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11.01.2025 22:30 CES is the biggest tech convention of the year. It helps set the stage for all the wonderful gadgets we're going to see over the next 12 months. However, among all the quadcopters, questionably benevolent robots and devices with fancy flexible screens, there's a lot of small things that go into making CES a one-of-a-kind event. To highlight some of the silly, stupid and occasionally wholesome things we encountered at the show this year, we humbly present the very unofficial Dumb Fun awards for CES 2025. Cutest digger - Komatsu PC01E-2 Sam Rutherford for Engadget Komatsu’s PC01E-2 looks like a children’s playground toy, except that it actually works and is really goddam cute. You almost want to walk over and pinch that little bucket until it turns pink. But it’s not all fun and games because this little digger is meant to help excavate things — even in tight spaces. In fact, it’s small enough to fit in most elevators, so if you run into a situation where you need to get some digging done, say, on the roof, Komatsu's got you. Most likely to be vaporware - FX Super One Faraday Future We generally try to be optimistic about new tech. But ever since Faraday Future announced its first concept car back in 2016, the company has made less than 20 cars in total. And for the massive accomplishment of producing less than two dozen vehicles, Faraday Future’s founder and CEO went and gave themselves raises. Now at CES 2025, the company is trying to make a comeback with its new line of FX EVs, except that it couldn't even be bothered to paint them. That special camouflage automakers use is usually meant to help hide a vehicle’s design BEFORE it gets announced, not make it look like a half-finished product at its own press event. That said, calling it 50 percent done is probably way too generous. So while there's always a chance a company turns it around, don’t be surprised if you never see a FX Super One on the road. Most dapper - EcoFlow Solar hat Daniel Cooper for Engadget If you ever need someone to sacrifice their sartorial elegance for a story, he’s your man. And yet, even with a floppy photovoltaic-equipped, mess of a head ornament, there’s still no doubt he’s the most dapper Dan. Biggest bully - Unitree robot Everyone is always worried about when our robot overlords are going to come and conquer us. Except it’s the humans we should probably be worried about the most. That’s because during a demo for Unitree’s robot, its homo sapien operator fumbled the controller, resulting in the robot basically tackling our very own Karissa Bell. Human or robot, that’s just not OK. Most adorable - Mirumi Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget Originally this list was meant to highlight interesting things we saw at CES that didn't get a lot of praise elsewhere, but then the Mirumi went and won an award. But I don’t care. This robot is designed to do one thing, hold onto your arm and stare cutely at things as you walk around. It's basically a puffball with eyes and a clingyness that can't be denied. And I will protect and cherish it with my life. Biggest nightmare fuel: Shark’s red light facemask Cherlynn Low for Engadget Look, taking care of your skin is important. It’s the largest organ in your body after all! But if traditional moisturizers, creams and exfoliants aren’t enough for you, I’m not convinced Shark’s red light mask is the answer. If I’m at home and my significant other comes out of the bathroom looking like goddam Doctor Doom, I’m not getting in bed. I’m running out the door and calling Reed Richards for help. Chillest booth: AARP Sam Rutherford for Engadget The AARP describes itself as "the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Americans 50 and older to choose how they live as they age." So instead of encouraging people to hustle around from booth to booth while checking out all the new-fangled gadgets during CES, the AARP went and decided to install a whole-ass pickleball court right on the show floor. Naturally, attendees both young and old stepped up to the net and causally batted balls back and forth with everyone seemingly having a relaxing time in the midst of the biggest tech convention of the year. Good on ya’ll. Company with the most FOMO - Jackrabbit Las Vegas is an affront to Mother Nature. It’s an unwalkable city in the middle of the desert filled with all manner of temptations and enough neon lighting to melt your brain. So when a company doesn’t feel like flying in to attend CES, we get it. But that doesn’t mean you can try to weasel your way into the spotlight by sending email pitches about being “perfect for CES, but smart enough to skip it.” Either stop fence sitting and suffer with the rest of us or shut up. So hey Jackrabbit, you say you’re fine not being at CES. That’s cool, we feel the same way. Most reckless gadget: Rictor Skyrider Daniel Cooper for Engadget You know what sounds safe? An electric moped that turns into a quadcopter, but only if you position the propellers and arms yourself. The base model also only has about 25 minutes of flight time while company claims there are a number of built-in safety features, there’s also a built-in parachute. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we can’t have air taxis and such in the future. But this thing does not inspire confidence. However, if you have more guts and than sense, please give it a try and let us know how it goes. Most fun PC component: MSI’s CPU cooler with a built-in turntable Sam Rutherford for Engadget Not every computer part needs to be about pumping out higher framerates and MSI proved that this year by making a CPU cooler with a built-in turntable. What’s the point you ask? Well check out that happy little dragon sitting atop its throne. Just look at him. But really, it could be anything you want up there that makes you happy. The only sad part is that this water block is merely a concept and MSI has no actual plans to put it on sale. What a bummer. Most blasphemous branding: Dell’s new unified name scheme/Lenovo ThinkPad X9 Sam Rutherford for Engadget We couldn’t decide which one was more outrageous, so we ended up with a tie for category. For Dell, its new unified branding is largely fine. After all, no one really cares about lines like Latitude, Inspiron and Optiplex. But killing off the XPS name, which is the only Dell sub-brand that has really ever meant something, is a step too far. Meanwhile, in an attempt to woo younger buyers who might not have an affinity for its classic black laptops, Lenovo went and made a ThinkPad with no carbon fiber or a Trackpoint nub. That’s downright sacrilegious. Admittedly, if you’re younger than 50 you might not care, but any nerd who grew up using rotary phones is probably pissed. Horniest booth: Handy Sam Rutherford for Engadget CES is home to all sorts of sex tech, but even among all the vibrators and various toys, the Handy booth somehow managed to be hornier than any other. That’s because in addition to having a selection of kinky gadgets on display, the company had guests lining up to spin a wheel for the chance to take home a prize of their own. And if people eagerly awaiting a chance to take away a pleasure device so they can get their rocks off isn’t horny, I don’t know what is. Just maybe keep it in your pants until you get home.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/our-unofficial-silly-and-meaningless-ces-2025-awards-just-for-fun-210041744.html?src=rss

