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08.01.2025 15:40 RollAway combines the luxuries of a high-end hotel with the freedom of camping, all in a drivable, eco-friendly package. RollAway is a camper-van rental service that offers an on-demand concierge who can plan your trip, direct you along the way, provide tips about the best spots to visit, and keep your space equipped with five-star amenities. The van has a seating area that transforms into a queen bed, a kitchen with a sink and dual-burner stovetop, a shower, toilet, lots of storage, and a panoramic roof. When the van’s rear rolling door is pulled down, it acts as a screen for the included projector. But that’s just all the built-in stuff. RollAway also comes with a lineup of top-tier amenities, including Yeti coolers and cups, Starlink satellite Wi-Fi, locally sourced breakfast packages, Malin+Goetz toiletries, fresh linens, and a tablet loaded with hospitality services. The tablet gives you access to a live virtual concierge and the Hospitality On-Demand app, which houses your itinerary, room service and housekeeping requests. In the future, RollAway will offer a full housekeeping service, but that feature isn’t live quite yet. RollAway Best of all, RollAway is a sustainability-focused, zero-emissions endeavor. The vans are fully electric, courtesy of GM’s EV subsidiary BrightDrop, and they have a single-charge range of more than 270 miles. They also have a fast charging option. The vans have solar panels, a waterless toilet, and low-waste water systems for serious off-grid trips, or they can be fully hooked up at RV sites. We took a quick tour of a RollAway van at CES 2025 and found it to be as luxurious as advertised. The kitchen table slides into the seating area when it’s not in use, creating a fairly open hangout space at the very back of the van. The kitchen felt plenty large for camping purposes, and the most cramped space was the bathroom, which held a toilet and a sliver of a hand-washing sink. All of the finishing touches seemed sturdy and looked sleek. We were deeply tempted to drive right off the show floor in the thing. Engadget RollAway just started booking trips in late 2024, and the service is almost fully reserved throughout 2025. Reservations cost around $400 a night. It’s available only in the San Francisco Bay Area for now, but more cities are coming soon. RollAway had a successful funding round on Indiegogo in 2023, raising more than $47,000 of a $20,000 goal. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/rollaway-is-a-rentable-ev-camper-van-with-a-concierge-service-and-luxury-amenities-130025021.html?src=rss

08.01.2025 15:40 Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced yesterday that the company is swinging away from its efforts to corral its content. Meta is suspending its fact-checking program to move to an X-style Community Notes model on Facebook, Instagram and Threads. We go into detail on the changes Meta promised, but is the company attempting to court the new Trump presidency? Well, alongside donating to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund, replacing policy chief Nick Clegg with a former George W. Bush aide and even adding Trump’s buddy Dana White to its board… yeah. Probably. Meta blocked Trump from using his accounts on its platforms for years after he stoked the flames of the attempted coup of January 6, 2021. At the time, Zuckerberg said, “His decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building has rightly disturbed people in the US and around the world.” But who cares about that when you could get some sweet favor with the incoming administration? Zuckerberg, who revealed the change on Fox News, said Trump’s election win is part of the reasoning behind Meta’s policy shift, calling it “a cultural tipping point” on free speech. He said the company will work with Trump to push back against other governments, including China. He added, “Europe has an ever-increasing number of laws institutionalizing censorship and making it difficult to build anything innovative there.” It’s not innovative to copy everything rival social networks do, Mark. Also, pay your fines, Mark. Alongside Zuckerberg’s video, Meta had a blog post — “More Speech and Fewer Mistakes” — detailing incoming changes and policy shifts — or more lies and fewer consequences. — Mat Smith Get this delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! The biggest tech stories you missed X’s Linda Yaccarino on Meta ending fact checking: ‘Welcome to the party’ Rictor’s Skyrider X1 is equal parts moped, quadcopter and fantasy NVIDIA announces new RTX 5090 graphics card for $2,000 Everything else NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang announced at CES 2025 Gemini AI smarts are coming to Google Home Making the assistant a better conversationalist. Google is integrating Gemini capabilities into its smart home platform via devices, like the Nest Audio, Nest Hub and Nest Cameras, and at CES we finally got to see them in action. The main takeaway is that conversations with Google Assistant will feel more natural. Possibly the most impressive trick we saw was the case of the missing cookies. The rep asked the Nest Hub what happened to the cookies on