat is presently on sale for $129, plus or minus the cost of your dignity.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/ecoflows-solar-hat-is-better-for-the-planet-than-your-style-203358237.html?src=rss
Meta’s Instagram has been blocking LGBTQ-related hashtags for months, according to reporting by User Mag. This was done under the company’s “sensitive content” policy as an attempt to restrict “sexually suggestive content.” The blocked hashtags included stuff like #lesbian, #gay, #bisexualpride, #transwomen and dozens more. Those hashtags don’t seem that sexually suggestive to me but, hey, what do I know.
The terms were hidden from both search and discovery for any users who had their sensitive content filter turned on. Teenage users have that filter turned on by default. When teens attempted to search these terms, they were directed to a blank page and a prompt from Meta to review the company’s “sensitive content” restrictions that hide “sexually explicit” posts.
User Mag’s reporting caused Meta to reverse course on these restrictions, after having been in place for months. The company called it a simple mistake and said that “it’s important to us that all communities feel safe and welcome on Meta apps, and we do not consider LGBTQ+ terms to be sensitive under our policies.”
The restrictions occurred after the company started hiding topics from teens as part of a larger “youth and well-being” privacy update. This was advertised as an effort to keep kids away from content that promoted self-harm. It’s worth noting that heterosexual content, even stuff that showed couples engaged in romantic activities, weren’t restricted in any way, according to User Mag.
“A responsible and inclusive company would not build an algorithm that classifies some LGBTQ hashtags as ‘sensitive content,’ hiding helpful and age-appropriate content from young people by default,” a spokesperson for GLAAD said. LGBTQ creators have long suffered under Instagram’s content policies, often experiencing shadow bans and having their content labeled as “non-recommendable.”
While Meta says it was all a big misunderstanding, promising to get to the bottom of things, this is only one example of the company throwing marginalized communities under the bus. The company just changed its “Hateful Content” policy, adding language that seemingly allows folks to brazenly attack gay and trans people. The company says that it's now fine to post “allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality.” It's worth noting that the word "transgenderism" has long been used by bad actors to purposely misrepresent trans identities as an ideology.
This is part of a larger effort by Meta to become more like the notoriously-thriving social media empire X. Meta just got rid of its fact checkers, in favor of community guidelines, and removed a mention in its Hateful Conduct policy that suggested online rhetoric could “promote offline violence.”
WATCH: “We’re gonna get rid of fact-checkers…”
In what looks almost like a hostage video, Zuckerberg bends the knee to Trump entirely — doing away with Facebook fact-checkers and moving the process to Texas under the guise of protecting free expression. pic.twitter.com/Ox0jeqBDBZ
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also been cozying up to Donald Trump. He’s been busy pumping money into Trump’s inauguration fund, flying down to Mar-a-Lago for chats, replacing Meta’s longtime policy chief Nick Clegg with a former George W. Bush aide and appointing UFC CEO (and Trump booster) Dana White to the company’s board.
Zuckerberg went as far as to explicitly indicate that many of the above changes were made because Donald Trump won the presidential election, calling it “a cultural tipping point.” He also called third-party fact checkers “too politically biased” and suggested that many of Europe’s laws against hate speech promoted censorship and make it “difficult to build anything innovative there.” Remember when he was going to fight Elon Musk? It looks like Zuckerberg just lost via submission to our new First Buddy without ever entering the ring.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/instagram-blocked-lgbtq-hashtags-and-treated-them-as-sexually-suggestive-content-200808209.html?src=rss
The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration is investigating the remote parking features in some Tesla vehicles. The tools in question are Smart Summon and the unfortunately acronymed Actual Smart Summon, which uses cameras in the car to automatically control the parking process.
The agency's Office of Defects Investigation has received 12 complaints of alleged crashes from the Smart Summon feature and one complaint about Actual Smart Summon use allegedly resulting in a crash. It has also reviewed three media reports of seemingly similar collisions involving Actual Smart Summon where the driver did not have the time to react to avoid a crash. The remote parking feature is available in an estimated 2.6 million vehicles, including the 2016-2025 Model S, 2016 Model X, 2018-2025 Model Xs, 2019-2025 Model 3s, and 2019-2025 Model Ys.
Tesla reported its first ever drop in deliveries at the start of the month. The company reported about 1.78 million vehicle deliveries over 2024, compared with 1.81 million in 2023.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/nhtsa-opens-investigation-into-tesla-remote-parking-features-194559802.html?src=rss
At a surprisingly star-studded event this morning, BMW showed off the final form of its long-awaited and long-teased Panoramic iDrive system. It's a combination of an oddly angular touchscreen, a windshield-spanning heads-up display, and an LLM-powered AI assistant. The big news? It's coming to every future BMW.
Comedians Tim Meadows and Ken Jeong welcomed the assembled crowd into a studio designed to look like an oversized interior of the company's upcoming Neue Klasse. They did their best to goad BMW's Bavarian executives into a series of jokes and bits that mostly fell as flat as the central touchscreen that now dominates the iDrive experience.