11.01.2025 22:30 CES 2025 has come to a close — Friday was the final day of the show — and team Engadget has departed Las Vegas. Our reporters and editors spent the week scouring endless carpeted convention halls of the CES show floor, braving lines of chain smokers, overcoming nasty colds and sore ankles and fielding thousands of emails a day to find the best and most credible products at the show. It was quite the challenge, as the landscape was dotted with countless contenders. As expected, the vast majority of things we saw this CES had an AI component, with a noticeable uptick in AR glasses, hearing aid earbuds, solar-powered tech, robot vacuums and even emotional support robots. Our team was encouraged to see more growth in tech built to improve the lives of those with disabilities and mobility issues, too. For all the new iterations we saw on traditional tech like laptops, TVs and soundbars, we saw a bevy of wonderfully weird off-beat tech at the show, too. And we were pleasantly surprised to see more than a few of these just-announced CES 2025 products actually available for sale or preorder already. But there was a small group of new products that rose above the rest. Our list of CES 2025 winners covers a variety of categories, ranging from typical areas like home entertainment, transportation and smart home to theme-based topics like sustainability and accessibility. After our team shortlisted nominees and voted on the best for various categories, we then conducted another round of voting to decide on the best product of the show. That said, here’s the full list of our picks for the Best of CES 2025. ASUS Zenbook A14 ASUS The ASUS Zenbook A14 feels impossibly light, weighing between 2.2 and 2.4 pounds, and it has a gorgeous 14-inch OLED screen and a decent array of ports ! What else ccould you want in a MacBook Air competitor? After years of basically copying Apple’s MacBooks, ASUS proves it can out-innovate Apple without resorting to gimmicks like dual screens or flashy lights. The Zenbook A14 is simply a tiny laptop that feels great in your hands, thanks in large part to ASUS’s unique Ceraluminum case material. ASUS claims it can last up to 32 hours while playing video, well above the 18 hours Apple estimates for the MacBook Air. It may seem odd that the least flashy laptop of CES 2025 is one of our favorites, but sometimes pure practicality is undeniable. — Devindra Hardawar, Senior reporter, reviews BioLite Backup Biolite We’re always looking for brand new, never-seen-before stuff at CES, but sometimes it’s the clever reinterpretation of existing tech that catches our attention. That’s the case with Backup by Biolite. It’s essentially a cross between a universal power supply and a whole-home backup battery, but improves on both. The thin, 40-pound 1.5 kWh battery lives between a wall outlet and your fridge and keeps those things running in the event of a power outage. It doesn’t require professional installation, just a user-installed wall mount, and it’s thin enough to hide behind your fridge or tuck under a counter. Though if it were on display, the matte-silver finish wouldn’t spoil any aesthetic. The Backup Complete includes two units that supply up to 3 kWh, which is enough to power a fridge, microwave, lights, as well as refill phones and a laptop. The 3 kWh capacity and the fact that it’s an installed battery currently qualifies it for a 30 percent federal tax credit, which would bring the cost down to $2,100 for the Complete. The single-unit Backup Core packs 1.5 kWh and goes for $2,000. Both are available for pre-order now and should ship this summer. — Amy Skorheim, Reporter, buying advice Jackery Solar Roof Jackery Jackery is already an established name in domestic solar generator systems, and its latest product fills a wavy gap in its product lineup. Jackery’s XBC curved solar roof shingles mimic some of the most common house styles in the country, and they come in terracotta or obsidian colorways for optimum HOA appeasement. These are the first curved solar tiles to hit the United States market and they deliver a cell conversion efficiency of more than 25 percent. They can withstand extreme weather conditions, including temperatures between -40 degrees F and 185 degrees F, and they’re designed in line with traditional roofing installation practices, featuring a modular setup that allows for flexible maintenance. Jackery’s new wavy solar tiles connect with the company’s existing solar generation and storage products, making them an accessible and attractive option for whole-home sustainability. — Jessica Conditt, Senior reporter Lenovo Legion Go S Lenovo The plight of the modern handheld-PC gamer is trying to decide which OS to use. There are a ton of Windows 11-based devices that offer unparalleled compatibility and strong graphics support. But all that comes on a platform that isn’t optimized for smaller gadgets with attached controllers. Alternatively, SteamOS offers a much more cohesive experience with a better UI and less performance overhead. The problem is that Valve’s operating system was basically only available on a single device — the Steam Deck. That changes now with the Lenovo Legion Go S, which will be available in two flavors: a Windows version and for the first time on any handheld not made by Valve, a model powered by SteamOS. Aside from the choice of platforms and different colored shells, we appreciate that the two variants feature almost identical specs including an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go processor, up to 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage and a decently large 55.5Whr battery. Its 8-inch touchscreen looks great too, as it offers a 120Hz refresh rate with support for VRR, 500 nits of brightness and a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution. And with prices starting at $600 , it’s rather affordable too. Perhaps the biggest downside is that while the Windows model will be out later this month, we’re going to have to wait until May for the one powered by SteamOS. But with the latter sort of finally making good on the nearly decade-old promise of Valve’s Steam Machines, holding out for a few extra months doesn’t seem so long. — Sam Rutherford, Senior reporter, reviews LG OLED evo M5 LG LG’s Best of CES crown is safe for another year. The company is consistently at the top of the best TVs we see each year in Las Vegas, and it frequently comes out the winner. For this year’s OLED evo M5, the company managed to further improve its most premium displays, adding the latest α 11 AI processor Gen2 to improve the look of lower-resolution content and power advanced features. For gamers, there’s a 165Hz refresh rate, alongside both NVIDIA G-SYNC and AMD FreeSync Premium certifications. This should smooth things out and keep lag to a minimum. The company’s new Brightness Booster Ultimate can achieve levels that are three times brighter than “conventional OLED” models, according to the company. Plus, the feature contributes to a UL Solutions' "Perfect Black" and "Perfect Color" verification on the M5. It’s truly stunning picture quality. Lastly, LG’s Zero Connect Box that’s been available on the M-series for a while now is finally available on screens below 77 inches. This device allows you to connect all of your consoles and streaming gear without running multiple HDMI cables to the TV. LG now says it doesn’t need line-of-sight clearance either, and that it can be hidden in a wooden cabinet near the M5. — Billy Steele, Senior reporter, reviews Moonbird Moonbuddy Moonbird Gadgets made for relaxation shouldn’t be complicated. Moonbuddy has one purpose — to make guided breathwork accessible and appealing to children — and it nails the execution with no unnecessary frills. The company behind it first made a similar stress relief device for adults, and Moonbuddy simplifies that experience and puts it into a cuter package. Moonbuddy is an egg-shaped device with a soft area that expands and contracts in set rhythms, so kids can follow along and sync up their own breathing. It fits into an animal themed sleeve, so it looks like a toy. There are four different breathing modes, each lasting a few minutes and designed to promote a state of calmness. The whole thing is tactile and screen-free, which is especially good considering many parents may want to incorporate it into the nighttime routine. And as much as I love the little animal outfits as a person who gravitates toward cute things, I also like that if your kid gets to that stage where they reject everything babyish, they can take the sleeve off and keep using it in its more nondescript form. — Cheyenne MacDonald, Weekend editor OhSnap MCON OhSnap The MCON by OhSnap basically transforms any smartphone into a modern Xperia Play, complete with modern conveniences like Hall effect analog sticks, silent buttons, flip-out grips, and a full bumper and trigger layout. It’s a mobile gamepad that can slide into your pocket without the sticks or handles getting caught on anything, and it works with pretty much every smartphone on the market today. The MCON uses MagSafe to snap onto the back of any recent iPhone and it comes with an adapter for Android devices to join in on the fun. It even works with the Galaxy Z Fold, and its creator, Josh King, is working on a solution for the Z Flip, too. The mockup that King brought to CES 2025 felt lightweight yet solid and comfortable to hold, and the phone-snapping action was supremely satisfying. After gaining a bit of viral fame with his idea, King partnered with established MagSafe accessory manufacturer OhSnap to push the MCON into full production, and it’s due to hit the market in August for $150. — Jessica Conditt, Senior reporter Roborock Saros Z70 Roborock Robot vacuums