the counter, and it pulled footage from a connected Nest Cam, showing a dog walking into a kitchen, swiping a cookie and scampering off. Cheeky. These Gemini-improved smarts will reach Nest Aware subscribers in a public preview later this year. Subscribers? Cheeky. In case you missed it, Gemini is also coming to Google-powered TVs. Continue reading. CES 2025: More solar silliness Put a solar panel on it. Engadget Following Anker’s thrilling solar beach umbrella, we’re moving onto accessories. EcoFlow’s Solar hat is a floppy number able to charge two devices at a time. EcoFlow says it’ll output a maximum of 5V / 2.4A, so you can expect it to keep your phone or tablet topped up, if not power anything more substantial. Fashion victims can rejoice: It’s already on sale for $129. The Solar hat also marks the start of my favorite part of CES coverage: compromising pictures of our editors looking goofy in tech. Wait until you see Cherlynn Low tomorrow. Continue reading. CES 2025: The robot vacuum that can climb stairs Don’t tell the Daleks. Engadget I don’t know why this is the year everyone’s going hard on truly innovating with robot vacuums, but here we are. Dreame’s new model doesn’t have an arm, but it can climb stairs. For just $1,699. Continue reading. The Lenovo Legion Go S is the first third-party SteamOS handheld There’s also a Windows 11 version that will arrive earlier. Ready to supplant the beefy Legion Go, Lenovo is announcing a slightly more portable version called the Legion Go S, supporting two OSes: Windows 11 and SteamOS. The specs on both are nearly identical, with either an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chip or the Z1 Extreme APU Lenovo used on the previous model, up to 32GB of RAM, 1TB SSD and a 55.5Wh battery. Compared to the original Legion Go, the S features a smaller but still large 8-inch 120 Hz OLED display with a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution and VRR instead of 2,560 x 1,600 144Hz panel like on the original. That should translate to a better battery life, but we’ll have to see when we eventually get one to test. Continue reading. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121616843.html?src=rss

08.01.2025 15:40 It’s the second day of CES 2025, and I’m sure you’ve spent the whole day with your eyes pointed to our liveblog containing all the news of the day. But I’m sure there are a few folks who might have sneezed, or blinked, and missed something important. Which is why we’ve made this lovely list of all the biggest news from this day of the show, just for those folks who sneezed. Lenovo blesses us with its presence at CES There was plenty more PC-flavored news broadcast to the world, including Lenovo’s turn in the spotlight. Most notably, it showed off the ThinkBook Plus, a real version of its flexible OLED laptop from a few years back. At the touch of a button, that 14-inch display will expand to a bit more productivity-friendly 16.7-inches, which might justify the $3,500 starting price. Lenovo also showed off a dummy prototype of its Legion Go 2 gaming handheld, and hints as to what specs it’ll be carrying. Alongside that, it announced the Legion Go S, the first third-party SteamOS gaming handheld that’ll offer a legitimate alternative to the Steam Deck. If you’d rather play games in a more traditional way, by which I mean with one leg as an ersatz table while you sit awkwardly on a crowded bus, then you can opt for Lenovo’s new Legion Pro 7i gaming laptop which can be specced with NVIDIA’s RTX 5090 graphics. Of course, Lenovo also released some normal laptops, including the Yoga Slim 9i, the first laptop to launch with an under-display camera. The tweak enables it to boast a 98 percent screen to body ratio, which should get all of your friends and enemies feeling jealous. The ThinkPad X9, meanwhile, will likely break hearts of longstanding ThinkPad fans, since it has no aluminum chassis and no Trackpoint. Yes, we can hardly believe it too. Qualcomm brings new chips, while Maingear, ASUS and Razer bring the PC goodies Qualcomm, with less to prove than Intel right now, has announced its Snapdragon X chips will land in more Windows Copilot + PCs in the near future. A plethora of models are currently in development, with a focus on affordability rather than bells and whistles. Qualcomm and its partners, which include Acer, Dell, HP and Lenovo are targeting a base price of $600. Which should be affordable enough for plenty of entry-level buyers to update their ageing hardware to take advantage of whatever we work out what AI is actually good for. ASUS’ new ZenBook A14 made its debut in the desert, showing off some pretty lovely industrial design and a spec sheet to match. Engadget’s Devindra Hardawar was delighted with the premium materials used in its construction, and the look and feel. The one downside is that it’s equipped / blighted with Qualcomm’s X or Elite chips, limiting backwards compatibility with older Windows apps. Maingear, meanwhile, went to town on its fancy-looking water-cooled desktops as it attempts to reassert its dominance in the custom PC space. The range comes with heavy-duty plumbing and a whole bunch of fans and radiators to help keep your planet-burning GPUs cool. One