FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., is taking the opportunity to renew two key bills aligned with the incoming advisory board known as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) now that the GOP controls the Senate.
DOGE was previously announced by President-elect Donald Trump, who tapped billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the charge in eliminating government waste.
The ERASER Act would target regulations by requiring agencies to repeal three rules before issuing any new major rule and ensure that the new rule does not exceed the cost of the repealed rules. The Separation of Powers Restoration Act (SOPRA) would address the Administrative Procedure Act by ending the standards of executive deference and allowing courts to weigh arguments without affording deference to either party.
"Reining in an out-of-control administrative state has long been one of my top priorities, and I look forward to working hand-in-hand with the incoming Trump Administration to [accomplish] the shared goal of gutting the administrative state and clawing power out of the hands of nameless, faceless bureaucrats and returning it back to the people," Schmitt told Fox News Digital in a statement.
"The ERASER Act would require agencies who wish to enact a new regulation to pull three regulations off the books. And, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act would put a stop to courts’ deference to agency interpretation on regulations and enact a much stricter review, putting power back in the hands of the people, where it belongs … This is a critical, one-two punch to the bloated administrative state."
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is a co-sponsor of the ERASER Act. SOPRA is also backed by co-sponsors Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Rand Paul, R-Ky., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Ted Budd, R-N.C., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.
The bills were debuted by Schmitt in the last Congress but never received consideration on the floor due to Democratic leadership in the Senate.
However, with Republicans leading the upper chamber, and an increased emphasis on government efficiency, it's much more likely the measures will get voted on. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is already expected to tee up votes on a couple other re-introduced GOP bills that never got floor time.
iDrive uses 3D graphics and augmented reality to keep your eyes on the road.
At CES this week, BMW announced a new iDrive operating system with an eye-catching centerpiece: a 3D heads-up display (HUD) that stretches from pillar to pillar along the windshield.
Included in this futuristic setup is a new steering wheel with haptic buttons and a new augmented reality system that layers navigation directions and driver assistance with road information. And perhaps the most noticeable change: BMW eliminated the traditional gauge cluster in the dash in favor of a customizable digital version projected onto the windshield.
“We’ve taken on a new perspective in designing the UX,” Christian Bauer, the head of digital and UX at BMW, told a group of journalists at a preview event held near BMW’s massive Spartanburg, South Carolina, plant in November last year. “Pushing the display closer to the street will help drivers make quicker decisions, which will make it easier to keep your eyes on the road.”
The new system will appear in the upcoming-but-yet-unnamed X-class SUV that BMW is building on the all-electric Neue Klasse platform. That SUV will make its debut at the end of 2025, according to BMW.
BMW, like many automakers, is following in Tesla’s minimalistic footsteps by cutting down on screens and dials inside the vehicle. While BMW isn’t the first to eliminate the dash cluster and instead project it onto the windshield, it is an interesting move for a company with the tagline “Ultimate Driving Machine,” and its drivers have historically preferred classic dials and gauges in the dash.
BMW isn’t really worried about any backlash, chief technology officer Frank Weber told me — even though there were some members of the company’s board who were a bit concerned when first presented with the idea.
Weber said the new set up is no longer like having a video screen in your car, but rather an added layer of augmented reality that keeps driver and car more connected to the road. “You are connected to the car, and the car is connected to the road. It’s exactly where you would expect the information to be,” he added.
Your dashboard on the windshield
This isn’t the first time that BMW has teased the new heads-up display called BMW Panoramic iDrive. The company showed off a version of it at CES 2023 in the iVision Dee concept, and it’s all part of the new platform called BMW Operating System X.
The new heads-up display runs along the narrow black strip at the bottom of the windshield that stretches between A-pillars. The display is three-dimensional and includes speed, adaptive driving assistance information, stoplight and road sign information, navigation information, and state of charge. It’s customizable, too, allowing drivers to set up the information they want to have in their eyeline while on the road.
Unlike other HUDs, where you have to be at the right angle to see the information displayed, BMW says the new display will be visible to both the driver and passenger.