got a bunch of new — and sometimes strange — powers at CES 2025. But none made a bigger impression than Roborock’s Saros Z70, which comes with a mechanical arm that can pick up socks, lift cords and grab other objects. The OmniGrip arm can pick up objects up to 300 grams in order to clean under them or deposit them in the location of your choice. Functionality of the arm is controlled via Roborock’s app and is extremely customizable so you can program it to pick up loose trash and cat toys, but lift up cords to clean underneath. When we saw it in action at CES, it deftly picked up socks and placed them in a basket. But Roborock promises it can do much more. The vacuum will automatically recognize 108 different objects — yes, like seemingly every other gadget we saw at CES, it uses AI — but you can also teach it to detect up to 50 additional items so it will know how to handle obstacles it’s most likely to encounter in your home. Surprisingly, the Saros Z70 wasn’t the only robot vacuum with an arm we saw at CES, but it will be the first that you can actually buy. — Karissa Bell, Senior reporter Technics EAH-AZ100 earbuds Technics Technics’ new Magnetic Fluid drivers have garnered a lot of headlines this week, but all you really need to know about the EAH-AZ100 earbuds is that the sound quality is massively improved. Powered by those new components, there’s more clarity, detail and bass, all of which are upgrades from the already impressive AZ80. Technics revised its earbud shape for the AZ100 in the name of comfort and fit, while also making the buds smaller and lighter. Features like touch controls, multipoint connectivity for three devices, spatial Dolby Atmos audio and LDAC support are here as well. And unlike most of what we see at CES, these new earbuds are already available to purchase. — Billy Steele, Senior reporter, reviews Urtopia Titanium Zero Urtopia Since the pandemic, e-bikes, not electric cars, have been at the forefront of the EV revolution, and it’s easy to see why: Electric bikes are a lot more affordable than their four-wheeled counterparts. Plus, here at Engadget, we’re all for devices that promote healthier living, and for many, getting an e-bike can be transformational. So when Urtopia showed up at CES 2025 with a concept e-bike that features a novel motor design, I was excited. As my colleague Daniel Cooper notes in his writeup, e-bike motors have traditionally come in two form factors, each with their own set of considerations. The custom-designed Quark DMI.2 mid-drive motor Urtopia showed off alongside its Titanium Zero e-bike offers a third path. It’s not as powerful as traditional mid-drive motors, but it still features more power output than even the best hub motors. Best of all, the motor is small enough to fit inside a bottom bracket and weighs just 2.6 pounds. Urtopia hasn’t said when it will start manufacturing the Titanium Zero, but it’s easy to see a scenario where the design of the Quark DMI.2 inspires other bike makers and pushes the industry forward. — Igor Bonifacic, Senior reporter WeWalk Smart Cane 2 WeWalk Of all the products at CES 2025 that had AI stuffed into them, WeWalk’s Smart Cane 2 stood out. The smart cane for people with visual impairments got an update this year that not only adds AI, but also addresses the original’s shortcomings. It brings more advanced sensors, and best of all, still works as a conventional folding cane when these technological features aren’t engaged. The Smart Cane 2 can detect obstacles and offer turn-by-turn navigation, and it has a ChatGPT-powered assistant that can provide answers to questions while someone is walking, without the need to reach for a smartphone. WeWalk also refined the actual cane by making its handle slimmer, replacing the original’s touchpad with tactile buttons and shaving a bit of weight off. Sure, you might not be able to trust ChatGPT to give you correct answers to every question imaginable yet, but at least in this implementation, the product isn’t likely to harm users even if the AI fails. Plus, it has useful hardware, including time-of-flight and motion sensors to improve navigation, speakers to provide answers and feedback, as well as a flashlight to make the visually impaired more noticeable at night. And again, if the battery dies, you can still use this as a traditional, albeit pricier, cane. — Cherlynn Low, Deputy editor, reviews Yukai Engineering Mirumi Yukai Engineering One of the most memorable robots at CES this year was the one that arguably does the least. We found ourselves powerless against the heart-melting charm of Mirumi, a tiny, fluffy robot made by Yukai Engineering that literally just stares at people and looks around like a baby discovering the outside world. It’s small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, but even better than that, it has long posable arms that allow it to hang onto objects. So if you put it on your bag strap, it will stare down everyone you encounter, and maybe become a little shy when they return the attention. Mirumi has no purpose other than to spread joy, and I love it for that. Yukai previously brought us the weird Qoobo pillow and the cat that nibbles your finger, and this is another case in which it did not miss with one of its odd creations. — Cheyenne MacDonald, Weekend editor Best in show: WeWalk Smart Cane 2 WeWalk At CES this year, AI was unsurprisingly everywhere, often in places it didn’t really seem like it needed to be. But the WeWalk Smart Cane 2, a high-tech version of the mobility cane for people who are blind, struck me as an application where it could actually be really helpful. With a new voice assistant that’s powered by GPT, users can speak directly to the cane to get detailed navigation guidance and on-demand information, like public transportation options and menu items. The smart cane is also packed with sensors that allow it to alert the users of upcoming obstacles. It does this with haptic feedback in the handle and by calling out a verbal warning. WeWalk co-founder Kursat Ceylan, who is blind, gave a demonstration of the cane in the chaotic environment of the Las Vegas Convention Center, and it was impressive. The voice assistant responded quickly and accurately to his prompts, and the obstacle detection alert was loud enough to be heard over the buzz of the CES crowd. It can also pair with headphones or earbuds via Bluetooth. Since the cane can handle things like turn-by-turn navigation, users don’t have to worry about also holding a smartphone while they’re trying to get around. The smart cane takes an existing tool that people are already familiar with and enhances it. Importantly, it also seems like the company heard the feedback of users who had the first version of the cane and improved the design to better meet their needs. It has a slimmer handle than the first model and tactile buttons, and weighs about the same as a traditional white cane. — Cheyenne MacDonald, Weekend editorThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ces-2025-the-best-tech-and-gadgets-we-saw-in-las-vegas-211535722.html?src=rss

11.01.2025 22:30 Fortnite Festival will support local multiplayer starting Tuesday January 14, meaning you’ll be able to sit down in a room with your friends and jam out on plastic guitar controllers together just like the good ol’ days. Of course, most of us probably don’t have those plastic guitars anymore, but regular controllers will work just fine too. The feature is coming to Xbox and PlayStation, and up to four local players will be supported at a time for the Festival Main Stage mode. Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking, but this kind of rules? GET THE BAND BACK TOGETHER ‼️Local multiplayer is coming to Fortnite Festival on Xbox and PlayStation January 14! Stay *tuned* for more details