permanent fixture of CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada is gaming company Razer showing off its latest lighting-infused hardware. First up, it debuted its new Blade 16 laptop, which it says is its thinnest gaming laptop ever made. It also showed off Project Arielle, an RGB-clad gaming chair that’ll glow red as it warms you up and blue as it cools you down. And, to round things out, the company also showed off a fancypants monitor stand that, surprise surprise, was also RGB. Smart Glasses at CES 2025 Smart glasses have always been something of a technological cul-de-sac, but the signs are that the technology is quickly maturing. We’ve seen plenty of specs at this year’s CES that aren’t just a faddy gimmick with a too-expensive price tag. For instance, RayNeo’s new X3 AR Pro frames comes with a built-in camera and the ability to interact with a ChatGPT-powered assistant. Then there’s Even Realities, which brought the G1A and G1B to the show, which impressed me no end. They’re far lower tech than some of the products on offer, but with a more robust feature set that includes real-time translation, teleprompting and turn-by-turn directions. Xreal, too, was able to show off its latest personal cinema-style AR glasses that didn’t make me want to throw up the second I put them on. The CES Auto Show: New Honda EVs and BMW’s Panoramic iDrive turn heads Honda rocked up in Nevada to talk up prototype models of the concept vehicles it showed off last year. The 0 Series Saloon sedan, which 100% looks like the car Inspector Gadget would drive, and the 0 Series SUV, which also looks like a car Inspector Gadget would drive. The auto maker said both models will be available to buy at some point next year, harnessing Honda’s brand-spanking new EV architecture. And BMW was also here, showing off its new Panoramic iDrive system that’ll come to every new BMW. That includes a display running the width of the dashboard with key statistics on your drive, rather than sticking it in an instrument binnacle like a normal person is used to. Of course, the idea here is to give you so many places to stick useful information it’s impossible for you to miss what’s going on. Unless you spend so much time staring at the raft of digital displays that you forget your eyes should really be pointed toward the road. The rest of the best at CES 2025 Day two of CES is where the focus pivots from the biggest names to everyone else, and there was plenty of interesting stuff on show. For instance, InkPoster uses color e-paper displays as a canvas upon which you can hang digital art on your walls. MCON by OhSnap is a neat magnetic game controller for your smartphone with high-class features like Hall Effect Joysticks. Anker built a solar umbrella that lets you re-juice your gadgets while catching some rays. And, not one to be outdone, EcoFlow showed off a solar hat that’ll do the same thing, but goofier.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-best-tech-and-gadgets-we-found-on-ces-2025-day-two-110005772.html?src=rss

08.01.2025 15:40 Choosing the best Android phone can feel overwhelming as there are so many options from so many brands, it’s hard to know where to start. Unlike Apple, which sticks to its sleek lineup of iPhones, Android offers a world of variety. Whether you're eyeing the latest flagship from Samsung, a budget-friendly smartphone from Motorola or something unique with a foldable design, there’s an Android device out there to suit your needs.The beauty of Android is its flexibility. You’ll find phones with different screen sizes, camera setups, battery life and even quirky extras like stylus support or rugged builds. Plus, Android lets you customize your device to your heart's content – something Apple fans might envy. We’ve tested and researched the top Android phones to help you find the right one for your budget, lifestyle, and tech preferences. What to look for in a new Android phone Performance When it comes to picking our favorite Android phones, the main things we look for are pretty straightforward: good performance , a nice display, solid design, sharp cameras, long battery life and a significant commitment to ongoing software support. For performance, not only do we look at benchmarks and other metrics, but we also evaluate phones based on responsiveness. Regardless of whether you’re reading, text messaging, scrolling through social media or playing a game, no one wants a gadget that feels sluggish. Display Sam Rutherford/Engadget When it comes to displays, we generally prefer OLED panels that can produce rich, saturated colors with at least 600 nits of brightness, though many of our top mid-range and high-end phones can hit 1,000 nits or more. And more recently, most of our favorite devices also support screens with fast refresh rates of 90Hz or 120Hz, which adds an extra level of smoothness and fluidity. Design Now we will admit there is a bit of subjectivity when deciding which phones look the best, but there are other design aspects like dust and water resistance or screen durability that can make a big difference to long-term survival. It’s also important to consider things like support for wireless charging, power sharing and UWB connectivity, which can have