Thankfully, it's not comedy that brought us to Las Vegas this week, and the good news for BMW is that the interface looks good. The software behind the scenes is called BMW Operating System X, and it powers a new iDrive that combines screens and voice commands to create a familiar but far more comprehensive interface than anything we've seen in a BMW before.
It all starts with that central touchscreen, but even that is different. Rather than being square or curved like in other BMWs, the new panel is rhomboid-shaped, a slanted polygon whose leaning posture doesn't seem to really augment the experience but does at least look distinctive.
The panel is also tilted slightly towards the driver and is running software that is at least familiar to anyone who's used the current iDrive interface. A static bar along the bottom provides quick access to the most important things, like controls for the heating system. Above that, a stylized, 3D view of the world makes sure you're always situated.
Things get more interesting when you move up the dashboard. Running along the base of the windshield is what BMW calls Panoramic Vision. It spans the width of the car, with the left-most portion handling typical gauge cluster duties like displaying current speed, active safety controls, and even warnings.
Tim Stevens for Engadget
The rest of the Panoramic Vision display is customizable, with six widgets that you can drag up from the central touchscreen covering things like outside temperature, navigation ETA, and even another widget showing you turn-by-turn information. It's much that we've seen in demos from BMW before, but now nearly ready for prime-time with the cars shipping at the end of this year.
Given the Panoramic Vision's importance in the overall in-car experience, I asked the guy who oversaw the development of all this, BMW's SVP of connected company technical operations Stephan Durach, whether there were any visibility issues in the bright sunlight.
"This technology is a little bit different than a traditional heads-up display... we're using black print on the bottom. In bright sunlight, it's even performing a little bit better," he said. "You'll not have any issues at all."
If that's not enough displays for you, there's another HUD situated on the left, up above the Panoramic Vision, which gives 3D navigation information for the driver. Yes, between the touchscreen, the Panoramic Vision display, and the HUD, you can get three separate feeds of turn-by-turn directions.
In other words, if you miss a turn in this thing, you have nobody to blame but yourself.
BMW
BMW also quickly demonstrated a new in-car LLM that, for now at least, is only for navigation. It was all pre-recorded, so it's anyone's guess how well this will work in reality, but in the demo, at least, it quickly found "the best beach" and navigated there. When our pretend driver left the city, the car even asked whether to automatically engage Sport Mode, which was a nice touch.
BMW's Durach confirmed that Android Auto and Apple CarPlay will still be supported. He also teased that there are some more fun tricks to come that will get passengers more involved in the experience.
BMW ended the presentation by confirming that Panoramic iDrive will not only be coming to the Neue Klasse when it finally hits the market at the end of this year but will be the standard interface for all new BMWs that launch after that. That means the days of the rotary iDrive controller are now officially numbered.
I asked Durach if he had any parting words for this once-revolutionary vehicular interface.
"We take a look at all of our data and usage... you can really see that the usage of our rotary controller is declining dramatically," he said. "People don't even touch it."
It's a harsh send-off, but these days you just can't cry over progress.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/ces-2025-bmws-vision-spanning-panoramic-idrive-will-make-sure-you-never-miss-another-navigation-prompt-192022046.html?src=rss
The futuristic looking concept electric vehicles that Honda had introduced at last year's CES are now much closer to becoming models you can actually buy. Honda has unveiled prototype versions of the 0 Series Saloon sedan and the 0 Series SUV at CES 2025. It also revealed that it will launch their production models next year in North America followed by Japan and Europe. The Honda 0 SUV will be introduced in the first half of 2026 and will be the first model in the lineup to enter production. It's a mid-size SUV that was originally presented as the Space-Hub concept and will be based company's newly developed dedicated EV architecture.
Meanwhile, the production version of the flagship Honda 0 Saloon EV, characterized by its low height and wedge-shaped design, will be launched late next year. Both models will be capable of Level 3 automated driving, which means they can steer, brake and accelerate by themselves, though the driver will have to be ready to take over anytime needed. They will also be equipped with ASIMO OS, the new operating system Honda developed for its next-gen EVs. It is, of course, named after the Asimo humanoid robot the company introduced at CES over two decades ago and will power both its automated driving and infotainment systems.
The Honda 0 Series vehicles will come with a North American Charging Standard (NACS) port, so they'll be able to access Tesla's charging stations. Honda is working on building a charging network with other automakers, as well, under a joint venture called IONNA. The initiative, which aims to build a nationwide network of over 30,000 charging stations by 2030, was founded by Honda, BMW, GM, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis and Toyota.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/hondas-saloon-and-space-hub-ev-concepts-are-now-prototypes-190047136.html?src=rss
NVIDIA’s Reflex technology just got a massive upgrade, as announced at CES 2025 in Las Vegas. The company’s Reflex 2 kicks things up several notches, thanks to some software wizardry. The end result? A promise to further reduce gaming latency by up to 75 percent. In this case, latency refers to how quickly a game displays the reaction from a player's inputs.