11.01.2025 22:30 Samsung’s big Galaxy S25 launch is right around the corner. The first Galaxy Unpacked event of 2025 is confirmed for January 22 at 1PM ET in San Jose, CA, where Samsung’s “Next Big Thing” will be revealed. What exactly will be on tap? Well, apart from a few sure bets and some likely leaks, only those sworn to a blood oath under an NDA know for certain. But here are the most likely products and features we’ll see. Galaxy S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra Galaxy S24 UltraSam Rutherford for Engadget Much like Apple reveals its latest iPhones at its first fall event, Samsung typically launches its mainline Galaxy S flagships at its first Unpacked shindig of the year. You can bet the farm that there will be Galaxy S25 phones at this event. And given Samsung’s recent trend of launching three tiers of flagships — standard, Plus and Ultra — you can bet we’ll see that again. There’s even an FCC certification to dispel any doubts. The degree of certainty falls sharply once we dig into the phones’ features. A subtle redesign with rounded corners, flatter edges and thinner bezels appears likely based on a leaked video posted to Reddit and images from reputable tipster Ice Universe. But this isn’t expected to be the generation where Samsung’s hiring of a former Mercedes-Benz designer will lead to drastic aesthetic changes. Qualcomm At least in the US, the phone is practically guaranteed to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which the chip-maker revealed in October. Like just about every flagship processor these days, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is built for on-device generative AI, which aligns with Samsung’s Galaxy AI blitz in recent models. We don’t know whether the company will split its S25 processors between Snapdragon and Exynos , but Ice Universe has claimed it will be all Snapdragon this generation. That would be a good thing, given what’s often a glaring performance and battery life disparity favoring Qualcomm. The phone will run Samsung’s One UI 7 on top of Android 15. We know this because Samsung said in October that its user experience will launch on the next Galaxy S flagships. It’s already available in beta for Galaxy S24 phones. Samsung Samsung is rumored to stick with last-generation OLED displays instead of the brighter and more efficient M14 OLED panels used in the iPhone 16 Pro and Google Pixel 9. Logic suggests Samsung would want its best homemade screen in its best phones — especially when its competitors are already using it. But it could stick with the cheaper panels to keep the bill of materials down. Perhaps it calculated that better displays don’t make for better generative AI , while the latest Qualcomm chip does. Speaking of AI, expect Samsung to devote a perhaps agonizingly long portion of the event to generative AI features. The hit-or-miss DigiTimes reported last month that the Galaxy S25 series will include “an AI Agent that provides personalized clothing suggestions and transport information.” What that would look like in practice is anyone’s guess, but I’m not sure I want to know. Galaxy S24 UltraSam Rutherford for Engadget On the camera front, Ice Universe claims it’s “confirmed” that only the ultra-wide sensor will see an upgrade in the Galaxy S25 Ultra — to 50MP from 12MP in last year’s model. The leaker says the S25 Ultra will stick with a 200MP main sensor, 10MP 3x zoom and 50MP 5x zoom. Samsung will add the Qi2 wireless charging standard to its new flagships — and that comes straight from the horse’s mouth. However, leaker chunvn8888 says Samsung’s phones won’t have built-in magnets for Qi2’s native MagSafe in everything but name charging. Instead, the leaker says Samsung will sell a first-party case with a Qi2 magnetic ring to enable that. Rumors have buzzed about an alleged Galaxy S25 Slim with a — you guessed it — slimmer design joining the trio at some point this year. That’s something Apple is also rumored to be working on. However, given the FCC certifications only appear to cover the familiar trio of flagships, that phone may not arrive until later in the year. Galaxy Ring 2, Samsung XR and AR glasses Galaxy RingSam Rutherford for Engadget DigiTimes reported in December that Samsung would show off the Galaxy Ring 2 and augmented reality glasses during its January Unpacked event. The Taiwanese publication says the Galaxy Ring 2 will add two more sizes to the nine from the original model, which only launched in July. The second-gen wearable health tracker is said to add new AI features and updated sensors for more accurate measurements. The Galaxy Ring 2 is also rumored to last longer than the current model’s maximum of seven days. Google DigiTimes also claims Samsung’s AR glasses — which the company has confirmed it’s working on — will look like regular prescription glasses and weigh around 50g. It says the futuristic glasses would use Google’s Gemini AI, which aligns with what we already know about Samsung’s partnership with Google and Qualcomm on Android XR. But given the lack of supply chain rumors surrounding the glasses, it’s likely that any mention at the event would amount to little more than a teaser, a la its grand reveal of... a stinkin’ render for the first Galaxy Ring at Unpacked 2024. We also know Samsung is co-developing an Android XR headset — codenamed Project Moohan — alongside Google and Qualcomm. The “lightweight” and “ergonomically designed” headset will have a “state-of-the-art display,” passthrough video and natural multi-modal input. Google’s renderings show a wearable reminiscent of Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro. Project MoohanGoogle / Samsung Since Google only recently began offering a developer kit and API for the platform, any glimpse of it at Unpacked wouldn’t likely include an imminent release or deep dive into its hardware. Engadget will have full coverage of Samsung’s first Unpacked event of 2025. More to come on January 22!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/what-to-expect-at-samsungs-galaxy-s25-unpacked-event-182028420.html?src=rss

11.01.2025 18:10 If you want to get Solo Loop bands for your Apple Watch in several colors, this may be your chance to grab a few at a discount. Woot is selling them for up to 70 percent lower than their actual price, so you can get the Braided Solo Loop bands that sell for $99 on the official Apple website for just $30. The regular Solo Loops are also on sale, and you'll only have to pay $20 instead of $49 for one. That's just a few dollars more than some third-party bands considered as affordable alternatives to official Apple products. Apple's Solo Loop bands for its watches are stretchable, don't have any overlapping parts and come with no clasps or buckles. The company says they're "designed to provide a precise, comfortable fit," which means you'll have to make sure to get the correct size for your wrist if you want to be able to put one on comfortably and make sure it doesn't slide off. The braided variants on sale come in several black and white hues, blues, greens, purples, reds, oranges and yellows. You can also get the rainbow-colored 2021 Pride Edition band. Apple's braided Solo Loops are made with strands of recycled polyester yarn filaments around ultrathin silicone threads. If you don't like their textured feel, you can opt for the regular Solo Loop bands made of liquid silicone rubber instead. The same colors are on sale, and you can get any of them for $20. They're sweatproof and waterproof, so they're probably the better choice for physical activities, though the braided bands are sweat- and water-resistant, as well. You'll be able to choose your watchface measurement and your wrist size on Woot. If you don't know what size you're supposed to wear, you can check out Apple's pages for its Solo Loop bands for instructions on how to measure your wrist. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apple-watch-solo-loop-bands-are-on-sale-for-up-to-70-percent-off-153001030.html?src=rss

11.01.2025 03:10 If you're in the market for a new controller, you're in luck. Microsoft's Xbox Elite Series 2 Core controller is on sale for $98 at Amazon and Target, down from $130. That means its about $3 off its lowest price to date — a great opportunity to upgrade to something a little nicer. We've recommended the Xbox Elite Series 2 Core controller before, and that's mainly based on its ability to give you the best of the $180 Xbox Elite Series 2 controller for a more approachable price. That includes fits and finishes like a rubberized grip and sturdier, longer-lasting versions of a traditional controller's triggers, joysticks and directional pad . On top of that, it has up to 40 hours of battery life. The Elite Series 2 Core also lets you adjust the tension of the joysticks and triggers to your liking, and remap the controller's buttons in the Xbox Accessories app. That's helpful if there's specific settings your prefer for Call of Duty: Warzone versus something more relaxing, like Viva Piñata, or if you share your controller with someone else. The main disadvantage with the Xbox Elite Series 2 Core controller, besides the limited color options you have purchasing it anywhere other than the Xbox Design Lab, are the lack of accessories. Included in the price for a normal Xbox Elite Series 2 controller is a variety of different joysticks, directional pads and back paddles you can attach when you want to experiment with a new setup. Those aren't included at all with the Core controller. In fact, there's awkward divots on the back of the controller where the paddles are supposed to be attached. It's a small annoyance in the grand scheme of things, and one that can be rectified by buying the accessories when you figure out that you actually need them down the road. Even without paddles, the Xbox Elite Series 2 Core controller should feel noticeably more pleasant to use, and when you're trying to make your way through an extra-long RPG, that's what really matters anyway. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-xbox-elite-series-2-core-controller-is-on-sale-for-98-222712100.html?src=rss