BMW also integrated navigation and ADAS features in the HUD so that the path you’re following turns green when using onboard navigation with driver assist. “If you think about higher levels of automated driving,” Bauer said, “then ADAS and navigation naturally come together.” He also noted that many of the features of the new HUD came about thanks to customer feedback. BMW already offers some hands-off autonomous driving features on marked highways.
Though the windshield is the display surface, it is not a specialty windshield and won’t cost extra to replace if it gets a rock chip, BMW said. A special film on the windshield helps make the 3D images appear crisp and clear. And the black print that the HUD is projected onto is the standard black print on all other vehicles.
Customizable infotainment screen
In addition to creating a full-windshield HUD, BMW also introduced a new rhombus-shaped center infotainment screen that offers a more customizable interface. Users can drag and drop “pixels,” or apps that they use frequently, into a couple of main boxes on the home screen so they are more readily available. According to BMW, the company does have plans to offer a BMW app store for the new UX, which could include paid apps for things like special lighting packages, similar to Hyundai’s plans for the upcoming Ioniq 9.
BMW says it’s using edge AI to “learn” from the customer as they drive and offer relevant features based on behavior. For example, if you frequently take a winding road home from work, put the vehicle into Sport mode, and cue up your music app, those options will regularly pop into the center screen for easy access. And if you frequently listen to meditation apps or podcasts while charging your EV, those apps will pop into the center stack whenever you’re plugged in.
BMW says it’s also using large language models to help make the vehicle smarter about what drivers want. BMW’s natural voice recognition system has been a class leader for some time, but now the company is leveraging LLMs to make navigation a bit easier. For example, you can ask the system to take you to a charging station close to a grocery store, using natural language, rather than having to use specific keywords.
In addition to updating its OS, BMW has also reimagined the steering wheel in the upcoming Neue Klasse. The new version has quite a few more buttons covered in a single piece of plastic, much like a medical device. Each button lights up when the system is available and offers haptic feedback when pushed.
BMW let us experience an approximation of the HUD and use some of the haptic buttons on a VR rig in November, ahead of the CES announcement. While it was impossible to get an impression of the imagery’s real-world clarity on the windshield, the haptic buttons were easy enough to navigate without being able to see them. The buttons feel similar to those in the 2024 Mercedes Benz S-Class and are all within easy reach.
BMW says that the new iDrive, UX, and interior setup will start to appear in its vehicles at the end of 2025.
The mask costs $150, and features multiple colors for addressing different skincare concerns. | Image: Nanoleaf
Nanoleaf is best known for its colorful smart home lighting. But at CES 2025, it’s expanding into new territory: beauty tech. Specifically, a $149.99 LED face mask.
The Nanoleaf LED Light Therapy Face Mask is made of medical-grade materials and has received FDA Class II device certification. (This doesn’t mean the FDA has given Nanoleaf’s mask a stamp of approval; it just means this is a moderate-risk device that meets FDA safety standards.) It has seven different modes for specific concerns, based on color. Those include white, red, blue, purple, yellow, cyan, and green.
Image: Nanoleaf
The mask is an FDA Class II device.
This isn’t anything we haven’t seen before. These types of at-home masks are massively popular among skincare enthusiasts to address a range of issues like acne, fine lines, and uneven skin tone, as well as boost collagen production. LED light therapy is also a treatment offered by dermatologists and estheticians.
That said, you should keep in mind there’s a definite difference between the light therapy you get at the dermatologist and at-home gadgets like this. The ones used by medical professionals are usually stronger. Plus, while red, blue, and near-infrared light therapy has been cleared by the FDA, other colors haven’t. In this case, the Nanoleaf mask’s Class II certification is more of a sign that the company has put in the effort to ensure a degree of safety.
In any case, when you think about it, it makes sense that Nanoleaf might be interested in this market. After all, what’s an LED Light therapy mask but a smart bulb by another name?
The LED Light Therapy Face Mask is available now for preorders.
PocketBook, E Ink, and Sharp collaborated to create the low-power InkPoster digital display. | Image: PocketBook
E Ink has collaborated with PocketBook and Sharp to create a new low-power digital poster that displays images and artwork on a vivid color electronic paper screen. The InkPoster pairs E Ink’s Spectra 6 screen technology with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, allowing artwork to be regularly changed and uploaded. And thanks to a large battery, it only needs to be charged about once a year.