Here’s how it works, and it’s pretty wild. Reflex 2 combines the pre-existing Low Latency mode with something called Frame Warp. This tech tasks the CPU to calculate the position of the next frame as the current frame is being rendered by the GPU. The CPU uses player input, typically via mouse, to calculate the upcoming camera position.
The tools then sample the upcoming camera position and graft it onto the current frame, waiting until the “very last moment to ensure the latest input is shown on screen.” This glimpse into the near future should “allow players to improve their aim and tracking of enemies.”
But how can a pre-rendered image exist on top of the current frame without creating all kinds of visual inaccuracies? NVIDIA developed a “latency-optimized predictive rendering algorithm” that uses data from prior frames to fill in any obvious gaps, so players will see a new frame with the updated camera position without any weird holes. It is, quite literally, warping the frame (thus the name.)
The company showcased this technology with Embark Studio’s The Finals, which will be one of the first games to support the toolset. The proof is in the pudding. With the game running on an RTX 5070 GPU at 4K with max settings, the latency was 56ms. The first iteration of Reflex reduced the latency to 27ms, while Reflex 2 dropped it all the way down to 14ms.
In addition to The Finals, NVIDIA says that Valorant will soon support the tech. The company notes that it has used Reflex 2 with Frame Warp to reduce the latency to an average of under 3ms. Reflex 2 will debut as part of the forthcoming GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs, with support for other RTX GPUs coming sometime in the future.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/nvidias-reflex-2-predicts-milliseconds-into-the-future-of-competitive-games-182213650.html?src=rss
Audio-Technica typically produces excellent sound quality on its headphones and earbuds even though it may not always build a complete package. The company has also been ahead of the competition on battery life at times, and at CES 2025, it's making some bold claims about its latest set of active noise canceling (ANC) earbuds. On the ATH-CKS50TW2, Audio-Technica says you can expect up to 25 hours of battery life on a charge when ANC is disabled, or 15 hours when you're trying to block distractions.
There's another 40 hours in the charging case (25 with ANC on), but the other big feature on the ATH-CKS50TW2 is... magnets. Audio-Technica calls it Magnetic Switch Technology, and the tool snaps the earbuds together to turn them off before you toss them in a pocket without returning them to the case. If you're ready to use them again, they'll turn on when you pull them apart.
Hybrid active noise cancellation is also on the spec sheet and 9mm drivers power the sound profile. Multipoint pairing is here too, as is Qi wireless charging and an IP55 rating for dust and water. There are touch controls on the earbuds as well, offering access to playback, volume, calls, voice assistant and noise control settings.
The ATH-CKS50TW2 is available now in black for $149 and a beige color option appears to be on the way.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/audio-technica-debuts-earbuds-with-a-whopping-25-hours-of-battery-life-at-ces-2025-175430830.html?src=rss
I knew I had found my favorite computer of CES 2025 early last December, long before I had a chance to see what most other PC makers were cooking up. It comes from ASUS and it’s the new Zenbook A14, a system that the company had joked about calling the Zenbook Air.
To be fair, the name would have been fitting: the notebook weighs less than 2.2 pounds (or 1kg), a half a pound lighter than Apple's most svelte MacBook Air. In almost every respect, the ZenBook A14 outclasses Apple's ultraportable, with specs like a 14-inch OLED screen and up to 32 hours of battery life. The only catch is that it runs on Qualcomm's Snapdragon X and X Elite chips, which limits compatibility with older Windows apps (along with some devices).
What's most remarkable about the Zenbook A14, though, is that it simply feels great to hold. The light weight is a big part of that, but its also covered in ASUS's unique Ceraluminum material, which feels markedly different than a typical metal case. ASUS has deployed Ceraluminum across its premium lineup for years, but this is one of the first times we've seen it on practically every surface of a laptop (the top lid, keyboard desk and bottom).
The Zenbook A14 also features plenty of thoughtful design elements. It's easy to open up one-handed, thanks to a refined hinge that counter-acts the laptop's tiny frame. It also has a surprising amount of ports, including one USB Type A connection, two USB C ports, HDMI 2.1 and a headphone jack. That's all connectivity we'll never see on a MacBook Air.
In my short time with the Zenbook A14, its keyboard and trackpad also felt relatively comfortable. ASUS says the keys offer 1.3mm of travel, and while they could always be deeper, they seemed fine for casual typing. The laptop also sports a 1080p IR camera, speakers with Dolby Atmos support and Wi-Fi 7. Basically, it has everything we'd want in a premium laptop in 2025.
The ASUS Zenbook A14 starts at $900 with a Snapdragon X Plus CPU and 16GB of RAM (in a slightly chunkier 2.4 pound case). The lightest 2.18 pound model is available for $1,100 with a Snapdragon X Elite chip and 32GB of RAM.