10.01.2025 22:20 Meta isn't stopping at moderation changes. According to both Axios and The New York Times, the company is also pulling the plug on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. That includes removing diversity hiring goals, eliminating the chief diversity officer position and no longer prioritizing minority-owned businesses as vendors, per The Times' reporting. When asked to comment on ending DEI initiatives, Meta confirmed the reporting was accurate. Internally, the company is apparently pinning the decision on a shifting "legal and policy landscape," according to a memo to employees Axios acquired. "The Supreme Court of the United States has recently made decisions signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI," Janelle Gale, Meta's VP of Human Resources says in the memo. "The term 'DEI' has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others." The current Supreme Court is not exactly friendly towards systemic attempts to address issues of race, gender and sexuality, but in the context of Meta's other recent changes, it seems like there's more going on than the company being afraid of a possible lawsuit. At the same time that Mark Zuckerberg was announcing that Meta was abandoning third-party fact checking and changing what kind of speech it allows on its platform, 404 Media reports that the company removed the Trans and Non-binary themes from Messenger, and posts it made announcing them. The company also added Trump supporter and UFC CEO Dana White to its board this week, a confirmation of Zuckerberg's continuing UFC fandom but also a signal that it's eager to listen to conservative voices. It all seems to add up to less of a reaction to the current climate and more like the way people in charge want to be doing business going forward. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/metas-right-wing-reinvention-also-includes-an-end-to-dei-programs-and-trans-messenger-themes-204031848.html?src=rss

10.01.2025 22:20 Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 earbuds are on sale for $180 via Amazon. This is the first serious discount of the year and represents a savings of 28 percent. It's not a record-low, but it’s darn close. The AirPods Pro 2 earbuds have made a real name for themselves since originally launching back in 2022. They easily made our list of the best wireless earbuds, and with good reason. These are a marked improvement over the prior iteration in nearly every way. The sound quality is fantastic and the earbuds now feature active noise cancellation. In our official review, we heaped particular praise on the transparency mode. It sounds so natural, especially when compared to some rival earbuds out there. You can leave the AirPods in during a real-life conversation and likely not even notice you’re wearing them. Other features include ultra-fast pairing with Apple devices, hands-free Siri and spatial audio. A recent software update also brought a reduction in wireless audio latency, which should be great for mobile gaming. Another boon for gamers? Voice quality has gotten an uptick, thanks to 16-bit, 48kHz audio during live chats. The major issue with these earbuds is the price, which has been alleviated slightly by today’s sale. As a minor gripe, the touch gestures do take a bit of practice to get right, but it’s not rocket science. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-airpods-pro-2-are-on-sale-for-the-first-time-this-year-193537995.html?src=rss

10.01.2025 22:20 At CES 2025, NVIDIA introduced DLSS 4, the latest version of its real-time image upscaling technology, and announced that it will come to all RTX GPUs. That includes the RTX 20 series that was discontinued back in 2020, but the older models aren't getting all its features. In the new GeForce RTX 50 series models, DLSS 4 will enable Multi Frame Generation. This feature will generate up to three additional frames for every traditionally rendered one, and it can help multiply frame rates by up to eight times more than traditional brute-force rendering. NVIDIA claims 4K 240 FPS fully ray-traced gaming will be possible thanks to Multiple Frame Generation when using its GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card, the new $1,999 flagship GPU arriving later this month. In addition, DLSS 4 represents what the company is calling the "biggest upgrade to its AI models" since the release of DLSS 2. DLSS Ray Reconstruction, DLSS Super Resolution and DLAA will now be powered by the same advanced architecture powering AI models, such as ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. The company says that translates to improved temporal stability, less ghosting and higher detail of objects in motion. A total of 75 games and apps will support DLSS 4 from day zero. When the new RTX 50 cards come out, games like Alan Wake and Cyberpunk 2077 will be updated with the ability to take advantage of the technology's Multi Frame Generation feature. More titles will be updated with support for Multi Frame in the future, including Black Myth: Wukong, while upcoming ones like Doom: The Dark Ages and Dune: Awakening will support the feature at launch. The GeForce RTX 40 series GPUs aren't getting Multi Frame Generation, but they are getting DLSS 4's enhanced frame generation, enhanced ray reconstruction, super resolution and deep leaning anti-aliasing capabilities. Meanwhile, GeFore RTX 30 series and RTX 20 series GPUs are getting the last three. NVIDIA This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/nvidia-announced-dlss-4-will-come-to-all-rtx-gpus-044835926.html?src=rss

10.01.2025 22:20 Registration for the closed network test of Elden Ring Nightreign are open, publisher Bandai Namco announced today. The sign-up period for the co-op Elden Ring spinoff officially started on January 10 at 9AM ET and will run until January 20 at 9AM ET. You can add your name to the list now on Bandai Namco's website. The close network test will be spread across five different sessions on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S, running from February 14 through February 15th. You'll be able to log in on each of those days from 6AM ET to 9AM ET or 10PM ET to 1AM ET the following day to put the game through its paces. Limveld awaits you, Nightfarers.Rise together against the tides of darkness from February 14th to February 17th. Register before January 20 for a chance to join the #ELDENRING #NIGHTREIGN Network Test: https://t.co/DodOCpDczD pic.twitter.com/aqLvLxDZ0T— Bandai Namco US January 10, 2025 Selected players will be able to play "a portion of the game prior to the full game launch," according to Bandai Namco's sign-up page, with the goal of getting a sense of how the company's servers and online systems will handle a mass of fans playing simultaneously. As to what that "portion" will actually contain, Bandai Namco says that players will get "to try the game’s co-op experience," partnering with two other players to tackle a three day cycle filled with "increasingly challenging enemies and bosses." Nightreign appears to use many of the mechanics, armor, weapons and abilities of Elden Ring, but drops them in a revamped setting, "Limveld," that's design to change every time you play. Per Bandai Namco, you start each cycle of the game in the familiar Roundtable Hold, where you can pick one of eight characters with unique abilities and "Ultimates." The Limveld map you play in will shrink each night, and introduce a new boss that if beaten, lets you progress to the next day. The process continues until the final, third night when you face off against a "Nightlord." And if you fail at any point in the process and have to start a new run you'll earn a relic that lets you "customize and upgrade" your character. Elden Ring Nightreign was an unexpectedly announced at The Game Awards in 2024, and was a pretty big surprise, not only because Shadow of the Erdtree came out that same year, but because the game's structure seems remarkably different than anything developer FromSoftware has made before. Anyone lucky enough to be a part of the network test will now be able to see how different it actually feels.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/you-can-now-sign-up-to-test-elden-rings-co-op-spinoff-192012608.html?src=rss