an impact on how your phone interacts with your other devices. Cameras Obviously, for photos we’re looking for sharp, colorful shots in both bright and low-light conditions. And we want video clips with high dynamic range, rich audio and smooth image stabilization. Extra cameras for ultra-wide and telephoto lenses are a plus. The best cameras should also include features like dedicated night modes, support for various video recording resolutions, and additional photo modes like timelapse, slow motion and more. Battery and software Finally, in terms of longevity, we’re looking for all-day battery life on devices that also delivered great results on our local video rundown test . Wireless charging capabilities have become almost ubiquitous over the past few years, and most of our top picks have this extra perk. Fast-charging is available on some Android phones, too. Finally, with people holding onto their phones longer than ever, we like to see companies commit to at least three years of software support, upgrades and regular security updates. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/best-android-phone-130030805.html?src=rss

08.01.2025 05:22 It turns out that Roborock isn’t the only company that brought a robot vacuum with a mechanical arm to CES 2025. Rival company Dreame, which unveiled its stair-climbing robot vacuum earlier in the week, is also working on a robot vacuum with an arm for picking up objects. The device is still a prototype, according to the company, but the as yet unnamed robo vac was on full display at Dreame’s CES booth. Considering it’s still a prototype, the actual arm looked far more substantial compared to the one on Roborock’s Saros Z70. It was much thicker and had a bigger “claw” that looked like it might be able to pick up slightly heavier objects. Plot Twist: Dreame also brought a robo vac with an retractable arm to CES pic.twitter.com/dLPGC135k5— Karissa Bell January 8, 2025 Unfortunately, Dreame wasn’t showing it actually grab anything, but I was able to watch the arm extend and retract several times. It appeared to be on a similar device as the X50 as the prototype vacuum also rocked up onto “legs,” much like Dreame's stair-stepping X50. A Dreame rep at the booth told me that the company has been working on the prototype for a while, but decided to accelerate its plans for the vacuum at CES. After a quick glance up, I knew exactly what he was referring to: Dreame’s booth is positioned directly across from Roborock, which was displaying a massive replica of its arm-wielding Saros Z70 on top of its booth. Maybe next year we'll see the two robot vacuum arms wrestle. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/more-than-one-company-brought-a-robot-vacuum-with-a-mechanical-arm-to-ces-2025-014056459.html?src=rss

08.01.2025 05:22 We may no longer be at the height of the tiny home craze, but the idea of a resource-light, efficiently built home that can be plonked down just about anywhere still appeals. Today at CES, I got to tour the 2025 model of the microhaus Pro from California-based Haus.me. It was shiny, swankily appointed and, honestly, not as expensive as I thought it'd be. The interior of the 120-square foot unit is all wood tones, glass and soft neutrals. It's like you took a shipping container and replaced the hard lines and corrugated steel with rounded corners and floor-to-ceiling windows. The surfaces glint and every part of the space is maximized with an Ikea-like small-space efficiency, like the queen-sized Murphy bed that folds up to reveal a table and two bench seats. The kitchen has a small fridge, microwave and included in the price is a full suite of Villeroy Boch dishware and there's a full-sized shower in the bathroom. The units truly can go just about anywhere with no site preparation required — if the ground is flat, it'll work. The microhaus Pro is also climate agnostic, with the ability to set up in snowy forests, hot deserts and temperate beaches . It's also seismic California fire code and CAT-5 hurricane compliant. Amy Skorheim / Engadget Installation takes usually under an hour and doesn't require any special hook ups — a garden hose and an extension cord is all it needs. And thanks to its size, it falls below the size threshold that would require a permit. The included 3.6 kWh battery can run everything in the home for four days and there's an optional atmospheric water generation and a battery life of four days. Drinking water is reverse osmosis filtered and the waste disposal system "melts" everything into liquid, which can be run out an extendable pipe you can connect to septic or a holding tank. The Pro model also features high-end perks like voice control via the Apple HomePod mounted to the wall. During my tour, Max Gerbut, Haus.me's CEO asked Siri to lower the shades, and it complied. You also get the full package, dishes, towels et cetera — I even saw a drawer full of M&Ms in the kitchen and was assured you get those too. The Pro model is a more deluxe and robust edition meant for Airbnb and rental use and goes for $89,99. If you don't need the smart home features, the battery backup and the included dishes, you can grab the microhaus Lite for $59,990. There's also a $35,000 shell version that