ASUS
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/asus-unveiled-the-zenbook-a14-at-ces-2025-and-its-the-macbook-air-competitor-ive-been-dreaming-of-173026277.html?src=rss
ASUS is leaning even harder into Copilot+PCs with it's new Vivobook 14 and 16 at CES 2025. And unlike the laptops the company introduced last fall, this time ASUS is going all in on Qualcomm chips.
Just like the new ultralight Zenbook A14, both the Vivobook 14 and Vivobook 16 come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X chip, and in the case of both sizes of Vivobook, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. ASUS claims these new internals mean both laptops are 44 percent more performant than last generation Vivobooks and should last longer too, with a battery life of up to 19.8 hours.
Regardless of whether you buy the 14-inch or 16-inch laptop, you'll get a 60Hz, 1,920 x 1,200 resolution display. Like past ASUS laptops, both Vivobooks will also use the company's "AI Camera" which can detect when you're not sitting in front of your screen and automatically dim the display to stretch battery life further, or lock your computer for added security. You'll have plenty of options if you need to plug something in, including two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port and an audio jack.
ASUS imagines the draw of all this new hardware will be the AI features they enable, like Generative Fill and Erase for editing photos or Live Captions for automatically adding subtitles to the audio on your computer. A more powerful laptop that lasts longer is more immediately appealing, though.
Alongside the new Vivobooks, ASUS is announcing two new enterprise-focused laptops, the ExpertBook B5 and B3. Both laptops come with up to an Intel Core Ultra Series 2, up to 64GB of RAM and plenty of security features to keep your data safe.
ASUS hasn't shared the availability or price of the new ExpertBooks. The ASUS Vivobook 14 and Vivobook 16 are available to pre-order now for $700 and $750, respectively.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/asus-brings-qualcomms-latest-chip-to-the-vivobook-14-and-16-173007085.html?src=rss
Panasonic has debuted several sets of earbuds under its Technics brand at this point. At CES 2025, the company is adding one more, but this one has some more interesting tech inside than the others. The new Technics flagship earbuds, the EAH-AZ100, have newly-developed magnetic fluid drivers that the company says allowed it to significantly improve audio quality. The previous model, the EAH-AZ80, already sounded great, so Technics really had it work cut out for it in order to improve things even further. But after hearing them for myself, I can confirm the company managed to make yet another sonic leap.
Technics says the 10mm magnetic fluid drivers inside the AZ100 produce "clean, high-resolution, low-vibration and low-distortion sounds," which it further describes as "the most authentic, balanced audio that’s true to the original source." The drivers utilize technology that has be miniaturized from the company's EAH-TZ700 wired in-ear monitors. That magnetic fluid is an oil-like liquid that's filled with magnetic particles before Technics injects it between the driver magnet and coil. The driver also has a free edge that enables 3Hz of deep bass, plus there's an aluminum diaphragm that produces natural sound separation and details at high resolution.
Spatial audio is in play as well. The AZ100 supports Dolby Atmos and Dolby Head Tracking for a full 360-degree listening setup. You can also listen to LDAC content on these earbuds, but battery life takes a hit when you do. Robust adaptive active noise cancellation (ANC), Voice Focus AI for calls, touch controls and three-device multipoint connectivity are all on the spec sheet. There's a one-touch Conversation Mode too, allowing users to instantly pause content and activate transparency mode when needed. Auracast and Google Fast Pair made the cut as well.
You can expect up to 10 hours of ANC use on a charge, with another 18 hours worth of power in the case. That accessory supports wireless charging with Qi-certified devices and a 15-minute quick charge is enough for 90 minutes of playback with noise cancellation enabled. The AZ100's updates also include a refined shape as well as size and weight reductions, all of which should lead to a more comfortable fit for the IPX4-rated earbuds.
Panasonic's preview event was in a dark Vegas nightclub, so apologies for the image quality.
Billy Steele for Engadget
I was able to try the AZ100 for a few minutes at Panasonic's preview event at CES. When doing a direct comparison with a set of AZ80 earbuds that were also available, the difference in sound quality was striking. The AZ80 was well-reviewed, and some outlets even picked them as the best option in terms of pure audio performance. The AZ100 blows them out of the water.
The first thing I noticed was how much louder the AZ100 is at the same volume level. What's more, all of the claims Technics made about the detail, clarity and deep bass from the new fluid drivers holds true. Across songs from Lewis Capaldi, Dua Lipa, Train and The Eagles (I didn't pick the playlist), there was a wide, immersive sound stage that enveloped my ears with guitars, drums, beats and vocals. There was driving low-end tone when a dance track like "Don't Start Now" called for it, and there was also pristine detail in softer acoustic guitar in "Hotel California." I'll note that Technics offered FLAC files for the demo, so I'll be interested to see how the AZ100 fares with "regular" quality tunes from a streaming service.