10.01.2025 22:20 Skate City was an Apple Arcade launch title way back in 2019, developed by Agens and published by Snowman, a company well-known for its mobile-first games like Alto's Adventure, the "sequel" Alto's Odyssey, When Cards Fall and a handful of other intriguing titles. It's been over five years since Skate City first arrived, but the Snowman / Agens team is back with Skate City: New York, which is out on Apple Arcade today. There have been a number of content updates to the original game over the years, but this is a full-fledged new title that feels quite familiar but also has a number of improvements and updates. I had a chance to try Skate City: New York a few days before its launch, and I also spoke with Snowman's Ryan Cash and Andrew Schimmel about the new game, which they said has been in the works for a good three years now. As with the first Skate City, you're rolling left-to-right in classic side-scrolling format here. To make things accessible, you can pull off tricks by swiping in one of eight directions on the lower half of the screen; the left side is for ollie-based tricks while the right shifts you to nollie. You don't have to do anything precise to land, just launch the trick and the game will make sure you hit the ground rolling . That's the basic starting point, but you can also do spins, manuals, grinds and more. It's simpler than a game like the classic Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series or the recent OlliOlli World, but there's still a lot of timing and dexterity involved in really nailing your runs. As you'd expect, the visuals are more dynamic and the backgrounds are much-improved over the original . But what sets this one apart the most, according to Schimmel, is the fact the "Pro Skate" mode, which is the most involved part of the game, uses procedurally-generated levels. "We didn't want to limit ourselves to the original loops through the city, but instead make something that was more adaptive and dynamic," Schimmel said. "Procedural generation was the answer and the biggest technical challenge." It's not something that I was able to pick up on immediately, since I've only played the game for a couple hours, but Schimmel's confident it'll make Skate City: New York have even more replay-ability than the original. Snowman / Agens Pro Skate reminds me a lot of Snowman's Alto's Adventure, but translated to skating — the goal is to go as far as you can and rack up as many points as possible while completing three objectives to level your progress up. Objectives are things like "land three 180-degree spins" or "grind for 100 meters." But with levels more unpredictable than in the prior game, you'll need to be better at reacting on-the-fly to new obstacles, which can end your run but also give you an opportunity for a good grind or trick. As with all of Snowman's games, there are no in-app purchases here; instead, you'll get points for completing challenges and leveling up in Pro Skate. You can then use those to customize your character with the much more flexible and expanded Skate Shop. You can tweak your character's body, hair, facial characteristics, clothes, skateboard and so forth. I haven't played around with it a ton yet but it's obviously right off the bat that there's a lot more personalization here. As with Skate City, Snowman promises that there will be a steady stream of fresh challenges and more parts of the city to explore over the next year and beyond. Schimmel referred to it as a "live services" game even though there's no monetization aspect to it. I also asked how the team decided to release Skate City: New York through Apple Arcade versus having it be a one-time payment or even including paid updates in the game — Cash called it an "easy choice." "We haven’t done a paid up-front game since Alto's Odyssey in 2018," Cash said. "Apple Arcade and Netflix Games are where we're at right now. And it was an easy choice when talking about Skate City: New York, because the first game was a launch title and found a lot of success there. It just made sense to bring it back to Apple Arcade." The first Skate City eventually came to consoles and PC, as well, and Cash said that was definitely under consideration for the future, but the goal is to make a mobile-first title as good as it can be. While the game doesn't feel wildly different than its predecessor, Skate City: New York still feels like a premium mobile game at a time when those can be hard to find. And Snowman and Agens have done a great job of balancing the pick-up-and-play aspects of a good mobile game with a deeper experience, at least from what I've seen so far. "We want a seven-year-old who's excited about skateboarding to have fun," Cash said, "as well as people like us who grew up loving skateboarding and really want a challenge." Skate City: New York is out today exclusively on Apple Arcade. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/skate-city-new-york-is-a-mobile-game-that-manuals-the-line-between-casual-and-deep-play-191526652.html?src=rss

10.01.2025 22:20 The long-awaited streaming service Venu Sports is no longer happening, according to The Hollywood Reporter and others. The sports-focused streaming service was to be a joint offering by Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox. There was no concrete reason given, other than corporate-speak. “In an ever-changing marketplace, we determined that it was best to meet the evolving demands of sports fans by focusing on existing products and distribution channels,” the companies wrote in a statement. We assume this move will also involve some serious layoffs, as Venu has been percolating for a while. To that end, the companies said they are “proud of the work that has been done on Venu to date and grateful to the Venu staff, whom we will support through this transition period.” There are no details as to what this support will entail. Venu Sports, the proposed virtual MVPD service from ESPN, FOX Warner Bros. Discovery, will be discontinuedThe collective decision by the three companies not to move forward with the contemplated joint venture is effective immediatelyMore: https://t.co/Cvwv2h601G pic.twitter.com/lylDeHDy9p— ESPN PR January 10, 2025 The real reason for the shutdown is likely due to ongoing legal woes. Just as one threat disappeared this week, with Fubo dropping an antitrust lawsuit and joining forces with Disney, another popped up in its place. Days after Disney announced a deal to merge Hulu + Live TV with Fubo, a pair of satellite TV companies argued against lifting a pre-existing injunction that delayed the launch of Venu. DirecTV and EchoStar suggested that Fubo and Disney’s newfound friendship doesn’t resolve alleged antitrust issues surrounding Venu Sports. DirecTV wrote to a judge, saying that the joint venture “restores an anticompetitive runway” for the companies “to control the future of the live pay TV market.” EchoStar wrote a similar letter. An unnamed source familiar with Venu Sports told The Hollywood Reporter that the move to cancel the streaming service was made in the past few days and that the aforementioned legal snafu played a role.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/rip-to-the-entirely-hypothetical-streaming-service-venu-sports-180532990.html?src=rss