includes just the HVAC system, lights, wiring, bathroom fixtures and plumbing. One thing none of the microhaus models include is solar generation. For that, you'll need to switch up to the 400 and 800 square-foot units. Those have the same put-it-anywhere convenience but are fully autonomous and go for $199,000 and $299,000, respectively. Note that none of the prices include delivery. It's true — none of these prices are small numbers. But I've helped build yurts, tiny homes and sheds. I've lived in more than one hand-built home and have looked into many other modular, pre-fab options. Comparatively, these prices aren't terribly high, especially when you consider there's nearly no site prep, no installation and no contractor required. The microhaus Pro is available to order now from the Haus.me website. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/at-ces-2025-i-toured-the-haus-microhaus-pro-a-self-contained-living-pod-you-can-put-just-about-anywhere-011604860.html?src=rss

08.01.2025 05:22  Pebble unveiled the Pebble Flow all-electric RV trailer at last year's CES. At this year's show, they've finalized both design and price for the Pebble Flow. Pebble announced that the RV trailer will be go into production at the start of 2025, with deliveries of expected to begin in the spring of the year. The final design of the trailer includes some new additions to what Pebble introduced in Las Vegas in 2024. The interior has been revised for improved access to cabinets, additional side and rear windows, a bigger door, and larger storage space. The Pebble Flow has also gotten some tweaks to the exterior and the drivetrain system has been re-engineered. The Pebble Flow is equipped with a 45 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery and a 1.1 kW solar array. According to the company, this can support up to seven days on the road from solar recharging and regenerative braking. The base model will cost $109,500. The Magic Pack upgrade option adds a dual-motor drivetrain that enables advanced automation features; this model costs $135,500. The Founders Edition model, with a limited-edition color and the complete set of available upgrades, will cost $175,000.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/pebble-flow-all-electric-rv-trailer-will-begin-deliveries-this-spring-003024921.html?src=rss

08.01.2025 05:22 Surprising no one, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang isn't too worried about a future filled with robots and superintelligent AI. In fact, he welcomes it. During a CES Q&A session with media and analysts, Huang was asked if he thought intelligent robots would ultimately side with humans, or against them. "With the humans, because we're going to build them that way," he replied confidently. "The idea of superintelligence is not unusual," Huang continued. "I have a company with many many people who are superintelligent in their field of work. I'm surrounded by superintelligence. And I prefer to be surrounded by superintelligence than the alternative." Given that the hype around generative AI has been huge for NVIDIA's business — it's currently vying with Apple and Microsoft for the largest valuation in the world — it makes sense that Huang would be all for a future where we're more reliant on smarter AI. He falls short of proclaiming the arrival of god-like artificial general intelligence like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Tesla's Elon Musk, instead Huang's vision sounds more task-focused. "That's the future, you're going to have superintelligent AI that will let you write, analyze problems, deal with supply chain planning, write software, design chips," he said. "The technology, of course, can be used in many ways, but it's humans that are harmful. I think machines are machines." During the morning Q&A session, which came after Huang's lengthy CES keynote to a mostly unenthusiastic crowd, he admitted that he did a poor job of conveying his vision for AI in the real world. Huang thinks the combination of NVIDIA's Omniverse technology for visualizing 3D routines, as well as NVIDIA Cosmos for generating photorealistic environments for AI training, will make it easier to train robots for real-world work. That could end up being one small step towards AI superintelligence — or, at the very least, slightly more capable robots.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-welcomes-the-rise-of-superintelligent-ai-at-ces-2025-002827074.html?src=rss