ANC performance was also quite good during my short introduction. The noise-blocking tech was robust enough to silence most of the clamor from the showroom in a Vegas nightclub, though it struggled with the voices of the people closest to me. Transparency mode sounded pleasantly natural as well, but I'd like to test it in a less-crowded environment before I can say for sure how good it really is.
The AZ100 is available today for $300 is silver and black color options.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/technics-az100-earbuds-hands-on-ces-2025-173004465.html?src=rss
I lived in New York City for many years and absolutely loved it, with one major caveat. Packages got stolen, like a lot. This was especially frustrating for a tech reporter waiting on review gadgets and the like. Hyve Security is looking to solve this problem with its self-named smart lockbox, which it brought to CES 2025 in Las Vegas.
The Hyve is being advertised as “the first branded smart lockbox” and can be secured to the front of a house or apartment via a quarter-inch carbon fiber tether. Carbon fiber is notoriously difficult to cut, so that’s one security measure.
The lockbox also ships with an accelerometer and a “shrieking” alarm that will go off if the device is moved or tampered with. The box’s owner will receive an alert in this instance. Neighbors, friends and family will also receive alerts if they opt-in to the community service. The Hyve app will integrate with many current smart home security systems for even more protection.
Hyve Security
It’s weather-proof, which is handy for something that will likely be housed outside, and includes a photo window for drivers to snap a picture of the package nestled safely inside the pod. This is also useful for retailers, as they can be relatively certain that a package was successfully delivered to its intended owner. The app can even be used to send out pings to nearby delivery trucks in the case of a pending return.
It operates via a combination of battery and solar power. The company claims it can run for 18 months without requiring a charge.
The obvious use case here is to prevent porch-based theft, which is great. However, Hyve Security says that wide adoption of these lockboxes can eventually allow retailers to ship items without so much wasteful packaging. The Hyve costs $300 and officially goes on sale in June.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/the-hyve-package-security-box-should-protect-deliveries-from-dreaded-porch-pirates-170016213.html?src=rss
I’m not a fan of those TVs sold in picture frame surrounds that companies tell you are good for displaying art in your homes. There’s something unconvincing about using a powered, backlit screen for things you’re meant to stare at for quite a while. Can you really appreciate Turner’s Norham Castle Sunrise if you’re struggling with eyestrain after five minutes or so? Perhaps the cure for my dourness is to be found in PocketBook's new device, InkPoster. It uses a big, color e-paper display to do the same job, giving your eyes a better chance of seeing the brush strokes up close and personal.
InkPoster is a series of color e-paper displays equipped with battery packs that can be hung in your home for up to a year on a single charge. There’s no power cable, and it can be mounted in portrait or landscape orientation, depending on your taste. You’ll be able to access a library of curated art, put together by a team of “professional art consultants” and select what you want to see inside the InkPoster companion app. You’ll also be able to use it as a regular old digital photo frame, ideal for when you want to pull a masterpiece from online and display that instead.
Photo by Daniel Cooper
There are three display sizes based on two different technologies, Spectra 6 and Sharp’s IGZO. The former is found in the 13.3-inch model with a 1,200 x 1,600 resolution, which packs a 14,000mAh battery pack. There’s a 28.5-inch edition with a 2,160 x 3,060 display which uses a hybrid of both display technologies. Finally, there’s a 31.5-inch model with a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution that uses Spectra 6 and is designed to be a real focal point in your home. The two larger models both pack a 20,000mAh battery, with the same promise of a year or so of running. But, it's worth saying that runtime is based on you not changing the images too frequently, especially since these prototypes take a few minutes to switch between images.
Having now seen these up close, I can say they're more promising in the real world than they are on the internet. The colors pop a lot more than you might expect from an e-paper display, and you're able to see brush strokes in the paintings. At least, you can if you don't stand too close — peer in as you might with a real painting and you'll just see the pixels used to assemble each image. Certainly, it's a neat way to get some high art on your walls without the need to be forever yoked to the same picture. But you might find there are some art styles that work better than others.
As these are prototypes, PocketBook isn't yet ready to commit to pricing, but said that it'll initially offer its art app for free, with a subscription potentially in the offing further down the line. Similarly, it isn't going to talk about how much each model will cost until April or May, when they'll be ready to pre-order. But Enrico Mueller, PocketBook's Managing Director, suggested a ballpark for the 13.3-inch model would be around €600 ($620), while the 31.5-inch model will retail for something like €1,700. The 28-inch unit, however, will be more given the extra technology on show, and so will be around €2,500.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/inkposter-uses-an-e-paper-display-to-bring-art-to-your-home-170016899.html?src=rss
Peacock will start testing mini games and short-form vertical videos on its iOS and Android apps, per TechCrunch. These experimental features were available for preview at CES 2025 in Las Vegas. The company intends to start testing them with users this month.