10.01.2025 22:20 Life for Sleepers is fraught. They gain consciousness in a state of indentured servitude, an emulated human mind inside an android body, forced to work until they’re discarded. Those who escape don’t last long due to trackers in their bodies, and their hardcoded dependence on a drug known as Stabilizer. Without it, a Sleeper’s body will eventually reject its biosynthetic organs. If this sounds like tech's worst excesses of the present taken to their most extreme, you're grasping what Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector's creator, Gareth Damian Martin, is driving at. “Citizen Sleeper was me drawing on things from when I was in my early 20s,” they tell me. In the past, Martin has spoken extensively about how the time they spent as a gig economy worker informed the alienation and atomization of labor that ran through the original game, which they released to widespread critical acclaim in 2022. “With Citizen Sleeper 2, I’m no longer looking at things from that perspective, I’m thinking a little more about how do we continue to build a future when we know that it’s going to fall apart. We know that there’s an inevitable entropy to everything, not just political systems and structures, but our lives and our physical bodies. We know it’s going to fall apart, and yet each day, we keep getting up and we keep doing things.” For story reasons I won’t spoil, the protagonist of the upcoming Citizen Sleeper 2 has managed to deactivate their tracker and no longer needs Stabilizer, but that hasn’t made their existence any less precarious. Where Citizen Sleeper took place exclusively on a single space station, Citizen Sleeper 2 lets the player explore the Starward Belt, a location that’s referenced frequently in the first game. With the change of locale comes a ship and crew for the player to manage, and a dramatic increase in scope. At approximately 250,000 words long, Citizen Sleeper 2’s script is nearly double the length of the original game’s. The stakes are higher too, with a corporate proxy war threatening to engulf the Starward Belt. Jump Over the Age Martin has been working on Citizen Sleeper 2 for nearly two years, or about the same amount of time it took them to complete the original game. All essential systems were already in place, allowing Martin to spend more time on gameplay experimentation and story writing, drawing in particular on two of the most beloved space operas. “You know, Cowboy Bebop is a really good story about the gig economy,” Martin says, laughing. “And people forget how little the characters in Firefly like each other, right? They’re more colleagues than friends, so there’s something really relatable in that.” During their days as a gig economy worker, Martin notes they met many people from different walks of life and places, and while the work pulls people apart almost by design, workers still find solidarity and human connection. The new game inherits many of its predecessor’s gameplay systems. Each day or “cycle,” the player has up to five dice to assign to actions that can earn them money or advance the story. The likelihood of completing an action successfully depends on the die the player assigns to it. A five, for instance, has a 50-50 chance of producing either a neutral or positive outcome, while a six guarantees success. Each task also carries with it a risk factor, with negative dice rolls resulting in more severe results on “risky” and “dangerous” actions. Then there are what the game calls “clocks,” the system that binds everything together. Most story objectives require the player to chip away at a task across multiple cycles. At the same time, there’s often a competing clock counting down the amount of time before a story deadline. On the surface, all of Citizen Sleeper’s systems are simple, but they come together in a way that reinforces the game’s narrative. At least they did at the start. On my first playthrough of Citizen Sleeper, my character eventually earned enough money that securing Stabilizer for them was not an issue. Martin tells me that was by design. “I knew I needed to have players on my side,” they say of the first game. “I needed to win people over. If the game was too harsh, I felt like players wouldn’t give it the time that I wanted them to give to it. This time around, I feel in a very different position.” Jump Over the Age Citizen Sleeper 2, by contrast, is a more confident game — in itself, and in its players to accept a certain degree of suffering. There are story beats and content the players can miss, which was mostly not true in the first game. It also features multiple difficulty settings, and on the hardest one, the player’s Sleeper can experience permadeath. “I didn't know how Citizen Sleeper 2 was going to end when I started making it,” Martin tells me, describing that as a “dangerous game” for a developer to play. “But because I'd made the first one, I felt confident that I could play that game, and that it would come to something really exciting.” The intended effect of Citizen Sleeper 2 is for the player to feel like Martin is leading them through a tabletop RPG experience, like Dungeons Dragons or Blades in the Dark. The story should feel improvised, surprising and moving. Nowhere is that newfound confidence and TTRPG inspiration more apparent than with “Contracts,” Citizen Sleeper’s 2 signature new gameplay feature. Contracts take the Sleeper and up to two companions on jobs away from the safety of the Starward Belt’s population centers. An early one tasks the Sleeper’s crew with diffusing a damaged corporate battle drone. In practice, that meant deactivating two separate systems on the spacecraft, with the catch being that as soon as I gained access to one system, the timer for both started ticking. Each Contract is a miniature pressure cooker, with self-contained risks that can't be relieved until the Contract is over or the player fails. Jump Over the Age Contracts also allowed Martin to explore one of Citizen Sleeper’s less fully realized ideas, “that the dice are the Sleeper’s body.” During Contracts, negative and neutral rolls made during risky and dangerous actions will cause the Sleeper’s stress gauge to increase — a system reminiscent of the need to obtain Stabilizer in the first game. As the gauge fills, specific rolls will begin damaging the player’s dice. Each of the Sleeper’s five dice can sustain three hits before they break; they can't be repaired until fully broken, and not until a Contract is over. Crewmates also have stress gauges, and filling them will leave them out of commission for the remainder of a Contract. Further complicating things is that even after fixing the Sleeper’s dice, they don’t work as expected right away, due to another new mechanic called Glitch. Depending on the components the player uses to fix the Sleeper’s body, they will fill more or less of the Sleeper’s Glitch gauge. In turn, that means there’s a greater chance of a regular die being converted into a glitched one, which has an innate 80-20 chance of producing either a negative or positive outcome, and skill points do nothing to change those odds. At first getting a glitched die feels punishing, but I think it is one of the smartest systems Martin has added to the game. The fact that glitched dice aren’t impacted by skills means they also ignore negative modifiers, which made them great for attempting tasks my Sleeper wasn’t good at, and it really felt like I was pushing my luck. In a nice touch, there’s even an achievement players can earn, an apt nod to Cowboy Bebop named “Whatever happens, happens,” when they score a positive outcome with a glitched die. Jump Over the Age I never felt comfortable playing Citizen Sleeper 2 the way I did with its predecessor. The game's constant surprises meant I often had to push my Sleeper’s body to its breaking point to complete some of its more challenging scenarios. In that way, Citizen Sleeper 2 is far more successful at bringing together its narrative and gameplay ambitions. I also found the story profound and essential at a time when it feels like the world isn’t moving in the right direction. The characters of Citizen Sleeper 2 are surrounded by endless hardship, and yet they find a way to move forward. “Is it pointless that we continue to strive to have human, meaningful relationships and build lives when we know that there are structures bigger than us that might crush us at any moment?” Martin asks me. “Or is it that, even though those structures are so big and powerful, we still live and work with a sense that we can build something and have meaningful relationships because our realities are very personal, real and direct?" Like any good GM, Martin isn’t interested in handing anyone the answer to that question but hopes Citizen Sleeper 2 might lead them to their own. Citizen Sleeper 2 arrives on January 31 on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/citizen-sleeper-2-asks-how-we-stay-human-in-a-hopeless-future-180050858.html?src=rss