08.01.2025 05:22 Longstanding solar generator company Jackery is leveling up the US’ roof game with the introduction of XBC curved solar shingles. Debuting at CES 2025, Jackery’s curved solar roof tiles come in terracotta or obsidian, designed to match some of the most common house styles in the country. While solar shingles definitely already exist in the US, these are the first with a wavy aesthetic. It sounds like HOA presidents everywhere just lost one more excuse for preventing your rooftop solar installation. Jackery The new tiles deliver a cell conversion efficiency of more than 25 percent, and they’re built to withstand extreme weather conditions, including hail, high wind and temperatures between -40 degrees F and 185 degrees F. They’re designed in line with traditional roofing installation practices, featuring a modular setup that allows for flexible, piecemeal maintenance. Jackery provides a 30-year warranty on the tiles, too. The Jackery Solar Roof system integrates with the company’s existing in-home solar solutions, including the HomePower Inverter, Battery, Hub and Hub Plus, and the Solar Generator 5000 Plus and Smart Transfer Switch Kit. There’s no word on specific pricing or availability for the new tiles just yet, even though Jackery was highlighting them in a big way at CES 2025. Jackery, founded in Silicon Valley in 2012, is one of the leading names in portable generators and whole-home solar kits, a market that's becoming more accessible by the year. Engadget Also at this year's show, Jackery showed off its first Solar Generator RV Kit, the new 3000v2 backup generator, and its full-coverage HomePower Energy System. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/jackerys-curved-solar-roof-tiles-are-so-normie-even-your-hoa-might-like-them-000009034.html?src=rss

08.01.2025 01:00 You probably didn’t have X CEO Linda Yaccarino praising Meta and Mark Zuckerberg on your CES 2025 bingo card, yet here we are. Speaking during a keynote address in Las Vegas, Yaccarino described Meta’s decision to end its longtime fact checking program and implement community notes as “exciting” and “validating.” Yaccarino and and X owner Elon Musk have both championed the crowd-sourced fact-checking feature that Meta now plans to emulate on its own services. “I think it’s really exciting when you think about community notes being good for the world … and it couldn’t be more validating than to see that Mark and Meta realize that,” Yaccarino said. “Mark, Meta, welcome to the party.” Meta and Zuckerberg may find themselves in dubious company at the “party,” however. While X often touts the number of users who contribute to Community Notes, some researchers have pointed out flaws in the feature. A report last year from misinformation researchers at the Center for Countering Digital Hate noted that many misleading posts, including prominent posts from Musk himself, can rack up billions of views without receiving a correction. It’s not surprising at all that Yaccarino would praise Zuckerberg's move to cut ties with the media institutions that have been its longtime partners for fact-checking content on Facebook and Instagram. Like her boss Musk, she’s made no secret of her disdain for “legacy media,” and she spent a significant portion of her time onstage railing against “legacy news that is designed to make you think a certain way.” Zuckerberg’s move to loosen its content moderation standards is the latest sign of just how far the Facebook founder is willing to go to realign himself with the political right as Donald Trump prepares to take office. He also added a prominent Trump backer, UFC CEO Dana White, to Meta’s board and elevated the company’s most prominent Republican executive to run global affairs.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/linda-yaccarino-on-meta-ending-fact-checking-welcome-to-the-party-231304753.html?src=rss

08.01.2025 01:00 According to Wikipedia, the first instance of the phrase “post-truth” was written by Steve Teisch in 1992 when referencing political scandals post-Watergate. Clearly, ol’ Stevie never visited CES, where the standards for saying things that are provably true are slightly laxer than in the rest of civil discourse. Apropos of nothing, a company called Rictor, which makes and sells one e-bike, the Rictor K1, is advertising the Skyrider X1. A moped-cum-quadcopter that you can use to zoom through the streets one second, and through the skies another. Which, as you all know, is a totally achievable thing for any consumer electronics company to be able to achieve by its promised launch date of 2026. The Skyrider X1, its theoretical makers claim, is an electric moped with an enclosed cabin that, when things get too congested, will transform into a quadcopter. All you’ll need to do is pop out the four arms, each with two fanblades, and you’ll be able to ascend up to a maximum of 200 meters above the ground. Rictor says safety is its top priority, including plenty of redundant systems and, should all else fail, a built-in parachute. Plus, the Skyrider X1 is capable of automatically taking off and landing, and can plan its optimal route when it’s up in the air. And on the company’s website, it says the X1 SL, with a 10.5kWh battery will have a flight time of 25 minutes, while the X1 SX, with its 21kWh battery, will stay in the air for 40 minutes. That’s pretty exciting, not to mention the company says that it’s aiming to sell the Skyrider X1 for $60,000, far below what you might expect to pay for a mop-copter in this class. You could buy one and use it to speed up your DoorDash deliveries and earn some sweet money in tips. Perhaps, when the pre-order page opens, you can lay down that cash before heading over to my new venture, where I’ll sell you a bridge. Seriously, one of London’s many bridges, that you’ll own, all to yourself, but you will need to arrange delivery and pay for shipping with a third party I haven’t yet invented.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/rictors-skyrider-x1-is-equal-parts-moped-quadcopter-and-fantasy-220802108.html?src=rss