A Peacock spokesperson told TechCrunch that during the testing period, some users will see the games and shorts, while others only see one or the other. The remainder won’t be able to play games or watch shorts.
There are five planned games for the test: Daily Sort, Daily Swap, Predictions, What The, and Venn. These games are simple and don’t take up too much time, and some are even tied to various shows and sports. Players can predict outcomes of a series and come back later to see if they were correct, enhancing their streaming experience.
As for the shorts, they’re curated from content from Peacock’s library. They can be from TV shows or news and will be updated weekly and daily. Users can even tap on them to enter the program’s page and watch the real thing.
Both YouTube and Netflix opted to compete with TikTok quickly, and YouTube especially has more than 100 games. Netflix doesn’t have that many, but a Squid Game spinoff game did arrive on the app last month. Peacock may be competing against giants, but the possible TikTok ban does give it a better fighting chance.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/peacock-is-testing-mini-games-and-vertical-short-videos-164012685.html?src=rss
A little more than two years ago, Lenovo teased a concept laptop with a rollable screen that could expand and contract with the touch of a button. And now at CES 2025, the company has turned that idea into a reality with the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable.
Remarkably, Lenovo’s new device looks incredibly similar to what the company showed off in the past. The laptop features a flexible 14-inch OLED display that can unfurl itself to become a 16.7-inch panel at the push of a button. This effectively adds an extra 50 percent of screen space to the system without the need for any additional accessories or peripherals. Alternatively, you can use gestures to expand and contract the display for a truly touch-free experience. Though in my experience, that took so much longer you might as well use the dedicated key. Thankfully, brightness is more than sufficient at 400 nits while the OLED panel delivers rich, vibrant hues.
Just this functionality would be a feat on its own. However, to help maximize the potential of its rollable display, Lenovo added a custom set of multitasking features that allow you to add widgets to the expanded screen space or use it as a visual clipboard and a place to view frequently used docs. And when you’re doing something like sharing your view during a video call, you can use the extra display as a virtual monitor, so you have a clean desktop for presentations.
But to me, one of the most impressive things about the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable is that it’s not that much bigger or heavier than a traditional clamshell of a similar size. It weighs around 3.6 pounds and measures three quarters of an inch thick. Performance looks solid too, thanks to the inclusion of Intel's Core Ultra 7 CPU, up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. And while its port selection is just OK, you still get two Thunderbolt 4 jacks and 3.5mm audio along with other handy features like Wi-Fi 7 and a 5-megapixel webcam with an electronic privacy shutter. So even with Lenovo’s focus on the laptop’s futuristic screen, you still get a pretty well-rounded machine.
Honestly, as someone who is always looking for more screen space while traveling (to the point where I often bring a portable monitor), I could see myself using the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 today as my primary work device. Its build quality feels a lot more solid than you’d expect and let’s not forget: the wow factor on something like this is hard to beat.
That said, the obvious downside is its cost, because with the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 expected to start at $3,500 when it goes on sale sometime later this spring, you’re paying a hefty premium to be on the very cutting edge of laptop tech. That means at least for now, systems like the Yoga Book 9i (which has gotten a couple of important updates for 2025) and ASUS’ Zenbook Duo are better choices for most people as they offer similar amounts of added screen space but for much less money. But if Lenovo can get the price down even a bit, it could open up another pathway for a new breed of transforming notebooks with deceptively small displays.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/the-thinkbook-plus-gen-6-rollable-is-a-crazy-concept-made-real-162813649.html?src=rss
Lenovo is already announcing one new handheld (or two depending on how you’re counting) at CES 2025. However, that isn’t stopping the company from looking ahead to its next portable gaming device by teasing an early prototype of the Legion Go 2.
Right off the bat it’s important to note that this successor to the original Legion Go is non-functioning and meant to be more of a design preview of Lenovo’s second-gen handheld instead of true first look. That said, the Legion Go 2 appears to share a number of features with its predecessor including detachable controllers, a large 8.8-inch display, a small touchpad on the right, a built-in kickstand and, if you look closely at the bottom, there’s even a toggle that allows the right gamepad to enter FPS/vertical mouse mode. So it’s clear this follow-up isn’t straying too far from the first model’s general blueprint.
Instead, it seems like Lenovo is focusing on making some small tweaks regarding the handheld’s ergonomics including more rounded grips and tapered sides along with a new circular D-pad as opposed to the cross-shaped component used on the previous model.
Additionally, Lenovo shared some early (but still unfinalized) specs which include a new Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip from AMD, support for up to 32GB of DDR5 RAM and 1TB of SSD storage and a significantly larger 74Wh battery (up from 49.2Wh). This should deliver a noticeable boost in overall performance while its 8.8-inch OLED display is expected to feature very similar specs including 500 nits of brightness and a 144Hz refresh rate.