10.01.2025 22:20 Lenovo has a new series of updated Legion gaming laptops at CES 2025. The star of the show is the 10th-generation Legion Pro 7i. It supports up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU, thanks to its cooling system that enables up to 250W thermal design power . It also has an AI engine that dynamically adjusts CPU and GPU wattage for optimal performance. The 2025 Legion Pro 7i supports up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor and the aforementioned RTX 5090 on the graphics side. Lenovo’s Legion Coldfront Vapor cooling helps it support that high-end hardware. Tack on up to 64GB of 6400Mhz DDR5 RAM and the built-in LA1+LA3 AI chip, and you’re looking at a souped-up machine for on-the-go gaming . The laptop has up to a 16-inch WQXGA OLED display. The screen supports up to a 240Hz frame rate and has a 1ms response time. It can reach 500 nits of brightness. The Legion Pro 7i has two USB-C ports , three USB-A ports and HDMI 2.1. With all that high-end hardware inside, it’s quite the beefy machine, with a starting weight of around 6 lbs. It launches in March. But all that horsepower doesn’t come cheap: Lenovo says the Legion Pro 7i has an expected starting price of $2,399 — and you can safely bet that RTX 5090 variants will fetch a premium on top of that. Lenovo Legion Pro 5iLenovo Meanwhile, the 10th-gen Legion Pro 5i and Legion Pro 5 offer up to an Intel Ultra 9 275HX or AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX, respectively. Their thermal power supports up to 200W, which enables up to an RTX 5070 Ti Laptop for graphics. You can order configurations with up to 32GB of 6400Mhz DDR5 RAM. It also has up to a 16-inch WQXGA OLED screen at up to 500 nits with a 1ms response time. But at 165Hz, its maximum frame rates don’t go quite as high as the Pro 7i. Like the Pro 7i, the Pro 5 series uses Lenovo’s AI Engine+ with a Scenario Detection feature that dynamically tweaks the CPU and GPU wattage based on the moment’s needs. It has the same port setup as the Pro 7i, but at least it weighs a bit less . Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait longer for the more affordable Pro 5 series. The Legion Pro 5i launches in May , while the Legion Pro 5 arrives in June . Lenovo Legion 7iLenovo Lenovo also has a 10th-gen version of the Legion 7i, which the company’s oddly specific PR copy says is for “gamers actively studying in STEM programs and fields.” It also supports up to an Intel Ultra 9 275HX and RTX 5070 GPU and has up to a 16-inch WQXGA OLED with up to 240Hz and 1ms. However, its Coldfront Hyper cooling maxes out at a lower 145W TDP, so you won’t get the same top-level performance as the more expensive Pro models. Starting at 4.4 lbs., it’s notably thinner and lighter than the Pro models. It has an all-metal chassis. It will be available in June for $1,599. Finally, there’s also a 10th-gen Legion 5i. Sticking with the oddly specific PR framing, Lenovo says this model is for “university gamers in non-STEM programs.” It has up to a 15.1-inch WQXGA OLED and supports up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and RTX 5070 Laptop GPU. The Legion 5i is slated for a May launch, starting at $1,299.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/lenovo-ces-2025-the-10th-gen-legion-pro-7i-gaming-laptop-supports-up-to-rtx-5090-graphics-160004703.html?src=rss

10.01.2025 22:20 It was an interesting year for robots at CES 2025. While we had hoped the AI boom would bring a new wave of useful robots to the show, it seems that many robotics companies are still figuring out exactly how to best use AI. What we found instead was a mix of adorable robot companions, strange concepts and one, slightly terrifying humanoid. We visited a lot of robots at CES and, for better or worse, some really left an impression on us. These are the ones that stood out the most. TCL Ai Me Karissa Bell for Engadget Of all the surprisingly adorable robots we saw at CES, TCL’s Ai Me was one of the cutest. The concept was on display at TCL’s booth delighting and bewildering everyone who walked by. With a voice and eyes that are meant to sound like an actual human child, TCL seems to be pitching this as an emotional support/companion robot for kids. At the booth, Ai Me wasn’t doing much besides moving around in its wheeled, egg-shaped base, but the company says that the AI-powered robot could be used to control smart home devices or record vlogs, thanks to built-cameras and AI capabilities. For now, it’s unclear if TCL actually plans to sell this thing, but the company seemed to have put quite a bit of effort into its CES demo. In addition to the one slowly wheeling around a mock-up living room, TCL showed off a lineup of different outfits, including fuzzy bunny suits and a denim vest, for Ai Me. -Karissa Bell Ropet Karissa Bell for Engadget As we walked over to the Ropet booth, a person was waving a plastic hotdog in front of the little robot and small cartoon hotdogs flashed across its eyes in response. I was pretty much sold at that moment, but it turned out to have some other pretty interesting things going on too. Ropet responds to voice, touch and gestures, and has its own cute little emotional reactions. It’s conversational if you want it to be, with ChatGPT integration. Mostly it’s just adorable. -Cheyenne MacDonald Mirumi Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget Mirumi is one of those CES oddities that makes you simultaneously go, “What the hell is this?” and, “Omg I love this.” It’s small, fluffy and has no other purpose than to make you smile by looking around and staring at you like an innocent baby. I immediately felt the need to protect it with my life. — CM Romi Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget Romi is a conversational robot that fits in the palm of your hand and is here for you if you want to chat, vent or just hang out. The newest model of the robot turned up at Unveiled, and we couldn’t help but be charmed by its cute facial expressions. It fits nicely in your hands, so you can carry it around the house with you while you walk around complaining about your workday. -CM Miroki Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget Miroki was at CES last year, but the Enchanted Tools team was back showing off the latest version and some new skills, including LLM integration. If you were able to fight through the crowd surrounding it to get up close, you may have seen it rolling around waving at people, blinking its big cartoon eyes and flicking its ears like a deer. Undecided on whether it’s cute or a little unnerving. -CM Scorpion Not sure which had a bigger presence at #CES2025, robots or "APT." pic.twitter.com/NLZWey94dI— Engadget January 10, 2025 Scorpion is an AI bartender from Richtech Robotics that unfortunately wasn’t slinging drinks when we saw it , but did perform a synchronized dance to “Apt.” with the company’s Adam bot. Come for the arthropodal robot, stay for the K-pop. -CM Unitree G1 and "Robot Dog" This robot attacked me.Karissa Bell for Engadget Of all the robots we saw at CES 2025, Unitree’s take the prize for most terrifying. The company was showing off its new quadruped “robot dog” and humanoid G1 robots. The quadruped, which is essentially their take on Boston Dynamic’s Spot robot, showed off to onlookers by running around the booth, climbing stairs and sitting on its “hind legs.” But it was the G1 that proved to be the robot we needed to worry about. I was taking photos of the roughly 4-foot tall humanoid when it suddenly ran at me full-speed. I was only a foot or so in front of it at the time due to the crowd in the booth, so the roughly 60-pound G1 slammed directly into my body at an all out run. The surrounding crowd met I was essentially pinned in place for a few seconds while the robot continued to attempt to run through me until its operator was able to regain control. Fortunately, this was a case of user error and not the beginning of a robot uprising. The person holding the gamepad-like controller for the robot had mistakenly mashed the joystick, sending it directly into my body. At least I can now say I know what it feels like to be body slammed by a robot. -KB Mi-Mo Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget One of the more unusual robots we saw at CES, Mi-Mo is a six-legged table with a lamp on top. We didn’t see Mi-Mo do much besides shimmy around the show floor and “wave,” but there are some really interesting ideas behind the AI-powered robot. It runs on multiple large language models and "thinks and acts" based on its environment. Its creators say it could help with childcare and eldercare tasks. Mi-Mo will be available to developers and researchers as a dev kit later this year. -KB Reachy 2 Daniel Cooper for Engadget Pollen Robotics was here at CES showing off Reachy 2, it’s latest machine that’ll cost you $75,000 if you have that sort of cash laying around. It’s an adorable open-source machine with a human pilot that, its makers say, is ideal for tele-operation and data acquisition. I just think it’s cute, especially when it waves at you. -Daniel Cooper Additional reporting by Daniel Cooper.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/the-robots-we-saw-at-ces-2025-the-good-the-bad-and-the-completely-unhinged-174529774.html?src=rss