08.01.2025 01:00 The Lenovo Legion Go is sort of like the SUV of gaming handhelds. It’s big, beefy, comes with a lot of extra equipment like detachable controllers and it supports vertical mouse functionality that lets it adapt to all sorts of situations. All of that versatility is great, but it makes the device kind of bulky. But for CES 2025, Lenovo is announcing a slightly more portable version called the Legion Go S with support for not one but two different OSes: Windows 11 and SteamOS. That said, the specs on both variants are nearly identical. They feature either an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chip or the Z1 Extreme APU Lenovo used on the previous model, with up to 32GB of RAM, 1TB SSD and a 55.5Wh battery. You also get a microSD card slot for expandable storage, two USB 4 ports and a 3.5mm audio jack. The main difference is their color as the Windows 11 Legion Go S comes in white while the SteamOS model will be available in black. Compared to the original Legion Go, the S features a smaller but still large 8-inch 120 Hz OLED display with a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution and VRR instead of 2,560 x 1,600 144Hz panel like on the original. It also doesn’t have detachable controllers or a kickstand. The benefit of this is that the whole system feels much sturdier, which should make you feel better about tossing it in a bag before your next trip. It’s also noticeably lighter at 1.6 pounds versus 1.9 for its older sibling. Notably, you still get analog sticks with Hall Effect sensors, which you don’t get on rivals like ASUS’ pricey ROG Ally X. Lenovo also moved to a new pivot-style D-pad, though I’m not sure that counts as a true upgrade as I tend to prefer the classic cross-style ones. Another nice bonus for tinkerers is that on the inside, the Go S comes with a shorter 2242 SSD module even though it can accommodate desktop-size 2280 sticks. Initially, I got a chance to check out the Windows 11 version, whose performance felt quite snappy thanks to the drop in resolution to 1,920 x 1,200, which feels like a more suitable match for its components. Lenovo has also made some improvements to its Legion Space app, so it functions much better as a general game launch and a place to tweak performance and settings. I also appreciate little touches like how even though it's much smaller, the Legion Go S still has a touchpad in front, which is such a huge help when you need to exit Legion Space and navigate around in Windows. I’d even say that despite its size, the pad on the Go S is more responsive, as it feels more like a trackball than a tiny touchpad. And around back, there’s a small toggle for adjusting how far you can pull the shoulder buttons. As for the Legion Go S powered by SteamOS, I found it remarkable how similar it felt to the Steam Deck despite not being made by Valve. The UI is almost identical, the only differences are some subtle tweaks Lenovo added to support things like the handheld’s RGB lighting and higher 30-watt TDP. In person, the SteamOS models’ casing looks more like a dark purple than pure black, which is a nice subtle touch. However my biggest takeaways is that Valve’s OS felt slightly more responsive that it does on the Steam Deck, which I’m attributing to the Legion’s newer APU. The small hiccup is that a higher-end version of Legion Go S running Windows 11 is expected to go on sale first sometime later this month starting at $730 with an AMD Z2 Go processor, 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Unfortunately, that means anyone who wants one of the more affordable models with 16GB of RAM or running SteamOS will have to wait a bit longer, as those variants won’t be available until May. On the bright side, the Legion Go S powered by SteamOS will have a lower starting price of $499 compared to an equivalent Windows model which will start at $599.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/ces-2025-the-lenovo-legion-go-s-is-the-first-third-party-steamos-handheld-160001642.html?src=rss

08.01.2025 01:00 Afeela is coming back for a curtain call. After dominating the Sony press conference on the opening night of CES 2025, the debut EV from Sony Honda Mobility is getting its own breakout event today. What to expect at Afeela's CES 2025 press conference We know a lot more about the Afeela 1 than we did 24 hours ago, thanks to Sony's earlier presser. The Afeela 1 Origin and Afeela 1 Signature are priced at $89,900 and $109,900, respectively. Customers in California are now able to reserve a Signature trim for a refundable fee of $200 and the first deliveries are planned for mid-2026. The Origin variant is set to arrive the following year. Both variants factor in three years of access to services including Level 2+ driver assistance, the Afeela Personal Agent and a range of entertainment options. At the Afeela keynote, we should learn much more about the Afeela 1. Expect a closer look at a near-final version of the EV, which is packed with tech. Watch the Afeela CES 2025 livestream You can watch the Afeela CES 2025 press conference live right here. The keynote starts Tuesday, January 7 at 7:30PM ET. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/sony-honda-mobility-ces-2025-keynote-learn-more-about-the-afeela-1-ev-live-here-212536780.html?src=rss