However, there are two important changes to the screen. The first is a slightly lower 1,920 x 1,200 resolution (down from 2,560 x 1,600), which might seem like a weird downgrade. But on a display this size, especially when paired with a mobile APU, the Legion Go 2’s new resolution should deliver a boost in terms of overall performance. The second important upgrade is the addition of VRR, so the screen can more easily adjust to match the framerate of whatever you’re playing.
Finally, just like before, the Legion Go 2 will be based on Windows 11, though this is one thing I think Lenovo should reconsider. That’s because after seeing the early positive reception for Legion Go S powered by SteamOS, I think it would be a wise move to offer support for Valve’s platform alongside the standard Windows model.
Unfortunately, Lenovo has not released official pricing for the Legion Go 2 just yet, but I expect it to cost around the same as the original model at launch (around $800). As for a release date, there’s nothing concrete there either, though the company said that it's preparing to “bring this exciting innovation to life for gamers worldwide in 2025.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/lenovo-is-already-teasing-the-successor-to-its-flagship-legion-go-gaming-handheld-161852837.html?src=rss
The list of titles coming to Game Pass this month is a bit on the paltry side, aside from one massive exception. The original 1996 Diablohits PC Game Pass on January 14, so those of us who have been living under a rock since Bill Clinton’s first term can finally see what all of the fuss is about.
What can I say about Diablo that hasn’t been said already? It’s the OG action-RPG that basically defined the genre. It’s a legitimate classic. There’s a reason why the franchise is still going strong deep into the 21st century. The battles are intense, the progression is satisfying and the character customization options are just as deep now as they were in the 1990s.
This isn’t the first time that the game has been re-released. Blizzard and GOG struck a deal back in 2019 to bring the title to the latter’s digital gaming marketplace. However, this is the first time it’s been free-ish, assuming a pre-existing PC Game Pass or Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
Diablo is, by a huge margin, the most notable Game Pass release for January, but it’s not the only one. The post-apocalyptic farming sim My Time at Sandrock will be available on January 8 and EA Sports UFC 5 will be playable on January 14.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/the-original-diablo-hits-pc-game-pass-on-january-14-161519350.html?src=rss
The price hikes for streaming services have already started for 2025. Discovery+ has announced its plans are increasing in price for all US subscribers. The Discovery+ plan with ads will go up to $6 per month, from $5, while the ad-free plan will increase to $10 per month, from $9.
No, an extra $1 monthly isn't horrible, but $12 yearly, now that's a meal's worth of extra fees. The new fee tiers go into effect immediately for new subscribers. However, existing customers who pay through Discovery+ or the app store will pay more on their first bill after February 7. Any subscribers on promotional deals won't have an increase until that period ends.
Discovery+ previously increased the price of its ad-free plan in late 2023. At the time, it went up from $7 to $9 monthly.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/discovery-is-raising-prices-for-all-customers-160646636.html?src=rss
TV remote control and Discovery+ logo displayed on a laptop screen are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on February 9, 2022. (Photo illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
If 2024 was the year augmented reality glasses started to feel real, 2025 is already shaping up to be a really interesting year for AR, with a number of smaller companies showing off AR at CES 2025. Chinese company RayNeo brought their new X3 Pro AR frames to CES, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that it seems to have squeezed an impressive amount of tech into a relatively small pair of frames.
Like AR glasses from Meta and Snap, RayNeo use microLED projectors and waveguides to produce a full-color AR display. The field of view is just 25 degrees — notably smaller than what Snap or Meta have in their products — but it’s impressively bright. Even under the fairly bright lights of a Las Vegas casino ballroom, I had no problem seeing the menus or even reading text (the display outputs 2,500 nits, according to the company).
What stood out the most, though, was the size. At less than 3 ounces, the RayNeo X3 Pro are impressively lightweight. Like other AR glasses I’ve tried, they don’t quite look like a “normal” pair of frames, but they don’t feel that far off either. RayNeo opted to put the onboard cameras in the center of the frames rather than in the corners, which does add a bit of bulk.
Karissa Bell for Engadget
In terms of apps, there wasn’t much to demo. I tried a real-time translation app, which beamed English text in front of me as RayNeo’s Bernie Liu spoke Chinese. I can’t speak for the accuracy of the translation, but it seemed to do a pretty good job despite the fact that we were in a noisy environment.
I also briefly chatted with a built-in AI-assistant powered by chatGPT and snapped a few photos. Liu told me the company is also working with outside developers who are already creating their own apps for the upcoming device, so hopefully it will roll out with a few more capabilities.
That said, battery life will likely be an issue as it is with other AR glasses. Liu said the battery currently lasts around 30 minutes with heavy use, though the company is still working on improving various aspects of the frames.
RayNeo hasn’t announced an official price or launch date yet, but Liu told me they are hoping to put them on sale later this year for around $1500.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/rayneo-ar-glasses-hands-on-at-ces-2025-surprisingly-light-and-bright-120047035.html?src=rss
Maingear is one of the original boutique PC makers that popularized water-cooled rigs more than 20 years ago. However, after focusing more on air-cooled systems over the past few years, at CES 2025 the company is returning to its roots with two stunningly-crafted machines in the Apex Force and Apex Rush.