The InkPoster will be available in three sizes. The smallest model has a 13.3-inch screen with a resolution of 1200 x 1600 and a 14,000mAh battery, while the largest option measures 31.5 inches with a 2560 x 1440 resolution, giving it a slightly lower PPI in exchange for a bigger 20,000mAh battery. There’s also an in-between 28.5-inch, 2160 x 3060 version with a 20,000mAh battery that incorporates Sharp’s IGZO technology for faster screen refreshes. Pricing is expected to be around $599 for the 13.3-inch InkPoster, $1,700 for the 31.5-inch, and $2,400 for the 28.5-inch.
Image: PocketBook
E Ink’s Spectra 6 e-paper uses six different ink colors to produce vivid images.
The InkPoster will have access to “thousands of curated artworks” from “iconic masterpieces to contemporary works” when connected to an accompanying app, according to PocketBook. But the company hasn’t shared specific details about where art is being sourced or what themes or artists will be available.
You’re also able to turn the InkPoster into a digital photo frame by uploading your own images. Unlike similar products from Canvia, the now-defunct Electric Objects, or even Samsung’s The Frame TV, the InkPoster doesn’t have any screen lighting that could potentially keep you up at night if hung in a bedroom and only uses power when the displayed image is being changed.
The InkPoster is one of the first consumer products to use E Ink’s Spectra 6 display technology. E-readers like the Amazon Kindle Colorsoft and the Kobo Libra Colour use E Ink’s Kaleido 3 technology, which offers fast screen refreshes but a limited palette of 4,096 colors. The Remarkable Paper Pro tablet uses a slower E Ink Gallery 3 screen, which can display over 50,000 colors using red, blue, yellow, and white ink particles.
E Ink hasn’t revealed exactly how many different colors Spectra 6 can reproduce, but it relies on a six-color ink system adding green and black that pushes the gamut volume closer to 60,000. Because it can take several seconds to refresh the entire screen, Spectra 6 is better suited to devices like static digital displays like the InkPoster, instead of e-readers.
Former New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan is lobbying for his old job and part of those efforts included him revealing one major change to come if he were to land the gig.
Ryan, who led the Jets to back-to-back AFC championship game appearances during the 2009 and 2010 seasons, will be interviewing for the job with owner Woody Johnson in Florida on Tuesday.
He appeared all but sure that he would be the best fit for the job during an interview with ESPN radio on Monday.
"The reason I think I'm going to get it is because I'm the best guy for it. It ain't close," he said, via ESPN. "The thing you have to do is, you have to connect with your football team, you have to connect with your fan base. The way they play, that's the most important thing. It's not just the Xs and Os and all that."
Aside from showing his confidence, Ryan even offered a pitch – one that took direct aim at quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
"Clearly, when you have a guy that doesn't show up for mandatory minicamp – and, by the way, he's your quarterback, coming off an injury – I think that's an absolutely ridiculous message you send to the team," Ryan said of Rodgers missing mandatory minicamp over the summer for a trip to Egypt.
"If he comes back, things would be different. If he's back, it ain't gonna be the country club, show up whenever the hell you want to show up. That ain't gonna happen. I'll just leave it at that."
Rodgers spoke about his future with the Jets with some level of uncertainty following their season-ending victory over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
"Whether I’m back or whether it’s the guys they’ve got or new guys or whatever, the focus has to be how can I, the player, be part of the solution, not the problem?" Rodgers said. "And I have a lot of love for this organization and I hope it gets turned around. If I’m back part of it, I’ll do everything in my power to get it turned around."
The Biden administration secured an agreement to implement police reforms in Minneapolis ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
The consent decree agreement Monday with the Minneapolis Police Department follows a similar decree that the department agreed upon with Louisville, Kentucky, police last month. The agreements follow the Biden administration's initiation of 12 investigations in 2021, which probed possible "pattern or practice" of civil rights abuses by police departments around the country following the anti-police riots that took place after the death of George Floyd in 2020.