08.01.2025 01:00 NVIDIA held its CES 2025 keynote last night with CEO Jensen Huang and it was surprisingly eventful. The company finally unveiled its much awaited GeForce RTX 5000 GPUs that promise a considerable performance uplift, to start with. The company didn't stop there, also announcing Project Digits, a personal AI supercomputer, along with DLSS 4 and more. Here's a wrap-up of what happened — and you can watch the whole event uncut, via the YouTube embed below. NVIDIA RTX 5000-series GPUs Huang strode out in a new snakeskin-like leather jacket and revealed the much-anticipated RTX 5090 GPU. With 32GB of GDDR7 RAM and an impressive 21,760 CUDA cores, the new flagship can deliver up to twice as much relative performance, particularly for ray-tracing intensive games like Cyberpunk 2077. In fact that particular title ran at 234 fps with full RT on in a video demo, compared to 109 fps on the RTX 4090. It's not cheap, though, priced at $1,999. The company also revealed the $549 RTX 5070 with a far more modest 6,144 CUDA cores and 12GB of DDR7 RAM, along with the $749 RTX 5070 Ti and $999 RTX 5080. DLSS 4 A key part of the RTX 5000-series launch was the introduction of DLSS 4, the latest version of the company's real-time image upscaling technology. It features a new technology called Multi Frame Generation that allows the new GPUs to generate up to three additional frames for every one frame the GPU produces via traditional rendering — helping multiply frame rates by up to eight times. It also represents what NVIDIA calls the "biggest upgrade to its AI models" since DLSS 2, improving things like temporal stability and detail, while reducing artifacts like ghosting. Project Digits Finally, NVIDIA launched Project Digits, a "personal AI supercomputer" designed for AI researchers, data scientists and students. It uses NVIDIA's new GB10 Grace Blackwell superchip, providing up to a petaflop of performance for testing and running AI models. The company says a single Project Digits unit can run models 200 billion parameters in size, or multiple machines can be linked together to run up to 405 billion parameter models. And for its intended audience, Project Digits is relatively cheap at $3,000. On top of all that, the company introduced NVIDIA Cosmos world foundation models for robot and AV development, the NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion AV platform for autonomous vehicles and AI Foundation models for RTX PCs "that supercharge digital humans." It's all explained in the video above and NVIDIA's CES 2025 keynote blog. NVDA stock price seesaw CES — and Huang's keynote — are happening against the backdrop of continued volatility in the company's stock price. NVIDIA shares spiked ahead of Huang's address, closing on Monday just shy of Apple's market cap pinnacle. But Tuesday saw a reversal, with the stock down more than 6 percent. Still, some are betting it's a toss up between the two tech giants as to which will hit the $4 trillion market valuation first. Update, January 7 2025, 4:18PM ET: This story has been updated with new details on Nvidia's stock price.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/everything-nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-announced-at-its-ces-2025-keynote-174947827.html?src=rss

08.01.2025 01:00 Another CES, another opportunity for the technology industry to lob a trebuchet’s worth of molten lead at the last vestiges of my dignity. This year, it’s EcoFlow that is showing off this delightful solar hat that does more for then planet, and your phone, than it does your personal brand. Admittedly, if you’re wearing a suitably outdoorsy ‘fit, it’s probably not going to look too out of place, but its aesthetics are second to its function. As the name implies, the EcoFlow Power Hat has small solar panels embedded in the brim that, when you’re out and about, will help charge your portable devices. The brim is segmented, and each section has a little set of Monocrystalline Silicon cells with a rated efficiency of 24 percent. Photo by Daniel Cooper On the underside of the brim, there’s a little plastic box with an LED light showing you the hat is generating a charge. Pull back the attached rubber tabs and you’ll find a USB-A and USB-C port, letting you charge one or two devices at a time. EcoFlow says it’ll output a maximum of 5V / 2.4A, so you can expect it to keep your phone or tablet topped up rather than producing anything too life-saving. There’s no battery on board, naturally, so you’ll need to keep a long wire handy to run from your cap down to whichever pocket you keep your devices near. Photo by Daniel Cooper The company says it’s sturdy enough, with each panel on a discrete segment you can fold down to near pocket size. It’s IP65-rated for water and dust ingress, but steer clear of immersing it in water or putting it in a washing machine. The EcoFlow Power Hat is presently on sale for $129, plus or minus the cost of your dignity. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/ecoflows-solar-hat-is-better-for-the-planet-than-your-style-203358237.html?src=rss