Based on Phanteks’ NV9 case, the Apex Force is the unquestionable flagship in Maingear’s new 2025 lineup. It weighs upwards of 50 pounds and has pre-bent hardline tubes that have been angled 10 degrees to match the distinctive sloped design of its enclosure. It boasts not one but two separate cooling loops for its CPU and GPU with massive dual 420mm radiators, three 140mm fans plus another 65mm intake on the bottom to push all that hot air out.
But what I appreciate the most are some of the signature touches Maingear included to make maintaining the system easier, even for someone who may have zero experience with liquid-cooled setups. The Apex Force’s reservoir is entirely clear, which not only looks great but makes it easy to do a visual check on water levels. More importantly, Maingear installed two quick-disconnect fittings for the system’s pump and drain ports, so in the event you need to change out water or perform a repair, you can empty the desktop without risking splashing liquid on sensitive components. And of course, almost all of the PC’s components and even the color of its tubes, fittings and RGB lighting can be customized to your desire. The limit is pretty much the size of your budget.
Meanwhile, for those who want something a bit more compact (though that’s relative in this case), the Apex Rush represents a small step down to a rig based on a mid-tower case from Lian-Li (the O11 EVO RGB). Unlike the Apex Force, the Rush uses a single cooling loop that’s augmented by seven 120mm fans (with optional RGB) meant to create a positive pressure environment to ensure optimal airflow while also keeping dust out. In fact, Maingear is so confident about its fan arrangement, it didn’t bother to equip the Apex Rush with dust filters, claiming those would actually decrease thermal performance and cleanliness. And in a first for Maingear, this system can be configured with neoprene soft tubing with braided sleeves for anyone looking for an alternative to custom hard lines.
But for me, what elevates the Apex Rush line even over the Force is that alongside the standard models, Maingear will also release three themed variants. There’s a Miami Vice-inspired model, one with cyberpunk stylings and my favorite, a lucky cat-inspired option. Each one features automotive-grade paintjobs littered with hand-drawn art and they are absolutely gorgeous. There are tons of subtle details such as pictures with various textures within the same illustration, multiple gamer-themed easter eggs, plenty of RGB lighting and matched tubing to fit each version’s particular aesthetic. The custom Apex Rush rigs are truly works of art, though, as you’d expect from heavily configurable systems, they won’t come cheap.
That said, Maingear has yet to reveal official pricing for both the Apex Force and Apex Rush lines. However, the company says that due to high expected demand, anyone interested in one of these PCs should try to snag a spot in line with a fully refundable $100 deposit when reservations officially go live today on Maingear’s website.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/the-maingear-apex-force-and-apex-rush-might-be-the-most-beautiful-water-cooled-desktops-at-ces-2025-160050312.html?src=rss
Lenovo has made history with its new Yoga Slim 9i laptop, which has an under-display camera similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold phone. In other words, the 32-megapixel camera is situated beneath the screen where you can’t see it, but it can capture video and images just fine. The Yoga Book 9i is also getting updated with a larger screen, an NPU and higher peak brightness.
Having an under-display camera lets device manufacturers use thinner bezels. In the Yoga Slim 9i’s case, Lenovo was able to achieve what it calls a world’s first: a 98 percent screen-to-body-ratio on a laptop, which the company claims is a world-first. Plus, the 4K120 OLED touch display measures 14 inches. Its PureSight certification includes 100 percent sRGB and Adobe RGB support. Additionally, the Yoga Slim 9i has a peak brightness of 750 nits, and supports VESA DisplayHDR True Black 600.
The Yoga Slim 9i is capable of handling AI tasks, thanks to an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor and with a 48 trillion operations per second (TOPS) NPU. The 75WHr battery provides up to 17 hours of battery life. Graphics are handled by an uniform memory access Intel Arc GPU.
The Yoga Slim 9i can come with 1TB of storage and 32GB of RAM, making it a portable workhorse of a laptop. As for ports, there are two Thunderbolt 4 ports besides the charging-only USB-C port.
The latest Yoga Book 9i has also received several upgrades. The screen size has been increased from 13.3 inches to a full 14 inches, and the 400 nits brightness has been upped to 750 nits. The new model has a 94 percent screen-to-body-ratio, up a little over two percent from the prior generation. Plus, it now has AI capabilities thanks to new hardware.
Finally, we can take a brief look at the Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition, a convertible laptop. The 14-inch 2.8K120 screen supports multi-touch and has a peak brightness of 1100 nits. It also has Smart Modes that let users customize the settings quickly. At 2.91 pounds, it’s easy to carry around for work.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/lenovos-yoga-slim-9i-is-the-first-laptop-to-get-an-under-display-camera-160045339.html?src=rss