Both decrees await approval by the courts. The 171-page Minneapolis agreement would overhaul the city's police training and use of-force-policies, while requiring officers to "promote the sanctity of human life as the highest priority in their activities." The decree also mandates that officers must not allow race, gender or ethnicity "to influence any decision to use force, including the amount or type of force used."
Other elements of the Minneapolis agreement include bolstering protections for protesters, new data collection requirements aimed at reducing racial discrimination, guidelines restricting officers from going after fleeing subjects, new interrogation requirements, a mandate against racial profiling in investigations, traffic stop reforms and more.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division was asked repeatedly during a Monday press conference from Minneapolis whether the Trump administration could derail the agreement.
"I can’t predict the future," Clarke said. "What I can tell you is that the findings we identified in Minneapolis are severe. These are real issues that impact people’s lives. The community wants reform. The city wants reform, the police department wants reform, and the Justice Department stands here today as a full partner in the effort of achieving reform and transformation for this community."
Meanwhile, in an email to constituents, Minneapolis City Council Member Robin Wonsley said she has no faith that the incoming Trump administration will be a "serious partner" in supporting the recently agreed-upon consent decree.
A similar consent decree agreed upon by the Biden administration and the Loisville police roughly three weeks ago also compels the department to revise its use-of-force policies, places new restrictions around traffic stops and police searches, and challenges how law enforcement deals with protesters.
A local police union in the city is challenging the reforms, calling on a judge not to approve the agreement. Meanwhile, the conservative Heritage Foundation has argued that the point of the consent decree coming so late in Biden's term is "to bind the Trump 47 Administration and future elected Louisville administrations who may well vehemently and categorically disagree with the Proposed Consent Decree."
Both Minneapolis and Louisville were flash points for debates around police reform after both cities saw the high-profile deaths of Floyd and Breonna Taylor in 2020. Both cities, and numerous others, saw protesters rampage through the streets following their deaths, leading to multiple fatalities and billions of dollars in damage that year.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Justice Department for comment, but they declined to comment.
My family and I tried five brands of jarred pickles.
Ted Berg
My family and I tried and ranked five brands of jarred pickles to see which one we liked best.
We didn't like the Vlasic pickles and thought they had an unpleasant aftertaste.
Claussen's kosher dill pickles were the best option by far.
Everyone in my family of four enjoys pickles, but I don't normally give much thought as to which brand to buy.
However, in an effort to be more intentional about my purchases, I recently bought and tasted five brands of supermarket dill pickles to see which ones we liked best.
Here's how they stacked up from worst to first.
We ranked the Vlasic pickles last due to their aftertaste.
We bought another jar of Vlasic pickles to see if our first one had gone bad.
Ted Berg
The Vlasic kosher dill baby pickles at my local supermarket cost about $6 for a 16-ounce container, making them the most expensive per ounce of the pickles I tried.
They had a nice crunch to them, and although they initially had a mild and pleasant briny flavor, there was an off-putting aftertaste. As a result, my entire family placed these at the bottom of the list.
The taste was so unpleasant that I bought a second jar from a different supermarket to see if the first one was an anomaly. It was not.
I wouldn't seek out the 365 pickles from Whole Foods again.
The Whole Foods 365 organic kosher baby dill pickles weren't as crunchy as the others.
Ted Berg
I grabbed a 16-ounce jar of 365 organic kosher baby dill pickles from Whole Foods for $5.
When I took a bite, however, I didn't think these pickles were as good as some of the others I tried. They weren't especially crunchy, and I didn't love the flavor. I thought they were heavy on garlic and lacked the crisp, vinegary bite I seek in good pickles.
I'd eat them again if someone served them to me, but I'd opt for other brands if I were shopping for my family.
To be fair, these were my 7-year-old's favorite, but he's by far the most averse to spicy foods in our family.
Trader Joe's kosher dill pickles were OK, but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy them again.
A jar of Trader Joe's kosher dill pickles only cost $3.
Ted Berg
The Trader Joe's kosher dill pickles were the least expensive of the group, at $3 for a well-stuffed 24-ounce jar.
These pickles had a satisfying snap with each bite but a fairly mild vinegar flavor and some seasoning resembling caraway, which felt unfamiliar. They also didn't have the palate-cleansing zest I sometimes want.
Overall, they tasted like something you'd serve on a cheese board rather than with a cheeseburger.
I'd buy these again — especially considering the price — if I were shopping at Trader Joe's and needed pickles. However, they're not something I'd go out of my way for.
I'd buy the Mt. Olive pickles again for the sake of nostalgia.
I liked the Mt. Olive kosher dill-pickle spears.
Ted Berg
I took home a 24-ounce jar of Mt. Olive dill-pickle spears that was on sale for $4 (about $2 off the supermarket's usual price).
I wasn't sure if I'd ever bought a jar of Mt. Olive pickles before, but when I opened it, I recognized the smell immediately — these were the pickles that came with every sandwich at a popular and delicious deli near where I went to college.
They were a touch mushy and didn't have much crunch, but they won me over with their assertive, classic pickle flavor, which was so tangy it was almost spicy.
I might buy them again if I start feeling nostalgic for that sandwich shop or am looking for a budget-friendly option.
Claussen is my new favorite pickle brand.
Claussen's kosher dill pickles were the clear winner.
Ted Berg
Claussen's kosher dill pickles cost $7 for a 32-ounce jar at my local supermarket. These pickles were the only of the five brands I tried that came from the grocer's refrigerated section.
Having to refrigerate the Claussen pickles made them slightly less convenient to store, but they were so much better than the other pickles we tasted. Vibrant with dill, they were crunchy without being heavy and had a bright vinegary tang.
My wife, our 4-year-old, and I all ranked this as the best pickle by far — so far superior to the others that the extra cost was easily justified.
I will seek out Claussen whenever I'm buying pickles at the supermarket in the future.
The 21st century has not been kind to RadioShack. The once-dominant electronics component retailer simply couldn’t compete with big box stores like Best Buy and online retail juggernaut Amazon. February 2015 saw the company delisted from the New York Stock Exchange before declaring bankruptcy the same month. Later that year, RadioShack began the process of […]
Meticulous is showcasing its smart espresso maker, which it says is the world’s first robotic lever espresso machine, at CES 2025 in Las Vegas this week. The prototype has raised nearly $5 million in funding on Kickstarter and another $1.6 million million on Indiegogo. The company’s first batch of espresso machines is set to ship […]
Employer.com has offered to acquire Level, a fintech startup that just last week abruptly shut down after failing to find a buyer, according to The Information. But Level is still mulling over the offer, its Employer.com CMO Matt Charney told TechCrunch. “It’s with legal,” he said. Founded in 2018 by early Square employee Paul Aaron, […]
Longevity is becoming a key point for Android smartphones nowadays, with Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy devices offering 7 years of support, leading the industry. With its new OnePlus 13 and 13R, OnePlus is also upping its software update commitment, but not quite to the same level.
Nomad is back at it again, bringing the glow to your wrist with their new limited edition Glow in the Dark Icy Blue Sport Band. This fresh twist on their best-selling Glow 2.0 delivers a clean, pale blue-white look during the day and a bold, striking glow by night. Whether you’re out for a night jog or just want to stand out in a crowd, this band brings both style and functionality to your Apple Watch.
The CES 2025 gadgets are rolling in like crazy now, holiday pricing on the continues, and we have even more deals to scope out today. First up, you’ll find the 16GB M3 MacBook Air with a 512GB SSD down at $1,099, or $400 off the price it fetched before Apple upgraded to 16GB RAM configs. Next is the return of the official Doorbuster pricing we tracked on Apple Watch Ultra 2 alongside a new all-time low on the latest second-generation Bose SoundLink Flex Bluetooth speaker and launch deals on Anker’s brand new display-laden chargers from CES. All of that and more awaits down below.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25816081/241213_OSX_KeyVisual_16_9.png)
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25816079/iDrive_Show_Detail_IintelligentPersonalAssistant.jpg)
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25820314/Face_Mask_with_Model.jpg)
Image: Nanoleaf
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25803439/pocketbook_eink_poster_2.jpg)
Image: PocketBook
